Arden "Lucky" Fisk

Welcome, You'll find everyone here very nice and helpful(I'm a noob too)

I love it myself. I dig the coat bit a lot.

Sorry not much constructive

And the helmet is the first thing I'm gonna do to(after my guns that is), You might take a lookat Bradley Fett's kit, fairly in-expensive. It's what I'm going to get.

Yes, my advice is always start with the helmet. You'll learn most of the painting techniques you'll use on the rest of your armor by doing your helmet first.

Love the Bes'kad (Sword), and the coat. Looking forward to seeing you put it together.

Welcome, your concept looks good. I'll be watching with interest.

Welcome Abby!

I'd love to see your Bossk! Got any pics?

That armor looks great. You have some ideas on there that are fascinating. Keep posting with updates!

I say that but I've not posted any updates of my own... I'm moving slowly and want to surprise everyone with a complete project.

here's the link to the thread with info anfpictures of the Helmet kit: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/lower-cost-movie-sized-helmet-kit-21140/

and here's an example of just how good it can look: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/bradleyfett-helmet-build-up-22436/

One thing to keep in mind, Don't skimp on the details! Details will be the difference between an okay costume and a great one.

I love the color scheme you've got going but maybe tone down the yellow a bit. Once you've got weathering going it'll get toned down on its own though.

What the heck is up with these AWESOME prepro pics being made? I want one! lol

Originally Posted by Tensen01

here's the link to the thread with info anfpictures of the Helmet kit: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/lower-cost-movie-sized-helmet-kit-21140/

and here's an example of just how good it can look: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/bradleyfett-helmet-build-up-22436/

One thing to keep in mind, Don't skimp on the details! Details will be the difference between an okay costume and a great one.

I love the color scheme you've got going but maybe tone down the yellow a bit. Once you've got weathering going it'll get toned down on its own though.

I've already consulted with Bradley Fett, his kit looks great. I need to find a source on an aluminum rangefinder stalk and a face shield-- though there's a tool supply place nearby where I should be able to find the shield on my own.

I'll do the details, don't you worry! I'm crazy obsessive about them. Tonight I should have a final design for the helmet, I'll post it here for crits.

And yeah, that color rough is just the basic plan. The base coat of yellow will be super bright, but in the course of weathering it'll get faded and dirtied up. I really do want an obnoxious yellow, though, we'll see how it looks when I get it on there.

Originally Posted by CuteLucca

Sure thing. Here's one:

If you want more, you can see them here:

http://www.cutelucca.com/bosskcostume.html

Oh wow! That is Great! :thumbup

Awesome design! I really like the trench coat added on there. Are you going to have shoulder armor? Because it would look killer on top of the trench coat instead of under it.

About the character; you can make them female if you want and have the "male" Mando armor. In Republic Commando: True Colors, Skirata mentions something to the effect of "you can't always tell the gender of a Mando just by looking at their armor."

Originally Posted by Boba_Fett_03

About the character; you can make them female if you want and have the "male" Mando armor. In Republic Commando: True Colors, Skirata mentions something to the effect of "you can't always tell the gender of a Mando just by looking at their armor."

True and if you detailed the visor on the reverse it would give the appearance of 'never' knowing which way your facing.. did that come out right?
You have the pre-pro Esq eyes on the dome both front and rear... if you painted the visor section on the reverse your enemy (at first glance) would not know what direction you were looking?
Just a thought?

Yeah, I was definitely going for the 'eyes in the back of his head' look. I'll toy with the visor effect in the back-- maybe sort of a stylized one?

Well, if the armor is unisex, than I probably will just say there's a girl inside there somewhere. A rough, tough, fairly masculine girl, though! Honestly, my only consideration was that I didn't want the boob armor! Reminds me too much of Frank Frazetta babes in chainmail bikinis. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just ain't my style.

Whilst a lot of people like the boob armour look (there's nothing wrong with that at all) I too find it not to my liking. That's why my armour has a curving of the chest plates for comfort only. That way they sit properly but don't scream "WOMAN!" at the top of their lungs. It's there for all to see IF you know what to look for but generally people don't spot it and assume I'm male, NOT that I go around pretending to be one. I just don't announce that I'm not very often (the draw-back of which is that I've been to troops where some women's hands have tried to wander!!!)

