Custom Mandalorian Femmando! (first build, new here)

[ShanJ]

Hey guys! This is my first build, so I would really like some help! I've researched this both here and on the Mercs site for a good 6 months or so, and a while back I decided that I'd make myself some beskar'gam!

Originally (by originally I mean at the beginning of last year) I was going to do a cardboard mando, but I didn't put enough effort into it as everything was kind of crazy right then. I bought a skin-tight suit, and I was trying to avoid vests and baggy flight suits, but that hasn't worked out so well for me (I see the logic in them now). In exchange with my parents I agreed that if I did an extra curricular academic thing they wanted me to do, they would buy me a helmet and a set of armor (I'm not too confident in my ability to actually make the armor, but I plan on working my way there eventually). So, I did the thing, and they bought me a set of mando armor from The Mandalorian Arsenal and a Spartan helmet (I technically have two kits going on at once, but the Spartan armor is on the backburner while I do this as I plan to actually make that one (pepakura, bondo, all that jazz)). I hope to have the mando armor finished and ready to go well before the 13th of September (as I write this it's the 14th of May where I live) as I want to have it ready for Oz Comic Con (not to compete- just to wear). Now that I have that out of the way, it's picture time!

View attachment 76953
That's the kit, you can see that I still have the gauntlets in the blue tape it all came in, because when I trimmed it a few weeks back I didn't sand the edges on that as there is a tutorial for putting the gauntlets together.

Those are the pieces that I have no idea what they are. If anyone could tell me what they are supposed to be, well, it'd help a lot!

And finally, the concept art. I made this using the mando maker 3.0, here's the link:The Works of Pamela Mazurkevich

I'm planning on trying to buy a short-sleeve flight suit and having a tight long-sleeve shirt on underneath- the shirt sleeves will show from under the flight suit, which I think will look good. Then I plan on having some fingerless gloves. Here are the things I've been looking at:Army Navy - Flight Suits (scroll down to the short-sleeve one) and Amazon.com : NSSTAR Military Half-finger Fingerless Tactical Airsoft Hunting Riding Cycling Gloves : Bike Gloves : Sports & Outdoors
I already have boots.

(If some of the pictures aren't showing, follow this link:Mando Armor V1-Shan Photos by ShanJedi | Photobucket I'm not too sure how to work this interface)

Thanks!

 

[ShanJ]

Also (sorry for the double post) If someone could tell me somewhere to get some of the things I'll need cheap, as I live in Australia (NSW if that helps) and I have no idea where to get stuff. I figured out that before the con I'll have about $120 to spend, going up each week by $10.

Thanks guys!


Sent from my iPhone

 

[ShanJ]

So... Again sorry for the multiple posts, but I've just figured out another thing. The link I included for the flight suit up in the first post? I looked into it, and as far as I can tell, they don't ship to Australia. So I found this TruSpec 27P Flight Suit Coverall Black

Which is probably what I'll end up getting.


Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone

 

[ShanJ]

Sorry again for the multiple posts, but due to a lot of craziness at home I've decided that I will try to get this kit finished but I won't pressure myself into trying to get it finished before Oz Comiccon. Thanks


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[DanzoFett]

Good luck with the build

 

[ShanJ]

Good luck with the build

Thanks!

Yesterday my dad and I went and bought ourselves a dremel to help (also he'd wanted one for ages, this was just his excuse to get more tools) with the armor. We've been looking at the gauntlets and the tutorial on TMA's website and it's gonna need a lot of trimming before we can even attempt to assemble it. We also bought a glue called weldbond- it had been suggested to us as a non-toxic alternative to E6000 (I think that's what it's called, at least).

That's about it for now!

 

[ShanJ]

Again, sorry for the multiple posts but I have a couple of updates.

First off, my dad and I cracked out the dremel to start on the flats for the gauntlets (pics are on the photobucket album if any wants to see them) and now I have two considerable flatter flats (if that makes any sense).

