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 Third time’s a charm, right?

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Third time’s a charm, right?
« on: Jul 25, 2012, 04:00 PM »
First – 5 or 6 layers of FG… Heavy, didn’t sand it, took shortcuts, etc
Current location: in a box in Newark Ohio… I’m in El Paso Texas

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Second – Aluminum for sale signs. Had issues with it not staying shaped and glues were very temperamental… I probably cut myself a million times.
Current location: El Paso landfill (Glue came undone, moving chaos… I said screw it)



Third Attempt as follows:
Concept: Make Male plates look as feminine as possible for my Tom Boy style.
Goal: 1. actually finish a kit that I am proud of enough to submit for application
           2. get some cool stuff made that might spark my Husband’s interest enough to come to armor parties with me (he already wants to go to cons… just not kitted out – he WILL come to the dark side eventually)
Crappy Drawings outlining design:







Current Soft parts: I have small arms (i.e., feminine) I’ve decided to go sleeveless. (Different color tanks for color pop – currently have black, red x3, and orange)
It does get uber hot and sunny in ELP, and I plan on moving eastward in my next PCS (no idea when/if/where that will be) – so alternate attire may require sleeves at some point for protection from the elements.

Current Armor: I purchased a TK Chest set to my custom measurements – I wasn’t expecting vaccuu-formed chest pieces, but they do have a boobish shape. I still need to cut the top corners (they poke into my shoulders) and apply a little bondo/sand. Vest will be made tailored (by me) to the torso plates. The back will be made after I am satisfied on the vest’s back, and side plates will be made to accommodate the chest/back while on the vest.






The knee/shins – yes I know they will have to be moded, but if you look at the concept drawings from all three of my kits, that is the shape I’m going for… I will make these work. I plan on cutting the overhang padding from the sides and filling in the vent holes with bondo. Shins need extended and Straps in back will be covered with leather (as will every other strap that you’re normally supposed to hide - hide in plain sight kinda thing). Any other mods y’all can think of?
Helmet – I had a one piece Jango that I extended the cheeks about 2-3 years ago (that bondo is going to be a pain to sand)…. BUT I’m not exactly sure where it’s at… I am certain I saw in the apt when I was on leave in Feb (just got back from A-Stan), but I can’t find it and my husband said our roommate didn’t take it with him when he got kicked out 2 weeks ago-I guess I’ll just look in storage in the upcoming weeks . I am thinking of getting a Demagol helm from forge props, but that one’s going to be a very long job cause I want to do it right.. I.e. make it look like one piece, but still have it as 2… I know how I’m going to do it if I get one :)

Questions - can I get away with some kind of pouches instead of shoulder bells?
     Just want to verify from the App team… will the animals be an issue even though they are tribal and not an exact image of earth creatures? I just wanted to make sure before I get into painting everything
                     
Thoughts, opinions, and comments are highly requested.

« Last Edit: Apr 13, 2018, 09:23 PM by Choruk Diryc » Logged

darthmayhem


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #1 on: Jul 25, 2012, 06:13 PM »
firstly i love all your concepts and the fact that you have made most of all of them lol...

um if the creatures are an issue what if you made tribal versions of star wars universe creatures? and a demegal helm would be cool

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #2 on: Jul 25, 2012, 07:41 PM »

Current Soft parts: I have small arms (i.e., feminine) I’ve decided to go sleeveless. (Different color tanks for color pop – currently have black, red x3, and orange)
It does get uber hot and sunny in ELP, and I plan on moving eastward in my next PCS (no idea when/if/where that will be) – so alternate attire may require sleeves at some point for protection from the elements.

Just to give you heads up, as far as I understand, sleeveless is highly frowned upon and I don't think they will "approve" of it unless you have the "guns" to back it up which most people don't have especially small females including myself.

« Last Edit: Jul 25, 2012, 07:47 PM by The Pandalorian » Logged
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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #3 on: Jul 26, 2012, 02:14 AM »
You are looking really good as far as the planning goes!  I always tell people that the more thought out your concept is, the easier it will be to bring it to life.  If you need any help hand painting or stenciling on any of those designs, let me know. ;)

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ConDar Ward


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #4 on: Jul 26, 2012, 08:59 AM »
I'm sure this kit will be awesome .... you've got plenty of experience now ..... ;D






BTW - Sorry the Aluminum signs didn't work out for ya .... :(
 They're one of my Favorite mediums for Armor ...  :-X

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #5 on: Aug 07, 2012, 12:26 AM »
I don't think there would be a problem with going sleeveless if it is executed well and works with the rest of the look. As the drawing goes I think it will look spiffy. Especially if you get the angles to accentuate the shoulders.

If you're feeling worried about not being big enough, do hella push ups. They're free!  (Dang I should follow my own advise ha!)