I never did this when I was going to make my mando...

Man, I cannot wait to see this done. I like with your vibroblade, it actually looks futuristic, rather than just a pirate sword or something.

Very cool!

your concept looks really nice, Arden

I like it, nice sword and coat

I'll be watching this thread... also nice Bossk!

Alrighty, I think I've got the final version of the helmet down:

great concept! i love the helmet pic!

I official hate you....

Originally Posted by Tensen01

I official hate you....

!!!!!!

I think that was sarcasim

I really like what your doing, its nice to see good ideas. Its also nice to see a fem mando that isn't screaming "I am female" at the top of its lungs. I always figured that female mandos were above that in a way. No I don't want any one jumping all over me for that statment, but just the way I think.

How did you do the helmet drawing?

Yeah, I figured it was sarcasm. My reply was just a bit of exaggeration.

I did that particular drawing with a traditional outline which I scanned in and colored in photoshop.

Very nice helmet concept! I like the RF and Antenna addition.

Holey moley.. very nice. Anxious to see a finished product.

Originally Posted by NovallTalon

Yes, my advice is always start with the helmet. You'll learn most of the painting techniques you'll use on the rest of your armor by doing your helmet first.

Love the Bes'kad (Sword), and the coat. Looking forward to seeing you put it together.

I would recommend working on the helmet somewhere near the end or after you're confident with your skills in costuming. Often I've seen that the helmet makes or breaks the costume. Do a poor job on the helmet and a fantastic costume, your costume isn't that great. If you do a great job on the helmet and a poor job on the costume, you're awesome.

wow, if the armour looks anywheres near in quality as the pic it will be awesome

i love the pre pics people have been posting lately. its nice to see a femmando with the flat plates it makes sense for alot of the women to look more like the men on the battle field i think. the coat is a very sweeeeeeeeet idea i played w the idea for the suit im going to do for my girlfriend eventualy. shouldes would be a neat look depending on the style id definately say go outta the box n try sumthing different if you decide on shoulders. if you need some insperation check out the knights of the old republic comics i havent finished my suit n im already swapping out gear thanks to some ideas i got reading those comics. but you got a realy good idea going keep it up

Originally Posted by GCNgamer128

I would recommend working on the helmet somewhere near the end or after you're confident with your skills in costuming. Often I've seen that the helmet makes or breaks the costume. Do a poor job on the helmet and a fantastic costume, your costume isn't that great. If you do a great job on the helmet and a poor job on the costume, you're awesome.

I've had experience painting and weathering, so I'm not worried. The hardest part is just waiting for my helmet to get here!

I'm getting antsy waiting for stuff to get here so I can begin, so to get out the frustration here's the final version of the character design. I got a little carried away making it 'artistic.'

Main changes are the boots, I'm switching to brown combats and doing just a shin guard instead of the full greave.

I also realize, now that I look at the darn thing, I'm gonna have to switch the scabbard and half-kama to the opposite sides. I'm a rightie and the sword has to lie on my left hip, I'll have to switch the blaster to the other leg as well.

I also took your suggestions and put shoulder armor on the outside of the coat. I agree, I like this much better.

Okay... I do offically hate you now...

Now I hafta do another of Ogden...

i'm having trouble deciding which emotion i feel strongest.. jealousy or jaw-dropping awe. Mix your armor set up with one of the helmets Morrow Sun is cooking up and i'll officialy be stunned.

Do I detect some Warhammer 40K influences in the sword and an fist icon on the shoulder bell? This is certainly proving to be an interesting concept and I look forward to seeing it take shape.

i thought the same orthar im loving the 40k kinda subtheme you have running throught it (intentional or not) i cant wait to see this come together

You DO, Orthar! I've been painting 40K models for years now (still never played a game with them though :P) I always figured SW Vibroblades would be fairly similar to the chainswords in 40K except the blade doesn't have running chainsaw teeth, just a standard blade vibrating at some super subsonic resonance to easily split atoms. In any case, it'd need a power source and some sort of power indicator, hence the LEDs. I'm gonna have the batteries install into the hilt of the blade.

The fist is in 40K, but it wasn't an influence. I wanted a fist just for my own personal symbolism, like the 'fanblade' design on the helmet.

