Walon Vau Walon Vau

crazas

New Hunter
I have a friend that wants to go for a Walon Vau
So far he has done a great job researching every single reference from the Travis novels and here is what he got.
Walon Vau description according to the Rep Comm books.

Triple Zero Quotes:

"The strill was still prettier than Vau, though. The man had a long square jawed face that was all bone and frown lines, and graying dark hair cut brutally short. Faces rarely lied about the soul within."

"Ordo wasn't fooled by Vau's restrained politeness. Seven years ago Vau had loomed over him as a figure of authority in his black Mando armor for the first time, the strill at his heels."

"For a moment he was unsettled to see Omega and Vau both in black armor."

"Lord Mirdalan, jowls flapping, threw its head back and let out a long, low, moaning howl. The preparations had worked the strill into a hunting frenzy. It could see its master in full Mandalorian armor, and it smelled and heard men who were tense and ready to fight. All its instincts and training said hunt, hunt, hunt."

"It was, he knew, a sight few would believe-Walon Vau and a Jedi Knight both in full Mandalorian armor, and Republic Commandos, ARC troopers, and a clone trooper in fighting order so closely modeled on that armor he wore himself that they looked like one united army."

"Vau felt like a pool of utter cold calm, almost a Jedi Master's footprint in the Force. The strill felt . . . alien. It had an unfathomable glittering intelligence and a wild, joyful heart swirling within it. Had it not been for Vau's rifle and the krill's savage teeth, the pair might have felt like a peaceful man and his happy child."

"Ahh ... ," Vau said. The rifle's scope was still pressed to the eye slit in his black helmet. He looked like the very image of death. Much as Etain had grown to find that armor reassuring, it made it no less intimidating. "Now, this is not a man used to avoiding professional assassins. Watch carefully and tell me what you feel."

"The strill was a little bright light of pure joy as it raced along the walkway ahead of Etain and Vau. There were still a few pedestrians around, leaving factories and workshops for the night, and Vau had taken off his helmet. A dull black armored chest plate didn't attract attention, it seemed, but this wasn't a neighborhood where a distinctive Mandalorian visor would pass unnoticed."

True Colors:

"My Mandalorian armor's black-black, the traditional color of justice. Beskar'gam colors almost always have meaning. Every Mando who sees me understands my mission in life right away."

"Vau's hundred-liter backpack had room enough for a few extras."


"You're conspicuous in that black armor, Sarge," Scorch said kindly."

"Vau pulled out the flamethrower, eased himself into a kneeling position, and opened the valve. Mird cocked its head, eyes fixed on the weapon.
-Where'd you get that, Sarge?" Scorch asked.
-Borrowed it from a flame trooper."
-Does he know?"
-He won't mind." (This points to the fact that Vau does not sport a Wrist Flamethrower since he uses no Jetpack and thus can't use the fuel for it)

"He'd never thought to check how Vau's suit was configured: it was just matte black, an image he dreaded as a kid, and now unsettlingly like Omega's Katarn rig. Black was the-color of justice. "

"It was worth a try." He tapped his forearm controls, adjusting his helmet's voice projector to maximum. "Mird!"


"Big immobile lump of durasteel and beskar about six meters in," he said. "Good old Mandalorian iron. You can't beat the stuff. That's Vau all right."

"Skirata could see a black shape that didn't look like a man for a moment, but then he could make out part of the T-shaped visor of Vau's helmet. "I'm cutting his packs free."

Skirata to Vau: "I wanted your armor. Better environment seals than mine, obviously. You could survive a sarlacc in that."

"his hands were shaking when he unfastened the backpack's assortment of pouches." - Skirata opening Walon's field backpack.

Order 66:

"Vau stood behind him in his black beskar'gam with his helmet under one arm, Mird at his side."

"Vau placed his black helmet over his head with an almost ceremonial air. It transformed him instantly into a faceless warrior, age and species and gender indeterminate. He was an archetype of war."

"Mird scrambled up behind him and seized the pillion seat and Vau's back plate with his claws. "Six legs give you a good grip." - Another example of a lack of Jetpack.

"Vau sighed. "Okay." He slapped his thigh plate. "Mird? Mird'ika, come on. Let's go round up the stray nerfs." - proof that Vau sports Leg Armor like Jango does.

"Then he seemed to shake himself out of whatever alien persona had taken hold of him, adjusted his collar, and tugged down the sleeves of his flight suit."

"Vau seemed purged. He slapped his thigh plate, and Mird trotted after him into the galley."


So, what do you think about this one?


P.S. if somebody can provide me with licensed pictures it will be of great help

Thanx in advance for your comments
 
Hi guys, I'm the dude doing Walon.

First off, with this build I want to go exactly by what the books described on the character's looks. I know that Miss Karen is a sweetheart and that she's given her blessings to other members on their builds that contain other colors besides black and non "standard" armor pieces or peripherals like belts and the such but by doing that she's contradicting what she's written on the character and I don't want to do that. I want a 100% true to the books Walon Vau mando rig. No offense meant for those that have had the blessing of being able to speak to Miss Karen and have her feedback on their builds. I wish I could do that myself.

