[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I'd just like to point out that this same cartoon *also* has Stormtrooper armor bending in places where it physically cannot bend at all period, such as at the mid torso and...the exact same point at the ankles. So I would take bending of what appears to otherwise be hard armor with a serious grain of salt, knowing that animation does not need to follow the same physics as physical bodies do. (I'd prefer it to be soft too. But I don't think it is. However, the CRL doesn't mention it, so it's still in question. I was going to make mine from Sintra or tooled leather, neither of which are flexible...)  The red inside the helmet isn't screen or saber glare, it's red tinted. And yes, there are triangles on the knees.  

Cheers,

Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Klipsa, I got it off of Amazon for quite cheap - I wishlisted several different varieties and flagged them for sales. The stuff I have is white, because it was much cheaper. It would do quite well for a child's stormtrooper. The search term I used was "Sintra".  -Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Hmmmm. If you can manage to get the leather approved, I will be quite happy. I'm much better at leatherworking than I am with Sintra. (Having done leatherwork for years...sintra not at all.) I will note that the animated series has some fairly bad armor animation, though - it has quite a few Stormtroopers with armor bending in places that are hard armor. That was something that I'd taken into account when looking at the possible materials and forming my opinion of the materials her armor was likely to be made of. 

 

I would tend to recommend against EVA foam at all, to be honest. It's just not sturdy enough for the advances of enthusiastic kids - remember, it's not just walking that you'll be doing in it. You're going to get attacked by kids. I could maybe see it with a very solid resin or fibreglass coating over the foam. My plan is to do Sintra over EVA or possibly fleece for interior comfort. (I have to figure out which one is cooler - I'm not exactly in a low-temperature climate.) 

 

-Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Mmmm, you're right, they are longer than I thought. I haven't sat down to do a full math proportion run on the pieces yet because I've a con coming up in a month and I've been working on costumes for that. (I haven't actually looked at the cosplay only versions - I don't generally expect them to be accurate enough unless the cosplayer specifically says they're apping for 501st with it. Heck, the *Disney* version wouldn't meet 501st standards!) It could be the angle that's making yours look a couple cm longer than I think they should. I'm still not seeing the back split in the tunic though, much less the white over-stitching on it? 

Mind if I ask where you sourced the gabardine from? I've found twill with some lycra, which is a very close material if it's a finely woven twill, but the pictures aren't as good as I'd like. And I'm rather limited on local fabric stores here, sadly. (I have Joann's and Hobby Lobby, which I won't shop at - I've actually had one refuse to serve me because of MY religion - and a discount place called SAS which is...better for low-quality fabric.) I was going to use white gabardine or twill and applique it for mine on the stripes and dots - Still haven't decided whether to go with a patch or an applique for the Imperial insignia. It seems to me that we should be able to do that part either way, what do you think?

It looks like you used piping for the blood stripe on the pants, or am I wrong? (It's late, I'm medicated, and in pain. Forgive fuzziness please?) I was going to order some military pants striping or get it from a surplus store, it looked to me like it should be about half an inch to 3/4ths of an inch wide. (Again, haven't done proportion maths yet!) The knee designs look satin stitched on - am I right? That's how I'd planned to do mine - if you have a better way, I'm definitely all ears! And did you use a particular base tunic pattern, or did you draft your own? I'd planned to kludge a couple of different patterns together to design my tunic because I'm significantly better at revising existing patterns than I am at drafting them from scratch myself, so if you have a good base that'd be lovely. That's good to know about how you made the gloves - I'd prefer the gloves to match the tunic material myself, and I'm really iffy about finding a pair of pre-made gloves that *fit* my over-large hands. I know the pattern I have fits even using non-stretch materials, but it's got the gussets between the fingers. (Again with the drafting - I've tried to make gloves by tracing hands and I've had zero luck making them look good. The pattern I have? It looks good. And fits my hands even with a non-stretch material. But if we need to NOT have the fourchettes in the gloves - that's the proper name for the glove gussets - than I'll probably have to make a glove pattern that works.) 

Are those the shoes you're planning to use? The heel seems high - it looks more like she's got a half-inch to an inch heel on her boots max. I'm only asking because that's one of the things that made me happy - my body REALLY dislikes heels, and I was thrilled to see that she isn't wearing heeled boots.  

If it seems like I'm questioning everything, it's mostly because you are *definitely* going to beat me to finishing, and the more questions I ask now, the better reference I'll have for when I'm sitting down to do it. This is going to be my first 501st costume.  If it seems like I'm asking rapid-fire questions in no particular order...well, um...yeah, I kinda am because that's how my brain works. Especially at this hour. Sorry! I love you and you're a great resource! (I do plan on having Seventh Sister belts - just the leather part, both upper and lower, dyed and sealed - in my Etsy shop once I've gotten them patterned out and finished to go with the Enfield bandoliers I already make, by the way. I know JJ Armory is doing 3D prints of the belt buckle with a non-functional buckle, but I want to try my hand at a functional buckle under a cover before I go with a non-functional one. If I can get my idea to work, I'll probably have that up included with the belt itself.) 

