Mermaid On My Armor!

[Taniira]

I'm part of the UK Colonial Marines -- a costuming group that dresses up like the marines out of the Aliens movies. (There is a US division but I got claimed by the UK guys.) Last year at Dragon*Con, a big scifi/fantasy convention, I got my own armor and it's tradition that you personalize it (or make it screen accurate to one of the actors in the movie, if you prefer). Here's what I did to mine.

I'm pretty confident I can say I'm the only one in the the worldwide group that put glitter on their armor I wish I could say I drew the mermaid itself, but I nicked it off one of those stock image sites. I did freehand all the scales and I did the glitter the old fashioned way -- with a toothpick, glue, and loose glitter -- instead of a glitter pen.

Update: The seahorse is on the back bottom center of the armor -- I'll get a photo of the whole thing once the glue dries so you can see. I did the old toothpick glue method for the glitter. I'm debating on adding an eye. I kind of like it as is.

[AniaR]

ahahaha neat!!! hot pink. Love it.

[Spindrift]

That's pretty cool. What does the whole thing look like altogether?

[Mermaid Dottie]

I LOVE that. very pretty.

[Taniira]

Here's a picture of me in the armor before it was painted. The mermaid is on the lower left corner of the chest plate.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Sweet!

[Ashe]

Cool! So could you say that the UK Colonial Marines are almost like cosplayers? Trying to get some sort of idea :P

[Taniira]

Exactly, it's a cosplay group. It's a pretty big group when you factor in everyone all over the world. There are several people with Xenomorph (the aliens themselves) costumes.

[Ashe]

Fun! I've wanted to join the cosplay community for a while now, 'cause it's exactly the kind of thing I love doing, but alas, I don't have any extra spending money cause I use that all on tails :P But I really kinda want to make a female variation of Jack Frost costume (if you can picture that) and wear that on Halloween or something

[Taniira]

The one from the Guardians movie? I totally wanted to do that, so I get it! I tend to costume on as much of a budget as I can. I keep lots of stuff and hit Goodwill/Thrift stores/the flea market a bunch and exchange favors with my friends for props since I sew and don't do props so much. It helps that my boyfriend does props, except with us being 4000 miles apart it doesn't work for big pieces. Other than my mermaid top and personalizing my armor, I'm working on a Gaige the Mechromancer from Borderlands 2 right now.

You can put as much or as little money as you want into it. You just have to be creative, and we all know mermaids are very creative!

[Ashe]

Yeah! The one from Rise of the Guardians And I have lots of Goodwill and thrift stores around my area, never thought of that! Thanks Oh, and I can't wait to see how Gaige comes out, i've seen my brother play Borderlands before and it seems pretty cool! Thanks for the tips <3

[Mermaid Danielle]

Looks awesome, Taniira!

[drucilla]

Very cute, the scales in glitter is awesome.

[Taniira]

Thanks everyone! I posted it over on the Aliens forum I'm a member of too, but no one said anything about the glitter. I think it just came out a lot smaller on that forum and no one noticed, as there are some guys on there that probably would've given me heck about it if they noticed it. That or they developed manners, which I doubt. They'll definitely notice it at Dragon*Con in person, though!

[drucilla]

You're an alien mermaid?! That is soo cool!!! lol

[Taniira]

Ooh I never thought about being a mermaid from another planet! What an intriguing concept that I might have to toy around with!

I'm a fan of the Aliens movies, that's what the armor is from. I do want to take a few pics in my mermaid tail (once I get it) and armor to harass the guys on the other forum. I'll be sure to post pics here, too!

[drucilla]

More pics more pics more pics YEAH! lol I like the idea of mermaids from other planets it gives you even more creativity, and less boundries then ones from this planet.

[Alveric]

In my WIP tale Spindrift, political prisoners are altered to mer-form and exiled to an all-ocean world named Syrenca. The story takes place 2500 years later, after they've built their own civilization and are welcomed (awkwardly) back into the human race.

[Taniira]

Oooh, that sounds interesting. I look forward to being able to read it when you're done!

I'm currently scheming ways to do a Giger based mer since Drucilla gave me the idea for an alien mer. But as my brain processes the build it's getting more and more complicated and I imagine will take me until at least next summer to complete due to funds/trial-and-error time.

[drucilla]

Oooooh I gave someone a good idea?! lol I must write this down in