My snow mando - Finished!

I like it!

You should check out a few of the blizzard mando ideas around TDH give you a few creative ideas

Feel free to ask me if you would like me to sketch you up some ideas


Good luck man

Hey! I know that gun! I almost made that same exact gun with the tutorial I found. But then I found the Verpine.. Though I might still make mine later. Quick question about the gun, is the body and the stock 1 piece or 2 wood pieces and the pvc to connect the 2 like the tutorial showed? And did you change any of the size dementions? Im asking these questions assuming you used the tutorial found here: http://empireprops.freeservers.com/mg34rifle.html

Thanks alpha, I'm pretty decent at drawing but grew tired of it, now I do most of my artistic work in photoshop.

Nevu - yep, I used that same tutorial. But I couldn't find the same wood he used. I think he used 3/4" craft board and all I could find was 1/2". So my body is 3 pieces glued together. Then I found that if you use the pvc connector to attach the stock it makes it way too long and you would barely be able to reach the trigger, so I ditched that idea and just bondo'ed the two pieces together. It was fun to make and I still need to add some greeblies to it as it looks kinda bare right now.

I know what you mean ner vod! it gets quite tiring but i love it anyway

I was just wondering if you wanted me to sketch up anything that i could think up of for a blizzard mando

Good ol' snow mando....a classic. I'm considering that after my first mando armor is complete and I do some trooping in it.

Feel free Alpha! I'm gonna try to have a hood on the cape, so the snow mando with the hood on would make a cool pic

Looks good! I really like that colour-up on the armour and gun! And will that be a red reflective visor?

Yeah it will be like a red mirrored visor.

alright sweet ill get to work on that
well after i finish another one quickly

Alright! Got some stuff in the mail today!

First is the flak vest, made by Darth Carcinus. This thing is awesome!


Next is a scope for my rifle..


I'm a little disappointed with the scope as it is a little smaller than I thought..


Unfortunately I won't be able to work on anything this weekend because me and the girlfriend are heading out to the beach in the morning.

I like it, looks sweet. That red visor is a very nice touch.

Hey thanks Jason! Here's something I've been working on for about the past hour, just some more Photoshopping

I grabbed a pic of Boba's helmet off Google and layed my design down on it. Didn't finish the ears and RF though cuz I'm pretty tired and have to get up early. Enjoy!

i like the paint scheme on the armor.

awesome!

Have you seen my snow mando yet?
My bucket is almost done, just need to finish the ear caps and put on the visor (reflective blue).
I got the same vest as you, DC is really good with a sewing machine.
I just gotta get the snow cammo jump suit.
Here's a link to my page 4 of my thread, it was a thread of my 2nd trash can armor but turned into my Snow Mando thread
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showt...t=30874&page=4
my bucket pics are near the bottom.

ya if you're making a snow mando i would definatly check out adonians for ideas

Adonian, your helmet is looking great. Can't wait to see how it looks on the snow camo jumpsuit.

Buy a set of cheap funnels, and make your own scope. Get some pvc pipe, and funnels to make the change it diameters, and some glue, and go to town. Youll be able to make a giant scope, in virtually any dimension you could want.

Look up the 'how to make a rocket with found parts' thread for the idea of how to put them together. it should be in teh armour section.

I hope my jump suit turns out good, I gotta save up for it first, but I plan on using white, then doing dry brushing for the black and gray "sploches".

I cant wait to see yours come to life too, I'm taking my time on this one to make it look really nice.

Thanks for the advice stormrider, I may just do that because I think the scope needs to be at least twice as long as the one I have.

Alright, I added the end piece of the barrel today pretty easily...


Oh, I cut this piece off the end of a vodka bottle ;D

This is with the piece just sitting in the end, haven't glued it in yet

O hope you finished the Vodka first.

Looking good. I look forward to seeing it when it's finished.

Thanks Jango

Adonian - nah this was my roommate's vodka, I'm not a drinker.

dude ur blaster is a monster... but I like ur concept... I love the snow mandos... proally won't do one myself but I do like 'em, especially Adonian's and Hydra's check those out they're sweet... urs has a lot of potential too, can't wait to see it.

after all of this im considering doing my own snow after my im satisfied with my first custom

If I can get the pics off my cell today, I'll try to post some up of his armor that we're working on.

That would be cool, thanks Novall!

