steoconnor
Jr Hunter
Greetings all.
I've been lurking here for some months now, learning from you all and being dumbstruck by the talent I've seen. I must say I didn't think it was possible to build a Boba Fett from scratch but this community is just incredible for proving it can be done, and in so many ways.
So first things first. My budget isn't what you'd call generous, so I'm going to have to build everything by hand (save for a flightsuit and boots maybe). I also don't know how much time I will have over the coming year (which is my estimated timeframe for the build) but I will post every detail I can, in the hope that someone would like to learn from or correct me as I go along.
I don't think my tools, time or talent will allow me to produce something that will be 100% screen accurate either so I might have to upgrade as I journey on but I'll give it my best.
Also, I've never built or done anything like this before so bear with me as I stumble through it all.
So without further ado... let's begin...
To start with, I've purchased some 3mm Aluminium sheets (Aluminum to many of you
) to build my armour. A shout out to cyberpyrot for his teachings on how to work with this metal.
I used medium sized templates for this armour work. Traced onto cereal-box cardboard and then onto the aluminum.
I used a Jigsaw tool to cut the metal (I found out the hard way that I need to cut really close to the lines because I have to hand-file all the edges and this takes some time)
After looking at Cyberpyrots' videos and testing different hammers on the metal, I ended up using a rubber mallet which seems to have the added bonus of not marking the metal and giving a nice rounded shape to the metal when I need to add curves in places. Oh yeah I also got some tiny pieces of metal stuck under my skin (which I later had to remove with a sewing needle), so I eventually wore gloves :$
I also wore protective glasses for all the cutting and filing as those tools (especially the filing) do throw up a lot of fine metal pieces.
I started with the shoulders first. So here you can see them, alongside the other flat pieces (apologies for the light, I usually don't get to work till evening time).
Then I progressed onto the other pieces once I learned to hit the metal in a straight line going down when trying to curve it (otherwise you end up with a skewed piece which doesn't look symmetrical).
I also learned that you need to check the metal every few hits to make sure your curve is progressing well.
Below: as you can see, my "workshop/garage" isn't very fancy
As with Cyberpyrots' metal work, I start hitting the metal from top to bottom in the straight line (between the wooden pieces you see below) to achieve a uniform curve. Then move the entire metal piece over to the left once I'm happy the curve is forming nicely).
I found it very hard to see how rounded the chest and abdominal pieces (and also the neck piece) from the actual Boba Fett references, but I'd welcome feedback once I have closer pictures posted.
Don't mind the grey on the metal, it was a protective plastic on one side. I will peel this off in later shots...
So here is the roundness of the neck armour (perhaps when I make the flak vest and fit it I will be able to adjust to make it curve more accurately..)
I drilled a few guide holes for the chest piece here and then hand filed the "tronics" boxes. Takes a while indeed.
And here we have the fruits of my first labour... For me, this is a weeks work (an hour or 2 here and there). I now understand why this takes so long
More close-ups and progress to follow as the weeks and months progress.
Thanks so much for looking.
I've been lurking here for some months now, learning from you all and being dumbstruck by the talent I've seen. I must say I didn't think it was possible to build a Boba Fett from scratch but this community is just incredible for proving it can be done, and in so many ways.
So first things first. My budget isn't what you'd call generous, so I'm going to have to build everything by hand (save for a flightsuit and boots maybe). I also don't know how much time I will have over the coming year (which is my estimated timeframe for the build) but I will post every detail I can, in the hope that someone would like to learn from or correct me as I go along.
I don't think my tools, time or talent will allow me to produce something that will be 100% screen accurate either so I might have to upgrade as I journey on but I'll give it my best.
Also, I've never built or done anything like this before so bear with me as I stumble through it all.
So without further ado... let's begin...
To start with, I've purchased some 3mm Aluminium sheets (Aluminum to many of you
) to build my armour. A shout out to cyberpyrot for his teachings on how to work with this metal.I used medium sized templates for this armour work. Traced onto cereal-box cardboard and then onto the aluminum.
I used a Jigsaw tool to cut the metal (I found out the hard way that I need to cut really close to the lines because I have to hand-file all the edges and this takes some time)
After looking at Cyberpyrots' videos and testing different hammers on the metal, I ended up using a rubber mallet which seems to have the added bonus of not marking the metal and giving a nice rounded shape to the metal when I need to add curves in places. Oh yeah I also got some tiny pieces of metal stuck under my skin (which I later had to remove with a sewing needle), so I eventually wore gloves :$
I also wore protective glasses for all the cutting and filing as those tools (especially the filing) do throw up a lot of fine metal pieces.
I started with the shoulders first. So here you can see them, alongside the other flat pieces (apologies for the light, I usually don't get to work till evening time).
Then I progressed onto the other pieces once I learned to hit the metal in a straight line going down when trying to curve it (otherwise you end up with a skewed piece which doesn't look symmetrical).
I also learned that you need to check the metal every few hits to make sure your curve is progressing well.
Below: as you can see, my "workshop/garage" isn't very fancy
As with Cyberpyrots' metal work, I start hitting the metal from top to bottom in the straight line (between the wooden pieces you see below) to achieve a uniform curve. Then move the entire metal piece over to the left once I'm happy the curve is forming nicely).
I found it very hard to see how rounded the chest and abdominal pieces (and also the neck piece) from the actual Boba Fett references, but I'd welcome feedback once I have closer pictures posted.
Don't mind the grey on the metal, it was a protective plastic on one side. I will peel this off in later shots...
So here is the roundness of the neck armour (perhaps when I make the flak vest and fit it I will be able to adjust to make it curve more accurately..)
I drilled a few guide holes for the chest piece here and then hand filed the "tronics" boxes. Takes a while indeed.
And here we have the fruits of my first labour... For me, this is a weeks work (an hour or 2 here and there). I now understand why this takes so long
More close-ups and progress to follow as the weeks and months progress.
Thanks so much for looking.
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