Imperial/Republic commando armor build

GhostDarAvode

New Hunter
Hi fellow builders!
I've decided to continue my procrastination when it comes to studying for finals, and upload the pictures of my most recent project.
I apoligize in advance that I won't be completely consistent with uploads and updates, as I am a fulltime student and a freshmen mechanical engineer in college, so I have a lot of school work.
Feel free to ask questions or follow my methods. However, I suggest that you look at other threads if you decide to follow something I do, since there are lots of better qualified people out there.
With all that out of the way, welcome to my project: Imperial Commando armor build

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so this is my pepakura paper build thus far. about two weeks of work. It's printed on white cardstock paper. I'm not sure where I got the file from, since it's been sitting on my computer for about 5 years now. The blue tape is there since I had to make adjustments to the helmet. The whole front was bent, and since the visor will be dremelled out to allow me to see out of the helmet, that was the only logical place to make corrections. As for the block-thingy on the helmet, that is a macrobinocular, similar to that found on Commander Bly. Since I do not have any pepakura files for that, i'm making the pattern myself. Thus far, i'm more or less satisfied with it.
And yes, I want to do a full suit. My plan is to do a paper-fibre glass-bondo build, and some parts that are awkwardly placed will be foam. This way, the suit will be more comfortable. I have never worked with the fibre glass method, but I am quite experienced in foam building, or at least that's what I like to think.
That's it for now, that's as far as I got!
take care everyone, and see you next time!
-Ghost
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi everyone....
quick update but not worthy enough for pictures: i'm currently working on getting the binocs to fit snugly enough over the visor yet loose enough to be able to fold up like in the picture. Once it's complete, ill post pictures.
Some questions: does anyone know where I can get a pepakura file for the backpack of the republic commando?
Thanks!
-Ghost
 
Hi Vode!
so i finished making my binocs. I mainly had to tweak it so that it sits flush on the helmet, and since i'm scratch making it, it was difficult to fit the curvature of the face plate.
I also had my mom do a walmart run to buy me Bondo and some epoxy hardener since i'm out, but not much to share picture wise in that department.
anyway, that's all the progress i made tonight (while watching 22 Jump Street and sipping organic root beer. I just realized the bottle looks like a beer bottle, but you never know what can happen lol)

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Thanks to all the people who viewed this thread! plz let me know what i can improve on both in terms of posting and building, and feel free to ask stuff.
Take care,
-Ghost
 
Hi everyone, I hope you all had a peaceful, restful, and merry holiday season. Sorry I was inactive for a little bit, but fear not, for the elves in my workshop were busy at work!
attached are the photos of my fiber-glassing phase of the helmet:
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First, I applied one layer of resin first on the inside then the outside as you can see in the above pictures.
Once there was a coat on the helmet, I started applying the fiberglass cloth on the inside of the helmet:
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These last two pictures show the current state of my project. Next, I will cut out the visor, and clean up the inside to get rid of the loose fibers.
For anyone looking to fiberglass something, here is what I learned: WEAR GLOVES AT ALL TIMES!!!! Up until yesterday, I never wore gloves, I just washed my hands off in acetone ( I know, I'm crazy). But what I did not know was that from working with the mesh, you will get tiny glass shards all over your hands, and possibly inside your skin. The whole back of my hand was dotted red. I thought at first I had some skin disease, but it turns out that the glass just punctured my skin. I had to spend the better part of two hours just patting my hands with duct tape to remove the shards. This method also works if you get metal shavings on you or anything.

Today, I'm gonna move on to bondoing the helmet. I also made progress on the Pepakura files. I have printed out and built the shoulder pads already.

