I loved making this costume despite the bruises, blisters, and blood. It seems I say this after completing every project, but this is hands-down my favorite cosplay to date.
Early Anya Concept Art
Let’s start with the motive! Gears of War is one of my favorite game franchises. Not
only do I love the games, but I’ve read all the novels and comics so to stay caught up
on cannon. My fandom landed me a spot on the Game Informer/Gears of War 3
cover story team, and that particular trip is when it was first hinted at that
the women of the Gears universe would be taking up COG armor. Our suspicions were
confirmed when the final cover art arrived at the office, showcasing Anya in full combat
regalia.
My 2010 costume roster for San Diego Comic Con was already full, but as always, I had begun to plan the subsequent year. The difficulty of the costume was a huge selling point, as I wanted to continue challenging myself and learning new skills. The fact that I hate sewing and prefer to work on armor and props helped with the decision, too.
Despite my hatred of sitting at a sewing machine, I made a pact that I would create the entire costume from scratch. I wanted to take full ownership of final product so I could proudly say that I made everything myself. Online tutorials and advice from friends were pivotal to finishing the costume, however, and I’m thankful to everyone who lent a hand.
I started the costume about seven months ago, although I mulled over its construction for more than a year. One of my Minnesota friends – Rachel Dangerfield – aided me in fabricating the corset and pants. Finding fabric was tough, as I was going off very early concept art and couldn’t tell at the time if her armor was leather or canvas. The color was suspect too – sometimes appearing tan, and others a warm grey. I had to dye some of the fabric to get the right tone.
Rachel worked on a second corset and set of pants in tandem to mine for a Sam Bryne costume also slated to debut at SDCC. For a handful of weekends we worked side by side, making it much easier for me to wrap my head around the complex task. When finished sewing I added dozens and dozens of dark grey brads around the lighter patches on the pants, and did the same in vertical lines across the corset. My fingers were raw by the time I was done.
After polishing off the pants and corset I moved onto a acquiring a few easier items to give myself a mental break. Tracking down a set of official COG tags was easy. The blonde wig was a bit tougher, as the cut from the concept art is quite unique. Next I ordered a grey athletic tank and ironed STROUD over the left breast, as I wasn’t sure what would be visible under the armor at that point in time. I also ordered a crimson omen patch from eBay, and altered it with fabric markers to fit the color scheme. At this stage, I began looking at footwear. I zeroed in on motorcycle boots before further narrowing the focus to motocross apparel, hoping to find something appropriately oversized and exaggerated like in the game. I eventually settled on a pair of THOR boots. As far as other purchased items are concerned, the gloves came from the sports section of Target.
At this point I was certain the costume would come together and started talking to Cliff Bleszinski about the project. He was amazingly helpful and provided me with additional reference material to ensure the armor was accurate.
At first I wasn’t sure which approach to building the armor would work best, although I had researched several options. The most accurate option would be to use the male pepakura template and scale it down for the female form. For those of you not familiar with pepakura, it’s the resource used to make many amazing Gears of War, Halo, and other armor-heavy costumes. Essentially you print a template on standard paper, fold and tape it together, and then coat it in various primers and paint to harden it. After seeing a WIP build of Marcus’ armor in person, however, I realized the design was too different from the female armor to use. As there was no female COG pepakura template yet, I went back to the drawing board.
Anya Without Armor
I’ve worked with Wonderflex many, many times, and it was the next method I strongly considered. I voted against it in the end, as Wonderflex alone is quite thin and wouldn’t look durable. I came to the conclusion that a hybrid of materials was needed. I revisited the world of motocross and acquired zip-up torso armor as a starting point for the COG gear. After weeks and weeks of searching online, I found a set that was similar in shape to what I needed and ordered it online.
I deconstructed the armor entirely the day it arrived at my house. After removing the netting that held the chest, back, shoulder, and wrist/elbow pieces together, I started to re-appropriate everything for a new use. The shoulder pieces worked perfectly for kneepads, and I removed all the ridged plastic from the front of the armor to use on the back – but more on that later. The forearm/wrist guards were kept as is for the most part.
