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[KayJ2112]

Holy Cow! I don't think I've ever been so nervous to post something before! I've been on the forum since July (after Denver Comic Con), really studying and deciding what I want in my kit. But I didn't think I'd be actually starting for a very long time. Thanks to awesome folks at a Cerar armor party, and amazing folks at Salt Lake Comic Con from Krayt, HERE I AM!  I have some initial designs, am getting feedback on facebook groups, have started a helmet, and am SO Excited! But nervous. This is more intense than I have ever done before. Anyway, I guess it's time to jump in!

This is my initial design. I will add a couple of pouches to the belt for carrying a few things, and possibly a belt for a sidearm, but I plan for my main weapon to be a bowcaster & a blade in my boot. Flight suit will be navy/indigo spandex/performance knit. Flak vest in duck, royal purple. Plates & roman skirt in blue, green, teal & trimmed in gold. The detail on the skirt will either be a grading effect with paint or an applique (depending on the medium).


I know that I want a good vest for my flak vest, but even in this, I'm all about an interesting detail. This is the pattern I'm currently thinking of using (it zips in the back, but I might modify that to having buckles on the side, and remove the collar, using instead a neck seal on my flight suit). Pic of the actual pattern and the line drawing from the pattern:
 

Finally, here is the pepakura helmet pattern that I'm going to try to put together. That will become it's own thread down the line. it will have a color scheme much like the one in the above design, but I haven't had a chance to color it yet. It has some amazing details that I hope to be able to bring to life.



Since is the first time I've ever attempted to even POST about something like this, I apologize if the photos don't turn out first go. Also, I apologize now for the photo quality. My phone and I are constantly going rounds. It doesn't like me much.

And finally, the name I'm considering for this Mando is Gedin'la Senaar.

All thoughts, comments, critiques, suggestions welcome. Be gentle, but please, be honest! I want to make this the best I can & take my place in the ranks!

[Desago]

I think this is a good start. I'm excited to see this finished.

[Myra Tiin]

Original concept and ideas !
And good luck with your pepakura helmet build ! These take a long time, but if you are patient and dedicated enough, it'll definitely look great

[Havelock]

First off, there's no need to be nervous; we're all pretty nice.  I can understand having butterflies in your stomach, though.  I felt the same way when I started out.  You've got some great people to help you out, though, and I'm sure your kit will be simply amazing.

With your flak vest, I'm intrigued by that pattern, and look forward to seeing what you do with it; just keep in mind that the bottom of your flak vest can't extend past your girth belt/sash.  With that caveat, I'm, again, interested to see what you do with this.  Additionally, the loin-cloth portion of your skirt will need to be attached under the girth belt or sash. 

This is a very interesting concept, and I'm looking forward to seeing you bring it to life.

[KayJ2112]

Thanks all so far for the support and ideas! This is going to start getting a little heavier in pictures!

First off, there's no need to be nervous; we're all pretty nice.  I can understand having butterflies in your stomach, though.  I felt the same way when I started out.  You've got some great people to help you out, though, and I'm sure your kit will be simply amazing.

With your flak vest, I'm intrigued by that pattern, and look forward to seeing what you do with it; just keep in mind that the bottom of your flak vest can't extend past your girth belt/sash.  With that caveat, I'm, again, interested to see what you do with this.  Additionally, the loin-cloth portion of your skirt will need to be attached under the girth belt or sash. 

This is a very interesting concept, and I'm looking forward to seeing you bring it to life.

Thanks so much! I'm really long-waisted, so I'm not really worried about where my flak vest will end, but I will certainly keep this in mind. I realized after I drew it that the loincloth would need adjusted, and I've been told I need to add pouches for carrying stuff, so that's in the current works as well. (Also, still nervous, but getting more excited by the day!)

Original concept and ideas !
And good luck with your pepakura helmet build ! These take a long time, but if you are patient and dedicated enough, it'll definitely look great

Thank you! I'm actually really enjoying the putting together part of the bucket, as it's something I can do at work The fiberglass part has me nervous, but I'm getting excited for warmer weather and getting started!

