My mandalorian armor progress

Sorry for the double post. This is sort of a bump.

The first post has been updated with new pictures.

Originally Posted by The Clayster

So that isn't cardboard??

It sure does look like it...

Read the second sentence. "But yes it is..."


I honestly dont care if its cardboard because I want to take a new path and be creative instead of buying a 400 dollar set of mandalorian armor. Does it look nice though? also forget about the piece on the right, it has not been smoothed out yet. But I was saying that the old pictures made the color look more like cardboard. It is also reinforced with fiberglass.

Haha, it always helps to read all the posts...

I am not going to answer that question, because everyone has different opinions on what looks good.

I understand the armor deal, but I am not sure if Chest Armor costs 400 bucks buddy!

Over-Exageration. lol It costs less but I would still have something reinforced.

Originally Posted by The Few the Proud 501st

Cardboard by the way if im right shipp that cookie over night i dont want it to rot

What are you trying to say here? I'm confused.

Phil

Originally Posted by 987654321a

Read the second sentence. "But yes it is..."


I honestly dont care if its cardboard because I want to take a new path and be creative instead of buying a 400 dollar set of mandalorian armor. Does it look nice though? also forget about the piece on the right, it has not been smoothed out yet. But I was saying that the old pictures made the color look more like cardboard. It is also reinforced with fiberglass.

No that looks good everytime i try to make cardboard armor it looks like (you know what) but hey i like it

Originally Posted by hellopike

What are you trying to say here? I'm confused.

Phil

Well before he said guess what this is made of and if you are correct then you get a cookie

Cardboard? You've gotta be kidding me!
Trust me, It won't work out the way you planned!
I know because i tried it once because i didn't have
a Sterilite trash can!

What a rude comment to give especially after all that hard work I have put into this. Maybe your armor looked like **** after it was done, it doesnt mean mine has to. I am not looking for movie replicas, I just want to make my own armor. Just dissapoints me about the fact that some people are so **** immature. And I havent seen any of your work so before you post some **** like that prove to me that you can do a better job. And btw do mandalorians buy their armor from mandos r us? HELL NO! They make their own armor.

Originally Posted by 987654321a

What a rude comment to give especially after all that hard work I have put into this. Maybe your armor looked like **** after it was done, it doesnt mean mine has to. I am not looking for movie replicas, I just want to make my own armor. Just dissapoints me about the fact that some people are so **** immature. And I havent seen any of your work so before you post some **** like that prove to me that you can do a better job. And btw do mandalorians buy their armor from mandos r us? HELL NO! They make their own armor.

dude, don't worry about him. i think being resourceful is awesome! we got people making armor out of fiber glass, trash cans, and cardboard. whatever. all the matters is that you are happy with it and that it is fun for you. that's what this whole costuming thing should be about. this isn't a contest.

Thank you for the positive comment, I really appreciate it. I just want to be creative and not do what everyone else does.

Are you talking about my comment

Originally Posted by 987654321a

What a rude comment to give especially after all that hard work I have put into this. Maybe your armor looked like **** after it was done, it doesnt mean mine has to. I am not looking for movie replicas, I just want to make my own armor. Just dissapoints me about the fact that some people are so **** immature. And I havent seen any of your work so before you post some **** like that prove to me that you can do a better job. And btw do mandalorians buy their armor from mandos r us? HELL NO! They make their own armor.

He wasn't being rude dude....

Originally Posted by 987654321a

What a rude comment to give especially after all that hard work I have put into this. Maybe your armor looked like **** after it was done, it doesnt mean mine has to. I am not looking for movie replicas, I just want to make my own armor. Just dissapoints me about the fact that some people are so **** immature. And I havent seen any of your work so before you post some **** like that prove to me that you can do a better job. And btw do mandalorians buy their armor from mandos r us? HELL NO! They make their own armor.

Watch your mouth there buddy, you're the one leaving rude comments. Montatora Vioria was only pointing out that cardboard wasn't the best way to go. You can use cardboard if you want, but don't expect the best quality products. He wasn't telling you do go buy your armour, he gave you another option for armour making and you just overlooked that. You're the one who's acting immature. What I would recommend would be logging in under another account and literally looking at what you posted through the eyes of another.

Honestly I did jump the gun a little too fast and I didnt think before I posted. So on that note, I apologize, but the word censor is so sensitive. I wasnt cursing to hell and back. All I said was C-R-A-P and it censored it.

And I thought his comment was rude the way he wrote it because if someone else replys in your thread with a comment like

"Cardboard? You've gotta be kidding me!
Trust me, It won't work out the way you planned!
I know because i tried it once because i didn't have
a Sterilite trash can!"

