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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...
By Larry Groznic
I've always thought of myself as a creative guy. Whenever my friends in the Star Wars novel-reading club schedule a Sunday-night Star Wars viewing party, I like to get into the spirit of things by dressing up in a theme outfit. And, of course, a big part of the excitement is dressing up my pet Cocker Spaniel, Nikto, as a character from the films or expanded universe, too.
The first time we ever did a party at Jerry's house, back when Shadows Of The Empire first came out in hardcover, I got out an old Han Solo Halloween costume. Then, on a last-minute whim, I dressed up Nikto as Leia with a pair of earmuffs and an old white T-shirt. Big hit, believe me!
After that, I guess people just started expecting costumes, and I didn't want to disappoint. So, for the Hard Merchandise party, I went as Lando and made a neat Lobot outfit for Nik. It wasn't perfect; Nik's sleeves weren't as billowy as I'd have liked, and he got pretty grumpy when I tried tucking his ears under the headpiece. But people still laughed plenty when we walked in.
Well, by that point, I'd created a monster: People started showing up to the parties just to see how Nik and I would be dressed! In fact, it soon became clear that my costumes were the main reason behind the swelling ranks of the Star Wars novel-reading club, which recently welcomed its 12th member. And though that was an awesome responsibility, I accepted it.
Perhaps my crowning achievement were the Rogue Planet party costumes. For myself, I created a Jabba outfit out of some sheets of yellow foam that my parents were going to throw away when their sofa was delivered, and I made Nikto a Bib Fortuna ensemble. For Bib's head tentacles, I bought a set of pink children's pajamas, sewed the legs shut and filled them with cotton. Then, I made Bib's robe out of an old winter coat and put long, gross-looking press-on nails on Nik's claws to complete the effect.
That one actually got applause! You should've seen Nik, his nose and only one eye sticking out from this mass of heavy fabric as he loped into Deborah's apartment. Plus, he made these hilarious growling noises that, I swear to God, sounded just like Bib! (I should have trained him to say "Day Wanna Wanga" or something!)
So, for the most recent party, celebrating the release of Vector Prime in paperback, I knew I had to outdo myself. I mean, Vector Prime! If you can't name at least one of the drastic changes that book introduced to the Star Wars continuum, you don't have any business reading this!
So, I figured this was the ideal occasion to trot out my incredible Han-In-Carbonite costume that I'd been making in secret out of a refrigerator box. Needless to say, the perfect complement to me as Frozen Han would be Nik in full Boba Fett armor, "escorting" me in!
Now, you, the inexperienced dog-dresser, are probably thinking that it would be relatively easy to whip up a Boba Fett costume for a Cocker Spaniel. Five to eight hours of work at the most, right? Well, guess again, Chucky.
Where to begin with the problems I encountered? First off, apparently, children's foot-sleepers come in every color of the rainbow except gray, so making the inner flight suit was a major hassle. In the end, I had to get white sleepers and dye them in the bathtub, which practically wiped out all of Friday. The only other thing I managed that day was to make the shoulder blast plates out of margarine-tub lids. That meant Saturday morning would get eaten up making the chest armor.
Now, in my naivete, I thought the helmet would be the easy part. Just make a plaster mold from the 1/2-scale Riddell replica helmet, coat the interior with latex, dry, and paint, right? Well, get this: I found out afterwards that the replica is actually 45 percent scale, not 50! And, man, what a difference five percent makes! The finished product was just too tight on Nik's head. God knows I tried to cram him in there, but it was like trying to put Oola's costume on Harry Knowles. Nik refused to w
TRON sucks ass, d00d!!!
I don't usually post to stories but what the hell is that guys problem? That's not work friendly, or in fact it's not eye friendly.
My Signature
Goddamnit that's a sad sight ..
Lessons learned
1. Fabric paint is a pain in the ass to deal with, and must be applied with a heavy hand if sharp edges on lines are desired. It would have probably helped if I had not worn and washed the unitard before painting, as that caused the fabric to pill somewhat, making it much harder to get the paint down into the fabric.
2. If you superglue something to a painted surface, you're not gluing to the item itself, but to the paint. I should have waited the specified 7 days for maximum chip resistance (which means maximum hardness and curing) before trying to glue the el-wire to it.
3. No matter how hard you try, the colors will never match exactly. Don't obsess about it; do the very best you can and quit worrying.
4. I got some slack cut because this was my first masquerade. It'll be tougher to win something next year...and it was suggested that, while I could re-enter this costume, doing so very many times would not be wise. Now, all I have to do is come up with another idea...
5. 350lbs + unitard = tronitard.
"I'm somewhat overweight, as you see..."
Naw, I never noticed. I just thought you were pregnant.
With too much free time on the hands; this is so pathetic; get out of basement so good bye to your rents and get your own place and a job.
What the fuck is that? Some gay sex party?
There is so much semen on my keyboard right now.
What's with the nasty Tron pr0n? Did we really need so many shots of an ugly guy "modelling"?!
-psy
He could save money on time and materials if he LOST WEIGHT!
I can't afford a sig!
You guys are fucking faggots, I'd love to see one of you in one so I could tear you a new asshole.
I mean really, lose some weight guy. Like I don't recall any of the TRON characters having beer belly's though it has been a while since I've seen the film.
And yes, I have taken my own advice. A couple of years ago I was a fat ass, and now I'm 11 kilos lighter and all the better for it.