Halloween Costume Contest 2016
Instructables, in partnership with Stan Winston School of Character Arts, SINGER, and McCall's Patterns, hosted an epic Halloween Costume Contest, where any and all costumes were eligible, and both traditional and alternative methods of construction were welcomed. We're proud to introduce you to Grand Prize winner Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props), who took first place with his equally epic WarCraft Orc costume.
- Team Stan Winston School
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- Steven K. Smith Creates Incredible Cosplay Props and Costumes
- Making an Inquisitor Armor Set for Lindsey Stirling's Dragon Age Music Video
- Making Custom Borderlands Masks
- Building the Full-scale WarCraft Warsong Orc
Steven K. Smith Creates Incredible Cosplay Props and Costumes
By Steven K Smith
Hey, my name is Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). I am a prop maker/costume builder currently located in St. Louis, MO, with my wife and two little girls. I am a seasoned member of the Replica Prop Forum and a pro builder on the Instructables website. I come from an artistic background and have been a freelance illustrator for 15 years, working on newspapers, magazines, and children's books. In 2012, I put my artistic abilities to a new medium by creating highly detailed cosplay props and costumes. I am now known worldwide for my skill in bringing characters to life through cosplay! Best of all, I have been recognized by or worked with video game powerhouses like EA, Microsoft, BioWare, Bungie, Gearbox, Blizzard, and 2K Games.
(Dead Space Cosplay Costume by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props), which took over 300 hours and three months to build, start to finish. See the entire build thread on the Instructables site HERE.)
(Turbo Kid Skeletron Cosplay by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). Photo by Matthew Sperzel. This mask was hand sculpted by Steven and resin cast using high-impact Smooth-On 65D resins. The mask was meticulously hand-painted and weathered to recreate the look of the movie prop. Leather was used to line the top rim of the mask, and metal tacks were added to keep it in place. The mask was padded on the inside for comfort and strapped to fit using leather and elastic.)
(Destiny Hunter Cosplay Rustburner Mask by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). The mask is resin cast.)
(Destiny Hunter Exotic Cosplay Mask of the Third Man by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). This is even more detailed than the actual game model. The mask is resin cast. Green LEDs are installed in each eye socket.)
Making an Inquisitor Armor Set for Lindsey Stirling's Dragon Age Music Video
One of my most celebrated creations was an Inquisitor armor set from the hit RPG game Dragon Age: Inquisition.
(Dragon Age: Inquisition Inquisitor Cosplay Armor by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). The helmet is a 1:1 scale and was hand sculpted by Steven out of monster clay. The helmet was resin cast, assembled, and meticulously hand-painted. Custom padding was installed in the crown of the helmet for comfort and support.)
It was so embraced by the community that it was flown to Norway and used by world-renowned violinist Lindsey Stirling in her official Dragon Age music video.
Watch the full music video HERE:
Making Custom Borderlands Masks
My Borderlands prop and cosplay history started with Borderlands 2. The original psycho mask and buzz-axe were the first props that I had ever made, but since then, I have created numerous characters and weapons from the Borderlands game. I was even lucky enough to be contacted by Borderlands and make some custom gold psycho masks for the release of the Handsome Jack Collection.
(Borderlands Psycho Cosplay by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props) at Calgary Expo.)
(Borderlands Psycho Bandit Masks with LEDs by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props), also featured on DudeIWantThat and Thisiswhyimbroke. The placement of the LEDs is like in the game and the wearer is still able to see out from behind the cloth. The masks are hand painted and weathered with acrylics.)
(Strip the Flesh version of the Borderlands psycho bandit mask. Steven was hired by Borderlands to create this mask for the release of the Handsome Jack Collection. Each company kept one in their main office and the ones he painted gold were given away at Pax and several online contests.)
(Borderlands Custom Psycho Bandit Boss 9 Toes Cosplay Mask by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). Photo by Conrad Castelo. The placement of the LEDs is like in the game, and the wearer is still able to see out from behind the cloth. The mask is hand-painted and weathered with acrylics. The spikes are all resin cast and screwed into place.)
Building the Full-scale WarCraft Warsong Orc
My big project for 2016 was a full-scale WarCraft Warsong Orc warrior that took me approx 2 and a half months to build. This costume is an entire body transformation.
(Halloween Costume Contest 2016 winner WarCraft Orc by Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props). Photo by NGO Photography.)
Utilizing arm and leg extensions plus a custom muscle suit, I was able to achieve the scale of an Orc!
My WarCraft Orc has been all over the internet and featured on awesome sites like Kotaku, Weta Workshop, and the official World of Warcraft. I took the completed Orc to C2E2 in Chicago to participate in the 2016 Cosplay Championship contest. My Orc took 1st in the Video Games Category, 1st in the US Regional Competition, and placed 3rd in the 2016 World Championship! And now I have had an additional honor by being the Grand Prize winner in this years Instructables Halloween Costume Contest!
Here is a test video showing how WarCraft Orc cosplay looks and moves:
My big thing is giving back to the cosplay community by showing all of my tips and tricks. So, I have created step-by-step build threads on the Replica Prop Forum and Instructables to showcase every one of my costumes. You can see the creation steps for my Warcraft Orc HERE: http://www.therpf.com/sho
(Steven K Smith (aka SKS Props) and his full-scale cosplay costume, WarCraft Orc.)
- by Steven K Smith