Zam…The great undertaking.

Maybe that title is the understatement of the year, but we (my wife, Aimee and I) are ready to begin.

That’s just it; Where do we begin?

Sorry – Almost forgot, this is my first post on TDH! Now for my introduction!

I’m Tony Machalski. My wife (Aimee) and I live in Richmond, Virginia. We are both members of the 501st (Garrison Tyranus). I am a clean TK and she is a Jawa (DZ-1382). She’s always wanted to pursue a Zam, I always pushed for Boushh, but I lost! It seems thought the more and more I look into it, the more excited I am to get started on this with her!

So any help is greatly appreciated! (So far Cal has already been a big help. He’s the one who nudged me over here! Thanks for all your help!)

Welcome to TDH! This is the place to start your Zam! My advice would be to start looking through the threads on this forum. There is lots of information available here and plenty of people who are happy to help! ZamIAm also has a great Zam site ( http://www.zamiam.com.

Congrats on your new project!

Thanks for the quick reply! I've read a lot of these threads already before I posted. It's a lot to take in, but I just have to learn to pace myself.

Should we try to buy the hard parts first and get those started first? Or maybe try our hand at the undersuit as a base and work our way out?

Also, for the hard parts, like the chest plate and gauntlets, Aimee is 5'0" tall and think 115lbs. Is size going to matter? I don't want the pieces to be too large on her and not be able to moddify them.

Aimee is 5'0" tall and think 115lbs.

Tony!
Glad to see you officially made it to TDH. You are much more of a man than I am! I would NEVER have the guts to post Jean's weight on a message board. You should be happy though - Aimee is a keeper. (and a looker too!)

I'm very interested to see how the Zam turns out. Especially now that we have our own Dengar in Garrison Tyranus - and my own Boba Fett (ROTJ) is coming together. BOUNTY HUNTERS ROCK!

Originally Posted by ItsThatGuy

Should we try to buy the hard parts first and get those started first? Or maybe try our hand at the undersuit as a base and work our way out?

Some of the items are limited runs ... so if you want them, grab 'em while you can! Other parts are available more or less regularly. A lot of it, you just gotta do yourself! (As time and $$$ permit ) Since you already know MonCal (Our god of all things Zam! ) - he's probably the best "resource" around.

Other than that, you just might want to find a part you're interested in starting with, and work your way down the list (and it's a loooooong list!!! !) Keep your eyes open on eBay or the Cargo Hold, etc. for things like the boots.

it's a long tough road...but im here to help anyway i can as well...good luck on the project

Thanks for all the input, folks! I am really excited to get this started!

Just get ready for some stupid questions, because I will be throwing a bunch at you folks later on down the road! Cal- that means you will be seeing less e-mails from me for questions, but more e-mails for orders!

Also I will keep everyone up-to-date with our progress.

And BTW - John (TD-6829) stop eye-balling my wife! I know where you live!

Good luck with your Zam!

It'll help that Aimee is so tiny...I haven't seen any overweight Zams on this site, but I have seen some very LARGE Zams on the internet, and I think it's really hard to get the costume to look right (and the skirt to hang right) on a very round person.

I'm speaking from experience...I was too fat to begin with and haven't worn my Zam since I gained even more weight...the anime cosplayers say that the first rule is to pick a costume totally unsuited to your body type (LOL, but so often true! who cares....).....I want to wear Zam with the local troopers for Free Comic Book day and part of the costume upgrades has to be losing 50 pounds. Seriously....time to work out before my Jenny Craig breakfast.

At her size, Aimee should look great in anything! And you won't have to buy as many yards of leather/fabric!

Welcome to the zam arena Tony!

I am sure you can make it fit her fine. Kathy is 5'1" and although she is a little short, it still looks great on her and I made everything to scale rather than to "fit" her.

Man, I am really excited about getting all of this together! The great thing (for me) is it isn't one huge kit that all comes our at once. I never know where to begin, and I always try to do everything at once. This way I can give each section it's own deserved attention!

OK guys and gals, I had this laying around and thought it might make a good "make-shift" Zam rifle. Obviously it will need a lot of work and is undersized, but it should make a good base.

