A very well known and cosplayed character in the cosplay and nerdy community has been Hawks from My Hero Academia, known for his staple wings, fur jacket and laid back personality. The wings have been a challenge for most cosplayers, done in several ways and different techniques. Learn how LarpLikeRae made their several types of wings for Hawks and how they are attached to each individual outfit!
A very universal tactical outfit meant for relaxing at conventions and being put to good use with 12 pockets!
Tactical Hawks
"When I was in the looks for a comfortable Hawks cosplay, I wanted to make something that was useful at conventions and also something that he would wear doing a side mission. I had done a very closet cosplay of Hawks at Isekai 2023 Salt Lake City Utah for a panel and while there, I met some great friends that wanted me to bring this cosplay back to another convention 1 month later. So not wanting to bring the same closet cosplay, I decided to rework the pants, useable vest and shirt. I wanted to go more with a tactical style of pants that were tan, matching the same color of pants from the show, but adding black straps, pockets and parachute buckles to make it adjustable for size, movement and capacity for conventions. Due to moving a lot at conventions and buying merch, I wanted to be able to hold not only my own things but my friends items if their cosplays did not have pockets."
"I had made very accible wings for the closet cosplay and were used for this tactical version. The wings were detachable from a base that lies behind the article of clothing chosen. then I pop out the base of the wings, and snap the wings onto the base. the base is looped around my chest in 3 separate parachute buckles and straps to keep a sturdy grip onto my body. The snaps of the wings are actually pill bottles and caps! The caps of the pill bottles are melted to the base of the wings with Worbla and a heat gun. the pill bottles are the base of the tiny burnt wings and had EVA foam clay, foam and tinfoil morphed around it to give a wing like shape. These wings are by far my favorite and much easier to work with others I've made in the past."
"The vest was quite tricky with designing and laying out. I wanted the back to have hard thermoplastic panels to correct posture as well as hide the two holes lined with bias tape for the wings. When wanting to wear the wings, I would take off 2 of the silver thermoplastic plating (attached with velcro) and snap in the wings to the base. If I wanted to use the vest for any other character without the wing holes showing (like Tactical Bakugou) I would put the detachable plating back on!"
"This cosplay is by far one of my favorites and I absolutely enjoy bringing it to conventions and other events because of the mobility, light weight wings and the convenient outlook of the pockets. I had been a host for Anime WonderFest 2023 in Tucson, Arizona, and Sunday of the event I chose to wear this cosplay. It was one of the best choices I ever made and everyone loved it!"
LarpLikeRae tends to make each cosplay as easy as possible to get into and wear, especially if they are at a convention. Yet at times, some outfits have their limits and restrictions. Steampunk Hawks is of the most difficult cosplays Rae has to get into and wear due to the complexity of the wings, and design.
Steampunk Hawks
"This is one of my most complex cosplays I had to get into while at a convention as well as for a photoshoot. However, to make this cosplay, it was fairly easy! Granted there are 5 layers of clothing on the torso to keep the wings in place. Lets break down everything about this cosplay so if you are looking at making something similar to this, you don't repeat my mistakes."
"Let's start with the Idea! In 2022 I had made a poll on my Patreon, wondering what cosplays my followers were interested in seeing me make. Any version of Hawks was thrown my way, but I really was intrigued by the thought of the steampunk AU of My Hero Academia. Within about a week, I had rushed together a quick Steampunk Hawks and tried my hardest to make wings that flapped. Because it was a rushed cosplay, it was not done to my liking and couldve been better in the long run. at this time, I had pushed this cosplay to the back of my mind and decided to carry on with other outfits."
"2023 came around the corner and I was accepted for my first ever guesting opportunity as a Fan Table at Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention in Tucson Arizona. I was beyond excited and started to plan out my cosplays accordingly, this brought me back to the steampunk Hawks I made exactly a year before and had rushed. I decided at that moment that I wanted to recreate it and instead of doing mobile wings, to repaint wings I had made for my Quackity cosplay and use those! Since the con was around the corner, I had reused a lot of other cosplays to make this outfit yet again such as the pants, wings, belt, shoes and gauntlet."
"The downside to this cosplay, was that the wings were originally made for my Quackity cosplay and were made to be worked with the vest I made for him. However the wings did not work properly and were not held up correctly with the back structure of the vest that I made for steampunk hawks. So, I had to wear a binder, the red undershirt, Quackity vest, steampunk Hawks vest and lastly a leather jacket with fur on top. in the back of the jacket was a large slit cut for the wings to exit the structured Quackity vest and pop through the jacket. It took about 20 minutes to get on and off, so especially at a convention, bathroom breaks were awful. Everything else on the cosplay was amazing like the custom goggles, pants, belt, gauntlets and shoes. Just the amount of layers and the mobility on the cosplay was a bit much."
