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[Arco'thyel Wyshla]

That’s awesome you had a great time Arco!

For me, it helped by starting with a neck plate, and then moving down my body to make sure everything was spaced correctly. With the visor you can check the forums to see if anyone sells them or for any thread tips. Mine is just a black welding visor so I don’t really have tips on color, but I’ll try my hardest to help.

Thanks for the tips! Spacing isn't as big a concern for PI, but I've found the plates do look different with other plates on, so I'll be test fitting more often.

Nice job making the helmet work! 

And all of those interactions are gold 

Oh yes, the interactions were a blast.



So!





I was going to submit the above pictures to the app team so I could get confirmation on my chest plate design, but the link to the app team Q&A form redirects me to the home page for some reason? Anyone know what's up with that?

Well, that delay gives me time to play with shortening the plate. I like the original, but when adding the helmet and the shoulder, it looked too crowded to me -- not very "light infantry". This smaller template may be worth refining further.





In the next few days, I'll work on refining the chest template here, along with starting on the belt in the soft goods thread.

[Aster Veris]

Glad you had a good time at the con!
The link works for me, maybe try again?
With the smaller templates, I like the second picture but the third looks kinda weird tbh, too wide and short. I would figure out your belt system and then make a chest piece which fits accordingly. And also the original chest plate looks good to me, whatever you like!

[Karson Wren]

Yeah, i agree with Aster here.

[Arco'thyel Wyshla]

Yeah, I'm really not sure what's going on with the link! I've tried it over several days, on different internet browsers, even a VM with a different OS. What's especially weird is that I know the form was working for me a month or so ago. Guess it's not a pressing issue at the moment, since I'm moving the chest plate design back.

Speaking of, thanks for the chest plate input! I'm getting increasingly burnt out with it -- the first design above is looking too bulky to me, especially with other plates and the waist items. Although I like the size of the smaller one, the proportions stray further from Paz's plate than I like, and you two aren't the only ones who've said they prefer the previous design. My next draft will take the smaller one and stretch it vertically an inch or so, then adjust the proportions back towards the reference material (though the proportions will still be skewed for fit, my chest is very different from Paz's!). I'm taking a break from this for the time being.

One key piece of my kit that needs done is a proper belt with pouches, so that's what I've been mocking up lately. But that led to me needing my throwing knife templates, so how's about I start on my kit's first weapon!

Altaïr's the one who made me want a costume with a million throwing knives, so it feels only natural to start with his base and swarz it up:



I took that base, made it more angular, and added a mini iron heart and a CotW mythosaur symbol:







Pretty happy with that! Feels swarzy and customized to myself, but still pays homage to my inspiration in a way that probably only I will notice.

It also inspired me to make my short sword template:



Still not perfectly happy with the end of the hilt, so I'll have to refine it further.

Had a few shopping days, so I stopped by the hardware store for some gauntlets! Or not...



The 4" pvc pipe looked comically oversized to me, and the 3" one wouldn't even fit. Given the $20 price point and how I wasn't happy with the fit, I opted against it.

But look, I found a 50 cent plastic cup at Target that could work!



Or, maybe not. It's a smidge too tight at the top, and the wrist still needs tapered.

It may be worth 3D printing them, but I'm still not up to further printer troubleshooting at the moment, and I'm not sure how well I'll be able to 3D model my vision.

I also thought it would be fun to get a pipe elbow and make a Death Watch shoulder:



...Or not, because boy howdy, is that a different shape than their online images! The 4" size also looks small for a Death Watch shoulder. Maybe a scavenged shoretrooper shoulder?

Well, I did have at least one successful purchase: some flannel fabric for a cape!



Naturally this couldn't be perfect either, since the color is very different from the online image I wanted. Apparently this is what passes for "dark gray" these days? Oh well, it still looks nice with the tan, so I guess I'm getting a flashier cape than expected!


