The result: (sorry for the blurry pics, my GF is not the best photographer)
It all held up relatively well. Some of the black electrical tape was coming undone by the end of the night, but the EL remained super bright and was constantly on for over 6hrs and I haven't changed the batts yet!
I powered the entire suit with one 12v inverter using 8 AA batteries.
As you can see, I still need to finish the donuts and complete the entire back half of the suit.
Once I have the undersuit finished I'll begin sculpting the actual armor for my 2.0 version!
Thanks for all the info on the electrical tape. I have more emblems on my PUMA boots. Great Ideas! Awesome execution.