@Hoodooman1
in reply to your help explaining how El sheet panels work. Thank you and no you didn't confuse me at all
I pretty much see how the sheet works. Still would like to have it in my hands and actually work with it but your explanation helps alot!!
I may go with El Tape. Even though I know it is expensive but hey, not as crazy expensive as that one company. Jezzzz I guess unless you are rich or a professional in the movie industry with money to burn then fine go down that route. Us poor ppl, meaning myself, have gots to find a more furgal way to replicate these costumes using cheaper stuff but that does not mean that your costume will look like crap necessarily, if you know what you are doing
another reason I want to go with El Tape is upon analyzing all those cut sheet strips and terminal connections with wires going all over the place, I can just see the entire suit being more prone to breaking wire connections at the terminal or basically anywhere on the strip as you move your body.
We have to face it that lighting up these suits and taking them to anything other than a Comic book convention or the movie premiere to show them off is a total risk.
Was it here that I read, or maytbe it was elsewhere online, the actors couldn't hardly move in the suits. Special chairs had to be made for them to lean upon when they were taking a break probably so all the wires wouldn't break.
Now can you imagine taking your brand new suit into a club, dancing the night away, your body constantly moving the wires over and over, something is bond to snap and break.
I know this because it has happened to me repeatedly on light up costumes I had made in the past.
Although it was El Wire I used that broke and yes I was partying and dancing, I can't imagine those El sheet panels all cut up connected everywhere being any better. Hell the El Tape is most likely a risk to use as well.
So if we are all going for the movie effect look. Then just expect discomfort wearing the suit the entire time. Probably not too much sitting down and make sure you build a zipper when you gotta do your bidness after drinking all that booze just to keep your mind off the pain.
I have been cosplaying uncomfortable costumes I have made for over 10 years. So I know what I am talking about. Throw in wearing 7 inch stilletto heels, even more pain but to me it us worth it ;D
I rarely if at all wear my CON costumes out to crazy clubs just for the fact they are uncomfortable, things might break and you ruin your precious hard work.
These types of costumes, if you are planning on making them movie accurate, are only doable at Cons or basically anywhere but a crazy nite club.
Hey, if you can figure out a way to rig all that lighting, hit a club and dance the nite away without your lights breaking, more power to you. I just know I have been there done that already without a good outcome unless you stand still the entire nite and who's gonna do that
As for how I am making my Quorra armour I usually spend hundreds of dollars or even one grand making my costumes but as of now I am broker than broke and don't have the funds to buy all the actual lighting that was used along with the rubber their armour n suits were made in so I had to find an alternative route. Also I need this costume completed in 20 days so I already know I am gonna be making adjustments for the movie premiere to wear it.
I basically used craft foam, a heating gun to shape it and some cardboard and a ton of crazy glue GEL to hold it all together. Yeah that is it. I made the identity disk in stryofoam. The top armour will be covered in a thin layer of foam to give it depth then that all will be covered in a black matte rubber "look" fabric I have to match the look of Quorra's actual rubber armour. Same with the disk. And all the other raised details will be worked out with craft foam under the black fabric.
I have finished the craft foam armour and I am onto the other details. I even found this bad ass matte rubber look fabric to make her bodysuit. I love it! The Hexagon top half of her suit well, again probably just going with an alternative material that closely resembles it. Again no money or time now to get that custom made for me. Maybe later
Good Luck to you all building your TL suits!!!!
~A
