We feel that introducing ourselves colloquially as years go by would be a welcome refreshener for anyone introduced to our current Crafts and sudden Presence Online and also to our long time Followers that might be wondering why in Hells below we post once in a full blood moon!

Who are the People at the Workshop?

Couderc “Arkan” Catherine, Ada, Paracelsus.

I’m referred to as either Arkan or Cat, hi!

   I’m the Original Creator and then-only Owner of the Shop back in 2018 - make it 2016 if taking small commissions to make rent and groceries in my electrical engineering school year counts! The Shop had opened on Etsy some while ago and I decided to part from the platform to my own place after not feeling represented as a maker nor a seller through their imposed changes and compliances. I needed total control over what I presented to people, and my Best Friend joining in the adventure was the committal point of the “Let’s make this work while truly independent” mentality that we are still going with thanks to People supporting our Crafts!

   Briefly: I’m the Spirit of what the Business is and will be, I’m the one who handles everything Social, Design, Specialized and Intricate. I spend more time at my workstation designing, assembling and wiring rather than sanding at a workbench like I used to in my beginning but when I do it’s still hells of fun! I overview every operation and check for a go or redo, though our Chief Quality Inspector (introduced last, bellow) really is the one that lets us know we’re good..! 

Fun fact: “Arkan” was supposed to be a Front, a Mantle, a Sigil of sort behind which I would never really show myself fully and it would help focusing only in the craft; wearing it as my username for years prior kind of threw the meaning away - the residual Plague Doctor Mask and general covering up my face is part of the idea still around and played differently!

   What I do daily labouring has been self-taught through trials and many errors from very early on in my life, I still make mistakes and I embrace the journey: to me at the end of the day it’s all about learning, growing as a person and enjoying the companionship! I got my hands on Blender when I was around 8, had the chance to have a Mentor that taught me the basics of paint for half a decade and had the chance to work on wood throughout my life at random points; all up until what I consider a turning point in late 2016 when I decided I could make it work after doing a few props and costumes for myself and drifting more into craftship than studies! It has been 10 years of crafting for me so far, with all that knowledge I do my best daily to prioritise customer experience through the quality of our items and having them be long lasting unique pieces individually made at the Workshop while sharpening and honing my skills for tackling greater and larger builds yearly!

   In my free time I paint in Abstract Impasto with acrylic paints but there rarely is a time to even watch that paint dry as there are usually 2 to 4 canvases going at the same time when I’m in the mood with many layers to put on! 

   I also have my small army of WH40k Tyranids that I sporadically dedicate one or two weekends every a quarter to progress on and enjoy those cute bugs evolving from their plastic grey to Naglfar Fleet’ deep blues, purples and bones! 

   My most favored recreational activity is writing TTRPGs Scenarios for friends! Namely on Call of Cthulhu 7th edition (soon Victorian 1842 setting!), Cyberpunk Red (Neo Soviet!) and a on-hiatus D&D 5e 10 years long campaign in a Homemade Worlds (that system is my least favored)! I love to write my own Lore and learn how things operate in areas I’m not necessarily familiar with to immerse as best as I can everyone at the table - it also teaches quite a lot for work and get an insight on how it all functions! 

   When nothing above scratches the itch I scroll the National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health to keep in the loop of news about my affliction (Fibromyalgia!) and other curiosity. Otherwise I try and keep informed about what’s new on Tech plus consuming anything digestible that’s Lovecraftian and Occult!

   Most Artists I listen to daily while I work, if you’d like a glimpse, are as follow: Nine Inch Nails, Death by Romy, The Birthday Massacre, Andrey Vinogradov, HoneyWorks, Type O Negative, Depeche Mode, Ultra Sunn, Phantogram, Sisters of Mercy, Jesper Kyd, Elena Siegman… Anything Goth, Industrial, Electro, Rock and Instrumental, these are my most played in general! Personal Playlist here (with a few Spies already tapping in)!

"Kao’s".

 

Hello everyone, I’m Kao’s.

   I’m the second person behind Arkan Cosplay. I’m passionate about drawing, manual work and gardening (sometimes I like to see the sun!). I mainly work in the workshop with the props once Cat (Arkan) has designed items. I’m in charge of sanding, priming, painting and assembling them alongside her. My favorite of all time is the Medigun, either Stock Red or Australium Blue. When needed I also work on designs, though I’m terrible at anything  computer-related that is not drawing. Nice to meet you! 

Furie.

 

   Meow! Meow Meow Meow Meow. Meow… Meow.

“I am the Chief Quality Inspector to be bribed with wet food and allowing me to sleep on Arkan dress’ mockups while leeching warmth anywhere I can! “Furie” as in “Night Fury” from “How to train your Dragon”… Meow.”

How do we function?

 

   Hey, it’s Arkan again! Now that you have been introduced to my Best Friend and Myself, both Co-Owners and Craftswomen at Arkan Cosplay LLC, it’s time to loosely lay out how we run all of it by ourselves!

   As you’ve learned I’m the Head at everything we make Design-wise, it goes from the 3D Modeling to its desired Aspect, and if it needs Electronics with some Coding! I handle all desk and paperwork duties like accounting, parcels, socials, showcase media editing and answering emails! I do intricate and new woodwork pieces with Kao’s alongside so she can master them on her own. I’m the seamstress responsible for every costume’ pieces being patterned, sewn and weathered - both fabric and leather! I get my hands (and gloves) on complicated painting steps for Props and often dive into scheduling and planning ahead so we run efficiently and catch ourselves in a safety net if there is an abnormal lull! If anything needs it I also do all silicon and resin casts, the list goes on if I'm to share all minute details: we’re pretty busy being only 2 and we assume you can partially imagine what it’s all like from these excerpts!

   Kao’s is the real force behind it all! She is the one that sands, primes, paints and varnishes 90% of every prop at the Workshop - mind you she started with no knowledge on any of this, she learned all throughout those years and now can handle most builds on her own including complex ones! She is the one doing so much summarised in so few words because the time, energy and focus needed to pull it off is directly translated through nearly everything you see on our Storefront! 

   We ought to change our Business’ Name soon(tm) to reflect her position so that she’s fully acknowledged by everyone as while she’s camera shy and likes to hand out anything online as long as she gave you above to read, I firmly believe that the Workshop nowadays would be non-existent without her dedication and persistence! Also we’re not together and “only” Best Friends, people assume while we have both our Hearts elsewhere!

   We’re always eager to take on a project no matter how complex and peculiar! Meet the Real Mercs series by Shork had us making a TF2 Stock Sniper Rifle to all major crafts for Meet the Real Medic: our capabilities are defined by what you’ll see through our showcases in clear focus and our background presence in other’s work! Anything that excites you is reciprocated, we can’t count how many times we’re hyped by requests and ongoing orders on a daily basis!

   We are aware of our physical limitations and needing breaks sometime. Starting a Business right as COVID-19 settled in late 2019 a few beats after signing officialisation had us in a rough and exhausting spot requiring we make it work restlessly: we now take days off to breathe every once in a while if we feel we need to come back full force, and we loosely follow Holliday's Tradition to rest and enjoy friends and families!

Alright, so what’s next?

 

   Keeping on crafting and delivering, making the best out of ourselves manifested through our creations! We definitely are branching out a bit from TF2 but we’re nowhere near done with all equipables! We have our heads on following through more Set Design for ourselves and our showcases, and we’re pretty excited to keep at it in general as it’s a breath of fresh air with many to get a hold of and stories to tell!

   We will be seeing you around! Thank you for your interest in our crafts, let us know if you need anything we’ll gladly answer!

-Arkan and Kao’s (and Furie)