Building a Zam, Where to begin?!?!?

OK i'm helping the wife jump head first into Zam-land so we're coming here for advice, help, and info on everything.

I've spent the last month reading most of the threads in this list and I've got a good idea of whats going on but i don't see a lot of info of where everyone started from?

There's a good thread going on over on the boba section about how far people have come with their boba gear, So i'd like to see some comments hear as to where everyone started from, what you used first before all the fabric runs, and DCB's helmets were made etc.. I know people were Zammin' long before last september, way back at C-II even.

We want to get a good enough costume together and get out there asap, then upgrade as better parts and info come along until we have an ubber-Zam setup like the few of you have one day, so ...

So with that, what did everyone use for the bodysuit before the fabric run? did you dye something, did you just sew something from another fabric type? etc.. Did you make the vest and bib from vinyl to start? I think i can make the greeblies for the most part, but the helmet and cloth components seem the most challenging right now...

Anyone have any spare and old parts? etc..

Thanks

-Bamatrooper
TK-152
 
There were only a handful of "completed" Zam costumes out before C2/DC '02& '03- before a lot of information was available. These were mostly cobbled together with stuff that looked "ok" - they weren't necessarily screen accurate - but you could see what the costume was supposed to be.

Then there were the brave few, like Wookie & Kimncris (and a few others), who attempted to hand make every piece from scratch. They were the Zam pioneers ;) They sculpted their helmets and other hard parts and cast one offs of them in resin. (sometimes casting a few extras here and there... you know - for back-ups ;) ) For the soft parts, i believe they went for off the bolt fabric that was close in color/texture. I'm not sure if they are upgrading and thus selling off old parts. From what I hear - they are not. I could be wrong though.

Yvonne has come the closest so far to a "screen accurate" suit. I don't think she has any 'older' parts for sale - because she went right in for close to screen accurate materials on her first attempt. I think she said that she is going to eventually upgrade a few of her pieces in the near future.

Most of us, I think, are just sort of taking it slowly, i guess.... waiting for that perfect piece right off the bat - so we don't have to upgrade later. (well, you ALWAYS have to upgrade ;) )... So not a lot of cast offs from us :)
 
Why do some of the zammers have april deadlines? Who's going where?

BTW, Purple lycra undersuit is the material to use for the "quickie" april suit. Um, too bad ya missed Christmas, but there are beads there that you can buy on a string for a 1.00, you can upgrade em later. I will list the other "quickie" things, as I remember what I used to have. Probably still do somewhere in the basement... I actually didn't get rid of my unaccurate stuff, but it's like several grades below KimnCris' stuff... if ya know what I mean. It's mostly thrift store stuff that was good for a quik throw'in together.

(Ruffles through and throws pieces of resin and leather everywhere...)

Zam I Am
 
Thanks for the replies and PM's. Nah nothing special in april for us , we're just looking forward to more costuming this spring personally. The focus for us right now is costuming, 99% replication of parts is something to work towards over the next year or so, like a fett costume, you start off with what you can cobble together, then upgrade forever! So the same looks to be for ZAM especially since we're having to make most of the parts ourselves.
So yeah cast offs are great if anyone has any, right now, I'm working with sculpy and sintra. We're close to finding a body suit to dye for the time being..( the color will be a pain!) The helmet, well thats a whole different senario there.
One thing at a time...
Things look promising with some of the projects out there as well. I'm always amazed at the talent some of the board members have, true artist all.

Well back to building my junkyard props....got to get that sculpy in the oven tonight!

-Bamatrooper
 
Yeah, we haven't been around long enough to have a whole lot of "extras"....either that or there aren't enough of us??? who knows...like Jango..except they had a start with all the boba parts :)

I would have had at least one shin guard that came out of the mold sort of messed up except I couldn't let it go to waste and brought it back to life enough to use for my wife's zam :)

I could pick up a string of beads for you. With shipping they'd be $12.00. I'd even weather them :)

LMK

Good luck with the major undertaking 8)
 
B_T 152, I'm kinda in the same boat you're in. I'm the one with the April deadline, so I'm building stuff like a madman. I might be able to help with a few of the things I did myself. I just did a Zam helmet. It's not 100% screen accurate, bit it looks prety decent in my opinion. You can see the progress here http://tdh.prop-planet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7859&forum=10

I will be starting on the other parts that I wasn't able to aquire, next. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in just startin out this project. Good luck. :)
 
Yeah i saw the helmet thread. Nice work for a quick scratchbuild. I'm gonna try making one also in the coming weeks, just to get by with for a while... If i fail miserably, I might want some assistance...

I got most of the greeblies done in Sculpy last night and for 10.00 and 3 hours of time, they turned out fairly well. I still have to make the thigh knife piece though. I'll post some pics when i can..

Yeah we're starting quest for ubber-Zam a bit later on some parts but we'll catch up. It may take a few versions and a few seasons, but it will be done someday... won't it?

-Joey
 
Well, in truth the alpha and omega to the question of aquiring the most accurate zam costume was what DCB was gonna really do in Aussie, but they caught him red handed and took away his flashlight :lol:. Wow, it's like yoda to luke :D
 
Actually, If I technically started on everything at once. The cheapest thing a person can do, is just cut "simulation" patterns first. Make an entire suitpieces outta paper drawings for patterning, to their specific size, then go from there. If I would have done that with the skirt, mine wouldn't have been too short. Even the chestplating = patterning. So, if you start on anything, draw it on big pieces of paper. Then trace your corresponding material to size it/determine how much material you will need in sq. feet. Or, take DCB's pics and just enlarge/decrease to size of object to fit. The very first item I bought was the shoes. We actually created things outta order. I started with the greebs. The chest plating was half done before I even got the under suit and lower body armor made. Holster was also among the first to get made by DCB and I. The body suit came almost last.
 
This thread is more than 20 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top