Zurath Kodul, the actual suit

I have finished the important parts of my suit, and I'd like to show you that I'm not just talk. The cape is to make the shirt look smaller. This is anly a ttemp costume, since I'm going to improve it once I get the money.
The armor is made from linoleum, and very comfortable. The gloves are just grey with some fingerless over them. I altered my Berreta with a laser sight, which I will get pics of in the next set I snap. The RF was hand-painted, with the SW:BH Screencap for the RF screen. The saber is not noticable, bit I will remedy that in the next set, stay tuned for more.
My camera went dead after these two, I'll get more when the battery charges up.
Hope you enjoy, ZK

I'm trying to help so don't take this the wrong way, but there is a huge list of things you need to do, even if this is only a temporary set. First and formost your helmet, you MUST get a visor in it, a full visor if you can. Next your armour, it's too big, you need to trim it down to something that better fits you. The collar is too large, not to mention sat too low on you, the chest plates appear to be at least twice the size they should be, and the stomouch plate is also too big and (due to the size of the chest plates) positioned too low.
Are you wearing a vest under the armour? If not you need to, in this instance a sturdy, heavy duty t-shirt would do the trick temporarily. You also need shoulder bells, these can be made from 4" drain downpipe and will look great. Even with your cloak on, you still need them, they'll add much needed shape. Gauntlets would be good, but a cod peice and some knee armour would be better. You've made a good start.

where is the Conan O'brian dog when you need him


"All I see is.....Nerd standing in closet in his PJs"

Originally Posted by OrtharRrith

First and formost your helmet, you MUST get a visor in it, a full visor if you can. Next your armour, it's too big, you need to trim it down to something that better fits you. The collar is too large, not to mention sat too low on you, the chest plates appear to be at least twice the size they should be, and the stomouch plate is also too big and (due to the size of the chest plates) positioned too low.
Are you wearing a vest under the armour? If not you need to, in this instance a sturdy, heavy duty t-shirt would do the trick temporarily. You also need shoulder bells, these can be made from 4" drain downpipe and will look great. Even with your cloak on, you still need them, they'll add much needed shape. Gauntlets would be good, but a cod peice and some knee armour would be better. You've made a good start.

I'm going to install a black mesh visor over the entire faceplate.
The armor was from WoF's temps, for a 5'8" person. I cut it to the specifications.
I had the collar that way because it kept digging into my neck, I'll adjust it when I can get a seal to wear.
I'm going to find a vest to wear under it, so no worries there.
The shoulder bells are awaiting the straps to attach it to the rest of the armor.
Cod piece is awaiting the final glue, and the knees are cut out, but not perfect. I also have shin and thigh pieces, no idea how they will look with the rest of my armor.
I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but this is not the completed suit, it is an in-progress image. The final one will look alot better, I might even have a JP if the rest of the armor is finished before Wednesday.
ZK

You need to get a cheap jumpsuit from pennys or something, cause sweatpants doesnt look to good.

Those are actually black jeans. They will look better when I can add the leg armor and tuck in the shirt.

Originally Posted by Zeever Fett

where is the Conan O'brian dog when you need him


"All I see is.....Nerd standing in closet in his PJs"

Yes, Yes, I'm right here. Triumph has arrived.

I too had problems with the knees. Are you using trash cans for your armor? Does anyone know how to approach doing the knees?

No, I'm using *sigh* linoleum remnants. I just cut a strip that would wrap half-around my knee and bent it at two spots. It shouldn't look too bad when I wear it. I'll make a more permanent set of armor later this summer.

Good start but I will give you this advice, use the search function to get a basic idea of how some parts where made. Theres one of two choices, spend alot of money making props yourself, or spend alot of money buying them.

A mandalorian is one of the hardest costumes to create, it can be done on a budget if you take your time and realy focus on each piece one at a time.

The level of detail depends on comitment and desire, plus alot of time and money.

