Praetor Ordo
Jr Hunter
Su cuy’gar, vode. Ner gai Praetor Ordo be aliit Seron. Ibic beskar'gam gai Dafuziwook. Ner beskar’gam skota’gai Fuzzy.
For those of you not versed in Mando’a, this armor is called Dafuziwook, or Fuzzy for short.
Leading up to the New Year, I decided to take a step back from all of my other projects and dedicate myself to one specific thing. My entire collection of half-planned costumes, all of the tidbits I have purchased and made here and there, all of my previous attempts at costuming, are going the way of the Bay of E. The money will be used to fund this project.
At first, I did not believe that I would be able to actually accomplish this project, so I decided to put it off. But, that is not the way of the Mandalorian. You step up to the big challenges, facing them and letting them know that YOU are the one in charge. It is with this confidence that I am embarking on this project.
First, allow me to say that this won’t be a fast build. If I get it done in six months, then it will be a miracle. As a matter of fact, I am shooting for a deadline of the New Year for everything this costume entails. The reason is the actual work I will have to put into it, not that it will really be difficult. To call it labor intensive is like calling Boba Fett easy to kill. Then again, this isn’t for just one costume, either. Well, kind of, but not quite. It’s more for a costume that will wear different costumes to make it different characters.
These different characters will be a Custom Mandalorian, custom Jedi, canon Bounty Hunter, and a fun little costume for my annual Clan/Base/Garrison Salvation Army Bell Ringing troop. These four costumes will give me formal costumes here in Mandalorian Mercs, 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, The Jedi Assembly, and The Dark Empire. However, I will be working on my Mando primary to the others.
I will be posting the full details of all my builds in these forums, but they will be split into the appropriate sections. This thread will be for discussion on the main suit and mando armor, the others will go in Star Wars Costumes as they are made.
This WIP log, in one form or another, is being cross-posted across the internet. Besides here, it will also eventually be found on The Replica Prop Forum, Rebel Legion, The Jedi Assembly, The Dark Empire, 501st Legion, Jedi Council Forums (TheForce.Net), the 501st Bounty Hunters Guild, and a couple of other forums. I am criticism driven, at least that’s what my publisher tells me, which is the reason I am cross-posting across so many forums. I have also been told that I have a bit of an ego with regards to showing my stuff off, but that isn’t true because of how totally humble I am. You don’t have to look elsewhere, as everything will be posted here and accessible from my signature bar.
With that said, let’s begin with the description. First, and this is a rather new concept for me, I have a general sketch of my character. It’s not complete as there are several details I have yet to decide on, but it is complete enough for you to get a decent idea of what I am going for. I’m also slowly updating things as I go along, so it would be rather counter-productive to stop what I’m doing and update the picture every time I have a new idea.
So, let’s end this WALL-O-TEXT™ with the picture and get to the description!
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UNDERSUIT/GLOVES/BOOTS (I.E. WOOKIEE)
First of all, I am planning more of a Wookiee Warrior build, rather than the thinner look of most Chewbacca costumes. For that I will be using underarmor and adding padding to the shoulders, pectorals, hips, and thighs. Not a great deal of padding, just enough to beef the suit out a little while still allowing me to not die of heat stroke during a troop.
The hair colors I am going for are a mixture of 10% off black, 20% auburn red, 30% light brown, 40% medium brown. I am trying to match the coloring of Dalborra (comic not cover art) with this suit. It will be latch hooked closer together with fewer strands to look more natural without being clumped. I will be asking a close friend (who is a stylist) to trim my Wookiee after I have finished making the undersuit. (Yes, I know that sounds perverted.)
The gloves will be a pair of Home Depot Gorilla Grip gloves with thick black-painted acrylic fingernails (sharpened to claws, but made dull for safety) attached. After that, I’ll be attaching a mesh ‘emo’ glove with latch hooked hair on the back of the hand and wrist.
The boots will be based around a pair of modified 12” stilts. They will have a slightly detailed sole made using EVA foam and a set of Wookiee toes on the front. After that, I’ll be attaching a mesh sheath over each and latch hooking Wookiee hair around the foot in the same manner as the gloves.
