Tron Legacy Costume
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mworley007
New Member
YAY!!! With some great advice and info (and a confidence boost) from the wonderful folks here on this forum and at Glow Hut, I figured out the problem and my circles and accents light up now! I guess I had overheated the piece of EL panel I was testing on during my first ever attempt at soldering. Once I re-cut the piece, and reconnected, it works great! I am SOOO excited. Now I just have to wire up and install my lighting, and then I will re-do my skirt (not happy with it). DEFINITELY can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!
TodReynard43
New Member
So I'm trying to make a TRON Legacy costume, and I want to know what they used for the armor. I heard the designer say they made the costumes out of foam latex, but I don't know how to sculpt it into the "armor" part. I don't want to do anything to the hexagon fabric unless I know exactly what to do!
mworley007
New Member
SETFREE: Thanks! How did I miss pre-cut circles?! haha. I somehow missed those in my research! Just out of curiosity, where do you get those? Thanks so much!
Compass72
Active Member
Well, we're on the countdown to Halloween again. I'm really looking forward to seeing the next generation of cosplayers who are attempting this kind of project.
I can't believe it's been a year already since the thread really gained momentum and we rolled out the first completed TRON costumes.
For those who were a part of it, I miss you guys. I was very fortunate to get out there to L.A. to meet with you. I hope this year is just as much fun as the last one was.
I can't believe it's been a year already since the thread really gained momentum and we rolled out the first completed TRON costumes.
For those who were a part of it, I miss you guys. I was very fortunate to get out there to L.A. to meet with you. I hope this year is just as much fun as the last one was.
Hey All!
I thought I'd drop a post in here to talk a little about my experiences since I've silently picked up so much from this thread (it's a lot to read!). This is my first attempt at any kind of serious cosplay/costuming, so I decided to keep things simple and go with a civilian costume.
So first off... materials. I went with funhouse productions because they had some ready-made tape that I could just cut and glue onto the jacket (Cool Neon Electroluminescent 1 Meter Ribbon (CNR1M)). I was very happy with the luminescence of the tape (especially with 8 AA batteries...wow!), but I ran into some troubles when I attached the tape to the sweatshirt I was wearing. Evidently the ready-made connectors also proved to be the tape's downfall. The front tape and hood tape both burned out the connectors in about 30 minutes of being lit up. Sizzling wires, acrid smell... it was scary. I ended up having to cut into the tape and attach my own wires (Note: DO NOT directly solder wires to tape; burned through an inch learning that lesson) which worked even better.
I went with straight black jeans and a black under armor shirt to go with the sweatshirt. The pants I got from an outlet mall for $40 and the shirt I got from Amazon.
Overall, I'm very pleased how it all turned out. The sweatshirt is a little shirt for me, but I'm not a good enough tailor to make anything myself and I didn't want to risk ruining a leather jacket. Next step is to add on a mount for my identity disk and work on the shoe problem. I have enough leftover tape where I could light a pair of shoes, but running wiring down my jeans doesn't sound like a great idea to me, and getting 2 more converters can get pricey. Still; are there any recommendations for boots out there? I've been to a few outlet places and all they seem to carry are cowboy boots.
Right now my converter and batteries are in the pocket which make a huge bulge in an already puffy costume. I'll probably end up attaching them inside the waistband to make them less conspicuous. I also had the foresight to attach all of my tape with velcro. This made it really easy to make minor adjustments when the tape needed to be fixed, and I can remove it and move it to another project in the future.
Now... on to those pictures
Lights off... you can see in the back there that the light strip goes all the way over
Lights on...
And here you can see my jeans a little better... nothing too special there
I thought I'd drop a post in here to talk a little about my experiences since I've silently picked up so much from this thread (it's a lot to read!). This is my first attempt at any kind of serious cosplay/costuming, so I decided to keep things simple and go with a civilian costume.
So first off... materials. I went with funhouse productions because they had some ready-made tape that I could just cut and glue onto the jacket (Cool Neon Electroluminescent 1 Meter Ribbon (CNR1M)). I was very happy with the luminescence of the tape (especially with 8 AA batteries...wow!), but I ran into some troubles when I attached the tape to the sweatshirt I was wearing. Evidently the ready-made connectors also proved to be the tape's downfall. The front tape and hood tape both burned out the connectors in about 30 minutes of being lit up. Sizzling wires, acrid smell... it was scary. I ended up having to cut into the tape and attach my own wires (Note: DO NOT directly solder wires to tape; burned through an inch learning that lesson) which worked even better.
