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[trashcanmando]

Finished finetuning the plate shaping on this set today! I will tape them all to my flak vest and post again before painting, but I'm pretty sure it's there.





Before finetuning the backplate:



After rolling the edge as per Shammah's advice:



I have also aquired the gauntlets and some bondo to go with them! Printed by a clan member who's forum name I have currently forgotten entirely.



This makes two sets of gauntlets I have to finish now, as well as a grenade and a knife. The weather is warming up so I am excited to have a chance to work outside again!

[trashcanmando]

Okay, here are the front plates taped to the vest. I don't think I can manage to get shots of the back plates, lol.







I know theyre all hanging a little funny but I think that's just that they're taped on and not actually mounted. I did my best to curve the edges of the collar plate to eliminate float. I think this set is ready to paint! Ironically, my other set that doesn't have trauma plates is still giving me grief, lol.

[trashcanmando]

So I'm behaving myself and mounting before painting just in case something needs to be reshaped or trimmed a bit. This set is going to be mounted with magnets, and it's taking a lot more magnets than I thought, lol. I have a second set in progress and that one may need to attach with classic snaps and velcro simply because buying 192 magnets ain't cheap.

At first I wanted to put magnets on the plate and then mount a metal disc in the vest, cutting my magnet usage in half. Unfortunately, this isn't feasible because a simple metal disc doesn't slot exactly to fit the magnet, it will just sit anywhere on the magnet. I tried fridge magnets too, hoping that a weaker, cheaper magnet would work, but they both will slot to multiple different positions and aren't strong enough to hold through my flak vest material. Metal discs would be fine if I also used velcro to make sure the plates sat in the exact same spot every time, but for this kit I really want to pay attention to the details and make it truly immersive, including when I pull a plate off, so I want the attachment method to be as invisible as possible (and will be painting the back of the plates either silver or black instead of leaving them Sintra White.) 

I don't have any idea how people usually mount magnets in vests, but here's what I'm doing.



Epoxy magnets to plates, of course. I got naked magnets instead of ones that came epoxy coated, so I covered mine in a layer of epoxy as well as just gluing them right to the plate. So far they seem to be holding very well. This picture was taken just before I was finished, I've since added the last two magnets to the back plate, and two to the keyplate. Overkill? Maybe. And yes, a magnet did slide on the collar plate when I wasn't paying attention, but you can't see it from the front. It bothers me, but not enough to risk mutilating my collar plate to remove and reglue it. I've only done the body plates simply because I didn't buy enough magnets.



Next step, I cut rectangles of cotton fabric, big enough to fold in half and still have a good bit of overlap on all sides of the magnet.



I took the rectangle, folded it in half, and stitched around the edges, leaving the top edge open to put the magnet in.



Slide in the magnet and top stitch the top edge closed.



Hand stitch around the magnet. I tried to do this with machine, but I couldn't keep the magnet in the right spot and get the needle close enough. It wasn't too much trouble to hand sew it though, and I found it's useful to place two extra magnets on the outside so it's easy to see where the inner magnet is.



Done this way, I can easily move my plates around with the pouched magnet sliding underneath like one of those magnet zinger toys, safety pin it in place, and then sew down the surrounding pouch. At least, in theory. I only have 14 magnets left over to mount with, so I won't even get all the way through the body plates until my extra magnets arrive.

If it works as well as I think it might, I may have to spring for the extra eight dozen magnets and do my other set of plates like this as well. The lengths I may go to to avoid snap placement.... 

[BigEd27]

this build is so great to follow. I love the progress. Where did you get your belt?

[trashcanmando]

Thank you kindly! The girth belt is made of duck cloth and craft foam, but the belt-belt I got off of Amazon. I probably searched for something along the lines of utility/tactical belt? Hope that helps, I can go through my Amazon history and find the exact item if you like.

[K'Rom Maxx]

I love your build.
A lot to learn I have. WOW.
I will have eyes on your work. 
This is the way.
 

[trashcanmando]

Thank you Max, thank you both for your encouragement!

I have three of the plates mounted now- ran out of magnets, oops. Gotta wait for more to come before I can finish, but here's what I have so far.



Forgive the expression, I was trying very hard to get a good angle, lol. Please be as picky about the spacing and all as possible, it's very easy for me to move the plates at this stage!



And a silly one. Loving how the magnets are keeping my flak vest clear! I am considering adding just one or two snaps per plate though, just because of how easy the plates are to pull off.

[K'Rom Maxx]

Thank you Max, thank you both for your encouragement!

I have three of the plates mounted now- ran out of magnets, oops. Gotta wait for more to come before I can finish, but here's what I have so far.



Forgive the expression, I was trying very hard to get a good angle, lol. Please be as picky about the spacing and all as possible, it's very easy for me to move the plates at this stage!



