Cosplay US 01612

Photo by NGO Photography

themes, Kabbalah and kick-ass female mecha jockeys to the table. Coolly competent and terminally pretty pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Soryu showed mech-head fanboys that piloting a skyscraper-tall killing machine was woman’s work. For professional Canadian cosplayer Riki LeCotey, aka Riddle, Evangelion was one of the first series that got her into anime: “Up until Eva, I had only experienced fun, light-hearted anime. Between the designs, music and complex story, I was hooked. ”Riddle also has a soft spot for Rei – particularly her work clothes. “I have always loved the design of the plugsuits!” Riddle told Cosplay Culture. “Rei’s personality is mysterious, but pivotal to the series, struggling with her own feelings and who she is as her own individual.” In addition to being one of the most sought-after professional cosplayers in the world, Riddle is the founder of the charity group, Cosplay for a Cause. She has raised over $50,000 for charities worldwide. This year, one hundred percent of the group’s sales of a cosplay calendar are going to the Wildlife Conservation Society. Giant walking tank love reached critical level in 2000. It was then when Cartoon Network began airing Gundam Wing – the tenth installment in the Mobile Suit Gundam series, but the first to hit U.S. cable television. Ben Albert, like many high school students at the time, was bitten by the mecha bug. A decade of collecting Gundam models, toys, games, DVDs, books and other items

culminated in his first cosplay from the series, an RX-78 Gundam.

It took Albert, aka Ubers Cosplay, five months and a broad palette of materials to craft his ground type Gundam. “The majority of the armor parts are made with 1mm Sintra®,” the south Florida resident explained. “Certain sections that need more flexibility like the thighs, biceps, and waist are made with rubber coated EVA foam. The container backpack is made from foam core board in an effort to keep it as lightweight as possible. The torso is reinforced with fiberglass to better support the weight of the shoulders and backpack.” Anime fans don’t award ambulatory tanks points for subtlety, and Albert doesn’t disappoint. He has been known to rig a motion controlled sound system to make mechanical stomping noises from the speaker in his costume’s chest. That, plus the machine gun sound effects from his arm and the Christmas lights and LEDs which illuminate his cosplay from within and without, make finding room in the costume for battery storage a real issue. The biggest challenge for Albert, however, was figuring out how to get the whole magilla to and from conventions. In cosplay, Gundam mobile suits aren’t all that mobile. Albert solved his transport issues with some adroit design.

“The torso is able to completely split in half by just removing two

68 COSPLAYCULTURE