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[Kebiin Cuyan]

Hi!

I'm relatively new (long term lurker) and finally decided to actually start a Death Watch Nite Owl build. I've ordered most of the necessary armor/helmet/soft part things, and I'm waiting for most of it to arrive. However, I'm a bit stuck on the gloves. The CRLs for the 501st and here are relatively the same, except here they state leather, leather like or "tight fitting canvas?". What do people generally use for gloves to match this requirement? I could sew my own, but prior costuming projects indicate gloves are not a strong suit of mine, particularly in leather-like materials. I also have super small hands (like ring size 4 tiny). Does anyone have any glove material suggestions that they have used for either nite owl or bo katan builds?

I'm hoping that once items start arriving and I can start making actual progress, I can post more progress for help since I've never worked with a costume that requires this amount of armor. Yay for social distancing projects!

[Kryamla Redalur]

I’m not an approved Nite owl but I am an approved Bo-Katan so maybe this could help (As a disclaimer I’m also *not* on the approval team - this is just my experience from building bo-Katan).

I used a similar color spandex for my gloves that a friend helped me sew. (I also have tiny hands, my wedding ring is a 3.5 so I feel you). If you aren’t comfortable sewing gloves, perhaps you could find some white ones and dye them to match? If you want to go the leather/leather like route, I’d check amazon or eBay for leather or leather like gloves. I know I’ve seen gloves that come in sizes, just might have to do a bit of searching. If the color isn’t quite right, you could always use leather paint to get the right color.

You could also put in a Q&A which goes to the approval team for a more “official” answer as well :

[Kebiin Cuyan]

I’m not an approved Nite owl but I am an approved Bo-Katan so maybe this could help (As a disclaimer I’m also *not* on the approval team - this is just my experience from building bo-Katan).

I used a similar color spandex for my gloves that a friend helped me sew. (I also have tiny hands, my wedding ring is a 3.5 so I feel you). If you aren’t comfortable sewing gloves, perhaps you could find some white ones and dye them to match? If you want to go the leather/leather like route, I’d check amazon or eBay for leather or leather like gloves. I know I’ve seen gloves that come in sizes, just might have to do a bit of searching. If the color isn’t quite right, you could always use leather paint to get the right color.


You could also put in a Q&A which goes to the approval team for a more “official” answer as well :

Thank you! I was hoping I might get away with using the same spandex blend as my flight suit so that I can have it dyed all in a uniform shade, but I'll put in a Q and A to double check- still getting the hang of actually figuring out where to post on the forums. 

[Kryamla Redalur]

No problem at all! Looking forward to seeing your progress! Nite Owls are super cool!

[AJStarhiker]

Not an app team (still building a first kit myself), but some of the videos I've seen use just some basic, leather work gloves like you can find at a hardware store.  Most of the logoless gloves I've found are tan or black.

Two of the channels I've been using the most are Mando Smith and TheWeldingGeek.

[Kebiin Cuyan]

Not an app team (still building a first kit myself), but some of the videos I've seen use just some basic, leather work gloves like you can find at a hardware store.  Most of the logoless gloves I've found are tan or black.

Two of the channels I've been using the most are Mando Smith and TheWeldingGeek.

Thanks! I found some that will hopefully fit that are fake leather on Amazon, and I'm hoping they will be at least close to the soft parts that I'm using. Just playing the waiting game for everything that I've ordered to come in so I can see in person what will work and what can be stripped/dyed without ruining the fabric.

[Kebiin Cuyan]

I turned this into a WIP since I think I've made enough progress to call it that at this point? My helmet arrived, but I'm still waiting on the armor. I'm also still waiting on soft parts. So, I've been working with my tempermental 3d printer to work on the jetpack and westar35's.

I'm going to have to use bondo on the seam again as well as several more rounds of sanding and filler primer. It also needs the trigger guard and a doodad for the top I think... but I need to find that on my work desk...




4 of what feels like an endless number of parts for the jetpack. I'm working my way through the files I found (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4184843), but with a tempermental printer, its feeling like forever.



I started to pattern out of foam the idea for the ammo pouches while I wait for my soft parts to fit. I don't really know where any of the belts will sit on my hips/waist since I don't really know how the armor is going to work quite yet or how much I'm going to have to shave off it (I'm not vertically gifted).