The main body will be made in a separate pants and shirt. The pants will be ankle length (stilt ankle, not mine) and the shirt will close up the back with magnetic snaps. The shirt will be crotch-length to the suit in the front and rear and wrist length in the sleeves. The trousers will be higher than normal trousers and have a pair of suspenders and a cinch at the waist.
Finally, I will have a thumb-activated mp3 player with a variety of Wookiee roars (ripped from KOTOR, SWTOR, and some of the Chewbacca sound boards—anyone who is able to help with the game rips, please PM me) with the speaker built into the top center of my chest pads. At the same time, I will have a speaker on my belt made up to look like a translation droid with a throat mic for ‘translating the roars.’ There will be a small grommet under the fur at the belt level for the cord to go through.
I almost forgot. With everything on, I will be a little tall. I stand 6’3” normally, will have about 6” added by the helmet to the top and 13” added by the stilts at the bottom. I think that will make me the tallest Mando Merc at 7’10” or thereabouts.
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VEST
The vest will be a simple over-the-head vest made of medium weight dark brown leather that will close up the sides with leather laces. The head hole will be large enough for me to fit my head through, but will be hidden by the hair of the helmet (see below). It will be made of 4” leather straps that are sewn together to create an overlapping tiled look from the shoulders down. The vest will extend 2” below the front abdominal armor and will not include a sleeve. The armor will be permanently attached through grommets in the vest.
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BELT
A pair of belts will drop from behind the vest in the front and back. The belts will be made of 4” wide dark brown leather straps. There will be a 1¼” strap over this in the same color that will hold a series of wide and narrow Wookiee boxes onto the belt. A rivet stud will secure the belt down between each box.
Both belts will connect to the waist belt under a pair of elongated hegagon-shaped buckles. Both buckles will be identical and feature a raised edge and center piece. The sides, raised edges, and center piece will be painted in a faux wood with the inset piece painted in the hammered metal look (see below). When I am accepted into the Special Operations Brigade, the Brigade insignia will be painted in the center of each buckle in yellow.
The far left and right sides will have leather sheathes hanging below the belt for my blades. Both sheathes will be hand made with the same color of leather and include a magnetic snap to ensure they are not drawn without my knowledge/permission.
At the 10:30 position will be a small leather holder on the belt itself (replacing the Wookiee boxes) to hold my voice amplifier/translation droid. Below it will be a hand-made leather belt pouch that will be similar in design to the Boba box pouches.
At the 1:30 position will be a leather holster for my pistol (again replacing the Wookiee boxes in that location). It will include a magnetic snap. Below it will be another box pouch.
On the back of the belt, at the 4:30 position will be a drop holster for my electrobinoculars.
Around each of the belt recesses that are not taken up by the straps for the pouches, sheathes, or holster, will be another small strap holding a D-ring below the belt. These D-rings will be used to hold my trophies. (see below)
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GIRTH BELT
Under the belt will be a dark yellow-dyed 21-strand mohair girth belt. It will attach in the rear with leather straps like a girth belt is supposed to be attached (sorry for insulting any Boba-purists, but that strap on his girth belt drives me insane whenever I see it). It will be permanently attached to the belt.
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LOINCLOTH
There will be a dark brown leather knee-length (my knees, not the costumes) loin cloth permanently attached under the girth belt. It will be made of 4” straps sewn together in the same fashion as the vest, with the center strap being on top. The loincloth will feature an elongated Mythosaur Skull down the center as well as a 1” border; both dyed yellow and sewn down. It will be heavily weathered, to include some burn marks, but not damaged or cut into/through.
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HELMET
This pepakura helmet was designed by Jakkrit Sri-in and unfolded by me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with pepakura, it is like origami but 20% cooler! It is a way to create 3D shapes out of paper by cutting, folding, and gluing the object together. The above helmet will take about 25 pages to construct (just for general information). After building it, I plan to harden and detail it.
Now, for the fun part: I will NOT be rounding the helmet; it will not be made to look smooth and round. Instead, it will keep its ‘chiseled’ look. This is integral to the character. The only thing I will be doing is smoothing the faces and slightly dulling the edges of the dome and base. Other modifications (before I strengthen the helmet) will include cutting out the visor (duh), the turn signals, and the three panels on either side of the dome. The turn signals and dome vents will be backed with black mesh. The visor itself will be a dark green welding mask.
