I'll be working on a Pre-Vizsla and my wife will have a Bo-Katan armor. We haven't figured out yet if we were going to buy our first set of armor or make it. Right now we are leaning towards buying it and then making a different set. I did pick up some Sintra to work with and we already have our helmets. Before I dove into and started working with a set I needed practice with the dremel, shaping, sanding and painting. I didn't want to spend money on a set and then ruin it and since this is all new to me I figured I would need something to practice with. I also didn't want to start cutting the Sintra yet until I felt more comfortable using the dremel. I did do some trimming on our helmets though.
So that started me with Pepakura. I wanted something relatively easy to start with to get the hang of the process so I used a template for Boba Fett Shoulders and created 2 shoulders. Working with the hot glue gun while working with Pepakura ... is interesting.
I then did 2 coats of resin on the outside to strengthen it. I had thought about filling it but decided against it since I was also going to fiberglass it to get used to that process. I used a spray adhesive to stick the fiberglass cloth around it for even more support. Then I added another 2 coats of resin to it. I gave it a decent sanding to smoothen it out and then mixed up some bondo and added to it. After a bit of sanding I ended up with:
I sanded some more and wanted to put a coat of primer on it to see how it ended up. I used a self etching primer to spray on it. I probably got a little too anxious since it seems I need a bit more sanding I think. The white smudge at the top is dust from when I picked them up and moved them to take pictures.
I'm guessing part of the bondo chipped or it isn't sanded as completely as I thought since there are small little etches in the surface. That could also be because I'm using dremel multi-max to sand, instead of sanding it by hand as well.
I'm not sure why there are lighter/darker circles with the primer coat. Is that because of not sanding it properly as well or is it the primer I used?
I'm not too worried about the center area too much, but I'll need to figure out how to make the outside parts smoother (better sanding I'm guessing?). Although I was thinking of painting it as is and try to use those etches as a type of weathering by dry brushing them. For the center region area I am going to cut a rectangular piece of sintra and dremel etch a Mythosaur on it. It is to get more practice with the dremel. I also wanted to created a multi-layer effect to the armor by making the emblem be attached like a patch, then have it be a paint job. At least that is the plan.