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[Vercopaanir]

So to start my Ursa Wren build I looked at as many reference photos as I could find.  I also found every build on the forums that made it past the planning stages.  The builds that I am going to be referencing heavily are Mirdala Senaar
http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=162498.0
And her reference photo library
https://imgur.com/a/u2so26f
And Nia Kad Runi
http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=128908.15
Also this one by Mina Vau
https://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=176911.msg2133815#new

I am also pulling from the Clan Wren female Mando CRLs

So here’s what I came up with for my Ursa’s CRLs for now anyway.  (I need something to follow or I will just get lost or overwhelmed).  Anything in italics are my thought or plans on that section.

Helmet
• Helmet must be Ursa-style in shape.  (I have a fellow clan member who will be printing this for me)
• Helmet must be painted dark gray as base color.
• Helmet Dome/wings area must feature stylized Wren crest in pale yellow.
• Helmet cheeks must be painted in medium gray with the correct stylized cheek markings in the darker yellow.
• Keyslots must be painted in medium gray.
• Earcaps must be painted in pale yellow with the grey details as close to reference photos as possilbe.
• A range finder painted pale yellow on the end with the stalk in grey.
• The paint chipping and weathering on the helmet must be painted to match visual references as closely as possible both in color and in weathering pattern.

Flight Suit
•   Must be a cotton or cotton blend or appear to be a cotton/cotton blen stretch material one-piece garment or have the appearance of a one-piece garment.
•   Must be charcoal grey or black material, with medium gray patterns starting from the knees and around thigh up the side to just below the rib cage,  on the arms up to the edge of the shoulder with darker grey on the underside of the upper arm to match reference as closely as possible.
•   Sleeves must be full-length.
•   Weathering must match visual reference as closely as possible.
•    Top must have a high collar in charcoal grey or black.

Neck seal
•   Must be a cotton or cotton blend stretch material.
•   Must be black in color.
•   Must cover the neck with no visible skin from the side, front or back.  (Note: skin is seen on Ursa when viewed from a lower angle so a baclava would not be an acceptable neck seal.)

Flak Vest
• No Flack vest

Boots
•   Must be made of leather or leather-like material.
•   Must have a dark sole with a small heel (1” max).
•   Boot must match belt, holsters and gloves as closely as possible. (Appear to be a slate brown)
•   Weathering must match visual reference as closely as possible.
•   Boots have a small rectangles of toe and heel armor.

Also, the little yellow rectangle visible under the shin could be attached to the boot not the shin.

Chest Armor
•   Consists of collar armor, chest plates, ab plate, and diamond as shown in reference. Plates must be styled and angled to match visual references.
•   Must appear to be at least 3mm thick with hard edges.
•   Collar (front and back) must be single piece or appear to be, covering up to the top of the shoulder blades.
•   Plates must be colored in light gray with pale yellow markings and light yellow outlines as close to reference photos as possible.
•   All plates must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.
•   Small center plate must be colored in pale yellow.
•   All armor must attach securely to the flight suit with proper spacing.
•   Any additional details must match visual references.

Leg Armor
• Consists of thigh/hip plates, knee plates and full shin armor.  The thigh plates run on the outside of the leg and cover a portion of the hip.  Plates end before the bottom of the holster and below the belt.
• Thigh plates must be pale grey.  Knee plates must be light gray and pale yellow and light yellow, and match shape as referenced.
• Shin armor must be a full-coverage, solid piece of armor in light gray, with a yellow line on the top below the knees and bottom above the central boot area.
• Shin armor must feature rigid casing on the sides painted in light grey.

Back Armor
•   Backplate consists of two pieces, a top ‘collar’ plate and a lower flat plate.  Plates must have the notched area in the center and have consistent spacing between the two pieces.  Backplate must be shaped and sized to match visual references.
•   Must appear to be at least 3mm thick with hard edges.
•   Backplate must be colored in light gray and pale and light yellow yellow designs to match reference photos.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.

Shoulder Armor
•   Must appear to be at least 3mm thick with hard edges. Must have six points with angles matching visual reference.
•   Must be colored in pale yellow with a lighter yellow/gold outline.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.

Cod Armor (Loin cloth and butt Flap)
       -   Must be made of leather/faux leather or sturdy fabric.
-   Central panel must be dark grey with either side panel in yellow.
-   The top edge must end under the girth belt.
-   Must end at approximately the same height front and back.