The colors will be ash gray over aluminum and oak gold (not metallic). The ash gray will be painted onto the dome, the back, and the cheeks. The oak gold will be everything else, to include the sides of the pompadour on the dome. Here’s the kicker, the oak gold sections will have a wood grain appearance. The ash gray section will have a hammered metal appearance (the aluminum). The helmet will look like it is hand-made from metal and then covered with a decorative wood façade.
Canonically, Wookiees are said to be able to carve from a young age and Mandalorian hard woods were used to armor spacecraft. That is why I am going with more of the hand-made helmet look. It will still be smooth, just look like it is hand made. Additionally, Wookiees are said to make their own arms and armor, thus adding to the hand-made look of the armor.
The helmet will include one more painted detail. There will be a yellow strip over the helmet in line with the left fang beside the t-visor. It will look like it is hand-painted with a brush (because it will be) and will go over the entire helmet.
It will have normal weathering through the yellow paint stripe, but will also include a couple of details that look like they are ‘burned into the wood’ façade. The wood will be weathered with scorch marks and have small chunks taken out of it. The metal will be weathered with blaster burns and I might include a small dent somewhere. It will then be given my normal weathering spray.
The weathering spray is a mix on one cup blue window washer fluid, three drops black acrylic paint, two drops brown acrylic paint, and one drop tan acrylic paint. Shake it up and give the helmet a full light spray all around (holding it as if it were being worn). When it dries, do it again. For the helmet, I’d say three rounds of spray will be enough. After everything is dry, wipe the excess blue fluid off with a damp rag.
Around the base of the helmet will be a helmet skirt of the same mesh that I will use to make the Wookiee undersuit. It will be held in by a collapsible spring-edge which will magnetically secure around the inner lip of the helmet. The skirt itself will have small snaps to close it around my neck. It will have hair latch hooked into it to appear to be ‘my’ hair coming from under the helmet. This will look far better and more realistic than just gluing the hair around the edge of the helmet. It will be braided slightly but will not hang down past the upper chest armor.
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ARMOR
The pepakura armor was also designed by Jakkrit Sri-in and unfolded by me. The armor will be made using the same look as the helmet. The neck, ab, and all of the back will be made using the hammered metal/ash gray coloring. The clavicle plates, shoulder, and chest diamond will be made in the oak gold/faux wood. The two chest plates will be made with ash gray/metal as the main and oak gold/wood for the two raised parts over the pectorals.
The edge of the left pectoral plate will appear to have been blasted through to the metal of the armor underneath of it. It will also have two words etched into it in the approximate location of the Boba chest slots. They will be written in Mando’a. The top will say ‘DAFUZIWOOK’ and the bottom will say ‘PRAETOR ORDO’.
The chest armor will include a modified form of Foxx Stripes on the left and right chest plates hand painted in a faded hunter green. A hand-painted yellow stripe will go down the front and back of the entire set beside the cut for the chest diamond and over the top of the left clavicle armor.
After approval, I will be adding the symbol of Seron Clan on the right pectoral plate, the symbol of Western Regional Command on the right shoulder, and the Mando Mercs symbol on the left shoulder. They will be stencil painted on and lightly weathered to match the rest of the armor.
The shoulders and clavicle armor will be permanently attached to each other via a pair of leather straps at the sides to hang against the arm. The clavicle armor will secure over the break between the neck and back armor. There will be a burned gouge in the left shoulder plate as well as a similar mark in the right clavicle plate.
The left clavicle plate will have a cape attached to it in the rear. The cape will be similar to the Boba-cape (shelter half) but made of brown duck cloth and heavily weathered. By heavily weathered, I mean dragged behind a four-wheeler through a muddy Oregon forest filled with blackberry vines and then used to beat out a small fire multiple times until it is weathered enough for my liking, then washed. Oh, it will also have a Boba-style Mythosaur skull painted onto it in subdued yellow before the “weathering” process.
The other clavicle plates will have D-rings hanging from them. The right front will be used to ‘wolf clip’ the bowcaster. The left front will be reserved for anniversary trophies. (see below)
The armor will be weathered in a similar manner to the helmet, to include the scorch marks on the wood and a couple of dents in the metal. The etching will also be completely backwashed.