That's it for today! Take care of yourselves and be careful on your projects,
Thanks,
-Ghost
 
Hi everyone!
an update on what i got done today morning: i sanded down my first layer of bondo on the dome, and applied my second layer.
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I apply my bondo with a home made spatula: i make it out of a plastic 2-gallon milk container. I just trim it so its flat. I like it cuz it's bendy and I can get it to fit the contour of the helmet well.
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once I applied my second layer of bondo, keep in mind very thinly, i placed a sheet of saran-wrap over it. This enabled me to sculpt it by hand, as well as create less sanding work to be done. Once the bondo dries, the wrap will just peel right off.
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I hope to get the dome sanded when it's dried, as well as perhaps start applying to bondo else-where. i'm doing it in sections so that I don't lose the details. Some people cover the whole helmet it bondo, but I prefer to work is small sections.

See you guys next update!
-Ghost
 
Hi Vode!
I apoligize to those people who have been viewing my thread but haven't recieved an update in a week.....well, here we go!
I spent the week sanding down my second coat of bondo on the dome of the helmet, and filling in the airbubles with a third coat, which was also sanded down. Once I got the shape I wanted, I just kept sanding and sanding to reduce as much weight as possible. Here is the third layer:
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I also added bondo to the front (face) and back of the helmet. Here is only the first coat of bondo, but I added two more, and sanded those down as well to reach this stage:
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That's it for today! that is all my progress. I still have some finalizing to do, but the helmet is 80% done in terms of body work.
thanks guys!
-Ghost
 
Hi Vode!
Sorry for the slight period of IA. this week was my first week back to school after winterbreak, so that envolved a lot of book buying and returning, course dropping and adding, and a lot of unnecessary stress on my part.
I hope to get back to working on the project over the upcoming 3 day weekend.
Also, I cannot thank all the people who view my thread. It really means a lot and makes me happy how much interest there is towards the Republic Commando fandom.
See you on Monday with a brand new update!
-Ghost
 
Hi everyone!
Here are the updates as promised. My friend, who is also working on an Imperial Commando helmet (and formally gave me permission to post some of his work), spend 5 hours sanding and bondoing the project. We are done for the most part, except for the lower chin, which we will do last. Since this was my first time working with this medium, I wanted to learn how to use the material before moving onto the small tedious detail and potentially screwing up.
so, here is the 90% complete helmet! (the back needs one more pass with the sand paper though)
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In terms of upload schedule: I have a feel for my schedule for this semester, so I think ill post stuff on Mondays, which will include the progress of the Sunday before. If I work ahead in school and unless there are exams or a particularly large number of assignments, I'll stick to that schedule.
Take care everyone and see you on Monday!
-Ghost
 
Hi everyone!
Just a quick update before my build session with my friend tomorrow: I got the chin epoxied, so ill sand that tomorrow, as well as finish up the bondo work. I also started building the rest of the pepakura files.
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as you can see, the bondo is not smooth but kind of spikey. i figured out that its better to apply it this way rather than smooth it out, because airbubbles will be created other wise. I know there are people out there who are way better at bondoing than me, so they probably don't do this method. But since i'm a newb still, I just cut off the large chunks that stick up like in the picture below

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^^^^^note: I use a simple Leatherman multitool blade. It works great. I just rub of the residue bondo with Acetone.

That's it for tonight! Ill update next monday!
-Ghost
 
Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted. I don't think Ill post stuff for the next two or three weeks for two reasons: i just realized all i'm doing is posting myself bondoing and sanding. I think you guys get the point :) Nothing too interesting there, and the fact that I have two midterms coming up in mid February which I have to start studying for. If by the off chance I do something on the helmet that is out of the ordinary, trust me, you guys will be the first to know.
Quick update: I got the chin almost sanded! That just leaves me with the back of the helmet, and finishing up the chin part. So, the helmet should be done pretty soon! My friend is researching how to light up the visor as we speak, so we should be getting onto that. Does anyone have any tips or links to threads that talk about that? We want the whole surface of the visor lit, so if there are any builds out there that did that, I'd really appreciate it if you could point me in that direction.
Have a good super bowl weekend!
-ghost
 
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