Well, I was just ruching though this one, I'll take my time and make a more permanent one later. How bad is it for a temporary set?
I did no intend this to be 501st quality, I knew that linoleum would never get in. But, to some of the people around here, this stuff is the best they've ever seen. I will take my time on the next set.

Don't forget battle damage. Clean Mando? :puke I just got done putting giant scratches and shattergun blasts in my armor.

Makan, my advice for T-can knees is to cut them out of a long flat peice of TCP. After that, cut out the little peice that reinforces the inside, (shaped like an F sorta), and then glue them together. After the guing is done, shape them

After your done with that, you can use a bit of wood and screw it or glue it onto the outside of the kneepads and attack spark plugs or w/e for knee darts.

Zurath. What you should do first of all is shape that bucket! it looks okay as is, however I think you can find some nice bucket shapping tutorials in the fett helmet section. You also may want to visit tk409.com and read how to put a good visor into that helmet. You've put a lot of work into this, and I'de hate to see you give up now.

Originally Posted by MandoMan

Don't forget battle damage. Clean Mando? :puke I just got done putting giant scratches and shattergun blasts in my armor.

Well, I was going to work into my origin story that he kept it clean.
Nachturnus, my bucket is kinda flat. It holds a pretty good shape to my head, tho. I'll take care of all of the warping and size problems when I make the second edition of it.

Generally you have a good shape, helmet needs major revisions, such as the visor. You need some more armour, cod, knees, shoulders; try something knew like arm plates since you are making a custom. I like those gloves though, they somewhat look like the Fett gloves.

You may want to shell out about $35 for a Dickies jumpsuit, and if you can sew, buy some material for a vest, I have the plans if you'd like them, I didn't make them though. There are plenty of Tutorials on TDH for making your own items.

I hope not to offend you, but I somewhat feel somewhat insulted that you want a canon costume for $20 a month, sure that's possible, but it would take yeeeeeears (not that it doesn't for those who spend tons of money into these costumes).

When I started my Fett the first think I figured out was that this was not going to be cheap. I got lucky by finding a fully painted, newly visored DP 95 for $51 shipped on ebay, it has a beautiful shape and size, I love it; I could never part with it. My armour, jet pack, vest, gauntlets, etc were all home made. I know you've seen photos of my costume, and the only thing things I bought for that costume were the Jumpsuit, helmet, and Ruffkin gauntlets. My gauntlets were home made, I made them out of cups and trashcanned some pieces on with some ruffkin resin parts; they would have been good for a custom, but I wasn't sasfied. I then decided to replace my guantlets with Ruffkintoy's ESB set, which were $110 shipped.

This costume can be done cheaply, but... For $20 a month for a jet pack you're looking at 15 months of waiting for a $300 pack, that's over a year.

Just how old are you? If you are under 18, then I suggest you take your time in building a costume, remember, if you are under 18 you can not join the legion. You're in the Illinois area, so perhaps you should go to www.501st.com and find your nearest GML, and talk to him about joining the legion.

I also see that you would like a Red Royal Guard helmet. I would recommend that you take that on first, it would be a much cheaper/easier costume than a Mandalorian, one of those helmets won't be cheap either, perhaps $100.

Perhaps you could attempt to get a job, or do you have a birthday near by? Christmas isn't for another 8 months. I could understand if you're in a poor situation, but here at TDH we supply what we can at prices we see fit. We post photos of templates for you to build your very own pieces, but we can not just hand out a complete costume for you at a price that would be much less than its original value.

I understand that money doesn't grow on trees, but perhaps if money is a problem, perhaps this hobby isn't for you?

I know that you are dedicated to this site, and I hope that you get a nice Mandalorian costume going! I've always loved the Mandalorians, and I hope to see yours become one of the better ones, but you have to pace yourself. You may know how to swim, but the channel is 26 miles wide.

Zurath save your money for a fiberglass helmet . A lot of things can be overlooked if you have a realy great helmet. Otherwise you have a really great start and you just need to keep refining it as you go along. remember you may need to resize armor plates for your body typ.

