Sam's custom Mando armor (WOF templates)

So now that I've got my helmet built and painted, I need to start on my armor. Here's my helmet, which is what I've based my armor paint scheme from.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1904/dsc02260qr6.jpg


And here's a concept of what my armor is going to look like:

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ommandozd7.png


I'm going to incorporate the desert tan flight suit, flight gloves, and USMC issue boots that I brought back with me from Iraq. I've also got a military padded cartridge belt, and I'm planning on getting magazine pouches from the surplus store out in town. The plan right now is to build the armor pieces from a Sterilite trash can, and then coat it in fiberglass.

:albino

Looks good! So the final is going to be more khaki the yellow, right? Either way I like it. Are you going to dull coat the helmet to take the shine off, or like sand blast it or something for authentic desert wear and tear?

take care,

Phil

Yeah, it's going to be khaki... that was just the closest color I could find on the palette. :-P And yes, today I'll be dullcoating the helmet so it's not quite so shiny. The dullcoat turns the silver into a real dark grey, which I found out when I used it on my earpieces.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6002/dsc02262dg1.jpg

The journey begins...

Kandosii, I like the modern kit setup idea. Can't wait to see it when its done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by samlynn79

Yeah, it's going to be khaki... that was just the closest color I could find on the palette.

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I kinda like the yellow ochre color, too....it's different....:)
Rob

Not bad at all! For once, the glossy paintjob looks pretty good on a helmet :) Everything has a nice and even coat, the colours blend well. Good job :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GCNgamer128

Not bad at all! For once, the glossy paintjob looks pretty good on a helmet :) Everything has a nice and even coat, the colours blend well. Good job :)

---

Thanks. :) I wanted to weather it a little, but I haven't the slightest idea how to do that with spray paint, and I seriously don't want to mess up the work I've done on it. I've got a ton of ideas for the armor that I can't wait to try. I need a break from laying out templates, cutting out small pieces, pain-stakingly gluing them together, and all that, so I'm going to do the armor first before I tackle the gauntlets. :b

:albino

Well, I've got a start. I still have to do the cod piece, which is gonna be a little tougher, as there is some assembly required, but it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm also going to build some thigh and shin armor, but I'll have to make the templates myself.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2769/dsc02264uz7.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3953/dsc02265jh9.jpg

Lol... the trashcan that sacrificed itself for Mandalorian glory.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3938/dsc02266ug6.jpg


Now that I've got the pieces cut out, I have to spend some time molding them to my body shape. And, I still have to come up with some kind of vest (leather preferred) to mount them to. I've definitely been thinking about using the industrial snap idea. I like the idea of being able to remove each piece if needed.

Looks good man. You did a great job cutting out the armor! Snaps work great, it's what I use on my current kit.

hey, that armor looks... hip?

naw, awesome! Keep it up Sam!


EDIT: likes to looks, lol.

I did some modification to the shoulder bell. I didn't want just a plain piece of flat armor, so I went at it with a sharpie, an x-acto, some hot glue, and a little more plastic.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3858/dsc02267yc9.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7485/dsc02268bg6.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6910/dsc02269ly3.jpg

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6864/dsc02272yi3.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6730/dsc02271jm6.jpg

My wife modeling my helmet and my flight suit and gloves. :-P


http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4730/dsc02279se0.jpg

Great start! I like the custom on the shoulder bells.:)

David.

Yay same gloves I have!

Good job on the armor so far. I might make mine from metal plates actually. I want to go for a realistic feel instead of just plastic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jaiden

Great start! I like the custom on the shoulder bells.:)

David.

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Seconding Jaiden's comment on the shoulders. Looks like you've added some extra mass to them by making them more 3D. Looks really good.

That's some good lookin' trash cans you've got there, Sam...:thumbsup
Rob

The shoulders look like the Galaxies shoulders.

What kind of glue are you using on it?

Looks like it held nice. or are you plasti-welding it.

Great job, keep it up.

It's hotglue, mostly. :-P I cut the plastic about halfway through with the x-acto knife, bent it back, and filled the seam i just created with hotglue. When that cooled down, I ran another bead of hotglue along the back side of the seam. When I added the top part, it stiffened it up quite a bit. When I fiberglass it, it will be completely rigid.

