My Zam Project Progress

JDFett

Well-Known Hunter
so ive been working on getting this project together for my wife...and it has turned into not only a huge investment in money but in time as well...the good thing is weve been doing stuff together and that has made it a good time...

I just wanted to share my progress with you all and keep you posted as I went along.

The first thing we tried to tackle was the ever elusive neoprene material for the under suit...we ended up finding a good alternative at a company called stretchhouse.com. the material is a spandez covered neoprene that is very thin and very close in color....

side view(natural sunlight from window no flash)
normal_zamfabric.jpg


compared to visual dictionary picture(with flash)
normal_zamfabric3.jpg


Again same shot as above but without flash
normal_zamfabric2.jpg


here you can see the "bunching" effect the material will have...
normal_material.jpg


after gettign that ordered(still sitting in the box waiting to figure out the pattern and trying to decide if we want to takle the sewing or have a seamtress do it:) ) we contacted the god of zam...moncal, and ordered some parts...we got his shins, heel and toe pieces as well as his chest armor...all still sitting waiting on work:)

normal_zam_chins.jpg

normal_chest_armor.jpg


I then decided to try my hand at sculpting other parts needed and this is my sculpt work. I beleive the only pieces I still need are the thumb and hand armor...all these pieces were sized on a 1/6th scale from the Visual dictionary picture. I went on the assumption that the zam in the book was the same height as my wife (5'6") and scaled accordingly so they would look right on her....

normal_greeblie.jpg

normal_greeblie1~0.jpg

normal_chest_greeblie2~0.jpg

normal_cape_seal.jpg

normal_hip_greeblie.jpg

normal_arm_greeblie.jpg

normal_ab_rocker_greeblie~0.jpg

normal_hoseclamp.jpg

pouch.jpg

normal_hipgreeblie.jpg

I plan on casting the molds for these any time now...just waiting for the stuff to come in...the plan is to cast them, then fine tune sand and smooth the first cast...then make a new mold of the cleaned version and cast a new set so i will have the originals as well as clean molds for future castings if needed.

We were also lucky to aquire one of cal's blaster kits and we finished that up here....

normal_finblaster.jpg


which now put us at just purchasing the newly offered helmet from cal and also put in the order for his much awaited gauntlets!

we also have our leather worker...(famous ashton of nyghtcraft and the 501st NEG) working on our leather...he is sending us the leather strips for the skirt pieces which Jamie(my wife) will be cutting into the pieces and lacing them together as well as our holster any day now...he will also be making the belt and the vest for us...

so anywhay thats our progress and ill post some updates as they happen:cheers
 
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Great work and great you're having a go yourself.

Fantastic find on the material :)

what did you use on your blaster. It looks very nice
 
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Sweet!! You're making some good progress. This costume certainly isn't an easy one. I'd rank it right up there among the most difficult! .... don't let that statement overwhelm you though ;) ... just plug away one piece at a time :)
 
so i finished my greeblies...molded and casted and im very happy!

normal_greeblielot.jpg


(if anyone is interested in a set...ive got a thread in the cargo hold as i have enough to pour about 6 more sets)

we also got our boots today...here is a mock up with Moncal's(the wizard of zam as i like to call him) shins and boot parts!...now to finish those up!

normal_zambootsours1.jpg

normal_zambootsours2.jpg
 
Lookin good!!! :)

Say.. what type of hose are you using? It looks pretty good and it appears to be more flexible than the stuff I have. Dallas found some stuff at one point that was pretty good. I think it was some sort of dive hose but I don't remember for sure.
 
actually beleive it or not it's from my wife's work...she works at a hospital and its from a respirator type hook up...funny that it's real hose for an oxygen supply..:lol: it does have good flex and is the right size but we were not sure if we liked the coil size...seems zam's is a bit more spaced out so we are still kind of looking...this hose we have may be good for the helmet back though;)
 
ya..very happy so far with the progress..but man is it a long haul doing this costume...ive got a vader, EP3 clone, maul and biker and it didnt take me as long as this one is...its more the funding and the extra scratch work thats really the tough part...not to mention im kind of a instant gratification kind of guy so this is a new road for me to travel...but its also very rewarding when you find the right thing that works for you and you can see stuff starting to come together...I can't wait to see my honey in this!(y)
 
Yeah... I hear you! This is definately one of the most challenging costumes out there! I've got a friend who's redone a Maul and a TK, made a Vader a Jack Sparrow and one other (I forget) in the time I've been plodding along on my Zam... then asks my why I'm not done yet? ... Erm... because it's HARD!!! :rolleyes I would've given up long ago if it weren't for ZIA, MonCal and DCB! (y) Thanks guys and gals! *grabs tissue*

I can't wait to get this done... and finally have something to show for all the work! :D
 
so after casting, my wife has begun the process of finishing the pieces..here is her first one completed....

normal_thighfin..jpg
 
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Nice! But mine appears to be a totally different color to yours - maybe its because i was looking at the referance CD, did you say you hadnt got one yet? Maybe hold off on panting until you get one? i love the metalic look of it tho, and i love the green blue color of the corrosion!

Im not really totaly happy with mine as i dont think ive matched the colors very well but i did my best with it, even then it looks a lot different. Lemme se if i can find a pic of the dagger somewhere from the exhibit posted here.

Heres a pic from one of Cals posts about his Greeb set.

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showthread.php?t=17860

And here is what Zia painted hers with, it seems there is a great variety of finished colors for each person! hehehe!!!

Paintdescr.jpg
 
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thanks for the info...she actually used the reference cd for hers and tried to simulate the corrosion patterns to the best she could tell in the pictures...went with a more metallic and darker color because most pictures flash out the true color. i think it looks great and think she is on the right track...
 
Yeah i agree with what youre saying, mine are matched to the flash picures so look quite bright so to blend them a bit im going to dirty them down a little. Its hard to know what to go with.

I painted my dagger with Games Workshop paints and acrylics from the craft store. Where you and Zia have used brown i have used dark orange stippled with a dry brush over a blue.

Mine are quite bright.

Another little thing i noticed im no sure if im correct but the safety on your little blaster i think is black not silver. Did you rember what silver paint you used on that tho as it looks really good
 
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