Guardians family costume build (on a modest budget)

Hey gang, relatively new here and to a lot of this, but, well... my wife and I always went the extra mile when it came to Halloween costumes, and my 7yo daughter is following in our footsteps. Last year we attended our first con (RI comic-con... first for all of us, last con I had been to was some 20 years prior, a MUCH different world...) which is a few days after Halloween (or, this year, the NEXT day) in our Star Wars Jedi costumes, and we got a ton of compliments over the course of the weekend. SO, this year rolled around and the three of us absolutely loved Guardians of the Galaxy and as soon as we/I realized I can do a pretty good Peter Quill impression (C'mon, man... Star-Lord... legendary outlaw?) we immediately started planning our Halloween and comic-con costumes for this year.

Now, that being said, we ARE on a budget (within reason... the total build is not going to be cheap per se, but as much as I'd love to I can't plunk down $150 on the ever popular Peter Quill short jacket everyone's buying) so the following W-I-P is going to reflect some of the creative solutions we're hoping to use (and many we've gotten from this site, which has been an absolute godsend in terms of how-to and inspiration!!).


Starting off, the leather trench I found on ebay to create my Star-Lord coat from...paid a shade under $60 for it and to be honest, almost hate to destr---er, modify it for the costume. It had a pretty thick liner in it which was the first thing I really did on the build, removing it. I found some recommendations on here for paints to use to recolor leather, even black leather, so this will be an essential, if nerve-wracking experience.


The most difficult thing was finding a coat that had a squared off collar, but this one is doubly cool, as it has a double collar of sorts, and the inside one (with the zipper) really looks a lot like the vest he wears under his trench, so I kinda get a two-for-one on this. Using a burgundy paint (as his trench seems much darker than the shorter coat options), and some of the leftover straps and such to help create the segmented and cut up bottom sections.


The giant table of crap that will become most of my Star-Lord costume... a few pieces still coming in over the next few days but should have mostly everything ordered.


Another score... this vintage walkman I found at a local thrift shop (if you live in new england, the Savers chain of stores is cosplay heaven!) for $3... not a Sony but it shares that boxy bulky shape and with a paint job I think I can make it work well (even if the controls are on the left side and not the right). Still actually works too, so my Awesome Mix I may actually try and record to tape instead of trying to cut an ipod/phone sized opening in it! Dollar store headphones and a replacement orange foam microphone windscreen to make the ear pads. Thinking outside the box on how to attach most of this stuff TO me, I picked up a bunch of cell phone clips (the type with the small round disks you attach to a phone) and wlll be using them to attach the walkman, the guns, and the ankle rockets.


The prerequisite NERF guns, belt buckle blank, and some dollar store red LED bracelets I'm modding to go into the helmet eyes. And the demin blue hanes long-sleeve T.


Going to try combining the budget Star-Lord mask out of the Iron Man mask tutorial out there with some of the pep work as well to hopefully make the best combo I can.


More props... styrofoam ball to create the orb from, will try splitting it and installing the top half of that purple light-up ring (which flashes super bright) inside to simulate the infinity stone. And the cheapest piece that makes me happiest, the plastic rat that I'm going to use as a "microphone" prop to sing into. Sometimes it's the tiny details...


The pile of Home Depot odds and ends that I'm going to turn into ankle rockets...


And last but not least the faux leather I'm making my spats out of, as well as the shoulder piece for the trench...



And now onto my daughter's costume... she's going as Rocket from the end of the film (so she can carry Baby Groot around). Not quite as elaborate as SOME of the Rocket's on here but...


This thrift store NERF blaster is going to be the base of my build to make Rocket's rifle. Again, not going for screen accurate but a close enough job to pass.


Fabric for the Rocket costume, as well as webbing and D rings for the straps.


Our big score... wife found a jacket/shirt made of faux raccoon fur on ebay dirt cheap... the sleeves she cut off and they are already perfectly suited to use as legs for my daughter., so she just needs to make sleeves and basically a hood from the fur (and tail). Daughter will be wearing a hood all decorated with teh fur as well, but we're likely going facepaint for her features. I've tested out and will be using brown fabric spray paint to add some brownish tint to her fur after the build is done (spray, immediately wipe off, makes for a nice effect!)


Annnd the Baby Groot supplies.