Well, I'm at a bit of a stand down on the armor for the time being until I make my trip to Michael's this weekend to pick up a bunch of stuff. I've also decided that I'm going to take the ears off my helmet, and re-make them out of wood. I went to the wood hobby shop on base today to make a display stand for my father-in-law (pictures to follow just to show you how it went, I know it's not armor-related, but I want to show the kind of work that can be done with the AMAZING amount of tools at the wood hobby shop) and I brought my helmet with me and showed it to the wood and tool expert there. Told him the history on the helmet, explained the process, and showed him how flimsy the ear pieces were, as well as the RF stalk. The ear pieces and RF stalk are going to be made of solid, light-weight wood, either balsa or cedar. I'm going to take pictures of the entire process, because I believe it's going to be easy enough that anyone can do it, and I'm hoping to show everyone how.

I would suggest against using Balsa. It is way to light-weight to wear safely in public. The first bump and you'll have a broken RF stalk.

Check this post on the Mercs forum about casting your own resin stalk using floral foam as a mold:

Jaiden's cast RF stalk

For the time and money involved, thats probably the easiest stalk to make...and it will be much more durable then wood.

I saw his post about that, and it was a great idea. I thought about making one out of resin as well. Instead of using the floral foam for the cast, however, I'd rather make it out of wood. I think it will give a much cleaner cast. Who knows, I may end up using the wooden ears that I make to make a mold and cast those from resin as well. If I do cast them, I'll inset bolts head-first into the resin to make them removable from the helmet.

I come back from the in-law's house on wednesday, so I'll probably start working on these on thursday.

Thanks, Novall. Your vote of confidence is comforting!

Three things:

1) with the floral foam, all that's required is sanding it down to remove the excess foam material - and maybe tweaking it a bit here and there to fit in your caps. I would recommend against wood for a casting block because the wood would soak up some of the resin and make it hard to remove. You could get around this with a heavy coat of wax, but time involved on a one or two shot deal, the wood's just not worth it.

2) I had to recast my stalk. It was...leaning. I knew I might have to do it again anyway. Check out the same post (here) for an update.

3) The guy that told me to use the floral foam also said to cast the ears first, then figure out where you want the screw posts and drill out a "well" big enough for the nut. Put the nut in the well (with the screw in it to keep the threads clean) and pour a little resin around the nut to lock it into the ear. Remove the bolt and sand the resin smooth.

I'll post pictures when I do this in the near future.

David.

That's pretty good advice. I'm really banking on getting a dremel for christmas, that would definitely help out with the detail sanding. I didn't think about the wood soaking up the resin, though - good call. I've never used resin before, so I really don't know anything about it yet. I'm definitely going to have to play around with it. Good luck on your ears, man. I'll probably learn from yours. :-P

Actually, wood will absorb very very little resin, but my suggestion is to coat the inside of your wood mold with a very thin layer of resin. Then just as you would make a fiberglass mold, you would have to add like 20 layers of a type of paraffin wax to the mold and cast your part. However, wait 15 minutes between each coating of wax.

Here's the pictures of the display stand I was telling you guys about that I built for my father-in-law at the wood hobby shop on base. Took me about an hour and a half, total.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2...8mediumta3.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9...9mediumuv1.jpg

The barrel is from an LAV-25 (one of the Marine Corps' Light Armored Vehicle variants, of which I am a mechanic), specifically the M242 Bushmaster 25mm chaingun. The vehicle was destroyed by an IED blast, and after it was recovered, we broke it down for usable parts. The gun parts, naming the barrel, were slightly out of whack, so the welders cut it into un-usable pieces. I'm giving this to my father-in-law as a christmas present, something he will go crazy over. His house is like a museum of military vehicle models and pictures.