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GAUNTLETS
The gauntlets will be based around pepakura created by Vrogy and resized/unfolded by me. The item pictured above is the top portion of the gauntlet. It will be made in the same way as the rest of the armor. The rear (raised) part will include a built-up area below it to look like a power pack assembly for the gauntlet. There will be a small lip around the front piece that will look to be a continuation of the rear piece.
The rear portion, the sides, and the edge will be painted in the faux wood. The main part of the top and the portion under the raise will be in the hammered metal.
The underside of the gauntlet will be made of dark brown leather and lace shut, in a similar manner to the vest, on the underside of the arm. The leather will be layered in the same way to the vest and when it is laced shut, it will close totally around the arm. Rather than 4” leather, I will use 3½” leather to give the illusion of a little extra arm length (to keep the arms look proportional to the body).
On top of the right gauntlet will be a small toy crossbow along with a series of greeblies that are built up and painted gunmetal. It will also include LEDs and a couple of moving parts such as switches built into the body. This will be a weapon gauntlet.
The left gauntlet will have greeblies and such to appear as a communication gauntlet, to include a small radar dish and comlink keypad/speaker. It will include a small keychain digital picture viewer with comm related information on it and a small speaker and mp3 player with comm chatter that I plan to make.
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KNEES
The knee will be based around pepakura created by ForgedReclaimer and resized/unfolded by me. The knee will be made in the same manner as the rest of the armor. There will be a small raised section around the edge of the plate flush with the raised section at the bottom. The central part of the armor will be the hammered metal and the side/lower raised portion will be the faux wood. There will be a hand-painted yellow stripe down the center of the left knee plate.
The knee armor will wrap around the leg with a dark brown leather strap that is loosely fit around the outside of the leg. As with the other leather, it will tie closed on the outside of the leg.
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WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
My Mandalorian will have three weapons and a single piece of equipment. First will be a pair of belt-sheathed blades. The second will be a carried bowcaster. The third will be a holstered pistol. The piece of equipment will be a pair of macrobinoculars
The pair of blades will be a pair of ryyk kerarthorr. They will be dull, but I can actually pull them out if I want to for pictures and such. They will be made primarily of sintra with PVC pipe grips and painted metallic. The grips will be wrapped in leather.
The bowcaster will be custom built. I’ll be basing it around a nerf gun with a toy bow affixed to it. It will also include a couple of sights and additional greeblies to make it “Star Warsy” enough for an in-universe weapon (and indistinguishable as an actual nerf gun). It will be painted gunmetal and faux wood and weathered. It will also have a side-release buckle on it to connect to the right clavicle armor like a wolf clip. I will also use a leather wrap on it somehow.
The blaster will be a custom style UR-G8 pistol. I will be making it using sliced sintra plates, PVC pipes and other found items. It will be painted similarly to the picture above and weathered.
The macrobinoculars will be made custom from found items.
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TROPHIES
I will make a trophy for each event I wear this costume for. On the back of each trophy, I will hand write the name of the event and the date in Mando’a. They will be hung by leather laces from the D-rings on the belt. I will place a wood bead on each thong for each clan that also participates in the event (minimum of one for my clan).
The trophies will be fully built and detailed Mandalorian chest diamonds, complete with paint jobs and finishing. After fabrication, I will weather and damage each one based on the number of Mercs at the event (the more Mercs the greater the weathering and after a certain number, damage). I will then drill a hole through it (unless there is already a hole through it), without cleaning up or finishing the hole. Yes, my Mando hunts Mandalorians… far better quarry than even Jetti. I mean, someone has to watch the watchmen. Also, what do you think would happen if you try to get the drop on a Wookiee who is looking for a bounty? Short answer: Nothing good. Especially if you have Wookiee braids on your armor…
Every year, on the date of my costume being approved, I will add a special trophy to hang from the left front clavicle plate. This will consist of a fully built, painted, and weathered rangefinder in various styles.
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The other costumes I am planning for my Wookiee suit are just as impressive (though, the Merc is 20% cooler). A custom Wookiee Jedi based on the ROTS Wookiee Jedi concept art is the first. The second is the SWTOR: Threat of Peace Bounty Hunter, Dalborra (who is the only Wookiee that actually wears boots). Finally, for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing, I will be making a set of Life Day Robes (yes, I’m actually that insane).
