Boba Fett Re-Appearance Armor (heavily weathered version)

Sandra1976 · Sep 23, 2021

Some pics of me wearing what I have (some are lightened up, because otherwise you hardly see anything of the lower half):

Sadly, two of the hose attachments at the gauntlet, which is 3D-printed, broke off. I have to reinforce this with some metal rods, it really is a weak point. The chest light-up is not happening right now, as the technical parts lift up the plate too visibly. Does not look good.

Now I am working on the jetpack. I guess I have to add a third point of support (I am sure there is a whole in the backplate for a reason), as the thing got a bit heavy, being fully laminated and I stuck the rocket on. Also, I have to be really careful with doors. We shall see how much I get done before winter and I cannot use spraypaint anymore. The paint is really very intricate and it is more important to get it as accurate as possible than to rush and ruin it on the finish line.

BaoDurNBots · Sep 24, 2021

Fantastic build! Looking forward to seeing the jetpack

Sandra1976 · Sep 24, 2021

BaoDurNBots said:
Fantastic build! Looking forward to seeing the jetpack.

Thanks! They really liked it on the Mandalorian Mercs (got the permission to troop as an UM on my first event this weekend, as the kit not complete yet). But they also told me that I really have to increase the quality of my pictures. Somehow, that is my real weak point. This set was taken by my daughter on her mobile phone. But they told me these have no chance to pass even the pre-app, and I can see clearly why. So I will mostly work on that...oh well, you always learn new things (I am not a great photographer myself).

Sandra1976 · Sep 30, 2021

Sooo...after the first little outing of this kit, I got some really valuable advice on what to improve (what you can't see on the pictures). I will remove several 3D-printlines. I also decided to change the sash by fixing it to the pants. That way, I do not have to worry about the correct placement of that belt anymore.

Also, one Mandalorian Merc had the glorious idea of attaching one flat pocket under the long front fabric flap. I will absolutely do that. It will allow me to carry at least some essentials with me (some money, my glasses, and my asthma stuff - which I should have with me at all times anyway. Maybe even my phone). And maybe also a small leather purse with some larger coins in it hung rather loose. I hope it will make a certain sound which is, for whichever reason, important to me to have.

Sandra1976 · Oct 16, 2021

To increase my creature comfort, I made this little pouch to go under the...half skirt thingy:

It hides really well under the raw-silk sash/half-skirt thingy. And it allows me to take my phone with my important cards in it, my glasses in a flat, metal case, and - most importantly - my asthma spray with me. I know it looks a bit crude, but it does its job. As both the pouch fabric and the raw silk are rather coarse, nothing shifts, and due to the pleats/folds you cannot see it. As it is attached via velcros, it can easily be removed for pictures or actiony things (which I do not know to what extent I can perform these - but still - the option would be there).

Sandra1976 · Oct 30, 2021

Soo...as winter is coming and our workshop is in an unheated building, it gets more and more difficult to do sanding and - even worse- spraypainting. I am still overhauling certain parts of the costume (I will completely repaint the belt shells, the helmet and the blaster). If I stop sanding two to three hours in a row, I can still continue working a little on those parts. The helmet already got a new layer of Beskar, but I guess it is just not worth it to try anything more right now. Also, I ordered a fan system and some kind of hearing aid (seems to be very commonly used in these helmets), which I want to wait for to see how I best install it.

I got my gauntlet fittings fixed (I put some tighter-fitting sleeves under the shirt and installed neodym magnets. Holds really well). I also got some Oyumaru and will try to recast the tiny gauntlet rockets in rubber. I already broke off two of mine, which is really annoying. Somebody said I could get some in machined aluminium, which I think is really dangerous if you get stuck on stuff things (imagine tearing another cosplayer's costume with these things. No bueno.) Also, ordered a aluminium-machined rangefinder stalk, which needs to be installed. Hopefully, I can use the electronic device I have for this thing.
The chest LED display thingy also needs to be installed. As it is now, it is too thick and pushed out the chest plate too far. Maybe I can figure something out...I would not know where to use it otherwise, as for my personal Mando, I have no use for it.

And maybe a little more sanding and smoothing on the jetpack, as I see fit. Also need to figure something out with the carrying system. Just having it on the two upper eyelets puts enormous strain on my shoulders. Will use the center hole in the backplate.

For now, I think I will put Boba's outfit onto the mannequin he will be displayed on and give him a little rest, if the weather stays nasty. But as soon as we get 15+° Celsius, work will continue.

Sandra1976 · Nov 1, 2021

Today, I put on what exists of Boba's jetpack:

I mainly wanted to test out how it fits and how it carries. Not too bad for the moment, but I will wear it for some while to see whether the third resting point will be necessary (I already know how to do it). However, the X-alu frame does a suprisingly good job distributing the weight. But as I have back issues, I have to be careful.

(Also, please apologize the chaos in my room. I am in the midst of re-decoration, the hand on the floor belongs to my life-size Boba display figure).

