Gotta love cosplayers. That mix of fanatical passion and hand-craftedness. These are makers. These are my people.

Walking around fannish events and conventions, the variety of costume- and prop-making techniques is astounding: sewing, leatherwork, casting, chain mail, makeup, foam sculpting, thermoplastic armor, to name a few. But I’m surprised electronics isn’t more prevalent…a simple thing can add so much punch!

Remember those little red LEDs on Deckard’s pistol in Blade Runner, how that one detail upped the badass factor tenfold? Or the glowing eyes in the photo above…fantastic costuming to begin with, but the luminous elements put it over the top.

We’re seeing more of this in cosplay, but it’s still relatively scarce. Is it too heady? “It’s engineer stuff and must be hard!” Nonsense. Patterning trousers is hard. LEDs are a piece of cake!

We’ll start simple and work up. You can step off the bus at whatever level suits your interest.