Kal's Custom Mando

he he ran into a problem with the rifle... I disassembled the crossman carbine and... I found that once I take off the rails, and the outer barrel... there's a piece about 2 inches long that prevents the nerf barrel from fitting flush against the receivers. Also, I got the one that has the perm carryhandle sight, so... depending on how the nerf piece fits to it, I may leave that on there, or I may go ahead and take it off (with the dremel) and replace it with some picatinny rails. Unfortunately... I don't have and cutting wheels for my dremel right now. Discovered that to my shock this morning so... I'll have to get some of those and until then I'm stuck on the rifle.

Ouch. That's harsh, ner vod. Maybe bash it with a rock? Heh.

Congrats on page 4, by the way.

lmao thanks shuk... I dunno about the rock tho... might smash my fingers instead! lmao

We I know that "I don't have the tools I need" feeling all too well!

yeah I know... it sucks! lol

Oh, come on. There's no such thing as "not the right tool". If you don't have the right tool, get a bigger hammer. Always works.

lmao I don't think a hammer will do what I need done on this one... it requires a little finesse (spelling?)...lol Anyhow, I've been kinda busy with work and family stuff when I get home but I promise vode I'll try to get a little something done tonight/tom

*chuckles* That's okay, vod. Take your time. I trust it'll work out.

Originally Posted by kal'ika

lmao I don't think a hammer will do what I need done on this one... it requires a little finesse (spelling?)...lol Anyhow, I've been kinda busy with work and family stuff when I get home but I promise vode I'll try to get a little something done tonight/tom

Dont they sell that in the shampoo isle?

lmao why yes, I think they do! he he btw... got all my templates for the legs and the knee plates laid out and glued down to the cardboard tonight... I need to go get a box cutter tho so that I can actually cut them out, don't want to dull my good knives! lol

Good call, kal'ika. Nothing more dangerous than a man with a dull knife.

Im using metal cutters! theyre not dull HAHA

he he well my knives aren't dull either... just not real fond of runnin' the risk of jackin' 'em up on cardboard, they're fine blades I don't want to ruin them. I also have a pair of powershears... but they don't work so well on cardboard 'cuz it gums 'em up.

very true.. kinda what the shears are doin

lol yeah I'm just going to get a box cutter... but I do have pep templates for proper ODST style shins and I'm working on the first one

i cant wait to see how those turn out!

yeah... he he that makes 2 of us! lmao BTW... new idea for my rifle (which I also need to go buy more tools to fix) I'm going to put not just the launcher barrel that you've seen sketched on it. I'm also going to set it up with the muzzle ring from the N-Strike line, so that I can change out barrel attachments... including a shortbarrel CQB model (w/ CS-6 Recon barrel) for my SAS armor... which is actually going to be reworked into an ODST mando.

Oooooooh, great idea! Fantastic.

I have progress!!! Just finished these up and HAD to share... these are the ODST style leg armor that I made for my beskar'gam. I did this much without paying a cent... as is they are made from cardboard boxes that were trashed during our move and I used a hot glue gun and pep templates, I have a can of resin to coat these with. They'll be painted green like they are in the sketches, and when I fit tested them... the hard point at the top of the piece actually comes up over my knee... so no kneepads necessary! lol. Once these are resin coated and painted I'll update my percentage count... that'll make my mando at least 75%. Anyhow, let me know what you guys think.

WOW!! thats awesome!!!! Maybe my second set of armor will have some like that

They look amazing!

thanks lev'ika!

Wow; taking a non-star wars thing and making it star wars. Great job man; simply great. Can't wait to see what more you have to come.

thanks CC! I'm working on your sketch btw!

Yeah I know LOL! Take ur time right now I am just preparing for christmas. I am in no rush to have it complete LOL!

hey kal do you have templates for the leg armor?
thx

why yes, yes I do... Here's the link:

http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pepakura_File_Index

I also have templates for the M6 Mag and the other guns but I can't figure out how to put them up in here

k thanks

Awesome Kal!!! Great work on those pep temps. lol. I hate those things...

