First Mando

true on the paper cod.
Follow A'den's advice on that one, you can make it from paper, then lightly coat with bondoglass, and there ya go, its not too expensive, and like he said if you mess up, fleabay, but watch out for some of the sellers, they're recasters there.

Just go for the paper, you do almost anything in paper, I just started making my son's magic wands from paper, and hot glue.

Ok since my fiancee figured out that the text in the upload boxes is really, really faint, and that you have to wait FOREVER for the pics to up load, (she worked on this for me while I was at work, is that awesome or what?!) I can now show you pictures!

We started with printing and cutting out our templates and then stenciled our cans. we got rather meticulous about it because we wanted to be sure the plates had good (and matching) curve. (I've seen some guys just slap their out line on the can any old way...)

We cut them out with razor knives. The edges need to be cleaned up and the rest of the pieces cut out but it was after 12 and we had to work in the morning so we called it a night after we got the chests done.

The lightsabers you see are ones I made from scratch. The first two are from the pairs I made for my younger brothers and the third is mine. If I can get a hold of more of the yard sticks I use for the blades I'm going to start selling sabers on here and elsewhere so if you (or some on you know) would be interested let me know!

Thanks for the encouragement and feed back guys!

A'den: I'll try the paper that's brilliant.

Adonian: Potter?

YES!!! methodical about the curves! Way to go vod! That is the only way to do it right or the plates look cheap.

Adonian: I'm not sure about the cost of sabers. The first ones I made from spare/old parts from the family vacuum cleaner business and the blades were from yard sticks I had on hand. I'll have to buy parts now (my grandfather retired and closed the business) and I don't know how much the blades will cost because I haven't heard back from the company that I got them from (for free) the first time.

Ultimately they'll be parts cost plus time, but I'm figuring $50-100. They won't have sound or light up, just have a solid blade you can easily remove, and yet is strong enough to beat the **** out of when fighting. I'll post a thread in the Cargo Hold when I have blades to work with.

Aden: Yeah I was really careful and anal cutting them out too. My blade slipped once and it let a scar across my ab plate and I literally yelled in frustration before I realized that it will just make for battle damage if I don't sand it out. Thanks man.

If you need more material, go to a sign shop, and ask for extra sintra. I went and got enough to make my self 6 suits of armor (Jango, not Boba) a custom Mando, a bucket and a backpack. SOOOOOOOO If anyone needs some replacement armor, I can get it to ya for cheap, like $40-$50 for all of the chest armor. Also, a jigsaw works well, just cut OUTSIDEthe mark so you can sand it down.

Hello, fiance : ). Since the game's up, I thought I might as well comment on your thread now as well.

A quick side note about SaberMaker's sabers: not only does he make them to look cool, they're also really durable. He and his brothers fight with them anytime we visit his family and they don't go easy on them. They've definitely withstood quite a bit of bashing and make for a lot of fun times with the bros.

You are a brat, and I love you for it!

OK, How many of you barves knew my fiancee had her own account and was sneaking around on here?!?

*whistles quietly*

: )

hehe.

*imitates saz*

lol.

Nice Sabers

She's keepin an eye on ya, I think she know's how mental we can get here on TDH

mental??? us??? never!

Shhh! You can't tell my ulterior motives on here, Adonian!

oops sorry

Jango425: thanks!

Adonian and Nomad: I already knew that, women just can't resist an opportunity to spy on their men!

Quick up date:

The other day when Nomad and I went to my buddy Jonathan's house (so his seamstress mother could fix some lace on Nomad's wedding dress) he and I managed to steal a few mins to work on our armor as I had stashed it in my trunk. Basically all we got accomplished was the cutting out of shoulder bells, but it's something. I'm not sure how much work I'll get done between now and the wedding, but I've asked Nomad if she would mind working on armor on our honeymoon...

Hey guys! My wife and I are slowly getting together stuff for our custom mondos. Right now we are both jedi scum. Its been lots of fun doing the
extreme SW fan thing together (just got into the costuming and prop making about a year ago though). In fact we'll be spending our 10th anniversary at a con (in costume) with our 3 little ones (also in costume).
Looks like you are off to a good start on your project! Ill check into your
thread again -Im a sucker for the couples builds! Take Care guys!
Mike

I am very impressed by your lightsabers.

What colors are you thinking of going with for the armor?

Originally Posted by SaberMaker

Jango425: thanks!

Adonian and Nomad: I already knew that, women just can't resist an opportunity to spy on their men!

Oh no, um she's just here to watch your back yeah, that's the ticket.

I'm just thrilled that she's so into this!

Originally Posted by SaberMaker

You are a brat, and I love you for it!

OK, How many of you barves knew my fiancee had her own account and was sneaking around on here?!?

I sure didn't. hmmmmmm,hmmm,hmmm,hmm,hmmmmmmmm. :P

Originally Posted by SaberMaker

I'm not sure how much work I'll get done between now and the wedding, but I've asked Nomad if she would mind working on armor on our honeymoon...

