Another Bounty Hunter in training - First troop!

Frenzy

Jr Hunter
(If it's a wrong forum area, my apologies, hope a mod can move this elsewhere)

Heyho everyone,

about a time to make a small introduction and project thread! Hope you don't mind, I thought I'd jump straight to the discussion as I already a few questions to ask. :) I'm a Fett fan lured back to the magical world of Star Wars by local troopers here in Finland. After seeking information and contacting their garrison I got the inspiration of building my own costume. Intense browsing soon led here to the Dented Helmet -a best thing to happen for a newbie collector. It's an outstanding community and I've already received much help to be thankful of.

I chose ESB Fett for my first costume project. I got a "starter package" from a retiring collector and have now a few basic items. Of couse I hope to have any advice regarding the items to achieve a troopable and cool Fett costume.

What I have for Helmet right now is the Don Post Deluxe, that has been widely discussed here. After my research I'm under the impression that it's not the best one around because of it's shape. Perhaps cos of my untrained eye, I really can't spot the flaws so clearly, although I acknowledge the missing of the "strange" features of a screen-accurate helmet (wavy brow, uneven cheeks and so on). The paint scheme is a bit off and has to be tweaked for screen accuracy. Otherwise to me it really looks quality stuff. Perhaps I'll post a few pictures for comments and criticism.

A few questions to help with the following acquisitions. I've learned it's best to concentrate on one item at the time to get all the research done and details right, but as opportunities come and go, I'd like to be prepared for chances. :)

Jetpack: I have a quality jetpack (not sure of the maker though) but with wrong colour scheme. Am I correct if I think the jetpack models themselves are the same in ESB and ROTJ- only the colours change? I'd like to know the same thing about gauntlets, is there a difference between the movies? I think the armament differ, but the base stays the same.

I'm going for the flightsuit, cape and ammo belt sold by secondprize here.
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f31/...-mojo-sidearm-soft-parts-hardware-more-41280/
I hope it's okay to ask in a public forum, what are your opinions on the quality and pricing of the items? To me it all looks good and reasonable and appropriate for my epic goal.

Hope I'll get this show rolling. :) I'll post pics and questions during the progress!

Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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Welcome...........it looks like you lurked before posting. Good for you. I am more of a Jango guy so I will let the Boba's answer your questions.


Again Welcome and enjoy some of the best costuming resource to be found.
 
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Welcome aboard Im sure TX Fett will tell u how it is without being overly blunt. The jetpacks are the same...however not sure what quality and how accurate a suit you want to build. And whats your budget? The gaunts are similar...there are some differences to them. Start looking around BEFORE buying stuff...dont jump the gun. It may LOOK nice but some things look good from far, but are FAR from good when you actually learn whats what youll know what i mean.
 
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Thanks for the replies guys, good to hear some thoughts. The process has begun slowly after the first acquisitions by gathering information and background knowledge. I don't have a strict named budget but instead want to take small steps with the costume over a longer period. Look for good deals and pay what I have to for the nice and quality stuff. I think this helps with concentrating on the details and having no rush that could be fatal to the suit's final look.

Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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That's the proper mentality Frenzy. Don't rush it and take your time to find the things you want. You'll be happy that you did.
 
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That's the proper mentality Frenzy. Don't rush it and take your time to find the things you want. You'll be happy that you did.

so true...I aquired my suit over a year and then frenzied over it before CV to put it all together.
 
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Here's a couple of pics I took of the helmet. No photoshop enhancements and as I'm not a pro photographer the colors might be slightly off. The overlook is quite sharp however, what are your opinions? I spot that the battle damage and chipping is not in the right places all around and the kill markings should be more/entirely yellow instead of fading to orange. Not sure of the green scheme. But paintjob aside, I cannot spot what's wrong with the shape. Some comparison photos to mystery and real helmets indicate the helmet is a bit more narrow (not so wide) than the better alternatives. But is this to be considered a fatal flaw, as people also have different sized heads and some helmet shapes might look better on them.

Of course I'm looking to build a good costume, but would not like to upgrade if I fail to spot what's wrong with the current items. I look at the helmet every day and to me it looks nice. Any guidance?

