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[Novoc Mereel]

Hellooooooooo, Mercs!

I could make a bunch of definitely-hilarious jokes about things that are long overdue, but the truth is that nearly six years ago, I was pretty much broke, under a load of stress from my senior year of college, had a pretty nutty schedule, and a real lack of commitment. I want to own the fact that maybe at that time I wasn't as good at deadlines as I thought I was, and maybe bit off a lot more than I could chew at the time.

But that was then.

I've been toying with the idea of starting my kit back up for a couple months, but when I discovered my only remaining local Mercs (BedlamX and his wife) were moving away and that Tommy was selling some of his old kit, I knew it was the big sign I needed to jump back in. So I picked it up, and have been working on my kit most evenings after work. Now that I'm older, wiser, and have a stable career, I can really crack down on this project. Below, you will find my progress and some commentary. You can check out the original planning thread in my forum signature, if you so desire.


This helmet has been staring at me for a long time on my shelf. I really just need to do some detail on the interior and reset the visor in place. I've got some visor clips I found out about on a forum thread coming in the mail. I'll update my helmet thread as soon as those arrive and I have some updates to share.



Here's pretty much everything else I have.




I acquired the clone trooper shins and thighs as b-pulls from KWDesigns a few years back. I've rough-trimmed them and will hopefully be attending an armor party in the near future with some Kansas City-area MMCC and 501st folks to help me with putting them together. I'm aware that per the CRL's pieces from other Star Wars costumes must be modified in some way as to not immediately give away what they are. The shins/greaves will have kneecaps built into them, and I'm planning to have calf-mounted jump jets of some sort. At this moment, I'm still kinda part hunting for something that feels right for them, but am confident I'll figure something out soon. The thighs won't change a whole lot other than being cut down a bit, because even on my 6'3" frame, they're a bit long. I suppose it's always easier to cut away material as opposed to add material! My main plan is to have attachments on the outside of the thighs to put my blasters on. More on that soon!


I got this backplate from what Tommy sold me. It had an ammo pack mounted to it with an ammo chute that attached to the gauntlets I bought from him (below).


Said gauntlets as mentioned above. The minigun is the left side. I'm looking to clean them up a bit, add a greeblie or two to the right gauntlet (I'm currently thinking a vibroblace and/or a comm pad), and of course repaint them. I'm going to re-use the ammo chute pictured, but I've got a different idea in mind for the ammo pack on my back plate.




Also pictured with my back plate was my chest armor I've started on. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it came out sideways. I removed and re-uploaded it probably four times. There's also the gloves I'm trying to decide on. They're actually from my marching band days, and had only really been worn once. For now they'll do, but I may end up replacing them. Thought if nothing else, they'd be a cool way to give my kit a personal flair and tie to other parts of my life that wouldn't ever be noticed by the public. Also, didn't mean to glare, it had been a long day. I promise I'm a lot more friendly-looking!


Here's a pic of the chest plate and a collar for sizing purposes. Didn't have a second person on hand, and it's sitting a little weird, but I think I got pretty close. I made a cardboard template out of an old pizza box and triple-checked everything. I think I did ok, but am open to constructive criticism as always


Better pic of the chest plate. I cut out the diamond shape and made a chest diamond below.


Thanks for reading! Oya! (Seriously, why does the forum uploader randomly rotate my pictures?!)

P.S. Please feel free to check in on my WIP for my blasters, if you feel so inclined. Thanks again for reading!

[Bryn Cin'Prudii]

Love what you're doing here. That gauntlet is beastly.

On the non-mando note, I personally would go with the thighs more modified as those shins are really dope. You might find that you will want to cut more of the thighs than you think for mobility's sake.

I eagerly look forward to seeing how this kit develops.

[Straka Zulu]

Following for updates.

Love the look of that helmet, and those gauntlets!

[Novoc Mereel]

Following for updates.

Love the look of that helmet, and those gauntlets!

Wish I could take credit for the gauntlets, but I'll be adding my own personal touch to really make them "mine" now. Definitely going to keep the minigun, though. I'm grateful Tommy gave me a great deal on them. I plan to give them the good home they deserve!

[AUSfrostbite]

Looking forwards to seeing how your gauntlets turn out, i'm loving the minigun!

