Hydra Mando - Jax Style!

Ok, there is someone ive been talking to for a few years about her custom mandos. they rock.

so i got permission to choose one and go for it.

so here goes....

i chose the one on the right. there were some initial problems with my test plates not evicerating me, so i modded it a bit with her permission of course.












ok, so I only had a few minutes before band practice, so i quickly redesigned the plates and started cutting them out of 26g steel.

I will hammer them out tonight and throw a few coats of paint on there...as well as build a collar plate.

Look at that beast cutting out the metal! Good job so far this will look pretty cool.

So, I sold ya on using the steel eh?

I think you'll be happy with the final product.

The only thing you may wanna rework is your cod piece. It's hard to explain, but if you make it come down to a forked J then you can fold it over and dish the "cup". Once thats done you can join the seam together with some goop and smooth it out with a small touch of bondo.

Best cupping action you'll ever get...and highly comfortable to. Thats how I did mine, I should probably toss up a pattern some day. This keeps you from having to glue together multiple pieces of metal to make it, or get the lumpy cod look.

Man you really got around to starting fast. I wasn't expecting any thing for a few weeks. I can't wait to see how this turns out in real life application. I love that drawing.

me too. ill attempt the cod thing this way, and if it doesnt look right, ill try what youre talking about. i know what you're saying, so we'll see.

gonna go bang out some plates. be back later.

cant finish the weathering due to it being 230am. and the top coat had an "accident" there are really high winds outside. so one of the plates blew onto the ab plate and they stuck together. so thats the weathering you see. tomorrow ill start sanding and whatever to the plates and see what happens. if i have to do a re-paint, no problems...











than just to be crazy, i wanted to see what it woudl look like on my old vest...




ok, now these shoulders are driving me nuts. as much as i dont like JB weld, im gonna go and have to use it on these parts... they'll look sweet when i get em done...




the weathering is pretty nasty in the drawings (in a GOOD way) so ive got my work cut out for me...this also means im gonna have to get another helmet....

Looks good to me, but regardless I would stick a couple rivits in that bish.

The shoulder pieces look GREAT. Looking forward to more updates!

well here you go!!!!

ok, did some more weathering and painting this morning....



It was than i realized since i couldnt actually make the plates like the concept due to bodily damaged possibly incurred with eviscerating, i painted sections black to emulate the original design. or close to is anyway...

also note the PROPER way to weather the plates towards the end...

















yes i will finish planishing it later....but next up...the shoulder bells. but my band (Paperboy Jack) has a show and ive got to leave now....till later!

if you see anythign wrong, BESIDES the non-plannishing, please speak up.

AMAZING! I totally agree with how you handled the shapes, my design was rather pointy... excellent progress and the weathering looks great. Also awesome weathering technique, haha.

do you think the black parts bring out the original design better? i thought just red/orange plates looked too...well standard.

i'll need more pics of the logo on the shoulder bell as ill prolly start on that after i get back from the gig tonight.

also, is there a back plate? and what materials are the knees made from? metal or soft parts?

I'll go ahead and shoot you an email.

thanks. i was thinkign to use my ranger BDU's as an undersuit. we'll see what it looks like. ill do a mock-up with my current vest, and those plates and the black BDU's to see what it looks like. im also gonna add some balistic padding under the shoulder bells to make them look kick ***, but if at possible id like a more detailed picture of them from differnt angles.

wow, so cool, awesome job so far and the plates look like UFOs

haha!

okay, i woudl post more pictures, cause i feel im now done withthe upper amror for now.

BUT

i left my digi-cam in the merch bin, which ended back at the studio after our show.



soooooo.... you'll all have to wait until after 12pm tomorrow for pics to be posted...

Fantastic craftsmanship ....
I love the staff in the concept drawing.Do you still plan on making that one?

The blue one in the concept drawing is still available! Can't wait for more updates.

here they are...

Wow thats coming out really well. I really have to give the metal plates a go my self one of these days. After seeing three suits of yours its really starting to get to me.

Look'n great nervod!

Wow. That came out very awsome!!!

thanks! i still havent put any dirt or sand on it yet....that will take down the shine a bit more.

your beskar'gam is awsome.

I like your weathering technique, very ingenious!

Yeah, they look kinda big between the collar and the top of the chest plates. By what looks to be a half inch from your pics. Are you just printing out the templates based on the size instructions, or are you actually modifying the size to fit your body? You definately want to use your own size that matches your body. The default sizes I've found rarely fit.

You wanna make sure the top outside edges of the chest plates match the lower outside edges of the collar AFTER you dish the metal if you want a nice symmetric fit.

Another suggestion: Space those plates out a bit more. Leave enough space to be able to put your middle finger between the diamond and the chest. Thumb space between the collar and the gut. Not only will this allow for more movement and cut down on the pinch factor (if there even is one), but it will take care of some positioning problems like the one your having with your collar. Also, pull the collar in closer to your neck. It's gonna give you a better "sealed up" look then letting it sit that far down.

I see the right back piece of the collar is sticking up a bit, so you may wanna curl that more. Probably easier to do that by hand at this point instead of using a hammer.

Ok, those are my suggestions thus far. Awesome weathering man! Really top notch.

You hippie! Cut your hair!!


Haha, The armor is really looking good man, you do a great job with metal.

sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 987654321a

You hippie! Cut your hair!!