Anyways, back to the armor. I used 80-grit sandpaper to rough up the plastic on the left pauldron, and bondo-glassed and roughly sanded it this evening. Figured I might as well get a start on that while I'm waiting to make a run to Michael's and Home Depot for supplies. It's stiff as hell now. No problems with flaking, peeling, or chipping from the glass so far. Roughing up the plastic really well is key. It's the 3mm plastic from the garbage can, so it can take some good sanding with no problems.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/1...0mediumje3.jpg

I did some shaping with the rest of my armor pieces earlier today. I decided that as long as I'm going to be customizing my pauldrons, I might as well do something similar with my chestpieces. I cut and creased the breastplates and belly armor in the same way that I did the pauldrons.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8...1mediumcq7.jpg

When I come back from my in-laws house on wednesday, I'll get started on bondo-glassing the rest of my armor. I'll be picking up mounting hardware, and hopefully finding something to work as the "flak jacket" or vest. I'm also giving some serious consideration to re-doing my color choices on all of this, how that i've got the ear pieces removed from my helmet. As long as I'm using my tan flight suit, tan nomex gloves, tan neck gator, and tan boots, I might as well go to more earth colors and make a desert mando.

Totally killer ! I am impressed as all get out. You picked this up fast and it looks like you are gonna have one hell of a custom SL79! Can't wait to see the final touches!

Here's the latest concept I've been thinking of, with the desert Mando color scheme. Let me know what you think.

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5131/newschemesg2.jpg

I like it!:)
Rob

Well, the left pauldron is finished, ready for paint. Spent probably an hour fine-sanding the bondo-glass, then spread a real thin layer of regular bondo over top of that to fill in the pits and irregularities, and sanded that down too. I'm going to start on the right one tomorrow, and do the same thing. Maybe i'll have enough bondo-glass to do some of the chest armor as well.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7...7mediumgr5.jpg

A couple people have asked me for tutorials on how to use bondo-glass, and I know there are more than a few people out there that have never used any kind of bondo at all. What better time to do a tutorial than while working on my own armor. :-P

First off, here's a list of things that I use.

1 can of Bondo-Glass
1 can of regular Bondo
2 tubes of red cream hardener
1 peach-colored scraper-style Bondo applicator (i'll explain this in a minute)
80 grit sandpaper
160 grit sandpaper (or something close)
320 grit sandpaper
1 rubber sanding block (for the 80 grit sandpaper)
1 razor knife (any kind of razor knife will do)
Something flat, smooth, and hard to mix the bondo and bondo-glass on. I used 1/8" posterboard.


Step 1:
Use the 80 grit sandpaper, and rough up the plastic pretty good. This is important, so take your time and make sure you get everything, specifically the edges.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6910/dsc02269ly3.jpg


Step 2:

A. Open the can of bondo-glass and use something to stir it with. It's dark green, stinks like hell, and will have some oil sitting on top of it. Make sure you mix it up very well.

B. Once it's mixed, use your scraper to get enough out of the can to completely cover your piece of armor. Don't use too much, or it will just be wasted. Close the can back up when you've got enough on your mixing board.

C. Open one of your tubes of hardening cream, and squeeze it out across the top of your bondo-glass. The directions on the can say that if you use 1/4 of the can, squeeze out 1/4 of the tube. If you don't use enough, it will take longer to harden, and won't be as hard when it's cured. If you use too much, it will set VERY QUICKLY, but it will be very very hard.

D. Use your scraper to mix the bondo-glass and hardener. There really isn't a trick to this, you just get faster at it with practice. Scrape it all off your board, and then spread it back onto the board. Repeat this until you have an even color throughout the bondo-glass, but don't take too long. The minute you mix the hardener in, the clock is ticking.

E. Load your scraper up with bondo-glass, and apply it to your armor in a clean stroke. Don't worry about making it nice at neat at this point, just aim for 100% coverage. After you've got it all covered in bondo-glass, continually smooth it down with your scraper, paying attention to edges and corners, until it starts to get a grainy consistance, and doesn't smooth out anymore. At this point, just put your armor piece down on something, and use your razor knife to clean off your scraper. The bondo-glass should be tacky, kindof sticky-feeling, and should come right off your scraper. You can throw it away and use a new one next time if you want, but if you're on a budget (like me), clean off your scraper first, then your mixing board. Once that's done, the bondo-glass on your armor should feel warm... that's the chemical reaction between the bondo-glass and the hardener. At this point, you can also use your razor knife to trim the rough spots along the edges, and any globs or raised spots. Don't go too crazy with it, but you can clean it up pretty good with a razor.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/6...58smallcb1.jpg
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4...59smalllo1.jpg