To build up the chest piece, I lined the back with Wonderflex to strengthen it and form it to the specific shape I was looking for. I then began to pattern out basic shapes from the reference material using paper – folding the paper in half before cutting to ensure each side was symmetrical. After establishing the right patterns and layers, I transferred them to craft foam and attached the pieces with glue. I actually have no idea what the large circle pieces on the chest are, but I think they’re somehow associated with toilets as I found them in the plumbing department of my local hardware store.
Properly securing everything in place became the next priority. I used both a drill and a leather punch to make holes for the various nuts/bolts that hold together the layers. When all was said and done, the inside of the chest piece was riddled with pointy metal that needed to be filed down for comfort sake. That came much later, after I borrowed a tool tough enough to cut the hardware flush. Until then, trying on the piece was very uncomfortable.
I cut up an old backpack and used the straps to join the front and back pieces of the armor via the shoulders, reinforcing it with Wonderflex at a later time. I moved onto the back of the armor before attempting the LED shoulders pieces. The back is a hodge-podge of pieces that I removed from the chest place, as mentioned. I also used some sort of vent for a dryer, and tubing from a vacuum. Again, lots of hardware was needed to keep everything in place.
Anya Action Figure Prototype
The shoulder pieces were the biggest challenge, and something I was working on two hours prior to leaving for San Diego. Having just moved to California, I couldn’t rely on my dad to help me figure out the tricky wiring needed for a proper LED setup. That didn’t keep me from attempting that particular approach, but I wasn’t able to get it working as needed. In the end, I used two gum tins from Starbucks to house the lights, cutting holes in the lids with tin snips. Not able to find the right color blue LEDS, I instead cut up a transparent bottle of laundry detergent that was the appropriate blue color. Then I lined the inside with tin foil to optimize reflection, and positioned two clip lights from Fry’s Electronics at the top of the structure. The batteries and buttons are hidden under the shoulder wraps.
By comparison, the rest of the armor was simple. Again, I patterned out each piece on paper before moving to foam. This is how I built up the forearm guards, the belt, the kneepads, and the boots. The boots were challenging, but the ornate belt was a nightmare. It’s probably my favorite part of the costume now that everything is said and done, however.
After finishing the armor, I used a soldering iron to burn in battle damage and make it look worn and weathered. I learned from my Mad Moxxi costume that clean and crisp isn’t the way to best represent a post-apocalyptic world, and wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
After adding a bit of character to each piece, I sprayed everything a matte grey color to prime it. From there, I coated each item with black and silver paint where appropriate. When the paint was fully dry, I sanded it down with a block to make it appear dull and worn. I also stippled a warm brown on top of each piece to make it look dirty. Red and yellow were used in various locations for accent, which I again sanded down appropriately. In terms of paint, I polished off the look with little flecks of a rust color near any damaged pieces. Everything was then coated with a clear (satin) coat, and again sanded down so that only a few areas looked reminiscent of once-polished armor. The whole process took a week to finish when taking into account drying time.
As far as props are concerned, wandering the halls of the hardware store resulted in securing sprinklers that worked perfect for grenades. A bit of foam and a similarly distressed paint job achieved the aesthetic I was looking for.
The last piece to the project was the complicated belt/gun harness that Anya wears. Constructing it took the final three days I had free prior to Comic-Con. I made the “saddlebags” (as I call them) from scratch, patterning and stuffing them before sewing them shut and adding the accent cording. These were attached to a traditional black leather belt. The back piece was leftover from the motocross armor, which I again built up with craft foam and a crimson omen buckle I found online. I used Velcro to adhere the delicate front piece to the belt, so that I could remove it and still access the buckle to take the entire getup on and off.
The drop-leg holster is made out of cardboard inserted into a pouch I made – again accented with the thick leather cording around the edges. I used the same method to construct the canteen – cardboard, foam, fabric, and paint.
The last bit of polish the costume needed was the Lancer, and Cliff was nice enough to lend me one for SDCC. At that point, I’d put $1000 into the costume and was tight on funds, so the gesture was a godsend. The team at Epic must have enjoyed the costume, however, as I was gifted the Lancer after the convention concluded. I was quite happy, as evidenced by the picture below!
<3 <3 <3
As for the convention itself, I was approached a few weeks prior to SDCC by CNN with an offer to highlight the art of cosplaying via a video feature. I was very, very excited about the opportunity, and it is part of the reason my costume turned out so well. The idea of debuting a mediocre costume on CNN pushed me to work extremely hard on it.