Oh wait, actually it did work out the way I planned.

But again, I apologize for jumping the gun too fast and posting an immature comment like mine.

Test, test... ****? **** **** **** ...

Ok, so it DOES filter c-rap.

yea, but Im not defending myself on that single note. Just the way the message was written. However it was immature on my part to really jump on him or her like that.

Dude calm down all he said was wow you were making it out of cardboard and all he said was sometimes it doesnt come out the way you planned he never said that yours sucked or anything like that so just calm down

******

Ok, everyone needs to take a deep breath and learn some temperance.

Now that thats done...

On the subject of cardboard armor. Yes it can be made to look good if you reinforce it with some bondo or resin.

Check out this post. We've got a Mercs member who is making armor out of fiberglass reinforced poster-board...and from the pics it looks better then some of the fiber/plastic armor I've seen.

Rienforced Poster-baord Armor

There's nothing wrong with being creative and resourceful. If it comes out looking good then you've accomplished your mission. So far, you have an excellent base for some cheap resin armor (It may cost you $50 - $75 to coat everything) that will come out looking better then anything cardboard alone could offer. The only real negative to cardboard is the waviness of it's structure, and the potential for creasing.

No need to drag this out guys. He appologised last night.

Thats a first for someone to apologize lol. Alright well these were my test pieces and they turned out perfect, however, the resin will not stick to the cardboard, it just chips off, so I will just go with the trash can method until I can find a better method for cardboard.

Can you stop talking to me like that please?

IT DID WORK OUT THE WAY I PLANNED, but if you read you will understand what happened. The resin wont stick to the cardboard, it is still usable and is perfect except for that one problem.

Originally Posted by The Few the Proud 501st

so he was right he said it wont work out the way you planned it so why did you cry so much when he said it

There is no need for that, especially when the conflict is over.


Go on with the thread, and stop talking about the SMALL argument please...

Gentlemen,

I have been watching this thread deteriorate.

If this petty arguing goes on for one more post, the thread will be locked and warnings will be handed out.

Enough already and get back to the original topic please.


JK3
TDH Admin

I vote to remove all unrelated posts on this topic. I want to see how the armor turns out.

enough of the arguments already.

lets get back to seeing how this guys armour turns out. I think thats what most of us are interested in.

So 987654321a, any progress with the armour ? we feed on photos

enough of the arguments already.

lets get back to seeing how this guys armour turns out. I think thats what most of us are interested in.

So 987654321a, any progress with the armour ? we feed on photos

Originally Posted by 987654321a

What a rude comment to give especially after all that hard work I have put into this. Maybe your armor looked like **** after it was done, it doesnt mean mine has to. I am not looking for movie replicas, I just want to make my own armor. Just dissapoints me about the fact that some people are so **** immature. And I havent seen any of your work so before you post some **** like that prove to me that you can do a better job. And btw do mandalorians buy their armor from mandos r us? HELL NO! They make their own armor.

Sorry. I was having a bad day and.... sorry.

Dont worry Montatora, you didnt come off as rude, just the way it sounded, but then again I was having a bad day as well. Dont worry your all good.


Alright update with the armor. The cardboard armor will be my current test pieces to try out new methods on, I will wear them on some days as they will have a different paint job than my trash can ones. Now I just cut the trash can ones out a couple hours ago so I had no time to refine them and make them perfect just yet. The cardboard armor is really nice and looks molded in my opinion but the resin wouldnt stick on the cardboard.

The Reason: It was a dirty surface, when you apply resin to a dirty surface, it has the tendency to peel off very easily.

Trash can armor (Note: I will be in los angeles for the next 2 weeks and I will do most of my work there so stay with me until then.




On the little center piece of the armor, I decided to make one side look like it was side scraped by like a blaster shot.

Small update.

I just finished painting the armor pieces and weathering them my special way.

I dont have any pictures of the finished product yet but as soon as I come back to san diego ill post alot of new pictures. For now you have to just imagine what it looks like. But it looks amazing, like it has been weathered for hundreds of years.

I know you took some flak on the cardboard issue, but dude, that looks amazing. job well done

Thanks man, I consider this a christmas gift to myself. Im glad I finished this 2 days ago because the winds here in LA are so **** strong, I cant even sand my helmet without **** getting in my eyes and face. So the helmet will be delayed for either tomorow or the next day.

You're in LA? Lol... I'm in San Bernardino right now. :-P You're like 45 minutes from me.