So, what do you think? Comments, questions, concerns, criticisms?
For those of you not versed in Mando’a, this armor is called Dafuziwook, or Fuzzy for short.
Leading up to the New Year, I decided to take a step back from all of my other projects and dedicate myself to one specific thing. My entire collection of half-planned costumes, all of the tidbits I have purchased and made here and there, all of my previous attempts at costuming, are going the way of the Bay of E. The money will be used to fund this project.
At first, I did not believe that I would be able to actually accomplish this project, so I decided to put it off. But, that is not the way of the Mandalorian. You step up to the big challenges, facing them and letting them know that YOU are the one in charge. It is with this confidence that I am embarking on this project.
First, allow me to say that this won’t be a fast build. If I get it done in six months, then it will be a miracle. As a matter of fact, I am shooting for a deadline of the New Year for everything this costume entails. The reason is the actual work I will have to put into it, not that it will really be difficult. To call it labor intensive is like calling Boba Fett easy to kill. Then again, this isn’t for just one costume, either. Well, kind of, but not quite. It’s more for a costume that will wear different costumes to make it different characters.
These different characters will be a Custom Mandalorian, custom Jedi, canon Bounty Hunter, and a fun little costume for my annual Clan/Base/Garrison Salvation Army Bell Ringing troop. These four costumes will give me formal costumes here in Mandalorian Mercs, 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, The Jedi Assembly, and The Dark Empire. However, I will be working on my Mando primary to the others.
I will be posting the full details of all my builds in these forums, but they will be split into the appropriate sections. This thread will be for discussion on the main suit and mando armor, the others will go in Star Wars Costumes as they are made.
This WIP log, in one form or another, is being cross-posted across the internet. Besides here, it will also eventually be found on The Replica Prop Forum, Rebel Legion, The Jedi Assembly, The Dark Empire, 501st Legion, Jedi Council Forums (TheForce.Net), the 501st Bounty Hunters Guild, and a couple of other forums. I am criticism driven, at least that’s what my publisher tells me, which is the reason I am cross-posting across so many forums. I have also been told that I have a bit of an ego with regards to showing my stuff off, but that isn’t true because of how totally humble I am. You don’t have to look elsewhere, as everything will be posted here and accessible from my signature bar.
With that said, let’s begin with the description. First, and this is a rather new concept for me, I have a general sketch of my character. It’s not complete as there are several details I have yet to decide on, but it is complete enough for you to get a decent idea of what I am going for. I’m also slowly updating things as I go along, so it would be rather counter-productive to stop what I’m doing and update the picture every time I have a new idea.
So, let’s end this WALL-O-TEXT™ with the picture and get to the description!
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UNDERSUIT/GLOVES/BOOTS (I.E. WOOKIEE)
First of all, I am planning more of a Wookiee Warrior build, rather than the thinner look of most Chewbacca costumes. For that I will be using underarmor and adding padding to the shoulders, pectorals, hips, and thighs. Not a great deal of padding, just enough to beef the suit out a little while still allowing me to not die of heat stroke during a troop.
The hair colors I am going for are a mixture of 10% off black, 20% auburn red, 30% light brown, 40% medium brown. I am trying to match the coloring of Dalborra (comic not cover art) with this suit. It will be latch hooked closer together with fewer strands to look more natural without being clumped. I will be asking a close friend (who is a stylist) to trim my Wookiee after I have finished making the undersuit. (Yes, I know that sounds perverted.)
The gloves will be a pair of Home Depot Gorilla Grip gloves with thick black-painted acrylic fingernails (sharpened to claws, but made dull for safety) attached. After that, I’ll be attaching a mesh ‘emo’ glove with latch hooked hair on the back of the hand and wrist.
The boots will be based around a pair of modified 12” stilts. They will have a slightly detailed sole made using EVA foam and a set of Wookiee toes on the front. After that, I’ll be attaching a mesh sheath over each and latch hooking Wookiee hair around the foot in the same manner as the gloves.
The main body will be made in a separate pants and shirt. The pants will be ankle length (stilt ankle, not mine) and the shirt will close up the back with magnetic snaps. The shirt will be crotch-length to the suit in the front and rear and wrist length in the sleeves. The trousers will be higher than normal trousers and have a pair of suspenders and a cinch at the waist.
