Thats really quick progress. Amazed a little...Whilst looking at doing some mods to my Rubie's Westars... I couldn't find many pics of people having done the same, so I decided to take a load of progress pics just in case anyone else was looking to do the same...
I began by removing the screw covers. Though these were only pushed in, I didn't want to damage the blaster trying to get them out. I drilled a small hole through them, so I could hook them out.
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I then had to break the (glued?) seal around the tip. I carefully worked my way round with a Stanley knife.
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Once the seal was broken, I used a flat head screwdriver to carefully pry the tip off.
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Once the tip was removed the rest came apart pretty self explanatory.
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I wanted to add a little more weight to the blaster to make them fell less "cheap". I added polyurethane resin to each half to achieve this. Areas that needed to be kept clear (such as for the batteries and circuit board) were blocked off with Plasticine, that was removed once the resin was cured.
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The halves were then super glued back together, and the join lines and screw holes were filled in and sanded.
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To paint them I used Allcad 2 chrome for the first time and it's wonderful stuff! I wish I had gone the extra step and really buffed them up super smooth before painting so the chrome would really be shiny... This may be something I do in the future as I went a little too dark on the handles...
They still make the pew pew noises though!
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I made a start on the cod section also! I cut the little belt loop out of some 3mm aluminium and bent it around some steel bar.
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I chopped down the wings of the cod piece (as previously discussed in this thread ). I opted to leave a bit extra on as I found it helps to stop it from sliding out from under the girth belt.
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I made various belts for the holster set up by wrapping the same faux leather used previously, around webbing straps.
The thin ones had Velcro glued on and were sewn onto the holsters.
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Holes were punched and brass rivets were used to achieved the correct look.
As seen below, I used poppers to connect the holster belts to the webbing belt that holds the cod piece on.
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Brass rivets were used (along with a custom foam washer) to secure the holsters and belts to the thigh armour.
Outside...
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Inside...
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Of course a test fitting was necessary...
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I'm loving how this is turning out! I'm also really excited to get some silver on it!
Holy heck man that look amazing!! That's exciting, you look super cool so far. Also cough cough ... can you make another belt loop for me? I'll gladly pay.
Edit I just read that you're on the other side of the pond. Dang
Again, awesome work your doing. Looks great.
Thats really quick progress. Amazed a little...
I think its cool that you kept the pew pew noises
Also you are doing a good job at describing your work. Easy to follow!
Tom Walker ... your progress and accomplishment with that "scratch built" Jango is simply amazing. Simply amazing... Im so looking forward to seeing you suited up.Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Its time to get some colour on this armour!
I'm using Rub n Buff, so I began by masking of the areas I wanted to be silver as paint does not cover rub n buff (with it being wax based).
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Once applied, the masking was reversed and I began painting the blue.
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Once all the colours were on, I unmasked and test fitted the visor... I wasn't happy with the cheeks' colour, I felt it was too dark. So I re-masked and painted again.
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I was much happier with the subtle colour difference this time.
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The other parts of the helmet were painted and attached.
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I used 3mm black pinstripe tape for the lines above the visor and went around with black and brown acrylic paint for the weathering.
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I'm really happy with how this come out!
Having topped up my enthusiasm with this paint job I continued on...
I 3D printed the jetpack beacon and wired up a simple LED circuit which was glued inside the jetpack.
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I also did the same thing with the red LED on the left gauntlet.
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The jetpack was by for the hardest part to paint. Lots of masking and waiting for layers to dry... The symbols (Aurebesh?) were hand painted and acrylic paint's were used for the weathering.
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I might make another one just to hang on my wall! It would make an excellent display piece!
I made a few adjustment's following the results of my last suit up... I found one of the hardest parts was keeping everything in place/ not coming un-tucked etc... So I added some poppers to the bottom of the flak vest and onto the cod piece. This helped keep the vest tight and tucked in and the codpiece from hanging too low. These are covered by the girth belt when fully suited.
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Last few touch ups and adjustments to do and then it's suit up time!
OMG!! Dude your work is incredible! Wow! That bucket and pack look so good.
Tom Walker ... your progress and accomplishment with that "scratch built" Jango is simply amazing. Simply amazing... Im so looking forward to seeing you suited up.
I also second the idea of a third wall-bound Jetpack! It looks like its made for that purpose!
I would also like to inquire, if you were willing to make a fourth one and what you would charge. Just an idea and I havent debated if that would be a good idea and I havent even got anywhere to hang it really... Seeing your skill and what you did with that one just made me wonder.
Btw... Its not Aurebesh, as far as I remember. Aurebesh has a more industrial feel to it, with a lot of edges.
It is the same language / fond / charakters that appear on the displays in the Slave 1, If I remember correctly.
Edit: seems like I didnt remember correctly, the writing on the Slave 1 displays is Mandoa.
Looks awesome. You did a fantastic job.
Were you putting the vest on and then snapping each armor piece on while wearing the vest? That must have made your suit up time really long. You should be able to attach all the armor pieces to the vest and then slip the whole thing on over your head. Saves you the energy and time of having to connect each plate individually.
For me, suiting up is the sweatiest part of the whole gig. Once Im in the costume and have the helmet fans going, im good as gold. But that initial process of putting everything on usually makes me really hot.
No, just the collar piece. I can't get my head through the vest with the collar attached so I just have to remove that part... The rest of the armour stays attached to the vest along with the back plate, jetpack and harness. I put the lot on in one go.
Ah, good to know that it's not just me that melts while suiting up!
I definitely need to look into helmet fans too!