Attack on Titan - Eren Jaeger / Christa Lenz - Anime Expo 2013

Attack on Titan (Shingeki No Kyojin) was a monumental task that I inadvertently dropped on myself. I had a grand plan to get a group together from the Crunchyroll Ambassadors in order to promote the show, and thinking that the props would be quick and easy, I decided to make 2 sets in the scant 14 days or so we had to prepare. I got a bit in over my head to say the least. First off I want to give  a big thanks to our sponsors Epic Cosplay Wigs and Crunchyroll. Without their support we couldn't have pulled this group off!





*I want to note that not everything is in perfect chronological order, but in the order of which I feel is best for understanding.*

Now on to the reference! I used art that I found on Tumblr. Whether or not it is official I really have no idea, so I wound up cross checking with the stuff in the show.







First order of business was to draft some patterns, and in a first I was able to salvage (dig out of the trash) the patterns that I made and share them with you all. Granted what I could salvage was not all inclusive, but it's better than nothing...Click the link to grab a hi res. If I had to do it over I would have done the correct way of attaching the hip guns to the winch disc things, alas I will admit that I didn't quite fully understand the references OTL.

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I started by making the back engine. Using a PVC pipe to string all the pieces together I started getting to work on the center and working my way out. Cutting circles... endless circles. Luckily I had my circle cutting jig which made things go smoothly. Circles were cut from 6mm PVC foam.



Once all the circles were cut I was able to drill a hole large enough for the pipe and glue them all together.



The two discs on the side were made using the discs with walls cut from 1mm PVC. Additionally holes were drilled in order to decrease weight.



Hole was drilled on the side of the center part of the engine to allow the pipe to go through.



All of this was threaded onto the pipe.



Fins were glued to the pipe and the disc.



Then we sanded a shit ton and added holes to allow for a coaxial female bit.



Added the grappling guns with coaxial female bits for later cable attachment.



Swords were cut from plywood.



6mm PVC and bike brake handles added.





 Hole was drilled and coaxial bit was added.

Finally details were added with 1mm and 3mm PVC.

Boxes were the last pieces to be made. First the pattern was followed and the front grills cut along with the sides of the box.

PVC pipe with acrylic ball added along with PVC plumbing parts to make the top of the cylinder. Adhered with Loctite Professional Liquid Super Glue.

Inside of sheath allowed for dummy blades and actual blade to be housed at the same time. Far right is the sheath section for the real blade, left are the sections for dummy blades.

Boxes were gap filled with Bondo auto body filler and sanded.

Details and brackets were cut from 3mm PVC. Oppai mousepad is also important to the process...

Detailing glued to the sheath.

Painting was done with the usual method of taping sections off. Here is a picture from the last detail coat. At this point we were rushing to finish, so pictures are fewer.

Added parachute cord to the swords as well as 1mm PVC grips carved for texture.

Strapping was done using nylon web on the side of the box and looped through the belt on the waist. Engine was nylon webbed to the waist belt as well. Sheaths additionally were looped with the belts that came with costume to the thigh. 

**Story Time!!!**

For this group it was so much easier to just order from Taoboa, unfortunately when I got my costume (the day before the convention) I found that my jacket and my shirt did not fit AT ALL. My shoulders were simply too wide. So Susan (our Mikasa) came over and sewed a jacket together for me in 3 hours. Additionally Jen (Christa) managed to get my shirt together beforehand. If you look at our group pictures you can barely tell that my jacket is different. So happy! Thanks sewing people!!! Without you I could never really cosplay...

Hope that all helps! The group as a whole more or less followed a watered down version of this tutorial (I was writing it as I went) and their gear turned out very similar to mine. So hopefully that is a testament to the ease of this prop? Or perhaps the effectiveness of the templates? Let us know! Questions, comments and concerns don't hesitate to give us a shout!

My gear is on the right (Eren). 

My gear is on the girl on far right (Christa).