46and2 ROTJ WIP

Alright guys, here goes. The WIP. As if diving into this project as a total newbie wasn’t overwhelming and intimidating enough…

And a HUGE thanks to all you guys that have posted your own WIPs and personally answered my many questions. You guys are awesome. No way I could have even started this without it.

To start, I looked through the threads for a few weeks, taking note of the artists and fabricators that seemed consistently to be the most frequently referenced or recommended. I came up with and ordered:

Fettpride: FP2 helmet and armor
MOW: gauntlets, boots, ammo belt, gloves, and jetpack
Arkady: flightsuit, vest, spats, hip pouches
JodoKast89: borden connector, toe spikes, gauntlet darts, jetpack beacon and stabilizer
Salamanderking: rangefinder LED, servo kit
Woodsman: wookie scalps, girth belt
Fettronics: chest LED display
Bobamaker: chest and shoulder decals
DarthVoorhees: shin tools
Sidewinder: EE3 blaster kit
FullMetalFett: replica US Divers buckle and jetpack hooks and clips
BigDane: jetpack harness

And figured I could (hopefully) try and tackle the rest myself so I bought a white equestrian girth belt, an Army half shelter tent, and a Paasche airbrush kit

Initially having no idea where to begin, I figured I’d start simple first and color the girth belt according to the stickied thread (whistle8mp). Step-by-step instructions. How hard can it be? Disaster. First, I couldn't find the right color stain. Anywhere. And no one at my hardware store seemed able to stain it China Red for me. So I used what I thought would be close enough and surprise, it came out the wrong color. The belt is also SUPER stiff for some reason. As in I could lean it against a wall if I wanted to. Absolutely unwearable. No clue why. I used the stain recommended in the thread… Frustrated, I put it to the side in my garage, strongly considered giving up and just commissioning out everything, but I eventually moved on. It's kinda funny now.




In the meantime, my awesome wookie scalps from Woodsman arrived! Go with the real horsehair if you can. They are amazing. My first completed part! Or is it? Does anybody weather these? I’d hate to take a razor blade to these or paint them but they look so... perfect? Suggestions?

MOW Boots:
Used another stickied thread (Spideyfett) with step by step instructions to follow. After I figured out what the heck a wash was, I followed the instructions using the wet wash technique he outlines with pretty good results. The hardest part was getting the tan line along the sole to stay thin. While the canvas part of the boot was much more forgiving with mistakes, I could hear the sole laughing at me as I unleashed obscenities and tried to wipe away my screwups.



I then installed some Jodokast89 toe spikes using a clever technique Syper described. Instead of using Phillips screws to affix the spike plate to the boot, he cut off the tips of flathead roofing nails and epoxied these through the toe spike plate into the boot. The toe spikes were also first epoxied onto the exposed heads of two screws that were drilled into the front sole of each boot. This gives the spikes something other than the rubber sole to grip onto as I walk. It was very necessary as I quickly noticed that even though I mounted the spikes as high as possible they still get quite a banging from each step I take. There’s just no getting around this unless I start marching in goose step.



Next, I weathered the spikes by sponging on some dark grey acrylic paint and then wiping it away before it completely dried.

The smile really came to my face after I took some 80 grit sandpaper to the canvas and edges and scuffed them up a bit. I highly recommend the sandpaper (pre sandpaper on the left).

Ammo belt:
For this (and much of my build) I closely followed DeathProof’s WIP thread. As most people have mentioned, as it comes, the leather is a bit too light in color and benefits greatly from a hit of leather dye. DeathProof had a great idea using the spray stain. It worked beautifully. Masking the stitching with masking fluid was painful but worth it.



After the stain had dried I hit it with some 80 grit sandpaper and my sword of Exact Zero (that’s X-Acto knife for those of you without kids or who haven’t seen the Lego Movie a thousand times).



And as stated before, the Velcro needs to be secured a little better if you plan on using these as functional pouches. As you can tell, mine had a few that needed to be glued back down. I'd still highly recommend the quality though.

Cape:
When I opened my package from my online order I was surprised to see a lagniappe of TWO Army half shelters. Sweet! A backup in case something gets messed up! Initially I was following a video I saw posted on Youtube by TK409. He makes the cape weathering seem easy. I bought the pizza cutter he used and sliced away at the bottom of the cape. Even after putting it through the wash to fray the edges a little more, I wasn’t quite satisfied. So I tried something else. I took a Dremel tool and the orange stone bit and just slowly chewed up the bottom edge of the cape. It made a giant mess but worked really well. I was also able to add smaller detailed holes just a bit higher up to give it a faded weathered look with quite a bit of precise control. By the time I Dremeled the second cape I found it was easier to bunch the cape up with one hand and Dremel right through the edge to give it an absolutely random weathering pattern, then clean it up a bit after I spread it back out. After a misting with some black rattle can it was done. Again, when I thought the burn around the "blaster holes" looked a little too heavy and forced I just took some sandpaper to it and faded it a little. I'm noticing sandpaper fixes everything. At least on the soft parts. Now I just have to take the capes to a seamstress and get them to put a simple hem on the other sides. It's tempting, but I'm not buying a sewing machine just to do that...

Before and after: A little grey, dry-brushed onto the shin tools Lou made for me. Another part I can add to the nearly empty "Done" column on my spreadsheet!

So after much practice, Google searches, and Youtube videos, I think I've finally figured out how to use my airbrush enough to start painting. I'm with DeathProof, though. I seem to burn through way too much paint, way too quickly, and just cover a relatively small area.