Just how old are you? If you are under 18, then I suggest you take your time in building a costume, remember, if you are under 18 you can not join the legion. You're in the Illinois area, so perhaps you should go to www.501st.com and find your nearest GML, and talk to him about joining the legion.

Hes a member at TIA, so he's good. I had a BAD experience with the MidWest Garrison, mabey you can try, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Originally Posted by jodo

Hes a member at TIA, so he's good. I had a BAD experience with the MidWest Garrison, mabey you can try, but don't say I didn't warn you.

He could try GMLs of other garrisons, the one here in Neon City is extremely helpful! I don't think I could have been any more lucky to have him as my GML. Fly over to www.501st.com and e-mail him.

He just built a Fett himself, so he should be able to help you out greatly!

Originally Posted by jodo

Hes a member at TIA, so he's good. I had a BAD experience with the MidWest Garrison, mabey you can try, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Oh, I've tried the MWG, and I made a couple of friends there, but that's it. I've gotten tons of help from TIA, TDH, MWG, and forcepike.com. I'm glad to have found you guys to help me out.

He could try GMLs of other garrisons, the one here in Neon City is extremely helpful! I don't think I could have been any more lucky to have him as my GML. Fly over to www.501st.com and e-mail him.

He just built a Fett himself, so he should be able to help you out greatly!

I'll check it out, thanks.

hey Nachturnus, you seem to know abit about this, on the knees, how would u suggest bending them. This is my firts time making a armored costume, and i know very little about any of this.

Well, I personally use a heatgun, but thats because we recently stripped the paint off of my house, and they are relatively expensive. If you dont want to invest in a heatgun, you can use a mapgas or similar blowtorch to heat the plastic, however you need to be careful because these blowtorches can melt the plastic through if your not careful.

woah! blowtorch? lol wait a second, just leave it in a hot car for a few hours, its bendable np.

You can buy a heatgun at a Home Depot for like $25.

Or just use a hair dryer set on hot...just have to hold over the plastic longer.

Sintra can also be bent with boiling water.

Just tested the hairdryer on my backplate; it took about half an hour, and it still needs refining, but it does work

Well, I suggest making backplates out of several peices actually, using epoxy or something similar to glue them together, and then sanding it smoothe, that way you get the nice crisp lines. I'm planning on upgrading my 1st gen backplate before animazement this year, which is when my Gen2 armor will be done.

If your a real cheapass (me) you can actually build gauntlets with a little TCP, some velcro (hinges = better), lots of 2x4 ,and a little elastic. Thats actually how most of the people who produce vacu-formed gauntlets make their models in the first place. Not only will you get spiffy gauntlets that are real easy to modify and re-modify, but you get to buff up a little from moving around an extra .5-2 lbs on your arm! :P Only costs about 20$ too (minus all the woodworking ****)

I'm actually doing a custom gaunt design that requires me to make them out of 2x6 actually, and it will essentially look nothing like boba's gauntlets, but hey, alls fair in love and mandos.

Hmm, I might try your gaunt idea, but I'm currently making a set of custom gauntlets/armor from a pipe. It's not that bad. I tried making a cardboard outer frame, but it looks terrible. I'm also trying to use some leftover pieces and make a scissor-blade thing on my left arm.

Originally Posted by Nachturnus

Well, I suggest making backplates out of several peices actually, using epoxy or something similar to glue them together, and then sanding it smoothe, that way you get the nice crisp lines.

I have no idea where I would cut the pieces; Im not terribly advanced in terms of making armor

Edit: whoop, double-post

well, my templates for the backplate have the lines for curvature drawn on them, and you can just cut away the parts that are flat, which I actually intend to do on version 3 of my mando for next year.

I like your thought of making guantlets different then boba's and jango's not all mandalorian armor is the same and there is bound to have different armor. In the insider with the article on the mandos, the guy in the father son picture had different guantlets. And in the newest insider, there is a guy with different chest and stomach armor.


