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[Leira]

Hey y'all!

Well, I started. I don't know how well this will come out. Based off the tools I have available to me, I decided the helmet would most likely be the most difficult part of the process with the complex dome curves. I started with the helmet and have been experimenting and using help from my husband.

I decided to go with stainless steel for the durability and color. The plan is to use heated titanium for colored accents. I'm using .04" stainless sheeting. I'm using a Boba Fett helmet template which I will have to do heavy modification for the Twi'lek lekku. 





Minor differences between the left and right. The left side has been tac welded and bent by hand. The right side has been sent through a planishing hammer to bend the metal and create more of a dome.




The top was welded completely, sent through the planishing hammer multiple times, and sanded to get the welds smoothed out.



Using big metal scissors, I taped the template to a sheet of stainless and cut out the face as one piece and the cheeks separate, I didn't remove the template for the picture. The plan is to put the one piece face through the sheet roller and get it to curve to my face. A lot will be trimmed out to accommodate the lekku.

Still looks like scraps but it's coming along! 

[Leira]

Sorry for the double post but I wasn't sure how far along I was going to be able to get tonight. Excited to see something good coming along! 

[Wolfin Sylvermane]

Amazing work! 

[Nika]

This looks awesome!

[Leira]

Got the helmet all welded up so it's now wearable. I ground down the welds on the top of the cheekbone to make a smooth edge. I'm going to switch speeds to the soft parts before I start making the chest armor. I want to be able to put on the vest to get the best measurements.

[Leira]

So excited to get some more stuff knocked off the list yesterday! I had a few hours to myself and decided to spend some time in the shop. I decided to start on my knees and pauldrons.

There were no templates for what I wanted with the knees so I used a paper towel for rough measurements and to sketch a drawing. My helmet is going to have a diamond shape to accent so I wanted to make sure that design followed through on other pieces to make a cohesive look. I used a square ruler with bits and bobs around the shop to make the curved parts.





I used The Beverley (big scissors) to cut out the template.



The first one cut was not right. I had to modify the template and re-do. You can see the fixed ones are bigger. I taped them to my sweats to get an idea of how they look, I was sick and didn't feel like wearing actual pants . They sagged because the pants are stretchy and were crooked but I think they look great.




Now for the pauldrons, I wanted a style closer to The Mandalorian. I prefer the cupped look over the flat pieces. I googled templates and had to find a template with orange peel (darting for people who sew). I was able to find one I could modify here, special thanks to Sionnach Studios.

https://youtu.be/Seew67s_q8k

That template is not made for a petite female so I taped it together and started cutting to fit me. I came up with a shape and size I liked. I cut it out on dear Beverley and ran them through the planishing hammer.





Off to the welder and grinder to smooth out. I will be putting extra detail on these to make them more three dimensional. Not sure about the route yet.





As always, I'm happy to hear input or suggestions! Thanks all!

[Kay Toh]

SO COOL! 
I'm thoroughly enjoying watching this come together!

[Billythebrick]

WOW! I think this is the first time one of our patterns was used to make something out of real metal. It looks awesome!

[Leira]

WOW! I think this is the first time one of our patterns was used to make something out of real metal. It looks awesome!

Whoa! I did not realize y'all are on here, small world!  Thanks for the pattern and thanks for the compliment! I'm very humbled by it. You two do great work and I'm just an amateur messing around in my back yard.

I'm going to keep using your pattern for some of the detailing, or that's the plan right now. I need to pick up some stainless key stock and see how I can shape it.

[Billythebrick]

You're doing an amazing job! And yeah we are pretty new here. We just setup or sales thread and a couple of WIP threads. This is actually a good reminder to include our free template in our post, so thanks for that too!

[Leira]

Ooof, long day in the shop! Today, I got my template from The Prop Master with Robert Walker. I was very impressed with the fact it included a scale to make sure you're printing correctly. The helmet one I used really gave my printer a hard time. Link to his video.

https://youtu.be/W5SDyZ3BNMo

I printed up the chest pieces and taped them to my vest for sizing and started cutting down. The first cut outs didn't look right. I cut down the collar piece and then had to add an inch to the breast plate. I did some rough shaping and flattened the piece with the 1 inch add on to make a new template





I cut out the abs and started forming the new breast plate. Three hours of going from the planishing hammer, to the English wheel, to the welder, to the cutter, and back. I know the fitting looks weird. We are taping these on but the space between all the pieces is even across. It will look better when we get the attachment figured out.




Then after some clean up, we saw one of the cuts used to make the metal curve could not be welded closed and left a crack. We tried to repair it but all the work on the metal made it too thin. I won't be able to use it. Luckily, I have more than enough metal to make like 6 more. I'll try again next weekend.

[D'shon Lorra]

That repair scar actually looks like some gorgeous battle damage. Food for thought.

[Leira]

That repair scar actually looks like some gorgeous battle damage. Food for thought.

I know the rules say the damage needs to be equal across the armor and soft parts.