Finally! I found these boots that might work, but I'll have to see if the boot armor works with them. The treads look right and they seemed chunky enough, so hopefully they can work?



Now to keep being patient for other items to arrive since none of the tracking for packages seems to be reliable. At least I have a lot of sanding to keep me occupied.

[Kryamla Redalur]

Those boots look like they should work fine to me! Tread looks good and the height on them look about right

If you need dimensions for the pouches, I’d be happy to measure mine. I can’t take credit for making mine but I can at least share that if you’d like (I am also not vertically gifted).

[Kebiin Cuyan]

Those boots look like they should work fine to me! Tread looks good and the height on them look about right

If you need dimensions for the pouches, I’d be happy to measure mine. I can’t take credit for making mine but I can at least share that if you’d like (I am also not vertically gifted).

Thanks! it seems like there are measurements for the boxes and girth belt on the CRL, and I was planning on making the boxes and belts at the smaller end of the measurements so that hopefully they are proportional. However, having someone else's measurements might be helpful too to compare, if it isn't too hard!

[Kebiin Cuyan]

I got most of my soft parts that I have gathered dyed and washed today. The flack vest is still in the dryer, so I'm hoping the grey came out alright. For the flight suit, I started with a thick white thermal set that still will wick a bit because I legit live in a swamp, and dyed it "nite sky blue" shade with rit dye (one bottle royal blue, one bottle navy) to try and get the blue as screen accurate as I could get it. I think this combination might be ok?

My gloves came in from amazon, and for $12, they aren't too bad. However, I'm a bit concerned that the blue isn't quite right. Also, the fake leather has a shine on it that the flight suit dosn't have. I'm not sure if they are close enough in color to work... I'm planning on sewing a pair in fabric that I dyed along with the flight suit so its the same exact color. The fabric is fairly thick, so hopefully that could work as a back-up idea if this isn't close enough.


Here it is all together and from a step away, although in this photo the pants look so much darker from the lighting. We have a tropical storm coming in probably, and the lighting sucks in this room, but I was too lazy to move elsewhere and have the husband retake the photo. Also excuse my hair/face- my toddler was having a rough time going to bed and I consequently look rough too.


Side note- when rit dye says to use gloves, they mean it. I got to walk around all day saying two by two, hands of blue though, so it isn't all bad I guess.

[Kryamla Redalur]

If the gloves have a bit of sheen, you could take some acetone and try to dull it down that way. Then you could reseal the gloves with a matte leather finish (it should be fine in synthetic leather I think? But maybe try it in a super or visible location first).

It’s hard to tell, but if the gloves aren’t super close in color, could try leather dye or paint to get it a bit closer. If you have to go the due route, be sure to strip the sealer off the gloves with acetone as well. Again, try that before you use it on the whole gloves. I feel like it would be okay with the synthetic leather but I’ve been wrong before lol

[Kebiin Cuyan]

If the gloves have a bit of sheen, you could take some acetone and try to dull it down that way. Then you could reseal the gloves with a matte leather finish (it should be fine in synthetic leather I think? But maybe try it in a super or visible location first).

It’s hard to tell, but if the gloves aren’t super close in color, could try leather dye or paint to get it a bit closer. If you have to go the due route, be sure to strip the sealer off the gloves with acetone as well. Again, try that before you use it on the whole gloves. I feel like it would be okay with the synthetic leather but I’ve been wrong before lol

Awesome tip- the 100% acetone totally removed a lot of the shiny-ness of the synthetic leather with some elbow grease- made them a bit more worn looking too, which is a total plus. I also rubbed some really fine grade sand paper over them, and that removed some remaining shine too. I'm letting it dry and sit a bit before deciding if I need to get some leather paints to mix to try to match the flight suit deep blue, or if I just want to cover in matte finish. This totally should work though... hopefully.  As a bonus, it also lightened they dye on my hands from the rit dye too! I may not look like a smurf while seeing patients tomorrow after all! You have been so much help with this- I really appreciate it!   

[Kryamla Redalur]

Glad that did the trick! happy to help!

[Werepanda]

Looks like you're off to a good start, one might say it's SHINY even.  Just had to chime in to give major cred for the Firefly reference!

[Kebiin Cuyan]

Looks like you're off to a good start, one might say it's SHINY even.  Just had to chime in to give major cred for the Firefly reference!

I'm so glad someone else appreciated that!! 

