Don't know where to even start.

DarthBrik said:

Wait how did you get bobamaker stuff 1/3 the price?

(Just curious...)

Click to expand...

shop the cargo hold . ppl get new stuff and sell off the old .
i got BM chest , ab , collar , and back for $180 . like the paint so much i painted my cod and butt plate to match . will upgrade it to boba maker one day :love .

don't think it will ever be finished :wacko. even if u get top of the line something new is going to catch your eye . so if your buying get GOOD STUFF !! if you got junk every thing is going to catch your eye .
:cheers

Build your hard parts outta sintra. $30 gets all your hard parts done, including shin tools. Bobamaker, fettpride, Wickedbeard are all awesome - if your 5-10 ish and medium framed. If your really tall or short, the armor will not fit your body shape and you'll look goofy. Screen accurate is great if your the same size as jeremy!

you can invest in a $89 sewing machine at Wal-mart, get some twill, thread and other sewing stuff there too. Hancock sells a coverall pattern that can be modded to make your own jumpsuit if you are scared to invest in Ladysewforus's excellent suit & vest. look up Batninja's great belt tutorial. Girth belts are $15 and $8 to dye it. IOA armory makes nice cheaper gaunts (armor as well) if your scared to scratchbuild. IOA's $30 knees are really awesome too.

Doll hair from michaels can make you some scalps. You can often find low boots similar to Boba's that you have to repaint for $20ish. Jetpack is pain to do cheap, so save it for last. It's a doable scratchbuild if you take your time.

Last thing, if you invest any serious money into something, make it your bucket. It's the only thing 95% of people look at. If you cannot find one used, M-DSB makes a great helmet for $125. It's so durable you could almost throw it across your driveway and not have it crack, yet it's easy to trim up. But as I said earlier, if you really short or really big, your gonna have to look at other options like a jango 2 piece or a scratchbuild.

This thread really speaks to me. I am a new member here (first post actually ), but I have been lurking for a while. I have been wondering where to start as well and I like the advice of starting with a good quality helmet and building from there.

i'm just starting off as well, and my girl friend has some of the same point of view as yours. When you add everything together, it definitely seems way over any ones random budget, but you have to be patient and do it one step at a time. I get away with it because i say "baby, it's a 4-10 year project!" and as much as i wish i could get it all in a year, thats totally not going to happen if i want it to look really nice, and be quality...you don't want to spend hours painting a pair of cheap e-bay random gauntlets, only to bump one against a wall accidentally and have the whole thing crack.

As much as i would agree that making your own stuff is cheaper and great practice, there are so many people out there that make all the parts, and extremely well. Fett's not a random unique character that not many people know of. So you'll always have pros for years and years making better upgraded equipment.
My suggestion would be that if you are not a very good painter, get a trash can, and practice. buy those cheap hasbro helmets/blasters and practice some more. That way when you get your nice equipment, you'll know what your doing, and hopefully not ruin it. I personally made a jet pack out of recyclables(bottles,pizza boxes ect.), and it was hell. it took way too long to fabricate, and it's 70% accurate at best. but i got to practice painting it. Although I've been painting for most of my life, but more practice sure helps, so when i get the real deal in a couple years, it'll be spot-on.

I agree with Slaveipilot, save and get the good stuff first. Even if you have the money like me to drop on a topshelf Boba as the first time owner it's still going to take a while because the guys that make the best stuff generally have a lot of orders on their plate. I ordered all my stuff in May and I'm still waiting on parts. That being said, you can probably save a lot of money by waiting for items in the cargo hold where you can still get topshelf items but at a lower price because you're the second or third owner. At least with BF he looks grimmy any way so it's not like people can tell it's been passed around. It's realistic to assume it can take you years before having a complete BF. I'm sure most of the veterans on this board can atest to that.

My other bit of advice is research, research, research... First I looked at pics of ALL the different BF's you could do for the 501st and then I picked the one I liked the best. In my case it was the SE BF. Then I researched the TDH for hours on end for weeks and still find myself doing research albeit not as much on what goes into that costume. Point is, BF has a lot of different pieces and the research went into what exactly I needed and then researching who made what, and then what quality of stuff people made and what I wanted to spend.

Again, even if you have the money it's hard to know where to start so I can't imagine how it feels to be a little light in the pocket book and starting this process. Again, it may take a while but know what the good stuff is and get that first even it's second hand. I've done more costumes than BF (as many here have done), and I think it's pretty universal that if you get the good stuff first you'll save money in the long run and be much happier. At least for me part of the thrill of this hobby is the journey to getting your costume.

Sean