My boyfriend and I drove down to San Diego a few days early so we could record the feature, and I had a blast. As with every SDCC, I had my magic makeup artist Hydred Makabali on hand to help with beauty makeup, blood, and battle scars. She did a fantastic job making everything look dirty and distressed. Note – if you’re thinking of mussing up some clothing for a similar look, real dirt and mud doesn’t work as well as you might think. It eventually dries up and crumbles off. Instead, we used brown and black hairspray and it worked like a charm. You can check out the video from CNN here.
My favorite photographer Leonard Lee (Ljinto) also came down a few days early so we could take advantage of the perfect setting for a photoshoot. I’d been planning the costume long enough to have taken note of the U.S.S. Midway near the convention center the previous Comic-Con. At that time, the clips I’d seen of the game took place on a battleship, and I figured an aircraft carrier would do nicely as a setting for a shoot. The location worked perfectly and the staff was extremely helpful. They let us run around like we owned the place.
I ended up wearing Anya both Thursday and Friday at SDCC – a first for me as I’ve never worn the same costume to a convention more than once. Highlights from the show include attending the Gears of War 3 panel and taking photos with fans, chilling with the Epic/Microsoft crew at the Gears of War 3/American Chopper reveal, and attending the Microsoft event later that night.
The Epic Games Crew
I was also stopped by Entertainment Weekly and taken to the top of the Hard Rock Hotel for some professional photos. Additionally, Destructoid was nice enough to feature Anya, as well as The Chive and Kotaku. I couldn’t be happier with how the week went. I’m excited to put Anya back on later this fall.
Compared to costumes requiring high heels and restrictive fabric, Anya’s getup wasn’t particularly painful. That being said, I constructed the chest piece a tad too tight and I couldn’t fully expand my ribcage for the duration of wearing it, making it a breath of fresh air (literally) to take it off. I’m not entirely sure how long I’d last wearing it in a wartime setting, as my mobility was severely limited, but there is something to be said for looking intimidating, right?
Hope the above tips and tricks help if you’re looking to construct any of your own COG armor! Feel free to ask for clarification below, and take a gander at my WIP gallery for a better look at constructing the costume.
WIP Gallery
Anya Stround Portfolio
Flickr Album Gallery Powered By: Weblizar
Anya Stround Portfolio
Gears Of War 3 Paris Launch Event
Ahhh, Meagan! I’m so excited to read about all the work that went into your costume. it was obvious that a lot of effort went into recreating the gear, but actually reading everything that you did for it is amazing.
Also, I have to add, this made me laugh:
“I actually have no idea what the large circle pieces on the chest are, but I think they’re somehow associated with toilets as I found them in the plumbing department of my local hardware store.”
Who would have thought toilet plumbing would work well for cosplay? Haha.
Haha. I look for form, Ashley. Not function 😛
Congrats and awesome work on your costume. I love the progress pictures and story of how you made it. I love going to home improvement stores and just spending hours looking for stuff to use as something else.
Awesome that you got to keep the gun. Someday I hope to see it in person
Hugs from your Superhero friend in MN
We miss you
Damon
I live your work!! And believe me I know all about procrastinating on projects even ones I want to do. Haha. But I much appreciate the work steps! It gives me ideas on how to approach how yo make my own armor! And I gotta you look gorgeous!! And I dont say or type that word alot.. Haha I wish I look that good in armor! Haha! But again, awesome work! I love your pics!!!
sincerely, a fellow gear 😀
Haha I mean “love your work”… Darn these tiny phone keyboards.. 😛
Thank you Travis and Damon!
Hey Meagan,
This is SUPER helpful. I’m in the process of a Sam costume for NYCC and Pax east this year. I’m interested in that female cog starter kit – How much are you selling it for? Also, what size are the boots?
Thanks,
Amanda
Your costume is awesome! You work in amazing ways and the detail is awesome! I’d also be interested in the COG starter kit! Same questions as Amanda, what is your price and size of boots?
Keep making the best female cosplays ever 😀
Hey ladies! I’m glad the tutorial helped!
I’ve got one cosplayer interested in picking up the starter kit, but she said she would get back to me tonight. I’ll post here ASAP if she doesn’t bite, but here are the details!
