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[Syko Voss]

Welcome to my WIP - it's an ongoing thread and a record of how I built the following male and female kits for myself and my Disney-obsessed wife, Jayne, in just over 12 months and got them passed as official kits in time for Star Wars Celebration 2016.

Both kits, total cost no more than £200GBP to make.  Everything was built from the cheapest raw materials and objects found in the recycling. Only Jayne's under armour, my overalls, boots and the two skate helmets used as a basis for our helmets were purchased.



(The mouse ears on Jayne's kit are just for fun and are easily removable!)

To allow me to easily reference my WIP here's a table of bookmarks that I'm building to skip to the relevant sections.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Note - sometimes a post covers several topics so you may have to scroll down a little to find the exact info you're looking for within the post

JULY 2017 - APOLOGIES FOR BROKEN IMAGE LINKS - CURRENTLY RESTORING THEM AFTER MOVING OVER TO IMGUR FROM PHOTOBUCKET - IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE PM ME AND I'LL DO MY BEST TO RESTORE THE RELEVANT IMAGES FOR YOU ASAP

Helmet - sizing paper template to head
Helmet - making cardboard form to shape Foamex to helmet
Helmet - shaping Foamex around cardboard form
Helmet - attaching Foamex wrap to skate helmet
Helmet - heat forming cheeks and attaching to mandibles
Helmet - earcap scratch build from BBQ sauce lids
Helmet - earcap body Foamex scratch build and attachment to helmet

Helmet - welding T-visor cutting and attachment to helmet
Helmet - smoked acrylic T-visor cutting

Helmets Version 2.0 - Screen accurate Boba Pepakura/Pasteboard build, mould and casting


Chest Armour - how to trim down to fit
Chest Armour - Boba-style display from an old iPod
Chest Armour (female) - darted chest plates

Gauntlets - how to build forming jigs using WoF templates
Gauntlets - scratch build from WoF heat-forming over cardboard jigs
Gauntlets - Digital Photo Frame installation
Gauntlets - LED lights for longer lasting 'scanner' upgrade
Gauntlets (female) - scratchbuild from WoF heat-forming over cardboard jigs
Gauntlets - scratch build missile from chop stick & PVC pipe
Gauntlets - simulated paint damage using masking fluid, hairspray and rock salt

Knees - scratch build using WoF templates
Knees - heat forming tips & using cardboard jigs
Knees - assembly and shaping side blocks
Knees - strengthening WoF knees with PVC strips
Knees - simulated paint damage using masking fluid, hairspray and rock salt
Knees - attaching with sleeved elastic strapping
Knees - upgrade - Velcro + strapping adjustment for more comfort

Cod Plate - from WoF template
Cod & Kidney Plates - attaching using snaps and an old webbing belt

Shoulder Bells - from WoF template and how to heat form
Shoulder Pauldrons (female) - bulking out shoulders to balance a larger helmet

Boots - UK supplier
Boots - armour attachment

Ammo Belt - cardboard forms for Ammo Pouches + Template Files
Ammo Belt - magnetic closures and wrapping with pleather
Ammo Belt - flaps
Ammo Belt - belt from old belt, cereal box card & pleather

Girth Belt - sewing smaller strips of paracord before combining them into a full belt
Girth Belt - using paracord, card, gaffer tape and pleather

Flak Vest (male) - making with own template
Flak Vest (female) - making with own template, chest darts

Flight Suit - simulating grime and dirt with acrylic paints

Rifle Sling - using a 3-point sling to make carrying carbine-style weapons easier

Sanding Tips

Sanding tips - wet & dry sanding and using different grits

Heat Forming Tips
Heat forming tips and using cardboard jigs - quick and easy way to get perfect curves
Cardboard jigs - how to make them fast
Using aluminium foil & heat to create convincing physical damage
How to "Roll" the edges of armour plates

Using Snaps
How to attach plates using Snaps...and still make adjustments afterwards!

Painting Tips
Masking straight lines over curved surfaces using an elastic band
Simulated paint weathering techniques using masking fluid and rock salt
Using scrunched Aluminium Foil for masking removal
Espresso coffee use as an effective dirt wash
Using Aluminium Tape to make things look like real metal

Weapons

Build Log: 1313 Inspired Blaster Carbine using Foamex, MDF & PVC Pipe


Build Log: Twin Westars from WoF templates using Foamex, MDF & PVC Pipe


Build Log: Kal Dagger build using Foamex & PVC Pipe with downloadable template


Build Log: Sidearm Scratchbuild using MDF & PVC Pipe


Build Log: Vibrosword Scratchbuild using MDF, PVC rods & Aluminium Tape




And here's the start of the thread as it was when I first posted to it on Jun 10, 2015, 02:10 PM  :




Jayne & I have been discussing colours - she really likes the idea of a Zam Wesell palette of purples, greens and golds and wants to go for black form-fitting underarmour gear as her bodysuit to keep things feminine.