Finally, I will have a thumb-activated mp3 player with a variety of Wookiee roars (ripped from KOTOR, SWTOR, and some of the Chewbacca sound boards—anyone who is able to help with the game rips, please PM me) with the speaker built into the top center of my chest pads. At the same time, I will have a speaker on my belt made up to look like a translation droid with a throat mic for ‘translating the roars.’ There will be a small grommet under the fur at the belt level for the cord to go through.
I almost forgot. With everything on, I will be a little tall. I stand 6’3” normally, will have about 6” added by the helmet to the top and 13” added by the stilts at the bottom. I think that will make me the tallest Mando Merc at 7’10” or thereabouts.
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VEST
The vest will be a simple over-the-head vest made of medium weight dark brown leather that will close up the sides with leather laces. The head hole will be large enough for me to fit my head through, but will be hidden by the hair of the helmet (see below). It will be made of 4” leather straps that are sewn together to create an overlapping tiled look from the shoulders down. The vest will extend 2” below the front abdominal armor and will not include a sleeve. The armor will be permanently attached through grommets in the vest.
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BELT
A pair of belts will drop from behind the vest in the front and back. The belts will be made of 4” wide dark brown leather straps. There will be a 1¼” strap over this in the same color that will hold a series of wide and narrow Wookiee boxes onto the belt. A rivet stud will secure the belt down between each box.
Both belts will connect to the waist belt under a pair of elongated hegagon-shaped buckles. Both buckles will be identical and feature a raised edge and center piece. The sides, raised edges, and center piece will be painted in a faux wood with the inset piece painted in the hammered metal look (see below). When I am accepted into the Special Operations Brigade, the Brigade insignia will be painted in the center of each buckle in yellow.
The far left and right sides will have leather sheathes hanging below the belt for my blades. Both sheathes will be hand made with the same color of leather and include a magnetic snap to ensure they are not drawn without my knowledge/permission.
At the 10:30 position will be a small leather holder on the belt itself (replacing the Wookiee boxes) to hold my voice amplifier/translation droid. Below it will be a hand-made leather belt pouch that will be similar in design to the Boba box pouches.
At the 1:30 position will be a leather holster for my pistol (again replacing the Wookiee boxes in that location). It will include a magnetic snap. Below it will be another box pouch.
On the back of the belt, at the 4:30 position will be a drop holster for my electrobinoculars.
Around each of the belt recesses that are not taken up by the straps for the pouches, sheathes, or holster, will be another small strap holding a D-ring below the belt. These D-rings will be used to hold my trophies. (see below)
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GIRTH BELT
Under the belt will be a dark yellow-dyed 21-strand mohair girth belt. It will attach in the rear with leather straps like a girth belt is supposed to be attached (sorry for insulting any Boba-purists, but that strap on his girth belt drives me insane whenever I see it). It will be permanently attached to the belt.
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LOINCLOTH
There will be a dark brown leather knee-length (my knees, not the costumes) loin cloth permanently attached under the girth belt. It will be made of 4” straps sewn together in the same fashion as the vest, with the center strap being on top. The loincloth will feature an elongated Mythosaur Skull down the center as well as a 1” border; both dyed yellow and sewn down. It will be heavily weathered, to include some burn marks, but not damaged or cut into/through.
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HELMET
This pepakura helmet was designed by Jakkrit Sri-in and unfolded by me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with pepakura, it is like origami but 20% cooler! It is a way to create 3D shapes out of paper by cutting, folding, and gluing the object together. The above helmet will take about 25 pages to construct (just for general information). After building it, I plan to harden and detail it.
Now, for the fun part: I will NOT be rounding the helmet; it will not be made to look smooth and round. Instead, it will keep its ‘chiseled’ look. This is integral to the character. The only thing I will be doing is smoothing the faces and slightly dulling the edges of the dome and base. Other modifications (before I strengthen the helmet) will include cutting out the visor (duh), the turn signals, and the three panels on either side of the dome. The turn signals and dome vents will be backed with black mesh. The visor itself will be a dark green welding mask.