[Kebiin Cuyan]

Just some minor progress! I think I'm finished with the soft part fabric dying (hopefully). I have two different options for the flack vest. One looks too light, and the other looks almost black, although I used charcoal ritdye with a 1/4 cup royal blue to get what I was hoping would be a deep grey.  The turnaround on the CRL looks very dark, but I think the rare other nite owl I've seen uses a much lighter gray, maybe more similar to the "too light" shade? I'm going to sleep on it and make a decision later. Also, please excuse my strange socks, the stuffed unicorn chair, and my doggy's rear. He moved to wherever I was trying to take a picture, and this was the best I could do.

I also got my leather gloves to a really good match for my flight suit. I wound up rubbing off the sealer with straight acetone, and scuffed them up a bit with 400 grit sand paper to ensure the shine was gone. Then I panted over with a 75-25 blend of navy blue to duller leather paint. After that, I sealed them with mat acrylic sealer mixed with another splash of duller for good measure. I'm fairly happy with the outcome for the fabrics being entirely different!

Lastly, I finally got up the courage to cut the edges off the helmet. This was so stressful, as I've never done anything like this before. I nicked the T-visor area a bit, but hopefully I can just use bondo and fill the scuffs up. I still need to smooth it all out, this was just the first rough chop I've been putting off.

[Kryamla Redalur]

IMO, the darker of two looks like the best choice. Also gloves look good!

[Kryamla Redalur]

Any updates?

Also I just realized I forgot to get those pouch measurements for you so I will do that when I get home! So sorry!

[Kebiin Cuyan]

I was slowly working on this and have a minor update as the last Mandalorian episode reminded me about posting here! Love me some nite owls.  I did (FINALLY) get the jetpack files all printed. I jigsawed them together, and it looks like everything fits ok. So, I temporarily put it together with just some sticky poster putty. I'm trying to decide how to chunk it all out into a couple of larger chunks to do the adhesive glue/bondo/filler primer/sanding process on. Once the larger chunks are done, I'll piece the whole thing together, and do another round (or several) of adhesive glue/bondo/filler primer/ and sanding to get rid of any seams, imperfections, and print lines. Then, I can finally sand and work on painting.




I have also worked on the first rounds of ABS trimming for my armor/helmet kit, and dremel sanding to smooth the edges, and was working on fitting.

However, this is where the progress will probably stop, or be very slow, for a few months. I found out a while ago that we are expecting foundling #2 in late spring. Hence the lack of posting. So, that prevents me from using any sort of chemical, solvent, or aerosol including spray paint, heavy duty glue, bondo, and aerosol primers, until I have delivered said foundling. Even with appropriate chemical PPE, my doctor said it was too risky. Which was a suuuuper bummer, but understandable, and I enjoy being safe. I also have the luck of getting diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, so I've not been able to do much of anything except attempt to stay hydrated and basically show up as a semi-warm body. Once that gets under control, I'm hoping I can go back to finishing the flight suit and working on soft parts such as the belts/pouches, and all the little things including printing a second westar-35. I can probably trim/sand ABS edges with appropriate PPE, but obviously fitting is now going to have to wait until my body size stops fluctuating.

[Kebiin Cuyan]

Hi! I am resurrecting this thread again since I am FINALLY back at it after a complex pregnancy then having my stuff in storage for 5 months due to a delayed house build. However, I am back at it and starting to prime/sand down my jetpack that I 3d printed. Does anyone have any suggestions at all for the best way to sand down prints? I had a rhythm going with filler primer and increasing grits of sand paper, but when I started last night, the prospect of doing this for ALL of these parts on this size of a print is a bit daunting! I can't quite squeeze into my flight suit I started and dyed, but fingers crossed I can make progress with that soon!

[Celtkhan]

Ok, this is going to sound a little crazy, but have you thought about using a card scraper? I’m trying it out on my gauntlets; card scrapers are little rectangles of metal that woodworkers use for smoothing pieces of wood with difficult grain patterns. You stroke an edge of the scraper with a piece of carbide steel to roll the edge over, then you use that burr to take off the high spots. Significantly faster than sanding, and the particulates aren’t quite as small. Still, wear a dust mask or respirator.

[aubbz]

YAY!! Another Nite Owl! I've been working on the build of mine for awhile and keeping losing motivation. Welcome!