Kal's Custom Mando

Okay vode, here's the concept sketches for my AFSOC mandalorian armor. I realize a lot of them look similar, but they are different. Some are done using modified USAF Issue Airman's Battle Uniforms (ABUs) or Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs) for the undersuit. Plates are slightly modded Boba and the Bucket is a custom build commissioned with A'den Kyramuud, that will I hope be pretty similar to the popular but rare MS supercommando Bucket. The logo on the left shoulder plate is still the modified Kentucky Wildcat silouette, but the logo on the right shoulder plate will be a slightly modified version of the USAFSOC logo. Some of the particular mods inlcude a comm antenna on the right shoulder plate (CC Cody style), a laser designator and LED light on the bucket as well as a set of triclops NVGs. The rifle is a highly modded M4 carbine (airsoft rifle) intended to resemble the US Issue rifle since this is in honor of American soldiers. The sidearm is a modded beretta M9 (also Airsoft). Let me know what you think and help me pick the final version.

Okay, here's my twelve and a half cents.

I was in the US Army, before the changeover to the ACU (Army Combat Uniform), so all my stuff is in the old style cammo pattern. Which is why, for the undersuit, I prefer design two.

With that said, I really dig the heavy leg armor on number five, though I'm afraid the upper girth belt might cause you problems moving around, and might make you look like you have a belly as large as mine (I'm thinking of doing a Santa Mando....).

I also think that for the armor, your coloring on number two is a bit light. I'd darken it down a hair to the shade of the US Army BDU undershirts (t-shirts). But that's just me.

Good luck with the build, and as a US Army Soldier, let me just say "Hooah!".

Thanks Shuk'Om! I also like #2, but I like #1 too. I was actually just thinking that If I do coyote brown on the plates, and OD webgear... I could potentially have BOTH suits with just a change of the fatigues and boots.

I like 1, but I'd camo the armor too.

hmm... hadn't thought about that... might do it, or at least sketch it up to see what it looks like.

Hey Kal, I was wondering now that you are going in this new direction with your mando. Can i draw your sketch again? It wont be right away but I just thought i would ask

absolutely ner vod, I'd love to see what u can do. I plan on re-working a lot of my squad's armor too.

alright! i will work on that eventually

lol yeah i kinda have to pick one first... that's a hard choice too

I'd have to say my favorite is 5

he he yeah not sure if I'd want to have so much armor plating, makes the suit a lil heavy and hot... but I do like the way it looks. I dunno tho still leaning toward #1 or #2, but I like the helmet from #3 and probably will go with the unpainted black carbine

well my second choice would definatly be 3

yeah I like 3 too... just can't decide! argh!!! lol I dunno I want it to look definitively USAF... which means probably ABUs or Flight Suit, and I want it to look spec ops which means light and fast.

here let me pick......THREE wasnt that easy just kidding vod, its your call

lol yeah three is a definate possibility. I already have green plates! I just don't know if I want to go with the tan webgear or not... we'll see, I still have time to figure it out, but I can get the vest itself for around $60... my webgear is a lil more costly at $20 for the belt... around that for all the pouches and then another $20-80 for the holster depending on which one I get... but this is likely to be my same webgear for work so... it's a good investment. Anyhow... I'm off to bed for tonight, so I'll check in with u guys tomorrow.

you can always add parts from the ones you like together

Night Vod

Very nice Kal!!! Kandosii drawings ner vod!!! I'm liking the #8 and #10...the blue looks really good!

And it's A'den Kyramud. only one u. Let's call it the AK supercommando bucket!!!

lol oops sorry ner vod.... yeah I like that... AK Supercommando bucket! lol

vod, those are really sweet. so you here in florida or kentucky?

From Kentucky... stationed at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL... transfering to Tinker AFB, at Oklahoma City, OK in November.

Okay guys here's the situation... I've decided to go with a combination of #'s 1, 2 and 3... plus I have to make a few changes based on new uniform regs. I want to get the webgear in the appropriate color for me to use at work, which is now officially... ABU pattern, ACU pattern or Foliage (aka ABU/ACU green). I DON'T want my webgear to be specifically ABU or ACU pattern because it will blend WAY too much with the ABUs, and would look goofy with anything else. I was going to use Coyote Brown/Tan but unless I can find clarification on the regulation regarding that... I won't.

SO.... that being said I need help... I've searched and searched but am having a hard time finding affordable MOLLE gear in foliage green. Can anyone give me a hand with this? I Need a good vest and belt, a LEFTY universal modular holster and pouches. Any help would be appreciated.

