TK-16602's ESB Boba Fett Build

[TK16602]

Ok, guys, I promised you pictures, so pictures you shall receive. The photos don't really do the details any justice, but I assure you it looks much better in person. The yellow around the silver areas doesn't really "pop" in the pictures, nor does it look like the left shoulder armor is a different color yellow than the rest, but I promise that it's all on point. Enjoy!

 

[TK50175]

Another 501St brother is gone...but will be never forget...
Buckets off...


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[Gregory]

Looking good! Pics often don't capture all the details we see in person but I see the left shoulder is in fact a lighter brighter yellow.

 

[mstorer5]

Looking good. You are getting this done fast!

 

[TK16602]

Thanks for the continued support, guys! I had a pretty productive weekend. I finally received my Ammo Belt from Mow, and I also got my Toe Spikes from Dakota at MachineCraft, which look great by the way. I still have to go out and get some screws to attach them, add some weathering, and then they should be good to go. The best part, however, is that I finally tracked down and ordered the last of the parts I needed, and all at one place no less. Thanks, Evolution Props, for the one-stop-shop! In addition to parts for two dozen other costumes, Gabe sells a lot of upgraded aluminum parts for both the ESB and RotJ versions, and that's where I found the last of the aluminum parts I needed: Armor Studs, Gauntlet Darts, Knee Darts, Gauntlet Hose Attachment, and, just for kicks, I picked up an aluminum Flamethrower to replace the resin one from MoW. Gabe's got a lot of neat stuff on there, which is also what makes his website so dangerous - you can burn through a lot of money very quickly! (Case in point - I had my eye on the aluminum Gauntlet Missile and the aluminum Jetpack Beacon, but I decided to hold off for now.) All I have to do now is sit back and wait for the last of my "On order" stuff to start rolling in - my Jetpack Harness from BigDane, my rifle, pistol, and holster from Stormrider, and my stuff from Evolution Props (which, unfortunately, will probably take quite a while to get here from Argentina). In the meantime, I can start working on my Gauntlets.

 

[TK16602]

Hey, guys. I spent the cold, rainy week working indoors chipping away at my build, but nothing very picture-worthy. Still haven't touched my Gauntlets, but I finally got around to making the straps for the Girth Belt and Knee Armor, laying out the Chest and Shoulder Armor Velcro templates on the Flak Vest, and attaching the Chest Display to the left breast plate, but I spent a lot of my time working on weathering, particularly on the Ammo Belt, Jetpack, Shoulder and Knee Armor. A break in the rain finally gave me an opportunity to get some clear coat on my Armor so I could seal the paint and weathering, and I'm particularly happy with how the Knees and Shoulders turned out. I used a touch of black shoe polish and a lot of elbow grease with the polish brush to achieve the "dirty" effect. Check it out:

 

[mainst69]

Those shoulders and knees look great! Just the right amount of grime! I was wondering if maybe you might want to tone the shine down with some steel wool? They look great as they are though.

Coming along nicely!

 

[151killstripes]

Looks fantastic.

 

[VIARPE]

What do you guys think of Evolution Props? I think he doesn't achieve so much accuarcy... He lives close to me -1 country away lol- but I haven't bought from him because of that. At least the gauntlet parts are not screen accuarate, I think.

 

[TK16602]

Those shoulders and knees look great! Just the right amount of grime! I was wondering if maybe you might want to tone the shine down with some steel wool? They look great as they are though.

Coming along nicely!

Thank you! They only look so shiny because the top coat was still a little wet when I snapped those pictures. They look much duller now that they're dry, but I still might take some steel wool to them to scuff them a bit.

Looks fantastic.

Thank you!

What do you guys think of Evolution Props? I think he doesn't achieve so much accuarcy... He lives close to me -1 country away lol- but I haven't bought from him because of that. At least the gauntlet parts are not screen accuarate, I think.

This is my first time buying anything from him, but you're right - I noticed that some of his stuff isn't very screen accurate. (At least not according to the stock photos.) That's why I was very selective with what I bought from him. I'm really hoping the items I ordered are 501st approvable right out of the box, but if they're not, I'm sure that with some work they would be.

 

[TK16602]

Hey, guys. Just checking in. My latest update is that I got my armor and wookiee braids attached to the flak vest. I tried it on, and everything fits well and lines up nicely. I opted to secure the collar and back plate with a healthy dose of industrial Velcro, and it seems to hold rather well. I plan on Zap-a-gapping the studs onto the cod and collar (except the one that holds the cape), unless they come threaded, so I'll have to wait and see. Stormrider has begun production on the weapons / holster run, and BigDane will begin shipping out the jetpack harness kits tomorrow (Saturday), so that's exciting. I still haven't done anything with the gauntlets yet; slacking big time. Oh, and I almost forgot - I also rigged up a set of fans in my bucket. Eric, AKA eqdizzle, offers a great setup. I've run his fans in both my TK and TI buckets for almost a year, and they've worked flawlessly. I velcroed two of his rechargeable slim batteries together, and swap them from bucket to bucket depending on which costume I wear. I get 5 hours of battery life per battery, so I never worry about running out of juice. But yeah, the fans fit perfectly at the left and right edges of the horizontal visor in my Fett bucket, and they don't touch my face at all. Mando buckets are a lot more spacious than they look!

