Hydra's Armorer Build

[Hydra]

Love the character, her kit looks fairly simple, I have a looming convention. Let's make the Armorer.

I plan on sewing/crafting the soft parts from scratch. Armor will be 3D printed for time conservation (and because there are so few pieces).
I will be making at least her hammer, if not the small "welding" torch she uses to attach Din's signet.

Here I've shown how I come up with proportions using a sample image. I am 5'4" or approx 162cm, using the image for scale (25cm) I can calculate the size range of her accessories.

The helmet I want to scale a little but smaller than how it sat on the actress' head in the show. What you see is a 3D scan of my noggin in the accurate dimensions of my head - that way I know exactly how big or small it needs to be when we move onto the printing process. (The base model is from Do3D, although we are modifying details/scewing some lines.)

The beginnings of the hammer! This guy will be birthed in the resin printer.

 

[Mike M.]

it's been a long time since i've seen a new hydra build. you always do amazing work, i look forward to following this.

 

[Mr Fett]

Awesome. Looking forward to the results!

 

[Hydra]

Very lucky to have friends working on similar projects. Shawn of Thorsson & Associates Workshop sent me a bucket in exchange for a trade we had done a couple years ago and I promptly forgot about. Thorsson & Associates Workshop | A custom fabrication shop that brings your ideas to life.

Great sizing for 5'4" gal.

Not making the bucket and back/chest armor is going to save a lot of time, which is good because I may be (no, I am) aiming to have this project done (v1) by the middle of next month.

Hello there. Thank goodness she made it.

Quick proportion check with helmet and the hammer. The hammer is resin printed from the model I had posted above. Peach colored resin is what we have laying around.

I am currently working on drafting the flight suit and have acquired a sheepskin that I will need to dye and condition for her shoulder shrug.

 

[Hydra]

I’ve been working on the flight suit/base layer. I’m using a grey/green stretch suiting (more on that later). Some funky details to work through, so I started with the sleeves.

Even with high resolution screen grabs it’s hard to see exactly what’s going on with the details. Got to hope that at some point the costume will go on display somewhere.

My guess thus far is that these are folded and top-stitched details.

I started by hot pressing my cut fabric pieces into shape. Using a temporary adhesive I fixed them to their places and sewed down using a very small margin.

Not a perfect match, but ignorance is bliss... for now, haha.

 

[frejus]

Looks great!

 

[Hydra]

Quick update on the base layer.

I used a polyester/spandex suiting blend in more of a green color. I intend to do some dying/airbrushing towards the end of the project to bring the vivid tone down a little bit more.

Started with McCall's M2054 as a base, with a lot of modifications. At 5'4", average build, the small was still considerably baggy, If anyone decides to give this pattern a go, I recommend mocking this pattern to dial it in.

Again, addressing the lack reference material for the armorer, I'm going to try my best with the details, as how they can be interpreted from grainy/dark screen grabs.

Like, what on earth is going on with her pant legs?

I believe there's some kind of spacer on the outside seam of the pant leg? Beats me. Blame it on the v1 iteration.

Flightsuit v1

Pant... leg... opening detail? Haha.

I also replaced the inside double sleeve with wicking performance wear fabric for a little airflow.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

And here we go.... look forward to seeing it all done Liz.

 

[Boba Leo]

Amazing work!!!

 

[Hydra]

Thanks guys! Trying to crank this project out quick!

Tonight I made a balaclava and neck seal. Glimpses of her neck seal are even more limited than other details. (The helmet is huge on Emily’s head, lol.)

From what I’m assuming, it looks like production cranked out a ton of these in the same style. I thought it looked like Din’s grey color, so that the shade I went with.

For the balaclava I followed the Rebel’s style, first mocking it out in tape.

The neckseal was whipped up from pattern by SionnachStudios.

The grey fabric is a cotton/spandex blend, the black is a thin activewear blend.

 

[Yoslvr442]

very cool! I was wondering if anyone was going to tackle the Armorer. Looking great.

 

[LanceM71]

Wow, you've got some sewing skills! Looks really good.

 

[Mike M.]

Quick update on the base layer.

I used a polyester/spandex suiting blend in more of a green color. I intend to do some dying/airbrushing towards the end of the project to bring the vivid tone down a little bit more.

View attachment 186009
Started with McCall's M2054 as a base, with a lot of modifications. At 5'4", average build, the small was still considerably baggy, If anyone decides to give this pattern a go, I recommend mocking this pattern to dial it in.

Again, addressing the lack reference material for the armorer, I'm going to try my best with the details, as how they can be interpreted from grainy/dark screen grabs.
View attachment 186010
Like, what on earth is going on with her pant legs?

View attachment 186011
I believe there's some kind of spacer on the outside seam of the pant leg? Beats me. Blame it on the v1 iteration.

it does look like a great big pleat, kind of makes me think at one point she was supposed to wear the pant over the boot to allow the room for that. but somebody changed their mind on it. though it would make sense for the pant to cover the boot, flying sparks and hot slag aren't the kind of thing you want to settle in the side of your boot.

 

[Hydra]

it does look like a great big pleat, kind of makes me think at one point she was supposed to wear the pant over the boot to allow the room for that. but somebody changed their mind on it. though it would make sense for the pant to cover the boot, flying sparks and hot slag aren't the kind of thing you want to settle in the side of your boot.

It’s honestly a really odd detail without context, you’d think from a practical standpoint (not that SW is known for this), slag could fly into a pocket like that. Ouch.

It’ll be interesting to see some day what her flightsuit is really like from a construction POV.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

a few of us building death watch suits from the show have been looking at the red kap brand coveralls. I bet they used something like a heavy weight carhart for hers. They open up the leg like that.

 

[Hydra]

Ah, yes. My first speed bump on this build.

Upon seeing how much some builders have been spending on their sheepskins (~$100 USD and up) for her fur cape so far. I thought, there’s got to be a better way to get something accurate.

I acquired a small sheepskin from my local IKEA. ($30.00)

The unsuspecting pelt.

Having worked with faux fur and a few applications of real fur, I know that the protein fibers of the fur need an appropriate dye application, like hair dye.

The store had these guys on sale for $3.00 a box.

In theory this worked, but sheepskin has a lot of fleece down on the nape, the dye wasn’t enough to penetrate all the way down.

Please note that if you apply water to any kind of animal hide, it’s important to keep the leather conditioned, or you will end up with a furry frisbee.

The fleece.

I plan to solve this by first combing and airbrushing to coat the fibers, then finishing with a rit dye bath to tint the left over fleece and skin.

 

[Hydra]

Did an airbrush pass on the helmet base. I’ll buff some of it out at this point, but I’d love a second opinion on the dominate coloring her helmet.

The tone here is from Thorsoli’s power coat, but I’m thinking she needs some more yellow-gold.

She obviously has a gloss coat.

 

[Hydra]

Did a mock up of a glove to figure out if I can get away with faux stretch suede. Real leather gloves are great but not the most dextrous.

Need to go back through and figure out the seam lines on her gloves, for now I think this fabric weight may work (especially for convention settings).

 

[shteymetal247]

Awesome, awesome, awesome! Keep killin it Hydra

 

[Sabertooth]

Can't wait to see it finished