Scratch build ESB Boba WIP

T90

Jr Hunter
Hi, I figure it would be a decent place to start documenting a scratch build especially with so many amazing builds to draw information from and aspire to be as good as!

After sitting on the fence for ages, watching this forum and a couple others, I decided to jump in and start a kit of my own. The start to any build is the lid. I downloaded a pepakura file, printed it out and spent the better part of 11 hours cutting, folding and gluing to come up with this.

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Then came the bondo and carbon fiber, shaping, changing and finalizing.
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This picture was done kind of midstream, I adjusted and cleaned up lines, and have just cleaned up the helmet overall.

Today I grabbed a PVC pipe and printed off the WOF armour templates and started the job of cutting and rough shaping. This is where i managed to finish off today.
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I am looking for some advice on the back armour piece, I have taped the template together, but short of going to my local plastics dealer and getting a large sheet of 1/4" PVC sheet and then manhandling it, I dont know where to start with such a large piece. Tips hints and tricks are most welcomed as are critiques and comments!
 
OK, so I managed to cut the back armour out as well as the butt plate and cod piece today, formed them to the best of my ability and then Gorilla taped them to my shirt to see how it all looked, and here is how it looks so far.

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Finished off the cod and made some more adjustments to the back plate. All that is left to make will be the knees. My only concern is the illusion of thickness and depth, I am using 3/16" PVC and 1/4" ABS. Anyhow, here is what I have so far. I have added some of the deeper damage with the dremel to a couple of the pieces, but not finished the rest yet.

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Now I have some time to experiment. I am making some plaster tools and have a bit of an experiment planned.

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Quick update, I got a special delivery on a Sunday of all days. My ears, range finder topper and stalk, MQ-1 and special surprise a Borden connector all arrived in the mail today. Cracked a cold one and got to work. Now the painting may begin :D
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I made some modifications to the helmet, just minor detail work and I am finally satisfied with my progress, the pepakura bucket is ready for paint.

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Now off to get a cutting shield and get a visor ready for install.
 
Mods, if this is thread is in the wrong spot please move it.

Here is where I am at now.

I cut through the layers of paper, carbon fiber, bondo and resin to get the visor out and Installed a #3 cutting shield after making a template from the same 110 cardstock that I used to make the helmet. After the visor was installed I masked off the back panels, made some more adjustments to the profile of the lid then gave a base coat of metallic silver, then I printed off the Raf templates and started the masking process with some help from an Irish friend.

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Well after a week or so of juggling life and work responsibilities I am finally making some headway on the paint job. I have never airbrushed before and found it to be quite enjoyable once I got the feel of the gun and setup to my liking.

So as I progressed along I found there were some areas that I wasn't fond of so they had to be sanded down after hours of work, but I am happy with what I have accomplished so far.

From its humble beginnings as a piece of paper to where it is now

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I have to go over it again with a small brush and touch up here and there as well as add detail that I have missed, but the majority of the pain is complete :D
 
Thanks! Now onto the armour pieces. And I should get my measurements for Arkady before I get too far along into the holiday season and my measurements change dramatically!
 
Some more paint laid down. I had originally painted the green using the Hunt Club Green Matte, but it seemed too green, and not quite olive drab enough to match the photos. So I sanded everything down again, and used the Humbrol colour 117 Matt US Light Green, and while the two shades of green are very similar, the Humbrol 117 IMO gives a better match.

I have to work on the chest decal now, and then the chest and shoulders will be done.

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Look solid brotha! Probably one of the better scratch builds I've seen lol! Something does look off about that right shoulder though, could we see a picture of the shoulders right next to each other?
 
Thanks for the comment! I do have a picture of them side by each. I have some weathering and some brown to add to the shot/burn marks still, I have just added some subtle shadowing around them for now.

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I have also started on some gauntlets, again a pep file, however they will have to be heavily modified due to the fact that they are ROTJ gaunts, while the main shape will remain the same, I will need to build a flame thrower as well as some mods to the shape of some components. After the helmet though the gauntlets seem quite easy.
 
This is coming along nicely. Your helmet turned out great. Look forward to seeing everything completed.
 
Update, due to frustration.

Well, the pep gauntlets I made suck. Plain and simple the pep templates were first off for some ROTJ gaunts, I thought, no big deal, a few minor mods on the left and it should be good to go. Well the pepakura files were such rough and vague interpretations of what the ROTJ gaunts looked like that I have had to cut out so many panels and rebuilt/reshaped so many pieces that I may as well have started with a cardboard tube and built onto it from there.

Now I appreciate the fact that someone took the time originally to convert their vision of what the gauntlets looked like and turned them into an openly shared pep file; and this post is all due to my overly self critical nature. Ultimately all I want to do is create something visually as close as I can to the ESB Fett.

Maybe I need some coffee and to quit whining. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Thanks Toolguy. Building this from scratch has given me an extreme appreciation for all of the work that goes into so many of the home made costumes, especially those made with accuracy in mind.
 
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