Step 3:

Give it about 20 minutes to fully cure, and you can start sanding it with the 80 grit sandpaper. I recommend using the sanding block entire for this part. You'll have to use a good bit of pressure at first to get through the top layer, but once you do, it's pretty easy. Try not to go all the way through to the plastic, but if you do it's not a big deal. I used my dremel to do my rough sanding at first, then the sanding block to smooth it out after that. If you use your dremel, take your time. One slipup could mess you up pretty good. Or be a nice weathering feature.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/5...60smalluy4.jpg

When you've got it sanded down to the point where there are minimal low spots throughout, and the edges are pretty uniform, bust out the 160 grit sandpaper and go over it by hand. You can use the sanding block if you want to, but I do it by hand. Try to get rid of the scratches created by the 80 grit paper. Again, take your time on this and focus on uniformity. You're not trying to remove material at this point, just to smooth out the deeper scratches from the 80 grit.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4...61smallyy9.jpg

Step 4:

A. Set your piece aside (I recommend washing it in cold water to remove all the particles from sanding) and pull out your can of regular Bondo, which is a light grey color. Using the same method you used for the bondo-glass, mix it up first, then scrape some out on your mixing board. You won't need nearly as much as you did the bondo-glass, because this is only for filling in the little pits and scratches that are still in the bondo-glass.

B. When you mix in the cream hardener, which is red, the end result should be the same color as the bondo scraper. That's one of the reasons I use those, so I know when I've got the right amount. Put in more hardener if it's too light a color, or more bondo if it's too dark. When it's mixed, it will be a much creamer substance than the bondo-glass.

C. Using your scraper, apply the bondo in a thin, even coat over the entire surface. Again, focus on 100% coverage instead of neatness at first. Once it's covered completely, just as before, continue to smooth it down until the consistance starts to get grainy.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/2...62smallfp3.jpg

D. This is when you can again clean off your scraper, mixing board, and work area. When that's done, trim the excess bondo off your piece with your razor knife. Don't trim too much, just the excess.

E. Take out your 80 grit sanding block again, and work on smoothing it all down to an even coat. Regular bondo sands much easier than bondo-glass, and is also VERY dusty.

F. Once you've got it all sanded uniformly, use the 160 grit and again work on sanding out the scratches left by the 80 grit. Work on getting your sides and edges nice and crisp, unless you're going to make battle damage.

G. When you've got it sanded nice and smooth with the 160, bring out the 320 and work on making the surface feel like glass. It helps to wash the piece off in cold water after finishing with the 160, before you use the 320. The sand particles will be the consistance of talcum powder or confectionary suger, so if you're married, and you choose to do your sanding inside (like I do), make sure you're away from anything that will get covered in this very very fine powder.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/3...63smalldl9.jpg

Step 5:

Now we're ready for primer. Use whatever color primer you want, I use white wet/dry sandable primer on mine. Apply the first coat evenly, but not thickly. Wait an hour or so for it to cure completely, then apply a second coat just like the first one. Again, wait an hour to cure. If you use rough primer, use the 320 grit paper to sand it smooth. After priming, apply your base coat of paint. I used two coats of metallic silver paint because I'm going to try the layered weathering method.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8...64smallcc9.jpg

What you do at this point is up to you. Make sure you're in a well ventilated area when you use the bondo-glass and bondo... you'll see quickly that it smells real bad. I don't know how harmful the fumes are, but it stinks pretty good.

I highly advise you to buy yourself a respirator. The fumes are very very toxic, and you will suffer nerve damage and WILL get cancer if you use this continously.

Oh and btw, nice armor. hehe.

Nerve damage will match my armor! :D

Great tutorial man. I'm printing it with pics right now for the week ahead. Good job man!

