Genderbent Bucky Barnes Cosplay!

Hey Everyone! *insert Spidey here*

So I found out that my dad and I are going to be able to go to a comic convention next month! We are only going for a day, not the whole weekend, so I only needed one cosplay.

I was (and am) super excited and I immediately knew who I was going to cosplay.

I am going to do a genderbent version of The Winter Soldier AKA James Buchanan Barnes AKA Bucky AKA my favourite character ever.

As soon as I knew that I was going to be able to go, that it wasn't just a "maybe", I drew what I wanted to do.

(this is technically the second draft of what I wanted to do but whateves)

Once I looked up about 17 tutorials for Bucky's arm, I decided that I was going to crochet the glove and hand. (I was already planning on doing the little glove thing he has, but I wasn't planning on doing the fingers.) Thankfully it worked out great and was quite easy!

 (I crocheted a fingerless glove, making holes for the thumb area and the space in the middle. After crocheting up the space in the middle, I did the thumb and the fingers. It's a snug fit but I think that that will be good.)

My mom took me that night and we got the things that I needed. (except I forgot the glue, which was highly necessary, of course). First thing that I made was the skirt.

(You can't see it (going to make sure you can when I go to the con), but there is red tulle underneath.)

Using this tutorial (with a small bit of altering) Bucky's mask was made. 

Instead of using pleather I used leftover fabric from my skirt and instead of velcro I used elastic (To keep it on my head).

I found a leather jacket at goodwill (you'll be able to see it in the final picture) and cut off the left sleeve. I also found a wide belt there, where I'm going to have a holster for a foam knife and possibly a gun though I might find a way to put it on my back.

The arm wasn't challenging once I figured out how in the world I was going to make this thing.

First I made a 'cast' of my arm so I'd have a form to work on when I was attaching the foam to my arm. I used plastic wrap and tape and stuffed it with grocery bags (tape off the top but not the bottom). Then I slipped it on a paper towel holder to hold it up while I was working on it. I used craft foam from walmart (about 4 sheets all together (I used it for the arm and the mask)) to make the metal strip-things. Worbla would work well but it is somewhat expensive. I began using E6000 to glue it on. Don't use this. I am planning on taking it to the con for repairs but other than that I won't use it. It does not stick well if you're doing it on a sleeve like I did; not sure about other mediums. We went and bought Gorilla Glue sticks (the kind you put in your hot glue gun) and that worked great. Make sure you leave a small space on the inside and outside of your elbow so you can bend your arm. After glueing everything on I used Rust-Oleum metallic silver spray paint- about 3 coats. I then used a gloss top coat but I would not recommend using that.

I'm super happy with how everything turned out! (I may have almost cried when I finished it...) Especially since this is my first time making a costume (and going to a con. :)

Here is the (mostly) finished product. I don't have the props yet and the star was not painted on at this point.

and here's a random picture with the star. *jazz hands*

I hope you enjoyed, sorry for the long post! :p

E.C.

Edit: made and painted a foam knife but I haven't found a play gun to paint for a reasonable price. Grrrr.