Ren's awesomeness had to be scaled down to enter our mundane universe...

[Darth Knox]

so, how is the rest of the costume coming along?

[Darth Justicar]

The rest of the costume is on order and is currently scheduled for shipping 26 February 2016, which should hopefully have it arriving to me in early March.  Given that, I'm not expecting to hear from the costumer for a few weeks at least.  All that can be done on my end is now complete, so there won't really be any further updates until I get final word on a ship date.

I did get the pics you asked for in the other thread though...it doesn't show it the way I see it exactly, but you can see how the light of the saber becomes a bit more diffuse through the visor.

Normal:



From inside mask:



As you can tell from looking at the wall, too, I can see in front of me well enough to navigate.

[Darth Knox]

Oh that is very very cool!

[marina_bonomi]

Wonderful job on the helmet and the saber, and awesome effect on the blade, looking forward to see the complete outfit.

[Darth Justicar]

Thanks!

Incidentally, I seem to have gotten rid of the superglue fumes, and if it hasn't completely taken as I get close to con, I'll give it another treatment.

I did a search on how to get rid of superglue fumes, and found advice on a vaping forum.  I don't vape but apparently some people who do made the mistake of modding their e-cigs with superglue.  One guy had the idea of using baking soda for a while to absorb the odor.  So what I did was fill an empty butter tub with baking soda and set the helmet down over that and leave it for a few days.  It did wonders!

[Darth Justicar]

My robes are still not due to ship for a few weeks yet, but this question is about the collar on Ren's costume, which in the movie appears to be leather or something like that.  How have any of the other Kylo Ren cosplayers handled that part of the costume?

[Darth Justicar]

So I ordered one more piece of the costume, thanks to Kouri PM'ing me the proper terminology for it: the "neck seal" (so named for its resemblance to a piece of scuba gear by that name, it seems).  I am not sure if it will arrive in time for this con or not, but with a month still to go, I decided to take my chances.  This will give me the leather collar seen in my avatar.  It's put on before you put on the undertunic or anything else.

I am grateful to Kouri for giving me the right term, as I had seen another term for it in one of the most prominent Kylo Ren costume videos out there that when I saw it I thought, NO WAY NO HOW AM I ENTERING THAT INTO GOOGLE.  O_O

[Darth Justicar]

So, received a message today from the costumer that they are having to order the monk's cloth and it will get to them in 7-10 days.  In the meantime they are working on the other parts of the costume, so that when the material arrives for the rest, the set will be able to go out quickly.  The deadline I am giving them is 10 March, but in reality it's 18 March.  If necessary I have a way to expedite the shipping, but yeah this is gonna be a bit of a nail biter since it looks like this will kick my ship date to somewhere around 7 March, if I don't miss my guess.

[Darth Knox]

fingers crossed that you get the costume in time.

[Darth Justicar]

fingers crossed that you get the costume in time.

I think because I gave them a more aggressive deadline than what I really have, I still stand a good chance.

[Darth Justicar]

Woooohoo, I got a shipping notice on my neck seal today!  Hopefully that means it'll get here by the end of the week!  Since it will arrive ahead of my robes, I'll be sure to at least get a picture from under my black overcoat.

I'll check with the costumer doing the soft parts about the middle of this week, but my guess is we'll have to make a go/no go decision on whether or not to wait for the proper monk's cloth to arrive or to go with a similar almost-as-good substitute.

[Darth Knox]

excellent. so happy for you

[Darth Justicar]

excellent. so happy for you

Thanks!  And hopefully, if I'm able to get some clarity by the end of the week as to what course we'll take with my robes, that'll make the last piece fit in.

[Darth Justicar]

Woohoo, my collar is now on the move! Looks like it was given to USPS yesterday.  I hate USPS, so this does make me nervous but I did at least get a tracking number...

I will also try to see if we can get the decision about the material for my surcoat and cape decided today.

[Darth Justicar]

YAY!  The monk's cloth WILL arrive on time!  We're working out final details about the shipping in case I need to help out with expediting it.

I am also trying to have it delivered to a FedEx location for pickup because I do not want $800 of stuff on my doorstep while I'm at work.  The hold at location thing worked well with my saber, so I want to try to do it again even if it means paying some extra and sending a preprinted label, to make sure it's shipped my way.