Bren Sett (my custom)

[BrenSett]

ok, as promised, I finished the concept art for my costume. Here it is, and critiques are welcome.

I have run into some problems on the helm. It seems that the fiberglass that I have bought is a little stronger than I anticipated. It will take quite some time to get it cut out. I can cut the fiberglass with snips just fine, its the sanding it smooth on the edges and getting it flush with the lines that is taking longer than I thought.:angry Oh well, I guess some things are worth waiting for. If it turns out to be too troublesome, I will warn others away from trying this method.

 

[BrenSett]

I have run into another problem. I solved the issue of cutting out the bucket pieces and getting them smoothed by using a different tip on my dremel. The problem I have now, I bought some glue that claimed was good for fiberglass, but it isn't holding well. I have had my bucket c-clamped for two days now. Does anyone have any ideas on what will glue to pieces of finished fiberglass together?

 

[BrenSett]

ok, I have decided that already formed fiberglass sheets do not work well. After many different forms of adhesive, nothing seems to hold it hard. I decided to use another method (from Old Vart at the Mercs). Bought a bike helmet and some signs to cut up. Also a craft ring, bondo, etc.

 

[BrenSett]

I took the "stuffing" out of the helmet, and sanded it a little with heavy grit to rough it up a bit around the holes to make sure bondo would stick well. I couldn't help but smile during this. There's just something about buying something that is perfectly good just so you can mess it up Anyway, I filled the holes with bondo and let it dry, did some rough sanding, and went back over it with more bondo to fill really bad spots. Sanded more, and am about to use filler to take care of small places. Here are a couple of shots of the helmet.

 

[BrenSett]

Jeez, anyone know what size to make pics so they don't pull up as thumbs? The first pic was 8" wide. I dropped the two helm pics to 6" wide, and they're still too big. I'll try dropping to 4 next time.

 

[Riceball]

Jeez, anyone know what size to make pics so they don't pull up as thumbs? The first pic was 8" wide. I dropped the two helm pics to 6" wide, and they're still too big. I'll try dropping to 4 next time.

If you can, work in pixels not inches and you'll find that you'll have fewer problems when posting pics online. At the smallest I'd size your pictures at 640x480 at 72 dpi and 800x600 at 72 dpi at the largest and you should be able to post full sized on most boards, anything larger than that your pics are likely to get resized.

 

[CasiusOntius]

I love watching scratch built jobs! Keep up the good work and remember to keep us posted!

 

[Saz]

I took the "stuffing" out of the helmet, and sanded it a little with heavy grit to rough it up a bit around the holes to make sure bondo would stick well. I couldn't help but smile during this. There's just something about buying something that is perfectly good just so you can mess it up Anyway, I filled the holes with bondo and let it dry, did some rough sanding, and went back over it with more bondo to fill really bad spots. Sanded more, and am about to use filler to take care of small places. Here are a couple of shots of the helmet.

From someone who also used a helmet to create the basic shape, take a piece of advice from me. You will need to cut the helmet so it will sit square onto the lowerpiece, this is around where those metal pins are that are holding the chin strap. I didn't cut square and tried to cut around the metal pins instead and made a right mess.

I wished I had cut a "V" from underneath and took out the pins before planning my work as it would have saved me a LOT of repair work. I'd also sand all the way so that you can just see bondo hole shapes, it will smooth out when you come to put the primer on and give it several goes with wet and dry paper. A bit of extra work, but worth it

The primer also helps you to see dinks.

 

[BrenSett]

Went back in with the filler, and sanded the whole thing smooth. I left two of the holes in the back for more air and a more custom look. I thought about the problem of getting the interior mask to lay flat on the helmet with those two pins sticking out, and I'm not sure how I'm going to get around that. I do understand what you mean about the things, but I kinda want to keep the chin strap attached for more secure fitting.

 

[BrenSett]

These are my boots. I am going to restain them until they are black. Then, I will attach "metal" plates to the parts where you see the white stitching( these were racing logos). I tried resizing, as suggested, and it still doesn't seem to work. The first pick is 640 pixels at 72 dpi. The second is even smaller.

 

[Ordeyn]

Nice boots! And your bucket is coming along. Pic size is no prob for me, no worries.

 

[Darkumn]

I love your designs for yuo and your wife. It seems you've put alot of thought into this. Always a good thing!

The boots are a nice touch! They are definitly differnt.

 

[BrenSett]

Thanks for all the support, guys. It really helps (even when life seems to constantly get in the way). I am still having trouble with the bucket. I cut out the inner surface, and wrapped it around the helmet. It was about a 1/4 inch too short. So, I enlarged the inner surface and made it longer. Strangely enough, it is still about 1/4 inch short?! Anyway, I am now going to measure the helmet, and use math to figure the correct distance and try again. New posts coming soon.

 

[Saz]

Do what I did, take a big piece of paper and wrap it around the helmet, then mark where they meet, you may want to use blu tac to keep the paper against the surface, but only a little mind, unfold the paper and measure the distance, that is how big it should be

Just remember that the helmet flares at the front, so you need to take that into account too.

 

[Riceball]

I tried resizing, as suggested, and it still doesn't seem to work. The first pick is 640 pixels at 72 dpi. The second is even smaller.

I think the issue might be with the board software, I think it automatically thumbnails images over a certain size. I think you might need to host the pictures yourself on a site like Photobucket and link them using the img code to embed the pictures in your post at full size. I'd just make that they're not much larger than 800x600 so they don't take up the entire screen or more and force a lot of people to have to side scroll to see the entire image.

Btw, your work looks pretty good so far. I like your concept art, I like that it looks very Mando like while at the same time it doesn't look simply like a recolored Boba or Jango.

 

[BrenSett]

Thnx for the advice, Saz. No worries about the flare. Once I get the distance correct, I will simply take the template and lengthen it. This should keep the overall look the same. I appreciate the help and the complements, Riceball, but I am giving up on the picture issue. No one seems to be complaining about the thumbs, anyway. Next post will include more pics. Going to go see a tutorial now. Bye.

 

[BrenSett]

Just checking in. Man, this is absolutely the largest and hardest costume undertaking I have tried. I've decided to go with trash can armor, but I'm going to try thicker trash cans. I am going to try a "brawn" if anyone knows what they are. (Big gray industrial types). I promise I will get back to work soon, but I had to take a break to get back custody of my youngest daughter. Will be back in court July, so bare with me.

 

[BrenSett]

Finally got more done to my helmet. Have attached the inner surface and the face part. Also started working on cheek pieces.

 

[BrenSett]

Had to slow down and take my time putting in the cheek plates, but little by little I did get that finished. I went ahead and cut out part of the visor slit so I could check the appearance and size ratio to the rest of my body. Finally, I have something that is really starting to look like a mando bucket.

 

[BrenSett]

Will try to get more posts up tomorrow. I will show what I have done to the boots, so far. They are red, but will be black when I am done. I know I am being kinda sporadic here, but it's just the way I am. See ya tomorrow.