SE Boba Build (Complete)

Looking good J24. It can be tough if you get stalled, so keep it up. It can help to work on something else for a bit, setting something aside that you are finding slows you down. The trouble is you eventually will need to get back to it. My from-scratch jetpack is in that stalled phase, partially because I have been moving around, started a new job, etc., so basically all of my Fett was on hold. I've found time over the past couple of months to get back to it a bit, but noticed the jetpack is not where I picked things back up.

Keep the momentum!

You're right. Maybe I should move on to the cloth parts. I want to get this missile finished though, because that will be a load off my mind.

I think it's a case of, after a certain amount of time, you expect a part the costume to be finished, but then again I'm working on several pieces at the same time. The helmet is close to being done; I'm waiting to add the next run of the hearing aid mics before I install fans and padding. I guess I just wanna play around in the helmet while I'm waiting for the other pieces to dry.

This has been very encouraging as I begin my scratch build ROTJ. I'm about the same height so its nice to have all the tips for scaling templates. It also has opened my eyes to some of the problems I might encounter in the future. How thick is the Sintra you're using for the armor? Keep up the good work!

I used 3mm sintra for the armour pieces which I sanded to a bevelled edge to give the illusion of more depth. I initially doubled them up to 6mm, which looks good on some Fetts but given my size, it looked too bulky. So I went back down to 3mm. The scaled-to-our-size thickness we should be using is around 4mm, but since I already have 3mm and that thickness is coming in handy for other parts of the costume, I just stuck with that.

I finally suited up with what I have and the jet pack really brings it all together.


I sewed a tighter seam on the left arm and leg to see whether it looked better but I can't really see a difference. I have realised one thing though. It is HOT in there. Just five minutes and I'd already sweated into the back of my flight suit where the harness was. How do you guys cope? Is under armour a good investment. I understand it keeps the sweat off you, but it is another layer.

I found some old metal balls off the ends of a curtain rail in my cellar that are a similar size to the thrusters so I'll be using them. From the weight, I don't think they're solid but I'm having trouble cutting into them. However, they have screws which happen to match some nuts I have lying around. The missile is done, thank god, and is sitting pretty on top of my jetpack. It's a little uneven but I'm happy with it. I bought some more supplies yesterday (celebrating the fact this should be the last time I'll buy bondo for this project) including paints for the armour.

Jesuit24 said:

I used 3mm sintra for the armour pieces which I sanded to a bevelled edge to give the illusion of more depth. I initially doubled them up to 6mm, which looks good on some Fetts but given my size, it looked too bulky. So I went back down to 3mm. The scaled-to-our-size thickness we should be using is around 4mm, but since I already have 3mm and that thickness is coming in handy for other parts of the costume, I just stuck with that.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. After some thinking, I decided to stick with the 3mm as well. I think after shaping, sanding, and a good paint job it will look good. Keep up the good work! Look forward to seeing how it comes along.

Some progress. Here's the finished missile now awaiting paint:


With this completed, I started work on the thrusters. Using the metal curtain rail ends as a base, I doubled up spare sintra for the cones and used greeblies I found in my bits box to create the inner circle detail. Since I can't cut into the metal balls with the tools I have, I'm having to stick them on top of it which isn't ideal and will require bondo to give the illusion that the detail is sunken in. I used small slices of sintra to use as support for this.

I'm not sure how sturdy these will be. Ever since I started this costume, I was concerned that the thrusters would be the most vulnerable part of the costume. Using the screw attached to the curtain balls, I built the connector out of 5mm PVC pipe (layered messily to the correct thickness) with a nut inside that the ball can screw onto (nuts, balls, screwing; if I was a lesser man, I stoop to making a joke ).
Essentially, the connector slots in to the fuel tanks. The two wooden dowels inside the pipe slot into an oval shaped hole on the far side of the tank, the 5mm PVC pipe slots through the centre of the tank and the overlapping pipe sits flush with the outer side of the tank. If that makes sense. Then, I'll epoxy the thrusters in their washers and bondo over the gap. This means they won't turn, but that's a sacrifice I'm happy to make. Especially since I'm sure people will love fiddling with them behind my back and I'm one of those people who'll be upset if there's a picture of me with random thruster directions.

In addition, I put together the jet pack stabilizer really quickly. Again, not terribly screen accurate, but it does it's job for free. A retired scalpel handle (my very first in fact) and two layers of sintra. Nothing has ben glued yet.


And finally, the keys for bolting the armour. Just regular keyboard keys (again free) sanded flat and gratuitous epoxy to attach the nuts inside. I'll bondo over the nuts just to be safe.


What I don't have pictures of are the gauntlets, which I finished painting after I enlarged them, and the interior of the helmet, which is now painted black to neaten things up.

