Spongebob290
New Hunter
Hi fellas. New English guy to the site here. I have had a TD suit for some time now. I bought this as a full commission as I didn't know anything about costuming at all. As you all know it doesn't take long to learn as the suits tend to basically fall apart from the word go. I was very disappointed with the quality of the suit to be honest and the fact that it broke and continued to break on each troop I went on didn't impress me with the cosplay world. However, once you begin to fix the suit your self, I started to also improve its design. Basically adding better fastenings, using better glue, making broken parts, painting the details better and generally making the suit into what it should have been like when I paid over £1,500.00 for it. Lining most of the armour with fibre glass pretty much makes it indestructible. I am an engineer by trade and it was pretty obvious from some of the ways this suit was made that the manufacturer has NO idea on how to make things last. Stating screen accuracy as the reason for poor quality in my opinion is poor customer service.
Anyway..the Mandolorian tv show is awesome and I immediately decided to make my own suit. I have trooped with a few mercs in the past and the odd Boba..so I know about the expanded cosplayers. With the advent of 3D printing it does make obtaining parts much easier. Although some work is still required and some mistakes have been made too. The photos show a costume I bought from the land we don't mention. I dumped the plastic armour with a view to making hard parts myself. The soft items are not too shabby at all..infact they need to be tossed in the cement mixer for a tumble. Here are the pictures I have taken of my progress so far. I have had printing failures..painting failures and sizing failures...all a road to learning. The guns are printed glued together and painted. The armour is 3D printed and sanded and filled and sanded and coated and sanded and painted. The helmet took two attempts to perfect..it is still a tad small but I can get it on. The visor is fastened only around the eye slot and merely held in place down the face parts to allow flexing during fitting. The visor I use is very flexible as you can see from the pics.
Tips I have learned.
1. Don't leave 3D printed parts on the radiator to hasten the curing of adhesive or paint.
2. Don't be impatient with painting. Light coats..many many light coats.
3. Some paints will react..even with themselves.
4. Gorilla glue...hmmm
5. Mitre fast instant bond is a beast for strapping and quick fix during troops.
6. Big Boy Plastic Flexi filler is brilliant...goes off ready to sand in an hour...invaluable for weathering..dents...grazes..scratches etc
7. XTC 3D or fibreglass resin..destroys brushes...and clothes.
8. Those coarse metal scourers get superglue and resin off your hands.
9. Annoyingly..the more you sand parts smooth...the more faults will show...!!
10. Anything on Ebay..Amazon or anywhere else for that matter...with Stormtrooper..Boba Fett..or Star Wars prefixing the title..is 5 times the price !!!
I have found some great posts on here and some useful info. Thanks for the help I have already taken in my short time here.
Any help on how to hold the armour pieces in place would be appreciated. Just velcro..or is there another way?
cheers lads
Rob
Anyway..the Mandolorian tv show is awesome and I immediately decided to make my own suit. I have trooped with a few mercs in the past and the odd Boba..so I know about the expanded cosplayers. With the advent of 3D printing it does make obtaining parts much easier. Although some work is still required and some mistakes have been made too. The photos show a costume I bought from the land we don't mention. I dumped the plastic armour with a view to making hard parts myself. The soft items are not too shabby at all..infact they need to be tossed in the cement mixer for a tumble. Here are the pictures I have taken of my progress so far. I have had printing failures..painting failures and sizing failures...all a road to learning. The guns are printed glued together and painted. The armour is 3D printed and sanded and filled and sanded and coated and sanded and painted. The helmet took two attempts to perfect..it is still a tad small but I can get it on. The visor is fastened only around the eye slot and merely held in place down the face parts to allow flexing during fitting. The visor I use is very flexible as you can see from the pics.
Tips I have learned.
1. Don't leave 3D printed parts on the radiator to hasten the curing of adhesive or paint.
2. Don't be impatient with painting. Light coats..many many light coats.
3. Some paints will react..even with themselves.
4. Gorilla glue...hmmm
5. Mitre fast instant bond is a beast for strapping and quick fix during troops.
6. Big Boy Plastic Flexi filler is brilliant...goes off ready to sand in an hour...invaluable for weathering..dents...grazes..scratches etc
7. XTC 3D or fibreglass resin..destroys brushes...and clothes.
8. Those coarse metal scourers get superglue and resin off your hands.
9. Annoyingly..the more you sand parts smooth...the more faults will show...!!
10. Anything on Ebay..Amazon or anywhere else for that matter...with Stormtrooper..Boba Fett..or Star Wars prefixing the title..is 5 times the price !!!
I have found some great posts on here and some useful info. Thanks for the help I have already taken in my short time here.
Any help on how to hold the armour pieces in place would be appreciated. Just velcro..or is there another way?
cheers lads
Rob
Attachments
Last edited:
