Boushh Budget Boushh {WIP}

DeathProof

Active Hunter
So funny story...

My partner, who is not exactly the Star Wars geek that I am (she's still amazed that I can beat Star Wars Trivial Pursuit in one round), sees me building this Fett and wants to partake in the madness. We're both big halloween/costume/theatre nuts so why not. We tossed around the idea of an Aurra Sing since she's pretty bad ***, but my partner didn't feel overly comfortable with the one piece suit. We looked into Boushh - who is just as bad ***, but everywhere we looked costumes were just under a regular Fett's price tag. Seeing that she isn't into the SW scene as much, we vouched to set a budget of about $500. I understand budget and Star Wars costume doesn't really go together, but hopefully with some time and creativity (and a lot of help from members) we can make this work.

Here is what I have so far (all prices in Canadian)

Helmet mold from WarrenHouck: $97
Smooth-Cast 300 and supplies: $144
Bandolier strap, buckle and sliders: $11
Gloves: $8
Tank PVC and wood dowels for Bandolier: $13
Paints: $22
Glues, Bondo, Quick Plastic, More sandpaper: $40
Legos/Greeblies: $20
Fettronics Lights: $50 (after shipping and exchange)
Visor material: $14
Voice Synth App: $10
Audio Splitter: $28
Aker Amp: $32


Total so far: $489 (as of May 24th - Ok....so I'm going over. Wah wah. It was worth a shot!)


The remainder will be used for the soft parts which will be made by a local Garrison member, FANGS. She made a stellar Boushh, so I know this will look awesome.

If we need to go over $500, I am willing to chip in more to make it look good, but the idea is to keep this ...'reasonable?' ...lol. Just wait until I get all "lets add lights and sounds"...oh yeah...

My partner is looking for some sandy boots that she may be able to use OUTSIDE of the costume. If this is the case, she's going to purchase these herself (which helps with my budget
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Also, I already have a pretty good leather belt (surprisingly close)....just need to fandangle a buckle.

Also have a thermal detonator that she can use from my Fett costume.

I've already worked on the tanks and bandolier. The bandolier boxes I am still looking for in the event that I am not happy with what I put together. If anyone knows of a cheap solution to the 3 bandolier boxes and center chest armor box, I'm all ears.


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Had some fun finding out how to cap the tanks....but after a long stroll through the Dollar Store...


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Bonus: they just so happened to be the right size for the larger tank, so it just took a wee bit more trimming for the smaller tank:

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Cut out the shapes for the tank greeblies. Not my finest hour, for sure, but all I had was a hack saw:


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I also started working on the shoulder bandolier box today. So far, all makers who I've talked to are selling the bandolier boxes (3 bandolier + 1 center box) for about $80. A bit much. If I can find them secondhand or used, I will be all over it, but for the time being, I went to my local toy/hobby shop and spent $20 on Lego and G.I Joe parts. I think I found some things that might work. Not perfect, I know. But I'm surprised what you can find in these bins...

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I've cast the greeblies from the helmet mold and will be casting the actual helmet this Saturday at an armor party.

I started this thread over on the BHG...but figured I would share it here as well.

Cheers
Aaron
 
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Had some fun today painting the tanks!

(Just a head's up that the tanks aren't permanently attached yet - hence the slant). I also plan on trying to straighten the cuts tomorrow....hopefully.

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(this is a sink plug with some lego parts)

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Tomorrow I will cast the helmet, hopefully straighten the cuts, install the tank greeblies and call the tanks DONE! :)
 
Had a great time over the weekend at my very first armor party.


One of the members ordered some TK gear and unfortunately it didn't fit him properly...even with adding shims. I told my partner this ...cause she knows I want to make a TK....and ...well...let's just say it was a tactfully short conversation. 3 costumes at once may just be pushing it. ;)


Good news on the helmet front though.


Here are a few shots of the mold:


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Initially I wanted to just make one quick cast of this guy and get to painting. But the guy who hosted the party is an exhibit creator at our local museum and is amazing when it comes to casting his own stuff. So once I showed him the mold, immediately had ideas on making a few more for local members. Score!


So, the first issue we had to solve was the flexibility of the rubber. We threw around the idea of making a fiberglass shell, but it was much easier and cheaper to just make a cast using plaster of paris. We filled the mold with rice crispies to fill out all the edges and then went to town creating the plaster shell.



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We let this dry and will return to it later this week! This guy is also going to help me straighten my lines on my tanks, and look into creating the boxes for the bandolier. All in all, a pretty stellar day!
 
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So wait, you got a silicone mold with no master and no mother molds? How are you going to make that work? Won't the casts be wonky as hell?
 
The plaster shell is going to keep the silicone from flopping around. By using the smooth-case in sections of the helmet, it should be fine.
 
Quick Update!

First of all - huge kudos to my friend Colin - he's a Sandtrooper in our squad and is going to be putting together a Boushh for his wife. He's been a great help, and has all the tools/space we need to do this right!

So instead of casting to plastic right away, we wanted to see what we were getting. We used an expanding foam to fill the silicone mold. Good thing we did too. The plaster shell wasn't strong enough and created a bunch of bumps and dents within the helmet.

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Colin sanded down the foam and then we created a fibreglass jacket that slipped over itself. This gave the silicone mold a lot more stability.

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So today we started casting! It took me a while to get the right amount of smooth on....I started with small amounts and it was taking forever. But eventually, we got the whole helmet cast.

