General First attempts at scrap Helmet and armor

[Samkrow76]

Ok, so first I have to say that this is the first time I have ever tried to make a suit or anything. I will be using foam and plasti dip as well as sintra for the armor. For the helmet I am using Wof's templates and Antman's tutorial thread as reference. This is going to be my first time using bondo/wall filler and I am going to give it my best.
It is my goal to have my entire costume done by the 28th of October. I welcome all criticism and opinions/tips that anyone can offer. Posts with pictures of my progress to follow.
Wish me luck

Samkrow


Strength and Honor

 

[Samkrow76]

Made my shoulder pieces tonight out of foam. I had barely enough time to cut them out and form them. Early day tomorrow, but after work I am planning on finishing the cut-outs of for my armor sections.
More to come soon.

 

[Matthewr7935]

Sounds great I'm using pepukara and body filler to make mine keep going it will look great


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[Samkrow76]

Thanks a bunch

I am using Antman's work as a template for the helmet and going to go with Wof's work on all of the armor. I am making both gauntlets knees and eventually the jet-pack. Helmet is #1 though. Maybe someday I will do pepakura and fiberglass with bondo but I know it takes a ton of skill/time/money to do that. My brother was an advanced composite fabricator in the Air Force and he showed me how to work with fiber glass...... screw that noise haha.

 

[Samkrow76]

So tonight I cut out the most of the rest of my armor on foam, heated and formed them, and then sprayed plasti dip on the pieces. I have the chest and belly sections as well as the shoulders.




I did not make the most clean cuts on one part but I did heat it up and smooth it out, which worked fairly well.







I ran out of plasti dip, need to buy more. I noticed that less really is not more with plasti dip spray. I have read several posts regarding it and to get that glossy smooth finish a good amount of it needs to be applied or it just looks really textured and that is not really what I am going for. As always any and all input is appreciated.

 

[Samkrow76]

Ok so between work and life I have had limited time to work on my build, but I put in some solid time last night. I cut the cod piece, back belt, and neck pieces last night. I also cut the first part of my helmet out. I used 2mm matt board from Michael's craft store and Alan's templates. Then using the mist setting on a spray bottle I lightly coated the cut out with water. I then bent it to shape and let it sit.
This whole process took about 2 hours. Going slow and making precise cuts, and I still did not do it as perfectly as I hoped to.


Over all I think that I did a good job on this part. I need to cut out the rest of the armor, form it, and then plasti dip all of the parts. Side note, to get a really good glossy look to plasti dip, do not spray as recommended on the can. Get CLOSE and make it wet. Be careful of runs. Do several layers of light coat (this will look textured) and then do your finishing layer. Looks pretty good when you are done lol:

I have some other work done as well but I did not get a chance to photograph them. More to come...

 

[Samkrow76]

Ok so I have been busy at work but the last few days I have been putting in some quality hours on my helmet. I have the dome and visor sections attached to the inner surface. Just a side note, remember to always use a REALLY sharp knife/razor blade to cut out this matt board. It is really hard to cut even if your blade is a little dull.
Anyway, I had some serious trouble with the dome. I cut it out really closely to the template, not perfect, and then tried to assemble the three sections. Fail.
It was not nearly domed enough. The trick with this part is to wet the matt board really well and bend it farther than you would think necessary. More than 45 degrees. the dome is somewhat sharp angled arch and not a 60 degree dome.

I had to remember to put in the arch supports cut out from Alan's template, this part helped. I found the easiest way to do this was to glue the bottom sections down and let them dry all to the curved base of the dome.
Next I wet down and pressed firm the "fingers" of the dome to get them to go together. Most of them lined up perfectly but a few rebelled against me, so I delt with them like the French and cut the tips of them off

Then a dab of hot glue at the point for some instant securing and later I added wood glue. Every gluing phase I let the helmet sit for about 8 hours or so until it was very solid. I was afraid of going at it too early and having it come apart on me.
At this stage I was starting to see a helmet come together, but saw some serious errors. Hopefully I can make these go away with the wall filler and sanding (x100). As always if anyone has any tips tricks or criticisms let me know Thanks


Samkrow

 

[Samkrow76]

Right into it, I have done some more work on the helmet. Wall filler has been applied to the dome and have dome.



This is what it looks like now. I have some sanding and re applying of the filler ahead of me. Hopefully it will not require 10 re-applications.
I will post after I have a good looking dome, also going to cut out the cheek and visor sections.
blah blah

Samkrow

 

[Samkrow76]

So last night I did some more work on on the bucket.
I sanded the filler down and added more to some spots. Re sanded that. I think I have a few more to go before it looks as good as I want it to.
Side note: I used two different types of matt board on this project. The one I am using currently is so much easier to use. It has no paper like substance on the back of it making the cutting out so so so much easier.
I also cut out the cheek sections, the cheek back plate, and formed the cheeks. This is by far the most difficult step that I have had so far. Figuring out how to bend the form appropriately was a nightmare. But I think I finally figured it out. Here are some update pics of what I have.