Wow thats awesome man. 2 mandalorians that live close to each other. Well I realy live in San Diego so I guess we would be 2 hours and 45 minutes apart.

Well, I live in 29 Palms, so it's more like 3 and a half hours apart. :-P I guess we just happened to be closer for the holidays.

The links became broken because I decided to organize my photobucket account and the links break when that happens.

http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...orian%20Armor/

Thats a link to my new album for the armor.

Looking really good there bud...
Must admit compared with the cardboard set (which worked for you as a first medium) these look more 'crisp' in the details.
The weathering looks pretty good too? so what is your overall costume colour scheme going to be?

Keep us posted of progress...

Well I wanted it to be a complete desert mando.

Cool... looks like you got a great start there!

Looks like the trash can route is working out pretty good for you. I'm curious about your "special" weathering technique. I'm always open for new tricks on painting and weathering.

Like someone said before, we thrive on pictures here, so post a few more when you can.

Hi there 987...!

Very creative ideas on making your Mando armor dude! With the fiberglass reinforcements and resin I think it will work. Have you checked out this online supplier for resin and rubber molds? They are local to San Diego and they carry quality products. I would suggest making molds of your finished armor and then cast them in resin so you can make replacement parts or another set of armor for another costume. Anyways, thought I'd give kudos to a job well done!

Thanks, Yea, I have heard nothing but amazing stuff about them. For my next purchase of resin I will be buying from there. I just buy Bondo fiberglass resin for fiberglass molds, but other then that I need a low viscosity resin to use so he might have them.

You build stuff with what you have availdable or what your budget stretches to. If cardboard is what you choose to go with then good for you. I see nothing wrong with this, as I've seen cardboard armour done in the past with very desirable results.
More power to you, looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

Thanks man, I have a huge update coming soon. I havent been able to work on many things, because I have been studying for finals but soon ill have a brand new update on my mando costume.

I'll keep a look out for when you get to post it.

Wow, man... the weathering looks great! And that's some crazy contrast between the woodland and the red! Lol, I recognize the shoulder bells.

all i can say is wow!!
makes me wonder if i shouldn't cancel my sintra serch and go for cardboard armor

Wow man! That looks awesome!

-Naas

"Impressive, most impressive." Hard to belive that's made from card board dude. I think I'll give it a go myself instead of gassing myself to death heating plastic!

Originally Posted by samlynn79

Wow, man... the weathering looks great! And that's some crazy contrast between the woodland and the red! Lol, I recognize the shoulder bells.

Shoulder bells were all my idea.... lol jk. I liked the ways yours looked so I made mine the same way! Thanks!!!


Also guys this is trash can armor, not cardboard. My cardboard armor is now in the trash lol.

Alright well I turned this into a costume thread.

My helmet is turning out great. It is pretty rough now, but the first-ish layer of body filler went on today.



I have started on a custom rifle for my mando. You guys only get to see the barrel. tomorow I will post pics of the body of the rifle. It is very very simple.




The vest is not fully complete yet and will not be shown until The entire costume is all done.


The flightsuit will be OD green, or some shade of green.

thats is sweet the weathering

Look'n great so far.

Sneak Peak of the Helmet. Since this is a custom, no other details will go on this except my custom radio on the right ear, and the left ear piece.

Things are going great for me. My uncle comes home from the army tomorow, so life cant get any better.

The cardboard for the details were so thick. It took me half an hour to cut it all out.


Here is a good shot of the details


Well here is what my blaster looks like. It just got its final layer of glass filler and is awaiting a ton of sanding. Thank you parents for my electric sander!

Nice lookin helmet guy. Looks well proportioned.

That raw yellow bucket without the visor cut looks like a trooper from Haze!

Originally Posted by Too short for a stormie

That raw yellow bucket without the visor cut looks like a trooper from Haze!

I thought the same thing! Makes me wonder how good a cracked visor with an eyehole would look on a custom Mando helmet...

The weathering on the armor looks fantastic! Is that red supposed to be blood splattered on? That would make for a really BA and menacing looking mando.

your welcome. a bit much for my tastes, BUT the point is you did the weathering correctly. nice overall detail. id love to see what it looks like in a few years after some events and crazy stuff. THAN it will look even MORE weatherd.




cant wait for more. you get the vest done yet?

Thanks for the kind words. And Jax, the vest will be delayed for a while because my uncle just came back from the army and I am trying to spend alot of time with him.

But until then. I have a question for all. What do you prefer for the undersuit.

