Mandalorian on a budget Lead Author: Sep Ho'ban
Edited by: MMCC Education TeamThere are essentially three different ways to put together an approveable kit for the MMCC. There’s the ostensibly fastest method, which is purchasing everything for your kit and doing the final assembly yourself. You can purchase some elements of your kit and scratch-build other elements. Your kit will typically take longer to complete, but be less costly than purchasing everything. Or you can scratch-build just about everything. This method takes considerably longer, and requires more effort, but is
very appealing to members on a tight budget.
This brief overview is intended to educate you on how to put together an OM kit for less than $200, and hopefully inspire you to come up with your own wallet-friendly solutions.
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Sep Hoban, shortly after approval 
This whole kit was built with a $35 dremel, a drill, and a $12 heat gun. 99% of the build was done by Sep and another recruit before ever attending an Armor Party, using knowledge and feedback from the forum. The majority of the outside help they received was in taking approval pics and making some small tweaks at an AP at the end of the build process.
This kit was made from a 4x8 foot piece of Sintra ($30), and he used less than half that sheet.
Items used:
- Helmet- 2 Home Depot Buckets - $10
- Grinding shield and mirrored tint - $6
- Hot glue – approximately $4
- Bondo and glazing putty – approximately $10
- Shoulder plates, chest plates, back plate, cod plate, shnees – single sheet of sintra - $30
- Chicago screws - $10 online. Provided enough screws for 4 kits
- Nylon strapping - $10 (with 40% off coupon) – enough strapping for 2 kits
- Gauntlets - Sintra formed around a floral cone with approximately $2 worth of piano hinge
- Vest and Kama - $8 - made from canvas blackout curtains - thrift store find
- Black nylon military surplus belt - $5
- Black nylon pouch - military surplus - $10
- Girth belt - $30 worth of paracord, woven by me and a couple of carabiners on the back side
- Boots - amazon - $35 (size 15 were hard to find in a thrift store)
- Blaster - $22 red ryder bb gun plus $7 in plumbing parts, and some time with a hacksaw to cut down the stock
- Flight suit - $30 or so in scrubs, and the sleeves from an old compression shirt.
It’s important to note that if Sep wore smaller shoes, or if, in his own words, he’d been more patient, he could have found boots at a thrift store for perhaps $5-10, and they would have almost certainly come weathered. He also notes that if he’d used a sash instead of a girth belt, he would likely have saved most of the money he spent on the paracord, bringing his total kit cost to under $150.
He and his friend put together this entire kit by bargain shopping, searching thrift stores and, in the best Star Wars tradition, re-purposing other items to uses for which they were never intended. He also feels very strongly that:
NONE of it would have been possible without asking for feedback early and often on the main forums in addition to the Clan. I have WIPS in both the legacy subsection of the forum and Murran’s clan boards for this reason.
You CAN do these kits on a tight budget, and meet the CRL's 
Ask questions before and after you buy, get feedback early and often. Oya!
In summaryIf you’re not concerned about putting together a kit as rapidly as possible, and you’re willing to put in the effort, it’s entirely possible to create an OM kit for under $200. Make sure you start and maintain a WiP thread, keep your Ruus’alor informed and involved in your build, and remember that critiques and feedback is given to help you make your kit as amazing as possible.
--MMCC Education Team--