Man thats one sweet concept picture there. I alos like the one sided skirt like thing, on the left thigh. Its an itresting look. I am guessing the yellow marks are kills, or bounties.

Be paitent it will come to life soon enough. And I can't wait to see it.

Thats one crazy concept ya got going....In a realy great way! 8) I love the design of it, very HB-esq.

Originally Posted by Z-man12

Man thats one sweet concept picture there. I alos like the one sided skirt like thing, on the left thigh. Its an itresting look. I am guessing the yellow marks are kills, or bounties.

Yup! I wanted my 'killstripes' too, but wanted an original place to put them. Reading the novel "Triple Zero" I learned that the kama was used by the Mandalorians to protect the legs while hunting, so I figured what better place to put the killstripes than on a part of the armor of deep personal and historical significance? Of course, the whole set of armor is of deep personal and historical significance, but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

That is one cool looking colour scheme.

Drop the toe spikes though (just my opinion)

other than that, it is one of the best custom mandos i have seen

I don't think you should get rid of the spikes, but you might want to angle them a bit more forward so that they are easier to use as a weapon.

Looks great. I dont mind the toe spikes, but I think you should find some boots with buckles or velco. I just dont like the laces.

And you have done an excelent job of creating the fabric in your artwork. I can really appreciate how difficult that is.

I can honestly say theres only one thing that looks awkward to me about the custom art, and thats the sword position. It seems like its in a strange position in the hand.

It almost seems like its flipped, and the blade should be up, with the serates down.

I do love your work thougn. Especially the cloth and hands. Two areas I always struggled with in art school.

great art and great bossk! fantastic!

this is lookin so sweet

amazing picture

Okay, so I lied, I couldn't wait to start until I had the helmet, so here I am joining the 'garbage pail kids'...

I cut out all my pieces last week from a black sterilite garbage can. Although the plastic from these is rugged and pretty thick, it still *looked* flimsy... I fixed that by beveling the edges a bit. Makes it look a lot more weighty just by adding those few extra angles in there. I also used my dremel to carve in some battle damage, mostly scrapes and scuffs, but a few blaster impacts as well just for spits and giggles.

I cut my knees from the bend section of a PVC pipe elbow. Thick, Thick stuff that should hold up really well.



For the dark gray part, I was originally going to paint an opaque grey but while I was shopping for paints I found the absolute coolest stuff, Krylon Fusion hammered metal finish. It fuses to plastic and it really does make an actual textured, gorgeous hammered metal look with just the right amount of metallicness. My garbage cans were finally really starting to look like metal!



I wasn't too pleased with the shoulder bells you saw above, so before I started painting, I trashed them and cut out a new set in a curved medieval shield shape. I painted those metallic, let the whole shebang dry for a few hours, then taped off and painted my yellow stripes. I wanted them raised slightly from the surrounding metal so I laid on like six coats.



When I peeled off the tape, They stood up slightly from the surrounding surface, yet still showed the underlying 'hammered metal' texture, and they looked GREAT!

Man, that looks pretty sweet. Good job on the painting. I was looking at the hammered metallic paint too, but it wouldn't really go with my "Desert Mando" theme. :-P

Alright, four hours and a few much better photos later, we've got weathering! I used a combo of misting black and brown flat spraypaint, using a brush to splatter on some flat black and patina green, using a brush to paint on and then a rag to wipe off while it was still wet some flat black, some flat black wash in the old scratches, some 'aged oak' polyurethane wood stain smudged on with a rag, and some chips on the yellow and highlight in the new scratches with some nice shiny silver.

The right shoulder has the 'white fist' in the picture above as well as the number 25 in Aurabesh (my lucky number) although the flash washes it out a little. Anyways, let the photos commence!

woah!! that looks sweet =]

can't wait to see it done!

keep up the good work

-Naas

U suck just joking holy (bleep) that is awesome im so jealous right now its not even funny keep up the awesome work man i love it

I have so much to learn about weathering. :-(

I hate you too. You are just way to good, you'll make us all look bad. So we've got a nice spot for you, out in on Tatooine. We think you'll love it there!

(Anyone get the Hot Fuzz connection?

Really girl, that stuff is amazing. You have shamed my attempts at prepro drawings. I bow at your feet.