I went with straight black jeans and a black under armor shirt to go with the sweatshirt. The pants I got from an outlet mall for $40 and the shirt I got from Amazon.
Overall, I'm very pleased how it all turned out. The sweatshirt is a little shirt for me, but I'm not a good enough tailor to make anything myself and I didn't want to risk ruining a leather jacket. Next step is to add on a mount for my identity disk and work on the shoe problem. I have enough leftover tape where I could light a pair of shoes, but running wiring down my jeans doesn't sound like a great idea to me, and getting 2 more converters can get pricey. Still; are there any recommendations for boots out there? I've been to a few outlet places and all they seem to carry are cowboy boots.
Right now my converter and batteries are in the pocket which make a huge bulge in an already puffy costume. I'll probably end up attaching them inside the waistband to make them less conspicuous. I also had the foresight to attach all of my tape with velcro. This made it really easy to make minor adjustments when the tape needed to be fixed, and I can remove it and move it to another project in the future.
Now... on to those pictures
Lights off... you can see in the back there that the light strip goes all the way over
Lights on...
And here you can see my jeans a little better... nothing too special there
Compass72
Active Member
I've only worked with the EL sheets from this company:
Electroluminescent Custom Pattern Sheet
However, if they work off of the same principle...
The outer edge of the sheet contains 1 set of contact points, so you need at least a small section of the outer edge to remain intact.
ONE lead wire needs to contact that edge. The second can go anywhere inside the edge. That jagged, white border running along the edge is what separates one lead from the other. So when you hook up both leads it should look like this:
I hope this helps with your project. Let me know if you have any other questions regarding EL Sheet. I spent quite some time working with it last year.
TodReynard43
New Member
So can no one help me out???????
moviebuff5
Sr Member
The formula for color correcting the media white strips with diffusion is just about complete. I just need to add more blue as the white still looks a bit pink when compared to undiffused media white. Unfortunately it requires custom painting vinyl. I tried the colored cellophane from Party City but the color is too strong. I would need to use lighting gels. I may still try that to play around with different shades of blue. Right now the layers of vinyl are: clear, very pale blue, transparent white facing out, transparent white facing in.
TodReynard43: It is my understanding that the foam latex was not sculpted, but a life cast was taken of the actor, the master would have been sculpted out of clay on the lifecast, a mold taken of that, and the foam latex poured into that mold to create the armor.
TodReynard43: It is my understanding that the foam latex was not sculpted, but a life cast was taken of the actor, the master would have been sculpted out of clay on the lifecast, a mold taken of that, and the foam latex poured into that mold to create the armor.
Compass72
Active Member
To follow up on what moviebuff said:
The actors were digitally scanned so that the armor would be form-hugging. When I began my research, these were some of the first youtube clips I scanned:
TRON: LEGACY - Innovative Design - YouTube
Tron: Legacy Costume Designer Talks Light-Up Fabrics, Style, and the Future of Fashion - YouTube
TRON: LEGACY - Comic-Con Interview with Olivia Wilde "The Suits" - YouTube
I have a feeling a lifecast would actually be easier, especially if people wanted to try and duplicate the Tron movie process at home. Those scans can come out looking terribly rough, whereas homebuilders do plaster lifecasts quite commonly. The only upside to the laser scan is that it's easier on the subject!
Either way, I suspect that doing the foam injection moulding for the outfit is probably beyond all but a fairly well-established industrial facility in any case. Personally I'd do it in spandex-wrapped upholstery foam.
Either way, I suspect that doing the foam injection moulding for the outfit is probably beyond all but a fairly well-established industrial facility in any case. Personally I'd do it in spandex-wrapped upholstery foam.
I wanted to do that, but my ambitions were way beyond my abilities, this year I'm doing the costume out of a plain black leather form fitting motorcycle suit with the light tape layed over it.
Next year, I plan on making the torso piece out of microcel foam rubber sheeting, cut into a pattern matching the armor and glued together, employing layers to create the details; using that technique I've seen people get very close to the look of the film suits.
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mworley007
New Member
COMPASS: Thank you! I'm sure you're helping about 100 other people besides myself. I think I am REALLY going to love working with more EL in the future!