And now my wife's Gamora build...


`She had these old boots kicking around in teh "stuff to donate" bin... guess what just found a new life!


She found this jacket at the thrift store, and managed to get a second smaller one cheap on ebay. She'll be sewing in some piping and such for detail t the front to mimic Galmora's coat and changing the buttons, as well as putting in a new collar (going for Gamora's final battle look). Together with the same color stretch pants it looks pretty good, now I just need to make her sword somehow to pull it together.

So that's it! WIll be posting/commenting as we progress... one month to get this all done!

That's awesome! I make my whole families (7 of us but my mother wants to get in the mix lol) for comic cons. I love seeing other people do the same. I'm also one for making Halloween costumes. I really think this is great. Keep up the good work! I'm also having my son carry a baby groot, haven't gotten close to that stage yet.

Yeah my toughest problem so far has been trying to figure out my priority list... I feel like everytime I start to work on the costume I'm approaching a different part, SO many things to do, and SO little off-the-shelf items!

I can't see any pictures

Ahhh, sorry about that, image files are fixed... for some reason when I uploaded them they appeared in the editor correctly but didn't post, had to re-upload them one by one.

WooingScotsman said:

Yeah my toughest problem so far has been trying to figure out my priority list... I feel like everytime I start to work on the costume I'm approaching a different part, SO many things to do, and SO little off-the-shelf items!

Click to expand...

I felt the exact same way...except I was only making the Star-Lord costume! I can't imagine how you must feel with having the 3 costumes to work on! I found that if you work on a little bit here and there, it'll all get done at some point. Once you're further in on the costume, some parts actually get completed and that list just gets smaller and smaller. I subscribed to see how you progress! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

By looking at your supplies for the Star-Lord helmet, I think I know which tutorial you are using. I followed most of it for the front details, but made up my own parts for the sides and back. If you want to check out my build, it's in my signature. It could give you some ideas on what you could do. Let me know if you have any questions!

I know how you feel!! Now add OCD to the mix that is Obsessive Costuming Disorder in which the main symptom is screen accuracy!! I'm also adding a real dancing Groot who is my 8 year old son. My 5 year old daughter will be Rockettes Raccoon. Wifey is Gamora but since she doesn't costume much we went with the deluxe Disguise costume! It will be severely nodded of course! I know the feeling when you got 9 projects running simultaneously and figuring out where to cut corners due to time constraints! I'll be watching your builds!

Thanks ErkNinja and Capn_Jack, I've been watching your builds as well and seeing your names in these threads... been lurking and collecting pieces since late august now, (also had to spend a few weeks cleaning and reorganizing the house top to bottom in order to have the space to work in!) time to get cracking on the build. My belt leather, pants, and sling bag came in today. Going simple(r) with each of those... found some tighter-fitting black BDU's for cheap on amazon ($20) that I'm going to mod up with the faux leather on the sides... figuring since I'm wearing the trench I'm not AS concerned about the pants I was originally was (and the $40 motorcycle armor pants I was going to buy and was waiting on a paycheck for suddenly are not available in my size, I'd have to start looking in the $60+ range, again... budget!). I am putting some effort into the buckle but due to time I'm likely just putting it on a plain brown leather belt (again, not that visible under the trench). I do really like the sling bag I found, though it's a BIT smaller than I would have ideally liked: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IQOFO4Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is probably last on my mod list (outside of ripping the designer logo patch off as soon as it came in), as its just kinda tucked away in the back and to be honest, I actually think I might use it outside of the costume. I'm a videographer and it's JUST big enough to carry my longer lens, extra batteries/memory cards and my phone in it and stays mostly out of the way, so I may not go too mod heavy on it even long-term.

BTW, Jack.... your Cap'n Jack Sparrow is freakin' amazeballs. My daughter got into the PotC movies this summer and is a HUGE fan and she was floored by the pics. We competed for the first time this summer in an urban scavenger hunt/race in Boston (in our Jedi garb... team "Looking in Alderaan Places" We may not have won, but we DID win the $50 costume contest prize!) and we're already thinking ahead to next summer, for on the way home I had a flash of brilliance and discovered our perfect team name, The Pirates of the Carribeantown! SO I'll be looking at your costume threads for a bit of reference, savvy?

