【Ancient Magus Bride】- Elias Cosplay

A behind-the-scenes look at how I did my first cosplay

So... a lot of things happened I suppose.

First off was actually getting the print to print. To be fair, I didn't exactly have the best printer at all. It was a Sunhokey Prusa i3 clone that was starting to show some wear especially with its acrylic frame. I also had a heck of a time getting the heated bed to work. I ended up dismantling the printer after I got my new one and it turns out the solder between under the bed came loose. At the very least glue sticks still worked.

Piece by piece the print started to take shape. Although some of the print layers shifted like crazy, some of it was usable. If I recall, I even considered printing some of these parts at my university, but when I heard how much it would end up costing I figured I'd just keep going with my own printer at home.

Eventually I printed enough to make the base of shell of Elias' mask. At this point I was starting to cut it close. I didn't really have enough time to print the horn sections so I searched online for the next best alternative.

I ended up finding a link on Pinterest on how to make horns using some cardboard, plaster of paris and some wrapping. I quickly ran to a nearby hardware store and grabbed the materials I needed and set off to finish the rest of the mask in time.

A bit of painting later, I ended up with a workable mask. In hindsight it would've been nice if I added some eye covers and a better airflow system. It wasn't really the most comfortable mask either, but all I can say is I tried. The last minute addition of a fan at the tip was definitely needed.

There were a few other parts that I needed to procure in addition to the mask. Elias has this covering behind his mask:

I ended up making this with a pillowcase and some ribbon and cord.

Last but not least was (Chise's) staff. Okay, okay. I know Elias had his own but I thought Chise's looked much cooler.

Luckily there was a model available for the staff and it was easy enough to add a hole for a dowel. An extra bonus was that I had bought a roll of wood PLA filament for this too so it ended up matching the dowel. A bit of wood staining here and there and it was ready to go.

So that's the story of my first cosplay. Other than those above, mostly everything else was repurposed clothing or other off the shelf products. I ended up getting a waffle robe that sort of matched, and used a white dress shirt/vest base with black pants and shoes. There was a bolo necklace that I got on Amazon pretty cheap as well that worked.

Looking back, I'd definitely change a few things but ultimately I think it went pretty well. My goal was to get at least one person to notice me and I definitely met that goal before I even got to the main floor.

For new cosplayers, I would definitely recommend doing something you're comfortable with. With my first cosplay I was working on it until the day before the con so there was some stress building near the end. Regardless, I think it was a wonderful experience that I would definitely recommend others to do if they are interested.

Until next time!