Secondly, I was reading through the mercs' CRLs and I came across this

'Back covering:

• Some form of back covering is required. (Backpack, back armor, air tank, cape, cloak, etc.)
  Must cover at least 2/3 the overall width and length of the back.
• Back armor SHOULD be used as all canon references for Modern Era Mandalorians show back armor. However, if your Mandalorian wears a duster or other jacket or a cape that fully covers the back from shoulder to shoulder and neck to waist, the use of a backplate is not required. Backpacks and jetpacks are also acceptable in lieu of a back plate. However, the back covering must completely cover the back as to make it unknown that there is no backplate present.
• Soft back coverings can be substituted for back armor pieces as long as they add to the overall look of the applicant's armor.
• Full/half capes are acceptable as long as they cover the entire back area. (No armor vest should be showing.)
• Soft/hard backpacks/packs are acceptable alternatives. '

I spotted that jacket comment and I thought it might be a fun concept to play around with a bit. Go and have a look at this This is the jacket I'm liking so far Extra Long Sleeveless Leather Trench Coat but the only problem is that it's a bit expensive. If someone knows something similar to this but cheaper (doesn't have to be actual leather, as well) that'd be great!

Well, that's about it for now I think. Thanks!


EDIT 9/07/14
Well, I have finally discovered that little edit button so hopefully there will be no more multi-posts unless I'm replying to someone.

EDIT 10/07/14
I haven't done much more but I do have a question and a few other things.
First off, I've redesigned the concept slightly and here it is!
(if you want a bigger version, it's on the photobucket.)


The RGB codes for this were:
green 1 : 2B4B00
green 2 : 575A00
brown 1 (belt) : 5E2F00
black : 0
Secondly, I have a couple of questions. I have the 3 piece Night Owl cod(), and I was wondering: A. How do you 'attach' it? You wouldn't really be able to attach it to the belt as it's 3 separate pieces, so I'm a bit stumped, and B. I was originally planning on my mando having night-owl aspects to it (eg. I was planning on having a night owl helmet but with a different paint scheme, but I've decided on a normal T-visor helmet now) but now I'm not so sure that it would fit with my character's theme (I have decided to go the path with the duster) as I would like to import some characteristics of the smuggler from that trailer in SWTOR. Another option with the cod would be to do something like this or this with just one or two of the actual pieces. What do you think?

That's all for today!

 

[NegativeEleven]

I know you're probably well into this build, but as a female mando, you might want to do separate pants/shirt rather than flightsuit. I'm helping my girlfriend build a mando and knowing how often she goes to the bathroom, my first suggestion was pants/shirt instead of flightsuit. Work your ammo belt to hide the 2 parts.

For the codpiece, that's tricky. I haven't done one like that. My mando (in progress) Boba use the same style cod with one snap at the bottom (where the seams come together in the flight suit's crotch), 2 snaps above the butt for the kidney armor, and then elastic between the two that detaches on one side with velcro to put it on. I think if you snapped or used velcro to attach all three pieces top/bottom to your flightsuit, it's going to really restrict your movement, or just keep popping off (possibly breaking).With a black undersuit, you could mount these 3 pieces onto something black (fabric or something solid) so that they don't shift too much, then attach elastic to the bottom to run between the legs and up to a kidney plate, then at the top either snap to the front of the suit or attach to the belt in some way.

 

[ShanJ]

I know you're probably well into this build, but as a female mando, you might want to do separate pants/shirt rather than flightsuit. I'm helping my girlfriend build a mando and knowing how often she goes to the bathroom, my first suggestion was pants/shirt instead of flightsuit. Work your ammo belt to hide the 2 parts.

For the codpiece, that's tricky. I haven't done one like that. My mando (in progress) Boba use the same style cod with one snap at the bottom (where the seams come together in the flight suit's crotch), 2 snaps above the butt for the kidney armor, and then elastic between the two that detaches on one side with velcro to put it on. I think if you snapped or used velcro to attach all three pieces top/bottom to your flightsuit, it's going to really restrict your movement, or just keep popping off (possibly breaking).With a black undersuit, you could mount these 3 pieces onto something black (fabric or something solid) so that they don't shift too much, then attach elastic to the bottom to run between the legs and up to a kidney plate, then at the top either snap to the front of the suit or attach to the belt in some way.

