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[Bade Duun]

Ready for initial stages of starting a 2nd kit, and I've been itching to do an Early Crusader for a long time.

Instead of it being a fresh build per say, I plan to tie each future kit into a family clan lineage. House Duun through the ages, if you will. As such, Duun will always rock the olive drab/red/brown. Kal Duun is no exception.

Just having fun with the builds, but we'll see how far I get with this, so feel free to take this ride with me.


Here is what I've gotten together so far:

Helmet and armor (thighs, knees and shoulders currently). PapaJoelDesigns designed the bucket.
Will be adding more as it gets assembled (bicep, forearm, ab), but was interested in painting bone.
It was my first time attempting it.















Bone knife. Still embellishing the cording.





Primordial Blaster, Old Republic Era (I believe this would be considered 'ancient' for an EC build?)





Flight Suit, still fitting/coloring/weathering.







Loincloth, made by a fellow clan mate.






Leather bracers with arm/leg wraps and vintage driving gloves. Wraps are dyed linen with a velcro backing, bracers will have a bone/pounded metal plate over the top






Chest armor. Still deciding on a back plate or a cloak.






With this being a very specific build type, any helpful critiques are much appreciated.

[Qitaia]

This is really looking impressive. I love the helmet you went with, and the bone knife especially!

[Bade Duun]

This is really looking impressive. I love the helmet you went with, and the bone knife especially!

Thanks for the feedback 

[Pyro]

Is that bondo over the armor before the paint job?

[Bade Duun]

Is that bondo over the armor before the paint job?

Negative.

It’s white paint over brown, and the white is lightly sanded off to expose the brown. Then it was light washes of brown and black.

[Pyro]

Negative.

It’s white paint over brown, and the white is lightly sanded off to expose the brown. Then it was light washes of brown and black.

 So you just sanded the piece before paint?

[Bade Duun]

Moving down the list of soft parts, I know I would like a heavy kama and possibly a hooded cloak/poncho. Had some remnant fabric left over from a past project and wanted something tattered with a little more weight.









After assembling I did a a deep, boiling dye of dark brown. Washed it twice then scored the ends many times before tossing into the dryer to fluff the distressed cuts

Front



Back




Here is what it looks like with the belt/loincloth setup. So far, I dig the color configuration and set up.

[Vercopaanir]

The bone bucket is breathtaking!     Softs look good too. 

[Bade Duun]

The bone bucket is breathtaking!     Softs look good too. 

Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated.




More updates on the overall kit. Added weathered cracks to give the armor some battle scars and to add contrast. Going to feather the cracks with an airbrush.

Also created some additional armor components:


Helmet cracks/weathering, as well as a helmet plume. Wanted to add my own touch by using hair similar to my own.





Ab plate








Gauntlets










Hand plates





Boot armor







Pauldrons. Keep on side of the armor darker bone. I think it'll help give the impression that the armor was pieced together over time. Models by PapaJoeDesigns





Here are most of the soft parts assembled, save for the cloak and without armor. Weathering the soft parts all at once when I have them together, and will begin placing armor once weathered cracks have been airbrushed and finalized.

[Mandoreims]

une véritable merveille. you're armor is amazing

[Vercopaanir]

  The cracks really add a nice depth. 

Another thing about bone is that high touch areas get worn to a super smooth surface.  They will even pick up a natural shine.  Thinking about ivory or even antler handles that get this look.  Just throwing that out there as an idea. 

This kit is amazing!

[Bade Duun]

The cracks really add a nice depth. 

Another thing about bone is that high touch areas get worn to a super smooth surface.  They will even pick up a natural shine.  Thinking about ivory or even antler handles that get this look.  Just throwing that out there as an idea. 

This kit is amazing!

Thanks vod 

And that's a very insightful observation... I'll be keeping this one.
Didn't think about giving these a polished finished. It would work well with the texture too. Maybe a good wet sand then a satin clear coat to seal it all in.

Very nice, very good suggestion.

[Bade Duun]

une véritable merveille. you're armor is amazing

Merci pour tes gentils mots, mon ami.

[Bade Duun]

Got some ideas kicked over from clan mates, and my Alor 'ad suggested trying to make the chest and ab plate be of the same material.

I was initially inspired by Seugtai's kit (like many others before me) and was set on keeping the leather cuirass for material variation. Adds contrasts and layers to the kit, artistically and literally 

However, the more I contemplated the aesthetic in my head, the more I was curious about how it would look...worst comes to worst, I can just keep Plan A.

I did a little research on styles of chest plates since almost every EC I could find are all very unique. So I reference a few to help springboard the idea and settled on a hybrid of a couple of the designs.



Got a good template cut out from poster board and traced it over 3m sintra, then took the heatgun and shaped it over my frame. Did a quick test fit with the template to make sure it didn't clash with the belt or collar area.





Put on a thick, uneven layer of Platinum Patch to act as the armor texture. This is like a very strong wood filler; sandable, paintable and good for outdoor/indoor use. I sort of treat it like bondo-lite. It is water based, can be diluted for easy spreading and doesn't have an offensive odor.

After it dried I took the orbital and palm sanders to it to smooth it out roughly with 100 grit, then again with 400 grit. This created a lot of texture variation with minimal effort, but  also removed the need to be overly concerned with the detail, which is important when trying to emulate an organic texture.




Once smoothed out, I applied washes of brown and black to age and weather the armor. Always a fun part.




After getting the look I was aiming for, I sealed the washes with a few thin clear coats before getting out the airbrush. I used the same colors I used for the aging step and deepened the tones on the cracks and grooves to give it some more contrast.

Thanks for the insight on bone aesthetics, Vercopaanir. 



Looks like I am rocking bone armor all around, very glad that I took the plunge. Critiques and feedback from my fellow mercs are always appreciated.

[Vercopaanir]

Always happy to help/inspire a fellow merc with the randomness of the the knowledge in my head.   

Looks great!  Looking forward to seeing it all together.