frauleinninja:

Otachi - Dragon*con 2014

Made and modeled by me (FB)

Photography by Soulfire Studios

“Movement in the breach… Category 4…”

Aquarium night at Dragon*con was unbelievable. Otachi was fun to wear during the day, and the Pacific Rim meetup was amazing, but I swear once it got dark out it hit a whole other level of epic kaiju destruction awesome. I felt like I was freaking becoming Otachi, surrounded by all the nighttime marine biospheres - the lights looked sooo cool in the exhibits!! And of course any chance to shoot with Soulfire (a huge Pacific Rim fan) is going to produce incredible work. I feel like Otachi is emerging from the breach in these photos, and she’s about to destroy Hong Kong (or Atlanta). Do your worst, PPDC…

While I consider myself a pretty experienced sewer, I had absolutely never worked with craft foam outside of simple, teensy props. I’m writing up a big breakdown of exactly how I made the spinal column and tail, but for now I’ll just say it was a huge endeavor! There are 162 individual foam pieces in the spine/tail, and 32 LEDs. Phew! Now where’s a Gipsy Danger I can drag into the stratosphere??