As far as build progress goes, I've been looking at belt references to start mocking up my belt design, and I've been practicing edge finishing techniques for pleather. I'm also looking forward to working on the cape. Detailed progress on those will go in the soft goods thread.

[Senra Qiin]

 

[AboveAverageGeek]

ARCO! THIS IS ALL INCREDIBLE! I've been away, finishing up school stuff and working on college transition, so I've missed all of your updates. Your softs are awesome and ugh! I love all that you've done. I'm glad you had fun at the con, the interactions with kids are always my favorite. I wish you all the continuing luck and hope to keep up with your progress better.

[Arco'thyel Wyshla]

ARCO! THIS IS ALL INCREDIBLE! I've been away, finishing up school stuff and working on college transition, so I've missed all of your updates. Your softs are awesome and ugh! I love all that you've done. I'm glad you had fun at the con, the interactions with kids are always my favorite. I wish you all the continuing luck and hope to keep up with your progress better.

Thank you so much! That means a lot. I'm right there with you on trying to be more active on the forums -- I've been gone for a few weeks and have so much to catch up on!




Oof, been a bit since I've been on the forums! Not to worry though, I'm still very much into this build, staying active in the clan chats and handling at local events.

That being said, there's not a whole lot of progress being made on a day-to-day basis. Maybe I should go back to daily updates here so I'm motivated to be constantly working.

I had a convention a few weeks ago -- I only made a few adjustments for it, but they made a BIG difference! I added weathering to the soft goods and heavier weathering to the hard goods, added pouches, and added a cape. I'm amazed at how much a difference the weathering added, and comparing my 3D scan from this con to the previous one (so, same lighting conditions!) really shows it off. Check it out:



Very pleased with the improvement! I wish there were more cons this year I could get 3D scans at, this is a cool way to show progress. But if all goes well, my next 3D scan will be when I'm official next year.

Some con fun! I met Kylo Ren and we bonded over heat exhaustion, sitting in the windy walkway for hours and letting the breeze save our lives. He's planning on joining the local 501st, so hopefully I'll troop with him soon.



Nobody at the con called me Boba this time! But quite a few asked me where Baby Yoda is. Looks like I need some paint to set me apart from Din in the eyes of a casual fan.

So, here's the current state of my kit:





I very much enjoy the minimalist look of this current state! I'm more interested in perfecting all the soft goods details right now than adding armor, much to the chagrin of my clan. They are bullying me to get the chest plate done.

In the coming days, I'll add updates in the soft goods WIP that detail the cape and pouch builds. Not sure what I'll work on after, but I'm thinking I'll finish the pouches and start the kama.

[Cattriss Wren]

You look amazing!!! Awesome pictures! helmet is looking great! I LOVE that cape

[Karson Wren]

That cape is amazing 

But yeah, you might need something to protect all of you're vital ogans 

[Senra Qiin]

Oh the soft parts!!! Absolutely stunning.

[Arco'thyel Wyshla]

Thanks all!

Phew! I've been away from the forums for quite a while, but rest assured, I'm staying active with the local clan and chipping away at my kit.

Guess I should do a quick progress dump!


Chest plate / back plate

After some more behind-the-scenes iterations and an untold number of slaughtered cardboard boxes, I FINALLY have a chest plate design I like! I've been working on different patterns for almost a year now, and this is the first one that I actually enjoy the look of more than a bare flak vest. I submitted the design and a few questions to the App team -- it's approved!



The app team didn't comment on my concern about the chest / back plate sizing CRLs contradicting one another. However, my Ruuses and clan OMs agree that if there ends up being a CRL contradiction, I should opt for sizing the plates to fit my body rather than sizing them to be within 1" of each other. I agree that'll look best, so I'll go forward with that. I'll work on a backplate based on Din's, sized to my body and scaled to the coverage seen on the actors:




Gauntlets

Valin Krai generously modeled and printed my gauntlets for me!

This is the defense gauntlet, it has a flamethrower mount and some mounts for shock panels that'll be formed from PETG tubing.