So, it's been a bit of a long, procrastinated start! Work-life kind of exploded, and then nearly died, so finances haven't gone to plan, nor the time I wanted to devote to this. So now I'm finally at it for sure!  Anyway, here's what I've been up to for the past few months!

While I've been at work, I've been able to slowly work on my bucket. I started with a colored version of the paper, as a trial to see how it went together, and just to get my feet wet. Then I decided I wanted to get an idea of the size of it, so I made enough of the helmet to see how tall it would be and the full circumference:

Looking at it, I realized it might be just a tad on the small size, so I went ahead and printed out another, sizing it up just a smidge. So far, I think it's going to be a better fit, and it's coming along:

If things go they way I'm hoping at work this week, I might be able to finish! Then it's just a bit of touch ups to make sure the fiberglassing goes well.

I've finally got my flightsuit and flak vest cut out. I still have some adjustments to make on the pattern for the flak vest, but I think it'll turn out well. I couldn't find a color in duck cloth that I liked, so I'm going to use it as a base layer, sewing it in between 2 layers of heavy cotton to get the color I want with the shaping I need. Fingers crossed it works!

Today I was able to get my top for the flightsuit done! It's just a simple mock-turtleneck (turned more turtleneck) pattern out of dark blue performance knit. It's not hemmed yet, but that'll come when I have other pieces to work with and I know how long I want things! Here are pictures of my patterns & the finished shirt. Better pictures will happen when I've got more of the suit and vest put together
The pattern- view C and its line drawing

And here it is on (the sunlight and flash make it look a bit brighter blue than it actually is!) and a detail of the shoulder and neck.


I'll try to do a bit better at keeping this updated! Especially as I start trying to figure out how I want that Roman skirt to really sit! I may need a lot of feedback on that! But tell me what you're thinking of things so far so that I can keep making improvements! Thanks all! Until the next one!

[Havelock]

Glad to see you're back at it.  And you're making some really nice progress.  Awesome!

[Ran]

Looking cool!

Don't worry about fiberglassing, just follow the instructions and it's really not that hard. Just make sure to do it in a well ventilated area and/or wear a respirator, them fumes are gnarly. And wear gloves.

[Ordeyn]

I've done two scratch built buckets never having used fiberglass or bondo or anything before and I managed it. You've got this. You're already doing way better than I did my first time around!

[KayJ2112]

I've done two scratch built buckets never having used fiberglass or bondo or anything before and I managed it. You've got this. You're already doing way better than I did my first time around!

Looking cool!

Don't worry about fiberglassing, just follow the instructions and it's really not that hard. Just make sure to do it in a well ventilated area and/or wear a respirator, them fumes are gnarly. And wear gloves.

Thank you, guys! You keep me feeling like I can do this! And since Daniel Logan just got announced for Denver Comic Con, I kinda wanna move up my completion date (only by 6 months… )! So I've been at it as much as possible. Stupid job keeps getting in the way.

But I have managed to make progress on my bucket.

I just have the last bit of the visor to put in, then hope for it to REALLY warm up around here before I can start the fiberglassing. (It's snowing outside right now as I'm writing this, so it may be awhile *sigh*). I'm slightly claustrophobic, which is part of why I chose a pep helmet. The light weight of it helped not feel so closed. But as I was putting it together, the t-visor was feeling a bit small and I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to see. So I decided to adjust it just a bit. By widening the bottom of the front visor by an inch, it also opened up the top of the visor just a bit. It's not much, 5/16" in the center, but enough to feel like I'll have a better field of view. I adjusted that piece too, and will put it in next week. I'm also going to be putting in some reinforcement paper & glue in the cheeks, as I've read that can be a weak spot with the assassin visor.

I'm doing a bit of an update to my design.