So as Crazas so graciously posted in my behalf, the above quotes from the books (sans Imperial Commandos because I haven't read the book yet) give the full description of Walon Vau's armor and looks. The description is somewhat lacking in details but from what little she describes on the character you can take enough information to pull off a complete rig (Sans hand held weapons) of Mandalorian Armor as Walon used to use it.

Points of importance according to the descriptions:
-"Vau stood behind him in his black beskar'gam with his helmet under one arm, Mird at his side."
-black helmet
-black Mando armor, dull black armored chest plate (it's safe to assume the rest of the plating is Dull Black thanks to this latter description: "He'd never thought to check how Vau's suit was configured: it was just matte black" and by this quote form Walon himself: "My Mandalorian armor's black-black" - So no extra color mixes, Black and Black is the right coloring for this Rig according to the novels.
-full Mandalorian armor (like Jango's rig, with leg armor plating)
-"Vau sighed. "Okay." He slapped his thigh plate. "Mird? Mird'ika, come on. Let's go round up the stray nerfs." - proof that Vau sports Leg Armor like Jango does
-hundred-liter backpack (Please pay attention that Karen doesn't use the word Jetpack. And if Walon had used a Jetpack he would have fled the worm holes in Mygeeto)
-Vau pulled out the flamethrower, Borrowed it from a flame trooper. - (if he used a Jetpack he would have a fuel intake for a wrist FT but doesn't use one so, no Wrist Mounted FT)( Still the FT Housing can be attached to use for other gear, like Kal Skirata that used the Housing to keep his 3 bladed dagger in)
-"his hands were shaking when he unfastened the backpack's assortment of pouches." - Skirata opening Walon's field backpack. Another reference at Walon not using a Jetpack and instead using a field backpack with extra pouches.
-"Mird scrambled up behind him and seized the pillion seat and Vau's back plate with his claws. "Six legs give you a good grip." - Another example of a lack of Jetpack.
-He tapped his forearm controls - Jango has no datapad and the switches he has in his Gaunts are far from being smart ones. We can then surmise that the controls Miss Karen talks about are in fact in a datapad like Boba Uses in his left Gaunt in ESB and ROTJ.
-"I'm cutting his packs free." - I don't know how to interpret this. Does she means Walon use waist side pouches like Boba Does? Opinions on this will be of great help!
-"his hands were shaking when he unfastened the backpack's assortment of pouches." - Skirata opening Walon's field backpack.
-"Then he seemed to shake himself out of whatever alien persona had taken hold of him, adjusted his collar, and tugged down the sleeves of his flight suit." - the flightsuits seems to be more in the lines of Jango than Boba as Jangos flightsuit sports no neck and wrist seals as Boba seems to.

Apart from this it's never written what type of weaponry does Walon uses except for a moment when he searches his belt for grenades and another moment where he uses one of Kal Skirata's Verpine Shatter Rifles in Sniper configuration.

The Slapping of his Thigh plates hint at im not using holsters for guns as Jango does and when freezing in a giant wormhole in Mygeeto he is never described at using a cape or side poncho (Like Boba's) to protect himself form the cold.

Right now I'm working in Photoshopping an image of front and back of how, according to the above descriptions Walon's armor should look like. I'll be posting it soon.

All the while this is a pic of Walon I did time ago when I was reading the novels:


Walon-Vau.jpg
 
I will be following this as I love the all black kit. Are those Boba gauntlets?


That's the jango bust painted black and with Sir Ian's head photoshoped on it hehe. I did it a long time ago while I was reading the Rep Comm novels.

I think this build might take a tad more time than I anticipated. I was planning on rushing it for C6 in the hopes that I could get it approved in time for the trip since I want to be a volunteer on the event but according to Legion LMO policies Walon is an "Impossibility" because although the character is canon and accepted by LFL as the novels portray him, since there's no action figure (One that really IS called Walon Vau) and since no artist has ever done a rendition of Walon that made it to any formal publication like insider or a comic or something (the cards game portray a walon in a black and red armor but that's because they used a Mando Merc member's armor for it and couldn't care less for the accuracy of the rig) then they can't even start to review the build.

They added a special line that states that "characters with only written descriptions will not be accepted"

That sucks big time. You would thing that a full Rig of Beskar'gam in full black as described would be enough but the LMOs seem to be VERY reluctant about allowing Mandalorian characters beyond the most famous into the pantheon of accepted costumes.

I would understand that with Custom and non cannon Mandalorians, but Walon IS canon and fully accepted as a starwars character.

They could review it if they wanted to but they just prefer to not bother with it. It seems reviewing a full Mando Rig with no jetpack is way too much work...

anyways... I'll still do it and join the MM. I'll get back here with pics when I get my kit from Will.

cheers.
 
"Approving" you 'gam isnt anything.