For the record, THIS might have been the year in which I realized I had an addiction:



Zurg's head I made out of a wastepaper basket... whole lotta cardboard and home depot in that costume!

Oh believe me it gets worse!!! I've been doing Captain Jack Sparrow since 2006 and since then it has been OCD ever since! It is fun and therapeutic at times except when you are OUTTATIME!!

Sooo, looking around last night and realizing I have to start cosplay-building with the blinds drawn, as my table o' Star-Lord parts is really starting to look like the view through one of those tiny fiber-optic cameras that ID's a room full of bomb-making bad guys right before the SWAT/FBI/ATF teams kick in the doors, just sayin'....

Ha Ha! I was up to 3:00am making my daughters Rocket gun since they don't sell the Nerf version here in the US. Now I feel like ATF will be at my door soon!

So... some progress (hopefully pics tomorrow).... attacked the hell outta my trench and so far love the results. I used a wood burning tool to add the detail lines to the from chest/shoulder areas as well as the "panels" in the bottom of the trench, the results were pretty damn good! First coat of paint is on the jacket... sorta happy. The whole "paint a jacket a different color" thing: huge success, really looks natural. That being said, the Angelus paints burgundy color is a bit more plum than I would have liked, as my wife the artist said, "it has too much blue in it." Obviously, his trench is darker than the other jackets, but I think I will need to order a brighter shade of red to top this one (but I think the combo of the two shades will work).

Getting to that point of "if everything else comes together and I have a great costume but no helmet, I can live with that" but we'll see, haven;t reached that point yet.

Should be spraying my blasters tomorrow as well as my cheapo boot rockets. Surprisingly, the one item I had the most difficulty finding? Silver rub n buff! Sounds like Michael's stores have just recently stopped carrying it, and I had to make a hobby lobby trip to pick some up.

I've also cut all my (p)leather pieces for the shoulder and arm work on the trench, but not assembling them until the coat is done with painting (not sure but leaning toward just attaching them to the coat as well, no need to have them shifting around on me).

Some of the other threads on here have given me some inspiration on how to do the spats (although truthfully I may in fact be the most scared of doing them out of everyth---oh, wait, no, they're second after the bucket!)

Also contemplating a wig to go along with the helmet... not a big fan of them but my buzzed and receding hairline isn't going to make me look like skinny or chubby chris pratt anytime soon

Just an aside... for everyone doing a Guardians costume build... what's the over-under on number of times you've listened to Awesome Mix, vol 1 while working on your costume? I'm estimating roughly 75 or so right now...

I'm listening to Awesome Mix Vols 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 7! If I had more time I would create 8 - 10!

WooingScotsman said:

Just an aside... for everyone doing a Guardians costume build... what's the over-under on number of times you've listened to Awesome Mix, vol 1 while working on your costume? I'm estimating roughly 75 or so right now...

Click to expand...

Just got mine in the mail yesterday! So, I'm going to have to start my count tonight. It probably would have been about 75 if I had it from when I started the costume!

Instead, I've been watching all the marvel movies in order of release...finished them all...

Okay, making some serious progress now... Firstoff, the wife is diving in on the rocket costume for my daughter, fur sleeves and legs are done, as well as a fur shirt of sorts for the sleeves to attach to under the jumpsuit. Found an online tutorial last night to do a quick and easy and VERY effective looking half-mask for Rocket's face, think we're now leaning that way (although my wife did make a hood/cowl of fur...my daughter was always going to do some facepaint, just a question of entire face with just the cowl, or bottom third of face if we do the mask). Ordered these awesome shoes for her as well: http://www.clawzshoes.com/clawz/classic-clawz-black/
I had ordered some grey monster feet slippers but they were beyond clown shoe big on her feet, just wasn't happening and looked so out of proportion to the rest of the costume.

Finished Rocket's gun last night and SO pleased with the results... here are some in progress photos and the final result:

Adding the "stock" to the Nerf gun... carved out of a $5 yoga block.


The assembled gun... craft foam and an extra tupperware container for the barrel, some leftover PVC pipe from my ankle rockets for the scope, and the guard piece on the side cut from a laundry detergent container.


Priming done, ready to be painted black and given the rub n buff treatment...



ANNNDDDD the finished project!! One thing off the to-do list, woo!!! Really pleased at how this came out though, especially since it was the most low-budget item in the family build I think. My daughter was beside herself this morning


So, onto the other big progress item, my Star-Lord trench...

