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[Hik'aari]

Howdy All,

One kit just isn't enough so it is now my intention to build a canon costume.



One of the reasons I settled on this variant is I have the intention to clear with MMCC and 501/UKG as the Canon Mando, then with RL (as I sport a bit of a beard in real life) as Obi-Wan as it is the version he steals once he lands on Mandalore.

I put an order in to EA for various parts at the beginning of December including:
Helmet
Back Plate
Jetpack
Gauntlets with Comms link
Boot Plates

I should be the first person to have a DW 3.0 Helmet. It will apparently be the 2.0 but nicer/cleaner.

I already bought myself the Palladium Pampa Hi (in black canvas) required for this build.

Rather than making Toe armor I have squared off the existing rubber at the front of the shoe



The side symbols were also removed.


Both these areas left horrible glue marks/straining/residue. I coloured them in with black permanent marker.... which the following day in sunlight turned them into shiney purple marks. This will not do.

I took the Dremel to them to rid the ridges/diamonds/manufacturers marks


I also used the sander to take back all of the sharpie and glue marks and got back to canvas.... but it also took the dye off so I was left with white boots in places.
I used some black fabric paint and watered it down slightly to use in a misting bottle. The shoes got a covering of this and are being left to dry overnight. I will then heat them up with a heatgun to set the paint tomorrow. The glue marks are now much less noticible. They will never disappear but they are hopefully going to be better now and once the boots are dry I shall photograph.

Due to having back problems (prone to prolapsed disc between L4 and L5) I am taking precautions knowing that I will be having a jetpack.
I got myself a 3 point harness to go underneath everything with a nice thick padded waist in an effort to distribute the load across my torso.

When the Jetpack is bolted to the backplate I will have straps that feed through reinforced holes in vest and flightsuit to additional straps that I will attach to the harness. This will allow me to get it tight to my back (meeting the animation style appearance requirement) and hopefully be the least risky method of causing my back problems.

I also intentionally got this model as it has D rings on the waist. I will be using these to attach drop leg holsters too that will sit underneath my flightsuit. This will allow magnetic thigh holsters so no strapping as per requirements More on this when I get round to it





Todays effort also produced these plates. Each pile is two plates.



They have only had a light sanding to take the sharp edges off, but being careful not too much as being an animation they will be squarer than normal armor.

I will still have to create Chest Plates, Cod Plate and 2x Thigh Plate Holsters to template and cut.

I have about 16 meters of material that has been delivered (a mix of drill cotton and drill stretch cotton) all in black. This will be used to custom make the flightsuit and vest to ensure they fit me.

The belt will be created by a leatherworker. I will need to get the flightsuit and vest done so that he can measure me.
I am opting for this approach as I have seen it done before, it looks very effective and it should allow me to still move about/bend over.

The gloves I purchased I had hoped I could remove the manufacturer logos from... but they seem to be heatsealed on.
All my attemtps at heating and acetone were all met with a mess of plastic leaving an exact glue mark in its place of the original symbol anyway.

I have found these which should be plain enough and tight enough to meet the required CRL/BRL for this build


For those of you also interested I have an Obi Ep3 lightsaber being built for me. The manufacturer did a run of 25 empty hilts and I managed to get the last one. All machined parts. The neck actually is machined from copper and bronze (I think, I am no metal expert). When I receive this it will be with electronics and blade ready to go and should have a nice weight/finish to it.

[Ashen Kelborn]

You have a new WIP and never told me 

looks like you have much in hand already, can't wait to see it unfold 

[Raestin Ke'Varek]

This is gonna be so friggin cool!!

[Werda Adate]

I'd like this even just for the title of the post ^^
This is going to be awesome

[Hik'aari]

The boots have now dried. Watered down black fabric paint seems to have done the trick. I think these marks will now be barely noticeable between the over foot plate, heel plate and the flight suit itself



A few hours of work at my desk working from templates, cutting, taping, reassembling and jigging about and I now have these.



I STRONGLY recommend those who are making their first armor to transfer all of the templates they make and ultimately use for their kit to thick cardboard. If a plate ever needs to be reproduced you have a hard wearing template which will save future time

The holster part was modified to add an extra 5mm to each of the fold lines to account for the thickness of the material. I also intend to fold the bottom so that it folds up between the side pieces. This should mean the least amount of filler required to seal them and finish them off.

For the cod plate the best idea I can come up with is fold the tabs, fibreglass the inside to create a structure to then fill and smooth the gaps that are created on the outside.

These used up the last of my Foamex so now no more armor progress until after the new year when the shops reopen



Looks like tomorrow shall be the start of the soft parts

[Kris Jasra]

I can't praise having a full harness for a jetpack enough. Mine is done in a similar fashion and while I don't wear my pack often, when I do I am so glad a large part of the weight is taken by the strapping from the waist.

[Kitala-Enby]

Off to a fying start. Commenting for updates.

[Hik'aari]

Right, I apologise now as this is going to be a monster update that I shall be trying to break down into sections to follow it easier

I have been busy busy busy over the past week or so.

