Artakha's DIY ESB build

[Artakha]

Hey so I've wanted to build a full costume since...well, forever.

I'm 18 and so I expect I won't have a chance to work on Fett much during my gap year next year or when I leave for college...so I'm wanting to get this finally done before any of that happens.

I've always been a fan of making stuff yourself even if it isn't perfect and so this will be me trying to make everything myself while staying true to the screen accurate side of things. When I say, "making it myself" sometimes I mean scratch building stuff, sometimes 3D printing it and being content with just finishing up the piece. Now, with a time constraint I'll probably depend more and more on my 3D printer and RafalFett's AMAZING 3D files, because my scratch-build projects always take around 2 years from start to finish it seems, lol.

I do want to do a full ROTJ suit too, but one thing at a time.

So here's what I have so far:

Helmet: I'm modifying one of my own EPV2 helmet kits to have more flair with the correct warping. All other detail parts I supply with my kits will be acceptable for this, and I'll probably use the authentic polaroid lens I snagged for this helmet.
Soft parts: I have a flightsuit pattern I'm planning to modify. I'll be teaching myself some sewing skills as part of this project. The vest was begun from another tutorial I found online, still to be finished. The other parts I'm leaving for later. Gloves will be interesting.
Mohair Belt: I have one off Amazon, just need to dye.
Leather pouch belt: Gonna build that one.
Cape: Sew.
Gauntlets: Finish up the pair I've been sculpting on and off for the past year and mold and cast those. Then make the ESB specific details to go onto them.
Chest armor/back armor + cod/kidney plate + knee armors: Maybe I'm crazy but I'm going to try 3D printing these. I've tried making these out of sheet plastic and a plastic car bumper and only the latter version succeeded in any way. We shall see.
Boots: MOW boots. I bought these and just finished weathering them up.
EE-3: So daunting that I'm afraid to make a plan, lol.
Pulse Rifle: Planning to 3D print this one as well.
Jetpack: I'm going to try 3D printing this in sections and otherwise build it from scratch.
Jetpack harness: I'm gonna build this one true to the screen used one from metal.
Shin Tools: Buy or make them.
Braids: I may buy these as well.
Diver's belt: Have one!
Plus whatever details I forgot...

I always seem to tackle too much and never finish it. I hope this will not be another one of those threads. Slow and steady wins the race right?

 

[BudaFett]

Great start! Looking forward to seeing your build!

 

[hvacdon]

Looks like you're off to a good start.!! I too am looking forward to seeing you're progress pics !!!

 

[Artakha]

rnbuda hvacdon thanks guys!

So, I kind of prefer the slightly teal appearance of the colors on the ESB Boba. It's different than most colors I've seen used.

I know the color bcurtis has on his helmet has some of this tone, which I understand to have been painted by Ponte but anyone have any idea what color might be a close match? Ponte isn't easy to get a hold of...

 

[Fett 4 Real]

Ill tell you this... Ponte mixed his colors and didn't record ratios, or so he says. Ive never had the opportunity to put one of his next to one of my more recent helmets personally, BUT a few guys at C8 did put BCurtis's next to one of superjedis and as I remember it was very close in hue. And lighting and editing is going to play a role. You want to have the right relationships between the colors on the helmet. If it were me....Id do some color tests.

 

[Artakha]

Ill tell you this... Ponte mixed his colors and didn't record ratios, or so he says. Ive never had the opportunity to put one of his next to one of my more recent helmets personally, BUT a few guys at C8 did put BCurtis's next to one of superjedis and as I remember it was very close in hue. And lighting and editing is going to play a role. You want to have the right relationships between the colors on the helmet. If it were me....Id do some color tests.

Oh I will. I'm going to do some searching around and testing. That's interesting though, thanks for the input!

 

[bcurtis]

Dom is right, lighting plays a huge part in how these things translate to our eye, both on screen and in person. The studio photos of mine you posted were taken with incredibly bright lighting. My helmet doesn't look that teal in person. As for PW and SJ comparison, I have a pic we took at CVIII in our hotel room. It's not the greatest photo but you can see the subtle differences.