And a silly one. Loving how the magnets are keeping my flak vest clear! I am considering adding just one or two snaps per plate though, just because of how easy the plates are to pull off.

I think it is looking so good.
Just ask, did you try a test to glue one magnet to the soft material with E6000?

[trashcanmando]

I think it is looking so good.
Just ask, did you try a test to glue one magnet to the soft material with E6000?

Thank you!  No, no E6000 was involved. It's fine stuff, but because it takes 24 hours to dry fully, I would have to clamp every single magnet to the sintra while it dried. So I used epoxy because the 5 minute set time was much more ideal, as the magnets will move themselves while still drying, requiring babysitting to keep them in the right position, and I don't have roughly fifty clamps. What can I say, I'm impatient, I like super glue and staple guns. But if you meant attaching them to the flak vest, I would never glue anything to a fabric part anyways. Learned my lesson with sticky velcro.

No pics this time, but I did get more magnets in the mail, as well as some thigh pouches. I will probably be buying a third thigh bag to cannibalize for material to cover the zippers on the other two. I also got a couple pieces for my third kit... Some people upgrade one kit continously, me, I just can't pick a color scheme so I make three different ones. 

I've been brainstorming the helmet for this kit. Because of the horns, it will probably have to come apart in two pieces, similar to how most twi'lek mandos do their helmets. I also want to pack it with electronics, which will be interesting, because I've never done anything with any electronics before. Ideally I want to put in it:
-Remote controlled up/down rangefinder, I have seen this done and it's epic
-Lit t-visor, I'm thinking a green light
-'Panoramic' vision as mentioned in repcomm- basically I want to put a camera in the back of the helmet and feed it to a small screen installed in the cheek just below the left t-visor. I really, really want some sort of actual, practical HUD function.
-I also think a recording gopro in the rangefinder would be really neat.

The first two I have seen done and know are possible. The second two I just think would be really, really cool. Plus possibly some other things people have found helpful, like a voice amp, hearing assist, fans, that sort of thing. My third kit that I am planning, I want to be as immersive and detailed and realistic as possible, so the electronics in this kit will be a test run for that one. I was hoping to go do some beskar shopping this weekend, but had achange of plans... Hoping to finish mounting plates and possibly start painting on Sunday, though.

[trashcanmando]

Whoops, could have sworn I'd updated more recently than I have.

Plates are all painted! Here's some progress pics, it was a bit of a process. Here's what I did.
-Black base coat, front and back
-Silver, two coats, front of plates only
-Toothpaste masking, mottled browns and greens
-Toothpaste masking, this time for the trauma plates in a tan color
-Didn't like how much paint came off with the masking, so I did both layers again with hairspray and salt weathering. Really gave it a lovely texture.
-Black wash, of course, but fairly light. I want this kit to look used but still relatively clean.
-Sealing clear coat











With comparison to my first set of plates! I'm just so, so happy with how much I've improved since. I'm also upgrading my old kit, but I still need to shape the new plates for it.



And a nice shot of all the magnets on the inside of the vest! They work really really nicely. I won't be sewing them permanently into place until I have the spacing approved though, because seam ripping these things out would destroy the quilting. Right now they're just safety pinned in so I can easily move them if need be.

With the advent of Book of Boba, I'm considering a new approach to the shoulder bells. I've been having trouble figuring out how to mount double shoulder plates, but seeing his shoulder plates gave me an idea. I might be able to mount the under plate directly to the flight suit like he has, and the top plate to the vest, removing the shoulder bell portion of the vest. I don't know if that's approvable, or if it will even look right, but it's something I'm considering.

Bonus- I spent most of today making a mouse droid! His name is M1-CK34 (Mickey). He's just cardboard slapped onto a cheap remote control car but I'm so, so happy with him! Just a fun little project to let the creative juices flow.





I also started working on my flight suit today. It's going to be a sewn from scratch two piece flight suit with some fun thigh detailing and double sleeves. Nothing worth showing yet, although I cannibalized a pair of my jeans for it, lol.

[trashcanmando]

Forgive the double post, I remembered more!





Believe it or not, I've somehow always gotten out of cleaning 3D prints before now... Can't say I'm a fan but they're looking a lot better. Still got a long ways to go, and I'm doing two sets at once, both this and my old kit...

On a fully different note, I went to a troop at a comic book shop hosting Dominic Pace this summer! Changed out of my old kit for this pic, and because frankly this armor set is a lot more comfortable lol.



He signed one of my plates! Really, really cool guy. Very nice and approachable, the whole troop was a delight.

[trashcanmando]

Finally, finally, after I can put it off no longer... it's print sanding time.