Knee Armor
•   Must appear to be at least 3mm thick with hard edges.
•   Must be colored in medium gray in the center with the two half ovals of pale yellow on either side.
•   Must be attached directly to the flightsuit, or with concealed strapping.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.

Left Gauntlet
•   Must be painted in light gray with pale yellow trim on the top and bottom.
•   Gauntlets must close on the inside of the forearm with an approved closure method. Gauntlet may be a single solid piece.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.
•   Must feature two rectangle buttons on top, one light blue and one red. The whipcord housing must feature two small vertical buttons in light blue, and a wider horizontal red button.
•   Must feature three darts placed in the cover facing forward.

Right Gauntlet
•   Must be painted in light gray with a pale yellow trim on the top and bottom.
•   Gauntlets must close on the inside of the forearm with an approved closure method. Gauntlet may be a single solid piece.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references both in color and weathering pattern.
•   Must feature three rectangle buttons on the top cover to match visual references. The right button colored red, and the remaining two in light blue. Must feature a large trapezoid button under these buttons colored in light blue. Must feature a large rectangular button colored in red on the blade cover, with the tip of the hidden blade showing.
•  A flamethrower on the outside of the gauntlet must be present and should match visual references in size and shape.  Blade tip also is visible on the top front of this gauntlet.

I will be purchasing the gauntlets later on.  Hoping my clan mate can print these for me as well.

Jetpack
•   Optional (I will leave this one for getting the kit into brigades.  Ursa spends the majority of the time without one so it’s not an integral part of her kit)

Ammo Belt
•   Belt must be leather or faux leather.
•   Belt must be slate or dark brown.
•   Belt must have 3 pouches in total, two on the wearer’s right side and one on the left with a small yellow rectangle on the flap.
•   Belt must be closed with a gray / brushed metal buckle at the front with a pale yellow rectangle on the top.
•   Belt must feature two canisters on the wearer’s left side.
•   Pouches must have a trapezoid shaped cover and angled to match visual references.
•   Belt must have holster slings attached by a clip on both the  wearer’s sides.
•   Holster must be made of leather/faux leather, colored in the same tone as the belt.
•   Holster must have thigh straps to secure their correct placement.

The belt appears to sit at the natural waist.  This is usually just above the hips but still several inches below the bottom rib.  The pouches appear to reach to the bottom rib.  The main belt for me would probably be around 1.5 inches wide with a max width of 2” with the yellow girth belt extending ½ to ¾ inch beyond that one.  The pouches are an additional ½ to ¾ inch above and below that, making them a minimum of 4” tall with 5” being the more likely result.

Gloves
•   Glove must be leather/faux leather (slate brown) or match flightsuit material.
•   Glove must be gray or pale brown.
•   Glove must have stitching along the mid-section of each finger.
•   Gloves must have handplates armor attached, painted in pale yellow and pale grey.

Ursa actually appears to be wearing fingerless gloves in brown over full fingered gloves in a dark grey/blackish color.  Not sure how particular this will be as it isn’t readily noticeable.  Maybe another thing for the BRL as an addition/ next step/ over the top awesomeness addition.

Girth Belt
•   Belt must be leather/faux leather or sturdy fabric.
•   Belt must be pale yellow to match reference.

Weapon
•   Must be a pair of animated Westar-35 pistols constructed of approved materials.
•   Must be painted and weathered to match references in color and weathering patte


Plan of attack, I am going to start with the softs.  The flightsuit and making the belt will be the two biggest challenges for me. (also the getting the paint pattern right but that I am not so worried about). 

I went fabric shopping, both at the store and in my craft room and came up with a collection of greys.



I am leaning toward the grey in the top right corner as the base dark grey for my flight suit.  It has a bit of stretch but is a suiting weight so it should be able to support the plates.  The next grey down was what I was considering for the contrast fabric. 



Same fabrics just with a black thrown across the top for contrast.

And I made a legging pattern and tested it with one of my other greys (this one is actually bluish even though it's not really clear in the photos.)
I pulled them on over the sport shorts I was wearing so Yeah, not the most flattering photos ever.

   

Now that I have that base pattern I can start getting the placement for the two colors sorted.  I also need to test the pattern I pulled out for the top half.

