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Cosplayer Pax Ex Musa > Costume of Lightning Farron (Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns)

Most Recent Photo
07-27-2015
Series
Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns
Character
Lightning Farron
Special Variation:
Splendid Admiral
Year Completed:
N/A
Construction Difficulty:
Costume worn at:
Otakon 2014
Permanent Link:
About this Costume
Construction Details:
Hat is made of Foss Shape and painted with a spray fabric paint. Took something like three or four cans, which was annoying. The coat is largely black twill (read: HOT!), but with grey and black pinstriped inserts. It took over 40 yards of gold trim to do all the edging and patterns...and because I procrastinated it so badly, it all went on the night before the day I was photographed. Ouch. The little cross details are made of gold-painted craft foam, so they flexed and the paint flaked off over time, so I kept having to retouch.
Aegis Shield is made of two layers of heat-shaped plexiglass, with a layer of aluminum foil with the pattern details sandwiched between. The game shows no handles or straps (her shield magically floats on her arm, I guess), but I used an old leather belt, so I could strap it to my arm or hold it like a handle.
Excalibur is made of heat-shaped plexiglass, painted with faux-stained-glass paint (plaid brand). EL wire was run through tubes at the points where the blade attached to the hilt. The hilt is a mix of plexiglass tubing and Worbla, and the gold fans are made of...wooden fans. Painted gold. =) The main issue was figuring out how to make the hilt so the battery inverters could still be serviced. I ended up using a cotter pin to hold the pommel on so I could slide the packs out. Unfortunately, the EL itself was largely inaccessible due to the way it was built, but I used two pieces on two inverters--and a good thing! In shipping, those fragile attachment points broke, and thereafter, the innermost strand of EL refused to light. The other one was fine, though, so yay for redundancy!
Personal Thoughts:
I could reactivate this if I get around to fixing the sword. I loved that thing, and UPS killed it. Snapped in half. ;_; Anyway, Splendid Admiral--probably my most used Garb in the game, and I loved it. Who doesn't love huge pirate coats?! Added the Sailor's Tricorne Adornment, the Aegis Shield, and Excalibur. So much fun! Lightning is such a tough girl and it was really fun to stride around the convention hall with my sword on my shoulder and my coattails flapping! The only thing on this one I didn't make was the pants--that awesome thin striping was just nowhere to be found. Plus, I really need to work on crotches and flies. Excalibur lit up, my first use of EL wire!
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