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #6 on: Aug 07, 2012, 07:12 AM »
The "big guns" stance comes from the only canon image of a sleeveless mando is Montross, who was huge. As there is no precedent for a sleeveless female, I would say toned would suffice.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #7 on: Aug 07, 2012, 10:28 AM »
I think Jerek has the right of it, though frankly sleeveless has always looked off to me, even when executed well. Seems to me that you wouldn't want anything exposed when there's a high likelihood of ending up in combat; the flight suits are 'canonically' stated to have some blast resistant properties, like clone and stormy body suits. Of course, with the heat and humidity I've trooped in, I've considered doing it myself, but that's beside the point :P.

As for shoulder pouches instead of plates, I can comfortably say it won't fly; was in on the Council discussion on whether or now we would allow 'soft' shoulder armor. The final decision was no, as every single canon depiction of fully armored mandalorians (and pretty much everyone else with armor) shows them with hard shoulder armor. We allow soft knees and handwraps (and sleevelessness :P) because of Montross, and soft cods/loincloths because of canon mandos wearing loincloths and various other armored SW characters wearing soft cod pieces. However, if you wanted to mount some kind of pouches to the shoulder plates, that would be just fine.

With the animals...dunno, that's definitely an App Team question, though I'm with mayhem: why not do SWarzy animals? The lizard, for example, could easily be made more Krayt Dragon, or maybe even Nexu, by widening the head and adding tiny little claws.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #8 on: Aug 21, 2012, 04:54 PM »
Thanks for the comments everyone

sorry for the delay... Ive been on leave and my husband and i have been getting used to being together again after the Army separated us for 10 mionths... He's finally decided that Im allowed to play in my office at the house until 1700 each night  :rolleyes:, so Ive been working on my vest... I just need to attach the front to the back, shorten it and I should be ready for the armor (when ever I get done with the plates)



one question... its a little late now, but how do I get my sewing machine to stop hating on Duck Cloth? It works great on any other fabric... cotten, satin, etc... but it gets stuck on, does loose stitches and goes crazy with duck cloth... I bought coat thread when I ran out of cotton and it does just as bad... I was just curious if anyone else ever had that type of problem

Heres a close up of what im talking about... you can see it better on my new vest (the black one) rather than the old tan one that had the same issues
 

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #9 on: Aug 23, 2012, 06:56 AM »
Are you using a heavy enough needle? Needles for heavier faric create a slightly larger hole for the thread to pass through.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #10 on: Dec 29, 2013, 09:36 PM »
Let this thread rise from the depths of the Manda!

So I didn’t realize it’s been a year since I’ve been on here – work got chaotic to the point of an emotional breakdown in my boss’s boss’s office, field exercises, family issues to include (but no less than) dad in and out of the hospital with blood clots since October & my Mom getting breast cancer with surgery, financial problems, moving, and it was all brightened slightly with a promotion and new job… definitely ready to start dusting up the ol’ beskar.

I finished my awesome vest several months ago… then realized I messed up the last 2 steps and had to restart. (I made the front surface too narrow for my plates). I remade the vest this week and I’m about halfway through… finding a clear spot for the sewing machine takes time (all inner seams have been hand sewn on this one for, A. precision & B. my laziness of digging out the machine).  It’s a lot faster going having the old one for a model, but I’m sweating bullets making the materials stretch without buying more stuff.
(old vest-New will look identical)



I made bracers to attach my gauntlet plates to & cut the shin plates out to attach to the sports shin/knee –I just have one Question… what’s a good adhesive to attach the Sentra to the plastic? –when I was trying to fill holes and use the shin guards on their own I tried 2-part epoxy, wood glue, bondo, Velcro fabric glue, sho-goo, gorilla snot, etc and nothing stuck to the things! (I did try scratching the surfaces to help give more surface area to stick)


I have my boob and gut plates primed, sanded, & silvered (x3 ea) and ready to go green, but my diamond is giving me a headache – I glued a small one I had bought from the Malaysian Mando many years ago onto the one I got with my TK torso set. I used 2-part epoxy to try to level out the differences, but I had to use bondo to fill the little divots… I can’t get it smooth enough for my OCD. Does it look ok as is? Should I keep trying? Recommendations? the Dremel seems to make it worse. with hand sanding, I don't sand enough which leads to over sanding  :-\



I apologize if the pics aren’t clear… had to use my phone since my camera took a spin in the washer…  :'(

Meshurkaan


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #11 on: Dec 30, 2013, 03:11 AM »
This is quite the interesting build. I like your concept art, and think it'll turn out to be cool.
First I woukd clear any concept questions up with an app team member. This is very important before you start a build if you have any questions. Second, definitely check with them and see if those shin guards will work if heavily modded. I'm pretty sure they banned sports equipment as armor pieces. But if you're willing to take the time and effort to make it look like one solid piece of plastic, go for it.
Invest in a rivet gun and a drill from home depot. That will be the best way to secure plating to a cloth bracers, as well as bonding difficult plastics together. Glue only holds for so long, riveting is a sure way of keeping those suckers together.
Also, I would look at a two-part epoxy putty instead of bondo. I HATE bondo and will shoot it on site. Magisculpt epoxy is way better and is a blessing to sand.
The two diamonds... hmm... it doesn't look bad to me! But I'm not handling it. I don't really know how to help there, unless you want to mold/sculpt your own skull on the diamond. I personally think it looks just fine. No one will notice that its a little rough in the pictures.

