Seattle Zam Progress

SeattleZam

Jr Hunter
Hey there Zammers!

Happy to report that the I'm in the backstretch for finishing Zam. I have less than four weeks to get it complete (Emerald City Comic Con is the deadline, first weekend in April).

I'll be posting progress pics soon, next week everything gets dyed/painted/colored and it will look much better. Right now I'm trying to get everything assembled first.

Vest is almost constructed, I'm putting in the side rivets today. Got the shoulder thingies and the zipper in. No darts in the front yet - we'll see if I need them. My leather is too thick. I will use pigskin instead of cow on v2.

Skirt is getting cut out now, and will be assembled after coloring next week. Blaster, helmet and greeblies are all primed and ready for final paint. Shin guards, vanbraces are also ready for final color. Bodysuit done, although I need to make a new shirt - P90x made me too muscley for the one I have, especially in the arms and shoulders.

I also have to take in my pants, thanks to P90x.

I need to assemble my chest armor and pieces, that's the slowest part of the whole thing right now.

Gotta take a moment to thank the incredible people and resources on this website that made this all possible. You guys and gals rock. Super huge thanks to MonCal, JDFett, Fangs, and MaulMaus for specific parts and info.

Pics up soon, I promise. I just hope I can troop in this thing and do the Garrison proud.

Deunan Shiruba
Seattle Zam project
Jedi Knight gone Bounty Hunter
 
Still working hard on it, got lots of progress this weekend. Got the hood/scarf done, learning to distress/paint fiberglass armor bits, and thanks to lots of help from Garrison Titan, got the leather squares cut out and the letters cut out of the chest plates.

Gotta get hose - anyone have a good lead on that?

I noticed that the stretchhouse fabric overheats in warm rooms really fast and lets cold air through like it's not there in cold areas. So you'll either freeze or sweat - but the important note here is that it is lousy in cold temperatures. I'll actually need to wear something warm if there is windchill, etc, say, while waiting for an outdoor cold weather function to start.

Doing color tests tomorrow to start coloring in scraps, then the real parts.

Huge thanks to everybody who is helping! This is truly a group effort.

Deunan Shiruba
 
Well, most of us are using vacuum hoses ... or drain hoses... But if you look on this thread - you'll see that there is another way to go:

Alternate Zam Hoses

I don't know what became of the hoses mentioned - but it's worth a shot. The hose does have to be 1" diameter so look for that!
 
Progress report: THe Osbourne punch arrived today, and I punched the first two rows of skirt plates. I now have a newfound respect for those Zammers who have made the skirt.

Ow.

I also had a paint fail on four pieces due to cold temperatures in my shop; the silver undercoat (spray) cracked while drying, and was clumping too. Rats. I will sand them back down and start over. It was toe caps and hand plates. I may have to make a paint booth inside the house to help speed this up. I can't wait for our latest snow storm to go away.

Paint brand recommendations for the silver and black undercoats?? Krylon? Rustoleum? Doesn't make any difference?

Deunan
 
I think we used silver rub and buff for most of the silver parts. What we did paint we used a silver auto paint we had left over from Trent's clone.
 
I didn't bother with a silver undercoat. I used I think a Rustolum primer and then just some acrylic paints for a light coat of black in the seams. Then Rub'n'Buff. I used the same acrylic paint in black and brown for the weathering.
 
The advice helped; four small pieces got their Rub n buff silver last night, and today is the big push to get that base silver or base gold coat on the appropriate things. Only three items need more Dremel, then all the "hard" parts are in paint or primer.

Soft bits are done with construction, just need color... and the skirt plates are being punched, about halfway through, then get color. Three weeks to go!

I'll post pics soon. :) THanks for all the support!!

Deunan
 
Pics for everyone. We got far. Yes, those are tape marks on the vest- gotta clean those off. Also, two pieces got lost in the great armor party, so I'm short a spring for the blaster and the broach for the scarf.

Here's some pics to show you how it's going:
Deunanandtableozamparts.gif


PartsallshinedupbeforedistressingMa.jpg


SkirtrowsintupperwareMarch2009.jpg


UncoloredVestandbodysuit.jpg




I'm testing if these links work, they say they will... sure. Thanks to everyone in Garrison Titan for helping me out, everyone pitched in! I have three weeks left to get it all done.

Deunan
 

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Hey Deunan....lookin' good! I've got a week and a half to finish mine....YIKES. I've got an extra scarf broach thingy if you need one. It's a little sized wrong but not too bad. It would at least do you until/if you got a new one. Just let me know.
 
Yay! MIssing scarf pin piece found! (it was between newspaper sheets laid out for painting).

Also, I found Fels Naptha soap at Ace hardware (used to pre-wash the white treated leathers prior to painting). Just FYI.

Deunan
 
Update: Got the soap from online, Soaps Gone Buy, and the belt is getting "cobbled" today by a really cool shoe repair place. Now all the shoe repair people are coming to the con (they are Star Wars fans).

Got the boots covered in their pieces last night, and painted my toe spikes; I'm working hard on the ankle guards and toe guards, and I'll post the assembled pics tonight. I'm learning about the fun of distress painting (I love it!! This is awesome!). I've started dying leather bits, still searching for my perfect medium purple and medium brown.

The countdown is on.

Deunan
 
Wow!!! You're working so hard you're making me tired! :D Great work.

One question though... what do you need the soap for though? You already sewed your vest and cummerbund right? (That is the leather you would need the soap for - nothing else).

Looking forward to seeing the completed costume!
 
Hey MaulMaus,

I need the soap to wash the chrome-tan white finish of the vest, cummerbund, and gloves. Right now they repel water because they were professionally tanned white. If I wash them, I can strip some of that repellent off, which will improve dye penetration and the color.

If I dyed them right now, the dark purple I'd use would look like easter egg light blue.

And since the last posting, I finished weathering on half the silver armor pieces. I'll post pics later tonight.

11 days and counting.

Deunan
 
Erm... okay... not sure how that will turn out though. I did the washing with the naptha soap before I cut and sewed because of the shrinkage issue. When it came out of the washing machine it looked and felt pretty ... well... disgusting. I had to stretch out the skin again on a board and staple it down. I don't think the skin really "shrank" but it needed to be stretched out after washing it.

Just for fun, I did try dyeing some scraps of the leather that hadn't been washed, and it did work... sorta. I also tried it after putting some of that finish remover on the leather (that stinky stuff) and it worked a lot better, almost as well as after I washed the leather.
 
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