I have not tried to solder to a staple. I imagine it has to be soldered before attaching the the el tape other wise it would melt the plastic. I use the staple to hold the wire against the EL electrode. I have not had a wire pull of or break, but my problem is getting a good contact between wire and el tape. I use permatex defroster repair paint. It's essentially a copper conductive paint. I staple the wire to the el tape (after exposing the conductive surface) and then paint it which fills in the gaps and creates more surface contact area. With the thin conductor on the glowhut tape, it's difficult to keep the paint from shorting out against the other conductor when applying.
Once done, it held up on my kid's costume during comic con.
I stuck the edge with a knife until you get one layer to peel up and ed the rest by hand. As you can see some of the phosphor came up too at times. Other times it stays on. I make sure I do the connections at the ends of the tapes that are hidden behind the foam. I also make sure I don't peel the laminate across the scribe line. It's too easy for a loose wire to bridge across and short out the connection.
What happens if you use multiple layers of the diffusion layer? I assume the material is translucent, like a shower curtain?
Welcome! I agree; it's great to see the massive talent of the RPF on display.I feel like like I arrived at the party [very] late, but all I can say is WOW. I am blown away by the costumes in this thread, especially the Quorra costumes by Annisse and SheepGirl. I am convinced that I need to attempt my own Quorra costume now, or risk hating myself forever.
You all should be proud of your talent and hard work-- it really shines through in the finished products.
