Super Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon S

Sailor Mars, aka Rei Hino, is a Shinto priestess with a kind heart and stern personality. She is straight-forward and elegant, but is also a dreamer. The best episodes are the ones where she takes a vacation from her usual straight-laced behavior and becomes a pop idol.

Sailor Mars was the first anime character I fell in love with and I am elated to have made the costume. I love that despite her thick skin she maintains a high level of class when confronting other characters. She does not put up with petulance and strives hard to pursue her ambitious life-goals, a true inspiration to an architecture graduate student like myself. I made this senshi suit to be modular so all I have to do is make other senshi accessories in the future, but I wanted to make sure to make this costume the best it could be for Mars.

I was at Otakon 2012 where these photoshoots were taken. The unwatermarked photos were taken by EBK, and the watermarked photos were done by K. Walker. It is usually difficult to shoot decent photos at a convention, but this talented pair managed.

The costume consisted of a lot of technical sewing and I also hand-sewed my gloves to make the white fabrics match. A lot of fittings were done to get the suit's proportions to work with my body until the right look was achieved. I also learned a variety of new skills like mold-making and resin casting, all of which I go into detail at this link.

The tiara was the most challenging part. Even though it was such a small piece, most people that attempt this costume drop the ball on the tiara or just buy one. I made mine out of styrene and primed it with car paint, sealed it with metallic paint, then sealed it. All techniques I use on heavy-armor costumes, but it was just right for making a metal-like tiara. After completion, I made a tutorial to help out future Sailor Moon cosplayers. Here is a link: http://fav.me/d59uzak

So far I have only worn Sailor Mars to Otakon 2012 and Anime Festival Orlando 2012, but I hope to wear her again at DragonCon 2012.

People loved it! Sailor Moon costumes are especially fun to cosplay because it is a series that most people have grown up watching, even men to my astonishment. The highlight in wearing my costume happened at Otakon as I passed by some tough looking thugs who did not look like attendees. One of the guys called out to me "MARS! Uh UHHH!!! I GOTTA TAKE A PHOTO WITH MY GIRL, MARS!" He excitedly handed his phone to his friend and we posed for a few photos.

I started cosplay in 2005 and have made 30 costumes and several everyday garments. I have no plans of retiring from cosplay in the near future and I look forward to crafting many more costumes.

I was into Final Fantasy in my sophomore year of high school. When I ran for homecoming court, I thought the regular "vote for me" signs were lame, so I put my face over a picture of different Final Fantasy girls to appeal to fellow gamers at my school. I wondered to myself if people actually ever made this stuff and wore it. Shortly after I stumbled upon cosplay photos and immediately researched upcoming conventions.

Since then I have earned four "Best in Show" trophies, a Best Craftsmanship award, and several smaller awards. The best advice I can give someone looking to regularly enter costume contests is to not be discouraged by a loss. Losses are just as much of a part of the experience as winning, and it in learning from losses that skills evolve.

Cosplayer: Kapalaka

August 27, 2012