I on the other hand, have been thinking much more down-and-dirty for my gear, and having studied a lot of Star Wars reference decided to work with all those earth tones you see throughout the movies, especially on the bounty hunters in Ep V.

To that end, I've already purchased a flight suit - an Armoured Fighting Vehicle coverall and using that as a base:

 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Army-Surplus-ARMOURED-FIGHTING-VEHICLE-COVERALL-Medium/270420621597?_trksid=p3693.c100102.m2452&_trkparms=ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140212121249%26meid%3Dac060046a2914f5e86f584a4a6bcd53a%26pid%3D100102%26)
It cost me £15 GBP + postage and arrived brand new, fit great and has plenty of 'real world details' that mostly will be covered with armour pieces but should give it more interest than making my own gear.

There are some cool pockets on the front of both thighs and shins that I may have to remove, but I'll make that decision as we move ahead - but certainly comparing it to the movie Boba flight it feels pretty close to me.

That done, I've nabbed the outlines from the online resources and set about with Photoshop to come up with these two designs (I used Photoshop because it allowed me to drop a suggestion of the amount of weathering as well as smaller details on the helmet. etc):



Trying to come up with something that will incorporate some of the purples and greens that will appear on Jayne's gear but will give me the kind of functional, heavily weathered Boba Fett bounty hunter feel that wouldn't look out of place walking through the background of Mos Eisley in any of the movies - just enough customisation and differences in colour to get the look, but steering away from something that looks too outlandish or ceremonial.

Currently pondering whether to go for longer armour plated riding boots, or smaller armoured boots like Jango with additional cloth spats at the ankles to reign in the bottom of the flight suit (as they do on the Boba suit) but cover the boot tops/ankles.

Going for skate helmet-based builds for the buckets - will start building a cardboard mockup/template to test before I start cutting the real Foamex(Sintra) ones.

Thoughts/advice/preferences/suggestions anyone?

Thanks

[Havelock]

Personally, I like the design on the right a little better.  But they're both solid, good-looking concepts.

[Syko Voss]

I agree.  Thanks
Going to zoom in next and work out if I can add an overpainted design - something that will add to the armour and give it more depth without making it look too garish/ceremonial.

In other news...

HELMET HAS BEGUN

Pleased to say that last night I started on the helmet build using the Foamex (Sintra) wrapped around a skate helmet method.
Printed out the WoF A4 template at 1:1 scale on paper and began cutting.

Tried two sizes of helmet - a very large one we already had at home but seems like the smaller of the two (Large (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HF80H9O 57-59cm helmet) matches the dome of the WoF template best (which I'm assuming is scaled to be a 'standard Boba size')

I then attacked the helmet and removed a good hunk of the protective foam from inside of it - which allowed me to lower the helmet a good 0.5".

Wrapping the WoF around the helmet at standard size I found that I have an extra 7.5cm/3" gap at the back since the skate helmet dome slightly widens at the back.

So the next stage is to scale up the WoF templates by 10% which should close up the gap at the back and also make the helmet that little bit taller since with the standard size my chin is visible below the line of the helmet.

I'll post pics of progress so I can get a size check once I get something I think I'm happy with.

[Syko Voss]

So, first step was to get a very fast prototype together just for size - take the WoF template, assemble it in paper and wrap it around the skate helmet.

I found that at 100% the circumference of the helmet was about 7cm too big and my chin and back of neck were easily visible in profile/from the back view.  And that was after removing the foam from inside the top of the helmet so my head would fit higher in the dome.

So here's the results of the 111% quick test - time to build a sturdier cardboard prototype that'll take me a step further to solving how to build this in Foamex (Sintra)



(Aware that the fact that the paper is simply taped to the helmet the profiles aren't correct - this was simply a sizing test - the card prototype will tell me if I can get the shape correct)

[Havelock]

Overall the sizing seems, to me, to be pretty good.  Although from the back, I can't tell if it's the way you're standing, or the way the paper is taped up, but it seems to wrapping around higher over your right shoulder.