 

- Kaylan

Mostly nuts this week with con prep and Murphy deciding to move in. (My husband broke his elbow a week ago. The Demon Murphy is in FULL effect here...we're not sure he'll be able to wear his Tusken for the con that's in a month. Never mind having to scrap several costume plans because he was going to be helping with them and...well...*can't* now. Thank gods for dirty laundry breaking his fall onto the stone floor, he'll heal with minimal loss of motion instead of having shattered his entire elbow and cheekbone! I never thought I'd be this thankful to a pile of dirty laundry!) 

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

What material did you wind up using? And what's it made of? (I'm having some trouble sourcing a good gabardine type material that isn't a poly-cotton blend - I can manage a cotton-spandex blend, but my skin doesn't like most polyester fabrics at all.) Looks like everyone's going for straight medium red, which will make sourcing the red fabric easier, at least. And how did you do the gloves - do they have the gussets in between the fingers? (Yes, I know there's a technical term for those. I can't remember it.) I have glove patterns that I can use, though I'll need to alter them a bit for the red palm. 

 

I don't remember seeing the white lines on the back split of the tunic in the source pictures? Where did you find the reference for those? Not questioning, just curious on the reference material for them. And did you use a patch or freehand applique for the Imperial insignia? 

 

I *think* your lower tunic white lines may be a bit long. They seem shorter to me in the reference pictures - how did you determine the length? I'm asking because they seem disproportionately large compared to the Imperial insignia on the shoulders. 

 

-Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Looking at a comparison between the animation style of the Imperial officer uniforms and the Seventh Sister's outfit, I don't think that it's skin tight at all. It's not baggy, no - it IS snug-fitting. But no more snug-fitting than an Imperial officer's uniform, I would say. I'd tend to recommend perhaps a bit tighter and using a stretch material if possible, but if not I'd suggest the Imperial officer fit standard - the animation style is the same, and the pants *clearly* blouse out a bit over the boots and shin armor. Something skin-tight will not do that, it's not possible. So it *can't* be skin-tight.

It should be noted that the person commenting that it was approved isn't even in Maya's *garrison* - she's on the other side of the country. (I'm in the Dune Sea Garrison area too.) Maya herself says that she hasn't even submitted it for approval - we chatted a bit about what fabrics she used because I wanted to pick her brain on where she got them. Sadly, it was a local store that isn't in my area. It can't possibly be approved if she hasn't submitted it yet. 

 

-Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Anybody see the photo of the Seventh Sister yesterday? Someone said it was approved but it is missing so much. Red the sole of the boots, red on the palms, can't see the neck seal that should be ribbed or pleated, lightsaber is same shape but missing the etched detailing on the ring, and the second belt strap that should have the saber clip.

If you mean the one on the RPF FB page, yes - she mentioned that she's planning on submitting it, but has several things to finish before submission that she doesn't have time to do before the *con* she's wearing it to. So she knows she's missing things. (Yes, I'm still working on mine, life has been a little insane lately!) -Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I put some notes on the boots in my tentative CRL workup. They're a low heel, about an inch, with a red line around the heel and over the top of the foot. There's a separate piece of shin armor, at least that's what it looks like in every picture I've seen. I have some reference photos of the boots pulled from the show in the photo folder - those are all screenshots from the show.

 

As for fabric, I'm using the Imperial officer CRL guides for type of fabric, a gabardine weave (it's a tight-woven twill), in a dark charcoal grey with a burgundy lining. I haven't found the right one yet, I've got some swatches to order still. I'd tend to suggest a light twill or sturdy cotton for the lining. I did find a good stretch microsuede for the gloves on Ebay - I can give the link, but I'm not sure that they ship to Spain. The cowl/wimple under the helmet and around the neck is going to be easiest as a stretch material, probably a heavy Ponte de Roma to keep the shape of the triangles best. The color match on this is going to be tricky unless we can find a matching stretch gabardine, it may need to be dyed to match. And it'll need a synthetic-specific dye if it is.

 

I'm still undecided know how to attach the white portions of the tunic. The red trim on the pants is a military trouser braid, you should be able to get that at most online surplus stores. Right now I'm leaning towards an applique of white gabardine, matching fabric, for the stripes and dots on the tunic, and possibly a patch for the Imperial insignia on the shoulders. I could make an applique work, but I'm not sure it would look right. - Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I've got Echo on my Facebook, it was easier to collaborate on the helmet design that way than through Etsy. I showed off the current photos of the helmet last night at our Garrison social, there was much oohing and ahhing. While I'm going to look into the saber hilt print, I'm kind of leaning more in the general direction of wanting mine more custom designed than a general sculpt allows for. I've odd proportions, and shoulders wide enough to wear men's sizes easily. Now, if one of the locals has a vacu-form machine...it might be more workable. (I'm not gonna try to ship a forming base...that's insane.) With no gap in the underarm area, I'm not sure how you'd make a general large/medium/small form set for her armor. Maybe I'm missing something because I know fabric better than armor? She's got that white rectangle on the lower side front on both sides, perhaps that's an external fastener rather than a decorative shape? - Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Ah, see, I'm going to have a bladeless saber to start - if I'm going to shell out for a blade, I'm saving my pennies up for a good long while and getting a combat capable one. So I'll likely wind up with two sabers in the long run. I've budgeted for resin molding the circle saber, but a combat blade with sound and lighting is too pricey for me for a few years yet.