Now make another helm and do an indept bondo on that one. Just for kicks and giggles. lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 987654321a

I highly advise you to buy yourself a respirator. The fumes are very very toxic, and you will suffer nerve damage and WILL get cancer if you use this continously.

Oh and btw, nice armor. hehe.

---

Lol... yeah, I used a face mask for all the dust, and I had all the windows open in the room I was in, and a fan blowing fresh air in my face. It still smelled real bad.

I'll look into getting a respirator, tho. That's a good idea.

Lol. Painting armor + rum & coke don't mix. I advise you not to try this combination. I blame my wife completely.

Lol. Try vodka + painting.

:cheering:thumbup

Great tutorial! I've never used bondo-glass, but I have plenty of bondo experience. THe pink powder goes everywhere.:( I even did all my sanding in my garage with the door wide open and three fans running. I still got a fine coat of powder on my old van.:thumbsd

Great job on the shoulder! May the rest of your armor go just as easy.

David.

Thanks man. I'm dealing with the hangover right now... I remember why I don't drink like that anymore. Hangovers are the worst thing in the world to me.

My wife starts her new job today, so I'm gonna have alot of time alone in the house for the next two weeks until I go back to work. I'm hoping to get my armor done, maybe even the gauntlets! As long as my hangover lets up sometime today, I need to go to Home Depot and get some paint, superglue, and a few sheets of 1/8" plastic.

Well, despite the hangover, I got a decent amount of work done so far today. While painting the shoulder pieces that I finished, I tried using the layered weathering method, but it just looked too... I don't know, simple. So I used my dremel to put some damage into the bondo and bondo-glass. Gives a more realistic look to the weathering. The base (of course) is silver, the secondary will be black, and the top coat will be tan.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3...0mediumbn2.jpg

What kind of weathering method will you use? I think the toothpaste method works best for larger scratches.

Yeah..the mustard thing didn't work well for me...>:
Rob

I'm planning on using the toothpaste, I tried it on the shoulder piece and it worked really well. I didn't like the way just the paint looked weathered, tho, so I used the dremel and ground the scratches in, and repainted it. I'm going to fill the grooves with toothpaste, and paint it in black enamel again. Tomorrow is going to be a full day of work, as my wife goes to work from 8 to 5, so I've got the house to myself. Woot. :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by samlynn79

I used the dremel and ground the scratches in, and repainted it.

---

That's how I did mine...:)
Rob

Got a couple hours of work done on my left gauntlet today. I used 1/8" hard sheet cardboard, superglue gel, and hot glue. After about six hours of work, the upper part is assembled. Once the lower part is done and they're attached, I'll bondo-glass and bondo them.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1...3mediumlm5.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4...2mediumnd4.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8...4mediumjn7.jpg

Lookin good there!

Almost as good as mine.;)

I'm kidding. It really looks great, Sam. :cheering

David.

Woo, got some more work done today. The left gauntlet is pretty much finished, with the exception of adding the tubes to the flamethrower, and all the bondo work. But it's assembled. I'd guess I put about 10 hours total into just the left gauntlet so far.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/880/dsc02377sj5.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3306/dsc02378fd3.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5677/dsc02376km7.jpg

I would have done the bondo today, but I ran out of hardening cream when I bondo-glassed the lower clam-shell. I'm planning on finishing the clam shell before I cut it off with my dremel and re-attach it via hinge and latch.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1759/dsc02379cw8.jpg

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3048/dsc02380nm5.jpg

I'll probably make a run out to Home Depot tomorrow to get some more bondo-glass and extra hardening cream. Maybe I'll start on the right gauntlet.

Good job so far man! Im likin the progress. Sucks to hear about the hardening cream.

Just picked up a set of Jango blasters and holsters on eBay for a couple dollars. The blasters are ok, the holsters are cheap junk. However, they fit right, and are actually just a little big. They're made out of rubberized plastic. I'm going to use the rubber holsters/straps as a template, and make my own out of the vinyl material I picked up at Joann's for my vest and belt. The fabric is folded under the blasters in the picture.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1647/dsc02381jw7.jpg

I've thought about simply wrapping my vinyl fabric around the plastic. I think using the plastic as a strengthener will make the holsters and straps a little more sturdy rather than just folding the vinyl over on itself, as the vinyl is slightly elastic.