[Novoc Mereel]

Got the rest of my plates cut out of 6mm Sintra. Here's a rough test fit of them duck-taped together. Took pics holding each side for the sake of clarity. I'm able to comfortably cross my arms in front of my chest with the way they are constructed, and I think once I get a vest, they should be okay. The bottom plate should be trimmed a half inch or so on each side to get the tapered Legacy look more correct, but wanted to show a test fit before I did so. There's also a bit more shaping to do, as you can see, but anyway, here's where I'm at:





Again, my apologies. I do the uploads from my phone and it seems that the forum uploader doesn't want to show them oriented the way I took them. I may have to try again uploading them in a different way if it's a problem.

[Novoc Mereel]

Sorry for the double post, hadn't gotten any replies in a few days, and had some progress to report.

First, I bought some different gloves. They're very comfortable, and I've removed all the logos from them.


Next, I cut out and rough shaped some hand plates. These aren't finished yet. I'm planning to use some Apoxie Sculpt to add a bit more detail to them. I haven't yet decided how I want to attach them, but will likely just have some velcro sewn onto the gloves and the underside of the plates.




Additionally, I bought a keyboard switch testing block. The plan for this is to greeble up the right gauntlet and add these buttons. Still a little more work to plan out there, but I'm happy with the size of these so far. The plan is to cut a hole in the top of the gauntlet and pop these through the inside, thus concealing both the logo and the large block.


And with a test fit:

[Straka Zulu]

That doesn't count as a double post.  Now, if you were to do it the same day, like within minutes of the previous one, now that is what would rankle the mods.

Where'd you find that tester?  I might have to borrow that idea from you....

[Novoc Mereel]

That doesn't count as a double post.  Now, if you were to do it the same day, like within minutes of the previous one, now that is what would rankle the mods.

Where'd you find that tester?  I might have to borrow that idea from you....

From Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G3BJOHO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A friend recommended it to me when I mentioned I needed some buttons to greeblie up my gauntlet.

[Malakier Vhett]

Off to a good start. Look forward to seeing more of your progress

[Novoc Mereel]

Quickly popping in to say I'm still alive! I attended an armor party with some 501st/Rebel Legion folks this past week. It was great to have a second pair of hands helping to shape my plates with a heat gun, and helped me get the edges of my plates really nicely and evenly shaped. Didn't bother to take pics, but the sizing didn't really change.

Someone at the armor party suggested permanently attaching my collar plate to my chest plate, and letting the ab plates kind of free-float on some nylon strapping attached on the back. I wanted to ask the folks here on the forums whether that is an ok plan before I haul off and do it. Also, does anyone have a suggestion of a certain brand or size of nylon strapping? I will most likely need some for other parts of my kit as well, but it seems like there's quite a bit of variation in availability and such. I'd rather spend a little more up front than buy something that won't do the job very long that I'll have to replace after just a couple troops anyway. Same with velcro that I'll need on my kit, I'm a little intimidated by the variety and want to buy the best, most heavy-duty stuff I can find to minimize chances of anything coming off at an inopportune time. I plan to use Velcro both on my gloves and vest, as well as part of the closure on my shnees.

Any guidance on the above would be appreciated!!

I haven't gotten into painting yet because it's been below freezing here in Kansas since I got my plates cut out. Hopefully the weather will warm up soon... I'm a warm-weather Mando at heart.

[jett drexel]

just remember mate, when it comes to industrial Velcro you want the sew on type for your soft parts and the adhesive type to go on any plates as trying to sew the the adhesive type is a nightmare.

[Malakier Vhett]

For Velcro, at some sewing stores you can get what they call "Home Decor Velcro". It is 3/4" wide, and the "loop" side side is sew-on, while the "hook" side is stick-on industrial. That's what a lot of people that use Velcro get these days

For nylon strapping, it's really personal preference. When I used nylon strapping I just used the whatever 'default' at Jo-Ann's is. 3/4" wide nylon strap. Never had any issues.

[Novoc Mereel]

For Velcro, at some sewing stores you can get what they call "Home Decor Velcro". It is 3/4" wide, and the "loop" side side is sew-on, while the "hook" side is stick-on industrial. That's what a lot of people that use Velcro get these days

For nylon strapping, it's really personal preference. When I used nylon strapping I just used the whatever 'default' at Jo-Ann's is. 3/4" wide nylon strap. Never had any issues.

just remember mate, when it comes to industrial Velcro you want the sew on type for your soft parts and the adhesive type to go on any plates as trying to sew the the adhesive type is a nightmare.

Thanks for the tips, all. Sounds like I'm off to the store!

[Dar'manda]

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