General Custom EVA Boba Fett Build

JacenCreel

New Hunter
Hello everyone I'm trying to do a Custom Modern Mandalorian costume from scratch. Im looking to make the helmet and armor pieces out of EVA but haven't been successful. Also looking to maybe put in an amp in the helmet. The Attached Photos are some possible looks I'm going for (Made more personalized of course) But if anyone could help me find some ways to possible get the supplies and look i'm going for. I'm working on a under $300 budget right now but once i get some more money more work will be put into it but any advice or help will be appreciated.
thanks

~Jacen Creel

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I don't know how Fett costumers on here feel about EVA, but ask anyone who does custom Mandos over on the Mercs forum about it, and you will meet with... um... opposition. Vehement opposition. Simply put, every EVA costume I've ever seen, however well executed, looks like EVA foam. The only costume this works for is Mass Effect, as that's what the armor in the game looks like anyway. And that, in politer or less-so terms, is how a lot of others feel about it. So that's why you aren't finding much in the way of resources for doing EVA Mando armor. *heh*

--Jonah
 
All the costumes you've posted were built with Sintra or a similar material. EVA foam is not an acceptable building material within the Mercs (if joining is your goal). We recommend sintra as it's easy to cut and shape and looks good. Some people also use flattened PVC pipe, ABS, etc.
 
I have seen some iron man costumes a while back made of foam. I think to make it somewhat convincing they had to seal the foam with something to make it look like fibreglass. Can't recall the product but I think it was fairly easy to apply. For Fett, sintra is a much better solution.
 
Yeah thats what i was shooting for because you can seal it and the outer shell becomes a plastic and looks good from what i've seen Thanks Death Proof. Thanks Refestus I'll go look for Sintra and any suggestions of where to get it?? and Thanks Peregrinus I'll keep that in mind.
 
Google plastic suppliers in your area. Unless you live in a town with a population of ten, there should be at least one, if not half a dozen. If you can't search it on their web site, you can call and ask. Sintra is a brand name that's come to be a common term for foamed PVC sheet. Like how Sheetrock has come to mean any drywall, not just the stuff sold as that brand name.

Most people work with 3mm (1/8"). Some use 6mm, but that looks too chunky, usually, and is more grumpy about being asked to bend. I tend to use 1mm for my armor stuff, even though it's trickier to work (narrower window between "not hot enough to form" and "melting, curling mess" -- I've got a few failures in the wastebasket, I'm not ashamed to admit). Sintra only likes to take simple curves. To do compound curves, you may want to look at the same sorts of vents and darts you'd put into EVA. I do a laminar approach with my armor, either with additional strips of 1mm sintra at the edges to hold them in a specific shape, or some 1/8" sculpting armature wire glued in place and blended in. Gives the piece depth without making it a solid chunk. For example, my Jango boot armor, in progress:

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And I do use 3mm, too -- mainly for pieces that will stay flat or have only a simple curve.

Depending on the plastic supplier you find (also poke local sign shops to see if they use it, and if they have any they'd be willing to sell you -- or even large scraps that'd otherwise get thrown away), you may be able to get a quarter- or half-sheet, or they may only sell by the full 4'x8' sheet. Even then, that's under $50 for the 3mm from my supplier, and far less than that for the 1mm.

A last thought... Part of the reason EVA looks fake to me for armor like this is the thickness. My armor is mostly 16-gauge stainless steel (with the plastic stuff filling in until I get around to crafting or sourcing those components out of metal). Even with the rolled edges, there are still subtle cues to show the eye that it's not an eighth-inch thick all through. If one was toting around metal armor that thick, it'd weigh a lot. Our brains are smarter than we think. We know that, even if not consciously, so when we see armor that looks like that, it strikes us as "wrong" in some way. Thick plates don't make someone look like a tank, they make them look like they're wearing fake armor. It might be brilliantly crafted, highly competent fake armor, but... ;) It works for Mass Effect because that armor is supposed to be some sort of lightweight composite, and never was meant to look like metal or ceramic plates. Then, at the other extreme, there are the space marines from Warhammer 40K. Thicker plates work for power armor, but they still have to be done right to not look like EVA.

--Jonah

[ETA: As for the amp in-helmet, that depends largely on your skill with electronics. Many people go with a headset with the wire fed down inside the neckseal to an amp/speaker in one of the pouches. The limited space inside the bucket makes a self-contained unit something that involves more work.]
 
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As a new builder I will also throw in my success with PVC foam board. I went to my local custom sign shop and asked for a half sheet of 1/8" Sintra and from that I built a jetpack, a set of knee armour and a set of gauntlets.

The ease of which Sintra can be formed with a little heat and then sanded down to smooth out the rough shapes is fantastic. Just pick up a cheap heat gun and get to work, it will come together sooner than you think.
 
Thank you Peregrinus, T90, and Fettistics! this info has helped alot thank you for pointing me in the right direction!! I'll post photos once i get the materials and everything started. once again thank you!
~ Jacen
 
check with companies that make signs. I have a buddy who works for one and I can get it from him anywhere from 3mm-6mm in full sheets and variety of colors. you can also use plastic Rubbermaid trashcans. they work pretty well with some work.
 
In my experience I'd stay away from trash can plastics... They do not take spray paint very well at all in fact one of My merc buds in Jersey had trash can armor and all the paint ever did was chip off.
 
yeah I can see that. I was trying to provide that as an option over EVA. not great, but better than EVA. honestly, Sintra is the way to go if you're on a budget. but holding out and saving up for better casts out of HPS or ABS is really the way to go. but that's just my 2 cents
 
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