The holsters look cheap, but with spray paint you can make them look amazing. Also you could always add you own touch to the pistols by customizing them.

Yeah, they're very cheap. I'm considering doing the same thing with the holsters, wrapping the vinyl fabric around it. I'll play around with it, see what I can come up with.

As far as the pistols go, yes I plan on customizing them. A desert mando can't use basic Jango pistols. :-P

I couldn't sleep tonight, so I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning working on my blaster. I've decided to only use one pistol, the other one is going to give it's life to my left gauntlet. That'll come later.

First step was to take it apart, remove the electronics, fill the inside with wood filler putty, and glue the whole thing back together. Once the glue was dried, I sanded the seams down smooth so they won't show when I re-paint it. This gave it some heft and sturdiness, and now it feels much less like a cheap plastic piece of ****.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2194/dsc02382ev7.jpg

Next came the barrel modifications. I cut some strips of 1/8" plastic (thank you, Sterilite trash can) and made several "vanes" down the length of the barrel, similar to Boba Fett's blaster.

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8431/dsc02383xf4.jpg

While thinking of what else I could do to modify it, with my budget and all, I discovered that an empty tube of epoxy putty works wonderfully as a scope. I mocked it up to see what it would look like - perfect. I'll most likely end up using the epoxy putty that came in the tube to make the mount for it. The piece it's mounted to used to un-screw for two AA batteries. It's since been glued on solid.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9092/dsc02384zy5.jpg

Amazingly, that took about three hours of work. I didn't think it was going to take that long, and that was just the basic stuff. I'd estimate that I've put in over 100 hours into my helmet, armor, gauntlets, and now weapons... and I've got nothing completed. I need to make a priority list or something. :-P

Looks really great all of it Sam. I'm following along with each update! You've spend 100 hours, but it shows in the craftsmanship.

Phil

Thanks alot for the kind words, man. I definitely try my best with what I've got to work with. :-)

Lookin good there!

So today I got a little more motivated than usual to work on my stuff, so I ran to the hardware store with a head full of ideas, and went on a small shopping spree. $60 later, I came home with lots of goodies, including a new glue gun, having burnt my other one out. :doh
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8540/dsc02385qv4.jpg


Got some hinges for my gauntlets, a 6' length of kitchen sink hose, some PVC pipes, a garden hose attachment (missile tip!), more hardening cream, super glue, epoxy putty, and a copper pipe for my flame thrower nozzles.

The long thin PVC tube that I got has ends that are threaded perfectly for the kitchen sink hose, so I cut the ends off, and got to work setting those up for the rear end of the flame thrower housing.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8718/dsc02390ox1.jpghttp://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1418/dsc02391gm1.jpghttp://img72.imageshack.us/img72/1507/dsc02392zg6.jpghttp://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6894/dsc02395gp0.jpghttp://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8439/dsc02394lh5.jpg

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I use hot glue to hold the PVC in place, and then epoxy putty to make the whole thing solid, and keep the tubes from trying to twist when I screw on the hoses.

When that was finished, I did mostly the same thing for the front end of the flame thrower, cutting the copper tube in half, and making a bracket for it.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/292/dsc02387mm2.jpghttp://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8639/dsc02396qa7.jpghttp://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2831/dsc02397pd5.jpghttp://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8789/dsc02398ex3.jpg

Here's my thoughts about the custom missile. I got a long, thicker PVC tube that fits the diameter of the garden hose fitting. It fits into the cradle on the gauntlet perfectly. I'll smooth out the exposed threads, and add the vanes that are on the normal missile, similarly to how I added them to my blaster.

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/2474/dsc02386oo8.jpg


For the blaster itself, I got a shorter tube the same diameter as the one for the rocket, and it fits the length and size of the epoxy putty tube I've already got on the blaster. I'm fitting it inside, which will make that very sturdy, and I'll also have a hollow scope, instead of just filling it like I had originally planned. The bracket is just garbage can plastic right now, but I'm trying to think of something cool to do with epoxy putty molded into shape.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8117/dsc02389cf0.jpg

That's about it for today... my wife comes home from work soon, so I should probably clean up the dishes in the sink before she has something to complain about it.

