Friday: I had class on Friday so I only got to the con at around 5ish. I was going to go and see Monika Lee's panel but the room was full so we just decided to chill for a bit. I didn't cosplay that night as I didn't get to finish Padme in time. I will try and finish it for next year though as I have the majority of it done! It will be my budget costume as some of it was bought from value village and not actually made by me. My boyfriend took me to a panel regarding game making communities in Montreal. It was good though I'm not into the gaming scene that much.
At 6:30 pm my boyfriend and I got in line to wait for Kamui's panel. My cosplaying friend Chelsea met up with us there and we chatted with a group from Nova Scotia while in line. We actually got to sit up close to the front of the room so we could really see Kamui's costume up close. She is a really good panelist, especially since she wasn't speaking in her native tongue. She even handed out samples of Worbla to everyone! Kamui was super friendly and super funny and she gave some really good advice. I even got to hold one of her bracers to inspect it!
So here are my notes from her panel:
"Fabric is shit, armour is good!" - Kamui
- Expanding foam can be cut and carved with a carpet cutter, you'll need to fill in all the little holes in it
- Can use wood glue as a primer for Worbla, use acrylic paints, use a varnish
- To affix armour pieces together use D-rings attached by Worbla pieces
- Patterns are very important in making armour
- Frankly plastic - pellets that when heated become like clay, adheres to any thermoplastic
- When starting to work with thermoplastic for the first time, start with a small piece, then go bigger
- You can use the leftovers to make a new sheet simply by heating up the pieces and melding them together - reduce waste!
- Use paint to darken and highlight appropriate places to emphasize the shapes and designs
- You have roughly 1-2 minutes to work with the plastic once it's heated.
After the panel we didn't really stick around too much. I had to finish fixing Jupiter's boot covers and I wanted to get to bed somewhat early.
Saturday: We got to the con later than expected. I was cosplaying as Vana and since Sean Astin was going to be doing photo ops I really wanted to try and get a photo with him! We got there just after the session started and the line to buy the ticket to get into the line for the photos was too long so I (sadly) decided to just wander around. I did get to go and see the panel hosted by Jessica Nigri and Monika Lee. When we were getting into the line though I noticed that the attendees were mostly male and none of them seemed to be in costume. This was my first very good clue that this panel was going to be derpy.
The panel was a Q&A session where the topic was cosplay tips. I think only five questions were on topic where as some others were just plain strange! And really awkward too... I got to ask a question though I already knew most of the answer. I figured though that they might have more insight on the topic, which they did, but just a bit. I asked about advice for a novice competitor and they said think about the environment of the character when making your costume, talk passionately about why you chose that character, bring reference pics, construction pics and pay careful attention to your craftsmanship.
After the panel we went to the masquerade. There were some really good entries, especially the last one! Kamui, Jessica and Monika were all judges for the competition as well as a few other cosplayers. The last entry was a bunch of daleks, two on stage and one massive one in the audience. They didn't seem to be "walking", more like gliding. They exterminated the host with some sort of spray thing and then the huge one exterminated the judges by spinning crazily and spraying the front audience with the same stuff. It was awesome!
Sunday: Again, we got to the con late because Jupiter took forever to put on. I got tons of photos taken of me that day! I think that it was because I was more visible at the con than at Otakuthon rather than the popularity of the character. There aren't the many cosplayers at Comic Con which is a shame. Again I missed a Sean Astin photo op because it was schedule last minute but it didn't really matter because I wasn't wearing Vana. It would have been strange to take a photo with him in Jupiter.
We went to a few good panels, one about Cosplay on a budget and a Q&A sessions with Sean Astin. Here are my notes from cosplay on a budget:
- have one showcase costume and other buget, comfortable costumes
- thicken a beard with masacara
- thrift stores are awesome!
Between the panels we mostly walked around the dealer's room and chilled for a bit. I bought a Kamui print so I can officially say that I have helped her fund her next project! Sean Astin's panel was sooo good! I had a few fan girl moments, especially when he quoted from the Lord of the Rings. It was such an honour to sit and listen to him talk live. He is really a good guy and he is quite funny. At the end he tried to carry the host off stage but he kind of failed. It was a good attempt though!
Verdict: Will I attend next year's Montreal Comic Con?
Answer: YES!
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