Does anyone think that with the amount of new mandos popping up that they will become 501st approved?

Let's hope and pray, my friend. It'd save me the trouble of making my tusken or RG

Well, I think it's great to have a few "zero-budget Fetts" on the board. By the end of the year, I'll probably have a couple thousand bucks invested in my costume. If I took the time to make more parts myself, and made a few compromises, I'd probably end up spending far less.

It doesn't really matter if your armor is made of linoleum, cardboard, trash cans, etc. if you're happy with the result, and if you spend time on the small details, like weathering.

Zurath, you could get a lot of mileage out of that armor if you weathered it a little. Maybe pick a secondary paint color to show through the scratches, and make some convincing battle damage. Here's a quick and dirty 3D render of a chest plate with your color scheme:

WORD!

Originally Posted by Count Dookie

Well, I think it's great to have a few "zero-budget Fetts" on the board. By the end of the year, I'll probably have a couple thousand bucks invested in my costume. If I took the time to make more parts myself, and made a few compromises, I'd probably end up spending far less.

It doesn't really matter if your armor is made of linoleum, cardboard, trash cans, etc. if you're happy with the result, and if you spend time on the small details, like weathering.

Zurath, you could get a lot of mileage out of that armor if you weathered it a little. Maybe pick a secondary paint color to show through the scratches, and make some convincing battle damage. Here's a quick and dirty 3D render of a chest plate with your color scheme:

Sweet!! But I"m putting the emblem on each my shoulder bells.

Looking much better than the previous pictures.

Not bad looking for such a low budget custom mando.

My advice would be to lose the cape and fanny pack and raise up your shoulder bells. I think if you do those 3 things it will help you to look more menacing. Also, try to remember when you put on your costume you're no longer a teenage kid you are a Mandolorian! Puff out your chest and shoulders and give us more of a "tough guy" pose. Give it a shot and let's see more pics.

Well good job on a working temp siut so far. If you really dont want to use the linolium armor pieces, you can always do what I did, and make it out of a trash can. I was skeptical at first, but I went out to home depot, and bought a 32 gallon RubberMade Brute bucket. Works great for the armor pieces. The pieces are light, flexible (not too flexible) and just good. I mean Im using it to go play paintball, so I can assure you its a good material for a set of armor. Also, you mentioned that you put a SW:BH RF screen on yours, I woulf liike to see a picture of that. Its appears you have beat me to it then...

-tubachris

but I finally realize how blasted hot these things get.

Hehe, try wearing a Vader suit for about 4 hours...

I think you should get rid of the ammo pouch thingy and get a smaller one.

looks pretty nice.

Originally Posted by Christo Fett

My advice would be to lose the cape and fanny pack and raise up your shoulder bells. I think if you do those 3 things it will help you to look more menacing. Also, try to remember when you put on your costume you're no longer a teenage kid you are a Mandolorian! Puff out your chest and shoulders and give us more of a "tough guy" pose. Give it a shot and let's see more pics.

I added the cape because I have no backplate. The fanny-pack will be replaced as soon as I can find a decent replacement. As for the bells, I'll work on that in the next set.

Originally Posted by tubachris85x

Also, you mentioned that you put a SW:BH RF screen on yours, I woulf liike to see a picture of that.

Say no more, I will explain it all to you: I "borrowed" the image from a previous topic and took out the stuff I didn't want. I then shrank it down to a ver small size, cut a trimmed to fit the RF screen.

I'll be sure to try to improve it over the course of the summer, wish me luck. ZK

Now you need to replace the T-Visor!

how do the mandos in states like AZ and TX take the heat wile in costume. Im suprized they dont pass out.

Originally Posted by Andle Diranos

Hehe, try wearing a Vader suit for about 4 hours...

I got u beat, how about a predator costume out of furniture foam for 8 hours, longest thou was my trooper for 16 hours.