Ok be critical (I can handle it!)



We were going to use this as a Jawa Ion blaster, but never got around to it. My parents got her a real nice replica for her birthday instead.


Here's one for size comparison: Oh yeah, my wife was already settled in for the night, so she was in her PJ's while watching Idol!

That will definitely work. The original was a kentucky flintlock, which is pretty close and I am pretty sure you can still pick the replicas up .... but the barrel has to be cut up and lengthened anyway so yeah... that would definitely work!

Yeah dude that will work.

If you need a hand making this please ask me anything, if you need it. I just made this baby for my other half, Langsuir666.
Rubbish board name but she's got a cool rifle!







http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f29/my-zam-so-far-16862/

Awesome, Thanks for the offer! Actually I do have a question, how long is the blaster overall?

I need to go get a new barrel for it first. Not sure where I am going to find a chrome one though.

Also, I wanted to show you guys what I just bought tonight from eBay!


Yep the real deal:


I was hoping for brown, but I can always have these dyed.

If anyone could post any images of thier completed boots it would be a big help!

Originally Posted by ItsThatGuy

Actually I do have a question, how long is the blaster overall?

I'm assuming you mean the rifle? Somewhere in these threads is a link to a full life-sized picture of the rifle, taken from the Visual Dictionary and blown-up to the correct size. Do a search and you should find it.

Yep... those be the boots you want! Congrats! I've only seen 1 set of brown ones (Langsuir666 has them... grrrr...) And nope... you can't dye them. Those boots will be forever black. I painted mine with leather paint and am pretty happy with how they turned out. I still don't have the purple pieces on them...those still have to be dyed and attached (somehow...).

Welcome to the Zammy fun!!!

Hehehehe sorry MaulMaus - i dunno how i managed to end up with those Brown Boots, just very very lucky (sounds the same as how i ended up with sl/tk8456 tho i didnt get him off Ebay LOL )

Your GF should look good in the pieces but even tho i am the same height as Zam was im still always looking at the pictures to see if my body proportions fit and ajusting the armor accordingly.

Perfect example is with the rifle, now if your GF is 5 feet tall and the screen rifle is for example 5 feet 5 long (i dont know the actual length off the top of me head) which when upright reaches the screen Zams head. If you make your rifle screen acurate it will be too big for your girlfriend. Its up to you but i would scale the big stuff down to fit the person.

Originally Posted by Langsuir666

If you make your rifle screen acurate it will be too big for your girlfriend. Its up to you but i would scale the big stuff down to fit the person.

Yeah what she said. Becky is around the same height as our heroine but if she wasn't I would have insisted on cutting it down.
TBH I don't know what Zam's movie rifle length is. I tend to look at photos and work out ratios of things. If you make it so the rifle extends about 6 inches or so above your GFs head it would look cool.

Remember that the rifle butt will have a silver plate extended about 0.5 of an inch, so take that into account when measuring her up.

The pipe we used was standard chrome plated copper plumbing pipe at 22mm. I need to check that though so hang on before you buy it. may have been 28mm? Whatever it was it just sat nicely in the flintlock stock

It's normally used in bathrooms, that kind of thing
Both pipes are bathroom plumbing actually. The lower one too

PS: no problem on the help dude, please ask if needed. I'd help anyway but seen as your a clean TK too, I'd help twice

The boots can't be dyed? ::in my Vader voice:: 'NOOOOO!!!'
Oh, well I can spray them or something...? I'll figure it out. If not no one but us will notice (I hope) . I will keep my eyes out for brown ones though. It will bug the heck out of me if they aren't brown...

Ok so I did some measurements of the rifle toy that we have. I don't think it will work out.

The rifle that we have is 3 feet tall. We can add the butt piece which would add about half and inch. Moving our way up we could add about 6 inches in the first gap, the second gap would be 4 inches and the barrel would extend out another 4 inches at the end. Adding 14.5 inches overall to the rifle; making it only 4'2" overall. About 10 inches too short. I just don't want it to be too disproportionate.