Could I possibly get a pic of the uncolored and finished helmet pic you did. I'd love to maybe use it as a template for coloring my own designs on. If you don't mind that is....

Really nice job on bringing the concept to life! I absolutely love the armor! GOOD JOB!

Very cool, excellent transition from your concept to execution...so many people who do customs start out with a cool idea, then when they end up, have boba or Jango with different colors. You've managed to adapt as your going while remaining true to you concept art...outstanding work.

Great concept and it's looking awesome.
Nice looking Bossk too

Fantiastic weathering. Looks like all those years of model painting have paid off. Weathering is the one thing I just can't seem to get to look right.

really, weathering is pretty much the funnest thing in the world for me. I get to make a huge mess while still being artistic about it. I get to cut things up, destroy their paintjobs, bend, fray, stain, and dent.

I always thought it'd be kinda fun to do a weathering tutorial, but I don't presume to know everything about it and wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes.

One thing about weathering there are thousands of ways to do it, so your not going to step on any ones toes. I say make one, all your going to do is add your knowledge to the community.

color me jealous...

Alrighty, had another couple productive days, so I made myself a vest to put the armor on.

I started with some rich brown duck fabric. It's very similar to canvas... except that duck has a higher thread count.

Because I wanted it to FEEL like a real protective garment, I made the vest with a double thickness of the fabric. Now, it wouldn't stop a bullet, but it IS pretty resistant to slicing. So if I get in a knife fight I should be all good. :P

I'm no seamstress, so I don't bother making patterns. I just kinda dive right in, and trust my experience and knowledge of sewing tricks to pull me through. Usually, I have pretty good luck, especially on simple garments like this vest, which turned out well!

I applied snaps to the back of my armor and the matching snaps to the vest, then tossed the vest into the wash to soften it up. I SHOULD have washed the fabric before I even began, because the wash shrunk the darn thing by an inch or so, so now it's pretty tight on me. Not so tight that it's unwearable, but tight enough that it's noticeable. The solution to this problem is for me to lose some #$%^&* weight!







And then we moved onto my favorite part, the weathering. Again, it's all in the layers. I started with a few spritzes and drips of bleach. The duck sucked up the bleach like crazy, and actually turned white... a bit overkill, I didn't like that result, so I used some brown shoe polish and wiped it over the worst of the bleach spots to tone the white down a hair.

I continued with the brown shoe polish, using a pighair bristle shoe polishing brush, rubbing it in the polish, then gently wiping it over the areas where there would be sweat stains-- under the pits, around the neck, where my fingers touch the fasteners along the sides. By wiping gently with a large, stiff bristled brush, you get the stain on the high points of your fabric, providing a natural grime look.

With a sandpaper block, I scraped away at the seams, edges, and other areas that experience heavy wear. this dulls the fabric out and frays it slightly, giving that 'years of use' look.

To further years of use, a few drops of black liquid shoe polish simulated oil stains, and I used the same stiff bristle brush trick to add a bit more dark grime over the whole surface.

A light misting of maroon spray paint toned everything down a notch.

Finally, my favorite part, the sunbleached effect. To simulate years of sun beating down on the vest, I mixed a solution of about 1/5 bleach, 4/5 water and used a perfume sprayer to get a very fine mist. I used this over the whole vest, but especially around the shoulders, where the sun would have hit the hardest and longest.

Finally, a very dull knife was dragged over the fabric a bunch of times, not sharp enough to cut but sharp enough to wear the fabric and dent it for battle damage.

The result:


And with the armor plates snapped into place: (The plates look crooked laid out flat, but when the vest is worn, they sit correctly)

Man I really need to get a move on my outfit. You started long after I did, and your leaveing me in the dust.

Very nice armour you have there!!!! well done!

Nice job Abby! I can't wait to see this in person! I'm doing a custom one myself, but there's no way in hell I can draw it like you can.

I love your costume so far. Makes me think very similar to my plans, of a close combat Mando.

I love days off of work!

So I did the gloves and belt. Still gotta attach the kama to the belt, but I have to MAKE the kama first. :P

The gloves are just those bright yellow soft leather work gloves you can get pretty much anywhere. I darkened them up with some brown shoe polish, and melted it into the leather with a heat gun. I paid special attention to darken it up in the palms and fingertips, where they'd get the most sweat and wear.