I took the liberty of planishing up the plate on the right and the collar armor (so you'll have a good example of what to do on Saturday). The left chest piece still needs some dishing work to get a little more curve in it, and the gut plate needs some planishing before we move to the shoulders.

All in all it's looking good though!

Just as a side note, this is 2mm thick aluminum just like what I use on my own armor.

2mm? what gauge is that? 16-18ish?

Ah yes, it is looking good, thanks Novall. Can't wait to get my hands back on that hammer and do some more work on this.

14 gauge I thinks...

Yep, 14. Pretty darn thick!

Oh hey Novall, I bought a 24" x 24" sheet of that 22 gauge steel today for the cod and knees. It had some rust on it so the guy sold it to me for $6 when the original price was like $18. I also got some of the .25 gauge aluminum and started on the left gauntlet. It's a little harder than I thought it would be.

Gaunts are tough...now you know why I charge so much to build a pair. =)

We are going to experiment with the cod piece to see if I can knock one out in one piece instead of doing multiple pieces. With some of my new armoring tools I think it's possible.

You mean just make the center piece of the cod raised instead of two pieces? Sounds cool.

Here's what I have on the left gauntlet so far...

I think the bend is wrong cause it sits sideways, but oh well, I'll try to finish it and see how it comes out..


Novall told me to get this stuff called Goop to glue the pieces together but I forgot about it so I'm having to make due with bondo right now.

Oh, and does anyone know of a good gaunt tutorial? Because besides the bottom half I have no clue how to put the pieces together.

If I remember correctly, Bobamaker does one on his website.

Cool thanks Saz, I'll try to find it.

Originally Posted by Lifeburn

Oh, and does anyone know of a good gaunt tutorial? Because besides the bottom half I have no clue how to put the pieces together.

Bring what you have with you on Saturday and I'll show you how it all goes, then number it for you so you know what piece is what.

Cool Novall, say what time you want me to be down there? Around lunchtime again?

That will work.

Ok, got all of the top pieces of the armor finished today. Next is the thighs, shins, cod and feet pieces. I'm just going to have the shins extended upwards over the knee, that way I won't need the knee pieces. I also got my "flightsuit" in the mail today. Whoo! It fits better than I thought it would.

Here's me working diligently in Novall's basement..


Heres the finished armor ready to be painted...


And here's me test fitting the flightsuit...

impressive. two cents worth.. i wouldnt do a mirrored red visor, just a flat red as theoretically the reflection off the mirrored version may give this snipers position away.

Matt has done a great job with this armor so far. It's awesome seeing someone take what your teaching them and apply it like this.

Thanks Novall, aside from the painful hands theres something very therapeutic about slaming that hammer down. I love it!

Flatrabbit, I started another thread where I'm building a T-21 that the sandtroopers use so I think that will be my new weapon of choice. No more sniper.

Here's the boots I was talking about getting Novall, I think they will be ok, plus they're in my budget

Can't wait to see the final product!

Originally Posted by Lifeburn

Thanks Novall, aside from the painful hands theres something very therapeutic about slaming that hammer down. I love it!

Stress relief...

Looks really good mate!!!

Alright, since my chest pieces were finished I thought I would go ahead and start painting them. I dont really feel like giving a step by step of what I done because there are some very good weathering and painting tutorials on this site. And I would like to thank the people that made them.

So anyways, I applied liquid masking, primed, then four coats of flat black, peeled off masking, reapplied masking, primed, the four coats of flat white. Now here's where I made a mistake. I didn't let the black dry thoroughly before I reapplied the masking, so after I painted the white on and starting pulling up the mask, it pulled most of the black paint off too (

So that got me pretty angry!! I got some 80 grit sandpaper cause I was going to sand it all off and start again. But with about 10 coats of paint this stuff doesn't come off easy. So I got even more angry and just started sanding the **** out of it. Then I realized something, as I was sanding it, I was making it look pretty darn good! And it made it look dirty and worn. So I did this to all the pieces and here's what I came up with....sorry for the dates on the pics.




























What do you think?

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!
I cant wait to see the soft parts (that sounds wrong ) I need to finish my snow mando soon, my son really wants to see mine finished, I plan on using a blue mirror for the visor, since my red mirror is in my black/purple bucket.

I'm still working on the thighs, shins, and cod piece. They're almost finished. Then I can paint them. Then I'll start on my soft pieces. I need to start weathering my vest and flightsuit.