Like I said it was more a make-shift kinda project, not shooting (no pun intended ) for 100% accuracy. Maybe one of these days we will get the flintlock and go for the real deal.

I believe the original boots were also black and painted. The TK boots were the same you know? .. black and painted white.

I've painted about a dozen pairs of leather boots. Our zam boots turned out THE BEST out of all of them as a matter of fact. You need some leather deglazer to remove the sheen. Then I use nu-life leather paint brown. Spray your boots in about a dozen super thin layers of paint, letting it dry between each layer. If you get overzealous and spray too much at one time, it will crack. We weathered our boots initiall with some steel wool, sandpaper etc. but after a year of trooping, they looked perfect!!!

As for the rifle, I have a bunch of reference pics from CIII. I didn't have a tape but I did have a duffel bag strap that I took a pic of with the rifle to figure the length.

I'll do some checking and I can tell you pretty much how long the rifle is
...... sheesh..... I can't believe I haven't built this yet...... I've passed up about a dozen replica flintlocks and one original one..........

here are a few teasers:

Well the "life-size" print out I'm working from is 5'0 (I think mine will end up being 5'1" once I get it all together - I'm okay with that). I've seen the replicas on eBay quite often, and for not too much money - so you might want to keep your eyes open if it's something you really want to work on right away.

MonCal is right about the boots ... the originals were painted as well. You could see the paint flaking off at the FIDM exhibit. I didn't even know brown ones existed until Langsuir666 showed hers off!

There's a pair of brown ones on E-bay right now but they're too big for me...grrrrr. Size 40 European. I wrote to the seller and asked for the measurement of the sole toe-to-heel and the answer was 12 inches! Anyone out there with 12 inch feet?

Na. it was taller than her wasn't it?

I'll measure the rifle we've doen tonight...if I remember

Word of warning though, even though I had a kentucky flintlock the 3rd part of the stick was custom made from my mums broom handle.....sssh. I went back one weekend and stole it. He he

The flintlock has a brass shim that hides the joint between the 2. So that's 2 pieces, the 3rd peice you have to make yourself. And it must fit the barrel and the supporting underbar.
Great fun, LOL

I've recently doen this so please feel free to pick my brains

Ok, now I don't feel so bad about the boots. I'm actually looking foward to it now. Does anyone have any pictures of the purple inserts on top of the boots?

I saw the brown ones on eBay, but they are suede. Either way I will stick with the ones I have now.

Thanks for the images of the rifle, Cal!
I guess I will give the rifle another shot (really no pun inteded!). If I can't get the proportions correct, then I am not really going to worry too much about it. I'm not sure if she even wants the rifle...I never even asked her!

We have an agreement. I will do all of the research and the building and take the credit for that. And she will end up with an awesome Zam, and she can take all of the credit for owning one of the coolest costumes in the Legion, and the coolest costume at any troop/even!

That way no one steps on anyone's toes for making it one way or another. It was a great compromise.

I really love building this stuff. It takes a lot of money, but I think it's well worth it!

If you can get a copy of the Reference CD, there are some good shots of the shoes.

Basically they were pieces of purple leather (matching the vest as best I could tell) that were glued on top of the boots. You could also see where they were also coming unglued on the Ref CD and at FIDM. For some reason, there is also a double row of stitching just outside of the purple leather area (Why?) and up along the brown band on the center. (I'll see if I can get to posting the pic I'm thinking of later today.)

Sounds like you've got a good arrangement there with your wife! My husband just looks at me and rolls his eyes...

The strap that I used for measureing the rifle was part of a camera bag that was stolen so I need to look around and find the measurement I have it written somewhere.

As for the boots I believe the purple sections on top of the boot were actually cut out of the boot. Another layer of leather was sewn inside the boot to overlap the holes from underneath... thus the stitching. And then the purple leather was glued into those holes. I've wanted to have a cobbler do that for me and he quoted me $150 2 years ago but I've never gotten around to doing it.

Tony, Becky is 5ft 5 and the rifle we've made is 5ft 6.
Barrel is 22mm

I could cut an inch or two off but we're waiting for her to be kitted out totally. Lid on, shoes on before we cut it.

