Cosplay for Calgary Comic Entertainment Expo 2014

Okay, so I am going to pull the trigger and COMMIT in the forums.
I am giving myself 10 months to create this costume for the April 2014 Calgary Expo.
What I am going as is Marvel Comics Star-Lord.
Things that I would like to do are:

  1. Full face mask that has lights (no clue on how do actually do this except for LED strips)
  2. Have the front of the mask come off and have “working” respirator still on chin / jawbone
  3. Guns that light up (glow) as per some of the comics (LED work again, I think). (might make the guns the first project)
  4. Do the red striping on the dark blue uniform
  5. Keep this affordable and hopefully environmentally friendly in the construction
  6. Attempt to find a cheaper version of what looks like pre WWII (possibly WWI) coat and pants.

yeah, that’s about it, hope this helps, and will begin… now!

Well, first things first, have the image up, so that’s a start…

Well slowly moving along.
I have been doing some searching for the costume and so far have figured out that pants can be purchased cheaply, the coat will have to be made by hand. (Which should prove to be fun!!).
Finding and buying an old military coat (from what I have been told I think this style is old british) it will cost a pretty penny…
So far I have gotten some 1/8" cellfoam to do a rough practice of making and shaping the face mask. Once happy with the rough draft, figure I can move on to something that is more durable, or possibly thin aluminum…
LED lights have come up with a few items. The most promising is an LED light strip, that has 10 lights, and a very small battery case, smaller than thumb, which since this is going on the face mask this will seem better. Problem is, this strip seems to be only manufactured in the East (Thailand). Also is the wrong color, I need to see if these can be in Orange or red. Price is not bad $15.
9 more months to go, I really don’t want to be last minute assembling.
Might have to chart this out…

There are a lot of Cosplay forums on the net, some of them may be able to point you in the right direction for suppliers, materials, tailors, and lighting kits. And there have got to be forums for kitbashing guns too, I found one for modifying airsoft guns into prop guns when I was considering making a Stargate Atlantis costume. Good Luck!