:cheers

I was thinking about wrapping something around the holsters, so they don't look like plastic...I got a bunch of vinyl in my hall closet. I may go to town now!!

I see you live in Twentynine Palms, I have passed through there many a time to get to San Diego.

Nice progress so far. Im still stuck on the helmet.... So I still have to work on that and get a mold. Im unhappy with my cheeks so im going to remove and replace them with alluminum, or plastic ones.

Gonna bondo the rest of the gauntlet today, so we'll see how that goes. What's wrong with your cheeks? They looked good to me

Very nice progress overall man. Those guants are looking spiffy!

Indeed, it is coming along nicely. I'm impressed.:cheering

Drat...now your's is better than mine.:cry

Maybe I'll just have to do something about it.;)

David.

Nothing fuels imagination like competition, eh Dave? :-P

I put the hinges on my gauntlets this morning. :-P

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1557/dsc02399gt2.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/9018/dsc02400tb1.jpg

Gotta go pick up a buddy from the airport, be gone a couple hours, then I'm going to do the bondo work on the gauntlet. Hope to have pictures of that later tonight.

Good luck on yours, David!

Wow nice job so far. Question, no matter where I looked I cant find the templates for the gauntlets anywhere. Where did you get yours?

Also about the cheek pieces, the fiberglass for some reason, didnt stick to the paper and therefore I cannot smooth it out, therefore, I have to replace it.

wow man im loving those gauntlets!

and those westars are gojnna look cool when they are done!

Here's the templates for the gauntlets, done by Wizardofflight (WOF)

Right gauntlet:
http://www.propaholics.wolfchasers.c...%20Std%20A.pdf

Left gauntlet:
http://www.propaholics.wolfchasers.c...%20Std%20A.pdf

And here's the thread that I found them in:
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f25/gauntlet-blueprints-9861/

Good luck man. :-P

**(Edit)**
For some reason the links weren't working, so I just made them as regular text. They work if you copy and paste.

Edit- Nvm I got them to work.

This is looking bad-@$$. Can't wait to see it all painted.

I got some work done on my helmet today. Last night I cut the dome off, and today I cut off the extra material that I had accidently left on when I cut out the templates. I also received a resin missile in the mail yesterday from TheDentedOne (thanks dude!), and a shelter half for my cape from Xantok_Odysseus. I had started painting my armor a few days ago, but stopped when Lucca did her weathering tutorial. You can see why from the pictures. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near as nice as hers, which is what I'm aiming for. The weathering that I did was 1.) too much, 2.) too uniform, and 3.) lacked accurate placement. Too much in the middle, not enough on the edges, too many cuts that look the same, etc. I'm going to the wood hobby shop after this post, armed with my plastic ears and a bunch of templates, and I'm going to make new ears out of solid wood.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2008/dsc02406ud6.jpg

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2442/dsc02401jd1.jpg

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9107/dsc02407ot8.jpg

Depending on how the ears go, I'll post more pictures tonight.

~Sam

Wow! Lookin great bro! I love the paintjob as well.

The helmet looks nice as well, but I kinda got used to the tall dome, it looked nicer IMO, but it looks nice though!

Yeah now that I cut off the extra material I'm regretting doing that. Now I'm giving thought to chalking up that helmet as a 1st try, and make another one using all the experience I gained from that one. :-\

But on the other hand, scratchbuilding that helmet took alot more more time and money than I thought it would... maybe I'll buy one of the kits that I've seen sold around the boards and go that route.

Excellent work Sam! Thats coming along nice.

Buying a kit is the easy way out. :D

However, I learned that from experience, every new thing you make gets better and better. Like if I were to make a new mando helmet from the WOF plans it would be way way better than the one I have. But a first helmet really makes it unique, because it was your first.

Oh don't worry, I'm definitely going to fix my helmet. I'll never get rid of that. It's a part of history now. :-P I may even try just making a new dome for it, maybe the shape will be better then. We'll see.

