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[hazelspikes]

Hi! 

I figured I'd start my WIP for making my armor. It's my first time doing anything like this (besides sewing a dress about 5 years ago) so I'm nervous excited.

I want to do an original character armor using Bo-Katan's S4 Rebel's design. Here's my MandoMaker concept:



I have a flight suit (scrubs), flak vest, kama, and loincloth already. Hopefully I haven't gained too much weight >.>



The kama and loincloth will have some armor plates too. The backplate well be segmented instead of one piece. I'll probably get some Chelsea boots instead of using the (too big) military boots a local vod gave to me. That leaves making/purchasing girth, ammo belts, holsters. Not sure what they'll look like yet. I made a beskad using a training kukri. A vod may make me a Verpine rifle (and a Jocasta Nu rifle for my Jedi). I'll use a Power 5 from my 501st costumes for a sidearm as well.

Nite Owl helmet is almost done. My partner just needs to put the jaig eyes stencil on it so I can spray them on and touch up the splatters. My character stole their buir's armor and painted over her old color scheme. So that's why there's purple weathering.



Here's my opening thoughts:

• Ordered 2 sheets of 24x48 sintra (3 mm). Thanks Amazon for giving me a free prime trial for 2 day shipping 
• I printed Fett-style and Vira's angled style templates.
• I've read GoldenCat's awesome S4 Rebel's Bo-Katan's WIP and analysis.
• Does anyone has PDF templates of the Nite Owl kit that they're willing to share? If not, I can adjust Boba's templates since Bo-Katan's is similar.
• I have a lot of help locally. The trick is to find time to do it. I live in an apartment with 2 cats, my partner, and a balcony. The neighbors won't appreciate me cutting and shaping sintra on the balcony though. I see many armor parties in my future.

[hazelspikes]

Alright! I printed out paper templates in anticipation of the sintra arriving tomorrow.



I know I cut the dart out of the chest template. Oops. That can be printed later.

I'd prefer a gorget style for the collar and am examining options.

Any placement/sizing advice is greatly appreciated!

[hazelspikes]

Update! Helmet is done (besides visor and padding).





I have most of the armor sketched out onto plastic. The knees, kama armor, and backplate still need sketched out. When there's an armor party, I'll cut out what I have and then will sketch the missing parts on the rest of the plastic.

[hazelspikes]

Got my armor cut out and grounded into shape.











I forgot to tape the template together for the collar and belly plates and cut them as one big plate. So now I have 2 separate pieces for both. Oops. That's fixable. I'll trim and bond them together so they're 1 piece.

Next is sanding it all. I'll probably do the whole thing again with knees, boots, and backplate before heat forming everything. Honestly, heat forming is what makes me the most nervous. But I have local helpers

[hazelspikes]

Got around to sanding the plates that were already cut.

Traced the collar, belly, and knees. Will cut them out next armor party (don't want to choke the apartment neighbors with sintra dust on the balcony).

[osukaru]

this is looking really nice so far

[hazelspikes]

this is looking really nice so far

Thank you vod!

Cut out the plates. Excited to grind them smooth. Bad news is that I need a new flak vest because I gained too much weight. >__>

Still not sure how I want to segment the back plate. It'd be nice since I have a curved spine/hunchback and then I'd be able to sit. The trick is where to cut.









Getting the knees clean will be an...adventure.

[hazelspikes]

Happy New Year! Got a lot of work done this weekend.













Getting there. Not sure about the belly plate shape under the chest plates. But I may be able to start heat forming?

[Veris Bralor]

Great progress.
I have often seen the need to trim the ab plate down more after things get mounted, so don't worry too much. It does look like the bottom of the ab isn't currently very straight. But high chances they're will still be some sanding to be done after everything is mounted.

[hazelspikes]

Great progress.
I have often seen the need to trim the ab plate down more after things get mounted, so don't worry too much. It does look like the bottom of the ab isn't currently very straight. But high chances they're will still be some sanding to be done after everything is mounted.

Thank you! The sanding and shaping never ends.