"If applicants include damage and weathering on their costume, a clear effort to make the level of damage and weathering consistent across all parts of the costume must be apparent."

Do you know if anyone got approved with one damaged piece? My intentions have been for everything undamaged with a high polish.

Not for nothing, that is close to where someone would aim for a heart shot.

[D'shon Lorra]

I don't yet know anyone here in person. I have scrolled through several WIP threads and the mandate for equal wear and tear does not appear to rule out a specific, self-explanatory "wound". It just means that the weathering scuffs and dirt need to have a logic to them. For example, one leg can't be clean and the other dirty, but both legs can be dirtier at the ankle than the knees, or the right thigh might have been hit with a baton that didn't hit the left. Having evidence of a well-aimed shot that the armor saved you from seems in family.

Hopefully an approver of kits will weigh in and educate us both. :-)

[Awall]

Sweet!  This is so cool!

[Wolfin Sylvermane]

I don't yet know anyone here in person. I have scrolled through several WIP threads and the mandate for equal wear and tear does not appear to rule out a specific, self-explanatory "wound". It just means that the weathering scuffs and dirt need to have a logic to them. For example, one leg can't be clean and the other dirty, but both legs can be dirtier at the ankle than the knees, or the right thigh might have been hit with a baton that didn't hit the left. Having evidence of a well-aimed shot that the armor saved you from seems in family.

Hopefully an approver of kits will weigh in and educate us both. :-)

Weathering is subjective.   We want to see consistent weathering.  But that means a single large blast that has been cleaned or enough scoring around it to tell a story should do. 
Its visual story telling at it's finest.  But keep weathering as an idea until the whole kit is together. Then you can refine the story by adding and subtracting from the weathering.

[Leira]

I got my official answer about the damaged piece from the app team

"The same level of damage or weathering would need to be brought to the rest of your kit. It would not need to be the exact same type of damage on other plates, however you would need to weather the rest too.  Soft parts would also need to be weathered consistent with the plates."

So I'm going to chuck out the damaged breast plate and start over with another technique.

[Leira]

Had to take time off for a bit, birthdays, robot combat fighting, Ren fest. I put 2 days in this weekend, about 16 hours in the metal shop and time here and there for the soft parts. Here's a lot of pics!

This is where I left off with the helmet. I am going for a diamond design across multiple pieces so I left a little point in the T cut out.




I wanted to add a detail to the top of the helmet that flows with the Lekku. This is still not finished but I'm going to make the rear curve more fluid into the top piece. I wanted to keep the rear Lekku visor design sporty, I've found the bigger ones remind me of Predator. Plus, I'm petite and I don't want to look like a bobble head.





I cut out the back and put hinges on it. Working on a closure method, probably getting a quarter turn latch. I wanted to keep the back of the helmet instead of keeping it open.






I started on the base for my gauntlets too. Got one finished this weekend. I used heavy duty slide hinges on the inside of the arm and piano hinges for the outside seam. This way I shouldn't have to slide pins on both the inside and outside of the gauntlet, might be easier.





Finally got the breast pieces settled. Went through a similar procedure as the last post but started with larger pieces and cut down to size after shaping the breast curves. I know the spacing is wrong on the abs, I was struggling with that one staying put with tape all day.






As always, input is welcomed. This is my first build so experience from others is great help. I've already made mistakes and am learning and adapting.

[Awall]

Great job!  This kit is going to be amazing!

[Leira]

Small update

With everything going on, I've slowed down progress on my kit. MegaCon Orlando was pushed to Halloween so I've got lots of extra time. Did you know we are a little over half way to Halloween again??!!  I'll be fixing up some pieces I wasn't 100% happy with and maybe adding armor I wasn't initially planning on doing.

I posted more details on my soft parts section that pertain specifically to the sewing portion if you want to check that out for more details.

http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=182942.0

I used packing tape to line up and chalk the out line where everything goes. All pieces have a half inch spacing per requirement. I had already glued magnets to the back side of the armor with 2 part epoxy and attached magnets to my vest. I got everything lined up with some fuzzy assistance from Apollo.  As always, input is welcomed!

[Kol Varek]

Looks great, well done! The only thing I can see that might be an issue (a real nitpick) would be the collarplate being just a tad wide. I would recommend trimming them by about 3mm on each side, that should work out.
Can't wait to see more!

[Leira]

I would recommend trimming them by about 3mm on each side, that should work out.
Can't wait to see more!

That's a super easy fix! I'm doing some work on it this weekend and can add that to the list. The glue should have dried on the diamond piece so I should be able to get a complete pic this weekend or next.

[Leira]

Hey guys! Small update but I'm super stoked. I finished my Twi'lek head cover and added some  foam to get the small helmet mods figured out. I had a pointy bit we were going to need to cut to fit on my head and I'll need to add fans.

The helmet still needs weld grinding and polishing.

I'll update my soft parts page with the head cover if anyone wants to check it out.

[Nika]

Those chest plates turned out really good!!

[Kol Varek]

Nice work!