Well The dome I think is the trickiest part in WOF's plans, I got mine right and pretty much just like how its supposed to be on the first try. I consider that lucky, because I would have never gotten it that perfect. There are still some minor faults to the dome, but I am satisfied with it and thats all that counts! I think if you start a new dome, it should work perfectely. The problem with this dome is that its pretty pointy on top and thats what made it look not too good when you shortened it. Hell, if you just sanded the top down a little bit, it would have looked like a custom mando.

But enough about the dome haha. The armor looks really great. Are you going to buy the vest? or make it?


Edit- Also did you get your helmets visor from t-visor.com? If so what size did you get yours?

Well, I've got the material for it, and I've thought about making it myself, but I don't have a sewing machine. I sent Ladysewforus a PM asking her what it would cost if I sent her the material and all my measurements, but I haven't gotten a response. If she gives me a good price, I'll definitely go that route, 'cause I want quality work. We'll see, I guess...

Sounds good!

Thankfully my mom can sew, and she can sew great! Together, we made my jedi costume.

Hopefully we can pull off a custom flak vest.

I think of those three armor pieces you showed, I wouldn't fix the chest armor one you had in the pic. It wasn't overdone and looks natural enough. The other pieces I can see your point. However, I don't think anyone would notice honestly. But you know, if you want to make it better, do so. It will make you happy!

Looks good so far dude. Keep it up!

Thanks for your feedback, guys. I do like the look of the armor plate, biohazard, but it's just not quite satisfactory for me. I'm going to sand all three down to the bondo layer, re-bondo the damage, and start fresh with Lucca's tutorial. It's gonna look amazing then.

I was realizing last night how much I still have to do.. :-\

Flight suit - done
Gloves - done
Neck Seal - done
Cape - 75%
Vest - 15%
Boots - 75%
Helmet - ??
Left Gauntlet - 75%
Right Gauntlet - 0%
Torso Armor - 40%
Leg Armor - 0%


So much work left to do... but hey, that's part of the journey, right?

wow man thats NICE armor

very nice work man....any progress on those westars....im really looking forward to seeing them lol


how much did the westars and holster kit set you back...im thinking of picking up a set myself now lol

The westars and holster kit cost me $10 on ebay. And trust me when I say they're CHEAP. It's gonna take a miracle to turn them into something usable. I haven't done any more work on them since I got back into the armor - which is also now on hold until I pick up some more bondo and bondo-glass. Bills come first, as always.

If you can. Open them up and fill them with something. Or you can use metal chunks suspended in Hotglue to add some wight. They really arn't that bad with some TLC.

The one I've been working on, I split apart, and filled with wood putty filler, and yes it definitely added some heft to it. I still have to do the other one, as well as make my barrel modifications to that one. The holsters need ALOT of work...

Agreed the Holsters do need alot of work.

Any new updates on this?

that looks great man i like the 3-d shoulders. and glass! i love fiberglass.

keep it up!

-El Fuzzy

Looking great!

I've finally finalized the paperwork on the new house the wife and I are moving into, we're gonna start moving this friday, and have to be completely moved out, and the old place cleaned by next thursday.

After all the boxes have been unpacked (I've actually already packed all my costuming supplies and parts in carefully marked and packed boxes), I hope to start back on the costume. The weather outside is really nice these days, so I'll be able to do all my sanding and painting outside now... it was too cold over the holiday season, when I did most of my work.

Hopefully I'll be back on track within a couple weeks! The progress I've seen from you guys in the meantime has been amazing tho, you guys are kicking butt! Lucca, your custom is AWESOME. I'm still planning on doing my armor weathering by your tutorial. Antman, you've about convinced me to do my next bucket from cardboard.

I'll post as soon as I get started again!

~Sam

Good to hear from you!



I decided to scrap my old helmet and start fresh with a new one. It did not turn out the way I wanted it to but it was alright I guess. This one will be done a bit faster than the last one but with better results.


Good luck with the move and finishing up your armor.

Glad to see you back Sam, and glad everything is moving along nicely. Can't wait to see the progress!

Go Wolfpack!