Originally Posted by takevin

I got u beat, how about a predator costume out of furniture foam for 8 hours, longest thou was my trooper for 16 hours.

16 hours without taking it off?! wow... i can barely do an hour in my royal guard without taking it off for a few minutes. that can't be healthy..



as for your costume, zurath, i'd suggest at least working on the way your cape attaches. the tied strings look way too much like an off-the-shelf halloween costume. try making some sort of plastic or metal connector, or connecting directly to the shoulders of your armor. i like the full cape, it just needs tweaking.

Originally Posted by Dak Jerek

16 hours without taking it off?! wow... i can barely do an hour in my royal guard without taking it off for a few minutes. that can't be healthy..



as for your costume, zurath, i'd suggest at least working on the way your cape attaches. the tied strings look way too much like an off-the-shelf halloween costume. try making some sort of plastic or metal connector, or connecting directly to the shoulders of your armor. i like the full cape, it just needs tweaking.

I agree, also I suggest ditching the saber. Remember, we mandos dislike jedi, yet respect them for being tough opponents. Even tho, we totally are cooler than them

Well, I pictured this guy being more of an apprentice to a Sith, which would mean have some slight force powers and saber skills.

I might retool the suit to give it black Westar 33's, a holster set similar to Jango, ditch the saber, but first thing to do is replace my f-ing visor.

For hot try a Tusken without fans.

I melted the glue holding the wrappings together with my body heat

16 HOURS? I lasted a mere 7 in my gunner (the fans had given out hours before that)



Zurath Kodul, any new pictures?

Originally Posted by Zurath Kodul

Well, I pictured this guy being more of an apprentice to a Sith, which would mean have some slight force powers and saber skills.

I might retool the suit to give it black Westar 33's, a holster set similar to Jango, ditch the saber, but first thing to do is replace my f-ing visor.

mando's hate force users..ditch the sith idea, and replace the helmet in general

No new pics yet, I'm trying to get on track with the upgrades. The most I've done is reshape the helmet with a coat hanger. The backplate I made held the shape very good, but I measured wrong and it sits too low on me now. I will probably get the sintra this summer hopefully, if not, I'll improvise.

The sith idea is gone, I'll probably swap the saber with another bladed weapon like a regular sword, glaive, or similar weapon.

On a side note from my armor, I've taken an interest in a weapon from a PS2 videogame I've been playing and I'm wondering how to replicate it.
I don't have an image of it, but it's from "Soul Calibur 3," called "The Bonebreaker Sword."
If anyone can find an image of it and explain to me the best way to make one, thanks.

u get e a pic, i bet i can help. i enjoy swords so i know generaly how to make them.... i just need me a pic

Ok, the best I could do would be to snap a pic of the TV screeen when the blade's being shown, as I don't know how to take data from a PS2 disc.

Originally Posted by Zurath Kodul

Ok, the best I could do would be to snap a pic of the TV screeen when the blade's being shown, as I don't know how to take data from a PS2 disc.

google the weapon

It doesn't look too bad considering the budget you're having to deal with. The linoleum was a new one on me-I'd never heard of anyone using it before. I'd also say either lose the cape or revamp it a bit. That's just a personal thing, I never did like Boba's cape/tent much. I think I'll be going in the direction of a kama instead. Definitely get a new visor, you can pick one up fairly cheap on Ebay- $10 I think + shipping. I've found that you can pick up alot of folks old equipment after they upgrade here or at the other related sites. I've picked up several pieces of armor for great prices from folks I've met here-keep an eye on the Cargo Hold...Another bit of wisdom I wish I'd have realized earlier is don't settle for a Rubies helmet when you could have saved another month or two and gotten a nice Sgt Fang resin helmet. I've bought several items that really weren't up to par and had to upgrade, spending much more than I would have if I'd have been patient and saved to buy the quality item...Great effort, keep it up and you'll have a nice kit put together!

There is a Mando Force User in Republic Commando Triple Zero

And they hint at a continuation of Clan Skirata in the new Bloodlines book