A short time ago, we received a message from Mythic Legions fan, Anthony Houseal, asking us if we had seen the amazing Artymss Silverchord cosplay that someone had debuted at an event called Katsu Con. He sent us over a few pictures of what is, to our knowledge, the very first Mythic Legions cosplay! We immediately got in touch with the talented artist behind this costume to learn a bit more about her process, her passion for cosplay, and exactly what made her choose our own elven queen to create a costume of!
First things first - please introduce yourself!
Hi, thanks for having me! I am Joe Colton, and I am a cosplayer and avid toy collector. I’ve been collecting toys since my dad bought me my first GI Joes. I've been dressing up as characters I love since I was a little girl. In 2009 I started cosplaying or dedicatedly cosplaying and I’ve never looked back. I used to dress up for themed parties and Halloween but it kinda became an obsession…or an addiction.
How did you discover Mythic Legions?
I heard about Mythic Legions at an amazing toy con in Ohio called the Ohio Toy and Comic Show. The show is run by a good friend of mine, and the owner of Roma Collectibles, Aaron Detrick - which if you haven’t been to, is a great toy show to buy a ton of stuff not usually seen at cons. He had a huge display of Mythic Legion figures and I'm always looking for figures and new things to collect.
What made you decide to tackle the Artemyss Silverchord cosplay?
So, I usually make my friends do costumes with me that I find fascinating/fun/challenging. But this was not one of those times. While at Aaron’s show last year, I saw the Artemyss figure and had to buy her. Aaron’s wife, Sara, also known as Mary Mercenary online, had a Xylona figure. She had told me about wanting to do a costume of the figure, but I had never seen any of them in real life. She tells me that she is making this for next year and it would be amazing if I made one as well. I told her that I’m buying the Artemyss figure and we will make a cosplay group. We decided to unveil them at Dragon Con this year...but I started doing something like a documentary and the guy behind it saw the figure and was like what is that? And is it for Katsu Con? That con is in February, not Labor Day weekend. I kinda can’t say no to people so I pushed it up a “few” months! It got extremely intense for a month. So, this is all Mary’s fault! Ha!
Tell us a little bit about the process of making the costume.
When I make a costume, I always do a list of everything that is on the figure/character from head to toe. I also make drawings of aspects of the costume if not the entire costume. I then look at all the colors, write them down, and will try and match all the colors perfectly. I am kind of what is known as a stitch counter, which means that I like to have everything exactly how it is seen either on screen or as a figure. I don’t usually take liberties at all. I know people who aren’t as precise as me and do it for the love of making a costume, which is great and I have costumes that I do that way, but I love the challenge of trying to remake something that is either in a movie, or figure, or a character in a comic book.
After I do all the drawings, I then take detailed photos and head to either a Joann Fabrics, Michael’s, or Home Depot and I start picking up supplies, fabrics, materials, paints, etc.
With this costume, I first started with the skirt and then worked my way to the more complicated parts of the costume. For me, I started with the knee and the shin guards. I found that the knees and shins were really cool and it allows the figure to be able to bend without separating the shin guard from the knee guard. I’ll actually probably incorporate that into my future costumes.
After that I started working on the gauntlets, which were really fun to do. I got to make jewels for them - which was a new thing for me. I used foam clay and then put that in silicone molds to form it into actual jewels. Then once they were dry and cured for 24 hours, I glued them onto the gauntlets. I then PlastiDipped the gauntlets, waited for them to dry, and cure and then painted the gauntlets, taping off the jewels and hand painting them separately. PlastiDip is used to seal and prime foam to be painted. You get a smoother finish when you PlastiDip the foam.
Next was the body armor. I tried to do it two other ways that did not turn out right. I ended up remaking the whole chest armor twice before getting it right. For this, the interesting part was using embossed paper as the centerpiece for her chest armor and then staggered it onto a corset that I wore underneath. But that ended up not working so I made a full chest armor and back on a piece for the costume. I also used foam dowels cut in half to make the trim that would separate the colors on the armor.
For the headpiece I used a pattern for an Amazon Warrior headpiece. I altered the headpiece drastically, but the base is under there somewhere. I then used inlet screws to hold the antlers to the headpiece that then tied around my head.
The last thing I worked on were the antlers because I knew they were going to be the hardest part. I had never made antlers. I didn’t know how they would stand, what I was going to use to make them, or how heavy they would be. I ended up using pink insulation foam wrapped in worbla. My fiancé drew out the shapes of the antlers since he’s better at drawing that I am, LOL. He then cut them out for me while I was working on the chest piece. I sanded down each of the antlers and connected each piece using toothpicks and glue and wrapped the whole thing in worbla and then painted it and attached it to the head piece that I made. Worbla is a thermoplastic that you can heat and form to anything. It sticks to itself and you can also flatten it out and make a new piece with any excess.
For the hair I took a pre-existing wig I had and did the tiny braids and then attached giant braids that I had bought on Amazon into the wig and then put everything together on a mannequin head.
My fiancé made my bow from PVC piping and fabrics that we had in the house. I wanted to be able to travel with it and also be able to fit it in our car so we made it in three pieces. First, he cut the PVC and used heat gun to form it into the shape of her bow. He then used connectors to connect each piece of the bow. The bow is not strung but it could be. After painting the PVC, he drew woodgrain on the painted PVC pipe.
Finally, the long sword. I was running out of time, so I bought a sword and altered the hilt and painted the blade from black to silver.
It’s kind of an intense process, but I enjoy the challenges and the skills I have gained, just from this project.
Do you have any future upgrades or additions you are planning?
I do! I’m going to re-create her antlers and upgrade her hip guards and make the wings. We plan to reveal both our costumes at Dragon Con 2020.
What other costumes have you made in the past?
I have made 20 GI Joe costumes, a female Dredd (the Karl Urban version) costume, a Hela costume that I texturized fabric and then made silicon molds to make her green armor; Darth Talon, Rey, Dark Starfire, Dark Phoenix, Elektra, and I have done a tons of commissions for other people.
How many costumes do you have?
I probably have over 100 costumes now.
How many conventions do you go to each year?
Anywhere between 20-24 cons a year.
What else do you do/collect?
I collect a lot of GI Joes (1980s and then modern figures), DC, Marvel, sideshow collectible statues.
I also cohost a podcast called Whats on Joe Mind? Which I have been doing for the last 4 or so years.
Any plans for additional Mythic Legions cosplays?
OMG! I have to upgrade Artemyss first…then I can look at new builds. I am not allowed to start anything else; I promised my fiancé haha. I have a tendency to do multiple builds at once. But to answer your question, there are a few characters I have taken a look at. (Takes a deep breath) Vampire legion builder, the Barbarian Warrior, Gwendolyn, Shadow Elf Warrior, and maybe a few others.
Besides Artemyss, do you have any other favorite Legions?
Probably the ones I mentioned above, plus Jjuno and Xarria. But I have to say the detail on the figures is absolutely amazing. The small details the head sculpts and the colors are just gorgeous. I also like that there are different size figures. Each time I see a new one, I just want to have it. Also, the customizers are sooooo talented. I’ve been watching some of the posts and am just in awe. I don’t have time to customize figures anymore, but I have saved a few of the pics on my phone.
I am also looking forward to new figures like Zazhar and Dorina Onoris!
Where can fans see more of your work?
- Facebook: Joe Colton Cosplay
- Instagram: @jcoltoncosplay
- Twitter: @Jcoltoncosplay
- Podbean: What’s on Joe Mind?
Published on 03.31.20