My Zam Project Progress

[JDFett]

tried the burnign thing..wasnt working out fast enough for me as i really like to move quick...so i took the oval punch i bought and smashed it into an oblong shape...it ended up being maybe 1/16 inch longer than the standard 1/4 inch but i figure that will just give the skirt a little more movement overall and not be so tight...i think ill have to go for some 1/4 inch lacing for sure however as i think the 3/16th may be too loose now...in a since i will end up with the same feel as becky's skirt but with a tad bigger hole and correct size lacing...if i can find some

 

[sl tk8456]

I dunno about speed mate. Speed was the reason behind the solderring iron as I meant waiting for the correct punch to arrive. Stuff that I thought! Heated her up and bang, worked like a dream!

I did line 2 up underneath each other. Think I may have got cocky and also tried 3, so yeah maybe it is quicker overall?

When you do it make sure you puch the blade down into a thin crevice. Don't leave the blade in too long as it'll tarnish the leather...I think?
You then need to file the charred skin away but that happens anyway when you lace.

Oh and clean the blade every now and again. It needs to be hot see

A punch maybe quicker but who knows if you can more than one at a time?

 

[JDFett]

finally more progress....

here is the skirt leather cut out and holes punched...

with Jamie for size reference...

Jamie made the shirt today as well while I was dying the squares(which is almost done now)

and here is a progress picture of some of her stuff...hehe

boots need a repaint as they are not dark enough...

 

[JDFett]

and here is the skirt after a long day of dying..and getting purple fingers as well!

as you know we are going for a more VD darker movie zam...i think this looks pretty good...dying is such a difficult thing to do when your looking to get as many variations as possible...but i think we got the main color we were looking for..its actually a bit darker in person...the flash blew it out a bit and i tried to recreate with the touch ups and got it pretty close...

 

[JDFett]

so now i need to lace it up...i found some continuous lace on montana leather...it's 1/4" X 64' natural cowhide....is that enough or should i get two for a total of 128'? anyone??? Im figuring at least 2 1/2 feet down the skirt so that would be 5 feet down and back...times the rows, i come out with 40' of continuous lace...I think if i get the one at 64' that should be enough...

 

[JDFett]

so i redid the boot and finished the second one...here are a bunch of shots to compare the colors in the various lighting situations as well as the visual dictionary color comparison...man who knew purple could be so hard?

first some of the skirt colors compared to the VD

now the boots...

another wider angle shot of the VD comparrison...

here is the boots taken inside in the shadows no flash...some skirt pieces are in the picture as well...

and here are a couple pictures outside on full sun with most of the pieces we've got ready...the first one is without the flash hence more shadows, the second is full sun no flash....

 

[sl tk8456]

Nice dude! Me and Becky found that rubbing the exposed corners of the sins with a pencil eraser helps to give a faded weathered look to the part you rub.
Black shoe scuff cover polish helps to dirty them a little.
Gives them a more worn look.

how did you stick the panels onto the shoes?

 

[JDFett]

by panels i assume you are refering to the lace covers? if so i used leather weld glue...when that is leather on leather the stuff never comes apart unless you really give it a good yank..ya still need to weather the shins and shoes a bit...hadnt got there today...started doing the vest...uggg!

 

[MaulMaus]

When you move..you move... Yikes. I'm feeling like a glacier here!

Re: lace - at least 5-6 feet per row of lace (Meaning one side down from the belt then back up to the belt ) Add up how many rows you have on your skirt.

On you skirt... did you take into account overlap for each square? With the pics of your wife laying next to the skirt squares - With them all flat like that, they look about the right length, but when you lace them together, they overlap like roof shingles...

 

[JDFett]

ya....if you notice the skirt is actually about two rows too high up her back as she is laying there so I think it will be okay...

in other news...got the white garment pigskin for the vest and took off on a wing and a prayer...it's by no means perfect but we planned on having our leather guy make a super quality replacment after Dcon...just didnt want to not have a vest for that so we had a go ourselves...now im not the king of the stitch but i think its coming along okay for my first leather attmept...

okay the vest as you know was first made out of real cheap pigskin...using that as a pattern i cut out these...

I then cut out four identical pieces and sewed them 2X2 into this...

I then sewed the two front panels to the back and then sewed on the epaulets..sounds a lot easier than it was...

I still have to add the shoulder padding and then I intend on glueing a second piece of leather inside the shoulder and neck area only... all the sides were left with an added inch of leather so i could fold it over and glue it down inside...the sides that will be laced I folded over about 2 inches instead for added strenght and may still glue an additional piece of leather down the inside by that area....need to still install a zipper and the lace for the epaulets as well.

dont even ask me how this was done cause i basically just winged it for the most part...

 

[sl tk8456]

Hey dude, looking cool. Love the speed all this is flowing along.

Where did you get the patern for the vest from? Would you mind sending it to me and Becky please?

Ta

John

 

[JDFett]

sorry dude...i didnt use a patternlol:

I actually kindof traced out my motorcycle vest and changed the armpit area...then i put it on jamie and made some minor changes...pinned it in place and then used the original cheapo material vest that i did all that with as the pattern for the white pigskin...if any of that makes since...

im sure its not totally perfect but it will do until we can get a real nice one made up

 

[JDFett]

just showing a progress report...

we just need to put the eyeholes and zipper in the vest, then paint it, sew up the belt, paint a couple greeblies, do the cape and veil and lace up the skirt. after that we will be just about done...just waiting on the delivery of moncals helmet and binocs and for his gauntlets with hand and thumb guards to be available...I figure the helmet and the gauntlets will go pretty quick as its mostly finish and weather situation....gawd...we only got june, july and august to finish....argggggg!!!

question on the helmet and gauntlets...did everyone else go the rub and buff finish for those or did you actually go with an actual paint?

 

[MaulMaus]

No gauntlets yet... But the helmet came with a metallic color already (I think metal was put in the resin or whatever DCB used ) But I went ahead and put Rub-n-Buff on it anyway then weathered it. MonCal's helmets will be different, so you'll need to decide if you want to paint or go with the Rub-n-Buff. I've seen both done on Jango armor and both can look great ... I do know really good quality paint costs quite a bit. I'll probably end up using the ol-Rub-n-Buff myself.

 

[JDFett]

ya..i actually like the rub and buff...i use silver,then use pewter and the bronze color for the weathering/rust color...comes out looking pretty cool i think...plus it's wax so it is real waterproof as well i imagine...

 

[sl tk8456]

If you check out Becky's thread there's a few posts on there how I managed to get the chest parts looking very metallic. I'm quite pleased with them anyway
It's all down to a light sanding in one plane only. Helps to give the material a grain. Like metal will have.
Easily done on a flat piece but not too sure on the curved parts you mention.

Rub n buff is good but Becky hasn't put that on her other parts. I may persuade her tomorrow, but they all looks cool as they are. However I have put them on her chest parts, just not the other parts.
Whatever you do I'd do it in one direction only and use 3 or 4 different shades of silver paint in layers plus the rub n buff. Use a broad brush to help hide brush strokes.

 

[JDFett]

got my lace for the skirt today...will be working on that in the next day or "sew"...got 1/4 inch lace at 6 feet long from montana leather...only about 30 USD for 10 pieces

 

[MaulMaus]

Was that a special order? Don't even remember seeing that on their site... Hmmmm.... :facepalm May need to rethink this part. My lace came out a bit too dark for me anyway...

 

[JDFett]

they had something called 1/4" rawhide lace that needed to be soaked to use, so i called them and asked what else they had in that size that was a bit more pliable than the cowhide...so i ordered it over the phone actually...

 

[MaulMaus]

So what kind of lace is it?