Soft Parts

So I ordered a bit more material than I realised....


However this produced one neck seal:


The start to my custom fit double-sleeved flight suit. Only the panels of this were cut as we lacked an Overlocker machine to be able to continue.
Certain panels were cut from Black Cotton Drill. Other panels (mainly upper half due to the vest covering) were cut from Black Cotton Stretch Drill. This should allow for me to move about and be able to stretch to help my back not being fatigued. The suit will be tailored to me whilst also allowing me as a minimum to sit such that I can rest.


The vest is 95% complete. It is in heavy weight black cotton drill, double skinned and padded to give it some thickness. It also meets the Death Watch shoulder requirement of appearing like wings such that they appear to extend the silhouette of the wearer. I still need to insert the Zip into the rear (the one I bought is the length of the vest which is too risky to do) and to hand stitch the top of the shoulder seem from the inside. Being animated Death Watch I should not be showing a top stitch across the top. I shall have to learn to hand sew now.

It has been tailored to me as it is based on my existing vest torso size with modified shoulders for DW requirements.



I shall also be putting on all of the Velcro later this week when I complete the other sewing parts.



A reinforced 2 inch gap has been created into the shoulder seem. This allows for a 1.5" parachute clip to cleanly pass. There will be another like this in the flight suit. This will allow for the (black) nylon strapping from the back plate/jetpack to pass through a secure part of the soft parts to the harness I shall be wearing.


I also received the gloves which fit. They are a tight black leather with no armour and minimum additional panels. The wrist logo should be covered by the gauntlets as the end of the leather is where my wrist starts so the gauntlets should be coming up to this point.


Weapons

I have obtained a pair of Westar-35 Style pistols as per the Death Watch requirement.


The top gun is my existing Westar-35 that I had become accustomed too. The slight size difference is odd to say the least


They do however better match the size requirement/limitation (depending on how you see it) of the Thigh Holster. More photos of this in a later section.


Whilst not part of the MMCC requirements (as I am also building toward 501 and Rebel Legion) I also have been sent photos of my finished lightsaber build that I should receive in the next week or so (Builder is awaiting on the charger before shipping it)


Armor
As this is a mammoth section I have decided to skip over a number of the photos I took during building and will mainly concentrate on the "finished" pieces.
Much cutting of further plates later...


I was left with an unbent stack of Foamex


An evening of heat shaping later and I had some things


The holsters have been closed off by folding it into itself, trimming and final bending such that the bottom sits flush with the bottom of the side plates. Once assembled these corners will be sanded, filled and smoothed and repeated until it looks like one piece


Showing the fit with the pistols


So the thigh plates have been heat shaped to me, and assembled. The Pistols are also able to sit in the holsters lining up with holster drop cut and leaving both prongs in place. These are now able to be filled, sanded and smoothed to appear as one piece.


The hand armour is the required tombstone shape. The back of the plate stops just short of the bottom of the leather, such that there will be a small gap between it and the gauntlet. The curve also wraps around/over my knuckles as per the images I have been working to


As you could guess from the earlier chalk marks on my vest my chest plates were cut, shaped and then trimmed to fit me. It seems that I either do not have a symmetrical chest or I didn’t make my template symmetrical as one side of the collar had to be trimmed almost twice the amount of the other, but my neck fits the gap perfectly. Once the vest is complete I shall attach these for photos. However the neck and outer plates fill across my chest finishing approx. a thumbs width from the shoulder seem. The vest spacing downward then has the ab plate finishing a thumbs width from the bottom of the vest. Once I can wear the vest without needing clamps to hold it shut I shall take photos and post them with the direct visual comparisons from my reference images.


Lower body plate shaping


The cod plate also has a constant curve right the way across. This now needs to be fibre glassed from behind to reinforce the bottom. It will then be subject to much filling, sanding and smoothing


Rear heel plates


I do not have the boots to direct have for photographs but the outer treads have been further modified to better fit the Death Watch visual appearance. I am also trying (and currently failing) on building up the boot armour into the correct shape without it involving far more filler than I am willing to use.

I shall post further updates once they occur.

[Ashen Kelborn]

Wow, can't say there hasn't been progress 

[Syko Voss]

Commenting so I can see how this turns out.

Fantastic progress and great documentation!  Keep going!

[Echo Darklighter]

Personally, I'm a fan of any costume that, with small tweaks, is covered under the Big Three clubs. 

Looking good, vod!  Keep it up!

[Raestin Ke'Varek]

Great work so far ner'vod!   8)

[Hik'aari]

Small update, spent last few evenings learning how to fill and smooth and resulted in this.
All of the seams and gaps/holes have now been filled so it gives the impression that it is all one piece. Once painted they should look as they do in the animations.

There is a tiny amount of pitting, but at this point once they are painted that will all disappear.

[spideyplumhead]

looking good ...cant wait to see how this unfolds

[Kavryn Falco]

This is looking great! Definitely following your progress