Kal Waco

you've helped me out so much I wish i knew! sorry vod, cant help you there

ok this is posted in my other thread as well... but I need help from my vode! I am going to be working on some new custom gauntlets... saw some stuff over on the mandalorian mercs where a vod scratchbuilt his gaunts from cardboard boxes and made 'em look good. That's what I'm going to try, using cardboard this time instead of the dang plastic signs. So... I need a few bits of wisdom and knowledge from you:

1. When glassing... what's the best way to go about it? I want to be able to glass it and keep my level of detail, so how do I need to set that up? Exagerate the details or what?

2. I want to use a Nerf Maverick to dissassemble and attach to the top in a rebuilt tri-shot configuration (will sketch and show later). I want to be able to rig this thing up so that it will still be able to shoot darts... from all 3 barrels! So I need help figuring out how exactly to do this and make it look good.

3. I want to add some Predator blades to my gaunts that I can sling out and they will not lock, but will sort of friction lock themselves into the closed position until deliberately opened, sort of like a collapsible baton only it will not lock itself into the extended position, I want to be as safe as humanly possible while still looking totally wicked.

4. I need to be able to shape this stuff prior to glassing and still keep the shape, and I need to be able to attach a few hoses here and there for proper appearance, what's the best way to achieve both.

5. The left gauntlet will also have a built in LED flashlight ($20 @ Walmart) to provide "tactical illumination" and I need help figuring out how to attach it while still having the ability to change the batteries and bulbs if I need to.

6. Anyone want to do this for me?!! lol jk jk, Any other suggestions you may have that I have overlooked or am unaware I need to be asking about... feel free to add it in!

I also want to add in some LED lights and a display maybe.

sounds cool vod! good luck

since i havnt even started on my gaunts yet i dont have any advice for you sorry

hehe yeah it's okay... I have a few ideas of what I want to do. The problem is... I can do the build of the basic, non-moving, non-functional parts, (altho the shells gave me trouble on the last go) but when I try to glass the gauntlet, that's when I run into trouble. I seem to be unable to keep my detailing when I do the glassing. I wonder if there's a better way than what I'm doing.

well if you ever find out and it works TELL ME! could save me a lot of trouble

lol will do

thanks man

SO... I'll try to get some pics of what I got right now up tomorrow. Chest and back plates are ready... just need a vest to mount them to and I need to repaint the shoulder plates and the vest will be done. Waiting to get my bucket from A'd'ika (not waiting on him per say, more waiting to actually pay/get it shipped), I'll paint it almost as soon as I get it. Also, I need to build a rifle and a sidearm as well as get my webgear. I'm going to use a 2 piece undersuit. ABU pants with a custom made ABU shirt. I'm going to get a new ABU blouse, cut the sleeves off and sew them onto a tan or foliage green t-shirt. Then... I'll take the pockets off the chest of the original ABU blouse and sew them on the sleeves. Then... add a high color from the original blouse to the shirt and I'll be ready to roll! lol I know it sounds like a lot (and proally is...) but at least I already have some of it done.

ok guys... here's some news, no pics today... will try to get 'em up tomorrow. I figured out I'm going to use a base M4 lower (Airsoft gun) one of the cheap models, to build a basically modified A295 or A280 carbine. It's going to be shortened down and heavily modded to make it more Special Operations Capable. Still thinking about adding the Nerf Longshot front end to the M4 and rebuilding the rest of the upper.

Im making my own bucket and you're not!?!?!?! haha kidding I understand the business of you job!

I was going to ask you this a while ago but i forgot, So here it comes!
You know how you are doing the Jaing eyes on your bucket. I was wondering if you wouldnt mind if i did too. I just think that right now my bucket needs a bit more to be custom THAN IT CAN LOOK LIKE WE'RE IN THE SAME CLAN! that would be kinda cool

Dont be afraid to say no vod! I can take it

lol dude go with it! Jaing Eyes are a battle honor, worn for showing valor in combat. I added 'em to mine just because I like 'em and I like what they stand for. Plus... I kinda figure anyone who's as badshebs as a CCT or PJ would have earned 'em! lol besides... after the death/destruction/Mayhem your mando visited on that Sandcrawler full of Jawas... lol I think u can wear 'em! lmao BTW... Jaing Eyes are cool.

Sweet!

ok I said I'd get some pics up tonight, here's the bucket design and my mods for the backplate, had plans to show the vest pieces... but it's going to be another day before I can do that... sorry all, progress asap!

Thats gonna be sweet! But its also going to take forever to make!

Isnt that the iron man armor?

Levi, Kal, I've seen motorcycle back protectors that are segmented, actually I have one (somewhere ) If I find it I will post a pic.

that would be perfect!