Bit of a panic when I realized that these gauntlets are printed at 90%, which means 10% less hole in the hinge. My plan to use a bike spoke or the thinnest knitting needle I had wasn't going to work without drilling or heating. Fortunately, a clan member let me know a paperclip works just fine! And here I was already thinking about having to explain to a bike shop employee why I want an extra thin bike spoke.

Now it just needs to warm up so I can hit em with a filler primer layer... it was in the negatives today.

Once I have them finished and painted, I think I'm going to back the holes with some roughed up container plastic and some LEDs in the cavity.

[Aster Veris]

Looking good! Love the paint job.

[Cattriss Wren]

Wow this kit is looking awesome!! keep it up

[trashcanmando]

Working on my gauntlets today and I realized... I've never actually put the whole thing on since I finished mounting the body plates.

I'm so, so much closer that I thought! It really snuck up on me! 







This felt so, so amazing, especially since I've been snatching work sessions every couple of months and didn't really have time to look at the big picture of this build. It's comfortable, it feels amazing, these are the moments I do this for- when you get a chance to stand back and look at the sum total of your work and say 'Wow... I made myself a piece of Star Wars'

So here's what I still need to do. Most of it is pretty small stuff, finishing touches.

Helmet: Don't have it yet, have no idea where I'm gonna get it. This is the main thing I need to do.

Flak vest: I need to redo the shoulder bells to hang at a different angle. The shoulder plates don't want to hang a perfect 90 degrees from my shoulder, so the bells need to follow my arm better. I'm considering replacing the shoulder bell portion of the vest with a short sleeve of the same material. Also, the bottom front hem is crooked. I think I'm going to add enough fabric, back and front, to tuck it into the belt to fix that. The magnet pouches also need to be sewn to the actual vest, but I'm waiting until the plates are absolutely perfect.

Plates: I need to attach all the peripheral plates. In the pictures, the cod plate is just stuck under the belts and the knees are taped on. I also know the back plates need a little work, but I really need help with that, this is as good as I can get it alone. I want a double check on the chest plates as well.

Gauntlets: Very nearly done sanding. I dropped one today and it cracked along the seam... I'm going to try to reinforce them from the back, possibly with fiberglass, and maybe give them a coat of some casting resin, because I will be absolutely devastated if one cracks after I have it painted. Painting, of course, and then I'm going to mount some LEDs to the cavity. I did lose the tabs that keep the gauntlets closed, oops.

Arm wraps: Going to be adding wraps to pad out the gauntlets and keep them from shifting.

Flight suit: For once my quarantine weight works in my favor! The flight suit filled out a bit, and all I have to do now is take the arms and legs in a tiny bit, and then add wrist and foot loops. Also needs more weathering, and I'm going to rip the logo of the breast pocket, because I want this costume to be completely believable, even if I'm just walking around with the flight suit.

Thigh bags: Sew the straps together so they don't move around while I'm wearing them, cover zippers, weather.

Girth belt: I need an entirely new one. The weight that made my flight suit fit perfectly made me completely outgrow the old one.

Utility belt: Needs weathering and whatever holsters for whatever weapons.

Kama: I really don't like how the lower half looks from the back. There's too much strapping with the thigh bags and the knees, and too much open space with nothing going on. I was going to wait till kit three to add a kama, but I think this kit would really look a lot better with one. I'm torn on color, because my accent color so far is black, but I think a solid black kama would be more black than I want. I'm thinking green with black trim. I need to check on the CRLs and see if I still need a girth belt, I don't quite remember how having a kama changes waist item requirements.

Boots: Done!

Gloves: Done!

Weapons: I had a lot of big ideas on the concept for this one. I do have a light up vibroblade half done. As I understand it, light up blades are approvable as long as the blade isn't clear, so I'll be painting the flats of the blade silver.
I also wanted a sword and spear as a matching set, a rifle, and some sort of pistol. We'll see how much of that I end up making. My last kit was approved with nothing but a wooden knife, so this'll be a whole new thing for me. I'm really partial to the Amban rifle, so I might do something similar to that.

For an armor party: Help with plates, specifically the back plates. Probably going to need help with the helmet as well, this thing is gonna be complicated.

Questions for ruus'alore or anyone who knows:
Does a kama change waist requirements at all? Between the thigh bags, girth belt and holster belt, and now a kama, I'm looking at four waist items. Can any of these be combined?
I'm thinking of changing the shoulder bell to a short sleeve style instead, inspired by Boba's new vest. It would have to wrap around my bicep and snap or velcro behind my arm because the vest is constructed to come apart at both sides instead of seam up the back as Boba's new vest does. Anything I should be aware of with that?
And of course, anything I can do better with the body plates or anything I could possibly do to help the back plates by myself?