Additionally, (been thinking about this for a while) I started patterning out the pouches for the belt a few months back.



The first one I made was much too big, the second one is about right.  I made them out of scrap leather so they don't match this kit but the first one matched my sister's Jedi (and fit her phone) and the second one is going on Vod'ika kit.  I also put the holster that I was trying to pattern for this on her kit.  It wasn't quite right for my size and shape (I know what I need to change now for mine) but if fit her perfectly.

   

And that's where I am at so far.

[Aster Veris]

So excited for this! Good luck! Leggings look super cool.

When it comes to the grays, I'm worried there's too much contrast between the light and dark. Looking at your reference gallery, the colors are different but not *super* different, especially in low light photos they look pretty similar. So maybe get a slightly darker light gray? The dark one you have looks great.

[Vercopaanir]

So excited for this! Good luck! Leggings look super cool.

When it comes to the grays, I'm worried there's too much contrast between the light and dark. Looking at your reference gallery, the colors are different but not *super* different, especially in low light photos they look pretty similar. So maybe get a slightly darker light gray? The dark one you have looks great.

Yeah it's not quite right for sure.


So it was pointed out to me that the animators used very dark grey instead of black to help show stuff.  (My source was far more technical, that's what I got out of it.)  So I started looking at some of the other CRLs (Such as Sabine, clone troopers and even Darth Maul to get a better feel for the animated colors)  If we consider Sabine, her CRLs state dark charcoal grey or black.  So I went hunting for picture of Sabine and Ursa side by side for color reference.

   

   

Same color, so I am updating my personal CRL for this character.  Based off these color references I think the base of the flight suit would be acceptable in black or charcoal grey same as Sabine CRL.  I would like to get an app team member involved in this shortly.  Going to have to send a Q& A I guess to get a confirmation before I proceed with my colors.

Went through my fabrics again and came up with these, though now that I have discovered the thing about the animated blacks I might need to do another color hunt.



Narrowed it to these

[Aster Veris]

Maybe 5 and 7? I feel like 5 is a very good light gray.

[Vercopaanir]

Maybe 5 and 7? I feel like 5 is a very good light gray.

Yeah 5 & 7 are a decent match both in texture and the difference in color.  I may end up making two flight suits.  One with the mix of greys and the other with a black base.

Update:  I tested a pattern I was thinking I might use for the top of the suit.  It's pretty close to the right cut.  But the side panels come out a little to much in the front for the correct grey placement.  I think I can move them without to much work.  This style will allow me to hide most of the seams under the armor plates themselves and still get a close body fit for someone with curves.

   

   



The central panel and the leggings are the same blue grey stretch while the lighter grey is #2 from my color palatte.   I know I messed up the collar but for a test fit I didn't go back to fix it.  I'll worry about it later if I decided to try and use the shirt for something else.

[Vercopaanir]

Paint came in today!!!     And the Westar's are being printed by a friend. 



This will be my first go with Montana spray paint, I've primarily used Krylon up to this point so I get to learn new stuff.

[Vercopaanir]

Westar's have arrived!  Now I just have to get some clean up on them and then I can test fit them into the holster pattern I drafted.  All goes well I should be able to cut into some leather for them soon!

[Vercopaanir]

I started on the clean up for the Westars but due to an injury I will have to content myself with just planning and collecting more bits and pieces for this kit for the next few weeks.



I did test them in the holster pattern I created.  It is just a touch too wide for them so I will down size it a smidge and then I will be good to start cutting into my leather (when I can use my hand properly again).  I also picked up some more leather in the store the other day.  I picked out a dye for the leathers, and I received the belt blank I ordered the other day for this kit.  I think for my waist that the belt blank is a 1/4" too big so I have to decided if I want to trim it down or cut one from my other leather. 

[Vercopaanir]

I have mastered the art of pining fabric while using only one thumb.     So I made my altered pattern for the top bit of the flight suit.

I combined the two side panels into one to eliminate the seam down the side.  I may need to add a bit of dart back in right under the arm to gather some of the extra fabic that now bunches up in that area.



I made the two colors sleeve pattern.  After making my mock-up/test build I think I need to widen the grey bit on the should by 2 cm or even a full inch towards the back.



And the two pieces of the joined side panel.  I need to take about and inch off the front lower portion to get it to hand straighter down.



And here is the test.

