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[Havelock]

I saw "New" next to this thread and nearly started salivating, hoping for a new update.  (I didn't bother to check that the newest post was by The Mandler. Doh!) 

So I'll check back later, hoping for new updates by Si.   

[Welkin]

Hey I wasn't the only one! Plus you can't always go by "newest post" I've made that mistake before and missed out on some awesomeness for a long time (that was in a different group though)

[Syko Voss]

Pleased to say that the 1313-inspired blaster is coming along nicely...(update on this thread)



And in other news work on the helmets has also picked up some pace...



I cut out the cheek spaces on the helmets...



And in a bit of spare time attacked the key slot inserts - getting them prepped for later...



And with the help of my fabulous assistant, we took on the task of putting together the mandibles/cheeks...



We found that this was much easier as a two-person job - switching between heat guns and forming the Foamex (Sintra!), looking the curves from many directions and making sure everything was heading in the right direction was far simpler with an extra pair of hands and eyes.

With experimentation we discovered the best way to form the Mandible curves was to hot glue the ear cap side in loosely and then work on forming the rest of the curve with the heat gun - we found it tricky to both keep the piece held in place and form it at the same time...



With the curve in, lots of hot glue and bit of bodge work got the cheeks in...



(Note the fact that I had to cut into the skate helmet a little to clear the visor - a Dremel router bit made short work of that!)

Putting in the cheeks we found it difficult to get them in absolutely geometrically perfect, but they were pretty close and we found that we could create a bit more wiggle room for ourselves when inserting the cheek pieces by using the heat gun to make the in-place mandibles a bit more flexible.

So next step is to finish off applying filler to the cheek/mandible area, do a lot of sanding and then get the key slots in...

[Reyn Vok'chi]

Very nice work as usual  8)

[Havelock]

So awesome.  Good to hear from you guys again.

[Syko Voss]

Thanks guys
Quick question, Reyn (since I see you're on the App Team) are there any things I need to keep an eye on when it comes to building/designing ear caps?

I'm thinking for ease of transport, ease of building that we'd like to build ear caps with antennae rather than building range finders.

Not planning on building anything too outlandish or outside of the 70s/80s Star Wars aesthetic - but before I launch into this I think it's worth asking - is it okay to have equal height ear caps on either side of the helmet (take down the height of the range finder ear cap so it's the same height as the opposite side)?

For my helmet at least I'm thinking of going for antennae on either side of the helmet a little like the Pre-Vizla helmet but constructed around ear caps based on the detailing of Boba's right ear. For Jayne's we'll either do a similar thing or build ear caps like Boba and put in a single antenna in place of the range finder.

I'll post pics before I glue the things on, but any heads up/advice before I start chopping up foam would be real appreciated.

Thanks again!

 Are there any approved examples of this Boba-era style you can point me to?

[Reyn Vok'chi]

Earcaps are totally open to customization as are RF's as they are not a requirement unless you are making a canon or brigade build.
I'll shoot you a PM later 

[Welkin]

Looks like everything is coming along awesomely so far.

[Kyri]

Can I ask, are you reinforcing the inside of the helmet with anything or just leaving the foamex? I ask as I only have 3mm foamex and see you used the 6mm.

[Syko Voss]

Just using the Foamex - the 6mm worked for us for the body, but we had to use 3mm for the outside wrap since a second layer of 6mm made them look far too bulky.

I guess the best way to do it would be to build a two-layer 3mm helmet around the cardboard form first, then if it feels a little flimsy after you've assembled the cheeks, mandibles and keyslot in the back you could then consider putting in a 3mm wrap inside the back to help give it more strength.

But you might not need it.

[Kyri]

Just using the Foamex - the 6mm worked for us for the body, but we had to use 3mm for the outside wrap since a second layer of 6mm made them look far too bulky.

I guess the best way to do it would be to build a two-layer 3mm helmet around the cardboard form first, then if it feels a little flimsy after you've assembled the cheeks, mandibles and keyslot in the back you could then consider putting in a 3mm wrap inside the back to help give it more strength.

But you might not need it.

Thank you! Great tips you give

[crutchthecrusher]

looking good so far

[Syko Voss]

Once again, thanks everyone.

Here's another update...

With the cheeks in I filled all the holes, dents, creases and places where the mandibles didn't quite curve as they should with P38 (Bondo).

Then it was a round of 80 grit sandpaper to rip through the excess followed by time over the sink with 600 grit wet and dry to take everything to smooth...



...and then hitting the helmets with their first round of grey primer.

In addition to making it really easy to see the imperfections, this was a real boost to see - the first time these things looked like objects in their own right not just a skate helmet with some plastic and hot glue stuck to it.