"A couple months after WWWC 23' I had reached out to an amazing photographer 'PeteMecozziPhotography' to do a photoshoot in Old Bisbee, Arizona in the steampunk Hawks cosplay. I arrived at 7am to the small mining town to meet up with Pete and one of his great helpers! We shot (it felt like) hundreds of incredible photos! Pete is genuinely such an amazing person and so thoughtful and caring not only during the photoshoot but every time you get the chance to talk to him. He is such an inspiration and incredibly talented. I know he focuses the most on his clients and says that they are the work of art, which they are, but he captures such amazing moments and knows how to work with the art of photography. I am so glad I had the chance to shoot with him for this photoshoot and several others as he brought to life most of my photos shown and advertised for me guesting at conventions. I honestly, couldn't of done it without his expertise and passion for photography!"
"There were several funny parts to this photoshoot that made it all the better. First off, it was a very windy day, so I was glad that Pete had a helper to hold down his lighting equipment. But due to it being windy, at the very beginning of the photoshoot, a tiny bug (knat) flew STRAIGHT into my eye. My contact was bugging out (pun intended) and took a couple of minutes with my phone camera and finger to get the gross bug out of my eye. Sadly my makeup was slightly ruined but you couldn't even tell with the photos! Later on after the photoshoot, I had thanked Pete and we went our separate ways. I had stopped by a small cafe in Old Bisbee to grab a bite to eat when I was stopped by a guy who asked if I was there for the convention. I was a tad bit confused and said, "What convention?" as if it didnt look like I was dressed for one. He explained that a town over in Old Tombstone (20 minutes away) there was a Red Dead Convention happening that day. Granted, I wasnt in a Red Dead cosplay but I sure as hell wasnt going to pass the opportunity of going to a convention for an hour or two before work. So I drove to Tombstone and this convention was packed in this small western town. Voice actors were inside a building doing meet and greets and the entire town was packed full of visitors, I remember putting on my wings (all by myself which was a feat in itself) and walked to the town. Let me tell you, the amount of people wanting to take my photo was crazy, but I wasn't even close to being in a Red Dead cowboy cosplay, and if I knew about this con, I would've cosplayed a different character. However, on my way out of the convention, I was stopped at a tent full of speakers and a banner that read "News". They had asked if I wanted to do an interview... and there I was, giving a full on interview for a game I never played, cosplaying from something entirely different and being filmed. I still haven't found that footage, and one day it may come back to haunt me, but I thought that it was hilarious that I had that experience. After that interaction I had walked back to my car and one of my wings SNAPPED off. I went home afterwards and months after with the broken wings 'promised' to be fixed... I decided to throw them out."
"The next time I plan to make the huge wings, I will do 100% better with what I have learned and will challenge myself to make more durable wings. But for now, that is the story behind my very detailed and intricate: SteamPunk Hawks!"
A simple cos-test at LarpLikeRae's first guesting convention led to the idea and design of a bigger cosplay.
Pro Hero Hawks
"In March of 2023 I was invited to be a guest at Isekai in Salt Lake City Utah for my first ever guesting convention. This was a first year con and since it was my first ever time guesting, both myself and the con had a lot to work on. One of the panels they had me host was a League of Villains panel, I needed a cosplay to change out of in a fast manner and into another cosplay within 15 minutes (what my schedule allowed me) so I made a cos-test of Pro Hero Hawks to wear for the first time at the convention. Due to the high demand of this cosplay, I took inspiration of it and decided to make my own version of him: Tactical Hawks to wear more comfortably at conventions."
When a hot summer day means that a Cosplayer is in need of making content, sometimes they strive to make a quick cosplay to enjoy the day.
Casual Hawks
"Most of my casual cosplays are made more for videos or photos to either get a feel for the character or skits. On the rare occasion, I'll sometimes get into a casual cosplay just because I want to. Ill either walk around the house in the outfit or even go outside to do day to day activities. This casual Hawks photoshoot was done just because Cloud and I wanted to go about Tucson Arizona for ice cream and on a small date. So we had set out for a small day in the blazing hot city in these cosplays just to enjoy each others company!"
Most conventions are known for having afterparties such as raves, 18+ panels and Formal dances. LarpLikeRae had the chance to attend a formal at Isekai 2023 and put together a formal version of the Pro Hero: Hawks.
Formal Hawks
"When seeing the schedule for Isekai 2023, I had to go about planning my lineup and cosplays very effectively. Since I am from Southern Arizona, traveling up to Utah would be best by flying. So in order to pack, Cloud and I planned to do cosplays together that were simple and easy to store away and could be used several times for that weekend. Luckily everything for this cosplay was something I had already owned due to my other Hawks cosplays, such as the vest, shirt, tie, glasses, wings, pants and shoes. This cosplay was super easy to dance in and definitely made an impression with countless of con attendees!"