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There ended up being a few issues still in the same areas - a few bumps....but we managed to smooth it out with a heat gun and a little elbow grease. The only issue right now is that the back detailing where the lip is on the mold does not line up properly. Colin was mentioning to fix it with bondo...but we'll see.

I still have quite a lot of smooth on left, and should be able to cast another 2 or 3 lids. The ones I don't use I will sell as budget lids.

The armor and missing scope should be in the mail soon from Fangs, who will also be starting on the soft parts for us by the end of the month or so.

Had to do a quick test fit :)

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Hey guys!

Here's a quick video on the voice changer that I've been playing around with.



Supplies

1. Aker 1505 Amp (with supplied microphone, speaker and male to male cable)
2. iPhone 4s
3. Voice Synth App from the App Store
4. 4-pin to 3-Pin audio mic/headphone splitter

The audio sample in the video isn't the greatest - recorded on an iPad, plus my own voice kinda overpowered the speaker and I didn't want to get feedback.

Things to REMEMBER: You MUST connect both the speaker and microphone cables BEFORE you plug in the splitter to your phone. Otherwise the speaker works without the mic (for some odd reason). Also I have not found a way for this to work with the phone locked. I'm debating putting some type of protector over the phone to avoid buttons being pushed while in my pouch. Finally, ...if you receive a call while using this...well...maybe you should set your ringtone to the Imperial March or something :)

Other voice changers can be oodles of dollars. The splitter was $8, the app was $5. Not a bad deal.

IF you are interested in this.....GUESS WHAT....I can EXPORT the presets that I made and EMAIL them to you! You just need the Voice Synth app to install them!

Let me know what you think!
 
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Update!

The tanks are done!!

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Cast some of the greeblies from the helmet mold and glued everything together.

When the armor comes in, I will find a way to attach the tanks to the armor. They are fairly light, so it should not be an issue.

Slowly working on the helmet. Currently just cleaning it up. I have to fibreglass some of the interior to strengthen some weaker points, particularly the bottom of the helmet where Audrey will be putting her hands to pull the helmet on.

Going to Fan Expo in Vancouver this weekend! Going to get my iPhone headphone jack fixed, so hopefully that will help with my audio problems with my voice changer.
 
Update on the helmet:

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Really got to work on it this weekend. Finished all the structural issues - the back of the helmet was very thin, so I took some "Quick Stick Plastic" and moulded that in there. Worked like a charm. Used bondo to fix some more imperfections (and create others)...I swear...that stuff and I just don't go together.

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I started to attach the ear pieces. This was hilarious. Keep in mind this helmet is from a mold that I bought...I have no idea where these greeblies go...or if I even had them all. I don't think I did..but I did the best with what I had. It just seemed that from the reference pics I was using, something else was missing. Ah well, it looks good to me :) I know I'm still missing the four "allen key" style tubes - those will come for sure.

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The hot rod hood on top of the bucket needs to be cut to a curve so it will fit properly.

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Once that was all done, I primed it, and laid down a few coats of silver. Then, I sprayed the brown that I picked out, but as I was spraying, it was REALLY brown...and needed to be knocked down. I took the graphite from my tanks and while the brown was still wet, I misted the graphite. I think the blend looks pretty decent considering I did it on the fly. I will have to cut the shine with dullcote, but no biggie.

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Next will be the weathering....lots and lots of weathering. My favourite part :)
 
Update!!

Happy May the Fourth everyone! I spent my Sunday watching the OT and weathering up Audrey's helmet!

I'm still debating going about doing the massive scratch on the top part. I dunno what it was...nerves? I tried doing a few things, but it wasn't working out. From the reference pics, the helmet also has a bit more of a 'dusty grey' look to it, so I might do a mist of primer before I seal it. I also have to add the kill stripes on the side and back, plus the ever-popular 1138.

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I still have to attach the scope that is coming in from garrison member FANGS. Also have to build and attach the allen key tubes to the ears. These two will take time yet so....

Next will be attaching the micro suede!

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Update! A leather and weather weekend!

Probably one of the more frustrating parts of this helmet has been putting on the leather. I went with a cowhide. I originally had a micro suede, but it seemed to have the wrong texture. I went to a leather craftsman and he said that what it looks like was a vegetable tanned leather that got wet molded around the helmet. Considering the cost of this type of leather, I found a $15 scrap of cowhide that I am able to use for the whole helmet. The photos don't do the colour justice, as I find the leather to look more tan than 'yellow' as it is in the pictures.

Huge kudos to Audrey for taking charge on creating the patterns for the upper lip and lower jaw. We still have to work on the back of the head and the strap that goes between.

Other things to do:

1. Figure out my visor situation. That'll be fun :)
2. Install Fettronics lights
3. Paint Interior black
4. Install padding
5. Install scope when it arrives!

BOOM. Then done. Happy dance.


Another fun part for me was painting the damn 1138. For some reason, I could never get it straight. Took 3 times. Even then, I got out Audrey's "school stencils" because the correct ones I had weren't working....and I still had problems. *sigh....there comes a time when you just weather it enough so you can hide your shame. :)

I also dusted up the dome a bit more to make it more accurate; Added silver damage, and the kill stripes on both the back and the left side; and added the tube ear pieces (these were L shaped screws that I just dremeled off the threaded portion).


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Was looking through this a while back and just remembered to come back and check up on progress. Looks great! I would like to put together a Boushh someday in the future as well.
 
That's simply incredible. I wish I had anywhere close to that talent! Hope to acquire a Boussh helm(maybe outfit) that's somewhere close to this quality eventually.
 
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