I've only worked with the EL sheets from this company:
Electroluminescent Custom Pattern Sheet
However, if they work off of the same principle...
The outer edge of the sheet contains 1 set of contact points, so you need at least a small section of the outer edge to remain intact.
ONE lead wire needs to contact that edge. The second can go anywhere inside the edge. That jagged, white border running along the edge is what separates one lead from the other. So when you hook up both leads it should look like this:
I hope this helps with your project. Let me know if you have any other questions regarding EL Sheet. I spent quite some time working with it last year.
Hey Tron Costumers! I have to say after hours of reading and studying the awesome completeness of the info on here, I feel I have a good basis for an awesome costume. We are going to for Halloween to Las Vegas and think the Tron costume would fit in perfectly. Just wanted to say thanks for everyone who put out the effort of explaining and I might still need help... so I might be back. Happy Costuming!
P.S.- I have never done this type of costuming before, its intense!
so I might be back. Happy Costuming! P.S.- I have never done this type of costuming before, its intense!
DigitalBabylon
New Member
Hello all. I've been using this thread as research for my own costuming, and I'd like to thank in advance everyone here. This thread has provided so much knowledge and useful links, and I am confident I will be able to create what I have in mind.
My plan is to add EL Tape to a black vest, fedora, and shoes for both a Halloween costume and rare evening attire for parties / events. Once I have ordered the EL Tape and inverters, I'll be happy to post pictures of my progress and to try and give back a little to this very informative thread. I have some experience working with clothing, and I have been soldering / working with electronics for years. If you have any questions about electrical wiring, I'll do what I can to answer.
I do have a question about the EL Tape I want to order. I have narrowed my choice to two outlets: Glow hut or Funhouse. Quite a few people here have ordered tape from Glowhut and say it works well. However, the less than 1/2 an inch width seems too thin for an authentic Tron look. Could anyone who has used this EL Tape comment? thormungandr posted this pic where it looks thicker than 1/2 an inch, but it is difficult to tell:
I'd prefer Glow hut since the price is right, but if the tape really is that thin I'd choose Funhouse.
Thanks again for all the useful info, and also thanks in advance for any comments on this.
My plan is to add EL Tape to a black vest, fedora, and shoes for both a Halloween costume and rare evening attire for parties / events. Once I have ordered the EL Tape and inverters, I'll be happy to post pictures of my progress and to try and give back a little to this very informative thread. I have some experience working with clothing, and I have been soldering / working with electronics for years. If you have any questions about electrical wiring, I'll do what I can to answer.
I do have a question about the EL Tape I want to order. I have narrowed my choice to two outlets: Glow hut or Funhouse. Quite a few people here have ordered tape from Glowhut and say it works well. However, the less than 1/2 an inch width seems too thin for an authentic Tron look. Could anyone who has used this EL Tape comment? thormungandr posted this pic where it looks thicker than 1/2 an inch, but it is difficult to tell:
I'd prefer Glow hut since the price is right, but if the tape really is that thin I'd choose Funhouse.
Thanks again for all the useful info, and also thanks in advance for any comments on this.
thormungandr
Active Member
they also come in panels with glowhut but no custom sizing is fairly crippling
Hello all. I've been using this thread as research for my own costuming, and I'd like to thank in advance everyone here. This thread has provided so much knowledge and useful links, and I am confident I will be able to create what I have in mind.
My plan is to add EL Tape to a black vest, fedora, and shoes for both a Halloween costume and rare evening attire for parties / events. Once I have ordered the EL Tape and inverters, I'll be happy to post pictures of my progress and to try and give back a little to this very informative thread. I have some experience working with clothing, and I have been soldering / working with electronics for years. If you have any questions about electrical wiring, I'll do what I can to answer.
I do have a question about the EL Tape I want to order. I have narrowed my choice to two outlets: Glow hut or Funhouse. Quite a few people here have ordered tape from Glowhut and say it works well. However, the less than 1/2 an inch width seems too thin for an authentic Tron look. Could anyone who has used this EL Tape comment? thormungandr posted this pic where it looks thicker than 1/2 an inch, but it is difficult to tell:
I'd prefer Glow hut since the price is right, but if the tape really is that thin I'd choose Funhouse.
Thanks again for all the useful info, and also thanks in advance for any comments on this.