Just the fact that this is all scratch built is freaking insanity. I'm beyond impressed! Basically speechless on how amazing that helmet came out! Keep it up!!

Thanks, man. I'd never be capable of it if it weren't for this site.

I've painted my armour, topically as with the helmet.

FLASH/NO FLASH

Not everything is in the right place and some edges are a bit fuzzy/brushstrokey, but it comes together nicely. When I was painting the yellow, I was concerned it might be a bit too bright but it looks okay when finished. How does everyone weather their plates? I misted black over the green and then painted the yellow and silver on top of the black weathering, although I've seen people who mist their black over the top of the yellow/silver chipping.

All that's left is to paint on the symbol on the left breast plate. Not sure how I'm going to do it tbh. I think I'll have to make out a stencil, I definitely don't trust drawing a circle with my freehand skills. I haven't painted the back plate yet. The time at which it was taking me to coat the other pieces with the green led me to believe I'd be at it for hours before I got a decent coverage, so (prepare to wince) I'm going to get a rattlecan as close to green 117 as possible to do the back plate. Since you don't see much of the back with the jet pack in the way, I'll live with any colour differences and hopefully mist in the difference.

I've still got to paint the knees/shoulder bells. A difficult task I'm betting given the transparency of yellow 154 but several light coats should do it.

That armor looks fantastic

Shin tools are filled and primed ready for paint. I didn't spend a great deal of time of these as they'll be tucked away in the pockets.


I also finished filling and priming the jet pack thrusters. They feel pretty solid, but time will tell how they hold up. Now the gruelling task of doing the jet pack body.

Nice work all around. Gotta hand it to ya your quite resourceful ! What did you make the anti security blade out of?

Thanks! Both tools are made from layered cardboard. A centre layer encompasses the entire tool, and an additional layer on either side builds up the detail. I added some spare wooden dowel offcuts for the tubes on the anti security blade with two headphone jack adapters slotted into the end for the detailing.

I could have spent a bit more time on them to smooth out any rough spots left over, and the black part of the squeegee should be stencilled on rather than bevelled out like I did but for something that will barely see the light of day poking out of the top of the shin pockets, they look the part.

Great work on the shin tools. I'll probably take a similar approach. This thread has been an invaluable resource for me. I can't wait for the finished product.

Thanks for the tip. I have a Paterson squeegee and the aluminum rods, but I was stuck on what to use for the vibro plate. Maybe I'll give your method a shot see if I can get it smooth.

How can anyone be this talented?!

I'm glad to see this thread is helping out. When I first joined, I was a little dismayed at the prices I'd have to pay, so seeing budget builds really gave me hope.
Got2bfett: You could just use sintra if you have trouble, provided you have it lying around.

I've cut up some random tubes I found a while back and a pen to provide the knee darts. Again, screen accuracy is an issue, but after I bondo the holes I made for them and add paint, they should look the part.


After a lot of humming and hahing about the gauntlet rocket, I decided to give it a shot making it myself. I initially tried a pepakura model, but it turned out far too delicate for my hands and I considered buying one. My problem was that these gauntlets are significantly scaled down and a regular rocket won't work. So back to building one. I'm taking this one step at a time. Using dowel (or a chopstick in this case), I skewered four Humbrol paint lids to it after finding they were the correct girth. I used some PVC pipe for the back tube with a cap slotted over it, but unfortunately I didn't have any pipe that fitted over the Humbrol lids, so I rather messily wrapped some sintra into a tube. The lip of the paint lids will provide a support and contact point for the glue and four lids, arranged as in the picture will provide the length of the tube section. Bondo will level out the messy sintra warpage. The pieces are currently unattached and the picture shows the second sintra tube seperate to show how it goes together. As far as the front end goes, let's cross that bridge when it comes to it.:confused


The jet pack has been resined on the front with some extra thickness added to the top edge. Now it's ready for bondo.

This is an awsome build. I'm only a few weeks into my full scratch build for death watch armor, and reading this is great motivation. Keep up the great work.

Thanks, I've been checking out your build too.

I've done a first pass of bondo on the jet pack.

I pulled the rocket tops off to make it easier to get in and sand things down. I've given one half a spray with the filler primer to see any imperfections and thankfully, it's smoother than I anticipated. It will still need a bit of work though.

And here it is.

Thrusters have been slotted in place. They fit snug, but they'll need to fixed more permanently.

Not sure if anyone commented on the "beard sticking out yet" but an easy fix that lets you keep the beard would simply be to wear a balaclava or ninja hood with your suit. I know some people wear one while trooping with their helmets to give that added sense of mystery under the mask effect.