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[Or'sir Naymiit'e]

Oya, vode! At long last, here is my WIP:

First up was the helmet, which was scratch-built from pepakura:





First layer of primer. Definitely needs more work.


At some point I said to myself, "What the heck, that's good enough."


Bucket and armor after their first few layers of paint:


My very first time wearing my kit (keep in mind, all of this was being done around Halloween, so I was wearing it every chance I could get):
 
Made some modifications to it that night and wore it the next day:

Made a few modifications, including adding some shoulder bells:

The current state of my kit (sorry for the bad quality pics, this was the biggest mirror in the house ):




I know I've still got a lot of work to do:
-One of my dad's 501st friends (yes, it runs in the family) is 3D printing some ear caps for me
-Going to add a holster on my left leg and a Westar to go with it
-Already started on better gaunts and bucket
-Going to add a bit more strapping to my shin armor
-Hoping to get some grav charges to put on my belt
-Possibly going to make a kama and loin cloth
 
Thought I'd ask you guys about this: what kind of weapon (preferably melee) do you think would go best with the general aesthetic of my kit?
Any and all feedback is more than welcome!

[Kuyan Jai'galaar]

That kit looks really cool! 

I also built a set of armor for Halloween but.....it didn’t end quite as well (left shoulder armor fell apart before dinner). As for melee weapons, I’ll bet a nice stabby-spear would look really cool. There’s a melee weapon tutorial somewhere on the forums that has really great weapon how-tos, but I honestly can not remember where it is.

I’m still figuring out the whole bucket thing.....you mentioned pepakura, but how does that work? I’ve seen some stuff about it before (which was a bit confusing). Also is it sturdy (knowing me, I’ll drop my helmet on concrete before I’m even done painting it)?

[Or'sir Naymiit'e]

That kit looks really cool! 

I also built a set of armor for Halloween but.....it didn’t end quite as well (left shoulder armor fell apart before dinner). As for melee weapons, I’ll bet a nice stabby-spear would look really cool. There’s a melee weapon tutorial somewhere on the forums that has really great weapon how-tos, but I honestly can not remember where it is.

I’m still figuring out the whole bucket thing.....you mentioned pepakura, but how does that work? I’ve seen some stuff about it before (which was a bit confusing). Also is it sturdy (knowing me, I’ll drop my helmet on concrete before I’m even done painting it)?

Ori'vor'e!
I like the idea of a spear, I could even do something like Din's spear from S2. I think I've seen that tutorial you're talking about.
To answer your question, pepakura is just a free papercraft program, free in the sense that you can use it to view, rescale, and print papercraft models; you have to pay to design your own models. Once you've selected, scaled, printed out, and built your helmet (I used Skip's pepakura template found in the "costume templates and tutorials" section), you can start fiberglassing. For fiberglassing you'll need a can of fiberglass resin and some fiberglass mat. The can has instructions for mixing and applying it, but the basic idea is that you cut the mat into a bunch of strips, drench them in resin, and put them in the inside of the helmet. You're pretty much turning your paper into plastic. Once you get that first layer with the mat on, you can start applying more layers without the mat. I did the first layer with the mat on the inside, and then did about two more layers each on both the inside and outside. Once you're done with the resin, you can move on to body filler (usually just referred to as "bondo"). Bondo is a ton of work. Again, the can has instructions for application and all that. You pretty much spread that on and sand it down, and keep repeating until it looks the way you want it to. People usually give it a layer of primer once they think they're done just to see if there's anything that needs fixing. A couple of things to keep in mind are that you'll definitely need some kind of supports inside your helmet before you start fiberglassing. On mine, I had two between the front mandibles and one going across on the bottom. Another thing to remember is to have everything prepared beforehand; that is, you'll want to cut out your fiberglass mat and put the supports in the helmet.
I'll have pictures of what all of that looks like once I start on my second bucket (as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer). Hope everything goes well with your kit!

[Kuyan Jai'galaar]

Vor’e, vod! That sounds a bit complicated. I’m fairly new to armor building and the lot, so I might just....stick with sintra and a bike helmet. Worked well enough for Halloween (well, minus the sintra; I used other materials). 

Din’s spear would definitely work with your kit. It might also look cool if you added some kind of leather-like wrap.

[Or'sir Naymiit'e]

Vor’e, vod! That sounds a bit complicated. I’m fairly new to armor building and the lot, so I might just....stick with sintra and a bike helmet. Worked well enough for Halloween (well, minus the sintra; I used other materials). 

Din’s spear would definitely work with your kit. It might also look cool if you added some kind of leather-like wrap.

Ba'gedet'ye!
I know it sounds hard, but fiberglassing isn't that complicated once you get the hang of it.
I'll do some kind of wrap for sure, those seem to be a staple for Mandalorian weapons.

[Celtkhan]

I have nothing but respect for those who can put together a pepakura helmet, but honestly, I can’t help but think that the hard hat/bucket build is cheaper, faster, and easier.

[Arkham]

As for melee weapons, I’ll bet a nice stabby-spear would look really cool. There’s a melee weapon tutorial somewhere on the forums that has really great weapon how-tos, but I honestly can not remember where it is.

Here is the link to the Edged Weapons Tutorial. You can make some cool things using these techniques.

[Or'sir Naymiit'e]

More (and better) pictures!

My dad and I decided to take advantage of the snow, so we went out and got some fancy-schmancy snow pics (the E-11 is from my dad's stormtrooper costume):






A bit too icy for snow angels, as I discovered...


One of my main takeaways is that I need a LOT more weathering on my soft goods, because when compared with the armor itself, they seem way too clean.

[Kuyan Jai'galaar]

Those are some kandosii photos!! 

[Or'sir Naymiit'e]

Updates!

It's been a while, vode, and I've made a TON of progress on my kit.

To start, I made a new flak vest (using leftover fabric from my Cal Kestis vest):

Next I updated my gauntlets:

Along with a new helmet:

Repainted my armor:

I didn't make much progress until August, when my whole family (except me lol) got Covid (everyone's all good now), and so I had to quarantine from them downstairs. Naturally, I used my quarantine time to make some finishing touches:


Once our quarantine was over, I got to go to my first con! It was pretty small, but still a lot of fun!




At this point, the only things I need to work on are a backplate (any advice, vode?) and just doing some more weathering

[Kuyan Jai'galaar]

Looking super good!! The contrast between the red and blue definitely makes your armor pop. As for backplate, the standard Boba-type plate would work well with the rest of your kit, or a plate closer to Din’s.

Keep up the great work!