The colors will be ash gray over aluminum and oak gold (not metallic). The ash gray will be painted onto the dome, the back, and the cheeks. The oak gold will be everything else, to include the sides of the pompadour on the dome. Here’s the kicker, the oak gold sections will have a wood grain appearance. The ash gray section will have a hammered metal appearance (the aluminum). The helmet will look like it is hand-made from metal and then covered with a decorative wood façade.
Canonically, Wookiees are said to be able to carve from a young age and Mandalorian hard woods were used to armor spacecraft. That is why I am going with more of the hand-made helmet look. It will still be smooth, just look like it is hand made. Additionally, Wookiees are said to make their own arms and armor, thus adding to the hand-made look of the armor.
The helmet will include one more painted detail. There will be a yellow strip over the helmet in line with the left fang beside the t-visor. It will look like it is hand-painted with a brush (because it will be) and will go over the entire helmet.
It will have normal weathering through the yellow paint stripe, but will also include a couple of details that look like they are ‘burned into the wood’ façade. The wood will be weathered with scorch marks and have small chunks taken out of it. The metal will be weathered with blaster burns and I might include a small dent somewhere. It will then be given my normal weathering spray.
The weathering spray is a mix on one cup blue window washer fluid, three drops black acrylic paint, two drops brown acrylic paint, and one drop tan acrylic paint. Shake it up and give the helmet a full light spray all around (holding it as if it were being worn). When it dries, do it again. For the helmet, I’d say three rounds of spray will be enough. After everything is dry, wipe the excess blue fluid off with a damp rag.
Around the base of the helmet will be a helmet skirt of the same mesh that I will use to make the Wookiee undersuit. It will be held in by a collapsible spring-edge which will magnetically secure around the inner lip of the helmet. The skirt itself will have small snaps to close it around my neck. It will have hair latch hooked into it to appear to be ‘my’ hair coming from under the helmet. This will look far better and more realistic than just gluing the hair around the edge of the helmet. It will be braided slightly but will not hang down past the upper chest armor.
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ARMOR
The pepakura armor was also designed by Jakkrit Sri-in and unfolded by me. The armor will be made using the same look as the helmet. The neck, ab, and all of the back will be made using the hammered metal/ash gray coloring. The clavicle plates, shoulder, and chest diamond will be made in the oak gold/faux wood. The two chest plates will be made with ash gray/metal as the main and oak gold/wood for the two raised parts over the pectorals.
The edge of the left pectoral plate will appear to have been blasted through to the metal of the armor underneath of it. It will also have two words etched into it in the approximate location of the Boba chest slots. They will be written in Mando’a. The top will say ‘DAFUZIWOOK’ and the bottom will say ‘PRAETOR ORDO’.
The chest armor will include a modified form of Foxx Stripes on the left and right chest plates hand painted in a faded hunter green. A hand-painted yellow stripe will go down the front and back of the entire set beside the cut for the chest diamond and over the top of the left clavicle armor.
After approval, I will be adding the symbol of Seron Clan on the right pectoral plate, the symbol of Western Regional Command on the right shoulder, and the Mando Mercs symbol on the left shoulder. They will be stencil painted on and lightly weathered to match the rest of the armor.
The shoulders and clavicle armor will be permanently attached to each other via a pair of leather straps at the sides to hang against the arm. The clavicle armor will secure over the break between the neck and back armor. There will be a burned gouge in the left shoulder plate as well as a similar mark in the right clavicle plate.
The left clavicle plate will have a cape attached to it in the rear. The cape will be similar to the Boba-cape (shelter half) but made of brown duck cloth and heavily weathered. By heavily weathered, I mean dragged behind a four-wheeler through a muddy Oregon forest filled with blackberry vines and then used to beat out a small fire multiple times until it is weathered enough for my liking, then washed. Oh, it will also have a Boba-style Mythosaur skull painted onto it in subdued yellow before the “weathering” process.
The other clavicle plates will have D-rings hanging from them. The right front will be used to ‘wolf clip’ the bowcaster. The left front will be reserved for anniversary trophies. (see below)
The armor will be weathered in a similar manner to the helmet, to include the scorch marks on the wood and a couple of dents in the metal. The etching will also be completely backwashed.