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualgirl/sets/72157627364555751/
Sam Byrne Cosplay Starter Kit:
Unused Wig
Custom “Byrne” tank
Cog Tags
Corset and pants (approximate size four. May be slightly smaller, but mine were too tight at first and then became baggy after wearing them a few days. Also note that Sam’s pants are different then Anya’s. Doesn’t have the same design.)
Thor motocross boots (Men’s size 13 – intended to be huge, though. Mine are massively oversized too to fit the art style.)
Motocross Armor (used for back and front piece of chest, wrist/elbow guards, and knee pads)
Total = $300 +S/H, which could be $40 or so. I’d also be available for any questions and concerns, could ship along some spare fabric and write down paint numbers. I’ve also got a handful of patterns for the armor. I didn’t keep them all, sadly, but the few help quite a bit!
My friend passed on the bundle, ladies! Let me know if either of you would like to pick it up
awesome pics, i love seeing the costume being made
Would it be possible for me to buy just the boots?
I think we’re going to try and sell it as a set, but I have an extra pair of the THOR boots in a size six (Mens) if you have smaller feet. I ordered them and they are a bit too small for me, so I got a second pair. I’d be more than willing to get them out of my closet if you are interested
Meagan – love the site and your tmblr account. BIG fan! 😀
I’d be interested in the boots if your looking to get rid of them. Most of the other pieces would be too small for me
I love all your costumes! I’m putting together Anya for Halloween and have a great head start, however I’m stumped on the back – namely between the butt and tops of the boots – is there anything there (armour etc?)
Would you happen to have a pic of that?
Cheers!
Hey there! i absolutely love this! you did an awesome job! if you still have any of the extra pieces that you were looking to get rid of i was curious what you would have left and how much you would be looking to get for it….i look foward to hearing from you! thanx for your time and sharing your ideas!
Hey Davia!
Someone picked up the set, but I still have a size six (in men) pair of boots left, if you are interested.
Hey Robin! There is some armor on the back – I only have one shot of the back of my costume somehow though! You can see it here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=140347892716701&set=a.136178939800263.36540.118765268208297&type=1&theater
Hope that helps!
niña, desde mexico con todo respeto, ESTAS DE LUJO, MAMASITA :D, te ves muy bien como Anya……
Most beautiful Meagan or Anya.you are come in Paris for the blockbuster Gears of war 3 September 23 with a game developer. thank you very much for the shooting.Your work is great and your costume is very beautiful in real.thank you for your patience because it was very hot that night with spotlights for pictures and you must have been very hot in your costume.Thank you again It was a great evening.If i meet Anya in the game maybe it will be you.in real life you’re even more beautiful.Big kisses
I just wanted to say THANK YOU. This blog is amazing. It’s going to help me so much with my Sam costume for PAX East. I would have never thought of motorcross so I’m very excited to start looking into ordering some!
Very glad to hear that Jessi! I hoped it would help other Gears fans out! Send over photos when you are done!!
Thank you Psykoflow! I had a great time at the event.
Holy crap this is the best thing EVER and you’ve made it look sooo amazing! You look fantastic!
I’m totally going to apply everything you’ve done and try and make a Male gear version… A budget male gear version lmao XD
You are one winning lady Meagan!
Thank you Arry!
That’s quite a resourceful looking cosplay. Do you take commissions?
Meagan,
I love your costume! I’m going to be making my own Anya for Halloween this year. I’m curious if you attached the corset to the pants or not, and I’d love any pictures of patterns for the pieces, painting tips and such if you’d not mind helping me out.
Great site, I’m just starting to get into more serious costuming. I’ve done a number of costumes over the years (Sakura from Street Fighter, Sonya from Mortal Kombat 3, Classic Lara) but this is the first time I’m attempting to make armor.
Thanks for being my inspiration!
Hi! Wow.. This costumes is beyond badass! kudos! I am also looking to be Anya or Sam for Halloween, but have absolutely no experience or skill at costume making. So I like to take the easy way out and just buy the costume, or pay someone to make it. I saw above that you were selling some stuff… Are you still doing that? Kudos again on the great costume!
-Steph.
I’m planning on just being an female COG (mostly because I’m not a huge fan of wearing wigs) and this has helped me greatly in ideas for building armor. I’ve been reading a lot about papercraft armor and that just seems too involved for my first time making armor, so a HUGE thank you for this. I just bought a used pair of motocross boots on eBay, I’m really excited now!! THANK YOU!