[Syko Voss]

I think that's me failing at standing, facing a wall with a paper bucket on my head 
The card version is in progress and is holding its shape already much better
Thanks!

[Havelock]

I think that's me failing at standing, facing a wall with a paper bucket on my head 
The card version is in progress and is holding its shape already much better
Thanks!

This provided a much-needed laugh.  Thanks! 

And I'm looking forward to seeing both your kits come together.

[Syko Voss]

Sizing done, I created cardboard versions of the templates and wrapped the inner section of the helmet around the skate helmet.

A quick wear test showed that the card fared better shape-wise than the paper (naturally) and so that being done, I've turned the whole thing into a solid form that I can wrap Foamex (Sintra) around knowing that it will be only a small bend to fit to the skate helmet when the card is taken away.

Was pleasantly surprised that the WoF bottom template fit perfectly the base of the helmet, so while the skate helmet determines the roundness of helmet at the top, the bottom matches the WoF spot-on. (Phew!)

I reinforced the inside of the card warp with back-to-front and left-to-right supports so that the skate helmet is held in place - I now have a solid form to work with - I intend to form the PVC wraps for both helmets at the same time, then remove all the card and build the two simultaneously:




Since I have plenty of A4 & A3 sheets of Foamex ready for the armour, I've decided to order a single 1mx1m sheet for the four wraps for the two helmets - so each wrap can be a single piece of Foamex and therefore be stronger and I'll have less joins to contend with.

Now to wait patiently for the arrival of the big Foamex board while I spent the weekend planning next steps and eyeing up every object I see on tomorrow's shopping trip for potential repurposing as greeblies or a bounty hunting weaponry...

[Havelock]

Nice.  Good work, vod.

[Ashen Kelborn]

Nice work m8, self made lid I take my hat off to you and look forward to seeing progress, design wise I'm more of the left hand side  with the rights helmet detailing

[Korran Orainn]

Excellent work Vod, massive respect for making a Buy'ce from scratch!

[Syko Voss]

Thanks guys!

Had a momentary panic when I realised that in printing out the templates scaled and on our crazy UK-sized A4 paper that I'd accidentally used the dome base rather than the helmet base for the shape of the bottom of the bucket.  Thankfully because everything was in card, it was easy to switch in the proper helmet base - which is circular, rather than the oval/egg shape of the dome and now the form has a much better flare at the sides...

So pleased that the Foamex (Sintra) is still on its way to us - I believe in "Measure twice, Cut once" anyway, but on this project, I think it's going to be "Measure twice, Cut once, Build it in card first, Think about it and only then Attempt it in Sintra!"

Spent rest of this Sunday afternoon testing out new tools and while we're still in discussion about the finer details of her gear, we did agree that something like a Jango-style WESTAR-34 blaster is going to be her weapon of choice, so I quickly printed an image from Google at what appeared to be the right size, slapped it on some card and cut it out to check it would fit in her hands.  (I later found the WoF blaster templates : http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/attachments/f28/jango-westar-blaster-blueprints-completed-jango-fett-blaster-rev-pdf-73057d1385267782 and discovered that my size guesstimate was pretty much exact.)  Planning to cut the handle out of MDF and make the barrel and other pieces from Sintra/PVC piping.

Am also doing some prep-work on gauntlets too - figuring that between the helmets, weapons and gauntlets there's plenty to get my teeth into before we source material for flak jackets, tailor those and start on the armour itself.

Clearly the enthusiasm is building here in the household, Jayne tweeted this pic of me getting to grips with how to set up the rotary tool I bought last week (an item I've always wanted, but until now never had a project that justified it.)

The revised bucket is in the bottom left of the image, ready and waiting to be wrapped in metres of Sintra...



Hope you've all had a great weekend!

[Hik'aari]

I look forward to watching your progress as a fellow UK vod

[Havelock]

It's great to see you're getting some solid work done, vod. 

how to set up the rotary tool I bought last week (an item I've always wanted, but until now never had a project that justified it.)

I'm still bouncing a little in glee that I was able to get one for myself recently.  I've used the sanding head to really good effect so far, and plan on experimenting today with the cutting discs I found buried in the attachment kit I bought to go with it. 

I'm eager to see your helmets evolve, and definitely want to see how the Westar 34 turns out.

Keep up the great work, buddy!

[Jorad Werde]

New toys are always fun aren't they?