Gone to Hell(boy)

This weekend I'm going to my first cosplay convention with one of the old Shackers, Megan. I'd orginally planned to go as Thor (from Marvel comics), but I was really concerned that I wouldn't be able to do a decent job on the helmet. So instead, I decided to go for something that has more work to it, but it should be easier work- Hellboy.

Now, since traffic won't pick up at all for at least another hour, here's an in depth look at where I am.

Costume Pieces:

-Duster: HB's trademark piece of clothing, I had to order a cheap duster online. I'll need to make a coaster-sized B.P.R.D patch for the right arm, but other than that it's a pretty easy piece. It should be here by Friday. If it's not, the whole damned costume is sunk. It'd better be here...

-Shirt/Pants/Belt: Plain black tee (actually, an old Joe's tee turned inside out), my black cargo shorts, and a worn out old black belt.

-Belt Pouches: HB has a bunch of these, and I'm planning to just salvage the pockets off some old cargo pants. My concern here is that they might be too light colored, but I should be able to figure out some way to dye them darker if need be. I'll also need to throw a big red circle on one of them...

-Gun: The gun should be a ridiculously large barreled pistol with an old-country look to it. I should be able to make the barrel from a cardboard tube (about the right size). I have to figure out how to smooth the outside, as well as how to paint it (probably just spray paint). The handle is going to be difficult, but I've become pretty good at carving with a hatchet, so if it comes down to it it's gonna be ten minutes of chopping followed by an hour of sanding.

-Boots: Here I face a moral dilemma. Technically, HB has cloven feet. I can try to make some sort of cloven boot, or cloven covers for my own footwear. Otherwise I can use some heavy duty hiking boots and hope all is forgiven. I wouldn't even contemplate the latter, but I'm sure making my own boots is gonna be a pain in the ass.

Body Mods:

Hellboy has a number of distinct body features: Red skin, dark goatee and hair, tail, horn stubs, and The Right Hand of Doom. If I sell these, I sell the costume. If I don't, I feel like an idiot at a cosplay convention!

Skin: Simple, red body paint which I bought in abundance.

Goatee and Hair: Another quandry- do I shave my moustache and go with a genuine goatee, or do I cherish my hard won facial hair and just cover the stache with the red skin paint and use the dark black on the rest of it. I may have to use some up on a test run and see how it looks.

Tail: This one has me stymied. I'm not sure how I'll get something sturdy enough to survive beign stepped on, the right texture to take a paint job, and "real" looking enough to get by.

Stubs: Making them is going to be easy- some spice bottle caps covered in colored ace bandage, painted to match my skin. They're the right size proportionally, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'm going to attach them.

The Right Hand of Doom: This is going to be my favorite piece. For the base, I went to a used sporting good store and picked up an old (either hockey or lacrosse, I'm not too sure) glove. It's articulated much the same way, and the right size. For the conspicuous round knuckles I'm going to wrap some car fasteners and stick 'em in (they actually stay in the creases without any other adhesion).

The biggest problem (and it's a doozy) is turning it from a bright blue glove to a bright red glove. First I tried to bleach it out, but that seems to be the most color fast fabric in the world (didn't even fade). I spot tested fabric dye, but as I feared it just turned it purple. Then I was hoping that I could just spray paint it and cover it over. Unfortunately, it's really absorbent, and the paint doesn't stay on the fabric and instead soaks into the padding. Once I get the color worked out, I'll have to add some "cracked" lines along it to complete.

Now, this (in my opinion) is going to sink me or swim me. Color and minor aesthetic issues aside, I'm really excited about this piece. It looks like I should be able to pull it off really well, and if so I'm gonna be pumped. But, I suppose, only time will tell...