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...ac=2&zmap=1635
Needless to say, DONT spend the $60.00 on it, just copy it.

looks perfect! I'd just mod it a little bit

yeah, but $60.00 is a lot, I got one of these from the flea for like $40, but cant find it, anyway, it's a simple layered design, I know you can easily make something like it or BETTER

cut up my current back plate maybe... hmmmm its worth a try

but ya 60 bucks for a backplate is a bit much!

I think I'm going to make mine, cut up another trash can and mod it up

The what eye's? what are they?

Jaing (aka Jaig) eyes... it's a battle honor, worn as a symbol of valor on the battlefield, usually earned by saving the lives of commrades or by single handedly turning the tide of a battle... the backstory for why my mando wears jaing eyes is that during a battle against the vong, he stayed behind, with 3 other commandos while the rest of the force extracted under the umbrella of close air support that he was coordinating from the ground. This would be about halfway through the vong wars after the mandalorian protectors switched sides.

Ok here's some quick pics for you guys... these are basically images that I have drawn or am using as concept work... These include the weapons, pieces of kit and I even included the actual camo pattern I'm working with. I also inlcuded a shot of the EyeClops NODs that I am thinking about using on the bucket, and I have a pic of a battleshirt similar to the one I'm going to use. I included A LOT of the weapons pics to get some input from you guys on 'em, tell me what u think.

Looks good Kal! I just have one question...

thats the front of the bucket(mandables). it can be seen from the rear since it is lower than the rear.

Brilliant! Thanks Adonian! I knew it had to be something simple...

And Kal, I'll be starting on this soon...

kinda gotta have a good eye to be a good bounty hunter

lol Adonian is correct, I drew in a higher back to the buy'ce and being the 3D kinda guy I am... just added that in not thinking about it...lol btw... can't wait ner vod, I'm saving up for it right now! lol

I think im going to have to switch. Looks like you're gonna use the Fenn Shysa version too. But then again it would look pretty sweet if we all had it

yeah I'm using the Fenn Shysa type... but I'm going to get rid of the backslash at the top of the eyes and thin out the corners a little bit

I guess ill keep using it too i can always mod it a bit

lol yeah I'm modding a little, I want a more... simplified version.

hey just wanted to give a little heads up. Changing my thigh ammo and holster rigs over to actual hard plates. They'll mount similar to the ones shown on #5, with the ammo packs and holster mounted directly to the thigh plates. Also am strongly considering (due to cost and time) to combine both this and my SAS mando into one, really cool, totally awesome mando, since the 2 have basically the same skill set/function (special ops team ldr and TAC)

Ok how about thigh holsters like these, the come in left and right, I plan on getting these for my Snow.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

the sales ended on that on so im wondering how much they are cause that is a sweet idea but i might not get one if you both are going to

here's a current auction (although its buy it now not really auction)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Airsoft-Componen...d=p3286.c0.m14
$19.00

yeah considered that... I think I'm going to go with the hard piece stuff just because I haven't seen it done yet and I think it'd be cool.

this is probably the wrong thread to ask you this on, but oh well

What were the names of the colors you used on my mando? It might make it a bit easier when looking for my mando

thanks in advance

Originally Posted by kal'ika

yeah considered that... I think I'm going to go with the hard piece stuff just because I haven't seen it done yet and I think it'd be cool.

you could use these pieces as a base for hard parts... Cut sintra to fit around the soft parts, then start glassin'

hmm... yes I could... planning on using cardboard instead of sintra tho... sintra's a little to difficult for me to work with for some reason.

Okay here ya go vode... I'm dubbing this Kal v. 3.0! lol Keeps the ALO/TACP function and tactical SAS type mentallity. Kind of like... AFSOC! lol It allows my mando to be a valuable asset on the battlefield and look cool doing it! lmao

Originally Posted by kal'ika

hmm... yes I could... planning on using cardboard instead of sintra tho... sintra's a little to difficult for me to work with for some reason.

me too. Cardboard is my friend.

what do u think about the new plan? I'm combining the 2 into one single suit... probably going to go more dark grey with the bucket tho, not so much black.

I like, I like The blue and the gray go together nicely. (well maybe not back in the Civil war, but you know what I mean )

he he yeah I thought so too, but the significant other disagrees! Soo... plan for now is to revert to the original color scheme of Green/Grey/Blue on the new armor design. However, been watching the SG-1 marathon on SyFy (big fan!) and I was thinking, ya know... I wanted something that would resemble the Air Force elite, without doing anything that would violate uniform policy... I'm thinking... green plates on a green flightsuit with black vest and web belt... I'm thinking... this change will keep in theme with my original plan... make my wifey happy and... shouldn't complicate things for Lev'ika with his sketch, since he won't have to change a think (because it's a B&W sketch), it will also allow me to maintain my original (and somewhat popular) color scheme... to a degree anyhow.