Hah!

hah!

hahahaha!

........

I'll take that as a no. *walks of with head drooped* that means no more pics.

Originally Posted by nomadbride

Hah!

hah!

hahahaha!

........

Take it from a married man (14 years) SHE'S THE BOSS BRO!
You are lucky that she likes our hobbie, mine only begrudges me some time to work on mine (I'm still gonna make her one and get at least 1 pic for the records though)

Nomad...give the poor guy a break!!!

I am seriously sitting here, cracking up, trying to think of a smart-alec comment. :

Give up, she'll own you every time.

Originally Posted by SaberMaker

Give up, she'll own you every time.

SaberMaker learns quickly : ).

Adonian--haha! Any more advice like that that you want to give him will be more than welcomed by him. I'll make sure of it. (*cue the well-practiced wife evil-eye*) muahahahaha...

A'den... if he's got any TIME left on the honeymoon to make armour, well... I guess that's his problem. But the way I see things, ain't gonna be no time left for nothin' like that, that's for sure!

Originally Posted by nomadbride

If he's got any TIME left on the honeymoon to make armour, well... I guess that's his problem. But the way I see things, ain't gonna be no time left for nothin' like that, that's for sure!

Sounds like a lot of scrapbooking...

uh oh scrapbooking... if you need any help with that call on my wifey, she's got herself a whole station dedicated to scrapbooking. More room than my work area (the top of the trunk of my car)

Congrats vod!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOME TO MY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's gonna have to be a two way street, but you guys already have TDH in common, so that's a PLUS.

Better clean house vod.

I will actually wait patiently on this one, no whips

Congrats vod......don't start any arguments and if you do get that mando armor ready. You will need it LOL!

Fridge clean and organized, food from honey moon cooler worked into fridge, compost taken care of, Mexican lunch fixed and eaten, shower curtain rod fixed, and Mando armor in the making. Dang you can get a lot done when there's no one around to distract you!

lemme know how the flat can works out, I just got a small (bathroom size) squared can to cut as shin guards or something of that nature.

Hmm, I just realized that I gave my templates to a friend so I'm cutting new ones and then the back plates...

Congratulations to both of you...

so, was it a Mandalorian marrige (did you get married in your armor)

It looks great so far, and good luck on the rest of your build!

Sup vod!

Did you marry mandalorian-ly, too?
In full beskar'gam?
Oh yes, and are making/did you order your helmet?
SO MANY QUESTIONS...
Congrats on your marriage.

Well What with making new templates and other things that came up and now school starting I don't have anything to update y'all with other than this: I made new, slightly larger templates by taping a sheet of paper to my breast plate and cutting to shape and then transferring that to card board. When I made the new ones I didn't cut out the area for the sternum diamond, instead making the internal edge of the plates straight. I then traced the new shape onto a square trashcan but only found time to cut out the Ab-turned-lower-back-plate. It's taller and wider that my ab plate and fits my back perfect. I'll post pics after I get the breast-turned-shoulder-blade-plates cut out too.

To answer bluejay's questions: We put a lot of time into planning our wedding working in several traditions from other cultures that we liked the symbolism of in an attempt to make our wedding beautiful, unique, thought provoking, and God honoring. But no, no beskar'gam, and no Mando vows (ours were the very traditional "plight thy my troth" type).

As far as a helmet Nomad and I are scraping money together to buy one of Saz's krayt dragon beauties.

Oh! And TheSilentMando up there is one of my vod here in Chat-town. He's the one that said "we're making armor tonight!" and drug me to walmart. He HAD BETTER start a thread of his own soon, cause he's working on a metal set now.

Awesome!!! Metal works really well for armour if you do it right! Glad to see you are still at this SM!!! I've noticed that quite a few of us (myself included) arent really getting anything done on our armour...

Yes, I know I just showered the wrath of Adonian down on myself...but if that gets me working again.

anyways, let's see some pics of the actual armour vod!


A'den

Though I'm not actually working, I'm still working ideas out in my head.

Glad to see you back from the nuptuals SM.

Lol im not working either. My sad cut outs of my guns and my unsanded helmet sit there, begging forme to finish them. Lol but there is just no time for me. Stupid advanced classes in school...

Originally Posted by A'den Kyramud

Awesome!!! Metal works really well for armour if you do it right! Glad to see you are still at this SM!!! I've noticed that quite a few of us (myself included) arent really getting anything done on our armour...

Yes, I know I just showered the wrath of Adonian down on myself...but if that gets me working again.

anyways, let's see some pics of the actual armour vod!


A'den

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT crack

Come on vod, I finally got my shebs movin on a few things, I gotta see some more of your work too. Come over and look at mine

hehe. :P

There is way too much non-work related talk going on here, men! Back to work already! *lashes whip*

kidding. But seriously, I've chuckled through this entire thread since my last post-- nice, guys, very nice. : ).

