I got into cosplay completely by accident - my daughter Bronwyn deserves all the credit. She loves anime and costuming and decided she wanted to make a Lan Fan arm (from Fullmetal Alchemist) after watching a MangoSirene tutorial on Youtube. From there we stumbled onto an Evil Ted Smith video on how to make a helmet out of foam. I decided to make an Alphonse Elric helmet and had a lot of fun so I thought, “I should make the rest of his armor!” I also thought this would be a good way to model for my daughter how to undertake and complete a big project. A year later Bronwyn and I debuted our Edward and Alphonse Elric cosplays at Colorado Anime Fest. I’m not sure I would recommend starting out with such a challenging cosplay for your first time but sometimes you just have to know what motivates you and go for it.

I am highly motivated by learning and acquiring new skills. Also, I just like making things. Cosplay gives me an excuse to make cool stuff and learn new skills. It’s therapeutic. Don’t get me wrong though - learning is hard. I make a lot of mistakes. Anytime I do something new, I consider it a “prototype.” Prototypes are not meant to be perfect. I give myself time and leeway to screw up, but I learn more from my mistakes so in the end that is a good thing. After you make enough mistakes, you discover that you actually know how to do “stuff.” But there is always something new to discover.

Bronwyn was taking a Japanese class and her teacher showed them a Godzilla Mechagodzilla movie. Bronwyn hinted that Mechagodzilla would be a cool cosplay. I figured with what I had learned from Alphonse Elric it would be doable and challenging - so why not? I particularly liked that the head sat well above the wearer’s actual head creating an illusion of a creature with non-human proportions. A year later, I debuted Mechagodzilla at Nan Desu Kan and people really liked it. That was quite a rush. Now I’m hooked.

Jim Henson has always been a hero of mine. He not only made amazing, wonderful creatures, but he truly brought them to life through movement. I seem to gravitate towards making these giant, awkward and somewhat clumsy creations, but I always try to keep in mind how it can move because that is what makes it real. This has forced me to learn about mechanics, electronics, servos, Arduinos, LEDs, remote controls and all sorts of wonderful things. My imagination really is the only limit with cosplay.

I want to thank the Colorado Cosplay Community for being supportive of me and other cosplayers. I’ve met some wonderful folks through this hobby and honestly, meeting and interacting with new people is a skill I’m still working on. This community has been a big help.