Sam's custom Mando armor (WOF templates)

I'm planning on using the toothpaste, I tried it on the shoulder piece and it worked really well. I didn't like the way just the paint looked weathered, tho, so I used the dremel and ground the scratches in, and repainted it. I'm going to fill the grooves with toothpaste, and paint it in black enamel again. Tomorrow is going to be a full day of work, as my wife goes to work from 8 to 5, so I've got the house to myself. Woot. :)
 
Got a couple hours of work done on my left gauntlet today. I used 1/8" hard sheet cardboard, superglue gel, and hot glue. After about six hours of work, the upper part is assembled. Once the lower part is done and they're attached, I'll bondo-glass and bondo them.

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Woo, got some more work done today. The left gauntlet is pretty much finished, with the exception of adding the tubes to the flamethrower, and all the bondo work. But it's assembled. I'd guess I put about 10 hours total into just the left gauntlet so far.

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I would have done the bondo today, but I ran out of hardening cream when I bondo-glassed the lower clam-shell. I'm planning on finishing the clam shell before I cut it off with my dremel and re-attach it via hinge and latch.

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I'll probably make a run out to Home Depot tomorrow to get some more bondo-glass and extra hardening cream. Maybe I'll start on the right gauntlet.
 
Just picked up a set of Jango blasters and holsters on eBay for a couple dollars. The blasters are ok, the holsters are cheap junk. However, they fit right, and are actually just a little big. They're made out of rubberized plastic. I'm going to use the rubber holsters/straps as a template, and make my own out of the vinyl material I picked up at Joann's for my vest and belt. The fabric is folded under the blasters in the picture.

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I've thought about simply wrapping my vinyl fabric around the plastic. I think using the plastic as a strengthener will make the holsters and straps a little more sturdy rather than just folding the vinyl over on itself, as the vinyl is slightly elastic.
 
The holsters look cheap, but with spray paint you can make them look amazing. Also you could always add you own touch to the pistols by customizing them.
 
Yeah, they're very cheap. I'm considering doing the same thing with the holsters, wrapping the vinyl fabric around it. I'll play around with it, see what I can come up with.

As far as the pistols go, yes I plan on customizing them. A desert mando can't use basic Jango pistols. :p
 
I couldn't sleep tonight, so I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning working on my blaster. I've decided to only use one pistol, the other one is going to give it's life to my left gauntlet. That'll come later.

First step was to take it apart, remove the electronics, fill the inside with wood filler putty, and glue the whole thing back together. Once the glue was dried, I sanded the seams down smooth so they won't show when I re-paint it. This gave it some heft and sturdiness, and now it feels much less like a cheap plastic piece of ****.

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Next came the barrel modifications. I cut some strips of 1/8" plastic (thank you, Sterilite trash can) and made several "vanes" down the length of the barrel, similar to Boba Fett's blaster.

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While thinking of what else I could do to modify it, with my budget and all, I discovered that an empty tube of epoxy putty works wonderfully as a scope. I mocked it up to see what it would look like - perfect. I'll most likely end up using the epoxy putty that came in the tube to make the mount for it. The piece it's mounted to used to un-screw for two AA batteries. It's since been glued on solid.

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Amazingly, that took about three hours of work. I didn't think it was going to take that long, and that was just the basic stuff. I'd estimate that I've put in over 100 hours into my helmet, armor, gauntlets, and now weapons... and I've got nothing completed. I need to make a priority list or something. :p
 
Looks really great all of it Sam. I'm following along with each update! You've spend 100 hours, but it shows in the craftsmanship.

Phil
 
So today I got a little more motivated than usual to work on my stuff, so I ran to the hardware store with a head full of ideas, and went on a small shopping spree. $60 later, I came home with lots of goodies, including a new glue gun, having burnt my other one out. :facepalm
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Got some hinges for my gauntlets, a 6' length of kitchen sink hose, some PVC pipes, a garden hose attachment (missile tip!), more hardening cream, super glue, epoxy putty, and a copper pipe for my flame thrower nozzles.

The long thin PVC tube that I got has ends that are threaded perfectly for the kitchen sink hose, so I cut the ends off, and got to work setting those up for the rear end of the flame thrower housing.

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I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I use hot glue to hold the PVC in place, and then epoxy putty to make the whole thing solid, and keep the tubes from trying to twist when I screw on the hoses.

When that was finished, I did mostly the same thing for the front end of the flame thrower, cutting the copper tube in half, and making a bracket for it.

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Here's my thoughts about the custom missile. I got a long, thicker PVC tube that fits the diameter of the garden hose fitting. It fits into the cradle on the gauntlet perfectly. I'll smooth out the exposed threads, and add the vanes that are on the normal missile, similarly to how I added them to my blaster.

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For the blaster itself, I got a shorter tube the same diameter as the one for the rocket, and it fits the length and size of the epoxy putty tube I've already got on the blaster. I'm fitting it inside, which will make that very sturdy, and I'll also have a hollow scope, instead of just filling it like I had originally planned. The bracket is just garbage can plastic right now, but I'm trying to think of something cool to do with epoxy putty molded into shape.

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That's about it for today... my wife comes home from work soon, so I should probably clean up the dishes in the sink before she has something to complain about it.

:cheers
 
I was thinking about wrapping something around the holsters, so they don't look like plastic...I got a bunch of vinyl in my hall closet. I may go to town now!!

I see you live in Twentynine Palms, I have passed through there many a time to get to San Diego.
 
Nice progress so far. Im still stuck on the helmet.... So I still have to work on that and get a mold. Im unhappy with my cheeks so im going to remove and replace them with alluminum, or plastic ones.
 
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