Looking good man!

lmao I just took the time to get it done finally... it took me a few hours to print, paste, cut and hot glue all of 'em together... now I just have to resin them but that probably won't happen til after christmas. BTW vode, I have money for A'den and Jason, but may have to hang on to it for the time being because I was involved in an accident today and my car is no longer driveable.

Oh no! Are you okay, kal'ika? Was anybody hurt? Yeesh. I'm prayin' hard, vod.

nobody hurt... thankfully. The truck I hit had minimal damage to the rear bumper/quarter pannel... my car was severely WIA tho. My insurance is pretty good tho so I think we'll be alright

ouch. be more careful vod!

good to hear no one got hurt! what would we do without Kal on here? someones gotta make up for my lack of art haha

And I shudder to imagine the grief induced laser whippings....

thanks for the concern vode... and for your viewing pleasure I have some pictures of my green armor in its current state of disrepair... and my little... eh'hem arsenal that I've built up.

You are actually getting their vod. Taking your time and being patient with the whole thing. That is why if I don't get mine finished by the Phoenix Comi-Con I have something to back it up in the long run. But yyou are getting progress which is good.

Lookin' good, vod. Any progess is good progess.

I love those halo grieves...

he he me too... and they actually fit... although I'm still trying to figure out how I will be able to get 'em on with my boots on... so far all I can think of is segmenting them so that I have a removeable back half

You know if you are putting a back part to them just get some velcro and put it on the edge of it that way you can put them on by just simply sticking them together with velcro. If not then just use straps with velcro on them.

Your choice. This was only a sudjestion as I seen a youtube video where someone did that with their stormtrooper arm armor.

hmm... thanks for the tip, we'll see how it goes once I get 'em resin coated... problem is it's been too cold to go outside and work for the last month! lol I actually did a little more work today... I built up both of the thigh plates. I have a left thigh with a nice wide holster... it's made to fit a beretta M9 with light module... so it should fit my custom sidearm whenever I get around to building it... plus since I'm making my own sidearm... I can fit it to my holster! lol I also made the right leg with the three mag pannels on there... each hard pannel actually fits a 30 rd M4/M16 magazine, which is what my powercells are based on so... It'll work out nicely. I built them from cardboard, used a gluegun to put 'em together... I'll get a few pictures later on for y'all to check out my latest work.

Well from what I have seen thus far with the photos you have you are progressing well with your armor and that is very good if I may say.

thanks CC!

cold = bad... My resin and bondo cure times have been AWFUL...

yeah it the resin has to be well ventillated to safely use it so... lol, I hear good things about the WX coming up... and it's supposed to be in the 40s today... may see what I can do with it this afternoon

hey A'den I need some help... what's the best way to resin all of my parts than need resin. I have 2 greaves, 2 thigh plates, 2 gauntlets that need to be resined... help?!!

ur gettin there

Its kinda funny. When I logged on i was amazed about how many things is missed but it just turned out to be Kal, he found a computer haha just kidden with ya

We probably need it to, its gettin quiet!

lmao yeah I just thought I'd do a lot of bumping lol

hey vode... anyone have any suggestions for me with the femme armor... I'm getting ready to start working on Fi's. Any of my vode have any experience? Otherwise I'll be using the good ole search bar again! lol

*nudge* Ahem. Jk, I have near to zero experince since ive only done one set... Check out Mercs, it super helpful.

Ok folks... I'm sorry I haven't posted any progress but... I've been busy at work, had to work a couple of double shifts and I've been doing a lot of mandatory training stuff. I just got some info from our friendly neighborhood A'd'ika about the resining process so I plan on starting that tomorrow as long as the semi-warm weather holds up. I'll let you guys know something as I get a lil more done

hey vode sorry to delay again but... the WX sucked for the last few days... it's looking like some improvement today so we'll see about getting some resin on those suckers soon.

Whenever you can, vod. No rush.

Looks like you're really coming along there bud!

Do the resin in a warm, yet well aired place, wear a face mask if you can, I suggest you coat once, then do a second coat straight on top as you may have dips and troughs in the armour where the resin won't pool as deeply, so when you come to sand you won't find you're sanding back to the cardboard.

