EE degree needed

With some hacksaw, drill, file, and screwdriver work, I pretty much have the arrangement set for my Voyage Trekkers assault ray gun (heavy).

Have you ever seen such precision!

The look I'm going for is something like the original series phaser rifle from Star Trek.

Something like this-ish.

Paint's applied, so now it's time for the electronics. The replacement electronics. I connected the LED setup ripped from the original toy to a 9-volt battery, lit them up, then promptly burned those suckers out. So is a 9-volt more powerful than three AAA batteries, or something? Huh. Anyway, I have new LEDs for it, to go in some holes I drilled along the sides, the window thing, and down the barrel.

I'm using the plastic lid as a test circuit board. Why? Is that a problem?

It all should be ready by Youmacon at the end of the month. Also at the Detroit convention will be my Sack Brigader from The Other Grey Meat. I'm planning to get some better makeup, to try and avoid the whole sweaty-makeup mess.
TOGM put an album of my Category 2 zombie costuming on their Facebook page, which was very cool! I'm on there along with Tom Gatto, cosplaying the Phantom (my boss), Sylene the purple-haired Category 3 as cosplayed by June Maillet, who created the webcomic along with her husband James Maillet, and other TOGM stuff. Quite an honor!
My next project won't be ready for anything anytime soon, but it's started, at least. The sewing pattern I ordered arrived.

Emma the cat has no idea what this is all about.

I like how the instructions start with "Do not be alarmed!" My plan is to use this pattern to make a samurai outfit. I have a manga character all picked out, something actually based in Asian culture, which is a key requirement for participating in cosplay contests at the anime conventions I've been to.
It will be a challenge. Not least of which is Lizzie the cat. Lizzie's usually the one who shows up in the floor photos I put on here. She's not in this one because she was half a second from rending the very thin paper sewing pattern into a million pieces. She was locked up in the bathroom for this picture.
Then there's the whole "sewing" thing.