We admired them for a whole five minutes before attacking with P38 (Bondo) to fill in all the pits and dents, and doing a lot of work on the mandibles - building out the right side curve on one of them and bringing the lines of the mandibles out to where they looked right, correcting for the bodging we did when heat forming.

With that done, I took a headlong dash at both the helmets using all the grits - 80 grit, 240 grit with the mouse sander, 600 grit wet and dry and finally (just because I could) 2000 grit to make the helmets smooth as glass...



They're now sitting quietly waiting for the next development - the ear caps.

Plan for the helmets is to build a set of double antennae on my helmet and a single antenna on the right cap for Jayne's helmets - we figure we can do a much better job making those than a half-assed attempt at making range finders....

So I had an idea.

I've been keeping all manner of spare parts from the trash and I realised that the top of a barbeque sauce bottle is the exact diameter of the WoF template ear caps at the 111% we've scale the helmets to...

...so with a pen barrel, a plastic chopstick and a small transparent ring piece from a hand santiser bottle...



...the perfect top of an ear cap!



All I have to do now is construct the lower parts of the ear caps and our household has to get through another three bottles of barbecue sauce... (a feat I think our carnivorous family is more than up for!)

In other news, the 1313 inspired carbine is really moving along...



...And Jayne has finally gotten herself black tight-fitting sports gear for her under armour and  secured us 5m of black faux leather, some industrial needles and thread to hopefully make a start on our flak jackets soon.

[spideyplumhead]

loving the work and so glad to see im not the only one using bottle tops,etc ...nice ear cap so simple but effective

[Syko Voss]

Thanks - I'm taking great delight in repurposing everyday objects - once you take them out of context it's a joy to see them become something else - and in fact, that's the spirit of the original trilogy props all over.

When it comes to curves and circular objects, nothing beats machine parts, so if you can find it somewhere in the house, I'll take it and disguise it over trying to cut it by hand.

Particularly pleased with the way the 1313 sight came out (breakdown of what it's made of on that thread....and yes, it's a lot of bottle caps!)

[Havelock]

Mate, this is just sick!  You guys are doing wonderfully with your kits.  I'm in awe of your skills.

[jett drexel]

your work output, attention to detail and creative use of found objects is inspirational. will be looking out for you at celebration so I can say hello.

[Jorad Werde]

Looks like you've got a lot of good work happening.  Great job on that carbine

[Syko Voss]

Thanks guys - I really appreciate your kind words of support - I wish there was a 'Like' button so I could give you a thumbs-up on your posts!

Pleased to say that Jayne ("Nikjay Voss") and I have finally gotten our act together and pulled together a colour scheme.

Jayne's plan is to use black sportswear as under armour, as I posted earlier I've moved over to a tighter, grey boiler suit.  We now have black faux leather and are about to draw up patterns for our flak jackets.

We've been looking at Kobra Paint for our colours since Jayne was very particular about getting the right reddish purple and green combo, and since we're both aiming to create looks that are 100% in-keeping with something that could have walked off the set of Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, we're using the following as our base...



We're expecting to heavily weather the armour, so expect a lot of exposed metal.  Unsure of what additional markings to go for yet - as I say, we want something that feels 'in Universe' so we'll be erring on the low key side of things.

In other news, so happy to finally say that the carbine is now ready for assembly...



Update on all the details of this and how Heinz Ketchup bottles have added to its awesome are in this post...

[Havelock]

Loving the colors, vod. Just loving it.

[Malek Dair]

Great use of materials vod! Love the colours and the overall concept. Looking forward to more updates.

[Welkin]

Looks Excellent!

Can't wait to see that thing fully assembled!

[Syko Voss]

Lots happening this week...

• The blaster is coated in matt black paint and curing, ready for its meeting with Messrs Rub 'n' Buff.
• I've started back on working out ear caps for the helmets - currently doing some head scratching and scratch building so I can have double antennae on both my ear caps (I like the aggressive vibe they give off...and I figure I can do a better job with those than with a droopy rangefinder)
• I've made hand guards out of Foamex (Sintra) based on an Imperial Stormtrooper template so we can do some armour tests without using up too much PVC foam and other resources
  
• My gloves arrived from Amazon - fit perfectly and look the part
  
• Jayne and I did a fitting of my boiler suit - she has pinned the legs and is ready to start sewing to fit them tighter (her skin tight under armour fits her body perfectly, so it's only me that needs a fitting in that regard)
• I've started a little background project making a Kal dagger from the Bounty Hunter Code book
  
• and I've been trying out different patterns to give the armour a little bit more of a lift...  Want something classy and Swarzy but not sure which direction to go in...
  
  

(Post from the future...)
In the end, the kit looked like this....

[Havelock]

My two favorites are C and G, with C being my absolute favorite.

Love seeing updates from you, vod.

[Kyri]

C & J for me but agree with Havelock, loving C.

What did you use to draw those images? Looks great