RWBY - Yang Xiao Long - SDCC 2013

The final bit in the whole RWBY project saga.

As I was working on Crescent Rose I caught wind that there was no Yang slated for SDCC. The show is called RWBY not RWB and I felt that an official cosplay group should HAVE all the characters. I took a shot in the dark and offered that my girlfriend would make Yang for them, I was told to just continue work on Rose and to stand fast. I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd get the job, but I also knew I'd regret it forever if I didn't at least try. A couple of days later I got the green light to start the project. I had mixed feelings about my success in landing the commission.

Death! By cos-cos.

I was given extensive resources with which to work this one out, but time was not one of those resources. I only had 6 days remaining to wrap up Rose while finding time to complete Ember Celica. Here are a couple of the references I was given.





Full references here

For the record, Yang has the best trailer. Watch it before you continue, you will not be disappointed.



First order of business was to get the cardstock pattern out the door.



They were small enough for my scanner so here they are!

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I cut all the pieces from PVC foam using a ruler and box cutter.



All the pieces were heat shaped. I used a PVC pipe as a bending form to ensure they were all a uniform bend.



They looked really rough. REALLY rough.




Not going to lie, I really did consider putting shotgun shells into Celica. I have them in my house, might as well use them? Instead I just used them for a size reference.



Pieces were glued together using Loctite Professional Liquid Super Glue.







Edges were beveled using an orbital sander and a belt sander.



Added acrylic trim on the top.



Added acrylic and PVC for the ammo section of Celica.



Bondo'd the seams and sanded flush.





Drilled a hole and added the same sprinkler fitting that was on Crescent Rose sans cap. Drilled another set of holes... because it looked cool I thought.



I assumed the black on her forearms were long gloves she wore underneath. NOPE.





In any case I added the section, then proceeded to add some battle damage to it. I carved it all out using my box cutter.



Primed the entire thing.



Painted it yellow. I was considering painting it vibrant gold. Thank God I didn't.



Yang had an appearance lined up on MTV the following morning so had to paint the trim with a black paint marker and red was the Testor's enamel.



The whole thing was done and over with. I just stepped back and watched people really enjoy the group as a whole, it was really humbling. To my surprise I got to do an interview with Rooster Teeth about the props while I was wearing my Tryndamere costume of all things. All in all I was super pumped from the whole experience.

That feeling.

Hope people liked the RWBY project! I had a great time doing it! Watch out for more RWBY weapons from us! This series is just getting started!

Yang cosplay by SpacePizza