Feature Friday: Six Feet Down Cosplay

I’m super happy with how these posts have been turning out so far. I don’t think it will be very long until I start doing features every week! Thanks to everyone who has made this so successful so far. It is a goal to make this a way to help people get their name out there.

I’d like to introduce to you to Six Feet Down Cosplay. He may not know it, but he has very quickly become like my big brother of cosplay. We met through the SC Upstate Heroes, and you may notice he is also the Batman to my Carrie Kelley’s Robin. I think you’ll find his cosplay name extremely amusing when you read his interview below!

What is your cosplay name? Six Feet Down Cosplay

How did you come about your cosplay name? I’m a funeral director. I wanted to reference that in some way. I thought about Undertaker or Six Feet Under Cosplay but that just sounds like I do wrestling costumes or costumes based on the TV show by the same name.

What is your real world name? Rob Sosebee

What do you do when you aren’t cosplaying? Usually working or at the gym. Work has taken up more of my time over the past year. My family and I own a funeral home here in town.

How old are you? 29

How long have you been cosplaying? For about 8 years technically. Most of my early costumes were Halloween costumes that I wore to other events and cons.

What made you want to start cosplaying? It started as a love for Halloween costumes. I always got excited when it came Halloween time and I got to make a costume. Then I learned there were places you can wear these costumes throughout the year.

Why do you cosplay? Like many people, it’s an escape. My job can be very stressful and, as many people ask, often very sad, even though I don’t necessarily know the deceased that I’m working with. This gives me something happy to give back to the community and lets me have a little fun as well.

What is your dream cosplay? I have a few actually. My top two are a Predator suit. I’m talking animatronic mask and plasma caster, retractable claws, the works. The second is the Inferno Armor from Ronin Warriors. I’ve always talked about building it, but I just don’t quite have the skill set to freehand it.

How do you choose who you will cosplay? It started with characters I just liked and could easily throw together by repurposing other things. One of my early costumes was Shredder that I made by modding an old Darth Vader helmet, soccer shinguards and baseball catcher shinguards. Now it’s evolved into costumes that I can upgrade or work on over time that I intend to keep. These are costumes of characters that had big impact on me growing up. My stormtrooper for example. That’s a costume that I will probably never sell if I can help. It’s one I will get a lot of use out of with the 501st. Even though I have done them in the past, I don’t necessarily like “one and done costumes,” costumes that are worn for one convention, or photoshoot then sold for the next project. I choose my costumes now based on long time favorites and what kind of staying power that costume has for me.

What is your favorite cosplay you have done so far? Why? My Ghostbuster costume. The proton pack was the first real movie accurate, or some what close to movie accurate, prop that my buddy Jason and I made. I have always been a fan of the franchise. There are a few movie props I’ve always wanted, the proton pack being near or on the top of that list. I do a lot of events with that suit, and have made a ton of great friends by being a Ghostbuster and meeting other Ghostbusters at events all over. It has a special place for me not only for my love of the franchise, but also the connections it’s allowed me to make.

What is your least favorite cosplay you have done so far? Why? Probably my Deadpool I did a few years ago. It was a cheap ebay suit, I upgraded the mask though. It was just before all the Deadpool hype so it was just a costume I wanted to do as a fan of the character. Looking back though, I looked really bad in the suit. I couldn’t tell how out of shape I looked in that suit. It was fun to wear at the time, but probably one that I don’t bring up too often. I may redo it in some way in the future to try and redeem myself.

You are a part of several “official cosplay groups” (the 501st, Ghost busters). How has this impacted your cosplay experience? It’s definitely made the experience more worthwhile. These groups give me something to cosplay for other than just going to a convention looking to get my picture taken. I’m able to help raise money for charities, or just put a smile on a kid’s face. I don’t get paid when I show up in costume for these groups, it’s worth it just knowing I made someone’s day by being there.

Who is your favorite cosplayer? A couple of my favorites are Jonathan Carroll, Monkey of Steel and Steven K Smith Props. Jonathan does a lot for Bat in the Sun. He always looks the part of whatever character he’s suited up as. Also, he is someone I look up to as far as the fitness aspect is concerned. Steven makes ridiculous foam costumes. His latest is a full Warcraft Orc costume. The costume is massive, and it is just all around impressive. Definitely skills I’m envious of.

What’s the hardest thing about cosplay for you?  Probably the actual production part. With work, home life, and trying to stay on my workout plan, I end up pushing back some of the actual fabricating portions. I, admittedly, don’t hand make as much as I want to for my last few costumes just for the sake of time available to me. Also, I mentioned the Ronin Warrior armor, if templates don’t exist already, it’s very hard for me to freehand templates. I just don’t have that artistic touch.

What is the best advice you have for other cosplayers? Never be afraid to cosplay what you want. Too many people shy away from costumes or cosplay in general because the characters they want to cosplay they think they have to look a certain way or are focused on how other’s think the character should look and they don’t fit that character’s “mold.” Just pick a character you like and go. Also, women, don’t be afraid to just cosplay a male character. You don’t have to make a “sexy” version, you don’t have to have cleavage showing, you can just make the costume like a male cosplayer would. You don’t have to be “female Captain America” or “Sexy Punisher,” you can just be Captain America and Punisher.

Top 5 resources/tutorials you have found for cosplay help? I love working with EVA foam, so most of the resources I look to are for foam work. A few these are great for any material you may be working with though.
1: Punished Props Foam Smithing ebooks: Worth the money to pick these up if you want    to work with any type of foam materials. http://punishedprops.com/product-category/ref-mats/
2: WM Armory: They have great videos on foam working techniques and tips. Some of which are covered in the Foam Smithing Ebooks.
http://www.wmarmory.com/?cat=3
3: Therpf.com: I recommend this just for the fact that, more than likely, if you want to build a certain costume or need references for something in particular, you may find it on here.
4: Evil Ted Smith: Another great foam fabricator. A lot of great tips on his youtube channel as well as some simple foam patterns to build off of in his shop.
http://eviltedsmith.com/
5: Reddit: Don’t forget about Reddit. There are a ton of discussions going on here. Much like the RPF, there’s a good chance, someone has already asked or answered your question here.

Anything else you want to add? Just another word of advice for cosplayers. Just have fun. This is supposed to be a fun hobby. One that brings joy and smiles to those who participate and those who just like seeing their favorite characters in person. When this fun hobby stops being fun and starts being stressful, filled with drama or just not fun anymore, then you owe it to yourself to re evaluate. Take a step back and decide what you want to be doing in this hobby. Stop worrying about deadlines, a costume contest, or finishing your fifth costume that you’re going to wear between 5pm and 5:45 Thursday evening of a convention. It is completely acceptable to go to a convention with just one, two or even no costumes and enjoy the actual convention itself, with your friends. A weird concept, I know, but trust me.

Weren’t those awesome answers? My favorite part of Rob’s interview was the advice on women cosplaying as male characters. What was your favorite part of Rob’s feature? Do you have feedback for Rob? How can I make these features worth more for you? Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!

Don’t forget to show Rob some love too and follow his social media:
Facebook: Six Feet Down Cosplay
Instagram: @undrtkrbob
Twitter: @undrtkrbob
YouTube: www.youtube.com/undrtkrbob