Why it matters to you
Mike Carambat shows that with ingenuity, foam, and a lot of time investment, crafting amazing cosplay outfits can be a lot of fun.
Cosplay is often considered a labor of love, given the effort and time investment required, and it’s even more so if you’re building an outfit for someone else. In the case of Mike Carambat, he poured his familial affections into a fully functioning mecha suit for his daughter, inspired by Overwatch’s D.Va
Even though any effort is to be applauded in the cosplay world, there are certain levels to it. There are those who put some stickers on some spandex and there are those who build walking, smoking, backlit mecha suits. Carambat’s creation certainly falls into that latter category, as the D.Va suit not only “walks” but has visibly functioning thrusters, rotating guns, color changing lights and a sound system for pumping out D.Va’s iconic lines from the game.
This hefty project began back in September 2016, with Carambat posting a pair of potential mecha suits on his Instagram. While commenters were torn on which to go for, he ultimately settled on the D.Va design and began work in earnest in the months that followed.
A post shared by Mike C (@retroresource) on Jul 23, 2017 at 10:49pm PDT
The first step was figuring out how it could work with a singular occupant. That was followed by the building of the wheeled assembly that would actually move the suit around, while the legs rotated around the hip joints to give the impression of bipedal movement. After early tests proved successful, the legs and frame were gradually constructed and he even pulled in the suit’s eventual pilot to test out some of the features before it was completed.
A post shared by Mike C (@retroresource) on Jun 25, 2017 at 9:15pm PDT
With smoking vents, whirring gattling cannons and pumping speakers from the LED-lit interior, the suit was almost ready to go. It just needed a few finishing touches that were hampered by Carambat’s holiday commitments. He managed to get it done in time for MechaCon 2017 though, which runs from July 28-30. Practically a photo finish.
All in all the project took many man (and daughter) hours to be completed, but the end results are rather spectacular. The internet shouldn’t be too surprised though, as Carambat and his talented daughters have been producing and winning competitions with, amazing cosplay outfits for years now. From Big Daddy and Little Sister team ups, to fully functioning Ezra Scarlet armor sets.