   

   

As you can see there is a fair bit of fabric bunching up under the arms in the photos.  There is also and excess of fabric in the back of the neck.
The collar is obviously not finished but I think once it is it should be the right height.  The sleeves are also too short but that is also a non-issue as that will be under the gauntlets. 

I am considering just making the main body of the shirt one solid color and adding the grey on the sides over top more like an appliqué then an actual panel.  I'll keep the sewn in sections on the sleeves though.  That might give the fit I am looking for along with the seamless appearance of the grey.

Open to any thoughts or ideas on the subject.  I'm no seamstress just someone who dabbles and is interested in learning more.

[Tramp Graphics]

I started on the clean up for the Westars but due to an injury I will have to content myself with just planning and collecting more bits and pieces for this kit for the next few weeks.



I did test them in the holster pattern I created.  It is just a touch too wide for them so I will down size it a smidge and then I will be good to start cutting into my leather (when I can use my hand properly again).  I also picked up some more leather in the store the other day.  I picked out a dye for the leathers, and I received the belt blank I ordered the other day for this kit.  I think for my waist that the belt blank is a 1/4" too big so I have to decided if I want to trim it down or cut one from my other leather.

Wouldn’t it be more pragmatic to simply enlarge your pattern to fit the weapon?

[Vercopaanir]

Wouldn’t it be more pragmatic to simply enlarge your pattern to fit the weapon?

Enlarge? My holster pattern is too big for these Westar’s so making it bigger would be counter productive. (I made the pattern for the Westars that I currently carry on my kit. The one I carry is wider then these animated versions of the piece.) I can see how you could read it as my weapon being to big for the holsters though. I’ll try to be more clear next time.   Appreciate the feedback    

[PSessum]

I started on the clean up for the Westars but due to an injury I will have to content myself with just planning and collecting more bits and pieces for this kit for the next few weeks.



I did test them in the holster pattern I created.  It is just a touch too wide for them so I will down size it a smidge and then I will be good to start cutting into my leather (when I can use my hand properly again).  I also picked up some more leather in the store the other day.  I picked out a dye for the leathers, and I received the belt blank I ordered the other day for this kit.  I think for my waist that the belt blank is a 1/4" too big so I have to decided if I want to trim it down or cut one from my other leather.

What about using larger blasters? How far off are the holsters?

[Vercopaanir]

Honestly they are pretty close.  I plan on making the new holster for them out of thicker leather then what is pictured here (this was the one I made as a test holster out of thinner cheaper leather) but also down sizing the holster just a bit.

   

Target fit:



Just the tip shows on the bottom so I can't just enclose it to make it work. 
If these were just for a custom mando I would just add a strap across the bottom and another over the top and stick a piece of foam in the holster and voilà guns fit. But since this is a cannon character build I need to stay as close to screen accurate a possible which means no fudging the lines.  Ah well, gives me more practice working with leather.   

[Vercopaanir]

Pulled out my leather to get an idea about the holsters and realized I had two different weights.  After consulting with the collective brain I concluded that I would be going with the heavier weight for the holsters.  I also need to track down my larger belt blanks as the bigger one will work fine but the smaller one is too small.

   

[Vercopaanir]

Picked a pair of boots.  I had originally chosen a different pair but when I went to check one more time before purchasing them I found these for a really good sale (Less then half their usual price).  They should work.  Plain enough with the right color sole and a slate brown color to boot! (Pun intended) 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M78S9XZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Turned my paper patterns into cardboard ones.  For the Westar's there is an inconsistency in the animation about how the blaster is supposed to sit in the holster.

   

   

In pics 1-3 you can clearly see the blaster above and below the holster.  In pic 4 you cannot.  This is also the case when you observe the character sheet closely.  In three of the four frames you can see both ends of the blaster above and below the holster respectively but in one you cannot.  Given that there are more examples of it showing then not showing I fit my holster to my blaster in that fashion.

 

I also made my pouch pattern out of carboard to test the thickness of the piece.  In observing my reference photos it appears that the pouches are about the same thickness as the holster.  So I down sized my patter a bit to try and match it.

   

Yes I am aware that I folded it wrong so that the angle on the flap is facing the wrong way but it still works as a test for size.  I think I need to make them just a bit shorted and thinner to get the right size.



I'll mess with this a bit more in the next few days.