Western Mandalorian

[0Courtney0]

Forgot to post this on here. I've just been putting this in a thread on my 501st garrison's forum.

Anyway, this is a project that started around June last year.
I'm a big fan of spaghetti westerns and sci fi. Boba Fett is one of my favourite characters because there's something very cowboy about him.

So I came up with this design:


I have never done a technical costume before. I'm more experienced with sewing, costumes that only require sewing take about a week to make.

That's why this one took so long. It was alot of relying on other people to provide or work on parts.
My friends supplied the helmet and the jetpack that I painted and the armour.
Everything else I already owned except for the vest and the kama. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to come by purple leather.

So here are the most current images of the costume. I forgot to put on my Wookiee braid and scarf because it's freaking hot in Australia right now and I just wanted to get the photos taken.
All I have to do now is buy a balaclava, install the visor and track down some gauntlets. Anyone got any suggestions?







I'm quite pleased with how much the costume looks like the original design. Usually bringing something from 2 dimensions to 3 requires a bit of translation.
This costume so far is cheaper than my approved Asajj Ventress costume strangely enough.
But that's because I essentially had to make that costume three times to get it right. It was a huge learning curve for me.
A $400 learning curve.

So by the time I got to my Mandalorian I was more experienced.
The leather was $40
The jetpack was $100
The helmet and armour were free
And like I said , everything else was just sitting in the wardrobe.

 

[Jaro Krieg]

I like the bright Shine of the Sun, on this Plates.

But I miss the Roundings on the Front side. ;-)
Such a female Color and no.... Extraspace for Supplies? XD

The Legs are quite to naked. But you'll properbly get some Holsters and AmmoBelts.
IMHO I would also ad atleast a bit more Armor on the Knees or put a Plate on the Shinside of your Boots.
And Gauntlets? Maybe one would be enough,

And If you are into Spaghetti-Western... Maybe you could work something out - in form of a Dustcoat/cape.


But for a first Impressions it's a nice view.

 

[NovallTalon]

I'm inclined to agree with Mafio. Your armor looks great till you get to the belt. Using jeans doesn't at all give this costume a western look at all in my opinion, and I'm a huge Clint Eastwood/Henry Fonda spaghetti western fan. Jeans don't make a western look, it's the accessories and atmosphere of your armor that defines the character your trying to portray. Using a duster or a poncho, as well as leather holsters/belts/pouches give your armor a western look because those items are associated with western attire but also add to the armor's overall look.

Here's some suggestions that would go a very long way to giving you the look that I think your going to love.

1. Toss the jeans and get a flight suit. Go for a form fitting, but not TO tight suit.

2. Use earth tones. Dark reds, light browns, greens, grays and some black.

3. Widen your kama 4-5 inches on each side. You want it to come around to the front of your thighs, not be a rear-flap.

4. Get some knee armor on and at the least some cod armor or a loin cloth.

5. Tuck the boot-tops in. Your trying to be a mando, not a Dallas cowboys cheerleader.

6. Get a leather belt with some ammo pouches. You can get ammo pouches off ebay for $5 a pair.

7. Get some westernish looking weapons. A gun that resembles a .30 caliber (but is in-universe looking for Star Wars) and maybe even a leather whip.

I'm sure I could think of some more, but those 7 things would really make your costume stellar.

 

[Jaro Krieg]

A whip? Why not a Laserwhip?

That would be cool XD

Just glue a dozen ofglowing sticks togehter or take a Ropelight attached to a alternated Maglight. XD

 

[Saz]

First off, Great work for what you have accomplished.

Just to echo what Noval has said, the jeans don't scream western to me.

Also look at the idea of a bandolier, a bit like what Chewbacca has got and I think a poncho would look awesome

 

[woodman]

Of course it looks feminine it's a girl. I like it .

 

[Jaro Krieg]

We know its a girl.
That what bother us in Face of the lacking Advance of the Chestplates.

