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[Ref Al'drann]

Yes, I've started the cursed costume. The one that gets started but never finished. This is why I promised myself I would not post a WIP until I had reached the point of no return. I've now put in the time and, more importantly, the money to be sure that I'm going to see this through to the end.

So here's what I've got right now.
Materials:
6mm Sintra
ABS pipe-- I can't recommend this as a building material. It's tough as hell and makes for great armor, but on the same token, it's tough as hell and is really hard to cut and shape.



My armor all laid out. Mostly done except for a few details like the cod needing more bondo in places (it's curved under like Jango's).



Here are my boots with all the armor pieces except for the toes. I've decided to cut the toe armor out of a pair of old ski boots since it can be tough to get that shape with one piece of flat plastic. The boots themselves will be dyed darker.



Here's my vest. I shot a picture of the back so you can see the ribbing on the sides better. I also have my flightsuit, but the blue is a little dark for my taste so I'm trying to lighten it.



Here are 2 of the 6 pouches that sit on the belt. Stitching is a little off because it's my first time working with leather. I'll get it down though. These are the natural color of the leather and will be dyed darker to match the boots.



I need to get another one of these, but this hard hat is what I'm using for the knee armor. I can't believe my luck with finding this. It's pretty spot on.



Here's the beginnings of my pistol which will become this:




Big_Water99 is making a Ching version of the helmet for me now and it should appear in an update soon.
I also have a rubber knife on order for the boot knife as well as some EL wire for the chest and gauntlet lights and I am also buying a hookah hose that I'll be using for the helmet hose.

Things I need help on:

1. How do you interpret this picture?



I see the top "gorget" as being armor and the vertical portions that are strapped onto it as being the same fabric/leather as the vest. Thoughts?

2. Any suggestions for the color grey I should be using? A slate grey is too dark but all the lighter greys I can find in rattlecans seem too blue. I need a solid lead on a light true-grey rattlecan color.

3. I'm undecided on the jetpack.

I like the original jetpack here:


But this one is also very cool. I can see myself filling the tubes with green hairgel with a strand of EL wire in the middle.


Each presents its own challenge in building from scratch, so I'd like to have some opinions from others.

4. On the left shoulder guard I'd like use the spike studs that appear on the original costume rather than those weird long pointy things that appear in later versions. Would this be ok as far as approval goes? Or is it better for me to stick with the pointy things?

[Hagen Nor'ak]

Let's see if I can be of any assistance.

Here's my vest. I shot a picture of the back so you can see the ribbing on the sides better. I also have my flightsuit, but the blue is a little dark for my taste so I'm trying to lighten it.

First off, did you make the vest yourself or who did you commission to make it for you? Either way to say I like it is an under statement.

Things I need help on:

1. How do you interpret this picture?



I see the top "gorget" as being armor and the vertical portions that are strapped onto it as being the same fabric/leather as the vest. Thoughts?

Bad sculptor interpretation is what I'd chalk that up as. The back armor isn't really ever shown in the comic, but what I can gather from this pic:

Is that it's a segmented back piece; my guess would be like legacy front armor... just on the back. I wouldn't try to copy the figure in the back armor aspect.

2. Any suggestions for the color grey I should be using? A slate grey is too dark but all the lighter greys I can find in rattlecans seem to blue. I need a solid lead on a light true-grey rattlecan color.

I have a can of Krylon rattlecan that I liked how the grey came out as, I'll get the skew and what not for it up when I get home. It does come out a bit lighter in color then what is depicted, but after weathering it should be good to go.

3. I'm undecided on the jetpack.

I like the original jetpack here:

Each presents its own challenge in building from scratch, so I'd like to have some opinions from others.

Canon wise I'd say the first one cause *SPOILER ALERT* The second one was used by Demogal when he was masquerading as Rohan. The second one always reminded me more of a medic pack over an actual jump/jetpack anyways.
I'd suggest if you could find one, is Mega Blok had a special sea set years ago that came in a container that looks like a scuba tank. So if you could find one, I'd use that as the base and then make the top intake area out of cardboard. Then assemble and fiberglass and bondo till happy. Was going to try to post a pic of the Mego Bloks thing I was talking about, but I can't seem to find one, so I'll take a pick and post it when I get home.

4. On the left shoulder guard I'd like use the spike studs that appear on the original costume rather than those weird long pointy things that appear in later versions. Would this be ok as far as approval goes? Or is it better for me to stick with the pointy things?

Should be good to go as long as the studs look similar to what’s drawn in Rohans first appearance.

Have a good one,
Hagen

[Ref Al'drann]

Hey thanks, Hagen! I really appreciate your help and input.

First off, did you make the vest yourself or who did you commission to make it for you? Either way to say I like it is an under statement.

Made that sucker myself. Thanks for the compliment!

Yeah I saw that segmented backplate, but Tolibao is just so inconsistent with his artwork, it's hard to really know what he was drawing.
In this picture you can see those attachments like on the figure, but you still can't see what they attach to.

I'm thinking I might just combine the two references so I have the segmented plates strapped to the upper gorget piece. It's almost a shame to have to make a really cool and complicated backpiece that no one will see because it's covered by that monstrosity of a jetpack.