One point that came to mind when uploading pics from the camera. Don't know if it's relevant at all, but helmet stands on it's cheek and back of the head when placed on a flat surface ie. the ears don't touch the ground. I have a feeling that I would've read somewhere that this was a good aspect.

fett080.jpg


Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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Everything looks great dude. Some of the pros can give you any tips on the scratches and coloring. I'll leave that for them. I don't think you'll need to upgrade at all. I'm no pro though. ;-) Looks great.
 
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It looks "OK" not accurate on either part in that they look like the movie props but are not accurate in that the helmets paintjob is not very close to the real thing the boots materials are not correct and toe spikes on boots are incorrect as well, I have seen worse so dont take it to hard...trying to be nice about it but if you got a deal on the items and arent going for a super accurate fett then theyll work for a halloween costume
 
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Time to resurrect this old build thread... Seeking for some advice! After more than a year of slow grow Fett building I've taken the ESB project quite far. Bigger and smaller acquisitions now and then haven't brought down an apocalypse on my student budget and the quest is coming to it's final stages. I'd like to thank TDH for the great source of positive energy and the wealth of information!

I finally got to paint some armor! It's a Fettpride armor set I bought from a member here. Paintwork is a combination of spraypainting and airbrushing and therefore fits to my routine obtained from the miniature painting hobby. I really wanted to do this so that it would "feel" like my thing and that I'd also be confident in the painting process.

I'm from Finland and it's quite hard to get krylon or rustoleum paints here in Scandinavia, and according to the shipping laws it's not possible for me to order them overseas. That's why I had to do my own research and use whatever domestic colors were available.

I had my helmet in hand to use it as a bit of a reference as I'd like the helmet and armor to be in the same color hues, knowing it would bug me if the armor didn't look "coherent". In my opinion I managed to get close enough with the shades. The Don Post Deluxe helmet that I have is not too certain color reference though, but for the time being...I'm probably going to upgrade the helmet in some point just because I want a better paintjob on the bucket. I don't want to repaint this one as it's a collectible after all and it's in a really good shape. If I want to paint another one (or have it painted by a pro) it's better to be an accurate one from a reputable vendor. But for the shape of the DP deluxe I really cannot put my finger on what people think is wrong, except perhaps the width of the visor.

Unfortunately some battle damage masking was a tad too large (especially in the abdomen) so there's a bit too much yellow and silver visible. For now I'm going to keep it how it is, if it proves to be a problem I'm able to redo it later.

I'm waiting for the Decals so there's no chest logo yet. I did some subtle weathering with airbrush techniques, concentrating around the blaster holes and other battle damage. It still looks a bit cartoonish and I might need to try some weathering powder or other stuff to create some additional texture. In my garrison forum the Fett members adviced that the colors are a little off.

These pics have been taken with Samsung and iPhone cellphone cameras and both are just a bit off from the reality. I think these pics show the armor a little lighter than in reality:

20120103214533.jpg


20120103214601.jpg


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20120103214554.jpg


20120103214608.jpg


kuva0135.jpg


kuva0136.jpg


These ones are unmodified iPhone pics where I think the phone settings add some contrast, so it's not exact either. I'd say the actual look of the armor is between the Samsung and iPhone pics. Complicated! As you can see, I need to tweak the shades anyhow as the parts have a bit different color hues. It's because each armor plate has been painted individually by hand and it's all about airbrush control, some wash coat might be thicker on some piece and so on. Fortunately this means it doesn't bug me at all to make it darker/greener/etc... according to your suggestions.

kuvaxx.jpg


kuva2i.jpg


What do you think, should I adjust it more darker, greener or bluer? It doesn't really seem to me that ESB armor was purely green and even the color templates out there suggest it to be more of the turquoise side. It's not a big deal for me to shade it with some airbrush washes so it's just about what you would advice. Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
-Frenzy

20120103214533.jpg
 
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In the last image (with the cod and the gauntlets) the gauntlets should have a lighter green than the armor. To be more exact, the gauntlets and the jetpack share the same base green and same weathering, while the armor is a darker green. The best way to see the closest color to the original ESB armor color (which is lost forever) is the existing Pre-Pro #1 left chest plate from the LFL Archives featured on the Blu-Ray discs:

Boba-Fett-Promotional-Armor-2-06.png

Boba-Fett-Promotional-Armor-2-06.png
 
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Nice guantlets!!