SJPW by Bryan Curtis, on Flickr

(above photo) SJ on left, PW in the middle, and I can't remember on the right. Dom is that one of yours? Alejandro's perhaps?

Here's two at CVIII of Wasted Fett, me, and Fandango Fett (older Dom, Ponte, Newer, but not newest Dom)

And here's one of a SJ (JbDubz in center left) and mine (center right) as well as Major (far left) in his. They're definitely close.

Lastly, this photo captures the truest to my eye depiction of my Ponte bucket (taken in my dining room under 'natural' led light

IMG_5176 by Bryan Curtis, on Flickr

Hope this helps some. I'm sure I have more comparison pics around. I know that Rick was adding a little more blue to his mix than he had in the past, but that's all I know. lol

 

[Artakha]

Dom is right, lighting plays a huge part in how these things translate to our eye, both on screen and in person. The studio photos of mine you posted were taken with incredibly bright lighting. My helmet doesn't look that teal in person. As for PW and SJ comparison, I have a pic we took at CVIII in our hotel room. It's not the greatest photo but you can see the subtle differences.

Wow, nice comparison photos, thank you ever so much. I'm also aware that the particular scene in ESB I was pointing towards is a little blue lit; but if I can get the paint to look that particular way even in regular lighting, that would be my goal.

 

[Froflo]

Lol that lonely rotj boba photobombing in the background though haha

 

[Fett 4 Real]

Bryan I think that might be JBs? I think theres pics of you and Alex floating around somewhere.... but I stopped using humbrols (Wasted_Fetts is painted with humbrols) I wasn't a fan. I didn't love the color. Going to rectify update WF in a few months!

 

[Artakha]

So I "finished" weathering the boots. I'm kind of a believer in wearing stuff to give it some of that real worn feel, so I will wear these boots around town, even if I have to repaint some of the wear. I followed SpideyFett's tutorial, but also knew I wanted it darker since I was going ESB.

At this point the first stage of weathering had been done...

And then I wore my boots to work.

I feel like the black stripe needs to be a more saturated black, so I'll add something to it.

Would it be a bad idea to add black shoe polish to the canvas?

Also, chime in if something feels missing, I'm always happy to have some good constructive criticism.

 

[Artakha]

Also, my gauntlet darts from Dana KenChan came, and I thought I'd compare them with my MachineCraft replicas darts:

The longer ones are from Dana. They're both very nice, but I think Dana's really nail the real part. I still plan to use the Machine Craft set on the ROTJ suit I have dreams of completing.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

black shoe polish will do you just fine

 

[bcurtis]

black shoe polish will do you just fine

That's the route I took with mine. I was happy with it.

 

[jbdubz]

Bryan I think that might be JBs? I think theres pics of you and Alex floating around somewhere.... but I stopped using humbrols (Wasted_Fetts is painted with humbrols) I wasn't a fan. I didn't love the color. Going to rectify update WF in a few months!

bcurtis mine's on the left. you can tell by the Terminal Fettler topper, the crack on the right and of course the more accurate and lighter green

 

[bcurtis]

bcurtis mine's on the left. you can tell by the Terminal Fettler topper, the crack on the right and of course the more accurate and lighter green

 

[Artakha]

So progress....

I've been slowly 3D printing the armor. Got the knee armors in primer, just gotta smooth out the striations.
The other armor will probably need some XTC-3D, a sort of smoothing resin meant for 3D prints.

FYI these files are all coming from RafalFett 's files on Shapeways. I don't know what I'd do without them.

I'm steadily working on making an ESB specific helmet...the first version wasn't perfect so rectifying those issues now.

Ignore the "two-face" look....

The gauntlets are also coming along.

I'll also update my actual gauntlet thread lol

 

[Artakha]

Thanks Viper for the buckle!!

 

[Viper]

Thanks Viper for the buckle!!

View attachment 160295

Glad to see it will be put to good use! Suit is looking great!

 

[Queso]

I am very curious to see how you add the dents to the 3d prints. I made some DIY armor with sintra a number of years ago. Now that I a have a 3d printer, I may try redoing the armor.