I punched holes in the knuckles, attached screws to a plastic plate, then put the plate inside the gloves and screwed on my punchin' spikes. With a thick liner glove inside to protect my own knuckles from the screws, they're wonderfully dangerous.



Then I cut out my knuckle plates and belt buckle. The knuckle plates are two pieces each, to give some depth. I used goop to attach the parts together, then sanded them flush.



I painted them up with the same method as I used on the other armor.

The belt is a surplus US Army belt, which conveniently enough was available in my local surplus store for $3.00 because it was misdyed at the factory. It is an ugly yellowy-brown... but it's the perfect color for Arden!

The pouches are Israeli surplus. I have to replace the missing snaps, but that's just a quick job. Since I got them used, they were already weathered for me. Best part? They were 50 cents each! I love a cheap costume!

Lucca, you HAVE to do a weathering tutorial. It looks amazing!

This costume keeps looking better and better. I've been following this thread since the beginning, and I am getting more enthusiastic about it than I am my own.

Well, mine is only starting to come along, but still.

Great work!

This is without doubt turning out to be a kick arse costume. Major Kudos to you !!

Originally Posted by samlynn79

Lucca, you HAVE to do a weathering tutorial. It looks amazing!

I probably will, once I get the urge to sit down and write for a few hours.

And thanks for all the support! I'm glad people are liking what I've got going here.

Kandosii'la Lucca, a weathering tutorial would without a doubt be much appreciated.

Amazing, absolutely amazing. Your weathering is magnificent and your drawings...well, I've not been this impressed in a long time. Fantastic work, can't wait to see it finished!
Yay!

Abby, I didn't realize you had a thread going over here on TDH for your custom. BRILLIANT work as always! I can't wait to troop alongside you in this costume!!!

The pistol belt worked very well! And I love the hand armor plates. Great custom overall!

Originally Posted by webchief

Abby, I didn't realize you had a thread going over here on TDH for your custom. BRILLIANT work as always! I can't wait to troop alongside you in this costume!!!

Hey Bob! It's easier for me to have only one 'progress' thread, and this costume applies here more than it does in the NEG. I'll definitely bring the weathering tutorial over, though, once I get everyone's input here, as I hope the champion weatherers from the NEG will have some info to add!

You get my PM?

Wow!! Great concept work as well as costume construction!! Can't wait to see the final product.

Geo

I'm using laces as well. Great for multiple uses, from a makeshift rifle sling, to keeping your boots on, to making a tourniquet or sling, to using as a garrote.

And your tutorial is gonna help me a lot when I do my costumes.

Man your really flying through this. I like the boots. Those are the one thing that I just don't know what I am going to do about. I just can't seem to find any that I like. I must say I like the little spikes better then your one big one. They just seem like a better idea.

This is a really well thought out and very well designed piece!
Hats off to you... One could argue 'copying' an existing costume is a no brainier... I'm an ESB (But lovin it)
Actually starting with a blank canvas and following it through to the final article... and kickin *** doing it!

As of right now, I'm 3/4 done with the coat.

I started with a old trenchcoat my friend had used on a Irvine (Final Fantasy 8 ) costume. So it was free!

First I cut off the sleeves at the elbow (please ignore our ugly apartment floor):



I sewed on the strap that holds the coat together in the back and the little sleeve buckles, then dyed the whole thing a few shades darker:



I had designed my mythosaur skull a little while ago, enlarged it up to 500%, cut out the pieces to make a template, then traced the template onto the same fabric I used for the kama.

I got some Innerfuse (stiff fuseable interfacing) and used the iron to fuse it to the orange fabric:



Then I cut out the pieces, arranged them correctly on the coat, and fused them in place with the iron. To get rid of the little bits of interfacing that were visible, and also to make it look a lot cooler, I then went around and embroidered a border around every piece.

I also embroidered the number 25 in Aurabesh on the back strap, and used a shoulder buckle from a pair of overalls so secure the strap.



Finally, I've added the shoulder armor by riveting it to the fabric.



I still have to make and embroider the collar tabs, do the weathering, And I'm debating putting the white fist logo somewhere along the bottom edge.

