Props n' Cosplay: December 2012

This past Halloween, I decided to go all out on my costume for once. I figured that I had sufficient funds to make a costume that would be memorable, one that I could wear both for halloween and for events in the future, such as Comic-Con. After much debate, I decided on The Riddler of Batman fame, taking my inspiration initially from the game Arkham Asylum but eventually basing the outfit on the character's design from Batman: Gotham Knights Online.

As I set about purchasing the necessary clothing and materials, I found a Riddler cane being sold rather cheaply by Amazon:

After receiving it in the mail, just days before Halloween, I realized that it wasn't exactly what I had hoped for. It looked more copper than gold, and it was a bit smaller than anticipated. Overall, though, it was a great purchase, and I happily used it alongside my costume.

At some point in time, I realized the potential for this costume outside of Halloween, and I am now planning on wearing it at a convention of some sort. With this realization, however, came the decision to give my flimsy cane an upgrade.

First things first, I tore the blasted thing apart.

The bottom tip was nice enough to detach without any resistance, but it took quite a bit of cutting, tearing, and peeling of plastic (and occasionally, flesh) to detach the question mark.

After filing away the bottom of the question mark, I sanded the entire surface in small circular motions, giving it a smooth finish.

At this point, I pulled out a brand-spankin'-new can of gold spray paint and gave both the question mark and a rubber stopper (to be used as the base) two solid coats, allowing time to dry in between applications. They came out looking much more vibrant than they had originally been.

While those two dried, I started work on the body of the cane. After purchasing a 4' dowel rod and stains, i gave the rod a thorough sanding to remove any rough bumps. After applying a pre-stain conditioner to the dowel, I gave it a coat of stain and let it sit overnight to cure.

I had class early the next morning, so my landlord (AKA mom) applied the varnish to lock in the stain. When I got home later in the afternoon, the shiny cane body was waiting for me.

At this point, all that was left was to put it all together.

I'm very happy with how this turned out, and it's really solidified my desire to work on props in the future. However, the cane was only part of a much larger project: my full Ridder costume.