I think it looks cool the way it is and my measurements were made on ratios of known lengths and proportions I worked out.

I did that by dividing the length of the stock on the photo by the actual length of the Kentucky stock in my hand. Got the ratio and then went from there
If that makes sense?

Are you guys saying I'm wrong on the rifle? Huh?? *screams* Actually, since I don't have it together yet, it wouldn't be any big deal - only more $$$ for another barrel.... *sighs*

But I looked on the Ref CD and I still don't think they cut out the parts for the purple pieces ... on the right boot, the purple piece is coming up. There are no rips or holes where it could have been sewn in place and it matches up with the rest of the purple piece. Also, if you look, you can see a white edge on the purple pieces, whereas if they were sewn under the boot at those seams, that wouldn't be there. I don't know what they intended, but I don't think that's what happened on the boots.... IMHO. I'll have to get that pic up though...

Where can I get one of these reference CD's you speak of...?

I normaly hate being the 'n00b', but you folks have been really helpful! I am an expert on all things TK, but am very much a novice on all this Zam stuff. Granted I just started researching Zam pretty much the day I first posted on here. I will catch up to you guys sooner or later! I'm a quick learner and very anal when it comes to accuracy/canon!

From the advice of JDFett from another thread, I got this in the mail today:

These swatches of 4-way stretch neoprene:


Outside with no flash:


Outside no flash:


Inside with flash:


Inside with flash:


Thinkness compared to a nickel (on the left) and a 501st coin (on the right):

If you squint you can see my driod caller in the background! 8)

I got the swatches from http://stretchhouse.com/neoprene.htm, it only took a few days to arrive and at no cost!

At $18.00 a yard, it's not bad. Worth a try.

Give me your thoughts - and thanks again to JDFett for posting that in the first place!

That looks pretty dang close to me.... At least color wise. I can't really tell the texture from the pictures (Seems "flatter" ) Is it lycra on the outside - like swimsuit material?

The Reference CD was made by DCB when he went to Australia to see Zam at the SW exhibit there - He then created the CD from his pictures. He's still around TDH, but doesn't deal with Zam anymore, but gave someone permission to copy the CD (and right now I can't remember who it was .. ) I'm hoping they will see this thread and get into contact with you.

Isn't it KimnCris that do them?

If it's allowed and you struggle, Becky can copy you hers

Originally Posted by MaulMaus

The Reference CD was made by DCB when he went to Australia to see Zam at the SW exhibit there - He then created the CD from his pictures. He's still around TDH, but doesn't deal with Zam anymore, but gave someone permission to copy the CD (and right now I can't remember who it was .. ) I'm hoping they will see this thread and get into contact with you.

It's Iceheart.

Originally Posted by MaulMaus

That looks pretty dang close to me.... At least color wise. I can't really tell the texture from the pictures (Seems "flatter" ) Is it lycra on the outside - like swimsuit material?

The Reference CD was made by DCB when he went to Australia to see Zam at the SW exhibit there - He then created the CD from his pictures. He's still around TDH, but doesn't deal with Zam anymore, but gave someone permission to copy the CD (and right now I can't remember who it was .. ) I'm hoping they will see this thread and get into contact with you.

I've been thinking about this more and more. The pictures do this fabric a little more justice than what it looks like in person, but this stuff seems thin enough were I could hand dye it myself...I think...This stuff from stretchouse looks a little lighter than the images from the visual dictionary, and alittle too purple.

Stretchhouse.com only sells lycra, but this stuff doesn't have the sheen like the stuff on ZIA's webpage. It's a little softer than the wet suits I used to own, but I am no lycra expert... My wife thinks it feels like swimsuit material. Strecthouse says that it is neoprene (in the middle), but it is really thin, and when you stretch it way out you can see some light thru it. That's not really a complaint, more of an observation.

Like I said, it's worth a try.