If you want a thicker mixture try adding a filler powder like french chalk (talc) or even bondo (Which makes rondo). Rondo is probably better as it will sand back easier for you.

If you wanted to be REALLY clever, you could wax your cardboard bits, put a layer of fiberglass over the top and then use the resin as a gelcoat. The wax will prevent the fiberglass from sticking to the card and you've just made a fiberglass copy of your armour

Neat eh?

wow Saz! I Hadn't thought of that! Dude is there anything you DON'T think of? lol thanks a lot for the advice... I think I'm going to try that.

Ok guys... just a quick update... even tho I haven't had time to do anything on the armor itself... I've started working on weapons. I have the first of 2 flats for the lower receiver cut and shaped... and I must say that piece looks good. I still have to do 1 more flat, and from there I will glue them together and drill in the tap holes for the receiver pins and hollow it out (so that I can put in some electronics). Once I have the lower receiver done I'll work on the grip and the top half... which will be far easier than the lower half because I still have to make a stock for it somehow! lol

Ok... quick update: Both flats for rifle cut and glued...waiting for the glue to dry. With my sidearm... I have the flat for my sidearm done and ready for the first mold and cast... once I cast the first copy (both rifle and sidearm) I'll use my dremmel to finish it and do the detail work on the first resin copy... then I'll make another mold and reproduce it in a better form.

Sounds good. Can't wait to see it.

okay a little more progress for today. Guns are still WIP... and technically so are my gaunts but... here's my gaunts as is. The left one is a heavy sucker... It actually has some weight to it so I had to drop the pred blades... maybe on my V.2 gaunts (the molded ones). The left gaunt has that tri-shot that I talked about so much, with a red laser and a mini mag flashlight. The right gaunt has the standard stuff on it, but I also added a box on the inner porion of the gaunt to be a display and control pad. the extra gap on the outer side of the gaunt will have a 3 shot mini rocket launcher on it.

Lookin' great, vod.

thanks Nau... can't help but wondering what's happened to everyone! Where is everybody? I've not seen anyone on in days

Want to vote! I like 5 & 9. I know what colors you're going for, but 6 looks naked apart from the armor.

thanks for the input! However... I have already chosen my final paint scheme and it's actually none of the above

OK vode, just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I'm not building any this week due to 2 things... 1. BUSY work schedule, I have the late shift this week and am working 10-12 hr days all week long. 2. I have family (my parents and grandmother) visiting for the week. However I have made some slow progress and wanted to share my current SITREP. Also, with the new WX front rolling in I have serious doubts about being able to do much in the next week or two anyway but I will do my best to get the weapons built at least.

1. Helmet-Waiting Patiently (and from the couple of pics I've seen it looks great!)
2. Chest/Back-DONE
3. Shoulders-Rebuilding
4. Gaunts- 100%- Built/pending Resin Coating
5. Cod- 0%
6. Thighs- 100% Built/pending resin
7. Knees-0%
8. Greaves-100% built/pending resin
9. Boot Plates-0%
10. Fatigues- 1x set Grey
11. Gloves- 1x pr Grey/Black
12. Belt- 1x Black
13. Pouches- 1x Black; needs more
14. Shemagh Scarf- DONE
15. Vest- Waiting to buy
16. Rifle-25%
17. Sidearm- 25%
18. Accessories- 1x pr binocs; needs more

Originally Posted by kal'ika

1. Helmet-Waiting Patiently (and from the couple of pics I've seen it looks great!)

Trying ner vod!!!

lol yeah I know... I'm actually going VERY slowly myself because I can't seem to find time/good weather to do anything right now! lol

I'm still here

Looking good there ner vod, I should be back on line and up to no good by the end of next month...

I'm movin out of my house this Friday, and have to get everything out and repainted/repaired by the end of the month so I can rent it out.

Keep up the good work on your armor, I'll catch up with you later.

Wilco Ad'ika... good luck w/ the house ner vod

hey just wanted to let my vode know that I'm STILL working... I've got a big time qual test and prog check coming up at work on Wednesday and pulling 12 hr late shifts the last 2 weeks so I know I've not been doin' much. But I'm workin' on my verpine assault carbine, I have the lower receiver mostly made... I'll be doin' some more cutting and dremel work today I hope... pics to follow soon I promise!

