“Photograph from the cosplay photoshoot by Amp Studios.
 
I’m Cadance and Drakmire is Shining Armor. My costume is loosely based on WoW T5 priest armor and Drak’s is an original design in a similar aesthetic. We got a lot of people thinking we were from League of Legends, which does have a similar look so I guess that’s understandable. The crystal Warhammer apparently makes everyone think of Taric even if the rest of the design doesn’t look like his outfit at all.
 
We made basically everything ourselves except the shield (though it was painted by us), Drak’s under garments, and the wigs. Most of my outfit is sewn from various satins with iron on gold vinyl for extra detailing. The armor pieces are made from Worbla. It was my first time working with Worbla and I definitely learned a lot! The crystal weapons are made from polycarbonate glued together, painted on the inside, and lit up with LEDs. The patterns for the weapons were designed by Drak in Blender. We also have some 3D printed elements to our costumes. The stars on Drak’s weapon and the ferrules on the ends of both weapons were designed by Drak in Blender and 3D printed, then sanded and painted.The light up gems are cast in resin with LEDs embedded in them. This was also my first time casting things in resin. I really enjoyed making the gems and will definitely be including more custom gems in future costumes! The book is a paper mache book box from a craft store decorated with tissue paper, paint, and modge podge to look like the History of the Crystal Empire book from the show. It is held closed with a magnet (though I should have gotten a stronger one) and functions as my purse for the outfit.”