Zamovar - Thanks for posting the new owner of the reference CD's. I will PM Iceheart later.

in regards to the material is is a bit lighter than the pictures show, but it is definatley darker than some other material ive seen used...i think its a personal preference actually when it comes to this...some folks are going for the exact colors and other for the screen look...this material i feel is a good completment inbetween...it is a neoprene in the middle and the material can not be dyed as we tried to make it a bit darker and it did not take, and we used a ton of dye and let it sit forever and still got nothing. I will say that the topic is a tough one because everyone has a different thought on the way they see the costume and the way they want it viewed in natural light (trooping light i like to call it). I think there are some super looking zams here and i know how hard it is to get this together, hats off to everyone that actually has a wearable costume at this point , but i guess everyone has to follow the way they see it...sounds like even our darker zam thought may not be dark enough for tony I do hear that cause we actually would like to go a bit darker as well, but the price was real nice and the material looks very close to where we want to be

the thickness i like because of two reasons...one...it bunches up a lot less and looks more like the way her suit bunches up, two...it will also be a lot easier to wear as you wont be totally covered in a thicker rubber and sweating to death, trooping wise i think it's a more comfortable choice.

with all that said...to get more material than you will need...we spent 120 bucks...so that in itself, being as close as it is and being a readily available material speaks volumes...

we started dying some of our other leather items and the colors complement each other very well....and like i said in another thread...we are going for a darker shade of zam and everything so far seems to look real good together.

***! That's Awesome!

Dude, I want to jump up and click my heels together (but I'm at work! ). I can't wait to put in my order for the fabric now! Look at that JDFett is my costuming muse.... Now I'm inspired to hurry up and get this thing started!

Such a great find on the fabric! Stretchouse seems like a good company to work with. Like I said getting that swatch was simple and took no time to arrive.

I'm glad I'm not alone on wanting the darker shade! Zam IMO, wasn't as purple as purple as the action figures portray her as, but that's how normal fans think of her. None the less the finished costume will look awesome, no matter the shade of purple...plum...thing...

I'm just excited to get started on this!

I really think you can make any "color" for Zam work, as long as you make the whole thing pull together with the leather colors and the suit and the rest of it.

And as we've discussed before - the true color for Zam really depends upon the lighting situation. For some reason, this is true more for "Zam Purple" than for any other color I've seen On the one hand it is REALLY annoying ... on the other hand, it does give us more leeway on designing our costumes I think.

So, if you're happy with it... more power to you!

Guess who's shoes arrived today? I'll give you one guess!

Aimee has trouble putting them on and taking them off, but they fit her well. She will have to break them in. It seems they were only wore once or twice at the most.

Does anyone have any good images of here shoes? Or maybe a pattern for the purple pieces.

Originally Posted by MaulMaus

I really think you can make any "color" for Zam work, as long as you make the whole thing pull together with the leather colors and the suit and the rest of it.

And as we've discussed before - the true color for Zam really depends upon the lighting situation. For some reason, this is true more for "Zam Purple" than for any other color I've seen On the one hand it is REALLY annoying ... on the other hand, it does give us more leeway on designing our costumes I think.

So, if you're happy with it... more power to you!

couldnt have said that better myself

it really does depend on the lighting, and the concept you want to go for...there are so many issues with it...even the exhibit pieces really cant be perfect judges as no one really knows if that was the actual on screen suit, if it had been mishandled and worn out, if the color was totally gone from the vest due to exposure or use/bad storage, or even if pieces were missing and someone pulled stuff together at the last minute to finish it off...in the pics i just saw that tony put up, i noticed that the veil wasnt even lined??? shows that you never really know what your looking at. Thats why i just watch the movie and press pause...i judge by that because i think thats what uncle george wanted us to see

Yeah, there are lots of places in the Visual Dictionary where things were thrown together in the last minute. I won't doubt if the same were done at FIDM. I need to get some software where I can do some screen captures of the movie and then go and print them out for a better judgment of color.

Also with the "run way" viel. I thought the same thing at first, but if you notice it's just how it's wrapped/twisted that the red isn't shown very well. http://imageevent.com/benaequee/cost...singagalaxynyc Look at image 167 and for sizing click "Original"; from there you can see the red satin peeking throw some places (mainly near the ear peice).

man you have an eagle eye...

youre right i see it in that pic, just barely:thumbup

Originally Posted by JDFett

man you have an eagle eye...

youre right i see it in that pic, just barely:thumbup

Like I said before, I have an eye like Cal, but I have no artistic talent do anything about it!

