Ord Mantell's PP2 Build

[Ord Mantell]

The big masking errors have been fixed. I'm now adding the detailed chipping.

 

[viewoptic]

Looks awesome!!

 

[Ord Mantell]

Okay, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just one more day to get the blue-gray weathering on, then some of the post-weathering scratches and filing, including the signature massive scratch on the left mandible, then the visor inserted and this whole build will be completed! hooray!

 

[BudaFett]

I swore you said this was your first helmet?!

 

[DrToothache]

That helmet looks amazing

 

[Ord Mantell]

I swore you said this was your first helmet?!

Yes, it's my first helmet, but it's really the same techniques as the pp2 armor, it's just that the detail is denser. I got busy the last few days and haven't worked on it, but will get back to it tomorrow.

no visor yet but here's a sneak peak of the helmet waiting on the display for the final weathering.

 

[Ord Mantell]

Fine detailing complete. Five more things on the to-do list. Basically one more session of work. Don't worry about the red overspray on the cheeks. Its there on the original, too.

 

[BudaFett]

Ugh stunning!!

 

[Ord Mantell]

Well, just one more thing left. As usual, sometimes the list gets longer as you go, which happened this week. My blue-gray misting wasn't blue enough so I had to do it again, problem is, that makes the misting heavier than it should be because you can't really remove misting. So I had to go back over some stuff which was a big pain. It looks plenty blue in person but in photos it doesn't show up as well as I'd like. Part of that is iphone sucks at reproducing blues correctly.

All that's left is the gelcoat scratch on the left mandible near the top. It's stenciled in right now but the plan is to use files to make it a true scratch that reveals the white gelcoat. The other option is to paint it on, but I think that would bug me in the long run. However, there is a pretty big risk of ruining the entire paintjob if I slip up. Which is entirely feasible. In reality, it would be much better to carve the scratch before primer goes on, that way you can just repeat over the groove already there. I took a swing on the practice helmet and the results weren't great. Although that particular cast has a very rough texture in that area which makes it a lot harder to do.


practice helmet:

 

[Ord Mantell]

Good news. The scratch turned out okay. I used a fresh Xacto knife blade to score it out and then a trusty sharp file to widen where necessary. I used some vinyl tape to help keep the blade from veering off course.

Then I needed to drill out the blind holes at the bottom of the visor. I highly recommend these if going the traditional visor installation route.

And now it's complete! And so is this entire build! I'll be celebrating by taking a ton of pictures of the whole thing but first here are some glamour shots of the fresh helmet.

 

[belloq]

Incredible dedication and detail work, congrats!

 

[Ord Mantell]

Incredible dedication and detail work, congrats!

Thanks! The difference between dedication and obsessiveness is a fine line.


So I forgot the interior of the helmet needs a couple things done before I'm really >really< done. Right now a screw is missing for one of the top clips, so I'll need to replace that, but more importantly need to connect the electronics board to the wires and switch of the right ear. And install the battery pack and some foam inserts. But I suspect there was no foam on the crown which is probably why the helmet sat so low on the model's head in the LFL shoot. Note that this is a thin cast with cloth glass interior more like the original helmet, done by minutefett.

 

[BudaFett]

Gorgeous! Stunning! Brillant!

 

[Ord Mantell]

Been fiddling with the suit a little, getting ready to take a bunch of pics of the whole thing complete and together for the first time. I took these as test shots just to play around... I think the consensus is, I should put that crayon mark on the front. It's not there in the 1978 photo shoot at the beginning of the shoot but its definitely there near the end when the closeups were taken and my close-ups just don't look right without it.

cape and blaster were still on the floor...

 

[BudaFett]

I need a crayon!

 

[boba87fett]

Absolutely stunning. Setting the bar so high, it will take tremendous efforts for anyone to achieve greater!

 

[Ord Mantell]

Now that this build is pretty much complete... a quick retrospective before some final shots of the whole thing together...

how it started...

getting serious....

how it finished...

Thanks for following along! Next week I'll upload more photos of the complete build before I sign off this thread for good.

 

[BudaFett]

Have you worn it?

 

[Ord Mantell]

Have you worn it?

never. I wore the ROTJ once for a Halloween party in 2009. I have huge respect for those of you who wear this incredibly complex and finicky costume, and wear it well. It is not an easy accomplishment.

 

[Ord Mantell]

For a long time the goal has been to get the costume finished and then recreate the Lucasfilm photoshoot from late 1978/early 1979. I want to get someone in the suit and go through the poses. I did a test shoot with the manny and realized my current space isn't quite the right dimensions. Plus I see a few more places on the suit I could make alterations which would improve it further. So this test shoot will have to do for now.