Firstoff, I used a wood-burning tool to add some extra detail lines into the coat in several places, like the shoulder/chest area, to replicate (or at least hint at) the look of the actual jacket.

These are on the inside "faux" vest part of my coat, will likely be rub n buffing them once I'm in the final stages.


The bottom trim piece in front of the coat, again, just roughing it in to mimic the look...


One of the panels cut from (and will be re-attaching to) the bottom of the coat, REALLY happy with how the wood burner was able to add these lines in to mimic stitching lines (and was SO excited to use this technique on my gun holsters....and then remembered that those are being done with faux leather that doesn't burn nearly as well (more like melts), dangit!!)

Had to cut my collar (underneath) a bit more to replicate how his sits...


The initial paint job, with Angelus paints burgundy color... right hand pic is a bit more accurate to the "plum"ness of the color. Liked it (aka, if I found a coat this color at the thrift store I would have definitely just used it for the costume) but, well, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when I have the time to be... so another paint order and....

The final result (color-wise, anyway, still some finishing work and reassembly needed)! Right hand pic (w/flash) gives a better look at the color and texture of the paint job, having the black and plum underneath makes for a really nice weathered look. Had to end up mixing the "brick" color I got with the burgundy (roughly 2pts burg for 3pts brick) and then as I painted each panel of the coat, immediately rubbing it down with a cotton cloth to weather it.

So far so good... guns are all primed and ready to get the rub n buff treatment as well.

Looks amazing! I really like the guns for Rocket! I was a little scared because I read that you were finished with the guns and then I saw the picture of the guns before painting. But then I saw the actual finished project, and it looks amazing. The guns are amazing, and good idea with the trench coat, adding extra details to it. Definitely going to keep an eye on this thread.

Hoping to get some more pics up soon... builds are progressing rapidly and very well, just under the gun with Halloween on friday and comic-con the next two days after that!!

Star-Lord, just about everything buy the bucket is done, finishing up my walkman now... guns, coat, orb, pants, spats, headphones all set. Picked up a new bag today and will try to mod it some to fit the look of the bag, though it may be a rough approximation, but at least the sizing is right (the one I had gotten was just TOO small)

Rocket: blue Nova outfit is done, fur "suit" is done, facemask, ears, gun, all done... only thing left is MAYBE making a back piece out of EVA foam.

Baby Groot sculpture: also done!! Looks great and I'm sure my daughter and I will be fighting over who gets to display it after...

Gamora: Wife is working on the jacket mods, has the black collar on the red top now... still have to make her sword which I think I'm going to try dremelling from a couple combined sheets of plexi...

Somehow even had time to do a Groot pumpkin carving, will try to get a pic of that one too!

Great Odin's Beard, every time I think I'm done dremelling something.... just put the first coat of paint on Rocket's backpiece and built in some super-strong magnets inside of it for the rifle to attach to, hopefully it works and doesn't threaten to pull the entire backpiece off of the outfit!

Gamora outfit is pretty much 99% done, just need to attach the shoulder pieces to the top (wife is doing the red outfit from act 3 of the film).

Still working on my Star-Lord bucket and watching the clock tick on by anxiously, currently the gold paint near the eyes and on the back is drying (just seemed to make more sense to paint those before going build-crazy on a lot of the front details... would be a bitch to mask later...I think anyway...

Finished my repaint on my walkman... had to make it a "mirror" TPS-2, as the window and buttons on mine were on the opposite side of the walkman (so the silver stripe is on the left, not the right). Was seriously annoyed when what I thought was a great idea did not work... was going to print the Sony and Walkman logos on clear transparency and put them on the walkman that way... unfortunately the silver really didn't show up against the blue at all. Did an "ok" job of putting the sony logo on in silver sharpie, but totally butchered the Walkman one (hence the partial repaint again), might just leave it without at this rate.

Was mildly devastated that my old stereo collecting dust in the basement had a failure on me while I was trying to make my awesome mix cassette, and the CD player would only play the first two songs on the CD before conking out, BUT at least the walkman will indeed play Hooked On a Feeling (though seriously bummed to miss Come and Get Your Love!) In related news, discovered my second-hand walkman does indeed work still.