Finally got a pic of the Zam boots up - Showing the seams and the paint flecking off that I was talking about.

Wow! Awesome image! Thanks for that shot!

Today during my lunch hour I decided to swing by this place called “Myrna’s Boots ‘n’ Bits”. I wanted to pick-up deglazer and Nu-life leather paint for the Prada boots. So I walk in and look around, finally a sales lady walks up to me and asks if I need help. I explained to her what I need, and the purpose (for stripping the sheen off boots to repaint them – I didn’t say for a Zam costume. ) Well the deglazer, she had no idea what I was talking about, and she said they don’t have such a product. And the paint she knew they didn’t have that either. She was trying to get me to buy Neatsfoot oil, which wasn’t at all what I was looking for. She then said “have you tried a shoe store or repair shop?” I was at a shoe store that specializes in boots and leather!!!! So needless to say, I wasted about 30 minutes of my lunch hour going to that place!

So before I waste my time again, who carries this stuff? The closest Tandy is about 30 minutes away and they close at 6:00. So I won’t ever have time to swing by there. Worst case – I will have to make time for Tandy.

Sorry for my little rant – just thought I’d get that off my chest. I always have the worst luck!

I would say any specialist leather store. Maybe if you just type leather hides and your area into google it would come up with something, im having to mail order mine from a place in the UK called Le Prevo. Its about 150 miles away from me, can you mail order from the Tandy near you? Its quite specific stuff so you wont go wrong ordering online/via phone i dont think. Sorry i cant help any more but being in the UK doesnt help hehe

looking at that shoe pic...great one BTW, im noticing that the spikes look like ivory...is that correct cause other pics ive seen they seamed to be metallic looking...maybe its a couple of bantha teeth

You can order the deglazer and leather paint (different brands ) online through Tandy Leather or Montana Leather (I've used both and been happy with their services.) There are also a few smaller online leather supply places that you can order them through, as well as the many other supplies you'll need for Zam.

I don't live near a convenient Tandy Store or any other leather store So, I've had to do most of my shopping online.

Originally Posted by JDFett

looking at that shoe pic...great one BTW, im noticing that the spikes look like ivory...is that correct cause other pics ive seen they seamed to be metallic looking...maybe its a couple of bantha teeth

I don't know, that's a good point. At first I thought it was just rubbed off, but its not spotty as if it were scratched off in places. Seems like they were never silver/metallic in the first place. Anyone...?

I have painted mine a bone/ivory color if that helps

with simple craft acryllic paint?

I don't think Zam's shin armour is leather you know. I think its just a moulded rubber piece with lots of weathering on it.

Discuss................ LOL

Does anyone have a good picture to convince me otherwise?

Have a looksie in here, Moncal posted up about it not too far down x

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f29/my-shin-guard-progress-new-pics-3135/

Hmm, ok

Yeah i really wasnt sure either till i read that (im still not 100% sure now) lol but it looks like leather is glued on, it just seems so shiney and smooth to be leather in some of the shots but the weathering and lighting i guess make it look like that

it could be any type of material..doesnt have to be leather...i was thinking the same, but i will say moncals tutorial and his version looks very close...also if you look at the closeups it does have a small grainy tecture to it...id go with a leather like pigskin cause its so smooth and thin...just curious how he did the weathering cause it looks great...cal? im sure he is uber busy with his wife's upgrades for C lV...not to mention all the other stuff he is trying to get done for all us eager beavers!!!!

Either way, after I get these shoes all painted and the leather inserts added (well I am just going to glue them to the tops and see how that works for now) I need to buy me a set of the shin and ankle guards. I just went a little spend crazy on all kinds of other stuff, so I need to wait until I buy those! Also CIV is draining my budget! Can't wait until it's over just so I can give my wallet a rest!

