Introducing Rubiinikettu, a new Krystal cosplayer. She made her debut as Krystal last weekend at Desucon 2022, a Finnish anime convention. It was a relatively small con, but a few pictures are emerging of her time there. Her costume is very accurate to the games and it's causing quite the stir online.

I got in contact with Rubiinikettu almost immediately and she was kind enough to send me a bunch of details about the costume and her experience. I will summarize what she said below.

She's been reading the Krystal Archive and using it for research during the construction of the costume, especially the 3D models. She got inspiration from other cosplayers, specially Ayano Harumaki and Nyalice.

She loved Star Fox Adventures back in the day, but hated the flying parts. She likes strong female characters in video games and believes Krystal to be a fierce fighter.

Rubiinikettu has been cosplaying for a long time under a different name, hence her skill in creating this Krystal cosplay. She took a long break from cosplay before researching what kind of costume would be a good new challenge. She settled on Krystal as she had never done a fursuit-style head, which was the most interesting part of the costume for her to make.

She began working on it in the Fall 2020, with many breaks and slow progress. She tried many new techniques and fabrics, experimenting until she found the best options. She focused on accuracy to the game, keeping proportions the same and avoiding the toony look that some fursuits can have. The head is carved upholstery foam with fur fabric on top. She used the "follow-me" eye technique, which creates the illusion that the eyes are following the viewer. The hair on the head is a synthetic wig. The ears are more upholstery foam covered in fur fabric. The headband is made from EVA foam and attached to the top of the head with magnets so it can be easily removed to adjust the wig.

The armor pieces are very lightweight and not too bulky. They're EVA foam covered in Worbla for the upper armor. The leg armor is just EVA foam with no Worbla. They are mostly attached with a lot of velcro.

The shoes were a special challenge, Rubiinikettu never having modified shoes before. The feat are made from upholstery foam with individual toes that can move.

The bodysuit is stretch velvet, a material used often by figure skaters. Rubiinikettu used an airbrush to help blend the colors from blue to white on the front. The tattoos are stretch vinyl, and might I add that she got the spiral direction and orientation correct, something many artists overlook. The tail is filled with cotton and has a base made with upholstery foam and metal wire.

The jewelry is 3D printed, made by a friend. The red headpiece was cast in red resin, but the bigger green one failed to work the same way, so it is simply a painted 3D print. The clothes required a lot of gluing and ironing to get the details right.

The biggest problem to solve with this cosplay was making sure the bodysuit was flexible while avoiding wrinkles, especially around the neck. She also had to make sure the shoes were sturdy, but comfortable. Lastly, the eyesight through the head was challenging.

Rubiinikettu became more determined with every new problem and challenge she faced. One problem you might not suspect is the difficulty of getting the kinds of fabric she needed in her country. Much of the fabric had to be ordered from Europe.

She's very happy with the outcome of the costume. She was surprised how many people recognized the character, in spite of being 20 years old. In the future, she hopes to work on a staff prop with LEDs later this year. There were some other details she wants to update, like the buckle ornaments on Krystal's back and tail.

This appearance at Desucon was only the first. She plans to be at more cons and do some photoshoots in the future.

You can follow Rubiinikettu's work on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Pixeffect, Niinkos, SampoMoN, and possibly others. Please let me know if I missed anyone or if you find more!