Still no word on an estimated ship date on my helmet and armor from FettPride so I started with the jetpack. I read somewhere about adding a clear coat on top of the initial metallic base layer to allow for fine scratches to be lightly carved into further topical layers of paint so I tried it, starting with the rocket. This was my first application of paint to plastic, my first use of masking fluid. I felt like an excited little kid firing up the compressor and putting on my respirator. I put down a nice coat of Humbrol 73, waited for it to dry, and peeled back the masking fluid. I added a few fine details with a knife and weathered it a bit further with some sandpaper and steel wool.



wife: "That doesn't look right."

me thinking: "what do you know? Of course it does!"

wife: "It looks good, but it doesn't look like those reference photos. It's way too dark."

She could see the defeat in my face and the excitement drain out of me and then told me "Well, if you want me to just tell you it's perfect and looks great, I will. But those guys on the forum and the 501st are going to eat you alive if you try and pass this off as screen accurate. Can't you just do it again?"

I even tried to lightly sand off more of the paint to get closer to reference photos, but still just didn't quite get there:


Damn. Well, that's one of the reasons I married her. I also noticed I forgot to mist the black fade from the bottom of the rocket before I took off the masking. So, round two, coming up...

Very nice build so far. I'll be looking forward to the progress in this. Is your screen name a Tool reference perhaps?

Hey man! Great progress so far and a good lineup of gear. Awesome story about the girth belt.

Your last two attachments didn't quite make it, so try uploading them again. I like that you say sandpaper fixes a lot....it so does. Hah! Don't worry about not nailing the paint on your first go. You can always sand it back and paint again. Speaking of paint, I finally got my groove regarding proper mixture of paint to thinner. Be sure to use clear mixing cups.....and clean your brush properly....learned a lot about all the nooks and crannies where paint can dry and clog your brush.

Keep it up!!

i want to like Deathproofs post, but i cant lol

Yea definately make sure you clean the heck outta the airbrush every time!

Your stuff looks great so far!

on another note ..
46 and 2 ...Fugazi? Great tune!

EDIT: I meant Tool lol was listening to Fugazi when i typed that lol

22ssplt said:

Very nice build so far. I'll be looking forward to the progress in this. Is your screen name a Tool reference perhaps?

Click to expand...

Thanks!!

And yes. I'm a bit of a Tool fan.

Love tool.


Sent from my iPhone

DeathProof said:

Hey man! Great progress so far and a good lineup of gear. Awesome story about the girth belt.

Your last two attachments didn't quite make it, so try uploading them again. I like that you say sandpaper fixes a lot....it so does. Hah! Don't worry about not nailing the paint on your first go. You can always sand it back and paint again. Speaking of paint, I finally got my groove regarding proper mixture of paint to thinner. Be sure to use clear mixing cups.....and clean your brush properly....learned a lot about all the nooks and crannies where paint can dry and clog your brush.

Keep it up!!

Click to expand...

Thanks, man! I tried to reload the pics?

Clear mixing cup. That's actually a great idea. I've been just guessing on measurements as I pour into the little metal gravity fed cup. Going to give it a try.

ahahahaha i meant Tool.... i typed Fugazi cuz thatsh who i was listening to at the time...way to make myself look like an idiot! LMAO!

22ssplt said:

Love tool.


Sent from my iPhone

Click to expand...

ok, I'll admit it...46 and 2 is my license plate too...probably a third of my black t shirts are Tool concert shirts...my wine fridge is stocked with Merkin/Caduceus wines...the wife took me to a Tool concert for Valentine's Day and...we named our son Maynard.

Ok, so I was joking about my son's name, but we thought about it. Haha.

I was trying to downplay it a little and sound less like a fanatic since I'm sure we all sound like crazed Fett fanatics to everyone else anyways...

- - - Updated - - -

Darth Voorhees said:

ahahahaha i meant Tool.... i typed Fugazi cuz thatsh who i was listening to at the time...way to make myself look like an idiot! LMAO!

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Respirator. Ya gotta remember to wear your respirator when you paint, buddy! Blame it on the fumes! Haha.

LOL..yes..the fumes! lol

haha nice..Tool is awesome!

By far one of my favourite bands. Saw them twice in concert - once in Vancouver, and once in Victoria. So amazing. Truth be told, 46and2 is my favourite song from them. Crazy lyrics about the evolution of man....so good. Their stop motion music videos are insane too. Can't wait for their new album which apparently is slowly being worked on. It's only been what....8 years?

Here is a poster of the show in Victoria signed by the band. I got it shadowboxed with the two stubs from both concerts. Hilarious that Maynard's signature is just a giant M.

DeathProof said:

By far one of my favourite bands. Saw them twice in concert - once in Vancouver, and once in Victoria. So amazing. Truth be told, 46and2 is my favourite song from them. Crazy lyrics about the evolution of man....so good. Their stop motion music videos are insane too. Can't wait for their new album which apparently is slowly being worked on. It's only been what....8 years?

Here is a poster of the show in Victoria signed by the band. I got it shadowboxed with the two stubs from both concerts. Hilarious that Maynard's signature is just a giant M.

Click to expand...

I knew I liked this forum! Awesome display, Aaron. You are now my favorite Fett here.

Great build so far man! I'm also a big Tool fan. DVH's comment confused me yesterday because I was sure it was a Tool reference, lol. Got to see them once back when they were touring for Lateralus. Fantastic.

yea Matt..it was the paint fumes...yes, the paint fumes :facepalm

Hi all. So...fast forward a bit in the WIP (I promise I'll update it soon). I'm trying to get things squared away for submission to 501st.

Two and a half years in the making and I think I'm calling this costume done...mostly. It seems to always be evolving I've noticed.

What do you guys think? Any major issues? My collar armor is crooked because I tried to save some time suiting up for just the pics and didn't screw in the attachments from the collar to the vest. That didn't work out so well. It's straight when I bolt it down. And my thong. How could I have forgotten to put on my thong?! How embarrassing.