They're leather! Got down on my knees at FIDM and inspected the dang things... trust me. The shin guards are leather! The leather they used on the custume was very very fine grained, and very thin. I don't know what kind - I don't think it was cow leather - at least not the kind I'm used to working with. Pigskin possibly ....

It does look very shiny (almost "plastic-y" to me) and at first I thought they were rubber or plastic.

As far as weathering the shin-guards, I think Cal just took a brush full of paint and dirtied them up a bit, some sort of scraper and scraped them up as well.

CIV is draining my budget as well... and I'm not even trying to get Zam done by then!

i was thinking at one time of going to CIV, working security actually, and decided seeing as my sons 1st birthday is the same time...i'd have to forgo the trip

I am going to Dcon though, as well as Jamie, and we are hoping to have Zam done for her to wear there...anyone thinking of going to that? would love to see some other zammers!

Originally Posted by JDFett

i was thinking at one time of going to CIV, working security actually, and decided seeing as my sons 1st birthday is the same time...i'd have to forgo the trip

I am going to Dcon though, as well as Jamie, and we are hoping to have Zam done for her to wear there...anyone thinking of going to that? would love to see some other zammers!

I'm going to D*C too! We hope to have Aimee's Zam done by then too.

Yep... I'm going to be at DC too! And my Zam will be there too!!!

Originally Posted by MaulMaus

And my Zam will be there too!!!

Are you sure...? Just kidding!

How much more until you have it completed?

very cool...it will be fun meeting up with some of you guys!

Erm... about 75-80% complete I'd say. Need gauntlets (Don't have those yet), then I need to sew up the suit. (This would include testing out the pattern and such. Lacing up the skirt... (I'm just being lazy here... ) And some odds and ends.... It WILL be done! I swear it!!!!!

My greeblies that I won from JD's auction arrived today! Looking good. Can't wait to get them painted! Thanks alot JD! Also, JD, PM sent.

Iceheat - I received my Zam reference CD today! Thanks! I still haven't looked at it yet (I took a long nap once I got home). I will take a look once I stop posting!

Well I got a call from Vogue about my Dusky Lavender leather I purchased...They were sold out! I ordered that a few days ago!!! Oh well, I got my money back, and I will just go another route.

Oh no... I'm sorry. Dang it. I've seen similar leather on other fabric sites, but not that color.

bummer...i still say get what you can and paint it but im all about moving forward and gittin it dun

Originally Posted by JDFett

bummer...i still say get what you can and paint it but im all about moving forward and gittin it dun

Yeah, I am going to go that route...That way I can paint the trim and the leather the same color.

So...I'm not dead! But I have been off these boards for a while! I just need motivation on this!

It's more a question of where to start than anything else! I wanted to get this finished by Dragon*Con, but that just isn't going to happen! My problem is that neither Aimee or I can sew at all, so all of the soft parts are going to have to be tailored - which gets really expensive!!! Also Tandy is pretty much the only place around here to get leather, and their hours are horrible (close at 6 on weekdays - weekends are always busy for me too).

I need a to do list for Zam and try to knock everything out! I just don't have the time!

Unless someone wants to make it for me!

Hmmm my advice would be have a go! Order leather/dye/tools by mail order and get a sewing machine. Me and John had never sewn anything before in our lives either LOL. Only thing i dont think we could have done was the neoprene suit because the machine just wasnt up to it.

common tony...had high hopes for you to have this done by Dcon...you can sew this if you have the stuff we have...it's not that hard...ill give you any pointers i can...we need dcon zammers!!

I feel for you Tony! Been there... All I can say is don't give up!!!

Tandy (and other leather stores) do ship their stuff! Trust me on this! My nearest Tandy is quite a haul for me as well! Their hours aren't good for me either. I think I've been there 2x during my Zam project, the rest of the time I ordered online.

There is a sticky thread here of all the Zam parts - which can serve as a "To Do" list ...

As far as sewing ... If you have a machine. Try it out... sewing a "muslin" - using the stretch denim and see how it works out. If you can't stand it... you can still hire a seamstress. If it turns out - It's money you've saved... right?

Originally Posted by ItsThatGuy

I wanted to get this finished by Dragon*Con, but that just isn't going to happen!

