Hi all, I’m Rhue!
I’ve been on the forums for a few years now and have amassed a small horde of armor bits and bobs, but I was never able to settle on a color scheme or armor design that really felt like me. However, I’m now only a few weeks away from graduating from college, so I’ve been channeling my senioritis into coming up with some new armor designs.
The plan is to do a medium kit, legacy-style, with a blaster pistol as my main weapon. I definitely want to add a rifle and some sort of short sword/beskad down the road as well. My primary armor color will be white, with maroon accents and various shades of brown/black for the soft parts. The concept art below isn’t entirely accurate, it just conveys the general armor placement that I’m going for. I will also be adding maroon accents to all the armor pieces, not just the chest plate.
Armor:I started templating with the chest armor. I like the look of sharp, angled panels better than smooth curves, so I decided to go with that approach. I started with a messy first draft:

Then made a second draft and added the collar and ab plates. Any feedback on the proportions would be appreciated, specifically the width of the chest plate up between my shoulders and the size of the collar plate.

For the backplate, I want to include a spinal detail like in the sketch below. If I get the thumbs up, I also want to add LEDs behind the individual vertebrae so it looks like the suit is actively doing something to protect my spine. I don’t want it to look too “generic sci-fi” though, so let me know if I should modify it to make it more swarzy.

The tabs on either side will wrap around my torso and connect to the sides of the chest plate. I haven’t decided on an attachment method yet but I was considering using nylon straps and industrial snaps mounted on the inside surfaces of the chest and back plates. For the other armor pieces, I basically just tried to carry through some angular elements like I used in the chest and back plates. Gauntlets will be based on the live-action Bo-Katan gaunts.

Since taking that photo I have scaled up the knees slightly but the overall shape is the same.
Helmet:I have a half-finished cardboard base that I’ll be using, and I’ll pick up a bike helmet for the dome instead of trying to do it myself. The cardboard will get a few coats of resin on the outside and resin/fiberglass cloth on the inside to make sure it won’t warp before adding bondo, primer, etc.
Soft Parts:I have a couple yards of 2-way stretch denim from Joann for the flightsuit that I’ll have access to once I move back home. I also have the Simplicity 8277 pattern that I started modifying last summer, but it still needs some work before I’m ready to start working with the denim. For my vest, I picked out some natural-colored duck cloth, also from Joann. I love contrasting topstitching and want to incorporate it into my design, so I’m looking at getting the Sionnach Studios Bo-Katan flak vest pattern (as long as it’s acceptable for use on custom modern-era kits).
I’ll be using a pair of brown Timberland Pros I already own that are super comfy, and I’m planning on making boot plates to cover the laces and logos on the heel. And finally, I also have a pair of fingerless black paintball gloves that I attacked with a seam-ripper to get the logo patches off.
Next Steps:- Confirm if spinal detail is acceptable
- Finalize flightsuit pattern, dye fabric, and start sewing flightsuit/vest
- ??
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this!!