Another Fan-Made TRON Costume

Jay Maynard writes "When this story on making your own TRON costume was posted two weeks ago, I was deep into making my own for the masquerade at Penguicon 2.0. Its debut at the Masquerade won the Workmanship award. I kept notes and took pictures as I was going along, and the page that resulted is now available for your viewing enjoyment. No, I didn't spend any time with straws up my nose while making it, either. I think the results were quite good, and so has everyone who's said anything to me about it here at the con." CmdrTaco is at Penguicon this weekend - go give him a big Tron hug, and make sure to get a photo...

A weighty excuse

[Anonymous Coward]

At least the excuse for the look is a good comment:

I spoke for a few moments about how I wasn't Tron, but a simple payroll withholding calculation program that had gotten overweight by changes in the laws.

Re:Another tron-like outfit using El-wire

[AndroidCat]

I don't know what the state-of-the-art is like at Burning Man, but you could improve the effect of EL-wire by using a micro-controller to control segments of it in chaser sequences or more complex. On/off would be simple, and brightness controlled by on/off duty-cycle. I recall that the colour of EL panels can be shifted a bit by varying the driving AC frequency, but that could wait until the 1.2 version.

I'm not sure what voltage EL wire needs, but I'd suggest not getting the costume wet.

How to apply paint to stretch knit

[wadiwood]

Stencils. Use a stencil. Jay got started with the masking tape but needed to go a step further.

1. buy a box cutter or scalpel from an art shop

2. do your designs onto cardboard, eg the boxes around cereal are ideal thickness and water resistance, they don't disintegrate when paint is applied and they don't repel it in blobs onto your artwork like plastic can. You have an advantage if you can print designs directly from the computer onto card.

3. Cut the designs out carefully with the box cutters or scalpel.

4. Place a thick board covered in newspaper inside the part of the suit that you want to apply the paint. Arrange the suit over the board so it is not wrinkled but not stretched either.

5. Place the stencil on the area you want the design. Tape it down if necessary. Cover up any other areas at risk from stray paint.

5. Apply paint to the holes in the stencil either by airbrush (you need the paint to be runny like water for this), or by thick stiff paintbrush or by sponge. Airbrush is best for even coverage (once you get the hang of using it - practice on scrap paper).

You can also use spray cans instead of an airbrush but you need to make sure only the area you want painted is exposed, use lots of newspaper and masking tape to cover up the areas you want to stay unpainted.

And you can get interesting effects using a tooth brush to apply paint. load the tooth brush up and then drag your thumb or a paint brush handle over the bristles towards you. Paint splatters will flick over anything opposite you. (practice aim on the bathroom mirror - but only if you're the one that has to clean it up).

How to make an orc costume [alleycatscratch.com]

or worse, if he gets good with the airbrush he might dispense with the bodysuit altogeter. Warning: link includes photos of topless women with and without paint.

European Body Paint Festival Gallery [pbase.com]