As promised, the story of Zippmonk and Augmented Singed. There are two stories to be told; one of the building of the costume Augmented Singed, and second is a design style, that is “designing on the fly.” So, the building of the costume starts at the 2017 Fannie Mae/Clockworks Alchemy convention. What he wanted was his favorite avatar in a steampunk style. He didn’t need it until next year and wanted it to be very cool. Now, I know I need a drum for a backpack and a shield of some type and here are the beginnings
The downside to designing on the fly is that they are trial and error on each project. Hopefully, over time the experiences shortcut more and more of that. The upside to “design on the fly” (DOTF), is that It pushes you out of your comfort zone and makes you try new things. You also have the pleasure of knowing that your work is one off. Even costumes done in the same materials have their own unique qualities.
As you can see, three of the pictures above are the beginnings of the sword, starting with the coiled tubing and some solder joints to make it big enough to carry the weight of the sword. The materials used for the first backpack were not used in the final piece. Many a change was to happen.
See you next week with more of my story.
