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[Drak Fiurr Verda]

Well as my comrade Tracy'uur Nidrac Verda has also done I've followed. We both spent the time before Star Wars Celebration 5 completely overhauling our kits and upgrading them to our Version 2's. He posted his. If anyone is interested in his kit (its really unique and great) it's linked in the following.

http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=26638.30

Anyway here is my armor. I'm hoping to get many more pictures of it as the days from Saturday's Celebration V relinquish some of its pictures. But until then you all will have to be entertained by the following.

Me in one of the many cool backdrops they had at Star Wars Celebration V.



The backplate normal view, and close up.






I decided during CV that I didn't want to wear my collar armor that day but here is the collar armor I made for the kit.

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I know I need to black wash the white a bit and the armor to dirty it up, I also am glad I had no real malfunctions during the whole troop at CV besides slight annoyances which didn't deter from the kits overall appearance. The troop also allowed me to find what needs tweaking. So more to come as I better this kit. Till now. Hope this satisfies you all.


Well thats pretty much the gist of it. Please don't be shy about leaving your honest comments and criticisms I'ma big boy I can take it. Hopefully I'll have better and more pictures later of the armor to show off the weathering and such better.

[Squirrel]

Very nice, as I said at C5! It was an Honor to work and Troop beside you Ner-vod!

[Hondo Karr]

I love the feral look of this kit. It almost makes the people looking in wonder if there's another species under the mask. The backplate is great and shame on you for not wearing your neck armor! Lucky there were no head hunting Jedi there!

[Squirrel]

I love the feral look of this kit. It almost makes the people looking in wonder if there's another species under the mask. The backplate is great and shame on you for not wearing your neck armor! Lucky there were no head hunting Jedi there!

He would've worn it, if it hadn't had a tiny malfunction. We couldn't get it to stay closed at the time, so rather than damage it, we left it off.

[Jazz]

ohhhhh i saw u at CV, failed to get a picture with you though

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

I love the feral look of this kit. It almost makes the people looking in wonder if there's another species under the mask. The backplate is great and shame on you for not wearing your neck armor! Lucky there were no head hunting Jedi there!

lol Thanks A'den. Yeah as Squirrel stated it wouldn't stay closed due to strap breakage but I fixed that just now with a better strap. Now there's no stopping the collar armor next time.

ohhhhh i saw u at CV, failed to get a picture with you though

Yeah I saw you to with the same deal happening of not being able to get to you lol. Next time ner vod next time.


Well David's photo bucket had a few more pictures of CV and in it I found some of me so I snagged some to show a tiny bit more of my armor.

Good side shots.






Don't think I'm ever going to find a picture of the armor from the back so I'll need to kit up to get that picture. Besides that, this is pretty much the whole kit for now. There were some upgrades I wanted to get done before CV (mainly cosmetic add ons I wanted) but those are easy to add and then I'll be able to call this done.... For now........

[Kebii'tra Verda]

Very nice! Looked sharp in person!

David.

[Ne'tra Ca'verd]

Like it! But, is that a motor out of a hard drive on the backplate?  

[Apollo Falco]

I am a fan of the detail on that backplate

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

Like it! But, is that a motor out of a hard drive on the backplate?  

That it is my friend that it is lol.

I am a fan of the detail on that backplate

Why thank you very much.

 

Very nice! Looked sharp in person!

David.

Thanks David. To you as well.

[Tassone Phoenix]

Fantastic kt!!! I love those C5 pics.

[Dar'manda]

Do you have any WIP pics of the backplate box, or any reccomendation how you did that Drak? I'm going to need to do something VERY similar for my legacy plate.

[Kebii'tra Verda]

Hey! Quit stealing my stolen ideas!

I made a comment on this over on the 903rd. I love the backplate and I'm going to use some of your ideas for my BH backplate.

David.

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

Do you have any WIP pics of the backplate box, or any reccomendation how you did that Drak? I'm going to need to do something VERY similar for my legacy plate.

I stupidly didn't take any pictures of it in progress. I was working alone that day and without someone there to take them for me while I work or distract me enough to realize to take them I just plowed through the thing like a wild fire. However I'll gladly help you with as much advice and help to build it as possible. Heck you know what I might do. I could always make a mini version of this back plate to show you its easy enough. Plus I have to start on the torso armor very soon for a new project of mine which will be another custom build so I will some how get pictures of it.

Anyway enough rambling. You have my support whichever way you need it ner vod. So ask any question you have.

[Dar'manda]

I guess the biggest question is, what did you do for the 'walls' or 'sides' of the little 'box' on the back? I'll be doing something similar for mine, but I want to use bolts/nuts or magnets so I can switch out between packs.. The med pack I have is going to be waaaaay to cumbersome for things like a parade, etc..

My intirial impulse was sintra, or fiberglassed carboard, epoxy the seams on the inside, fiberglass and smooth the outside with plumbers epoxy (for a bit of extra strength), but i'm just worried it won't be sturdy enough for the pack, even though the weight won't be hinged to the shape itself.

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

Well let me start by saying my whole backplate was custom built from the ground up with cardboard and covered in fiberglass. I started by (of course) drawing my initial design down. Back view and side view. From there I scaled the side view up to the proper measurements of my body and drew it onto the cardboard. When I cut it out I ended up with the base for the whole build. To make it easier you can cut out two like templates and then have dual support. I was just lazy haha.

Anway I took my waist measurements chest etc. to get the diameter of the plate from the top to the bottom. I cut out base shapes and a top shapes to form the actual armor plate around. I then joined those with the side pieces and from there I began to "mold" the plate by attaching cardboard on exterior to the interior support skeleton. In the end I was left with this.



(Sadly this is the only picture of it, before I finished it, I took as it was the last picture I had before I finished and hit the hay). Anyway from here I went and layered the box in fiberglass tape and resined it. I did 2 layers of fiberglass on the outside and 2 on the inside for strength. Then I put a thin layer of bondo body filler on the outside to help "smooth" it out, since sanding resin is my most hated past time lol. If you wanted added strength you could always coat the interior with bondo glass, or just do multiple layers of resin and fiber.

Oh and to hold the whole thing together while I build it I use hot glue. Curving the pieces is easier when they are a tad moist by using a small spray bottle.


Now then was that the answer you were kinda looking for or are you specifically talking about the detail pieces on the actual back of the backplate itself?

[Dar'manda]

That picture and explanation work perfect actually! Thanks!

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

No problem if you have any other question don't be afraid to ask I'll help the best I can. I'll see what I can do about getting a WIP made a bit sooner of another non mando kit I was planning. Heck maybe I'll just start on my Hondo Karr instead and WIP that.

[Dar'manda]

Watching a Karr be built would be truly niiiiiiice. I've never seen one yet!

[Drak Fiurr Verda]

Well then I do have another project special for christmas that I must get done but thats actually very minimal compared to a Karr so I guess I'll start on a Karr when I get a chance. I'll start drawing up some initial sketches of the armor so I can better translate it to 3D in the build with templates.

[Dar'manda]

Bah... I've got the 8 year old agreed to help wrangle the other ad'ika, who has learned to crawl, tomorrow.

I'll get as many of my templates up as possible, even if they're just 2d renderings with measurements.