Yeah, that's true about the difference between jetpacks. I hadn't really considered that to be honest... And since I'm making a Dyre costume and not a Demagol costume, that should probably be reflected in the build. Might be cool to eventually build the Demagol one as well, but I think you've made up my mind to do Rohlan's canon jetpack.

[Pointoforigin]

Is the jetpack the only real difference between Dyre and Demagol? Personally, the Demagol one is much cooler. If it's a matter of swapping the packs to change the character then it'd be relatively easy to make both.

[Hondo Karr]

Nice to see someone is going to actually finish this one! I love the way Rohlan looks!

My two cents:

1. The Original jetpack looks more like a jetpack, the Demegol/Dyre pack doesn't to me. Ive never cared for it

2. The more studdish spikes over the needled spikes will look better and most likely be more con-safe.

3. I woudl say don't get too hung up on the backplate. Just have something there. We are going to require you to wear a jetpack for approval anyway.

[Ref Al'drann]

Partly due to the advice and partly because of my own personal preference, I've decided to build the original jetpack first.

I have more updates, but since I'm going to be away until next week, there's no pics.

But I did get my boot knife, my helmet hose, and my el wire. I've also cut my toe armor out. I got a second hard hat to make the knee armor and I've got a plan for the back armor. Hopefully all my armor will be cut and formed before next weekend.

This weekend I'll be trying to pick out paint so stay tuned!

[bh1138]

Just out of curiosity, as a fellow "Rohlan WIP"er, what are you using for the helmet hose?

[Zophar Ptay]

Just out of curiosity, as a fellow "Rohlan WIP"er, what are you using for the helmet hose?

That is hilarious.  I just asked Falin a couple days ago if there were any completed Rohlans because I was thinking of trying him next and now we seem to have a scourge of them popping up.     Glad to see it, I love his look and I'd love to someone complete one.

[Ref Al'drann]

Just out of curiosity, as a fellow "Rohlan WIP"er, what are you using for the helmet hose?

I'm using a black hookah hose.

[bioshutt]

I was just thinking of doing a Rohlan Dyre as well but you beat me to it so I wish you the best of luck

[Ref Al'drann]

No reason why there can't be more than 1 Rohlan! Just finish your first kit before you start a second 

[Ref Al'drann]

I was able to lay down some paint over the last couple of days. Here's what I've come up with:








Everything pictured still needs some healthy blackwash and weathering before it can be called complete.

The paint app and sculpted damage are my 'real world' interpretation of the reference pictures and action figure. Like with Ref, I have a two-tone paint chipping effect in places, especially around the exposed silver. Unfortunately it's not super visible in these pictures.

The right thigh plate looks extremely crappy to me. I'm going to re-do it. Basically what happened is I accidentally cut two left thigh plates out of ABS pipe and had to bend one completely back to make a right thigh plate. I thought I could salvage it, but it didn't work very well as you can see.

[seugtai]

Everything is looking really good, just a great job all around on this! 8)

[Ref Al'drann]

Everything is looking really good, just a great job all around on this! 8)

Thanks very much 

I want you guys to know I haven't been slacking on this project. I've got all my armor cut, painted and weathered except for my new right thigh plate and my shoulder armor (waiting to order spike studs).

Here's something new:
My gauntlets and hand armor


I also wanted to show some close up shots on my weathering:

You can also see I installed a window for the green EL wire for the chest light (it's not on and even if it was, you probably wouldn't notice...)


Some really good news is my helmet is going out on Monday so it should appear in an update in the near future.
Right now I'm trying hard to finish up my ammo pouches and holster rig.
After that I'm planning to tackle the jetpack and I'm saving the pistol for last to give me something fun and creative to wrap this project up with.

[Pyro]

awesome job on the weathering 

[Calo Ordoa]

  DO LIKE. DO LIKE VERY MUCH.

[Niabi]

lovely weathering Vod

[Kardos Shantiel]

Supa wicked!!

[Ref Al'drann]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Small update-- I made the neckseal last night:

[bh1138]

Haha nice, I was just working on mine yesterday as well. The paintjob is looking great! 

[Ref Al'drann]

I just bought this. Got really really lucky finding this. Not only is it rare, but it bears a striking resemblance to the dyre jetpack already. This will make my build so much easier.

[BobaFiend]

Liking the paint so far

[Hagen Nor'ak]

I just bought this. Got really really lucky finding this. Not only is it rare, but it bears a striking resemblance to the dyre jetpack already. This will make my build so much easier.

You found the Mego Bloks jetpack, impresive... most impresive. Where did you find it? And if you get the chance could I get a bigger pic of the packaging? Make it easier in my random ebay hunts.

Have a good one,
Hagen

[Ref Al'drann]

Found it on Amazon strangely. There was only 1 though. Like I said, I got very lucky. I'll take a better picture once I have it in hand. This is the only picture I could find, even through Google.

[Hagen Nor'ak]

It is rare now a days to say the least, but something I have always wanted to grab if it ever floated past my target retical. Product number and name as it's printed on the box is all I's really need though for my wild hair searches

Have a good one,
Hagen

P.S. Maybe I should add something to the discusion on the WIP. From what I've seen of the pack, your going to have to build the intakes and add them to the top of the pack. Also if your over 5'10 or wider at the shoulders then you are tall, you might have to expand the pack so it looks right on yea. My thoughts would be cut it right down the middle and expand it there, try to leave the sides and thrusters in one piece as much as possible.