Lucca makes me ashamed of the little progress I've made by doing fantastic stuff like this on a weekly basis.

I'm gonna go hang my head in shame now.

Oh psh, Sam. It'll make you feel better to think of me as a loser with no social life. Your stuff is turning out awesome too, so don't you start complaining!

It's looking amazing Lucca!

Originally Posted by CuteLucca

Oh psh, Sam. It'll make you feel better to think of me as a loser with no social life. Your stuff is turning out awesome too, so don't you start complaining!

I'm a loser with no social life. My stuff doesn't look half that good!!

Charlie

Well, my excuse is I have kids. Other than that I'm a loser with no social life.

Egadd! You quilted your Kama!?!

I love all your little touches, because they are original and give me my own little ideas. At the same time, I hate how well yours is coming along, because it just keeps raising the bar. So much of mine is unmodded stuff "because no-one will notice."

Ahhhh! Quilted!

Your ingenuity is inspiring and your art skills are just insane.
Keep up the great work.

One of the things I love most about a good costume is that it looks good from 20 feet away, and it also looks good from 1 foot away. There's a big cohesive theme to it that's apparent when you see the suit as a whole, but then you get right on top of it and look at individual pieces and the depth and interest is still there, on a whole new level.

Thats why I love the 501st so much. They don't stop at that '20 feet away' point, like a lot of other groups do.

wow...how far off finished are you...must just be a matter of mounting the leg plates and getting a flight suit now!

The flight suit arrived in the mail yesterday. I have to do some modifications to it, but nothing too substantial.

I still have to:
build the gauntlets
make the sword/sheath
make my pistol/holster
mount leg plates
recieve, mod, and paint the helmet

For some reason, the shoulder bell on the right in the picture reminds me of the Transformers symbol. :-D

I think that's a fist, but I definitely see where you are coming from.

your weathering and battle scaring looks amazing. cant wait to see the everything put together. keep up the great work!

Updates!

BIIIIG thanks to BradleyFett for his amazing helmet kit. Easy to put together and fun as hell.

The main modifications I did to this are the mohawk ridge (I asked BradleyFett for a second dome section I could cut the piece out of... which was sooooo much easier than trying to make my own) the 'radio' antenna, speaker, and input buttons on the opposite side of the rangefinder, and my big major scratch down the face. I also did some other mild scratch weathering.

The custom earpiece was made from Sculpey clay and little bits and pieces cut from a garbage can, which were added to the original earpiece. There's a speaker made from mosquito net, as well. Gaps were filled with plumber's putty.



Then the fun part began.

I painted the inside black, purely for my own aesthetics, and did the outside in the 'hammered metal' paint.



Then the yellow...



Then it was all detail work. Same methods as I used on the armor.








And a couple of closeups. The first of the 'radio' ear and large cheek gash:



And the second of the rangefinder earpiece, with significant chipping.

you are very talented

Man that really came out looking nice.

I like the hammered metal paint a lot more on the helmet than I did before. It makes it look like heavy metal.

Very nice indeed.

Does sculpey self harden, or do you have to heat it.

You have to bake Sculpey in the oven. When it dries, it has much the same texture as dried plumber's putty, but a bit softer and easier to file and shape.

I usually sculpt the basic shape of what I'm going for and do the finish work in sanding once I've baked it.

WOW!
Looks great! I cant wait to see more updates.
=)

Thanks for the info. Ill have to play with sculpey. Whats the temp it gets baked at?

One thing I want to mention, which makes your stuff look 'more realistic' than a lot of aging/weathering is that you tend to put your damage in places, where it would likely happen. Quite often people put random damage, and on the wrong faces of things and your mind is thinking 'hmm how in the world would that get damaged' as opposed to taking something and thinking ok, if a projectile grazed it, it would leave a dent here, a scrape here, and skip this indent and end up here.

If that makes any sense.

That is one of the things I notice on your paint / weather work thats important.

When I first started painting things to be 'weathered' I actually lightly painted a helmet with a very soft primer. Then I put it in a box with a bunch of otehr junk, and shook the hell out of it. And left it to roll around in the back of my jeep for a week. Then when you look at it you go 'ahh so thats where the scratches end up:")

Very nice work. Im looking forward to seeing it worn.