This is going to be my first Official Mando oriented build. I'll be aiming for the Heavy Weapons Shock infantry Brigade. I'm in no rush to get this done, it's just a hobby for me. So I thought I'd set my goal and work towards it.
Head - Standard Helmet with a flip down blast shield. I've done a scratch build before, but this time I'm not doing a scratch dome. Probably use a skateboard helmet or a hard hat. I have both.
Neck - Standard collar plate with some neck armor. Plan is to cut small rectangles out of plastic and button to my baklava.
Upper Torso - Chest plates and abdomen with a regular diamond. Nothing special here.
Full shoulder - A larger than normal shoulder to cover my entire shoulder. Still working out the shaping.
Bicep - Going for enclosed biceps that slip on over my forearm.
Forearm - Gauntlets with an extended elbow to avoid elbow armor itself.
Glove - Handplate armor on the back side.
Back - Back plate with a back pack of sorts.
Groin - Cod plate, standard template.
Thigh - Enclosed thighs much like my bicep plan.
Knee - Extended shin armor, AKA shnees
Shin - Shnees is the plan. I'm going enclosed on this also. Have not thought of a comprehensive plan yet. May make the back removable or something so it is easy to slip on.
Boot - Since I will have laces, definitely going for boot armor. Probably use some surplus army boots or walmart safety boots. Both appear to work.
Backside - Butt plate, standard.

So that's the plan. I've scattered some pics around threads on here already while I've been working on some of it. So I'll just repost them here.
Starting with my thread on my backpack/shoulder cannon idea.
So I have been thinking this through for awhile. I think I have a half decent idea down!
Start with a character model, thanks to google.

Take this picture of a 'sliding hinge'.

Alright, so this is where my thinking started to come together. This should allow the cannon to move up, then rotate down in front of the user.

Add some minor details. The indented piece would be the bottom portion of the cannon that is cut away from the hinge to slide. The hinge would attach to the shoulder area and the back plate. I've also thought about putting a dowel at the bottom, possibly magnets, to lock it in the down position.
I haven't hammered out the specifics. But the idea is to mount to the back plate and have the back plate suspended with a harness under the vest. That way the weight is dispersed.

Here it is colored in.

The idea is that it will slide down and lock into the bottom of the backpack.

But then slide up, hinge/rotate forward, and then slide back towards the user.

I've been toying with the idea of a shoulder mounted cannon for awhile. Just thought I could get some input on the idea/mechanics of it. I'm still figuring out the material of choice. I'm looking for very thin wall PVC, but I may go a different route because even that is weighing more than I had previously expected.
Also, I have thought about helmet clearance quite a bit. Using my last bucket as a reference, I measure it out on my backplate and marked the general location of the bottom of the ear on my dome. It seems like there should be plenty meat left on the backplate to mount the receiving area for the cannon. Of course, in the upright position, the clearance would not be an issue.
I've also thought of adding something to the other side of the back piece to help create a more even weight distribution and uniform look. Like a spare energy reserve. Some tubes, maybe some odd ball stuff in there. Still throwing around detailed ideas. I'm just trying to work on the mechanics and core functions. To give a more to scale perspective, I was thinking of a 2-3" cannon barrel. I have yet to completely decide.
Any input is appreciated. No criticism or critique will be without a reply.
I'm using the WOL templates, large size (I'm 6'2) but I will have to do some trimming. I'm only about 175 lb, so these are sized a little wide for me.

Cut out the chest and shaped them.

Tried to resin the back side to give some stability to them.

I primed them

In the end though, I didn't like how they turned out so I scrapped them. The reinforcement wasn't quite what I wanted and I didn't shape them enough after I got the size right. So this is what I used to test my paint on.
I did try my hand at weathering in a thread.
Hey guys, just doing a couple trial pieces to see how the paint works together. If I need to sand it more before I paint, sand the primer better, see if it peels when it bends, ect. Anyway, here are some photos of one of the chest pieces painted and weathered. I learned quite a bit from it, but I would like some feedback. Feel free to edit it in paint, circle major flaws, ect.
Left is filler primer, right is painted. I used Rustoleum products. I used the toothpaste method for weathering. I will say I did not water down my black wash (acrylic paint+water) enough and it dried too fast, I was not able to remove as much as I was aiming for. So it is a little darker than I expected. Also, I did some sanding on the edges of the white and it gave the black wash something to dig into.






I think some of the weathering could stand to be improved. The major ding in the middle looks goofy to me personally. Critiques are welcomed.
I then improved my weathering technique on the other side.
An update. Did my second chest plate and tried to document it better so I could get some more opinions. It was pre primed, so I just sanded it down.

First coat of metallic silver

Second coat of metallic silver

My masking fluid of choice

Toothpaste masking

First coat of white

Second coat of white

Dried over night and time to wipe off and rinse the piece

Masking removed

Sand paper weathering in small spots

Started to black wash

Then a little more black wash. Can't see it much, but it is there around the weathering and I was happy with that.




The templates look a little goofy purely based on the fact that the dome is making it curve a little funny. But I believe this should work for my helmet dome this time around.
I went ahead and brought it home, since there was no reference to judge the size by. So here are some pictures with the 'inner surface' template from the WOL templates.



The dome doesn't appear to be much larger than my old mando helmet I have lying around. But it doesn't exactly meet up in the rear, which is an easy fix. Does it look alright from the side? Or is it too high in the rear of the dome?
Just a reference shot of some random google image

Hmmm. I tried to do some adjusting with the angle. The fitment of the paper is a bit off due to the helmet extending further than just the dome area. But does this look better?



I think after I trim the helmet down, the second adjustment would be better for the dome shape. Is that an accurate assumption?
I have quite a few more pieces cut out, trimmed, and shaped. (Cod, backplate, buttplate) I will have to get some photos. I'm working on using magnets to attach the pieces to my vest. However, I'm not sure if I prefer the magnets to snaps. It is definitely easy to attach yourself though.
I'll update this slowly, but feel free to comment.
EDIT: To avoid a double post, I found some additional photos of me brain storming the back pack piece.
This is my back plate.

I measure up the overlap of my old bucket and such, I boxed out the area where I would like the cannon to be stored at.

I think the shape is pretty good. The fitment is nice. Needs to be trimmed around the collar, but I haven't gotten a test fit pic yet, so that's something I'll get to today.

Anyways, here's the barrel material I will probably end up using. PVC pipe. Sizing up the bit I got out of the dumpster at work

I made a lighter stand in (it's brown paper bag material, I use it for masking cars when I paint them)


I took a spare box and made another cylinder to be a bit bigger than the barrel.

This is to close up the top of that box

Put the cylinder inside of the box, attached the top cover, and now it looks like a decent receiver for the barrel.



That would be in the down position. Giving myself an idea of how it looks on the back piece

I don't plan on making it out of cardboard. But this is to get the mechanical portion of it sorted out. I don't want to spend time, effort, and money using plastic and such only to run into sizing or function issues. I'm going to work on mounting the plates to the vest so I can get a better idea of where I can mount the hinge on my armor and then complete this mock up.
I do also plan on offsetting the weight and adding details and such to the other side. Possible an energy tank of sorts. It's planned to be a large beam rifle.