I'm not actually that far into the build- so far I've just done some basic trimming around the edges of the pieces and started on the gauntlets. I have been looking over at the mando mercs soft parts forum and I've seen some discussion on one piece flight suit vs two piece. I'm looking into it more, but thanks for the suggestion! One of the main problems I face with the two piece is that I have no sewing skill whatsoever and the chances of being able to buy something cheaply in the same colour and fabric around here at least (don't know anything about the rest of the world) would be pretty much impossible. So I'm still trying to work out logistics (slash find a pattern to work off and try and get my mum to teach me). The belt is also a pretty good idea because I was planning on finding some rope or thick twine and using that as a belt (see up in the concept- something like that).

One of the reasons I suggested changing to one or two of the pieces was so I could simplify how to attach it- especially if I'm using just one. Another alternative would be a soft cod but I don't think that would work as well with the 'style' of the kit. I agree with you on the mounting them onto the flightsuit- that would potentially be very bad. If I mounted them on a piece of fabric, I could possibly even use snaps to connect the fabric to the flightsuit. Not sure if it would work, it was just an idea which popped into my head.

Now for updates!

First off. Because this is a custom mando, I've been working on a background for her a bit. I've settled on the name Viinir 'Echo' Rayshe'a which translates to 'Run Five'. The story behind her is that her clan got in too deep in some underworld operation, stuffed up, and had bounties but on their heads. She ran and as far as she knows, her clan are dead. Taking the name Viinir Rayshe'a because of the fact she ran and that she was her parents fifth child (that's a lot of kids!) she became a part time mercenary, full time smuggler. The underworld call her Echo as it is thought that as soon as the cops get there, all that remains of her is the echo of her engine. A long time on the run has made her great at getaway plans. She also has 'Echo' tattooed in Mando'a on her face like this:

I'm thinking for the tat I will use something like this:VIBE Standard Black : European Body Art and a stencil (if I can figure out how to make one).

Second off, progress! We were working with the dremel yesterday on the gaunts and a few other things. Here are pics:








Edit 15/07/14
Well, hopefully I will be going to Star Wars Celebration next year, so I'm aiming to have it finished before then (about 40 weeks).

I've been looking at scrubs on the web after I read through a few things over on the merc's forum. I was thinking that modifying this to have a neck seal might work (and removing the pocket)Butter-Soft Scrubs Unisex Long Sleeve Scrub Top | Unisex Scrubs I've also been looking through the pants and I thought this would work: Dickies EDS Signature Scrubs Missy Fit Pull-On Pant, Everyday Scrubs

That's about all for today!

Edit 21/7/14
So, we've worked on the gaunts a bit more over the weekend but there arent any progress photos. A few other things as well but they can be saved for later.

 

[ShanJ]

Arise, dead thread! Wow, it's been nearly a year since I've been on here- sorry about that. Progress has been made- and a pretty good lot of it!
If you want to go read through my thread on the mercs board, have a look here. But if you dont want to bother reading through all 7 odd pages of it, I'll copy paste my progress list/log/thing over here for you. Thanks.
Planning:
Items + Status:
MandoMaker Concept- Complete (3/11/14)
Chosen paints + primer- Bought (30/11/14)
Buy armor kit-Complete, arrived (3/11/14)
Buy Helmet- Arrived, painted (18/2/15)
Helmet Bag- Arrived (28/2/15)
Choose a 'theme'- Options posted, possible chosen, not bothering with most of that at the moment (28/03/15)

Soft Parts:
Items + Status:
Flightsuit – Arrived. (18/2/15)
Vest – Partially made- Mostly sewn.(28/03/15)
Girth- Not done, partially planned(3/11/14)
Belts- Not done, partially planned(3/11/14)
Duster/Outer Vest- Not done, partially planned(30/11/14)
Hard Parts:
Items + Status:
Gaunts-
Right Gaunt- Primed and silvered with a clear coat (30/11/14)
Left Gaunt - Primed and silvered with a clear coat (30/11/14)
Chest plates – Need painting, snaps/Velcro(3/11/14)
Collar- Will definitely need extending, pics to come once vest is finished and plates can be attached (18/2/15)
3 piece cod- needs painting, snaps/velcro(3/11/14)
Thighs, Knees, Shins- Needs painting, snaps/velcro/elastic(3/11/14)
Helmet- Complete- needs patching up, shiny needs to be dulled + got some weathering tips at Star Wars Celebration (19/4/15)