Okay vode... here's the SITREP! I have...

1. Chest/ab/collar plates done and painted
2. A backplate (temporary) done and painted
3. Material for combat suit and vest (grey ripstop nylon) (Can also use OD Flightsuit)
4. Boots (going to use my issued sage green boots)
5. black web belt and a dropleg hoster for the sidearm (may have to change this some)

I still need:
1. Buy'ce (A'den's working on it for me)
2. Gauntlets (Designed... will wait to build until I get moved)
3. Knee Plates
4. Shin Plates
5. Redo Shoulders
6. Pouches for belt
7. Rifle and Sidearm
8. Visor/Light/Laser for buy'ce
9. Accessories to go in pouches/on armor
10. Sew up Vest and Combat Shirt/Pants

As soon as I figure out why my computer is being stupid with my periphials I'll get some progress pics of the plates posted up.

Okay vode, Here's the colored versions of Kal Waco V 3.5 (I think that's what I'm up to now! lol) One of these will be the final version, and it will be the version I stick with for a long, long time. I plan on being able to interchange the Green/Grey battlesuits as necessary (environmental factors). What I want to know from you guys is this... which buy'ce do you like best, which set up do you like best. I personally like the buy'ce on suit 1, with the blue patterns on the check and head, I don't know what color I will make the lense of the "tactical visor" yet tho, so which color... green or red for that? Let me know what you think. Right now I'm still open to suggestions/comments/ideas because I only have the chest plates done right now and the shoulder bells are about 90%, I do have to repair and repaint those.

Kal Waco

why not a blue visor vod?

blue for the master color or for the lense? I thought about painting the actual visor blue... may still do that... but I don't know if blue would be a good color for the "tactical" lenses... it's not exactly a NV or IR looking lense color... could be UV I guess... that'd be interesting.

BTW... found one of these for $10 at my local Base Exchange... I think it'll make a great Tri-shot for my gaunts. It even has a built-in targeting laser! Guess what I'm going to go pick up tomorrow after work (graduation)! lol BTW... just to share... passed my last qualifyer ride on Monday, so I'm now a fully qualified Air Battle Manager.

congrats! we should get together and have a party

That would look pretty awesome on a gaunt! pick me up one and bring it to the party

haha

lol actually... if anybody wants me to, I can pick stuff up like that and mail it out to you, if it's something you're having a hard time finding and they carry it in the BX... I'm more than happy to help out. I will have to ask for payment/shipping prior to actually shipping

that would be awsome! except my dad controls all paypal but i could probably convince him...... oh the bad things about being young!

lol I had my own paypal account at 16... probably wasn't a good thing in hindsight tho... kinda ran up a bill buying Star Wars CCG cards and Airsoft toys on FleaBay

ya maybe thats why i dont have one

lol my dad was sooo mad, my cyar'ika wasn't all that happy either when she inherited it after we got married.

lol how much did you end up spending?

TOO MUCH!!!

haha BAD KAL!!!

lol yeah I know... oh well... btw... what do u think about colors up there?

I love them! I'd have to say my favorite is the top right. Are you picking one that you will use?

yeah well... kinda... I'm going with "blue or green" set. I will be able to use the green/grey battlesuits interchangeably and... I dunno for sure yet, but I really like the way the blue fangs and the cranial ridge pattern look on the first bucket.

Oh u didn't look close enough to see that. You should definatly paint your bucket like the top left!

sorry for the late reply... blue for the lens.

new vod, THANK YOU for those 180 pics of the helmet, that is REALLY gonna help.

no prob ner vod... thought it'd be helpful

For stealth reasons I think the top right is better. Personally, I like the top left just for color. And the helmets with the arrow on em are wicked!

lol yeah the plan is to be able to adapt the undersuit to the environment... a Tan suit could (theoretically) even be used in arid regions. While the grey is a good multi-purpose suit and the green can be used in heavily forested areas

Nice! That's a lot of flightsuits to carry around.

lol well... theoretically they'd be on the ship! However... when we deploy into a combat environment (even in training) we have 2 sets of uniforms... 1 that we wear, and 1 that we carry in our rucksacks.

Oh yeah, and in theory... (theory only now! lol) I'd know what environment I was deploying into... lol

Originally Posted by kal'ika

Oh yeah, and in theory... (theory only now! lol) I'd know what environment I was deploying into... lol

LoL, duh, I didn't think about that! me smart!

he he... so I am now considering the blue lense idea for the visor... what do you guys think?

I would go for it

Totally!