Hello, everyone -
For some time, I have wanted to build a Boba. However, there have been many obstacles to that process. In addition, I wanted to do something "slightly different" with Boba than is usually done. I have decided to begin work on a "Droids" Boba Fett. After discussing the project with my local Clan, there seems to be enough support to give it a go, and I hope, perhaps, to build it to an approvable standard.
I have done a great deal of research on the project over the last several months, and I'll be glad to share what I find here, particularly if it strengthens my case any, and even better, if it perhaps inspires interest in the more obscure Fett builds.
I assume this is the right place to post this kind of stuff. I apologize if not; please feel free to move this thread if it would be better placed elsewhere.
The "Droids" Boba Fett appeared between 1985 and 1986 in at least three episodes of the "Droids" animated series, which takes place in the roughly 13 to 15 years between Episode III and Episode IV. The armor, while nominally similar to the armor in "The Star Wars Holiday Special," is different in many respects, particularly in terms of color. In addition, the "Droids" version of Boba carries the weapons that he will later be seen carrying in "The Empire Strikes Back" - notably the EE-11 Carbine (minus a sling, so far as I can tell) and the K-5 Disentegrator pistol.
Why choose the "Droids" Boba? I did seriously consider the "Holiday Special" Boba, but the references for Droids are more consistent, and on a personal note, while "Droids" was no masterpiece, it was a darn site better than "The Holiday Special."
So, that said, I tried to find an appropriate color reference for this version of Boba. While "Droids" has been slightly better preserved than the "Star Wars Holiday Special," the images that have survived are still not the highest of quality. The best reference we have is actually something that appears in several places, a cardback proof for the action figure that was released when Kenner did a line of "Droids" repaints during the late 1980s. Oddly enough, the "Droids" action figure for Boba was just a standard ESB era Boba, with no repaint, and was not particularly accurate for Droids (or for ESB, in general.)
Here's the image I'm speaking of:
So, before we get into colors, which I'll cover in the next post, the first step was to determine in what ways this Boba differs from his film canon incarnations in terms of armor style and design. This involved looking at screenshots, and cross comparing them to the artwork for the cardback. A few bits that may interest some of you.
1. There is no Chest Diamond, and the pectoral and abdominal plates are quite closely spaced.
As with "The Holiday Special" (THS) version of Boba, there is no chest diamond with the Droids Boba, and furthermore, the armor plates are quite closely spaced - almost touching but "not quite" - probably just enough to be flexible, if we were to imagine this as a real life piece.
2. The Bracers/Gauntlets are highly simplified.
Although Boba is theoretically wearing the same style Gauntlets that he does in later incarnations, the Gauntlets here are quite simple and devoid of extraneous greeblies and weapons systems. The right gauntlet is little more than the slanted structure seen on the standard right hand Fett gauntlet, with no other detail. The left gauntlet is essentially a platform mounting the rocket pod seen in other versions of Fett. There are no hoses, there is no flamethrower, etc. While we do see that Fett can fire a Whipchord from a projector on the bottom of his right gauntlet in THS, this is not immediately apparent in any other scene from that program, nor does it appear to be visible as a distinct weapons system at any stage during the Droids cartoon (i.e. when he fires it, if he fires it at all, we simply see it being fired from the bottom of his gauntlet. There's no "hole" or mounting system to indicate its presence.)
3. There are no knee darts and no shin tools.
While Droids Boba wears his standard style knee guards in this version, there are four indentations on each knee, with no indication of any knee dart launcher or housing. In addition, Boba wears no shin tools.
4. The flight suit is a basic design, with no visually distinct vest, and no double sleeves. Pockets? Hard to say.
I have assumed that Boba actually does have some sort of vest beneath there, if for nothing else than practicality's sake, but I assume it's the same color as the rest of the flight suit. More importantly, however, there are no double sleeves.
Further, the costume seems to lack Boba pouches or the distinctive thigh pockets that are seen in film canon versions. There is some indication, in another surviving screenshot (seen below) that the LEFT leg may have some sort of pocket. Extrapolation leads one to conclude that, due to the slight gathering on the left leg in the cardback seen here, there may actually be at least ONE pocket, on the left thigh. But there is no indication of a pocket on the right, and that gathering could easily be explained as stance or artists convention rather than hard evidence.
My current thought is that the Droids version of the Boba Flight suit should be built in one of two ways:
- With either ONE thigh pocket on the left leg
- With no thigh pockets whatsoever
5. Boba has no girth belt or ammo belt.
There is a complete lack of girth and ammo belt in this version of Boba. However, I would argue that, since there is a holster present, one could justify the presence of a small number of ammunition pouches (as in some of the early Pre-Production versions) and, for the sake of tying everything together, a cloth girthbelt rather than his traditional protector style belt, which would cover any unsightly gap. I would argue that the girthbelt, since we don't see direct evidence thereof, would once again be of a similar if not identical color to that of his flightsuit and vest.
6. Boba's Boots are medium length, and go up to mid point on the shin.
Unlike later versions, Boba's boots in this version are a higher, mid-shin length boot, probably canvas, like those we see in the films. The toe spikes are quite clearly present, however.
7. Boba has little, if any weathering or damage in "Droids."
While THS included the "Boba Dent" in his helmet (quite prominently, at times), there was no further weathering in that version, aside from a tattered cape. This leads me to conclude that weathering on this version of Boba should be relatively light. It should be present (we just can't have a totally clean Boba) but one should be quite conservative when doing so.
I would argue that one could have the ever-present "Boba Dent", and perhaps some scuffing in a contrasting color on pieces of the armor, in addition, to, perhaps, a dark wash on the armor and some dirtying of the flight suit, but this would be light to medium weathering and damage at best, NOT the extensive damage we see later. I would further argue that the Boba dent, while present, should not be highlighted in any other way.
There should be no other "Boba" damage if one is to do this properly. No dented cod, no blast marks on the abdominal plate, etc. I think the cape should be relatively intact, with very little tattering (if any), though I could see some justifiable dirt.
8. There are no cape studs, and no visible back plate or butt plate.
I would argue that the cape studs should not be present, since they are clearly not there, but one could do this with or without a backplate (the early Super Trooper suits lacked backplates entirely). The buttplate is another matter I'm just not sure about. We never see it in the series. Is it present? Maybe. Is it absolutely necessary? Hard to say, but tempting to say, "out of sight, out of mind."
These are my initial impressions, and have formed the basis of the plans I have in mind. I've only included bits that aren't seen here (the addition of a cloth girth belt and vest, the presence of some ammo pouches, light weathering) because I feel they'd be appropriate in attempting to bring this into the third dimension. If you think I should leave such details alone, then by all means, let me know - it would mean less work for me in the long run. I simply think they would add to the overall impression, rather than detract from it.
I'll post more information tomorrow, considering colors and my attempts to properly identify them.
At any rate, I hope this is of interest to some of you. I welcome your thoughts and opinions!
-Alex
