/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

I want to cosplay Red from Transistor. The problem I'm having is the sword.

I would like it to be a translucent material, like acrylic plexiglas, but out of all the plastic suppliers I've seen:

1) that color green isn't going to happen, at least pre-fab.

2)The plexiglas comes in standard thicknesses. 1/4" is too thin based on references, but anything thicker gets prohibitively expensive. And heavy.

3) I could make it out of MDF, then give it a nice paint job and a thick gloss lacquer, but then it doesn't have the characteristic transparency. And it wouldn't have the potential to light from within.

What materials could I use, realistically? Would it be too terrible if I used an opaque solid?