Here's the attack gauntlet, it's based on Din's right V2 gauntlet. It has a flamethrower mount, whipcord slot, and mounts for a keypad and OLED screen.



Both of them have cutouts for airflow that will be backed with mesh. Lots of sanding ahead!


Shoulders

I've been playing around with shoulder ideas. Since my legacy shoulders will be pure beskar, I can't paint them until I get a new helmet to paint at the same time (chrome-friendly clearcoats are expensive and have a 48-hour work window), so I'm looking into other designs to use in the meantime. Sadly, all the CotW shoulders have compound curves that aren't sintra-friendly. Bo-Katan's look more doable:





I like the idea of having a whole mess of alternate plates to pick from, so I'm down to have a pair of these!


Thighs

I cut out my thighs and had some troubles shaping them. My right thigh isn't perfect, but I practiced some more before tackling the left thigh, and it looks much better! I'll be remaking the right thigh to match, and I'll be sure to share pictures of the process.




Paints

I've had a setback with paints -- it looks like the durasteel finish I decided on is discontinued. This is a real bummer, it looked great... time to try a few others.

QUESTION: Is this an approvable finish on a metallic layer? It looks great from a distance, but the right side has some texture when you look real close. I won't have color layers on top of this, it'll be bare metal, with heavy weathering and washes on top.



I'll end with this exciting pic. Looking pretty sharp in my cardboard kit!

[Karson Wren]

You probably won't be suprised to hear this but everything looks amazing. The gauntlet design is really different (in a good way).

[Arco'thyel Wyshla]

Thanks Karson!

I've been working on some templates lately. I need two more pieces of lower body armor, but given my boots and my non-functional 3D printer, the CotW shins I want aren't a quick option for app. I've been looking at simple placeholders I can make out of sintra, and Aran Tal's is my most reasonable Post-Imperial option at the moment:











It may be a tricky shape to heat form! Jango's shins are a simpler option, though I would like to stay in the realm of PI designs where I can... I'm also debating a kidney plate and a knee instead.

Starting on my backplate template as well. Here's my first iteration, still needs some tweaks for shape, and I'll wait till the chestplate is done before finalizing the size:





I'm also trying to figure out the damage pattern for the chest plate. Recall my reference:



And also, my new favorite CRL! It was added in the spring 2022 update and I never noticed. I feel much better about my plan now:

Any holes in armor that would give the observer reason to believe the plate was compromised to the soft goods must be backed with era appropriate material. For example, this could mean display lights, trauma plating, metal mesh or another solid material so as not to see the underlying soft parts or attachment methods underneath

I've been running my fingers along the face of the plate to see where the swipe would change direction and at what point the claws would begin to dig in.

I like the size of the first iteration damage, it'd really show off the copper wiring details! This first iteration runs with the idea that the metal on the front face gets caught on the claws, then continues to rip as the paw leaves the plate. My clanmates had a hard time envisioning this from a glance without explanation though, which isn't ideal.

Added a quarter greeblie for scale.



The second iteration assumes the metal doesn't get caught on the claw, and that the swipe continues down onto the side face of the plate.



This one's easier to parse from a glance, but the damage area is way smaller... I'm not sure if the details will get through very well.

I also practiced crinkling the sintra. Kind of hard to do with 3mm!
                                                           


Not sure how realistic that looks. Right now I'm leaning towards making it look like I've done field repairs to hammer the edges back into place, so maybe I'll opt for a slight wave rather than full wrinkles.

Would love to hear some thoughts!

[Karson Wren]

I really like Aran's Shin, and now I look at him again he really reminds me of you're kit.

[Aster Veris]

Wow, your kit is looking awesome vod! I like the Aran Tal shin design.
For the chestplate damage, I think both designs work, but I personally like the second a little better. For my own beskar damage I didn't use a heat gun, I used a dremel to carve out nicks and slashes to really give the sintra dimension and when I did my black/brown washes the paint stays and makes it look super weathered and cool.
Best of luck and keep up the great work!