Cosplay 101: Prop Diagrams:
Hand drawn diagrams:When it comes to cosplay, a majority of characters will have a least one small prop. Then there will be other characters that will have medium sized to massive and huge props that needs close to exact accuracy. For a majority of the time, props shows us compassion when it comes to creating them.
In terms of props, they're not difficult when it comes to reference searching. Props always seems to give us cosplayers a little relief by giving us almost every angle or at least gives us an opportunity to guesstimate what the other side of said prop would look like.
For example, in terms of swords, staffs, and wands, it's most likely safe to say is if one side looks a certain way, that the other side would be the exact same way:
When it comes to creating props, much less researching props, there will be times where the reference pictures are okay and decent, but there's no reference picture of said prop straight on so you would be able to study the dimensions to determine how long it is (the length), how wide it is (the width), and lastly how thick it is (the depth).
A great example would be Sergeant Calhoun's (from Wreck It Ralph) big gun would fall in this category. So, no matter how much you research, there's no absolute guide of what it looks like when it's viewed straight on. So, with that said, with my Sergeant Calhoun cosplay, I literally had to hand draw a diagram from a reference picture (where it was being held in the air) and had to do what I could just to get an idea of what if would look like if it was viewed straight on. It wasn't too bad to do, but this is the end result that I got in terms of hand drawing a diagram:
https://japaneseblossomkitty.deviantart.com/art/Sergeant-Calhoun-WIR-Big-Gun-Diagram-Cosplay-727641308
It's not the best in the world, but it's going to help any and all future Sergeant Calhoun cosplayers.
There will be times where some props are going to be this difficult to reference. So, it's best to at least hand draw a diagram of the said prop or truly go by the original reference pictures as best as you can just to make sure that the details are right. It won't be easy, but sometimes you have to take drastic measures to make sure of the accuracy is correct.
It's not easy creating cosplays and/or the props sometimes; however, in the end and when everything is said and done, it'll be worth you're while when it's created and done correctly.
Thanks for your time and good luck to you all^_^
