1st time Custom Costume

Well, as for weathering steel, you can always just kick the **** outta it... it'll survive :p As for a heat source, I've had a good bit of experience working with metal, you shouldn't need one. Sheet metal, as long as you take your time, can simply be hammered into shape. You just need a ball peen hammer, a base to hit it on, some practice, and a lot of time. Might not be the easiest way to make armour, but if you do it well, it'll look awesome.
 
That's what I was thinking, But the hammer is also something I am lacking.

Reason for lack of tools: Just moved and we didn't bring all the random tools and stuff with us.

I will probably do sintra for the armor, or garbage cans/plastic barrels.
 
I would do your first set up in Sintra, then while your doing that...practice some on the metal. If you really want to put together an awesome metal suit then it's gonna take time, patience, and practice.
 
I was planning on doing the set up in poster board/cardboard and just seeing how it fits. Then moving to what I want my final suit to be made off. I'll take a closer look at the metal I have if I can.

I just realized something VERY IMPORTANT: My dad owns an aluminum supply company for house building, and he has coils (like 3 feet tall and 100 long if you roll them out) and I could probably get some spare scraps of a decent size from him. I want to use aluminum or reinforced cardboard for the helmet and the rest of the armor probably in the steel or aluminum.

Just some thoughts there. And for colors, I was thinking of using a rustic orange with some darker orange-brown or maybe red. Along with the usual black. Any ideas on some cool colors that would match orange?
 
Here!
That was what my color scheme will be based off and I think I will include the biohazard symbol...but people might get mad if I use that over the mando symbol. x.x
 
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Yea, totally my bad. xD I didn't realize the size since my browser just resized it by itself. I will make it a link....sorry. xD I will probably use white black and orange.
 
Okay, some quick info on the washer. It is probably 1/8 inch steel. About a 3x4 sheet on the front (flat) and 2 on the sides with bends in them. (they dent in and out to for squares that are "stylish" or something) I don't have a camera so if you need more info on how good the washer would be let me know. i'll try and take it apart this weekend.
 
Hi there, heeding Novall's advice, regarding sintra, would be your best bet for your first armour, but if you have any questions regarding steel helmet construction, or armour, built from obscure laundry appliances, don't hesitate to ask. this is from someone who has already experienced some of the trial and error stages.

Go for it my friend.
 
That's cool. I saw your friend request, I'll thank you for any help you give me now. ^^

The helmet is something I am worried about. the Vizor takes out A LOT of the stability in the front, and if I use metal the metal will want to go back to its original shape. (straight, not curved) so the front would probably get messed up. SO I was thinking of doing it in aluminum.

But I was also thinking of making a set of trash can/sintra armor now, something that would be cool, achievable, something I can walk around a convention in, and will give me alot of experience. Then I would move to the steel/aluminum armor and helm.

My helmet and front plate armor (chest and ab) don't really bother me that much. The should bells I can handle too, it is the cod piece and the wrist guantlets. I really need some advice on forming those 2 pieces. If anyone can give me some tips of some links to a guide I would love to learn how.
 
This thread has been very helpful. I think every question I might have asked or thought about asking was answered in this thread. I am constructing my mando out of sintra. I started looking at this site when I first became intersted in Mandalorians and their armor types. It has been a slow start for me. I have been working on other costumes, the Shadow clonetrooper and Galactic Marine that have hindered my progress, but now I am ready to devote my time to the mando armor. I look forward to picking some brains for tips and ideas.
 
I used an old bike helmet for the dome (skateboard style) and used WOF's templates for the rest of the helm. It didn't take much work at all. I used plastic license plates, glued and stacked for the "ear and stalk" areas, then sanded them down. I also used plastic license plates to work the rear vent area of the helm. the sides of the helm were made of matting board, (about $7 at hobby lobby for a large sheet) and I actually went with 3 colors of board, just to see the details before I fixed and painted the helm. I then fiberglassed the inside (only cost about ($10 for auto fiberglass resin at wal-mart) and then I bondo'd the outside (especially important when covering the vents in the old bike helmet{btw, take the foam out of the helm}). I then painted!!! Only mistake I made was to use a thin piece of plexiglass for the visor. I tinted it first then installed it but I cracked it when installing. Luckily the tint covered the crack and it still looks cool. All in all, it took me about 30 minutes a day for about 10 days to get it complete!! and it held up great for trooping around for 6 hours on Halloween. My next project is to get a small fan in there to avoid the visor steaming up, and maybe make an earphone port to listen to some tunes when I'm bored and trying to avoid the wife!!!
 
I used an old bike helmet for the dome (skateboard style) and used WOF's templates for the rest of the helm. It didn't take much work at all. I used plastic license plates, glued and stacked for the "ear and stalk" areas, then sanded them down. I also used plastic license plates to work the rear vent area of the helm. the sides of the helm were made of matting board, (about $7 at hobby lobby for a large sheet) and I actually went with 3 colors of board, just to see the details before I fixed and painted the helm. I then fiberglassed the inside (only cost about ($10 for auto fiberglass resin at wal-mart) and then I bondo'd the outside (especially important when covering the vents in the old bike helmet{btw, take the foam out of the helm}). I then painted!!! Only mistake I made was to use a thin piece of plexiglass for the visor. I tinted it first then installed it but I cracked it when installing. Luckily the tint covered the crack and it still looks cool. All in all, it took me about 30 minutes a day for about 10 days to get it complete!! and it held up great for trooping around for 6 hours on Halloween. My next project is to get a small fan in there to avoid the visor steaming up, and maybe make an earphone port to listen to some tunes when I'm bored and trying to avoid the wife!!!


MY QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! *bows* Thank you sir. Anyways, that sounds like something I could do. I was planning on doing the same, more or less. Thanks for the details, helps out alot. Not sure if I have a hobby lobby near me...to google! :D
 
just to let you know, on the helmet, I took off the ears and back to make a "bowl" with a dremel tool to make shell fit onto the sides/face/back of the matting board shell.
 
Wow, that color scheme looks exactly like Rylus Kote's scheme from Mercs.

2998145604_f62e981c7b.jpg


Not that there is any law against copying a scheme, but it is good form to give credit to the person who created it at least.
 
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