WIP: Solo's Custom Build

Solo

Jr Hunter
Just wanted to start a thread showing my progress. I've gotten quite a few other things done but I am close to finishing my knees and wanted to post pics. I've put several armor kits together in the 501st but never built armor from scratch...

So be gentle and offer advice on any changes if you see some that need to be made. That being said, I can already see where I need to make some changes with these but I thought it was a decent first shot.

Materials used:
PVC Pipe
ABS for the dart holder and detail
Bondo

Total cost of these ran less than $10 per knee to make but has taken me about 25 hours so far in work... I have a new found respect for those guys who produce this stuff... Used the WoF Templates for the basic design.
knee1.jpg

knee2.jpg

knee3.jpg

knee4.jpg
 
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I wanted to take a sec and fill everyone on what I have done so far.

I was going to do metal armor in the beginning but decided to pick up a 6" diameter 10 foot PVC pipe instead as a first run at this thing. It is about 1/4" thick and appears indestructible.

I used the WOF templates for Jango as what I am doing will resemble that. After cutting out the parts, I tried a method that I used when I was working on my lenses for my Vader costume... I used the oven to heat the PVC parts till they were flexible and then molded them directly against my body. It worked perfectly and is customized to my body shape!!!

Heating the oven to 250-275 and placing the part on a baking sheet that had wax paper on it (aluminum foil would work too... don't want the wife getting upset that you runined another kitchen accessory on one of your "stupid projects" by melting PVC/Sintra/ABS, etc. on it!) Once the oven is pre-heated, put the part in for about 10 minutes. You'll have about 1-2 minutes when the part comes out to mold/shape it before it hardens completely.

Disclaimer: I placed a towel or heavy cloth object between the "hot" armor part and my body. I used gloves to handle the part while it was cooling down. If you don't do this you'll burn yourself... Don't be a noob and do this without thinking!

Only exception to this were the knees and the cod piece. I used two thick books bound together and after heatin gthe knee cutout, put the spines directly into the center of the knee piece and pressed it into a stack of pillows. That allowed the knee to bend around the books creating almost the perfect shape. I fine adjusted using a heat gun and was pretty happy with the outcome of the shape. On the cod piece I used a heat gun as well but am filling a lot with Bondo to make it Jango-esque.

Wil try to post some pics tomorrow. At the moment, I just need to do a little more work to the cod, knees, and back plate and I should be finished with the preliminary work on the hard parts. Waiting on the helmet, vest and flightsuit and going to re-finish the gauntlets.
 
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Ok... got one of the knees completed. Cleaned it up and took out several of the little bad spots with bondo and lots of sanding. I will be doing a rub and buff finish on everything so for now all the parts are simply primer coated.

knee5.jpg


knee6.jpg


knee7.jpg


Also completed the cod piece. I wanted it to look as much like "Cruzer's" as possible so I wanted the detail he has in his reproductions.

cod1.jpg


cod2.jpg


Will post some more pics in the coming days as I complete the thighs, shoulders, neck, chest, abs and shin armor.
 
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Thanks bro...

Here is a pic of where I am at the moment with all the armor pieces...

full1.jpg
 
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I got to looking at what I could do to make my own knee darts since paying $40 for a few little pieces of aluminum seemed ridiculous...

I went to my local harware store and bought a 1/2" diameter dowel rod and two 1/'2 inch diameter plumbing thingy's with different outside diameters... I probably have $3.00 in these parts.

kneedart2.jpg


This is what I was able to put together with them and a little primer and silver paint...

kneedart1.jpg


Will finish up shins next and post pics soon.
 
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Outstanding work! Between looking at your armor and Zazarus over at Mercs...I'm really liking what I'm seeing done with PVC.
 
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Very nice! Seems to be about the same thing as the 6MM PVCX foamboard I used for mine! I know Zazarus took a hit in the back with a baseball bat and his PVC plate withstood it. I actually walked on my backplate and it barely flexed! This is some tough stuff. Very nice build!
 
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Been a while since the last update but I wanted to post some progress pics. Even though it has taken a while there is something very fulfilling about having made all my own armor. The back, knees, cod, and shins have taken the longest but it was worth it.

I am currently in Atlanta on a business trip and decided to bring the armor along and work on it in the evenings in the hotel room.

So far the armor has been wet sanded with 400 grit, re-primed, and I am getting ready to go at it with 0000 steel wool before doing the rub n buff. I've already added the RnB to the helmet.

More pics to come...

mando_05172009.jpg
 
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Got the rub-n-buf and the snaps applied to the chest armor, vest, and the knees. Just have the back, thighs, and shins to go...

The armor sits symmetrically but looks a little off since I had to put a pillow in the vest to take the pic... :)

mando_05192009.jpg
 
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In an effort to make this thing both inexpensively and as nice as possible, I thought of a way to make the girth belt.

I took 1/4" braided rope and applied it to leather backing. Once the glue dries, I'll paint the rope with black fabric paint. So far I am really happy with how it turned out. At this point, I have about $20.00 in this. I just didn't see the point of dropping $100+ in this piece...

Hopefully this will work. Here is a pic pre-paint...

Mando_05202009.jpg
 
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your pieces look great; very clean lines and something that I'd call professional. Great stuff
 
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