[Ronin Tavic]

great start so far! another tip is to add a bevel to the edge of your plates, it'll help give them definition and look a little more finished 

[Nika]

Looking good! I'm doing similar chest plates! I just need to cut mine out.

[hazelspikes]

Did some heat forming over the weekend. Text update - no pics because we were all busy and didn't want to stop and model. But my local vode helped a lot!

Got my collar,  shoulders, boot plates, and shins formed. Leaving my knees alone and will pad them.

The chest plates I had cut are too small. Printed the angled templates at 120% and they look better. So I'll redo those. At least I have the shaping plan down. My vod made the dart creases by carefully cutting the plate and bending them into place. Just don't cut all the way through! Then fill with bondo. 

Also segmented my back plate but haven't formed it.

To Do:

• Cut and sand bigger chest plates
• Shape chest plates
• Heat form ab plate
• Heat form back plate
• Tweak left boot plate (slightly off center at the moment)
• Fill in gaps in the chest and shins with bondo
• Sand/bevel/finish

[zc29]

This looks so good! What are you using for heat forming and to cut the sintra? Do you recommend the 3mm or do you think something thicker would be better? Also where did you get your flak vest? I’m about to start a kit, so thanks for any help you can provide!

[D'shon Lorra]

Your WIP reads like an instruction manual. You rock! Thank you for sharing it with us - as a complete cosplay noob, I see you as one to emulate. Happy thoughts that I can get going, too.

Please keep it up for us toddling along behind you.

[hazelspikes]

This looks so good! What are you using for heat forming and to cut the sintra? Do you recommend the 3mm or do you think something thicker would be better? Also where did you get your flak vest? I’m about to start a kit, so thanks for any help you can provide!

Thank you!!

I got my flak vest from Aria. He has a lot of options, does a fantastic job, and has really neat kits.

I'll try and give advice, though if I misspeak, official members and officers should correct me. The links below are just for examples,  i don't get kickbacks. ^^

Honestly, I researched a lot on the forums and constantly refer to the tutorials. Here are a few links to my faves.
Sintra 101
Sintra Shaping 101
Angled Plates for Girls is where I got the chest plates template from.

I recommend 3mm sintra. One of my friends is doing a heavy kit and is stacking plates on top of each other rather than doing 6mm. 3mm is easier to work with. Try and reach out to some local plastic companies to see if you can buy their minimum amount of sintra sheets. In my city, $100 gets you like 6 sheets - enough for multiple kits. So it's best to do a group order that way. Or, you can search Amazon. I picked up 2 sheets of this for my kit.

I am using PVC pipe for the knees since it's sturdier and already curved. Made sure my leg would fit (measured my kneecap from the middle too). Taped the knee templates all together and traced it on the pipe. Then cut out.

Make sure you print out your templates onto paper and tape them onto yourself to make sure everything fits and has appropriate spacing. Too big is better than too small. You can always trim, sand, or pad the bigger parts.

Cutting Out Sintra - A Few Options!

• box cutter
• dremel - using a cutting wheel. Dremels are also great for sanding! Use a high speed but be sure to make small cuts and go slow. I picked up this a while ago and so far I haven't had to get much outside of what came in the box.
• Linoleum Knife - my friends have had a lot of luck with this because the blade makes it so you can turn corners while cutting.
  

If you're using power tools, please make sure you wear safety goggles, gloves, a respirator, and are working outside/in a well ventilated area. I use those blue disposable gloves when I'm cutting and sanding because I don't want to deal with having snowy plastic hands.

Heat forming Sintra:

Refer to Sintra Forming 101 (linked above) for more detailed explanation and shaping diagrams.
 
Make sure you're in a well-ventilated area. Heating the sintra too much can release fumes that you don't want to inhale. Wear work gloves too! You're working with a tool that's at 1000 degrees!
I use a heat gun on a pizza stone. Since I don't have a vest right now, I'm forming to a t-shirt that's over my scrub flight suit.