Woodland BDU or
OD flightsuit

looking good

OD. woodland is too...um Earthly.

you coudl AEX between convoy and the 163. its on the north side somewhere. or try home depot or lowes for "face shields" 3-8 bucks

Well I went to Home Depot and Sears, and they had no tinted face shields. I think I might just go with the biggest visor at T-Visor.com and trim it down.

Alright so Now that I am 90% done with the helmet, I will post a list of things to do

I got the visor for the helmet just now from t-visor.com


Helmet: 95%
Armor: 75%
Vest: 0% (I scrapped the one I am doing and is on its way to a landfill It was too small )
Gloves: 100%
OD Flightsuit: 100%
Gauntlets: 0%
Rifle: 10%
Holster: 100%
Pistol: 0%
Belt: 100%
Ammo Pouches: 100%
Boots: 100%


And thats just about it. So there are very few things left to do until it is done.




Ill start my gauntlets with alluminum sometime tomorow. Until then here is a progress pic of the idea I had since this wont have a backplate.



My helmet is crooked because I have no visor in it, so I cant see how it looks, nor is there any foam in it. I will pickup some foam this weekend at the container store in fashion valley.



Sorry for the blurriness



I used those single binder clips for the pistol belt I have for my ALICE setup.

Why throw out the vest? Is it completely trashed?
I wouldn't doubt that you've considered putting it up in the cargo hold for somebody else to use with their custom mando. At least then you could make a little money off it right?

I did think of that , but it is too small for me, and I doubt there is anybody out there that is small for this thing. I need to get my mom to sew my next one for me. I suck at sewing.... haha. It's ok though, It is fabric I had laying around from my old jedi costume, so it wasnt necesarily the right color anyways.

Alright here is some progress on the cape I started today. After a few years of use this thing will look even more killer





And I used my stencil to dress up my work bench

I am making some great progress guys.

**** T-Visor.com ships fast. I ordered on monday and got it today. So definately shopping from them again.

Anyways, here is the helmet with the visor in.


Action Shot


And a video!

hmm. that cape pretty much rocks Joker!

id say lose the alice gear (at least the m16 pouches) looks to normal. or cut off the grenade slings on them....

I think I might just take off the mag pouches and keep the buttpack.

that'll work!

keep it up!

I have been pretty busy lately, but now schools out and I have started again in prep for comic con.

The vest is in its final stages. Thank my mom for being a master sewer.


I tried making a face, but a fast shutter speed disallowed me to





Vest with armor temporarily attached


Detail of neck piece



I extended the dome of my helmet because the original dome was very uncomfortable.

the extended dome makes the helmet look better. Some of the previous shots made the dome seem a little small. Nice weathering

Looks great!

Big exciting update

The vest is now done. Thank my mom for a wonderful job and a bunch of money saved.



The helmet is being prepped for molding.

Really liking that vest, man. Any chance for pictures of the sides? I'm interested in the cinch straps. Are the sides sewn closed and the straps used to tighten it to make it more form fitting? Likewise, are the angle seams in the lower back area to increase the v-shape? Closure at the back of the neck is Velcro? I like the padding--what thickness is the batting used?

Thanks. Well done.

If your still looking for more puches you could try the old british 58 pattern stuff. Same stuff they used for the colonial marines in Aliens.

http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/pro...8+pattern&ST=2

Great looking vest style

Alright well here are more pics of my newly molded helmet, looking not so new... haha. Looks like its been used for hundreds of years

speechless.

Thanks for the side pic.

Your mum did a fantastic job on the vest, it looks very cool! Can't wait to see the whole thing finished! 8)

Thanks for the comments guys. The whole thing will be done right before comic con.

All I need to finish are the gauntlets, get the flightsuit, make the shin armor and holster.

But the holster is optional and not too necesary.I actually am in the process of buying a coyote tan flightsuit. No backplate on this one as it will be a waste of precious armor making time.

Only 3 days before I get to wear this bad boy.







Boot Armor


Shin Armor

Originally Posted by bh-7603

id say lose the alice gear (at least the m16 pouches) looks to normal. or cut off the grenade slings on them....

IMO....I have to agree with BHs' suggestion of "cut off the grenade slings...." and to add to it cover/remove up the "US".Prehaps if you have some more of the tan color dust some on your pouches and belt to give it a desert weathered look.
Just some suggestions and input.You have done a great job on your outfit it just needs a little tweaking.....IMO

Oh, no, the mag pouches wont even be used on this. I just didnt want to take them off for a few pictures. I am going as a navy seal on sunday at comicon so I need the pouches on by then. Otherwise, they are gonna come off.

okay... it looks pretty darn good! Honestly tho... my first thought was holy cow! all that damage and he's still alive! lol