 I've added an ammo/pouch belt over the girth, and taken out the thigh plates. I like the idea of thigh plates, but I know they'll snag on the Roman skirt, and that’s a hassle I don’t need. Also, there are two photos, because I’m not exactly sure which way I want to go with the loin area and back plates. These are few ideas I’m toying with, but they can mix/match: Do I go full Roman war skirt or have a loin cloth in front? Do I want segmented back plates, or do I want to go with a split back design?

The Roman skirt is weighing on my mind, and right now, I'm thinking that I'll add plastic tabs to the bottom of it instead of trying to paint the colors on it. It'll give it some more depth and weight too (hopefully that will help them hang real nice). Once I get past finishing the vest, I'll have time to start working out how I want that to go.

Also, I've hit a snag with my vest. I'm in the middle of adding a few darts to make it fit exactly how I want, but I'm not sure what to do on the closures. I realized that I need to have a plan for my back plates (which are obviously lacking in all of my former design photos) before I proceed. The two designs I'm toying with will affect how I close it. I was originally thinking Velcro on the sides (I'll get photos once I'm home again, typing while I'm at work... don't tell the boss!) to help with sizing, and a zipper and Velcro on the back closure. But then I realized that if I do the split plates, that would expose a back zipper, even with a cover flap, and that wouldn't look as cool. So now I'm not sure what I'm thinking. Not sure how I feel about doing a lacing system on the sides, how has that gone for others?
Ideas?
Thanks again to everyone who gives me input, support, and ideas! Here’s hoping I can get to an armor party soon, and not have to travel 5 hours to get to the bulk of the nearest clan!

[Ran]

I like the loin cloth and segmented backplates. Both help to break up the design and just add more interest. Also, plastic on the ends of the skirt sounds cool.

Personally I'd try to widen up the top of the T-visor a bit, and have the bottom come to more of a point instead of flaring out. Gives off a more intimidating look. Here's Mandalore's mask as an example.
'Course flames help too.

[Kris Jasra]

The visor will need straightening up so it is vertical. Alternatively you can narrow the bottom as said above but not widen. If you need the T wider for more vision/so it doesn't feel too tight, widen the T as a whole. Also, you may want to think about using a Legacy visor cut out as that will give even more vision.

[KayJ2112]

The visor will need straightening up so it is vertical. Alternatively you can narrow the bottom as said above but not widen. If you need the T wider for more vision/so it doesn't feel too tight, widen the T as a whole. Also, you may want to think about using a Legacy visor cut out as that will give even more vision.

Duly noted, and the front is already pulled out. I'm going to have to do some serious work to make it open like I need it, so that's going to be set aside for a couple of days while I regroup there.

Here are a few pictures of the vest so far. Well, the shape, anyway, as this is the lining, but it was easier to put on for photos. The actual front is a bit cleaner, top-stitched, and very stiff. Also, once sewn, 1/2" will be gone on all edges.
(the gap in the back side seam is for turning the lining, don't worry!) Like I said before, I have new darts that I have to put in, and I'll probably cut some of the side seam back so that it can be either velcroed or laced, and the back will need some kind of closure, but I have a couple of ideas for that, depending on what kind of plates I do in the back. I am a bit concerned seeing it on over the flight top that it might be too short. My belly button is directly below the point (there is a slight indentation in the fabric so you can see where it is). I'd rather get ahead of that now if I need to extend the length before I put the lining and front together.

Once the vest is done, then I guess it'll be time to start thinking about drawing templates for my armor! Please keep the info, critiques, ideas, and input coming! I need it! Thanks all, again!

[Desago]

You are doing an amazing job and all the advice you are getting is being applied to your build. Good job.

With your vest I would suggest it not be too tight. It looks good and I think you're on the right track. Keep up the good work.

[Kris Jasra]

I know your pain with visors, I had a commission scratchbuild that waited a fair way into the project to tell me they didn't like too tight and wanted vision

Vest is looking good. Should be pretty much spot on once the final hemming is done.

[Bryn Cin'Prudii]

Keep up the good work. The others comments are fairly valid, but you have a very good design going forward. Just remember this is a marathon, so take your time and do it right despite your deadlines. Feel free to reach out to any of us if you need help!