Best of luck to you! I'm sorry for all the misfortune. Building a kit can be a great way to relieve stress :)

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #12 on: Dec 30, 2013, 08:37 AM »
Thanks!

the shin gaurds aren't going to show at all - I already have sentra  that covers them from the bottom of the knee and extends past the bottom to my ankle - I already have pieces cut for the knees too, but they are a 3 part build each & I'm leaning towards trying epoxy sculpt instead

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #13 on: Dec 30, 2013, 08:40 AM »
Bondo will work, just put in the time with some sand paper. It could be you are not using enough harder in the mix, or too much. That being said, if you are going for heavily weathered it could be fine as is.

So to recap. Keep it up
Sandpaper, various grits till smooth
Weathering.

Don't go the sports armour method, easier and cheaper to make your own, just use the WoF templates and mod them, or make your own.

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Meshurkaan


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #14 on: Dec 31, 2013, 11:24 AM »
Bondo will work, just put in the time with some sand paper. It could be you are not using enough harder in the mix, or too much. That being said, if you are going for heavily weathered it could be fine as is.

So to recap. Keep it up
Sandpaper, various grits till smooth
Weathering.

Don't go the sports armour method, easier and cheaper to make your own, just use the WoF templates and mod them, or make your own.
I second this. Even if you want to use the shin guards as a base, it wouldn't be any different than making and padding your own. Its not too hard and there are lots of tutorials at your disposal.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #15 on: Jan 02, 2014, 08:20 PM »
I kind of need to use the shin guards – I want to be able to take a knee, but I have a bad knee and need the extra support – with what I have planned, nothing that I didn’t create will be showing.  ;)

Got some work done on the vest – it’s like a serape tank top now

Also got some green on the torso plates. They definitely need a little dirt and grime, after I add the brown tattoos, but how do they look so far?



I think I left a little too much silver showing on the diamond.


Meshurkaan


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #16 on: Jan 02, 2014, 10:27 PM »
No, that looks awesome! Raised parts like your diamond will scratch worse than others. I like the green. And the bread looks good too :P

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #17 on: Jan 02, 2014, 10:47 PM »
The weathering looks a little too even along the plate edges, and too planned on the center of the plates themselves.  You've got the right idea, but vary the sizes and angles (the scratches on your chest plates are going the same direction) of the damage, not to mention types of weathering- scratches, scuffs, cuts, blaster scoring, etc.  Take some fine-grain sandpaper to a few areas, scuff it up a bit.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #18 on: Jan 03, 2014, 01:59 PM »
I like it ;) But on the edges the silver is on the top of the plates and the actual edge of the plate is still green   ???

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #19 on: Jan 03, 2014, 04:30 PM »
I like it ;) But on the edges the silver is on the top of the plates and the actual edge of the plate is still green   ???

haha i didnt notice that. You could do the practical weathering like i did. Paint the plates, then take a dremel or a sanding brush to the plates.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #20 on: Jan 03, 2014, 05:35 PM »
I like it ;) But on the edges the silver is on the top of the plates and the actual edge of the plate is still green   ???

I was kinda  going for that, but the execution was a bit off  :-[ - I was trying to go for the look my M4 had in Afghanistan, corners of the edges went silver, but the actual edges stayed black... it didn't quite come out the way I intended. I'm going to try some sandpaper tomorrow then possibly try the paper towel brush method like what Cyre Katsew does with his weapon mods - I wish I could work some tonight, but I gotta take a nap then go to courtesy patrol... gotta love bar hopping without the alcohol... or the fun... in work clothes  :(

Echo Darklighter


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #21 on: Jan 04, 2014, 12:52 AM »
I was kinda  going for that, but the execution was a bit off  :-[ - I was trying to go for the look my M4 had in Afghanistan, corners of the edges went silver, but the actual edges stayed black... it didn't quite come out the way I intended. I'm going to try some sandpaper tomorrow then possibly try the paper towel brush method like what Cyre Katsew does with his weapon mods - I wish I could work some tonight, but I gotta take a nap then go to courtesy patrol... gotta love bar hopping without the alcohol... or the fun... in work clothes  :(
Ouch...  You have fun with that.  :P

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Meshurkaan


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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #22 on: Jan 04, 2014, 01:19 AM »
Well when you put it that way.. I think watching drunk people being stupid is more entertaining than getting drunk.

And fixing the weathering is not going to be hard. After you add a few more practical scratches a long with some black and brown washing, you'll be fine. Use the edge of a metal file to get some small, wear and tear scratches that just looks like somethings rubbed against it. Or you could run the plates from some gravel and pavement.

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #23 on: Jan 04, 2014, 02:06 AM »
Well when you put it that way.. I think watching drunk people being stupid is more entertaining than getting drunk.

^^this...ALWAYS more fun ;)

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Re: Third time’s a charm, right?
« Reply #24 on: Jan 04, 2014, 05:27 AM »
This is coming along really nicely. Keep up the good work :)

 


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