WooingScotsman
New Member
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!
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!
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