darth_ana

Donation sent, happy to help!

I used worbla for my armor, and I think a few others have done so also. I know some also use cut and burnished metals like aluminum (like those for purchase from Twilek paradise), but worbla worked pretty darn well for me and has held up so far. You could make worbla look more metallic via exploring painting methods. Since you're not wanting to stick with worbla, I'd say give the metal or pvc a try. I'm not an expert or anything though so take my advice with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone more experienced can chime in,but do let me know if I can help at all. Your painting looks super good on your skin, btw!

Hello from Timberline Garrison, SL-22031. I was approved this weekend. I'm not too sure what to post that doesn't feel super repetitive. I posted some more pics in my WIP thread, and made a couple albums. Hopefully they will help someone. Looking forward to learning more and improving my costume. Force Lightning

Hi, I hope I'm doing this right. I need 501st/detachment access. Profile link: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=24128&costumeID=112 ID: SL-22031 Thanks so much

Hi everyone and thank you! I use prosthetic adhesive to hold the lekku. They don't slip this way. also,Talon has a small red gap between the triangle and the main lekku tattoo in eh reference images I used, but I will double check it just in case I was remembering incorrectly. I do have some issue with the flaps near my ears staying on well, and they had to be reglued a few times during the shoot. Thanks so much for all your feedback. I'm excited to keep improving on this build (I already have plans to upgrade parts I'm unsatisfied with haha)

This is a little older, but I thought I would chime in. My top isn't as deeply plunged as Talon's seems to be in some panels, but it does the job. What I did was take one of those sticky bras with no straps like they often use under wedding dresses, and then I glued it into a deep plunge push up bra in black. I covered this with faux leather strips sewed to create the paneled look with hand stitching to the bra. Twilek Paradise has a really great tutorial doing mostly the same things. I can't remember the link off hand but if you google "darth talon armor tutorial" it should pop up.

Hi all! I was approved as Darth Talon finally after a year of work (approved today actually, haha). If anyone has questions or wants more pictures and such, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I can post progress pics as well if anyone thinks they'll be useful. Flickr with pics: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaranthscastaways/albums/72157669928370811 When I was starting it was hard to find an exact amount of ink posted anywhere, though so many people offered their experiences when I asked. So, I thought I'd post exactly what I use in case others are too shy to ask. It takes 6oz of body ink to do the red from face to knee; for point of reference, I am 5'2" and have an athletic build, so those of you who are curvier or taller may need more ink. A more efficient airbrush set up would reduce the ink, in my estimation, to 4oz. I paint lower than required because the costume can slip and slide a little. I use a Badger Patriot top feed airbrush with a detail nib- it's not the most efficient choice, and I'll be upgrading in a year or so. For ink I prefer Reel Creations alcohol based body ink. For the tattoos, I used stencils with PAX, but I will be upgrading to black body ink for these as well. For my face make up, I used Mehron water based cake in a darker red shade, as well as Mehron liquid black ink for the tattoos. For my saber hilt, I used a sink pipe and sculpted with JB Weld putty and Apoxy brand epoxy putty. This hilt does not have electronics in it, but I am working on one that does atm. Thanks for this forum for help with my progress, and I'm happy to aboard as SL-22031!

I'll definitely pay a visit to the Maul section. My methods have all come from approved Talons, including one from the gal who runs the Twilek Paradise. She painted the tattoos with latex first and then glued them on, however I was unable to get them to come off the plastic. Wasted like four days painting them all just to have that method flop. Weirdest part was it worked when I did a test tattoo on my shoulder and hand, just for some reason not when I went to do the final deal. BUT I keep telling myself just because one suggestion failed doesn't mean another won't work! *trying to be optimistic* I'll probably try the latex method again later when I have more time. I think I know what I did wrong the second time, but I'd really like to get my approval done and then worry about improvements and upgrades a bit after that. I've had the full body cast suggested before, and to be honest I've never cast anything in my life, nor do I know anyone local who could do it. I'll look into it for sure, but I think stencils will be the best choice for now, given my complete lack of experience. I feel like I'd mess it up and waste a lot of supplies.

Having tattoo issues, sadly. My method didn't work for who knows what reason. I'm looking into mylar stencils atm. the local laser cutting place says they can do it, but I have to provide the mylar, which I have no idea how to find or what thickness to use. Anyone have any ideas? In the meantime, whilst contemplating ragequitting, I got my Sith contact lenses in, practiced more with the facial tattoos, and worked on my lightsaber! Practice #4 on make up/contacts: And the saber so far. You can't see the crystal in these pics, sadly, but it's there! This saber won't hold electronics because I'm a goof and bought the wrong blade holder- it didn't fit the pipe, so I just kept sculpting and decided to go with just a prop. I still need to do some detailing, but everything needs to cure a bit more (the epoxy wasn't completely dry in places where it was super thick, apparently, so hopefully that doesn't mess everything up).

I hit some snags with the Lekku. I had to get all the paint off which took two days of scrubbing. Tried ink for the first time on latex. Apparently, it takes a lot more ink to paint latex than it does skin (thanks to Pam for explaining this so I didn't die of a heart attack over how much I used). Clearly, I need practice with the ink. I still have some spots where it's not perfect, and it's irritating me greatly. BUT They're done, except for adding the velcro to hold on the head armor. Basically, at this point I just need to do some small touch ups/weathering on the armor and work out the kinks in the body paint, and then I think I'm ready to submit. All components of the costume are as complete as I can handle right now (I feel like I'm just letting my inner perfectionist find things to pick at to avoid submitting haha). I ended up making thigh high boot covers that actually look surprisingly good, far better than I thought I'd be able to do. So anyway, here are the newly painted lekku.

Thank you that's what I thought! At least now this info is in an easy to find place for others when they search!

Sorry to be spamming the boards so much, but as I'm nearing costume completion, my local garrison has been offering suggestions and advice. We have one other person that does body paint, and that is our Darth Maul. He uses cake based and only on his head/neck. They seem to be questioning my use of body ink, haha. I'm comfortable with it, so for that I'm not worried. However, they've suggested a body suit. I remembered reading that a body suit is not acceptable for Darth Talon official approval. They asked to me cite where I read it, and for the life of me I can't remember! So, is it possible to use a body suit for approval? Can you use a body suit for trooping later, especially when it's chillier outside? Also, can one use a cloak for Talon and get approval? Can I use a cloak for future trooping, again when it is chilly outside? Thanks for your time and patience.

That Rub n' Buff is amazing! I'll def look into it some more!