Well, with an attitude like that it's not, sunshine! Knock off the negative waves dude

Get filing.
Get painting
Get sewing
Get punching
Get dyeing
Get Zamming

Hopefully that load of nonsense has given you inspiration. After reading it, I feel like a second go!

Wow - Thanks guys for the "kick in the pants"

I needed a little jump start!

So yesterday after coming on here, I finally ordered the neoprene (the stuff that JD suggested from Stretch House). I figured, what better place to start than the body suit. Once I have that I can coordinate all my color pallet around that.

I have the boots and the greebs already. So at least I could paint those too before the neoprene arrives.

The good thing is, cash isn't an issue. We just refinanced (well sorta, but its a long story) our house last week, so we got a HUGE chunk of cash from that. I still need to make sure I don't go over board though! I still have "house" stuff to take care of first (dish washer, shingles, fence....list goes on!)

Thanks again guys and gals! And Happy Independence Day! And to all the others not from America "Happy Random Wednesday"!!!

Yeah.. I think we're good for a kick in the pants! Especially John and JD!

Looking forward to that Zam and DCon!!! !!!

Guess what I got in the mail today
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Yup, a big pile 'o neoprene! (there's alot more fabric there than you can tell - Plus it's super thin neoprene...) Oh and yeah - I wanted to show off my bucket too! Even thought I've had it and finished last year - I am still proud of it! I thought it would add flare to the photo!

Ok who want's to help me figure out a pattern...? I still don't understand the whole wilt stitch thing... How are you supposed to acheive that?

I was gonna say "Dude... you've got the wrong helmet..." but I guess you figured that out already. Cool bucket!

There is a thread here on sewing with the fabric where I posted samples of a welt seam. Basically you sew your first seam like normal, then fold it over on the seam allowance and sew another seam next to the first seam through the seam allowance. Practice..practice...practice.

Buy some cheap stretch denim and practice on that as it has similar properties to the neoprene.

My problem is figuring out the welt seam to show it to the seamtress or whoever will be making this for us.

I have a sewing machine and a lot of fustration that goes with it.... I can't figure that thing out to save my life.

There is a seamtress near by that made Aimee's Jawa and a couple of tie flight suits for some guys in our garrison, but the only issue is the language barrier - I believe the are Korean and there English is horrbile, but they do great work. So there is some doubt there that they will completly understand what we need...

i thought i had some good pictures illustrating the welt seam process...maulmaus has it down in the previous post....it's rather simple really....I used a sweat pants pattern and cut out the leg needed....I then cut it in half, make sure your piece is bigger to allow for sewing...if you use a pattern for sweat pants and go a size bigger than she fits that should give you enough allowance.

after cutting it down the length of the leg(outside seam) and splitting it in half, then simply sew it back together with a straight stitch leaving at least 3/4" excess...then flip it over so the right side is up and using the foot measurments on the sewing machine sew another straight stitch along the first..making sure the extra material underneath is flat and under the stitch...this gives the "puffiness" to the welt....(I actually placed the side of the foot of the machine along the first stitch and used that as a guide so the welt would come out even and the second stitch would be parallel to the first.

as with all stretchy material you should always give a gentle pull back...not too much, to the material as you sew it

Wow! I've been gone A LOONNNGGG TIME! Sorry about that! I was going to put a big chunk of change on the hard parts for zam, but a FP Cold Cast Jango helmet was offered to me...so I've been working on my Jango for a while and trying to save up the rest of the money... And then I decided my house needed some work, so we got a new roof and added some other things to it as well....

I know excuses, excuses, excuses!

I at least need to get the soft parts finished first!

Anyone willing to do some sewing for me? Neoprene and leather parts.... I'll do all the dying myself after it's finished...

This Zam is more of a pain for me now... I let it sit on the shelf too long, now I've lost my entusiasm... I just want to get it done and over with!

Cal - you wanna sell me Kathy's Zam?

You're talkin to the Queen of Excuses here..

Go watch EP2... look at pics of the costumes on this board. Get jealous of some of them! *Works for me! * Pull it all out and trip over it for a few days... That might help too!