Seattle Zam Found Fatigue Age for parts of costume

SeattleZam

Jr Hunter
Hey there TDH!

Just a report, school (Digipen video game college) took me away from spare time for a while, but I'm happy to announce I just did my 38th troop in the Zam this last weekend.

Unfortunately, that's also when some of the parts busted, but after that much air travel, stress, hot parades and cold winter streets, I'm not surprised. I'll fix it and make version 4 with a new belt system for the skirt and replace the ankle guards (they snapped in half). I also noticed the magnets died, so I replaced those last weekend. The neoprene is still holding up but the vest is fading in all the sunlight exposure.

School's out for the summer - I'm doing my jobs instead - so I will have a little spare time to costume up and do my next costume. I'll bring Zam to C5 too.

How are all the other Zammers doing on here?

I still need to make the rifle, anyone else need that too?

Deunan
 
Well my wife's Zam is coming along. This is the month where she will be starting the vest, jumpsuit, and cummerbund. All of the "hard" parts are either molded, cast, finished, or sculpted with the exception of the left gauntlet, which is nearly done itself. We will be done by Comic-Con. We will not be taking Zam and Jango to C5 though. We don't want to risk anything or pay extra to travel with those costumes.
 
Hey Deunan - Wow.. 38 Zamming's and you're still going!!! :D I'm not surprised you've had a few repairs to make... but glad to hear you're still Zamming! Looking forward to seeing you at C5!!!

Foxbatkllr: Sorry you won't be bringing the Zam and Jango - that would be awesome. But, I can understand not wanting to pay the equivalent of the costumes themselves in baggage/shipping charges just to get them to Orlando!!! :facepalm Hopefully I'll get to run into you and your wife at C5 as well!!! What costumes are you bringing?

mrsnaglium - What? Not done by C5? ;) Just kidding? Will you be attending C5? Hope we will get to meet you in person at one of the conventions.

Me... yes - you can tell I will be there... I don't know if Zam will be going or not (if it is finished... or like Foxbatkllr - I can afford to bring it along!) *sigh* I just don't know yet....
 
WOW! Way to go girl! :eek:

I have been working on my Zam for 2,5 years now. More or less and all down (or lack of it) to finances and some point I had a break, cause I almost gave up costuming.
But... got the bug again and working on my first round...
 
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MaulMaus: Yeah its expensive to bring the costumes and I just don't trust anyone else to take care of my stuff, whether it be UPS or the airline. I don't know what costumes we'll be bringing. If we do bring something, it will be small with lots of soft parts that can be packed easily.

Oh and about the Rifle...
We have the base kentucky flintlock rifle and I have an aluminum barrel and aluminum packing rod but not the scope and side attachments. I know that westarsmith makes awesome machined aluminum scopes/side attachments for the Zam rifle. When we have some money we are going to get those.
 
I hear you... I still have visions of the gorilla handling the baggage from those old commercials!! That was the one up side for CIV being in LA - at least I could drive there.... Orlando is just weeee bit too far! LOL If it wasn't for the helmet... I could pack it into a large Samsonite... *sigh*
 
Hi everyone!

Wow, great to hear that we have so many costumes in progress. That's awesome. If you want, I can post some lessons learned on different parts of the costume.

Because of the repairs, I'm taking the costume apart and redoing it. Right now I'm making the new vest and cummerbund. Just finished the new skirt-hanging belt this weekend, and I'm doing some hot-glue repairs to the ankle guards, but the ankle guards won't hold for long. (Really need a new set.)

New data:
VEST - The sides where the lacing is put in were probably reinforced with "belt interfacing." This does double duty: it stiffens up the sides to help keep the shape, and secondly, you can punch the grommets through it and they help hold them so the leather doesn't stretch and slip through. I'll be acquiring some soon and will take pics for the new vest.

Material: I'm switching from cow to pig. I'm starting this time with a purple pigskin from Tandy, which I turned suede-inside, and I'll put my carefully dyed match over the outside for distressing. It came with some appropriate scratches and marks on it to help with the "distressed" look. The cow worked - it's just thick and very hot on the summer parades and stuff. Also, pigskin suede can go through a regular sewing machine. (Ha haa! )

Magnets:
It is possible to wear out a magnet. Three of mine died. Apparently sweat will eventually eat the silver off the outside.