EDIT: Okay guys, not so great news. The good people watching over my WIP on the Mandalorian Mercs just told me that the thing is far too big. I am so glad that I did post these pictures so that they saw it. Otherwise I would have put in tons of work for nothing. I will now try to figure out the required dimensions in proportion to my backplate and print the whole thing again (or maybe the body first to see if it is the correct size).

halliwax · Nov 3, 2021

Sandra1976 said:
Hot off the press:

View attachment 214109

I do not want to attach anything to my flak vest right now. The front plant go on with chicago screws through eyelets. It seems I used eyelets which are a) too short and b) not enough diameter. Some of them constantly keep simply detaching from their spots and thus falling out. I have longer and slightly wider eyelets on order and will exchange all of them. Hope that will do the trick...might sound like a christmas afterwards (with the current eyelets, the screws stay nicely put. With the new ones, there will be a tiny bit of wiggle room for each of them. Oh well...maybe I solved Boba's jingling source).

Really nice work on the damage! How did you go about making the chips?

Sandra1976 · Nov 4, 2021

halliwax said:
Really nice work on the damage! How did you go about making the chips?

The first step is to sand the plates with some rather coarse sandpaper. I just removed the printlines from the plates, but did not want a perfectly smooth surface. Then I made the chips with toothpaste. The first colour layer is rattlecan aluminium (or Beskar, if you like). Then I looked at the reference images and applied the toothpaste with a brush with hard bristles. This way, I did not get any bristle strokes. After that, I used some granite effect rattlecan spray. This is textured, but it was used sparingly. This creates the raise paint effect (or rather where the sarlacc spit damaged the paintjob). Then I applied the correct Boba green, also out of a rattlecan. Of course you have to wait between every layer until it is dry.

Then I took a bucket of water and a sponge and rubbed merrily away. Everywhere where there was toothbrush, the paint plus the granite effect paint went away, revealing the silver under the green, but with the green sprinkled in the coarse surface (what we want here). I applied black and brown wash, which makes it even more believable.

As the final layer, I applied Mod Podge Hard Coat. This gives a very nice, deep effect. In order to avoid brushstrokes, I applied it with my fingers. Now I do not know if this a very safe and healthy method, but it looks grandios IMO.

Well, and then you have to wait in theory 30 days for the Mod Podge to fully harden...which I did.

halliwax · Nov 4, 2021

Wow! Thank you for taking the time and writing all this detailed instructions!

I was curious how you masked off the chips, I’ve used toothpaste before, I always used mint makes it smell good!

I’ve never used granite paint before though! I’m going to have to look into it

I think you acid damage came out wicked good! Thank you for sharing!!

Sandra1976 · Nov 4, 2021

You are welcome!

If it makes us look better, then it was worth it.

I would suggest trying it out on a test piece though. Then you can get a feeling how to handle the process.

Sandra1976 · Nov 5, 2021

Boba ready for his winter sleepover:

As the weather has gotten real nasty here, I decided to put the parts onto this mannequin to not loose anything. The jetpack ist printing in the correct size now. Maybe I will wash his flakvest to remove the pencil markings.

But that's it for right now.

Sandra1976 · Feb 8, 2022

Tiny bit of an update. After I had all parts of the reprinted jetpack, I am about sanding them. Pulling this out quite a bit, because it has to last until I can do some fibreglassing. This is crucial, as the walls are not really quite thin.

Anyways, I asked my daughter to hold the top part I glued together against the backplate:

Sandra1976 · Mar 14, 2022

At this moment, the official CRL for both the Post-Sarlacc and Re-Painted Boba Fett from "The Mandalorian" went online on the Mandalorian Mercs website:

Boba Fett (Weathered) – The Mandalorian S2 | Mando Mercs Costume Club

Mandalorian Mercs costume requirements for weathered Boba Fett Season 2 costume

mandalorianmercs.org

Boba Fett (Repainted) – The Mandalorian S2 | Mando Mercs Costume Club

Mandalorian Mercs costume requirements for repainted Boba Fett Season 2 costume

mandalorianmercs.org

I think I did pretty good so far. Raw silk pants are out for me, as that has to be custom-made. I cannot do it myself (I know my limits), and I cannot afford to pay a tailor to do it. If the Ninja Hakama pants I have are not okay, I will be out for anything "official". Also, I really hope that my weathering is okay, as I do not have anything yellow on there (just a black and brown wash). But as I sealed it with Mod Podge super hard, I am not willing to sand the whole shebang again.

EDIT: After having checked back with the people responsible, everything with my built is still well within the Mando Mercs' CRLs. Very glad about this.
Also, what I could prime is primed by now. Hopefully, temperatures will continue to rise, so that the shells and the blaster can receive their new paintjob. Oh, and the helmet, of course.

Sandra1976 · Mar 25, 2022

Some updates:

Changed the LED on the left gauntlet according to the now official CRL on the Mando Mercs forum. I repainted the blaster, as well as the belt shells. Also, I started on the repaint of the helmet, but for now I am waiting for the correct colors of rattlecans. The jetpack is also well under way, everything is printed and the jetpack body is fiberglassed. Also made the brackets. Next is installing them, then glueing the two halves together. After that, installing the greeblies (everything is sanded). If the weather stays the way it is here, I can do the primer, then the colourful parts.

Sandra1976 · Apr 19, 2022

Painted the jetpack rocket:

The rest of this iteration of the jetpack will not be that pristine. Checking back with the Mando Mercs whether black/brownwash should be added. But this can be easily done.

Sandra1976 · May 29, 2022

Some updates (zip in correct colour, cleaner shoulder part on the flak vest). Also the first battle damage which was okay with the Mando Mercs:

Now I am figuring which of the settings of my chest LED display is correct for this Boba Fett version. I have 4 options. Does anybody know how the sequence is?