• Heat the stone.
• Put part on stone. Heat the plastic like you're drying your hair. Make sure the gun isn't too close to the part. Make sure to flip it and get both sides.
• Once it's starting to wobble a little bit, curve the part to your body. Do a little bit at a time - you don't want to break it! You'll probably need someone to help make adjustments when it's on you.
• When it's sort of  in the shape and you need to focus on heating certain parts, set the gun so it's pointing up. There's usually a rest on the bottom of the gun. Heat the armor by gently passing over the heat...I call this the Bunsen burner method.
• Usually your heat gun will need to be in its cool down setting before turning off. The ones I've seen will turn off automatically after cooling down enough. Don't unplug the gun until it is fully off! Or else it could break.

Your WIP reads like an instruction manual. You rock! Thank you for sharing it with us - as a complete cosplay noob, I see you as one to emulate. Happy thoughts that I can get going, too.

Please keep it up for us toddling along behind you.

Thank you for your kind words, friend! I'm a complete cosplay noob as well. This is the first time I've actually worked with power tools and all that good stuff. I have a lot of help from my friends and armor parties. Get in touch with your local clan! You'll get tons of advice, socialize, and pick up some skills.  I'm excited to see both of your kits as well. Together, we will all toddle on to the future!

[/list]

[hazelspikes]

Got the chest plates remade. At first, I tried to Gorilla Glue the dart together because that's all that I had at the armor party. The darts, predictably , busted today when I was bondoing around. So I used apoxie clay make the dart stay. The sanding continues after it cures.

[Ajoliveira]

Seems that was a great and happy weekend hazelspikes!

Keep the good work, as usual!

Have a nice week, regards,

AJ

[hazelspikes]

Through the power of duck tape, I have put the plates on. I know, they're crooked. Didn't want to tape the knees on, but they're made!

Probably will need to sand the ab plate or trim the chest plate fangs for everything to sit right. And one boot plate needs to come in more.

[D'shon Lorra]

DO I SEE G-1 SKYFIRE ON THAT SHELF BEHIND YOU?!?!?! 

[hazelspikes]

Maybe? Most of them are Gundams. I was at a friend's place in this picture. 

[hazelspikes]

I know it's been a minute~ 

A friend 3D printed some April Storm Sabine gauntlets. Got to work on them!











Holding off on top coating to see if I still like the weathering job when the rest of my armor is painted. I'm going to be getting some aluminum blaster nozzles to go into them.

Other than my back plate, everything is formed! A friend is printing one of Raestin's Workshop Rebels-style jetpack for me too.

[Slade Kel]

You've done an awesome job on your build, and I'm glad to see you're still plugging away at it. There's always a little tweaking required as your build progresses, but your armor is in excellent shape so far.

Your gauntlets/vambraces will need a bit more of sanding and filling work, which I know sucks since you already have paint down on them. The 3D print lines have to be completely gone to be approved, and they're still pretty visible. Bondo, bondo glazing putty or XTC 3d will be your friends, along with lots of elbow grease and way too much time sanding, lol. I love 3d printing for its versatility in costume making, but it definitely takes some serious finishing time.

Can't wait to see more of your build!

[hazelspikes]

You've done an awesome job on your build, and I'm glad to see you're still plugging away at it. There's always a little tweaking required as your build progresses, but your armor is in excellent shape so far.

Your gauntlets/vambraces will need a bit more of sanding and filling work, which I know sucks since you already have paint down on them. The 3D print lines have to be completely gone to be approved, and they're still pretty visible. Bondo, bondo glazing putty or XTC 3d will be your friends, along with lots of elbow grease and way too much time sanding, lol. I love 3d printing for its versatility in costume making, but it definitely takes some serious finishing time.

Can't wait to see more of your build!

Thank you! I had originally put a black test paint after I did an initial bondo and sand. And then just kept going...Whoops! I bought some 240 grit sandpaper and will get back to bondo (the glazing putty) and endless sanding

[hazelspikes]

Did some work with Rustoleum filler + primer with some help from bondo glaze to take care of the cracks the Rustoleum left behind. Then sanded using 200 to 600 grit paper and files. Not quite satisfied with the area around the blaster nozzle holes. At least it's smoother? The small darts (not pictured) will need a bit of work...Which I'm not looking forward too since they're small!