Anakin Clone Wars Armor for my son

Hey fellow brothers and sisters,

right now me and my wife are working on a costume for our 7-year old son. He wants to go as Anakin Skywalker as seen in the new Clone Wars Episodes. :rolleyes

We wanted to do a scratch built costume so we looked out for reference materials (Here I say a very special "Thank you" to Dan Glitch [http://www.danglitch.com], who has several fantastic shots of his adult costume, what I used as reference! Thanks Dan! :thumbsup). Hope I am allowed to post his link here, if not please let me know.

As it is for a child I used sponge rubber reinforced with a metal mesh inside. The metal mesh holds it in form perfectly.

But no long talk, just have a look:

http://www.mmgraphics.de/anakin_armor_01.jpg
The front with grey acrylic color and jedi sign on the left shoulder pad

http://www.mmgraphics.de/anakin_armor_02.jpg
from the right ... hoep you can see the small scratches on it ...

http://www.mmgraphics.de/anakin_armor_03.jpg
The back with a cut-off piece to get the armor on (bandable) ...


Feedback is appriciated for sure ;)

Some minor tweakings are still needed but I guess it comes along very nicely for a 7 years old boy. And he loves it! :D

:cheers
Manuel

That looks great! It definately captures the feel of the cartoon. Can't wait to see the rest of the costume!

I'd be curious how much the armor impedes movement. Watching the cartoons I have always thought that it would make it a bit difficult to move.

thats awsome, i love the design with the detachable piece on the back,ingenious lol

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Originally Posted by Cod'ika

thats awsome, i love the design with the detachable piece on the back,ingenious lol

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;) thanks Cod'ika, it has been the easiest way to get him put on his armor by himself. And it works out very good.

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Originally Posted by ART ANDREWS

I'd be curious how much the armor impedes movement. Watching the cartoons I have always thought that it would make it a bit difficult to move.

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The cartoons version is "stretchable" that means the "rips" of the armor are fastened by some kind of stretchy material. If you look closely to one scene or the other you can realize it. :D So the movement should be a thousand times better than with the "vader armor" on. For my sons armor it isn´t stretchable ... maybe I will improve it ... at least if he comes to me with the words: Why isn´t it accurate? :D

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Originally Posted by never_ending_fett

That looks great! It definately captures the feel of the cartoon. Can't wait to see the rest of the costume!

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Thanks never_ending_fett, I´ll definatly post some new shots if he test-fits the whole costume. :)

Stay tuned ... more pictures will follow and thanks for the feedback guys!

Manuel

looking good so far Manny!

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Originally Posted by Replicant Shadow

looking good so far Manny!

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Thanks RS! :thumbsup

very kewl and very clever!

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Originally Posted by Django

very kewl and very clever!

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Thanks a lot for the kind words Django. ;)

Sweet! I love the how the back works. I'm sure your son is going to love it.

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Originally Posted by orionx42

Sweet! I love the how the back works. I'm sure your son is going to love it.

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Sure he does. The test-fittings are his highlights. :D
I´ll post some full-suit pictures within the next 2 days.

:cheers
Manuel

Looks pretty good except that there's a wedge shape on the back of the innermost lames that overlap the back plate.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../Picture65.jpg

That and there's a definite upward curl to the outside part of the outermost lames.

**** ... yes, now I know what I have forgotten ...

Thanks for the hints and the pic Riceball.

As he needs his costume tomorrow, I guess I´ll re-work it after that. For tomorrow it should work out fine. He´s so proud to present his costume in school. :-)

Cheers,
Manuel

So gentlemen,

here are the update-pictures. :D

Not 100% done yet, but we´re working on it. :rolleyes

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_01.jpg
Trying to get the right gestures ... :suprise

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_02.jpg
ok ok ... he didn´t want to put on his shoes ... so whatever ...:D

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_03.jpg
A closeup for gloves and belt. All of this costume is scratch made!

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_04.jpg
The back ...

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_05.jpg
The silver plates on the right glove still missing ...

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_06.jpg
The movement with his armor on is without any problems. (for ART;))

http://www.mmgraphics.de/ani_07.jpg

Our boy loves his costume and he´s proud that his mom and his dad took the time to fullfill his hottest wish. :)

And I think the costume has become pretty well ... all is scratch made, just the anakin FX lightsaber ... that is bought. ;)

Hope you like it brothers and sisters.

Cheers,

Manuel

Looks great! I'm sure he's lovin it, but maybe you are a little more lol. Maybe some gel in the hair for the final touch?

yeah, the gel comes in the hair tomorrow morning ... when it´s final costumizing time! *LOL*

I´ll take shots then too and will post them afterwards ...

Cheers,
Manuel

lol sounds like a fun day at school, theres been so many days ive woken up and sat up in bed stared at my helmet and gone WTH why not...but then i think of school rules....T.T but alas may the 4th muahahahaha

that is awesome!!! great job i love how you painted it, looks just like the clone wars

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Originally Posted by Katua Fett

that is awesome!!! great job i love how you painted it, looks just like the clone wars

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Thanks a lot Katua Fett! :)

:cheers

any pics from yesterday? What was the occasion at school that he got to dress up?

that is freaking awesome! Always great to see a child happy in a star wars costume, even better when that costume is great quality. Man, I wish I had a costume like that as a kid.

@ mandosoldier: Yes he is very happy with it. And I am happy that we could make it for him. :-)

@ never_ending_fett: Pics will follow. They are still on cam ... I have to put them to my pc first ... ;-)

Manuel, you did an incredible job on your son's costume and it looks like he's having a blast wearing it. And I wish my armor was made of rubber, that sounds comfortable!

Hey Dan, great to get some feedback of you!

As I told before, I used those incredible pictures on your website as reference shots. Hope you don´t mind me using them, but you are the by far best looking Anakin-Clone out there! ;-)

Yes, this rubber armor is very comfortable as it has a layer of steel-mesh inside. One layer of rubber, a layer of steel-mesh and on top a layer of rubber again. The steel-mesh I bent keeps the rubber in armor-typical rounded form and it is hard enough to even be an "armor". :-)

My son was beside me as I went onto your website and he told me: Dad, I want to look as this guy. Is this the real Anakin?

hehehe ... You see you´re **** close to the original.

Thanks for the kind words, especially from you Dan, and if you ever need a rubber armor that´s more accurate to the film as the one I did for my son, let me know. ;-)

The more accurate one needs this upward curl to the outside part of the outermost ribs and it has those two "overlapping" pieces on the back center rib.

I guess I´ll redo an Anakin armor again to test it out. :-)

Cheers,
Manuel

Wow...that´s a great costume you´ve done for you kid man. I´m so looking forward to start making costumes for my kid, just let him get another year on his back and he´s there. He´s already a SW fan:)

Hey cr4nky, yeah, that´s one pretty nice effect on this hobby ... not just to be a star wars enthusiast for oneself, but the follow up by our children. ;-)

It´s a thousand times better for kids than hanging around on the streets ...

Even if there will always be people who aren´t star wars fans and they just shake their heads ... The still growing star wars fan base shows us to be on the right side ... or even better on the dark side ... *LOL*

Cheers bro,

Manuel

looks great!!!