Resculpting my Fett armor

Alright [sigh] backplate round 2...Here we go.
I really wasn't that happy with my freshman attempt at sculpting the backplate so I decided to give it another go. I won't get into the details of how I sculpted it so I'll just start off with the raw pull and go from there.




I'm really pleased with this new sculpt, however, the shoulders needed to be formed just a bit in order to fit better ..no biggie though

Before I did that, I decided to finish trim the edges and cut out the JP slots and then sand it for priming



60 grit sandpaper for the edges to smooth them out...it needs it as these are pulled out of 1/8" inch so they're pretty tough



After that I hit the surface with some 180 to prep it for primer



Next I cut out the JP slots with the cutting wheel and then drilling holes in the corners...then finished it up with the file

After that I was ready to form the shoulders. Threw it in the clamp and hit it with the heat gun


One side done...still needed to knock out the other one



Test fit...looked pretty good.

After that I threw it on the mannequin with the flak vest and lined it up

These had to be trimmed to line up better ...I didn't take any after shots till after I painted it, but here's what it looked like before. This will get corrected later

Once I got it fitted the way I wanted it, I was ready for paint. First thing, hit it with the compressor and get all the dust off as well as a quick wipe down.

These are the two primers I like to use. The one on the left works really well, but it's nasty when it's in the air. Definitely gotta use a respirator with it. For this build, however, I'll be using the cheaper stuff on the right. It also works very well.

Here it is all primed up, but it obviously needs to be sanded again


I hit that with some 320 to get it nice and smooth and to help prevent any orange peel down the road.


Nice and smooth

Dry wipe it down and air it off again and hit it with some metallic aluminum



I didn't need to sand it after this layer so I just hit it with some matte sealer to dull it down and seal in the silver. There are two different types of sealer I used on this, Rusto matte clear and Testors dull coate. Both worked very well, but the testor's is much more expensive.

After that I did my pencil markings for the paint chipping and then went to town with the masking fluid


I like to use toothpicks for application of this stuff. They're a dime a thousand and the small tips allow for great detail work

Then it was time for some Bauhaus Gold


hit it with 320 again, wipe it down, air it off and hit with some matte sealer. Trace your yellow paint chip markings, and mask them all off just like before






After that it was time to start the green process. I first hit it with a base coat of some leftover Tamiya DK green AS-21



Looks pretty ****** doesn't it?? Fear not true believer for this is only the beginning..read on
Since I decided I was going to be airbrushing with the testors model master medium green (34102) I was going to need a base coat of green so I wouldn't have so much surface area to cover. I used the stuff in the bottle because it came out a much more accurate green than the medium green of the same brand in the can (I don't know why, don't ask me lol). So, mixing it with some thinner, I was able to get the proper consistency for the airbrush and covered the rest of the back with this little bottle.



Afte that I hit it lightly with some 600, just enough to smooth out any possible bumps. After that wipe it down and air it off again

This part was crucial to get just that right shade of green. The medium green (IMO) was just too olivey for my taste but had ALMOST the right color. I decided to try this color of Tamiya's AS-17 green and lightly mist it over the medium green and... voila!


Next up I decided to shift gears real quick and install the bolts for the collar studs


And a quick overall look of the green

Now that the painting was all done, it was time for the tedious task of removing all the masking fluid. When doing a two part masking process, I discovered it was a lot easier to work from the outside in when removing the masking fluid. I first removed the yellow parts and then the silver. I used a sharp exacto but I imagine a pair of tweezers would work very well too





At this point I realized that I forgot to add the dent on the upper right shoulder blade...but ahhh screw it, too late now lol. I did do some research and actually found a picture of it without a dent though (or at least it looks that way to me in the picture). I just looked for it to justify my screwup



The last part of this process was the weathering. There are several different methods with which to approach this and I'll only be touching on a few more relevant ones for that look which I'm trying to achieve. There are also other methods I didn't employ involving dirty/black washes, dry brushing, etc. which are also very effective and make for a great weathered look. Obviously I can't cover them all and I'm sure there are tons out there that I don't even know about or ones that you yourself have discovered. However, there are 2 major rules that you need to bear in mind when weathering:
1.) Weathering is RANDOM
2.) Yes, it is possible to overdo it...keep it subtle. Less is sometimes more when it comes to weathering.
Keeping that in mind, let's move on

