Cosplayers Morgan Durfee and Jacob Newton have brought to life two memorable Bloodborne characters in costumes so realistic, you might think they’ve stepped right out of the game. Pairing up to create The Hunter and The Doll, the cosplayers have left no details overlooked. From the tasseled edges of The Doll’s winter cloak to The Hunter’s bloody saw and realistic blunderbuss, the costumes’ execution shows great care for details. The pair worked for two months almost daily on their Bloodborne costumes.
The idea to do Bloodborne characters came one day as the couple played the game together on Newton’s Twitch channel. While Newton contributed to the costumes’ design, most of the crafting was done by Durfee.
Though new to cosplay, having only designed her own costumes in the last year, Durfee is daily building her skills while working for a small company, Dark Iron, that takes costume commissions from other cosplayers.
“I’m still learning a lot about crafting tools,” said Durfee. Putting together the Bloodborne ensemble challenged her abilities, the cosplayer said.
“I made the Blunderbuss from Eva foam and Worbla but since it was the first time I’d ever tried to use Worbla, it was difficult to kickstart myself and not get intimidated,” Durfee said. “Once it was done, though, I was pretty surprised it turned out okay. Using a base of foam when working with Worbla makes the project much more successful.”
Durfee finished the gun with acrylic paint to give it the wood and metal appearance.
For the saw cleaver, Durfee looked to some more creative materials to aid her.
“I made the saw cleaver out of drywall insulation which I painted and splattered Ben Ney's stage blood over it to make it look more realistic. To me, that was the best part!”
But finding a way to make the saw cleaver open up, proved the most challenging.
“I couldn’t figure out how I was going to do it, but then a friend designed a kind of latch system that allowed the cleaver to open and close.”
To complete The Hunter’s outfit, Durfee crafted a foam hat and armor, creating the armor’s welded design with hot glue painted to look like metal.
Though The Doll’s outfit didn’t require as much crafting, the intricate details of the shawl, hat and makeup required thoughtful planning and patience.
“All of the white lace on my doll outfit was hand dyed in my bathtub,” Durfee said.
For makeup, Durfee experimented until she found a method that worked.
“I had no clue how to get the makeup like I wanted it, but in the end, it all worked out. I used Ben Nye’s white concealer and laid over it a very light foundation,” Durfee said. “I used a brown eye shadow for the dark circles around my eyes and sealed it with hair spray. I popped in green contacts to make the bright-eye effect. Lastly, I added the platinum wig from Kekeshop on Etsy . Wigs are so important. Cosplayers should always invest in a great wig because it makes such a huge difference!”
While Durfee admits some of her methods may be simple, with each new endeavor she takes on, she grows in confidence.
“My methods are pretty simple right now since I haven't been doing this very long, but the more materials I use the less afraid I am to try more new things,” Durfee said.
To see the complete set of Morgan Durfee’s Bloodborne cosplay photos during and after the project was created, plus other projects she is working on, be sure to check out her Facebook Page, Dark Nightingale Cosplay.