 

[askywalker98]

Looks good, but I think your helmet needs some padding. It looks like it's slipping around on your head. Add either a helmet holder thing, like from construction hard hats, or some foam around the sited to grab onto your head so you don't have to worry about the helmet spinning around every time you turn around!

 

[0Courtney0]

It is padded. It's not sitting right because the visor isn't installed.

Also, jeans are western. What else would I wear?
True, purple isn't exactly a colour you'd see that often.
But who cares? It's my design, I'll do what I want.
And a flight suit certainly wouldn't look western at all.

And what's this about the chest plate? What's wrong with it?
I'm obviously not going to do those ridiculous breast shaped plates. Besides it's made of aluminium, you can't really do that.

 

[NovallTalon]

Correct, it is your design and you can do what you want. We're just giving you some ideas and tips to make it even better. If your happy with it, then that's great.

 

[Aden Skirata]

some people just assume that a femmando must have bewb plates. however, that's not factual. eu canon has established femmando's wear flat plates like men, bewb armor and everything in between depending on their preference and anatomy.

as for the comments on your kit. it does look nice but, i would agree with novall talon on what's needed and on the f act that it's yours and you can keep it how you like it. novall and i are both on the reigning council at www.mandalorianmercs.com. novall is the founder and mand'alor/leader of the organization. i am the personell officer and head the application approval team there. although we ALWAYS will conced that if youre kit makes you happy as it is then that's the true test, when we give advice here, we will always give it keeping our clubs minimum standards for approval in mind.

 

[0Courtney0]

Some of it is critique and I don't mind that. It's just there's a line between recommending alterations and completely changing the original design.
Like changing the colours, not going to happen.
Besides there is supposed to be a Zam influence in this costume.

Anway, I do like the idea of a badolier. But because there aren't bullets in the SWU, I guess Chewbacca's one is a good idea. Where can I get one of those?

I would like to make the kama bigger but I had a very small piece of leather work with.

A coat would look cool, but in this weather maybe not such a good idea.
I always wondered about that in Westerns. The desert is hot, why do they wear so much clothing?

Also I wasn't sure about having leg armour because of the holsters that might get in the way. I will eventually make those, once I actually have weapons.
I need some help with that. I'm thinking of customising some toy guns. But what would make them look more SW-esque?

And there's still the gauntlets that I have no idea about. How could I make them look western?

And what do you think of using a button-up shirt instead of the black top I'm using?

 

[Aden Skirata]

i see the zam influence but the colors don't scream old west. but they look great!

well, there actually are "slugthrowers" in star wars. many mando's especially are found of the verpine shatter gun which is a silent projectile firing weapon. i carry one in my armor. i have a thread with recent pix in this portion of tdh.

people who live in desert area's wear layers for protection from the sun and wind.i live near the 29 palms marine base in the southern california desert and work near palm springs. we hot summer time high temps in the 120's. ive been out in that in my full armor and my son who wears an almost all black set with a duster has as well. it's hot and it sucks but, asd long as you stay hydrated and out of the direct sunlight as much as possible you'll be ok. if you were to add a black or even grey duster to your kit, you could move the kama to the front and make it a loincloth. it would help fill out the lower half of the armor some.

jango wears full leg armor with holsters. i do as well. it's really not an issue. a couple of cool blaster options for that old west look would be the de-10. you can see pix of it on www.wookieepedia.com. we have a guy at mercs making resin casts of them for 50.00 each, i know kind spendy. a cheap alternative that would give a swarzy feel and old west look would be the ee-2 blaster. it's basically a pistol sized version of boba fett's ee-3 from rotj. there's no stock and it's much shorter. they can easily be made with 2 2.00 cap gun revolvers and a 2 8.00 hasbro anakin or darth vader lightsabers. basically you pull the lightsaber blade out, stick the barrell of the capgun into the hole where the blade was, attach and paint. pix attached.

as for a western style gauntlet... i would say either leather wrist/forearm wraps or leather sca style bracers.

as for the button shirt... it would be prerty well cover by the armor plates and, if you added a duster it really wouldnt bring anything to the kit. a really cool, western look would be to get a mexican style blanket or sarapi in purple, black, white and grey (to match your colors) and convert it to a carrier vest for your torso plates.

something ive always wanted to see on a western style mando is a rattlesnake skin headband on the dome! lol

i would suggest adding knee's too. between the knee's and the loincloth, that would really fill out out lower half.

just some ideas for you to kick around.

here's a good pic of one of our members who did a western influenced, gunslinger mando. his name is sorter...