The first thing I started out with was scratching. There's a ton of different ways to do it. Here's what I used:
Slicing motion

Scraping motion


Scouring pad

Sandpaper...different grits




After I was satisfied with all that, I got out my pastels and scraped me up some powders


Before going to town with those, I made some marks with the sticks themselves




You can utilize different methods of smearing the pastels. Everything from paper towels and tissues to just using your finger

I also used a colored pencil for a few areas


Next up was the pastel powder process. I just used a simple brush for application




Also, don't be afraid to mix your colors or have your weathering bleed into one another. More of that makes more randomness which translates into more believability as real weathering

After that, I misted the entire back plate very lightly with el cheapo black spray paint from Wmart

Up next was some good old fashioned one on one with the airbrush


Slapping/tapping the airbrush lever will give this splatter effect, which is what I was after

Man, you are so fast that is hard to follow your thread. Your overall job is amazing, easy to understand, easy to apply... by eye. Keep it up like this!

Respect!

Thanks again buddy!
Fast, though? I don't know about that lol. I've been in the process of sculpting, assembling and painting since April of 2010..so almost a year now. It probably just seems fast because of the way I'm posting it all. I usually finish the project (or get really far ahead) and then go back and post pics and progress later. Thanks again for the kind words
Speaking of progress, here's the last little bit for this portion of the report
After all the weathering and airbrushing is done, the very last thing I did was cover the backplate with another coat of Testor's Dullcote. This serves two purposes: To get rid of any gloss or sheen and to seal in the pastel weathering so it won't rub off when being handled or worn.

Remember the collar stud bolts? Well, I wasn't able to purchase any metal collar studs (the member here was sold out) and I really didn't feel like waiting, so I made them from scratch with plastic bonder, styrene, and drawer handle ends that I chopped up for the female bolt ends. Take a look


After I shot them with some silver, I screwed them onto the bolts that I attached to the backplate. I also corrected the collar/backplate lineup issue. It was basically just a matter of cutting off the excess material. But I sculpted it with that in mind in order to have extra to accommodate a wider variety of body types

On another note (in between doing this and filling orders) I decided to take another crack at the chest armor with more accurate and ergonomic curves. My question to you all is, would there be any interest in me doing a run of these? Take a look and let me know what you all think. Based on the WOF large size templates with some mods by me to make it a little more accurate. ROTJ style pulled in .093 black boltaron (boltaron is another brand version of kydex...very tough and durable. Nice and smooth plastic too) I'm thinking $40 a set shipped. Here's pics:









I'm also considering making the backplate available in a few weeks after I do some prep work to the mold. Pulled out of 1/8" inch ABS black plastic. I'm thinking $80 shipped is a fair price. What say ye?

That backplate looks good.

Thanks buddy!

Out standing work red

Thank you jinto! :cheers

wow great job so far. love the paint mask. real cool stuff

Thanks Ken Very easy stuff to work with and peels beautifully!

I've decided to make the chest plates available here: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f31/rotj-chest-armor-ongoing-run-41470/
AND I've decided to make the backplates available..go here: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f31/ioa-backplates-version-2-now-available-41515/

I've also resculpted the cod piece to make it more accurate and will likely be making these available later in the week after finishing getting the mold prepped, take a look and let me know what you all think:







Painted in silver to show detail only

So I finally finished up my version 2 collar to finish out the set. Take a look:









Here's a pic of the new Version 2 full set with some of the old parts like gaunts and knees:

I've decided to make these sets available. Check out the thread here:
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f31/ioa-rotj-fett-armor-kits-version-2-now-available-41814/

Very nice work!

I had read the thread before and I was going to ask if you were planning on making the gauntlets available as well and now I see you are offering them up, nice.

Thanks Natrix! Yes, I've actually had these available for quite a while now but just recently made them available here on TDH. I am looking into getting some thicker tougher plastic to pull these gaunts in, but it's going to be a few months before I can make that happen...but, still moving forward :cheers

Awesome thread!

Man, I just did a quick scroll through this thread and I'm blown away by your skills! Great work man!