Sweet, Kal'ika. Take your time. We'll be here.

From an artistic background, I can say that I love 6, 7 and 9. Their color schemes are extremely well thought out. 7 being my favorite. I quite enjoy the tan, or desert fatigues of 6 as well.

lol thanks dude, I love your name! that's funny! lol anyhow... I appreciate the input but I've actually chosen a color scheme already, and it's a little more mando than those, however they are still options for future builds. Ok vode, I need help again. I'm working on my weapons designs AGAIN and I just can't find one that I really like. So... I'm throwing the question out there in hopes that I'll get a bit of help, maybe even a few ideas for a redesign. The lower receiver and stock are NOT going to change, they are positively M4 based, however I will consider using anything based on the M4, and any add ons that can be EASILY done. Here's what I have so far.

I like the grip of 1 and 2, the nose end of 3 and I think you should have a straight clip, bent clips for some strange reason don't look very starwarsy

I like the look of #3!!! That thumb hole on the foregrip gives a really bullpup look...with a folding stock...

OK Vode, I took some bits and pieces of that wonderful input u guys gave me (especially from Saz) and redesigned again... and I added in a few things that I thought up of all places... at church. lol I came up with the idea for the Halo SMG style stock at work today and added that in too. I think it gives it a more verpine look, plus if u close the stock, it makes a thumbhole! lol I also will be using some kind of combo optic/designed optic on the top rail and I wanted to keep the rail on the top just to make it more high speed looking, BUT... I am down for ditching it if it doesn't look good. Anyone have any ideas feel free to let me know. Also... I deliberately included my original sketch that way if anyone wanted to... I dunno do some photoshopping to show me ur ideas... u can! lol Thanks for the help vode.

So far with the gun pics I keep seeing the zombie killer style mp5 that I seen a couple years back on ASGI.com.

he he it's totally not an MP5... it's based on the M4... US GI carbine, the same one I use at work... when I get to shoot a rifle that is. However... I was inspired (partially) by the ZK M4 that they have over there... there's bits and pieces from different kinds of AR-15/M4 Rifles, the skeleton stock is modeled on the ODST SMG stock from Halo and the barrel is a hybrid of the standard verpine mixed w/ M4 and Nerf parts. At least that's the origin, I guess it did kinda turn out a lil ZK in the process of trying to make it swarsy

Dude, Kal'ika all this work is amazing! I love all the guns! It's honestly hard to pick which I like most, but out of the all varied options you drew out in in the last picture I like the top center rifle the best.

The SMG stock that makes a thumb hole is sweet and gives a nice angled look; the short mag is (in my humble opinion) more in keeping with StarWars power/gas charges/packs, the bigger optics look more useful, esp with the fold down bipod legs for sniping. I particularly like that last feature because it make this gun feel like a universal weapon. With legs up and stock in, it's a close quarters spray-n-pray, with the stock out it's a mid-ranged rifle, and with the legs down it's a sniper.

Hmm, wait, this is your verpine isn't it? I guess I was thinking the ultimate blaster, but then again, you still want it to be a multi-use rifle, so I think it's great, you could go with a long clip then. The more slugs the better right? I think the long clip you have is a bit too long looking though, I'd try one that was the same length as your grip.

Can't wait to see this one come together! Keep up the good work, you're keeping people like Adonian and I, who are to crazy busy with real life to work on our Mandos, entertained and inspired.

lol yeah I know the feeling, I've been so swamped at work I've not had time to work on anything... sometimes work just has to come first, gotta pay for life and mando somehow...lol Anyhow, I've managed to get the lower receiver cut and the stock tube attached, I'm working on the upper receiver right now I've got it cut and I'm working on shaping it right now. I finally found more blue paint so I can make my new shoulders and paint my stripes on the chest/stomach plates, which I may actually do this weekend since the weather is supposed to be relatively nice.

