Cosplay: The Beer Legion
Ruth Cohen talks to cosplayers, the Beer Legion
This gang have to be my all time favourite armour-toting cosplayers. They’ve come up with these characters themselves and have graciously agreed to do a mini-interview for this armour segment!
They won Best Supanova Skit at both Brisbane and Gold Coast Advanced category from 2012 to 2013, Special Creativity Mention at AICON comp and Cosplay Guest at flippish.com segment ‘mt.fuji’ in the Philippines 2013.
All the amazing photos you see throughout are by Lorenzo So Photography. You can find the Beer Legion here.
What are your core materials and approximately how much do you use?
We primarily use Beer Boxes that represent our characters. I myself use XXXX as I am the XXXX Samurai. Pure Blonde Valkyrie uses Pure Blonde boxes and the VB Knight uses VB boxes. We use ALOT of boxes so that we can get some nice designs out of our armour. For example, Pure Blonde has a set of wings where each of the feathers is created from a beer box, and my armour is plated to simulate a real set of samurai armour. We also use undergarments like shirts, or items like knee guards or shin guards to build on top of. Generally we just use things we find around the home that we haven’t used in a while, as we see it as a form of recycling. Other materials include duct tape, ribbon, super glue, rope, cotton, core flute and zips.
[Beer Legion 1 – XXXX Samurai, Pure Blonde Valkyrie, and VB Knight]
What sort of man-hours does it take to put together the armour?
Each of the completed armours took roughly 1-4 months. We are perfectionists when it comes to these armours. On our site, it shows our first incarnations of the armours and then we just simply improve upon them more and more. Most people don’t realise how much time we put into these armours, seeing as they are made of beer boxes. They assume we just throw these boxes together the night before an event!
[Beer Legion 2 – XXXX Samurai]
Are there simplified versions of your armour or is it all out, all the time?
There are simplified versions of the armour. I myself wear a half armour when it mixes with my martial arts. And VB Man has chain-mail version that is easier to move in. We do have our well-made armours for great events and we also have our simple armours for doing skits and videos. Half the time we just wear the hat and helms, just for our shenanigan videos on YouTube!
[Beer Legion 3 – Pure Blonde Valkyrie]
What made you think of the materials in the first place?
We were stumped for what to Cosplay before the 2011 Brisbane Supanova. After a fun night of shenanigans we thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we made armours out of these beer boxes?” Hence the creation of the Beer Legion. Initially, we just did this for the LOL factor, but we were such a hit, we began expanding on the Legion by moving into skits and storylines. We focus on having a good time. I guess the Legion represents the fact that Cosplay isn’t just about looking awesome; it’s also about having a great time with your friends!
[Beer Legion 4 – VB Knight]
Well that’s me for a wrap this week! Remember that patience and persistence are important in creating massive features like armour… (Oh and fun… remember to have fun)! ~Ruth