SaberMaker and SilentMando are currently working on their respective armour pieces on my newly-cleaned diningroom table. I had to laugh a bit to myself as, not ten minutes after I put a clean (and wedding-gifted) table cloth down, there was mando cut-out patterns and a yard stick spread out on it. Such is life : ). SM's cutouts are looking good, though, and fitting nicely!

looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with from reading this thread. Also you're fiance seems pretty domineering LOL good pic

Well, though pics will have to wait til tomorrow, as it's way passed my bed time and I have work at 7 tomorrow and then a full day of classes, I've gotten a lot done in the passed few days.

I finished cutting out my custom made back plates a night or two ago and since TheSilentMando brought me the set of templates I printed out for him and his dremmel I've now got all of my armor base plates cut out except for my thigh plates. I'm really liking how the back plates turned out. I need to heat and form my two (front and back) collar pieces a bit, but they are generally the right shape.

I'll post pics tomorrow after I get some of the edges cleaned up!

how much is a heat gun? I was thinking of forming some of my other stuff, but dont wanna do the oven thing.

$15-$20 bucks at harbour freight. get one!!!

cool gotta get one, along with a few other tools.

I've heard a lot of people say that boiling water works well too, but it's a bit difficult to put a collar in a pot so I was thinking about a heat gun as well, they are pretty handy on jobsites too.

Of course if I could dig up a really old pre-regulation hair dryer like the one my dad has that'd be even better. Seriously, he has this hair dryer that was his sisters when she was in high school around 20 years ago and it gets so freaking hot it's as good as most heat guns I've seen.

I had a dryer like that, it got so hot I could see the coils inside turn red

I know I'm a guy, but hey I gotta look my best right

So between 26 hrs of work a week, four classes (including English Thesis), work around the house, and having people over for dinner every week, I've not touched my Mando since I cut out those pieces with the rotozip/dremel thing. Such is life.

I've decided that when I get around to making a helmet I want to replace the typical range finder with a simpler RF set up on one side, a light on the other, and a fin on the top.

I'm debating about a hose in the back, or even an air tank on the helmet, but I think I may stick with the clean look of not having one. If clone and storm troopers don't need a hose why do I?

I'm trying to decide where I would like to place fans as well. I'm thinking that two small and one big in the back would give good air flow.

Thoughts?

I can get it to ya for cheap, like $40-$50 for all of the chest armor

wow, for that you can get about 10 sets or more chest armor from a 36"x42" square for 20 bucks.... or for 36 USD can get 89 feet by 4 feet of ABS or Sintra. someone is ripping you off man.

as for no one finishing their armor. speak for yourself...

BH: say what? Who did you quote?

Originally Posted by bh-7603

wow, for that you can get about 10 sets or more chest armor from a 36"x42" square for 20 bucks.... or for 36 USD can get 89 feet by 4 feet of ABS or Sintra. someone is ripping you off man.

as for no one finishing their armor. speak for yourself...

As we dont have a skeptic eyebrow smiley...*insert skeptical eyebrow here* 10 sets of chest armour from a 36"x42" piece of material...c'mon man, really?

...and I'm assuming the 89 feet was a typo...

meant 8 feet by 4 feet.
and yes. you can get a 6foot by 3 foot peice of steel for just over 20 bucks....

my math might be bad, but i can personally get at least 4 sets from a 36x36

dude, 4 sets from 9 sq. feet is a LOT less than "10 or more" from a 10.5 sq. foot piece of material...

Symantic's

as for the fans, you can get the tk fan set off the 'bay ready made or just get a couple of 40mm cpu fans for the cheeks, and maybe (i say maybe depending on your hair) one for the rear.

well 1 set of chest armor takes up about 2sq feet of metal... so, 4 per sheet or 10 per slab? (8'x4')

But who were you quoting about what? Sintra? I'm sorry, I'm not following you at all...

Hey guys I just joined up over Mercs to see Aden's pics and was wondering if all of you who have an account over there too could post your name or a link so i can add you over there.

A'den Kyramud

same here, mercs, 501st, RL, RPF and everything else.

I use the same name EVERY WHERE, astromechs, mando mercs, mydellmini, rslinks, aspireoneuser, deviant art, etc.

Nomad just joined up over at the Mercs too so you guys keep your eyes open for her!

yeps, saw her earlier today over there.

looks good

sweet! and feel free to call me Levi

looking like progress is good, keep it up.

Here's a general idea of what my beskar will look like. The differences being I'll have a fin on top, a light on one side, and a short antenna on the other side of the helmet. Also my chest armor, my thigh plates, and probably my bicep plates will be double thickness, one slightly smaller plate glue onto a larger base plate thus providing a layered edge. My shin plates and shoulder bells on the other hand will have diamond-tread rubber matting glued on top to give my armor a rough "I can kick you butt" look. I'll be making my gaunts out of soccer shin guards, then highly modified.