If you have a good 'gam in Black and gonna troop as Walon. Thats good enough for most of the normal Fans. And i pity that fool that may have a problem with YOUR "unapprovable" Walon Vau-kit. It is YOUR Freedom to choose your outfit.
If you still wanna join/support a clique that let you only play when you got the right clothes... well, you still can get yourself a "approvable" secondary costume (a light one that fits in bag ;-) ).
Having a costume to swap is a nice thing on longer going cons.
 
"Approving" you 'gam isnt anything.

If you have a good 'gam in Black and gonna troop as Walon. Thats good enough for most of the normal Fans. And i pity that fool that may have a problem with YOUR "unapprovable" Walon Vau-kit. It is YOUR Freedom to choose your outfit.
If you still wanna join/support a clique that let you only play when you got the right clothes... well, you still can get yourself a "approvable" secondary costume (a light one that fits in bag ;-) ).
Having a costume to swap is a nice thing on longer going cons.

Well spoken Ner Vod!

I've loved the Legion for years but recen changes in membership policies is making me think about moving on (Not leaving it entirely) to other grounds. MM seems to be the right place to move forward now. I know my fellow 501st outpost buddies won't scold me or push me aside for trooping in a non 501st accepted costume.

this one is for myself.

OYA!
 
Yeah, due to the Legion's requirements for builds (the visual references etc) unless new media is brought out by Lucasfilm Walon is non-approvable unfortunately. There are however a couple of approved Walon Vau's in the Mando Mercs. The guy I'm thinking of at present is from the UK, and he managed to use different textured materials to define the different parts of the costume. So it's all black, but it's definable. From memory, I think he actually covered his chest armour plates in leather. I do recall he carried a DC-15s pistol, and based much of the build around Jango's look.
 
I do plan on basing the build in Jango but with a tad of extra gear like handplates, grenades, thigh plastic armored pistol holsters (like the clonewars 3d show deadwatch Mandalorians) and buttplate (those shots in the cheeks hurt man!)

On the parts definition. What I planned on doing was using satin black and matte black for the different parts of the helmet and matte black for the neck down plating.

Armor will be done in thick fiberglass. I want it to be able to withstand paintball shots if I choose to play in it.
 
that sounds interesting but I've never hammered alloy in my life. It worries me that I won't be able to get the lip border of the armor plates correctly and eFF the shabla material to hell.

The idea is very interesting tho....
 
its surprisingly easy. If you have the right Bowl-Hammer and just a towel you can make the most out of it.
its a real soft metal. You can mostly bend every plate only with your hands and thumps (depends on thickness) But with some hammer s and forming tools you can got a bit farther.

I'am working on a new Canon-armor right now. (gonna make a WIP thread later)
knief.jpg
this was one of the first pieces i dished with a hammer without proper knowledge within an Hour. (1,5mm alloy)
only using this method. Mandalorianische Beskarschmiede Forum - Schmiedeschule - Kniekacheln / Tiefschutz aus dem 1,5 mm Laserschnitt
The only tricky part is not the forming but the flattening of the alloy piece but if you want to spray paint them anyway you can cheat a bit with metal-fillermass.
 
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The Gaunts are still flat. Cause I'm still working on this 'gam.

The Templates are based on the Jango Pattern from Wizard-of-Flight http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f28/updated-printable-jango-armor-templates-8448/
We simply adjustet the Patternfiles for some diffrent Sizes (L-long or M-small) and feed our Lasercut machien with it. XD

Ok thats cheapo, but you can cut Alloy (under 2mm) still with a handsaw or a Dremel. It might take a day for every plate. An Angle grinder will go threw like Butter - but for a lesser advanced wielder it might cause some misshaps.
 
I was able to make a contact with a guy that owns a plasma cutting machine for industrial work. He agreed on cutting the aluminum parts for me from the 5´9" templates I found here! now I just need to but the metal and the tools and start hammering!
 
Get sure you have the right size.

Nothing looks better then Armor plates in the proper size. Just print out the Chest pieces out in paper and glue-strip them to a T-shirt of yours - then you only need a mirror. And be Aware last time i checked the Jango Templates from WOF the Neckpiece in the L-size (or was is XL) is misplaced with a M-Size one. But if your Plasmacutter will feed his machine with the templates he may have to transform them into a compatible CAD-Format in the first place and can Scale the Parts a bit.
 
I'm exactly 5'9" so the templates for that size "should" suffice.

Question, how do you prevent the edges of the aluminum sheet from cutting the vest material or any other thing for that matter? The idea of having a razor sharp edge between my legs is kinda scary actually....
 
If you are still in your build process check out some of the pics of my Vau. I actually met Karen Traviss and talked about her vision of Walon Vau. The suit I built was to her specs. I did a lot of trial and error while conducting the build, but the final product is what she wanted and met her approval. I know everyone will have their own variations. I just thought it might help. Let me know if you have any questions about the specs, construction process, or the self weathering paint process.
 
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