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Leela

Started by russellsuthern, Jun 28, 2018, 08:08 am

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russellsuthern

Hi all!

Hope you are well.

Dressing up as Sarah Jane for my "Hand of Fear" prop thread made me realize how much I like wearing ladies clothes (unfortunately for you lot!!)

So, as Steve correctly guessed, my next Cosplay adventure is going to be the wonderful Leela, as played by Louise Jameson. :)

Now, Lis will always be my favourite companion, but I'll always have a soft spot for Leela.
Just like Peter taking over from Tom, Louise had an almost impossible task. She had to replace arguably the most popular companion to date.
She had to play a character that the audience would warm to, but would be different enough to not just be a carbon copy of Sarah Jane.

As history shows, she did a terrific job.
Her combination of innocent naivety & kick ass fighting skills were an instant hit. (The leather swimsuit didn't hurt, either!)

I was distraught when Lis left, but Louise softened the blow & actually, some of my favourite stories feature Leela (Horror of Fang Rock, Talons of Weng Chiang, Image of the Fendhal, Robots of Death- absolute classics!!)

I'm going for the classic, original look as seen in The Face of Evil.

Here's a pic of the real thing:

Leela 10.jpg

This is a lovely shot, which shows Louise & Toms costumes very nicely.
They also look very comfortable together, which is interesting as I believe there was a bit of tension between the two, based on the fact that Tom felt Leela was too violent a character for kids TV.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to putting this one together.

First set of pics coming soon!

Thanks for looking.

Best regards,

Russell

danielc

Good luck with the Leela costume. But I think it will be quite revealing on you

russellsuthern

Thanks Danielc,

I think I will look rather fetching in it!!


Russ

fivefingeredstyre

Quote from: russellsuthern on Jun 28, 2018, 08:08 am
So, as Steve correctly guessed, my next Cosplay adventure is going to be the wonderful Leela, as played by Louise Jameson. :)
Oh. My. God!!!!

ciderman

I think you've got the legs to carry it off Russell.

karsthotep

Jun 28, 2018, 07:15 pm #5 Last Edit: Jun 28, 2018, 07:16 pm by karsthotep
don't encourage him!!! :P
I want notes, lists and answers by the time I finish this here Juicy-a-Box! WARNING: I am Thirst-ay! And it is Fruit Punch! And it is Delicious!"

russellsuthern

Unfortunately, Karsthotep, I need very little encouragement....

Firstly I took stock of all the bits I already had.
As always, I'm going for the overall feel of the look, rather than absolute perfection & to have lots of fun, of course!

I have the long, black hair wig I used for my SJ pics. Louise's hair was brown & straighter, but this will do.

And I'm going to use the brown wellies for the boots, which should please Volpone!  ;)

So, the first thing I did was raid my wife's wardrobe for a brown vest top.
Leela's top was leather (or fake leather) with thick, crude, red stitching. I simulated the stitching by painting the lines on with red paint.
Then I grabbed another old brown T shirt & cut two flaps from it, which I sewed to the bottom of the vest to preserve my modesty...


Leela 12.jpg   Leela 13.jpg

So far, so good...


Regards,

Russell

russellsuthern

Jun 29, 2018, 06:03 pm #7 Last Edit: Jun 29, 2018, 06:04 pm by russellsuthern
One bit of the costume I was particularly interested in was the knife, as I do have a love for sharp, shiny, pointy things!
Leela's knife is actually a pretty hefty & large looking beast. Certainly very practical for a warrior!
I found it very difficult to find a realistic looking toy knife. This may be because of the rise in knife crime in the UK at the moment, which means it's not really considered appropriate to stock them..?
Anyway, I managed to find a rather snazzy looking sci fi/fantasy style sword in the pound shop.
I chopped it up, re assembled it & painted it & managed to come up with something that looks pretty accurate, I think.

Leela 14.jpg   Leela 15.jpg

More to come in a bit...

Cheers,

Russell

russellsuthern

Next job up was to start on the accoutrements.
This is Leela's pouch for her crossbow bolts, or quarrels, to give them their proper name.
I made the pouch from my old t shirt & painted black stripes on to simulate crude stitching.
The bolts were made from some old broken arrows I had lying around.

Leela 16.jpg

I also wanted to get some rustic looking jewellery. I found a beaded bracelet & necklace from a charity shop.
I made Leela's leather wrist strap from some card covered with more t shirt material with some elastic to keep it on:

Leela 19.jpg


Cheers guys.

Russell

russellsuthern

Okay, so this is all the accoutrements sorted:

I found a nice box in a charity shop which originally was a little shoe shine kit... perfect for keeping Janis thorns in!
I made a sheath for the knife & the crossbow bolts you have already seen...

Leela 17.jpg


Leela wears a sort of blue leather apron with red trim which she hangs her accoutrements from.
I had some blue vinyl left over from my previous builds (cut from an old training mat.) I used red ribbon & paint to create the detailing...

Leela 18.jpg

Getting there...

Russell

russellsuthern

It was only after I glued all the bits on that I realized that in every picture, Leela has a different arrangement of equipment on her belt, so obviously all the stuff just slips on.
This means not all the pics will be accurate, but there you go...

Leela 20.jpg

I'm going to pop a teaser pic here, but the main body of pictures will go into my 4th Doctor cosplay thread.

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=8648

Look if you dare....

In the meantime, here's a teaser...

Leela 21.jpg  Leela 22.jpg

Thanks for viewing.

Russell

ciderman

How about Peri in her pink leotard and hotpants next?

russellsuthern

You guys really are gluttons for punishment....


Scarfwearer

Well he is... ;)

You're definitely going where no man has gone before. Well probably definitely - I don't get to many cons... Possibly probably definitely then.

karsthotep

Quote from: ciderman on Jun 29, 2018, 08:47 pm
How about Peri in her pink leotard and hotpants next?


Stttaaaaaapp!!!!!!
I want notes, lists and answers by the time I finish this here Juicy-a-Box! WARNING: I am Thirst-ay! And it is Fruit Punch! And it is Delicious!"