I'M BEGGING HERE... can you show a short tut on your vest weathering, my vest is tackle twill white, and I MEAN WHITE I need to weather it to match my blood stained armor.

Originally Posted by Lifeburn

I'm still working on the thighs, shins, and cod piece. They're almost finished. Then I can paint them. Then I'll start on my soft pieces. I need to start weathering my vest and flightsuit.

Yeah that next shin/foot armor piece is all you man. My hands are still hurting after that other one.

I have no idea how I'm going to weather the vest yet. My idea was to just kick it around in the dirt and pavement a little to scruff it up and get it a little dirty. Then use coffee or tea to lightly stain some areas like the pits and around the neck.

Originally Posted by NovallTalon

Yeah that next shin/foot armor piece is all you man. My hands are still hurting after that other one.

Toughen up Nancy! Just kidding. You still might have to help me hold it in place while I hammer it.

Yeah thats no problem. Lol, and no your not allowed to use my lines! =D

Sweet....can't wait to see what you get in the finished product. I am actually looking forward to seeing the helmet.

Very nice work.

Today I added the grime to the crevices of the armor. I did this by shaving the tip of a brown color pencil (didn't have any chalk) to make fine powder. Then I took a napkin dipped in water and barely wet the edges of the paint. While wet, I dipped my finger into the powder then rubbed it against the edge of the paint. Then repeated until I got the desired build-up.







That just about does it for the chest pieces. All I have left to do is apply a clear coat.

Here's pics of all the plates dirtied up. And a pic of before for comparison.

Although the dirt is subtle, it gives the paint incredible depth and makes it look fantastic up close.





Clean plates....BOOOO!!

Amazing.....great job!

I got my boots today! I ordered them from one of the star wars halloween costume sites (can't remember which one). They're pretty good, better than what I thought they would be....but they're still a little cheap. The only thing I think I will have to do to them is put a strap around the top to keep them tight because even with my suit tucked in theres still about 1 inch of extra room.

Ori kandossi ner vod...ori kandossi.Great so far!Keep up the good work.

Oh, I like those, if you remember where you got them, lemme know so I can get a pair... I can put some armor on them to give 'em hard boot look.
Are the pants Dickies painters pants?

Originally Posted by Czane

Ori kandossi ner vod...ori kandossi.Great so far!Keep up the good work.

Thanks a lot Czane!

Originally Posted by adonian

Oh, I like those, if you remember where you got them, lemme know so I can get a pair... I can put some armor on them to give 'em hard boot look.
Are the pants Dickies painters pants?

Here's the link for the boots, http://www.starwarscostumes.com/adul...s-trooper.html

And I'm wearing white coveralls by Dickie's

I completely forgot about Dickies Coveralls DUH, thanks.

More Updates!

Got the legs finished at an armor party yesterday. The shins have been extended to cover the knee eliminating my need for knee armor. And the foot plates attach directly to the shins.

Started painted the leg pieces today. So far I've got the primer, 4 coats of black, and the masking pulled off. This time around i'm going to let the paint dry for about a day before putting more masking on there. So I should have the white coats on there tomorrow.






Sorry for the blur in this pic..

Cool! I am partial to snow characters

Originally Posted by Replicant Shadow

Cool! I am partial to snow characters

Yeah I like the cleanliness of snow mando's...or partial cleanliness. I made up my mind to do a white mando after seeing the white Boba Fett.

Legs painted, still need to dirty them up..

quick question for ya. I don't see it in any of the above posts, or I may not just be looking hard enough.
What did you use as your masking? I think I saw you say masking fluid... not sure though.
thanks
-nevu

Very nicely done. Top notch work, especially the metal work (though your weathering's pretty impressive, too).

Originally Posted by Nevu440

quick question for ya. I don't see it in any of the above posts, or I may not just be looking hard enough.
What did you use as your masking? I think I saw you say masking fluid... not sure though.
thanks
-nevu

Yeah I used liquid masking, can't remember the brand name. But I'm a little displeased with it. Even after letting the black coat of paint dry for a day before reapplying the mask it still pulled up most of the black in the end. Or maybe I'm not using it right.

Originally Posted by ioelus

Very nicely done. Top notch work, especially the metal work (though your weathering's pretty impressive, too).

Thanks! I'm very impressed with how the pieces turned out because I was learning as I went. But I had Novall watching over me so I couldn't mess up too bad, and he would step in and lend a hand when I did mess up.