So glad I could help, Tessa!
Whoa! I found your Anya cosplay through a Google search. At first I thought “this has to be a booth babe commissioned by Epic. The costume is way too good and she’s way too hot,” and then I delved a little deeper and found this page and your other cosplays. Freakin’ amazing! I salute your work! I don’t have the money and time to get into cosplay but when I do, I’m definitely coming back here for help. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you for the kind words Beans!
Wow so YOUR the one!
Sorry, in actuality I usually make music videos on youtube for a variety of female game characters and I remember seeing one of your cosplay pics of Anya randomly and thought “I should do one for her. ”
Funny to find out randomly that YOU were the person in said pic.
Here’s my latest video starring Ms. Stroud BTW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAFH7JW3PGQ&feature=channel_video_title
Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work!
Hey, I forgot to ask in my last post , but I was wondering if would be cool to use some of your beautiful Anya pics for some of my upcoming projects?
This and you is/are bloody amazing! I wish I could make cosplays like this, however let’s just say the imagination is there, but my ability is somewhat…lacking… I was wondering if you would take commissions though, and what your prices would be. If not, sorry to bother you.
Very nice job, I love cosplay and will begin my gears cosplay once I get moved. I am having to put all of mine on hold until I get moved over to Hawaii *sigh* I do admit to your costume blowing my mind and making me a bit envious though ;p It was epic, everything I hope my costume will be. So I look up to your awesome job… Im guessing your extra parts are already sold though eh? Had to ask hehe if not let me know, I would like to discuss it with you, I have the money earmarked for my current Gears costume… so it works. Regardless I will be referring to your work when I am doing mine. I play and read… but shockingly just discovered the graphic novels, there are more women in there which excites me! lol Anyway, amazing, epic (no pun intended) job!
-feeorin
Thanks for the kind words Judy! To you and the others interested, I think the full set – pants, boots, corset, foundation armor and whatnot – is back on the market. Anyone interested?
Thank you Paige! I would love to take commissions, but sadly I don’t have time. Work keeps me too busy!
Feel free! Please shoot me a link if anything ever goes live.
Hey Kim!
I’m SO sorry that I didn’t see this or respond! Did you finish your costume in time for Halloween? If so, share pictures! I’d love to see them!
Hi! Do you have any recommendations for a teen that is wanting to recreate this in a simpler way for 2012 SDCC? I went as a Little Sister from Bioshock for 2011. Thank you.
Hello Delaney!
I think the armor itself is quite tough and might be hard to simplify. That being said, you could be a “civilian” version of Anya, without the chest piece. The pants, belt, tank top with her name, cog tags, and wig would make her very identifiable. Add some dirt and grit, and I think it would work! I think there is one similar shot of me in the gallery above.
I gave you a “cameo” in my fan video watch closely XD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k8MsgC26xo&feature=channel_video_title
I’ll check it out! Thanks Gill.
Hey Meagan! I know I’ve already bugged you a bunch via ask box on tumblr, but I was wondering what you used for the canisters? If you said so above and I missed it I apologize. I’m making both a Sam and Anya costume for spring conventions. Thanks so much for all the tips and hints, I don’t think I would’ve known where to start otherwise.
For the grenades? They are sprinklers! You can get them at any hardware store for about $8-10 bucks a pop.
Too funny we have the same name, and I want to cosplay the same thing! I’m definitely going to be using your pictures as a guide. Do you have any other tips at starting up? This willl be my first major costuming piece. I’m going to be trying to fnish this in time to go with my friend as Dom to Megacon in Feb.
Haha. That is funny Megan! No other real tips as the above is pretty comprehensive. Just make sure to give yourself LOTS of time. 😛
Hello I was wondering could you help me out my boyfriend an I are making a sam bryne costume and I was wondering if you could give me the name of the site you used to get the motorcross gear and also to is there a different way to keep in touch ? Because we really want to make the costume look awesome
so what
better to do than as a awesome cosplayer like you I’m super small
I’m only 4″11 and my shoe size is 5 in a wOmans 
please help
I was Aldo
wondering what you would recommend for sam’s pants and head band and
other stuff for the costume 
please email
me and I was wondering if I could text or call wow I sound weird there lol
I just wanted
to know if I could get sone advice 