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GAUNTLETS
The gauntlets will be based around pepakura created by Vrogy and resized/unfolded by me. The item pictured above is the top portion of the gauntlet. It will be made in the same way as the rest of the armor. The rear (raised) part will include a built-up area below it to look like a power pack assembly for the gauntlet. There will be a small lip around the front piece that will look to be a continuation of the rear piece.
The rear portion, the sides, and the edge will be painted in the faux wood. The main part of the top and the portion under the raise will be in the hammered metal.
The underside of the gauntlet will be made of dark brown leather and lace shut, in a similar manner to the vest, on the underside of the arm. The leather will be layered in the same way to the vest and when it is laced shut, it will close totally around the arm. Rather than 4” leather, I will use 3½” leather to give the illusion of a little extra arm length (to keep the arms look proportional to the body).
On top of the right gauntlet will be a small toy crossbow along with a series of greeblies that are built up and painted gunmetal. It will also include LEDs and a couple of moving parts such as switches built into the body. This will be a weapon gauntlet.
The left gauntlet will have greeblies and such to appear as a communication gauntlet, to include a small radar dish and comlink keypad/speaker. It will include a small keychain digital picture viewer with comm related information on it and a small speaker and mp3 player with comm chatter that I plan to make.
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KNEES
The knee will be based around pepakura created by ForgedReclaimer and resized/unfolded by me. The knee will be made in the same manner as the rest of the armor. There will be a small raised section around the edge of the plate flush with the raised section at the bottom. The central part of the armor will be the hammered metal and the side/lower raised portion will be the faux wood. There will be a hand-painted yellow stripe down the center of the left knee plate.
The knee armor will wrap around the leg with a dark brown leather strap that is loosely fit around the outside of the leg. As with the other leather, it will tie closed on the outside of the leg.
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WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
My Mandalorian will have three weapons and a single piece of equipment. First will be a pair of belt-sheathed blades. The second will be a carried bowcaster. The third will be a holstered pistol. The piece of equipment will be a pair of macrobinoculars
The pair of blades will be a pair of ryyk kerarthorr. They will be dull, but I can actually pull them out if I want to for pictures and such. They will be made primarily of sintra with PVC pipe grips and painted metallic. The grips will be wrapped in leather.
The bowcaster will be custom built. I’ll be basing it around a nerf gun with a toy bow affixed to it. It will also include a couple of sights and additional greeblies to make it “Star Warsy” enough for an in-universe weapon (and indistinguishable as an actual nerf gun). It will be painted gunmetal and faux wood and weathered. It will also have a side-release buckle on it to connect to the right clavicle armor like a wolf clip. I will also use a leather wrap on it somehow.
The blaster will be a custom style UR-G8 pistol. I will be making it using sliced sintra plates, PVC pipes and other found items. It will be painted similarly to the picture above and weathered.
The macrobinoculars will be made custom from found items.
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TROPHIES
I will make a trophy for each event I wear this costume for. On the back of each trophy, I will hand write the name of the event and the date in Mando’a. They will be hung by leather laces from the D-rings on the belt. I will place a wood bead on each thong for each clan that also participates in the event (minimum of one for my clan).
The trophies will be fully built and detailed Mandalorian chest diamonds, complete with paint jobs and finishing. After fabrication, I will weather and damage each one based on the number of Mercs at the event (the more Mercs the greater the weathering and after a certain number, damage). I will then drill a hole through it (unless there is already a hole through it), without cleaning up or finishing the hole. Yes, my Mando hunts Mandalorians… far better quarry than even Jetti. I mean, someone has to watch the watchmen. Also, what do you think would happen if you try to get the drop on a Wookiee who is looking for a bounty? Short answer: Nothing good. Especially if you have Wookiee braids on your armor…
Every year, on the date of my costume being approved, I will add a special trophy to hang from the left front clavicle plate. This will consist of a fully built, painted, and weathered rangefinder in various styles.
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The other costumes I am planning for my Wookiee suit are just as impressive (though, the Merc is 20% cooler). A custom Wookiee Jedi based on the ROTS Wookiee Jedi concept art is the first. The second is the SWTOR: Threat of Peace Bounty Hunter, Dalborra (who is the only Wookiee that actually wears boots). Finally, for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing, I will be making a set of Life Day Robes (yes, I’m actually that insane).
So, what do you think? Comments, questions, concerns, criticisms?
