A question of Dirt?

[Rednave]

Ok, as I put the finishing touches on my suit, I am hesitating when it comes to adding that 'lived in' look. I know that Boba Fett is quite a dirty fellow and his suit is in need of some stellar dry cleaning. But, just how dirty is he? I need some feedback. Lets say that on a 1 to 10 dirt scale a Jawa or Tusken Raider score a perfect '10' and a Clone Trooper straight off the assembly line ranks in at a shiny new '1'. Now where does our favorite bounty hunter rank in on the cleanliness scale? I'm not talking about armor weathering here I just mean plain old dirt. I can't seem to bring myself to dirty up my Cheng boots or SlaveOne gloves without a little professional feedback from you guys.
Thanks!

 

[Vec Toryn]

I wouldn't say that BF is "dirty". While the armor itself has it's share of scrapes and dents, the flight suit looks relatively clean.

 

[webchief]

I'd have to disagree a bit. I'd say that the flightsuit should get dirty to some degree down around the shin area as well as the boots. The gloves for that matter shouldn't be spotless.

 

[bobagoat]

the more lived in the better i say.

having the armor all banged up and then having the soft parts clean kind of kills the illusion sometimes.

for the gloves, i didnt do anything to them. they seemed to dirty up on their own.

 

[Dustin Crops Boy]

Jawa's and Tuskens aren't really all that dirty... a 10 would be a Sandtrooper or R2 out of the swamp

I'd say Boba's jumpsuit is about a 5 or 6. Not so much a hard dirty (like mud splotches n' stuff)... but definetly a worn dirty. No distinct dirty spots... but a general over all dirty.. Like it's been used and washed a couple times... dirt ground in and outfit has a worn, faded and softened look. Much like old military surplus.

I'd suggest rubbing it all in powdery dirty (not so much muddy or black dirt)... like the dusty dirty you get on your car.

And I feel that weathering is a CRUCIAL step in finsihing the costume... it makes or breaks the look of it, IMO.

 

[Dean O]

If you look at the pictures of Fett you see that his jumpsuit IMO is reasonably dirty. Especially at the ankles and boots. You don't need to go overboard anywhere else but you should have some dirty spots all over the suit. At the ankles you really need a lot though. If you think you havve enough you probably need more. Keep in mind that in pics that dirt you put on will never stand out as much as it does to you when you are putting it on. The more the merrier I say. I weathered and dirtied my suit by washing it a gazzillion times with bleach. Some parts more than others to give them different shades (IE: the right boot spat is lighter) Then spray painted blacks and browns aroudn the ankles and boots then lightly dusted the entire suit with the same paint just not as much. Now when i show pics of my suit some people say it needs to be dirtied and mine is just about the dirtiest Fett I've seen so it just goes to show that no matter how much you put on you can always add more. BTW, anything other than the paint that I've tried to weather my suit with washed out after one washing. It takes quite a few washings to make the paint start to fade. I always hated having to re dirty my suit each time I wore it.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Right on, Dean-O. I think I have said this before, but one of the things I constantly hear when someone posts a photo of their suit is "Hey man, why didn't you weather your suit." Or "Go roll in some mud dude!" And the person who posted the photo says "I did! It doesn't show up in the photos, but it is dirtier than baby oil and rubber sheets!"

Now the Fett suits on display at both MOM and AOSW are taken practically the same way that fan costume photos are taken --digital camera--and those photos always show the dirt, especically around the ankle area. So that means as dirty as you think your jumpsuit is, it's not nearly dirty enough if it isn't showing up in your photos. Yeah, I think that logic works.

 

[mykull]

Yup... your totally right about the dirt never showing up in the photos of your own suit. I mean.. I just posted a thread titled "My Mannequin Fett" and you will see right there.. that the dirt doesn't show as much as it is in real life.

I have my suit pretty dirty... I thought close to the real MOM suits, but still in the photos.. they just don't do any justice... they look pretty light.

I mean you can see some dirt.. but just not as much as I would like to show.... but I guess to do that.. I have to dirty my suit up even more.. and then I guess looking at it in person would almost make me think its to much wear and tear.

So if you want a good pointer in dirting up your suit.. get some real dirt.. grind it into the baby.. and also use some artist charcols and shave off with a xacto knife and grid that into it as well.. I used a multi browns.. and black.. and some white to... and I splattered some black paint onto it as well.. as a finished touch..

Like I said.. take a look at my other threat and see for yourself my mannequin wearing the suit looks pretty clean.. but it ain't...

Good luck