The Peachtree Mando Kit WIP

Skub Dunkhus

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The Bantha Rider. Whisperer of the Dunes.
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The Peachtree Mando Kit WIP - APPROVED

« on: Apr 28, 2021, 03:20 AM »

Hey everyone! I have wanted to join a Star Wars costuming club for years, but have always been too intimidated to try. After making too many excuses and waiting too long, I finally decided to take the gundark by the ears and give it a shot! I've been slowly working on my Mando kit over the course of the last year or so with the help of the Naast Facebook group, but I've been delaying getting my WIP started and updated, so here goes! I know that some threads tend to be more detailed than others here, so be prepared for a pic heavy thread! Over sharing is always better in my opinion, just to make sure I'm on the right track. And if I am, hopefully someone else can learn from my journey! Let's get right into it.

The Design
As I posted in my concept thread, I wanted to create a color palette that was unique yet significant. So, being in the Peach State, I chose to go with a Peachtree inspired color scheme. Here's my updated concept:

For those of you who are interested in my original concept thread that has my old concept design renders, here it is: https://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=193255.msg2148919#msg2148919

The Helmet (COMPLETE)
After asking around, the overwhelming majority recommended I start with the helmet. I ordered a Mando blank from Lonewolf Customs and washed it upon its (extremely quick) delivery.

The next thing to do was to glue on the ear caps. I sanded down the flashing and then used Gorilla Glue Gel to attach them.

Then of course, I had to try it on!

Note: I know it fits a bit wide on me here, but my head barely fits inside. I consulted a Russ'alor on this, and my solution will be to make a Jango/Deathwatch style flak vest with the shoulders sticking out a bit more to compensate.

Next, I used spot putty to fill in the gap between the ear cap and the helmet, then sanded it down even.

Then I sanded down the remaining flashing and gave the whole thing a light surface sand. Washed it, let it dry, and then it was on to painting! I started with a base coat of silver.

After that dried, I applied my first layer of masking fluid (I used liquid latex), and let dry. The next coat is a smoke gray.

Added more masking fluid, then on to the espresso brown.

Then, it's time to peel the masking fluid off! I've officially decided that this is my absolute favorite part of the process. Here's the reveal:

Note: on the image directly above, I used steel wool to get those little bits of paint and masking fluid up that look like they're starting to peel later on in the process.

Next up was the cheeks! In my design concept, the cheek color was intended to be a sandstone color, but I ended up accidentally discovering this brick color that I thought worked much better, so I went with that! Here's how it came out:

Now, on to the color I was most excited to see on the bucket, the peach! When putting the first coats on, I got a little too impatient (it's a very pale peach) and sprayed too much on the first coat. That, coupled with the humidity (this part of the process was done last August) made the whole thing peel. And not just the regular orange peel. This thing peeled in sheets. Here's the carnage:

This was super discouraging at the time, as I hadn't seen anything peel like that before. But, I learned what to avoid doing, so that's the important part. Nothing a little sanding can't correct, so I started sanding it down.

What was cool about this was that even after sanding, there were some ridges that I couldn't quite get all the way even, so I ended up keeping those, and they ended up looking really cool in my weathering process later on! But we'll get to that later. Once I finished sanding the peeled paint down, I started repainting the peach. This time, in lighter coats.

After several more coats, the peach was nice and even with no peeling. Then I peeled my masking fluid off and dry fitted a t-visor in to see how I was progressing.

The last step was the topical weathering! I used brown and black acrylic paint washes, along with charcoal to achieve the desired look. Once the weathering was to my liking, I sealed it and installed the t-visor (I used a welding face mask for mine). Here's the finished product!

I also got some pads for the inside:

It fits like a glove and doesn't wobble at all, I'm super happy with how it came out, especially for my first stab at a helmet like this.

Flight Suit (COMPLETE)
Now that I have a helmet that can sit on a shelf and constantly motivate me to finish my kit, the next step everyone I spoke with recommended was to get my soft goods dialed in. First up, the flight suit! I got a pair of khaki coveralls (I'll get these recolored later on to match the colors in the concept image) for my base, here's what they looked like when they came in the mail:

After getting some help bringing it in, this is what it looked like after the first round (pockets still attached):

Still a bit too baggy at this point, I got more help bringing it in even further, and this is where we ended up after I removed the pockets:

I then weathered the suit (see last page for reference images).

« Last Edit: Mar 23, 2022, 11:46 AM by Skub Dunkhus »

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Clan: Naast
First Kit WIP Thread (APPROVED): https://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=202175.new#new

Skub Dunkhus

118
The Bantha Rider. Whisperer of the Dunes.
Awards

Updates!

« Reply #1 on: Apr 28, 2021, 03:38 AM »

I've got some more progress pics to share, but I figured I'd break it up some as my first post is super long. Next up, the gauntlets!

Gauntlets (COMPLETE)
I bought a pair of used April Storm gauntlets from Omega, and they were a perfect fit. The darts and blaster tips were all broken off, and I needed to repaint them to match my color scheme. Here's what they looked like during the sanding process. The one on the right is what they looked like before, the one on the left is fully sanded:

I then used filler primer and primed both gauntlets. From here on out though, for the sake of thread length, I'll show a detailed look at the process for one gauntlet, then show the finished product of the second. That being said, after the filler primer dried I used more spot putty to smooth over some problem areas, then sanded the gauntlet down.

Ready for paint, I used the same paint layering process as the helmet, so here's what the first gauntlet looked like after the last coats of paint were applied and the masking fluid was peeled away:

Then it was on to painting the buttons and weathering! I used the same method as the helmet to keep consistency, and here's where I ended up:

Got the darts and blaster tips roughly sanded enough for a dry fit! The gauntlet on the left is obviously not finished in terms of weathering, but it's looking good so far!

I also have the padding for the inside of the gauntlets, I got some sponge neoprene with an adhesive backing that should work really well.

Update: 6/5/21

Got the second gauntlet weathered, and I finished sanding, priming painting, and weathering the blaster tips and darts! I attached everything, and this is what we're looking like now.