This time around on the cummerbund, I'm creating a slip system for the front where it meets under the holster. Instead of cobbles and laces, which cannot adjust, I'm going to design the darn thing to slip behind itself from the get go. I'm also making this one thinner. The old belt system ended up three belts thick (my waist changed a lot) and added 2.4" to my waist on each side. So we joke that this belt version is putting Zam on a diet. :)

Cold:
The neoprene from stretchhouse is not cold-wind-proof. The cold wind goes right through it like tissue paper. I got so cold standing on the street two weeks ago, that I was shivering. I had to retreat inside and borrow a nice warm Jedi wool robe for a while (and that looked silly). But just FYI, this costume is a bit weird in cold temps. It's sweltering and icky slimy with sweat in hot temps.

If you're wrestling with a specific part, let me know and I might be able to offer some workarounds. And yes, I'll be at C5 in Florida! I'm taking the Zam. It will hopefully be all repaired by then, depending on the MonCal response time for ankle bits. :)

Deunan
 
Deunan - Wow... thanks for the post! Yes... Please post pics... it really helps those of us visually challenged ;) I may want to put the info into the different sections later... I dunno.

VEST: What the heck is "belt interfacing" - Extra thick interfacing of sorts? Honestly, I've never heard of it. I can see how it would help though... we kinda forget how stretchy leather can get, when it is pulled tight like on the vest. Regarding the material - I assume you're still talking about the vest? Mine is the white pigskin (I think... ) I still need to dye it though.

The Stretchhouse Neoprene is not cold/windproof - that's good to know. Not only for those who live in cold/wet climates... but also for those of us who live in hot/miserable climates!
 
Me and Becky or should I say, Becky and I plan to revamp her Zam soon :)
Tough costume to stay in shape for 100% of the time so we'll try to make it more fogiving and more comfortable to wear.

I've seen some of her deep velcro cuts after a days trooping and it doesn't look fun. I may even wear it all myself soon....sssh ;)
 
yeah no my zam is not even going to be close to done by C5 but I will be attending in my biker scout and also in my ISO and i might possibly steal my fiancee's Jango for a couple hours.. hehe (hope he doesn't see this) haha... I am probably going to be starting on the undersuit soon.. I have all the materials and as I come along different parts I jump on them.. I also have all of JDFetts greeblies sitting at my house waiting to be painted.. another project :-D

I'm really excited about working on this.. Once its done my fiancee and I will have a complete Zam and Jango.. YAY
 
I am still slowly working on mine. Finances are the biggest hurdle, so I am still on the collecting parts phase. I do promise to finish my Zam at some point!! ;)
 
Update: I'm back in action!

Well, the ankle guards snapped in half in three places on each one, from stress. Note: Next set I get, which is on the way, will be bent out gently with a heat gun first to accomodate my slightly wider boots, and reduce the stress on the middles.

I temporarily repaired them by backing them with multiple layers of red plastic Dixie cups. *shrug* It'll hold for static troops, where I'm standing around, but it's not parade-worthy. Squeeks more.

Other updates: Belt stiffener. I hunt this today at the local fabric shops. I will post pics. The new vest pieces and belt pieces are cut out. The new skinnier underbelt is working but the puffy cummerbund has really got to go. Makes me look like a potato. My first versions usually do. Sigh.

My greeblies got scratched up to kingdom come from San Diego comic con and some rough storage. I'm making them little polar fleece cozies to tuck over them while it's stored. I will be repainting them - for the fifth time! - this week.

Lined the helmet with purple pigskin. This is helping keep hair damage down. I glued it in in strips right over my padding. Highly recommended. I also put a dangling bit in the back to help disguise the wisps of hair that escape me. This didn't work. I'm going to switch to a hair net, the kind they use under wigs. You can get them at the costume store for less than a buck each. Then the hair will stay. Darn it.

I'm going to do repairs on the current vest as well as start the new one. I think the stiffener on the sides and the front will help. I notice that most of us suffer from that slippery leather getting away from us, going loose in the back, sagging on the sides, etc. I will see what I can do. I am also going to re-rig my front armor pieces before C5. I want to tie them down - they slap around to much when I move right now.

And of course, I still accept two cookies per bounty for your friends, so look me up at C5 and get your camera. I usually grab from behind with the gun pulled, so make sure we won't scare or annoy anyone in the process. It's pretty darn humorous. One lady only had babybel cheeses, and I accept those too. :)

Is anyone stuck on a particular part? I am thinking of assembling pics of what I did and post that somewhere or slap it on a media. If it would help, that is. I know it helped me seeing everyone do their amazing Zam work on this website. You all rock!!!

Deunan
Seattle Zam
Luminara Unduli - 20 %
OTR Armored Jedi - 5 %
Geonisian Arena Jedi - 100 %
Anya Kuro, Dark Woman - 100 %
 
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