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Mara Jade WIP


bookhoarding

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Hello all,

I’m working on getting my Mara Jade black bodysuit approved for 501st. I currently have had everything except my wig approved for Rebel Legion. 

I want to confirm that my bodysuit is made correctly. Attached is a closeup of the material. 

Here is a photo of me in the catsuit. Here is a close-up of the quilting area

I had gotten feedback before cutting the material from other parties saying it “looked right” for the “medium-sheen” requirement. 

F558B579-1D41-437C-9688-66B25A002F46.jpeg

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I have two harness options. It was not clear which one I got feedback for. 

I was told the backpiece is too large and the cuts were in the wrong place and straps were too wide. 

Here is a higher res comparison

The CRL says the straps can be 3-4 cm wide. I do not see notes about the exactness of the connector design, nor do I see a note about the size of the connector. (Perhaps my petite size makes it look bigger?)

The harness on left is 2.5 cm wide, with a connector that is 9.5 cm wide. 

The harness on right is 3 cm wide and connector 10 cm wide. 

  • AE2A28D9-A697-4A0F-BBD0-F5A1B620C7A6.jpeg
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The catsuit seems ok to me, although I'm not gone on the fabric.

I'm guessing the back connector they said was too large is the one on the right.

I personally don't see an issue with the width of the straps on either, but the grooves are in the wrong place. When it's on your back, the grooves should be parallel to the floor pointing to your left arm. If the picture on the left was mirrored, the grooves would look correct.
I also wonder if you tightened the straps if it would look like it fit better.

These comments are based off the 501st requirements, not RL.

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Thank you for the input! I made this with the specifications of the 501st CRL in mind.

I don’t see anything in the CRL about the exactness of the connector that you mention. Can you please direct me to the place where the groove placement is precise and mentioned? 

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It's not mentioned in the CRL, but it follows all the source material. The CRL is only the bare minimum required and working off that can still result in incorrect costumes. You should be working off the reference images where it is very obvious.
e2b899f7b1cca2e089964044b160c047.jpg

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Hello, and welcome to our Detachment.

Unfortunately a lot of people only join our Detachment, after their costume was not approved, or after their costume is approved.  The whole reason we have Detachments is to try and help people while they are in the process of building their costumes, to increase the likelihood of them building their costume correctly the 1st time around, as redoing parts of a costume can be time consuming and expensive.  

As per what other parties told you about your costume, all I can say is, I wish you had joined us earlier and got the correct information from the start.

I find it a bit irritating when people suggest that the RL approved some parts of their costume, implying why didn't the 501st.  I am not part of the RL, so I do not know (or care) what they are doing and what their standards are. I am part of the 501st, and I am here to make sure the TFE 501st costumes meet our minimum standards.

Your GML/GMO had some questions about your costume, and I answered his/her questions.  I can understand people's disappointment when their costume is not approved, but remember no one here is against you, we are all here so that your costume can look as good as it possibly can.  We get tons of people who do Cosplay and submit their costumes to the 501st, and they get very upset when their Cosplay costumes are not accepted by the 501st.  I like to remind people that Cosplay and the 501st are not the same. Cosplay is a costume that no one approves but the person who made the costume, and while it looks generally like the SW Character, a lot of the details are missing or are not correct or the quality is just not there.  In the 501st we strive for the best looking costumes to represent our organization.

So let's get moving in the right direction, so we can get your costume approved.

I would strongly suggest more research.

Seek out people in the 501st who have made this costume and gotten it approved, and find out where they got their items from or what materials they used.

eliste (meg) who commented just above, would be a good place to start!

The Items that were in question with your costume, I listed below, and explained why I approved or disapproved them.

Your Body Suit: Take a look at the pic of your body suit, now go to the CRL and look at the display model at the top.  See how the models suit looks like a shinny rubber, with no folds or creases or bunching in the material, how it is snug and form fitting.  Now scroll down through the individual item in the CRL till you get to the body suit.  Click the photo of the body suit so it opens in a new page, and now click the bodysuit again so you can see it alone and larger. Now compare the bodysuit in the picture with the picture of your bodysuit.  In your bodysuit pic the crotch area has folds in the material, the outsides of the legs have folds in the material, the inner leg area has the design muster, but it is really hard to see and is not so prominent. Look at the CRL item bodysuit, the crotch area is flat, the legs are without folds in the material, and the details on the inner thigh are much better looking and easier to see the details.  You really need a material that stretches in 4 directions, that when the material is pulled, it does not create folds in the other direction.  The details in your suit were hard to see, there were folds and extra material in areas that there should not have been. If the material is correct (?), then the problem is in the way it is sewn together.

Wig: Even though I am not a fan of your Wig in Red, I approved your wig, because it is an acceptable color.  I prefer the strawberry blonde or red/gold wig, but I approved your wig, as it has less to do with my personal taste and more to do with the correct look.  So whereas you said the RL did not approve your wig, I did.

Silver connector and harness straps:  This was a difficult point to judge.  I could tell by your pictures that you are of the smaller body sizes, so it was hard to tell what exactly the size was of your straps and silver connector were.  As the details in your silver connector were a bit off, it made me think the size was also off. Where the silver connector has 3 oval cut outs in the center facing 9 O'clock evenly spaced apart, your Silver Connector looked like there were just 3 slits cut into it, and it was facing 7 O'clock.  The straps are correctly made for the size of the Silver connector (because they match the correct size of the mounting point on the Silver Connector) the question is, is the Silver connector too large, thus makinging the straps also too large?  The details of the Oval cutout vs the slits vs facing the different directions, was why i did not approve this item.  I would suggest finding a different source for the Silver connector, and then just transplanting the straps onto the new silver connector, if they are in fact the correct dimensions.

Holster: is mounted backwards. Its an optional item of the costume, so either remove it altogether or flip it over to face the correct position.

Belt & Belt Buckle: The Belt buckle should be hiding the rivets, the rivets should not be visible. Either that or use a different belt without the rivets.

Extra strap: should be form fitting and laying flat against the bodysuit/leg/hip.

I hope this helps you better understand what things need to be corrected, so we can get the changes made, and get you into the 501st.

Cheers,

Det XO-

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