Death Watch Building Armor for Star Wars Celebration 2015 - Now with Night Owl

eqdizzle · Jan 20, 2015

So I know you guys aren't going for 501st, but here's a comparison of the Jango Arena pack and the Bo Katan / Nite owl pack:

The Nite Owls, most of the grunts (including the Airborne), and even the Shadow collective use the one on the right, albeit painted differently. Occasionally you'll see the long topper if they're using the rockets to fire at someone, but more often than not it's the stubby topper.

The Pyro and later Pre Vizsla use different packs than the one above, but none I have seen use the Fett style pack. Do you have screen grabs I'm not aware of?

Once again, not trying to stick a thumb up at your work, because it's impressive to say the least, but asking and commenting more for personal knowledge!

thorssoli · Jan 20, 2015

When we were discussing the jetpack design, this is the main image we kept referring back to:

Again, we're tweaking the design where needed in order to match the film style props better. We'll also end up with a variety of different tank toppers to add some distinction between them.

Skyfire · Jan 20, 2015

Nice work, I see you also have a epic gnome collection there too.

eqdizzle · Jan 21, 2015

thorssoli said:
When we were discussing the jetpack design, this is the main image we kept referring back to:
View attachment 84200

Again, we're tweaking the design where needed in order to match the film style props better. We'll also end up with a variety of different tank toppers to add some distinction between them.

Is that an official LFL photo? Looks really different than the others I have seen in style. I'll have to look at the S2 arc again to see if the packs are indeed different.

RalfSkunk · Jan 22, 2015

I finally figured out my password again...
In regards to the jetpack, I still think it is really important to remember that we are going for a movie style Death Watch. The computer generated characters and armor are very stylized and there is no reason to believe that these are not the same jet packs.

And Wookieepedia says it's the same one, so it's got to be that way.... Right?

thorssoli · Jan 23, 2015

I went ahead and pulled the mold for the Nite Owl chest armor:

After polishing it up and adding a mold release agent, I laid up the first set of parts:

They came out pretty good:

And with a bit of trimming, they'll look great with the helmets:

Speaking of helmets, we've got some:

The gauntlets are coming along as well:

Here they are after I'd done a bit of sanding on one of them:

Stay tuned...

Spero · Jan 23, 2015

Great work, thorssoli!

tterrell · Jan 24, 2015

Following this thread is like watching the first trilogy.....
I can't wait until the next nugget of news!

thorssoli · Jan 25, 2015

Well, I'd hate to disappoint...

Matt finally got started on the thigh plates:

They're basically just some 1/8" Sintra heated and shaped and layered with Bondo to give them a bit more shape:

3/4" MDF was used to build up the shape of the pistol holsters. Here I am trying them on:

In yet another departure from the cartoon appearance, we decided to alter the shape of the holster to make it fit the form of the pistol a bit better:

Tomorrow Matt should be able to finish the thigh prototypes and jetpack:

Speaking of jetpacks, Matt added the last layer to the inside:

While all of that was going on, I did the last bit of smoothing on the gauntlets:

I'd feel guilty about letting Matt do most of the work on the Death Watch stuff today, but I had other things going on:

Stay tuned.

Bogleo · Jan 25, 2015

Awesome. I signed up here because of this thread. I'm already a member at the RPF.

MandalorFett · Jan 25, 2015

Great work! Your busy workshop looks like a lot of fun.

Spero · Jan 27, 2015

Great work, guys! Will you be taking orders for Nite Owl armor any time soon? Interested.

thorssoli · Jan 27, 2015

Spero said:
Great work, guys! Will you be taking orders for Nite Owl armor any time soon? Interested.

Shoot me a PM. We'll figure something out.

For now, I guess we're overdue for an update...

Matt spent some quality time this weekend getting the thigh plates smoothed out:

Mark made progress on the jetpack too:

We've also got a very rough start on the pistols:

Since none of us likes the plain box look that they have in the animated series, we'll be making some detail departures here and there. Mostly this will amount to dressing up the handle and the side panels so they'll be a little more interesting.

Yesterday I got a gloss coat on the thigh plates:

I sprayed the jetpack too, but I neglected to take any photos.

Next up, we'll be putting together the prototype for the shin armor and making forming bucks for the toes.

After a lot of discussion, we've decided to do away with the instep guards because they'll be impractical and prone to breakage. Instead, we'll probably go with Boba-style spats under the shin armor. More on that later.

eqdizzle · Jan 27, 2015

You doing the heel armor in addition to the toe? Looking forward to meeting all of you in Anaheim!

thorssoli · Jan 27, 2015

We'll be doing the heel and toe, but not the instep.

Two out of three ain't bad.

eqdizzle · Jan 27, 2015

If you do the toe cap, I may be interested in picking up a set. Fit to the Bramah boots?

thorssoli · Jan 28, 2015

We haven't sourced the boots yet, so I'm not sure exactly what they'll fit. That said, we'll be pulling them in some fairly thin ABS plastic, so they'll be able to flex a bit to fit.

UPDATE:

A couple of days ago, Matt went ahead and cut out a basic shape for the pistols:

So yesterday I sat down and started adding the few detail that it was supposed to get:

Even just adding the side panels was a huge improvement:

I also tuned up the handle a bit so it was prettier and more comfortable. Then spent way too much time goofing around:

Once I was satisfied with the shape, I gave it a couple of coats of primer:

Then a glossy yellow coat:

Here it is with some other weapons I've recently cast:

It still needs a couple rounds of sanding and filling and smoothing, but it should be ready to mold as soon as my next shipment of silicone shows up.

While I was messing around with that, Matt spent much of his time smoothing out the last few flaws on the surface of the jetpack body and the thigh holsters. Then he made the master for the shins:

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, you idiots, that shin guard is way too big and they're not supposed to be symmetrical on top."

Actually the plan is to make one mold and make a whole lot of copies of the largest size possible for this piece and then trim off the top or bottom based on the size we need for the individual wearer. So who's the idiot now?

Ahem.

After a bit more smoothing and filling, here's what the shin prototype looks like right now:

While Matt was doing that, my friend Kate was masking off the helmets that are in progress:

And adding the secondary colors:

So that's where we're at right now.

Over the next couple of days, I should be getting my next shipment of silicone as well as fiberglass resin, so we'll really start making progress soon.

Stay tuned...