Ok vode... I did something... just because Saber said such nice things...and because it's 65 degrees outside right now and I don't go to work until12 (also don't get off until 10) lol. You guys know how I've been talking about adding the blue slashes to the chest and ab plates? Well, I finally did it this morning. The plates are laying outside in the sun drying and when I get ready to leave I'll pull 'em in and take off the masking tape to see how they turned out. I'm going to run some of my old shoe polish (since we don't shine our boots anymore) into the scratches and scuffs to make it look more like battle damage and then the plates will be finished. Now I just need a black MOLLE vest and some pouches for my belt and that'll be done too!

Shveet!!!

Pictures ner vod!!! Show us!!!

As soon as the paint dries ner vod... I promise. It'll probably be tomorrow before I can get 'em posted since I am now leaving for work, won't be home until about 1030-1100 so I'll get 'em posted tomorrow for ya guys. BTW A'd'ika how's that buy'ce coming along? Also, look me up on the mercs man I can't seem to find u over there. My name is kalika over there. Altho if u just look for the newer posts for Kal Waco's stuff (jump armor and custom verp) u'll see it too.

still workin on getting new pics up guys... sorry about the delays, work stuff. Hey A'den how's my buy'ce coming along?

Originally Posted by kal'ika

As soon as the paint dries ner vod... I promise. It'll probably be tomorrow before I can get 'em posted since I am now leaving for work, won't be home until about 1030-1100 so I'll get 'em posted tomorrow for ya guys. BTW A'd'ika how's that buy'ce coming along? Also, look me up on the mercs man I can't seem to find u over there. My name is kalika over there. Altho if u just look for the newer posts for Kal Waco's stuff (jump armor and custom verp) u'll see it too.

I'm A'den Kyramud over there with the same avatar.

Helmet is coming...slowly...I got a can of defective resin that kinda messed things up a bit (fixed now but irritating...)...You ever seen resin turn milky white? O.o

Copy all... I'll find u on the mercs too. Can't wait to get my buy'ce... I'm almost ready for it. I'm going to TRY to get the resin coating done this weekend and do some more painting. I need a pattern for my vest and some material as well as a belt and some pouches and then I'm sweet.

A word of warning on the vest: get someone to help. At least for me, it's the hardest part of the entire set of 'gam. lol ugh...

lol yeah I've already jacked up 2 of 'em. I'm going to make basically a tactical plate carrier vest and outfit it specifically to carry my armor plates. Anyhow... I have some new pics! lol Here's my armor with the stripes on it. I even followed some suggestions and dirtied it up a bit (not much tho). I'm hoping to get to resin my stuff this weekend... Altho the WX keeps messing with me on the weekends.

Looks GOOD!

Thanks A'd'ika! I'm going to finish up the old style back plate this weekend (it's a temporary fix until I can get my new plates made) I'm going to upgrade to a segmented back in the future. Working on the rifle right now... and I may be switching out some of my plates (like the thighs) and I'm going to carry 2 pistols instead of 1, w/ all my spare ammo on my belt... I think.

hey guys here's some sketches for ya... I'm thinking about putting the war bonnet on my bucket, make it more headhunter-ish since I'm from Kentucky (Kentucky Headhunters... yes they're an 80's rock band) Tell me what you guys think

Cool! The 2nd helmet along the bottom of the sketch tooks native american with the feathers painted down the back.
Can't wait to see the build.

yeah that was the plan... I wanted it to look like a Souix War Bonnet

I'm sorry if this offends, but those look like ninja turtles.

Okay guys, I just wanted to show you what I have done so far... just to let you guys know that I have tried hard on this kit.






Now for the not so pleasant news. I am calling it. This project is over, unfortunately. I cannot continue to work on this anymore because I have reached a point where my technical skill is not high enough to continue, I can no longer fund the project and I do not have time or support (not lacking from you guys, but at home and locally, even on the mercs) to continue working on it. Therefore, as of 2125 hrs local time , 13 Mar 2010 this project, that has gone on for a year is cancelled. A'd'ika, ner vod I apologize, I WILL pay you for whatever work you've done on my buy'ce, just let me know how much I need to send you.

OK Disregard last, I'm not cancelling... just putting it on hold pending a partial redesign.

Whew you scared me there bro! But another redesign? Its a great design man! Frankly im jelous of it.

Are you redoing all the armor and everything?