- - - Updated - - -

If anyone reads this thread please any and all criticism or suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Berry]

Are you trying to bust out the whole costume by the 28th or just the armor pieces?
Looking good so far, keep updating.

 

[Matthewr7935]

Where do you get all these templates from


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[Samkrow76]

Are you trying to bust out the whole costume by the 28th or just the armor pieces?
Looking good so far, keep updating.

Yes Berry I am, and I think at the pace that I am going I should finish by 11:59 on the 27th
I have the armor finished, the gauntlets and knee pads still to do, the jetpack cut out but not assembled (still trying to find a good how-to on Wof's templates on the jetpack and gauntlets) and the helmet is almost ready for painting. Just the range finder left to complete.
Thank you for your support and compliments. I am posting some of my work from today right now as well.

Where do you get all these templates from[/url]

I had the really good fortune of having Wizard of Flight's templates. He is on here every once in a while. You can pm him or ask him for his email. I would give it to you but I am not sure how he feels about his personal email being thrown out there, so I would just ask him. He has been super helpful and patient with me. I could not have done it without him at all. He provided armor, jetpack, helmet, and everything else in templates custom fit for me.

Anyway here is some of the progress that I accomplished on my last day off for awhile here:


I cut out the hole for the dent using a drill and razor blade to give it a good edge. Next I hot glued a cardboard back to the bottom of the rather shallow hole. I then added my wall filler, which I have yet to sand and reapply. The arrows are going to be toutchd up as well then painted black eventually.

As always any comments questions or criticism is appreciated

 

[Samkrow76]

Hello,
So last night I did a little of the detail paint work on my armor and sidearm. I used testors enamel silver, steel gray, and yellow.
Let me know what you think. This stuff is really starting to come together!


I had to order the jumpsuit online because I am a bit of a giant and could not find one that fit me here in Az that was the right color.
After the gauntlets and knees and jetpack, all stuff not as hard as what I have done, I will be pretty much done. Detail work after that like the cape, scalps, and ammo belt will go quickly. The hardest/most time consuming item I have left is the jetpack.

- - - Updated - - -

Something weird is going on with my uploads, they are not showing up as images anymore and I do not know what i did different

 

[Samkrow76]

Still working on the Jetpack, gauntlets, and knees. I will post work when I have the chance, work has been kinda grinding on me lately but tonight I should have some free time to post a bit. I hope to get the frame for the pack done tonight. I have to keep on this haha if I want to be done for the 28th. I am in a competiton with my brother who is building a Sith Acolyte costume that admittedly looks really sick. Brotherly love haha

 

[Berry]

Paint job on the gun is looking good, I couldn't tell much from the armor pieces because they were in the background. But I bet you'll post pictures of those later.
The base is looking good, I think it needs a little bit more fine weathering on it, like little scratches or things like that to pull it together. just micro damage to make it more detailed.

The jetpack is going to be a challenge, I'm still waiting for mine to come in the mail. That'll be a beast to tackle. Are you going ROTJ or ESB paint jobs on these? I'm thinking ESB but I may be wrong haha

 

[Samkrow76]

I am trying to do esb, but honestly I am really not going to be too picky on it. I think one of the major differences is in the color of the gaunts? I am not too sure. I have done a bunch of work lately but I got so into it I did not stop to take pictures every step of the way. Will do so soon. Almost done constructing the bucket, then seal, prime, and paint. Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt should be tons of fun.
I did do some recent weathering of my armor and I will post some picks tonight.
My jetpack is half built, the missile is proving to be a pain, trying to make it all out of mat board using Wof's templates.

 

[Berry]

Yeah, the huge difference between ROTJ and ESB paint jobs is the jetpack and gauntlets, as well as the weathering pattern on the helmet.
Honestly, the jetpack is way less complicated to paint since there isn't fifty-thousand colours on it.

Looking forward to the updates.

 

[Samkrow76]

I like the colors of rotj jetpack more, and gauntlets. I am not sure. His helmet is way more beat up in rotj as well am I correct?

 

[Berry]

I would say the ESB bucket is definitely more beat up, at least to me. The dent pattern and the huge scratch across the ESB right eye is the biggest difference. I'll never know why they made a new helmet for ROTJ. Personally I like the damage patterns better in ESB.

 

[Samkrow76]

Yes I am going rotj for the helmet, I think for the whole costume actually I like it better.

So I did some progress on the Jetpack, which I have taken some literary license with haha. I shortened up the whole thing a bit and changed some of the details. I have not made the thrusters, caps, or missile yet. Here are some photos of my progress so far on both, and some funny pictures.






My photos will not show up in the thread, just click on them. I am sorry I did not do anything different but they just stopped working correctly.
Let me know what you think. I also added wall filler to them to even out the rough spots but I did not photograph that yet.

Samkrow