It shouldn't be a problem to mist the armor with a darker green. Just mask out the damage and mist the armor a bit more. I did that a few times with my armor because I didn't like it the first two times.

You're almost there!!! Looking good !!!!
 
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Thank you guys! I appreciate it. I'll do some adjustments on the armor tomorrow, darkening the armor a bit and perhaps do a little highlighting on the gauntlet pieces.

Here's a couple of pics of the soft parts as well.

dscn2391p.jpg

dscn2395x.jpg

img2075n.jpg


My jetpack (not a soft part, I know...) that I still need to strip from the colors and repaint to the ESB scheme. Unless someone has an ESB pack they'd be willing to trade, that is.

I'll get some new pics taken when I have done some more work on the armor!

Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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I recently did a test fitting on a mannequin torso! Got a lot of new pieces and it's coming closer to the completion a piece by piece!

The helmet visor inaccuracy is just bugging me more and more... I just figured out what's wrong with it, it's that the visor should be 'deeper' in the helmet to leave some mandible edges showing. The lack of 'perspective' or something makes it look odd. I need to upgrade and I'd love to try painting a helmet, but for now my funds are low. Everything else required for the costume is however in my possession or in the mail on it's way!

dscn2404k.jpg


Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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I tried the costume on first time today. :) Still a lot of trimming and padding to do to make it fit right and feel secure. I'm most likely gonna snap everything down to feel safe that everything's gonna stay in place while I'm moving around. Still waiting on bobamaker gloves, BFUK harness and some other details to arrive. Thrilled to finish this soon!

I only had the backup camera with me so pic quality isn't something to brag about. Here's just a peek to what's going on:

fett12.jpg


-Frenzy
 
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A quick update! It's coming together although I missed the Januray deadline waiting items shipping for a bit longer than I expected. But after receiving the Jetpack Harness from BFUK and some rattlecan resupply the other week, these were waiting me at home today (pic below)!

Thanks belong to Stormrider for excellent service and communication even during the hardest times. Respect and gratitude!

Now I just need to wait for the weathered decals and gloves to arrive from Bobamaker. Meanwhile I will concentrate on repainting the jetpack, doing a holster scratchbuild and then tweaking different costume parts for better fit and positioning. And of course assembling my beautiful blaster kits! This weekend will be dedicated to the Fett project.

scaled.php



Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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Reporting some progress again, finished some props today! I managed to get the airbrush clean enough to complete the jetpack paintjob. The undercoat was done by spray cans, which was then shaded and highlighted with airbrush. The colors, markings and details are done freehand with traditional brush. Scratches and paint chipping was mostly achieved by patting the surface with foam sponge dipped in acrylic paint. Some weathering was finally added with rattlecans. Tomorrow I'll try to attach the jetpack hooks, already marked the spots for holes today. I also got a word from the maker that my gloves and decals should ship in the duration of next week!

I also assembled and painted the guns during the workshop day... Kits were pretty comfortable to work with and didn't need too much cleaning. Unfortunately I didn't remember to take any progress pics of the different stages, but it was pretty straightforward. The blaster kit didn't include scope or barrel tube, so I scavenged these from the EE-3 that forum member locitus kindly gave me. The stock was in its bare form as you saw, so I first added two coats of Liberol Stain Lacquer I had as leftovers from miniature painting projects. The paintjob was also done in stages, black undercoat with spraypaint, drybrush by silver, some detailing, colors, weathering and finally a clearcoat varnish. Before sealing it up I brushed some weathering powder in strategic locations to achieve some rust effect. For accuracy I also chopped a piece off from the stock.

I decided to scratchbuild the holster to serve it's purpose as long a FP replica of the actual holster pops up in Cargo hold... I bought two pieces of black rubber sheet, which I bent and superglued into holster form. The strap attaches with a small magnet. The actual design of the screen-used holster is so complex that when I contacted some local craftsmen and leathersmiths even they felt challenged with the reference I sent them. This simplified version shall now serve until a better alternative presents itself.

Oh and there was some pics as well! iPhone quality, but what can you do, my main cameraman and equipment is enjoying warmth and welfare in Hong Kong at the moment. :)

kuva15.jpg


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kuva6.jpg


kuva4v.jpg


kuva5.jpg


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Cheers,
-Frenzy
 
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