He did its attached to the vest now.
Yea the plates look a little big, but they do look amazing attached and together.

im having an armor party early saturday morning. will be helping some otehrs do metal and finishing up what they have. ill be finishing up both cod plates and trimming some excess...

however, ill prolly try boosting the plates up a bit higher on the vest and see what they look like there...

What I can't understand is...The fact that my armor can't fly.

youre not wishing hard enough man....come on. all those talks weve had back in the day and all you say is , my armor cant fly!

maybe you need a spoon full of sugar!

so i cut down the armor plates to fit a bit better. the chest peices are a bit "wide" so i trimmed them down to meet the collar plate.

better, yes?




...and the old one for comparison...

how do you get the plates to be so thick after using such thin sheet metal?

oh, easy. sorry.

all you gotta do is concentrate really really hard, and than pour some midichlorians on the metal and than use a pair of pliers to bend the sides back abotu a 1/8th or so than spin in a circle and say candyman three times.

hope that works. oh you gotta do it in a dark room looking in a mirror with the ligths off...

good luck

You did a good job with the steel, You seem to have been able to finish your much faster than me lol. course i can't just cut my steel with shears like that haha.

why not?

Looking good Jay

Thanks Radio!

ok, since i took off all my old velcro and used the sew on kind, i figured id test fit the new paltes to my old vest.... no duct tape this time. real deal.

keep in mind this is NOT the vest i will have for this as it needs to be made bigger and more in proportion compared to my old gear.







hopefully i fixed the gap issues

Haha, I think you got the helmet pattern down pat.
Everything is coming together well. Keep up the good work!

Oh yeah. That's looking great!!

that looks awsome

close up of how i think the paint will work out.

did some weathering tonight....

This is sooo incredible. I love it!

El1te

vest beginnings.....

Outstanding mate! Top shelf!

step 2....

still hvae some adjustments to do to the sides and back, as well as change the thread color on the buckles to either gold or red.

also plans for multiple stitch lines along the seams and edges... not sure how long its gonna be yet, have to test it with the belt.

any suggestions?

That looks amazingly cool! Great job. It's obvious that you've put in a lot of time and effort.

buckles on the vest look cool

Lookin good Jax. Keep up the good work man.

ok, heres where i am at the moment.

now i dont normally ask for this...but somethign looks wrong and i cant really place my finger on it.

is it the belt? the lack of pouches? what?

disreguard everythign below the waist.

well i think i might of had the belt over the vest, if i tuck it under shoudl sove the problem. the girth belt is the same exact width of my other custom one. and this vest and paltes are way bigger than the white set.

haev to re-fit it in the AM...before i leave for SDCC

i also think the shoulder bells need "adjusting"

Personally I think what your seeing is your lower vest bulge.

The flack vest is bulging up on the sides. which makes it look like you have 'fat wiffs' there, or the shape of a much larger person, except your arms and shoulders, and lower abdomen are normal. it makes you look dis-porportional. If that make sense.

The ab plate is also not curved enough to your abdomen shape, which also lends the eye to believe your not trim or fit around the waist.

The reason you notice it is because you run out of details. No details on arms, or lower body means you see helmet then chest/ab, then up the side to the shoulder bells then nothing else to look at so you get caught on the porportions.

Must my .000002 creds though.

About to go to comic con, but i would say you need some gauntlets for that. thats what I see as missing, but other than that it looks great!

Did you find that vest pattern here on TDH?

Looks great, I like the way you did the vest.

thanks!

heres a quick update.

went over a friends house to take some pictures for a SW project he was doing. heres some off my camera. cant wait for the pics from the photog to come back!




excuse the lack of guns, they were being used at the time in the other room with some deathstar walls. i only had my Mando Youth Knife.

Your repaint looks great.I love your "bowcaster".What else do you have in mind for your kit.

the bowcaster tech is for the white female mando, just had it out that day....

have new sniper rifle. youll see when i get pics back.

Looking good! Do you still use Corgi weathering? I thought that was cool.

depends....



i still liked the red shoulder pads weathering, not too sure i like the weathering on these. might repaint them.

how's this pic?

some pics from a different photoshoot. along with a buddy's mando for the good of the order...







didn't really like this photographer. used too much fog machine, didn't pose us, and just pretty much had us stand there. kinda lame...and these pics are HEAVY edited to make them look fairly decent.

but pics are always nice to have. shame we had to pay for these though.

Hello again Jax. I had a question for you about your gauntlets. What are they made out of? It really sets your kit off.

they are actually "hammers" idea ( the red mando pictured above).

they are really simple. rolled steel around a post, maybe the corgi's helped as well. than hot glued some random stuff on there. yeah it looks poor up close, but until i start welding stuff on.....

What gauge of steel? All I have available to me is 16 gauge Titanium.

each set has various gages within.

i think they are a mix of:

22g steel - chest and leg armor white female, new collar armor on white male
18g steel - chest of hydra armor
16g steel - shoulders on the white male, shoulders on hydra armor

18g aluminum - chest white male

gonna be rocking on of my new holsters today.

had an event today.

I rigged up one of my new pistol belts ive been building for a buddies han solo to see how it works in public.

dont mind the horrible poses.

pics back from photographer. these are MY edits not his. im sure his will be better.








this pic comfirms it was HOOOOOOOOTTTT~ 116 actually, with 10% humidity

edited what i thought was the best one...

few pics from SDCC09