Construction Details:

Though this is a pretty basic cosplay, with the fatigues, the pistol belt, the holster and vest, the vest itself was the thing that I actually took the time to make.

This was a bit of a challenge. In order to get the right look I had to stare at images from game play and cut scenes for hours and then compare them to existing military gear. Finding that there was no existing tactical vest I needed to make one from scratch. Noting that the Chris' vest in the game looked like it was more ready to absorb impact, I needed a way to replicate that. Unfortunately I didn't crate a vest with kevlar and trauma plates, but I did end up deciding to stuff it with yoga mat. It was about the right thickness and would add the correct ammount of stiffness to the vest. Next I would need to pattern the thing out, and that took some effort, seeing as I didnt have a dress form or an extra pair of hands (thats what I get for being the only one to not go any where for spring break that year). After the pattern was created I decided to use duckcloth as the main fabric and then cut out all of the pieces (the pockets came as a later addition). once I started to assemble it, I realized that I would going to have to do a lot of this by hand, seeing as sewing through 2 or 3 layers of yoga mat and 8 layers of duckcloth was going to be neigh impossible with out throwing the timing off on a regular machine. I used the nylon webbing from a military surplus store to attache the vest at the sides, as well as some larger parachute clips.

By the time youmacon 2010 rolled around I ended up finish everything but the pockets by the time I was in the hotel room (due to time constraints and classes the was an extended project). The night before youma con I used some of my acrylic paints to carefully create the logo on the back and then the logo type on the front. In the hotel room I ended up hand stitching the zipper onto the front and the velcro at the shoulders.

all in all, the idea was to make it look a lot more like a fusion between an actual military vest and something created by capcom.

After that con, I created the pockets with the machine and then had to handstitch them on. I used the invisible stitching method. It's a pain in the butt, but the effect is so amazing that it is worth it.

Note: those pockets are great for holding quaker oats granola bars, dunkaroos, and poptarts.

Yet another note: yoga matt doesn't breathe, so be warned if you intent do use it in other cosplay constructions.

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