And the weathering turned out better than I thought, I just started roughing up the pieces with sandpaper and made it look really worn.

Everything is good and dirty now. Only thing left to do is throw a couple of clear coats on there and these pieces will be done. Would've taken more pictures but the batteries in my camera went dead.







ALMOST done with the armor!!

Wow, thats a lot of work and it shows. Can't wait to see it all finished.

Originally Posted by Plastic Fury

Wow, thats a lot of work and it shows.

Oh trust me, you have no idea how many evenings we left the shop with sore hands. I'm never making armor pieces as big as that shin armor out of thick aluminum again.

All thats left is the cod piece and diamond..both of which should be fairly easy to do.

Nice job on the armor. Love the detail! Nice job ner vod!

Originally Posted by Plastic Fury

Wow, thats a lot of work and it shows. Can't wait to see it all finished.

Thanks, alot of painful work went into this so far!

Originally Posted by Raz Zencora

Nice job on the armor. Love the detail! Nice job ner vod!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by NovallTalon

Oh trust me, you have no idea how many evenings we left the shop with sore hands. I'm never making armor pieces as big as that shin armor out of thick aluminum again.

Yeah those shins were rough. They came out looking great though!

Amazing job vod. Great work...cant wait to see the finished work

Originally Posted by Commander720

Amazing job vod. Great work...cant wait to see the finished work

Thanks!

.....

Ok, well I've been broke for the last couple of weeks so I haven't really done much to my armor. I've added snaps and got everything attached. Also got my gaunts from Rimshot but haven't had the money to do anything to them yet. So here's some pics of the gaunts and me test fitting the armor so far.


The jumpsuit is a little baggy but I will take care of that later.

Looks good vod. Cant wait tos ee the finished product!

looks xlnt... you said the jump suit was a dickies?

Originally Posted by adonian

looks xlnt... you said the jump suit was a dickies?

Yeah its a Dickies.

Looks awesome mate! I love seeing a set come together like this one has! major props to you my friend!

Amazing work, ner vod! The armor looks great even unpainted, awesome work with the paintjob too!

Originally Posted by A'den Kyramud

Looks awesome mate! I love seeing a set come together like this one has! major props to you my friend!

Originally Posted by Loshi

Amazing work, ner vod! The armor looks great even unpainted, awesome work with the paintjob too!

Thank you very much! I can't wait to get this thing finished.

More updates!

Got my cod piece. This was made by Novall because it was out of my skill range. He did a great job!


Also, I got my ammo belt the other day. Ordered it from Suzy's Surplus on Ebay.





I'm going to start painting the cod piece and working on my gaunts later today. So hopefully I will have more updates shortly.

Nice looking snow mando armor there vod. A great peace of work if I may add.

Got some more work done the past few days. Got the cod and chest diamond painted, just need to dirty them up. Also started working on my gaunts to make them more sturdy. I started applying bondo to the inside, then after ond and a half pieces I ran out of what little bondo I had. So I went and got some bondo glass to finish the other pieces. After the bondo set for a while I will put the hinges and velcro on them, then paint.

Also got my chest display from Fettronics today! Freakin sweet. Just need to figure out how to attach it to the chest piece.

Well, here's pics....











Couldn't manage to get a good picture here, sorry.

Dude, that looks sweet!

Originally Posted by adonian

Dude, that looks sweet!

Thanks!

I'M jellous vod, I guess when I get more money I can catch up

Originally Posted by adonian

I'M jellous vod, I guess when I get more money I can catch up

I actually haven't spent that much money on the actual pieces for the costume. Maybe a few hundred bucks.

But buying all the little things like paint, snaps, different types of glue and bondo, thats the stuff that really adds up. I've spent way more money than I care to admit just on the stuff you never see

The weathering on your armour is fantastic!

Well, I'm now in a mad dash to get everything finished by halloween. Pretty much all I have left is to finish painting my gauntlets and paint my bucket. (Which is a Rubies :-[ , my helmet from GB will never get here in time.) After I'm done with the painting I have to make a few minor adjustments to the armor and I'll be ready to go...for halloween that is. I still won't be able to apply for membership for a few more weeks when I can really make everything look good.

So here's what I'm working on now..








Almost there!

Same here vod. I am getting some help with the helmet and will be done by halloween. All in all it will look pretty good. But great job!

hey Lifeburn, does the rubies 2 piece fit good? I have a large head, and I cant get my glasses into the "rubber" rubies.