 

[TK16602]

Ok, so with the weather being what it is (cold and snowing), I decided that it was a good day to stay in and FINALLY get to work on the Gauntlets. First, I used my dremel to cut and grind off the pour spouts from the molds of the four main pieces. Then, I sanded everything down evenly and smoothly. Next, I scuffed / sanded all parts with fine-grit sandpaper in an attempt to make the paint stick better. Finally, while dodging the on-and-off snow flurries outside, I managed to splash four coats of paint onto the four main pieces. I brought them in to dry for the night, so we'll see what they look like tomorrow. As always, the pictures don't do the actual color any justice, even after I edited them, but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Rustoleum Moss Green is definitely the way to go! (Thanks again, Gregory!) It looks exactly like the color seen in both the 501st CRL as well as the movie. Also, just for kicks, I decided to upload a picture of how I have my fans mounted, just in case my last post was hard to visualize. (They're aimed to shoot straight across the top portion of the visor.)

 

[Gregory]

Looks great. I'm going to redo my gaunts, helmet dome & cheeks as soon as I can in that color. I'll mask off my damage and stripes to see how it goes.

 

[TK16602]

Looks great. I'm going to redo my gaunts, helmet dome & cheeks as soon as I can in that color. I'll mask off my damage and stripes to see how it goes.

Thanks, brother. You definitely won't be disappointed!

 

[TK16602]

Hey, guys, just checking in. The cold, wind, and snow kept me from getting any more major painting done this week, but I did make a little progress on the left gauntlet. I added a tiny bit of weathering, and also got the hinge and closure snaps attached. I have the rocket and cord housing taped and ready to paint as soon as I can get a break in the weather. Over the weekend, I bought a U.S. Divers buckle on eBay and two white balaclavas from Turtle Fur, both of which arrived in today's mail, so that was a pleasant surprise. Not much else to report; slow week. For those of you going to see Rogue One this weekend, enjoy! I'll be trooping it tomorrow night, but I'll get around to seeing it eventually.

 

[Gregory]

I'm trooping it tonight and seeing it at 10:30, very excited.

 

[TK16602]

Ask and ye shall receive! The weather is a tad more favorable today. It's still cold outside, but the wind and snow have let up, so I'm taking advantage while I can to get the last of my gauntlet pieces painted. It's a highly-intricate system of scooting out the front door, laying the pieces out, spraying on some paint, and then balancing everything while I bring it back inside to dry in the warm. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts! I also got an e-mail confirmation from Gabe at Evolution Props that my order has shipped from Argentina, so that's exciting. I'm curious to see how long shipping will take. I'll be sure to make a note of the total turn around time once it arrives. Anyway, that's about all I've got for now. I'm going to try to keep the painting going for a couple more hours before our Rogue One troop tonight. (Or, before I run out of daylight. Whichever happens first.) I'm very eager to get the painting done so I can upload some photos for you all to see of how things have progressed.

 

[TK16602]

Hey, guys. I hope you're all having a fun and safe holiday season. With all of the sorrow surrounding the Star Wars community regarding the death of Carrie Fisher and her mother, I thought it was time for some positivity. I got quite a boost today when both my Jetpack Harness AND my goodies from Evo Props arrived in today's mail. Everything arrived safely, and looks great! I wasted no time tearing the boxes open and getting to work earlier. I told you all that I'd post the total turnaround time of my transaction with Gabe at Evolution Props, since he's in Argentina, so here's what I came up with: I ordered and paid on November 21st. The items shipped on December 16th (some of which had a 10-day lead time once ordered, because they're made to order). So, the WHOLE transaction took a little over a month, but the actual ship time from Buenos Aires to the US (East Coast) was about two weeks. I'm pretty happy with that! I don't know why, but I expected things to take much longer. So anyway, I just received most of the last crucial items I needed to finish my build. The only thing(s) I'm waiting on is my weapons package from Stormrider, but I still have some final-touch painting / weathering to do in the meantime, so it's all good. It feels good to be one step closer to those submission photos! I know I've been promising progress photos for a while, and I'll definitely have some soon.

 

[mayjafett]

may the force be with you

 

[TK16602]

Hey, guys. Have I got a doozy of a story for you! I've attempted to lighten up my gloves with several bleach washes, and after there was still no change after my most recent wash with about 5 caps of bleach, I explored other avenues. I used a more direct bleach soak with a splash of bleach diluted in a small plastic basin. Right away, I started noticing a color change. However, it wasn't the color I'd hoped to achieve. After the bluish green got sucked out, they started turning brown. I decided to let them soak for about another 3 hours, and, sure enough, the brown turned to a light tan color. I got the idea to try to re-dye them with some leftover Pearl Gray I had, so I rinsed and cleaned the basin, filled it up again, and began adding dye. I did it in steps, and all together I ended up using about a quarter of a bottle. I let them soak for several minutes, and actually got a color close to what I was aiming for, but, of course, the white areas had also sucked up a little of the color. So, I rinsed them off, wrung them out, and threw them back in the washer for one final bleach wash using two caps of bleach in an attempt to lighten up the white areas once more. I have to say, I'm rather pleased with the overall results! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the gloves when they were brown and light tan, but here's the end result:

Before: After: