TRON: Legacy Clu Costume

Compass72

This thread has been created as a step-by-step on how to make your own TRON: Legacy costume. The character in this example will be Clu, however you can easily alter the project to go with a Sam Flynn character like the one I made recently:



I'll be adding as much information as I can, as soon as I can; so you can get started as soon as possible. For the entire encyclopedia of knowledge on this, I would recommend the parent thread right here at RPF:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/tron-legac...lanning-88230/

This contains all the knowledge that myself and others have done in getting our first costumes complete and in suitable working condition. You will find a wealth of knowledge here to the point of information overload. But it's comprehensive and the best source out there for working with Electro-luminescense in costume design.

In this thread we will be covering the following major topics:

Part I: Limiting Factors, Research, and Project Goals
Part II: Electroluminescence

Compass72

Part I: Limiting Factors, Research, and Project Goals

With most projects you're limited in what you can accomplish by the resources you have at your disposal. In our case the two major, limiting factors will be time and money. This project can get expensive and mistakes can be unforgiving. So by extention your personal skill level will determine ultimately how costly the project is, and how long it will take to complete. We will try to put you on the path to success to the best of our ability. So don't hesitate to post questions or search me out on facebook or via email. I'm here to offer help to whomever asks for it.

The next issue becomes how authentic you want your costume to look with the resources you have available to you. This is where research starts coming into play. By learning as much as you can about the costumes themselves, you can then go about figuring out what materials are out there that allow you to replicate them as close as possible. In this case it proved difficult as of this writing the movie hasn't been released yet. This makes information hard to come by as anyone associated with the film is most likely still bound by a non-disclosure agreement. So whatever information you do come by it will be on the general, non-specific side.

One of the better resources out there was when UDReplicas was able to obtain a license to manufacture a leather motorcycle suit using the actual movie design.

Sam Flynn TRON LEGACY

You'll notice that the leather overlay match exactly with Sam's costume as well as the hex pattern which shows you were the armor pieces end and the undersuit begins. So the suit itself looks like a lycra/spandex bodysuit with rubber-molded body armor pieces on top of it in very specific places. In the areas where the spandex undersuit shows through, you can see the signature hex pattern clearly on the suit.

Interviews with the cast revealed key words as to what the suits consisted of:

YouTube - TRON: LEGACY - Comic-Con Interview with Olivia Wilde "The Suits"

The terms neoprene rubber and 'electro-luminescense' gave you the general idea of the materials and/or processes used in the creation of the suits. So with the materials in mind, the next step was obtaining various photos of the finished product to use as a starting point. Attached below are some good examples of Clu.

Attached Thumbnails

         

 

Compass72

Part II: Electroluminescence

Straight from www.electroluminenscence-inc.com...

Electroluminescent (EL) devices are actually lamps. They emit light, but they are unlike any traditional lamp. Instead of creating light by heating a filament --- as in an incandescent light bulb --- or by charging a gas field --- as in a fluorescent or neon tube, EL relies on phosphorescent materials which glow when exposed to a small electrical current.

El lamps are cool, low power and emit a soft light without any irritating glare. They are invariably very thin, almost like ribbons or sheets of paper, and they can be produced in a variety of colors.

The source of light is a phosphorous mixture which is spread onto a transparent, conductive ITO film and then covered with another thin sheet of conductive material.



In most EL tape configurations, electrical power is usually provided through copper or aluminum foil conductors. In EL sheets, panels or other applications, different conductive materials can be used depending upon design requirements.



Terminals provide connections for electrical supply and can be located anywhere along the length of the copper or aluminum foil. In the custom pattern sheet, several dozen terminals are placed around the edge of the sheet to provide connections for customized applications.



Out of all the various methods we have investigated, EL is the best way to achieve the 'glo effect' of the costume in a persistent manner. Reflective tape will give you a brief effect under a camera flash, but to light up a dark room, it's this or nothing.

What application you use (tape, wire, or sheet) depends on the width, length, and curvature of the pattern you are trying to replicate. There isn't one, true way to replicate the pattern you're going for. Often times you can use one method or another, but each have their strong and weak points.

EL Tape: Thin profile, not as power intensive as EL sheeting and can be ordered in a variety of widths; depending on the pattern you need. Available in a variety of colors. But can be tricky if you need to deviate too far from a straight line.



El Wire: Thin and flexible, and also realtively easier on a power supply than EL sheeting. This is great for a wavy pattern with multiple directional changes where the design is relatively thin in width. Also available in many colors. Downside is it has trouble replicating thicker and flatter designs.



EL Sheeting: Can be cut specifically to any design you need to accurately replicate the look you are going for. Comes in limited colors, sometimes requiring a colored, transparent coating on top to replicate an exact color. Limited to designs 8 X 10 inches because it is manufactured in A4 size sheets. VERY power intensive.

Compass72

Part III: Planning your design

The planning stage is where you begin to see the scope and cost of the entire project. What parts will I need? What equipment/tools will this require? Should I build from scratch or use pre-fabricated components wherever possible? Again, time and money will be the deciding factors for you. For the Sam Flynn costume, I tried to use pre-made parts I could incorporate into my design and hopefully save me a lot of time.

For the torso, I used the Fox Titan BMX Upper Body Armor available at XSportsProtective.com.


It contained enough hard armor areas to lay the EL sheet on with glue, as well as a sturdy back plate, which allowed me to mount the battery packs and identiy disk on. It had the look I was searching for.

For the rest of the armor, I used a Bohn Body Armor set from Actionstation.com, as well as SixSixOne Padded Shorts & Lizardskin shin/knee guards also from XSportsProtective.com.



Finally the boots came from Vitessemoto.com because they just...looked...cool.



Whether you use pre-made components or not, what you're keeping in mind during the selection/construction process is how am I going to incorporate the electroluminescent material onto the costume? Will I use tape, wire, sheeting, or a combination of all three? Can I glue it onto a hard back, or will I need a base material to lay it on and then sew it onto the costume?

Compass72

WORKING WITH EL SHEET

What makes EL Sheet helpful for this project is that the custom sheets (A4 Letter size 8 1/2 X 11") can be cut to any design you want. You can also layer tape over top to create the 'circle' effects seen on all the costumes. It's incredibly thin. As thin as a credit card.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part V.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part VI.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part VII.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part VIII.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part IX.

Compass72

This space reserved for Part X.

Bharam

thanks for this tutorial. i'm planning do make my own tron suit in the future and this will help a lot

qwertman

Man, I thought I had the coolest home made Tron Legacy suit around. I made it with EL Wire and some clothes I got from a second hand store, but I think for my 2.0 I'll go the tape route.

propmaster2000

Hey Compass72 great tuturial

By the way you have an extra "n" in your electroluminescence-inc address above.

http://www.electroluminenscence-inc.com/

Here is the corrected link below:

electroluminescence-inc.com/

mirsylus

hey man.. saw u when u came out for the thing at Universal... ur suit rocked, man.. good work...

Akira

Great info, thanks!
Question, it seems obvious choice is to buy a sheet that can be cut out of their selection here:

E-Luminates

A5 size? Couple sheets just in case, to cover a typical costume in way of lighting?

What invertor, and where, can be obtained to power it off of battery (not AC?). Or these sheets will only power off AC invertor?

Tim

twinight

The link you provided to the sheets has inverter size recommendations. 12V power source minimum for EL sheets.

Akira

So from what I can see, looks like EL sheets are needing AC power, and won't work for battery? Hmm, I have to figure out options.

Tim

twinight

The inverter converts DC power to AC. Look at the Inverters that they sell and you can see some operate off 12V.

Akira

Thanks! Not sure how I missed it, I see this would do:

E-Luminates

Tim

twinight

Yes, if the total area (Sq. In) of all the final cut shapes being driven are no larger than an A5 sheet (48 sq. in)

SqueekinOrka

Thank you very much for sharing and making this thread.This will defently help when i start my own Tron Costume. Thank you,your suit looks great

jy116

thanks for the reference pics! They saved me search time, and were really comprehensive!

I wanted to share a fruit of your info sharing [see pic]. I opted for 3M reflective tape due to budget [time + money]. I chose the 1/2" black tape [product ID 79922] since it's more subtle.... so I can keep using my moto jacket without any potentially unwanted attention. Later I noticed there's a clear film layer that I was supposed to remove, making it actually brighter than in the pic.



P.S. do you ride a motorcycle too? If not, let me know if you want to sell the Bohn jacket armor inserts! Mine are brittle/crumbling...

loruhcee

You did a great job, I love it!