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Armor Construction / Re: Hawk Kit Armor (Post Imp, Covert, Female)

« Last post by Kandosii Tor on Dec 07, 2023, 11:48 PM »

The finish on that helmet looking chef's kiss. 

2

Armor Construction / Re: Hawk Kit Armor (Post Imp, Covert, Female)

« Last post by EngineeringMaylen on Dec 07, 2023, 10:44 PM »

I think that chestplate sizing is absolutely perfect!

Shame about the blasters. Were you able to solve the riddle of why the paint didn't work?

E/M - scale looks right.

Kandosii Tor is spot on that EVA skills translate to Sintra.  Check out Flo Brin's thread about making this style chest plate from Sintra, using a foam template. Very good photos of the process.

Here's her full WIP

Thank you for the feedback and the resources! The threads were very helpful to read through and I feel a lot better about sizing the rest of my kit knowing I'm on the right track with the chest plate.

Update:
I wasn't able to really figure out what went wrong with the blasters, but I'm leaning strongly towards paint incompatibility. Good news, I was able to salvage both blasters.


2 piece blaster (bottom blaster in the above picture):
This is the one I hit with the red first. The red never fully cured. I was able to scrape and sand it off.
Following a large portion of the advice I received, I ended up buying Montana primer and Montana gold paints. I put the primer over the weathered steel in the areas I wanted to paint red/brown. I then layered red/brown Montana paint over that. It did adhere, but not great. When I pulled the painters tape off, the Montana paint wanted to go with it.
I gently pushed the paint back down and gave it a couple more days to dry. It seems to have adhered better as it cured. It only chips off when you drop the blaster on a non-carpeted floor. I went ahead and weathered the end result. All it needs now is a top clear coat (staying with Montana). Depending on how durable it feels after that, I'll decide if this one is wall art or part of my kit.

12 piece print (top blaster in the picture):
This one already had the rustoleum weathered steel on it when I sprayed the red on the 2 piece blaster and realized we had a problem.
I gave the 12 piece several more days to cure (in case the issue was gas evaporating form the still curing steel layer), washed it windex (for surface contaminants), handled it exclusively with new disposable gloves (again for surface contaminants), sprayed a layer of rustoleum matte clear sealant, and then sprayed the red. It had the same issue as the first blaster. 
At this point, i had just taken the tape off of the 2 piece blaster and wasn't sure anything would stick on top of the weathered steel, so I stripped this blaster back to plastic using orange wipes.
With everything except the PLA and the bondo gone, I started over on my paint layers. I had success with the rustoleum primer and filler (followed by a light sanding) and then the montana paints (primer, matte silver, shock brown, and brick). I then weathered using an acrylic wash and will hit it with the Montana clear coat tomorrow as well. The paint feels very solidly attached to the blaster.

Helmet:
After watching several Youtube videos on custom painting black series helmets, I took the plunge. The Bo Katan helmet is not put together the same as the Boba Fett style helmets, but the range finder ear cover pops off the same way. Once that was off, I took out every screw I could find. If it exposed electronics, I put the screws back...



I then started sanding. The only areas that I found really needed sanding to even them out were a parting line on the back third of the dome and some spots on the forehead where the edge of the white "mask" paint was raised. I didn't sand it back to raw plastic, but I hit everything with 120, 220, and 320 grit sandpaper. Next was rustoleum primer and filler. I did this based on the number of people I saw have success without any sanding and the fact that I did didn't want to make flat spots.


That got sanded with 220 and 320 after it dried.


Next up was Montana primer (2-3 dusted on layers, with 320 and 600 grit sanding in between as needed).


Then 3-4 coats of Montana Gold matte silver. I did sand this with 600 grit between coats 3 and 4. It has a somewhat gritty texture if I don't.


Tomorrow I'll put on the toothpaste and start laying down colors.

3

Armor Construction / Re: Wallic first kit WIP

« Last post by Butston Freem on Dec 07, 2023, 06:43 PM »

Great work so far!

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Armor Construction / Re: Wallic first kit WIP

« Last post by Wallic Toa on Dec 07, 2023, 06:22 PM »

Testing fit for chest, shoulders, back. Needs some weathing work but coming along.

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TCW/Rebels / Re: WIP TCW S7 Gar Saxon

« Last post by Vi'per on Dec 07, 2023, 02:24 PM »

This is an an amazing project ,watch out the details ,D.Woon is very inspirer but his recreations not always matching with the real references.
Need to find the correct JP model.

51491165985_22c120b1ce_k by vi'per, en Flickr

51490446223_d4a4c33f1a_k by vi'per, en Flickr

Hope see your updates soon

6

Armor Construction / Re: Kit 3 - Cin Fett - Solid Black - Post Imp

« Last post by trashcanmando on Dec 07, 2023, 01:45 PM »

Thanks! I'm thinking I might use it in more places, like as flak vest sleeves and possibly the neck seal, and maybe for some texture on the sleeves or pants.

7

Equipment & Accessories / Re: What's on your belt?

« Last post by Karl Dha'Werda on Dec 07, 2023, 01:37 PM »

On my Modern (metal) kit I use a combination of pouches along with a girth belt, modified DL-44 holster, and an ammo cartridge belt for my waist items.




My "late" Crusader kit I use pouches, a leather tool belt pouch (for macrobinoculars), a pouch specifically for a med kit, and a knife sheath in addition to my girth belt.  The black pouches on both kits are used for my phone. 

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Armor Construction / Re: Kit 3 - Cin Fett - Solid Black - Post Imp

« Last post by Kandosii Tor on Dec 07, 2023, 09:48 AM »

Great use of paracord! I had wondered if I could use it for piping before. You answered that for me.

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Soft Parts / Re: Nyrlohn Szifh soft parts weathering

« Last post by Flo Brin on Dec 07, 2023, 02:51 AM »

Su cuy'gar!

Weathering soft goods is deceptively easy and relaxing once you get the techniques down.

https://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=236245.0

That's my visual WIP on how I weathered my soft goods! Biggest tip: Be consistently inconsistent; as in, be thoughtfully random. Focusing on being random isn't as important as knowing how different types of weathering look in general. Dust and grime settles in low spots, grease and sweat stains spread and splatter, and sun bleaching grows and fades. Wear and tear should be focused on high contact areas, and areas that bend a lot (thighs, knees, elbows). So as long as you understand how weathering works in real life, weathering should come easy. It's kinda like doing math, if you have and understand the formulas, the problems are easy to solve.

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Soft Parts / Re: Flo Brin: Soft Goods Weathering

« Last post by Flo Brin on Dec 07, 2023, 02:42 AM »

To anyone who runs across this in search of weathering help:

A. That's flattering and humbling!

B. I am now in the works of hopefully creating a little tutorial on my weathering style! I will link it here when it's finished.

Happy weathering!