 

[0Courtney0]

Ooo, I'm definitley liking the de-10!

And that's a pretty sweet costume, the jacket makes all the difference, does he have a jet pack on that though?

I do have a snakeskin belt, maybe that might be a better option.
Oh and snakeskin gauntlets would be awesome. Don't know where to get that though.

A poncho would be cool, but that would cover up the vest and armour.
Unless is was more like what Clint Eastwood wears in Good the Bad the Ugly.

Oh and how about pants like these?:

 

[Aden Skirata]

i have 1 de-10 as a sidearm and 1 ee-2 (actually waiting for he ee-2 to come in the mail). i love the de-10!

no jetpack, just the duster on his. i hvent seen a pouncho'd mando with a jetpack... yet. i'm sure someone will try it at sometime.

snake skin belt would be cool. you could probably get some faux snakeskin pleather at a place like michael's or joann's to make the bracers with.

as for the poncho/sarapi/blanket... i didn't mean for it to be used as a ponchp rather to be used as a carrier vest for your plates to mount on. a very easy method i use for my kids vest is i take the desired fabric and lay a snug fitting shirt flat on it. i trace the shirt onthe fabric then flip it on the shoulder line. i alter the shoulders to accodate shoulder plates instead of sleeves and i cut it out. i then use eyelets on the sides and lace it with leather laces. it's fast, cheap and expanable... perfefct for growing boys. you could do something similar for a carrier vest with a mexican blanket or sarapi. then mount your plates to it. the color and design of the mexican blanket along with the laced up leather sides would have a very western look.

the pants your showing are a type of gaiter or chap. they would certainly help add to the western look and ake away from (which is a good thing) from the denim look. they may not be ultra-swarzy but they could be worked with.

 

[0Courtney0]

I'm thinking next time I get an opportunity for a photoshoot I'll try on all different accesories and see what works. I'm also working on more drawings.

And I'm sorry if I seemed to take critisism as well as someone audtioning for American Idol earlier. I got into an arguement with my mum this morning and was in a terrible mood. Probably wasn't a good idea to be on the Internet.

 

[Aden Skirata]

lol, no worries. we're here to help

 

[Jaro Krieg]

To the Coat thing...

A Compromise between hot temperature, and öhm... coolness would be a light Color.
Like White, Beige or a light Brown. (other light Colors (Blue,green) work as well but due Westerntheme we focus more on earthtone Colors, besides a Babyblue or Pink Cape over a Mando wouldn't funtcion. People would look for the Hello-Kitty-Logo.)

The Touraregs and other Nomadcultures of the Saharadessert and the middle East are wearing mostly thick, white Robes.
In the first Place the bright Colors reflect the Sunrays and not suck the light like a Black would do. Thus its not so hot under it.
And in the Second. Well its the Desert... In the Night it gets cold to -40°C
And atleast. You wont dry out so fast.

Funny Fact: In the Sommer I'am used to wear a bright-beige Trenchcoat over my (normaly) black-clothes - instead of wearing shortpants XD

So Conclusion:
Try a Cape/Coat/Poncho in light Colors


beget'ye

 

[0Courtney0]

Blue, green, pink? With purple?! You sir, are a sick man!

 

[Jaro Krieg]

You sir, are a sick man!

Jeah, I hear this all the Time but...
Didn't I outcastet these colors?

Please keep in Mind that I'am not a Mothertounge Englishspeaker. XD