 

Besides, I like working with leather and making things work when they really shouldn't. - Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Actually, the belt buckle can be made functional. If you use a cinch buckle inside the Kydex form, you can make the left side fixed (for the saber hip strap) and the right side where the greeblie is can be made adjustable to 2 or so inches with concealed snaps on the back of the outer belt. Any more and you'll probably have the greeblie off-position, but you could manage up to four inches adjustable if you wanted. Just line the belt and put the snaps on the lining. Because the functional buckle is under the Kydex form, you can still make the entire belt including the hip strap a single piece of leather, snugging the buckle right up to the strap on the left. (I'm making the belt out of tooling leather already, I've already got the tools and skill for that.) There's no rivets shown in the screenshots, though it's reasonable to think that that's an animation stylistic choice. -Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I'm planning on using .7mm Kydex over 2mm EVA for the bracers and shin guards. It's thin enough to be really flexible, but it's a nice sturdy material. For the chest, my current plan is 2mm Sintra over 1/4 inch EVA, molding over a plaster form based on a life cast. If you're modelling the bracer and belt greeblies, I might want to talk about a set for myself - I'm a fabric specialist, I'm expecting to need two or three tries on the armor bits. (I've budgeted for learning resin casting for those at present - I've done sand casting with metal, so I know the base theory...) I was going to do a 2mm Kydex overlay on an existing belt buckle to reshape the exterior, but if you can print a functional one that'll be adjustable and hide the excess under the main belt, that'd be lovely too. At the moment I'm unable to access my computer - it's having random shutdown issues - so forgive any awkward formatting!

 

Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I've only worked with EVA out of the lot of them myself, and the foam I used was a lighter grade. But it's a known issue with EVA without a fairly time-consuming level of treatment.

 

For the tunic fastener down the side front, I'm looking at industrial strength velcro with metal hook and eye reinforcing to make sure that the velcro isn't visible. The cowl itself...well, either we make it of a stretch material and it won't need a fastener, or we could use a non stretch material and fasten it up the back of the neck. The former is easier to fit and more comfortable for wearing, as well as more accurate to screen. The latter is easier to do the cheek and chin triangles with, and to match colors more closely. I'm personally leaning towards the former myself, with 2 MM EVA craft foam interfacing in the triangles - it can be machine washed and reshaped with a hairdryer or medium iron after washing. (I use it for stand up collars on kids' cloaks, this is tested.)

 

Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

From my experience with EVA, you're going to want to resin-coat or fiberglass EVA foam for it to be sturdy enough for trooping - modge podge and plasti-dip aren't going to hold up overly well to a kid hugging you. Your paint will crinkle and crack. That's why I'm planning on Sintra over EVA - that and I want extra padding in certain areas! Some help with the inside hinge or links to proven good how tos would be golden, I'm doing those out of Kydex over 2mm EVA and I've not a clue how to do the hinge.

 

I'm using the Imperial officer CRL guides for the fabric - a gabardine weave (or 2/1 twill), but it's proving a mite tricky to find a good color match to the charcoal she wears. I found a slate grey wool on eBay that I'm going to look into next month (can't until then), though. I'm REALLY torn between using a microsuede lining on the tunic to make sure it matches the gloves and using a sateen cotton lining. I think it's going to depend on what fabric type I wind up with - wool is going to require a thicker lining than a cotton twill for me. Fortunately, the Rit burgundy dye is a very close match from my previous usage of it, so that possibility isn't ruled out.

 

If I find a good red twill tape or wide middy braid for the pants, I'll post source!

 

 

Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

The shoulder ridges are part of the armor, definitely. Every screenshot I've pulled has them with the same reflective quality as the rest of the armor. I'm seeing an over the head armor with underarm and side straps, solid over the shoulders. With the V neck, it should be doable that way. We're going to have to widen the armholes a bit because of physics, I think - just like the bracers will need a tiny adjustment in tightness to make buckling them possible. An ABS pull would be lovely, but with the head and armhole fit, it might actually wind up being as much work to adjust after the pull as Sintra would be from scratch.

 

Kaylan

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I've added quite a few reference photos to the Seventh Sister album - all of the new additions are screen captures from the show. Most of them focus on the back armor, bracer details, and boots. I agree that the Disney version's tunic is too baggy, and her bracers are also too short and too loose. The difficulty of the saber is partially dependent on whether or not it has a blade and sound. I'm not sure it's *possible* to do the full screen accurate version of the saber with blades where the circle spins around the center hilt and the emitters for the blades are fixed to the circle. I don't know if you can make the blades secure enough to make them even close to sparring capable. (We won't get into whether it's even possible in Star Wars physics to *make* a lightsaber with an emitter that spins independently around the center crystals...) I know it's going to take more technical expertise than I have, and I'd suggest that the half-circle fixed saber or a full circle bladeless or bladed saber that does not spin should be approvable.  

I'm currently working with the designer on https://www.etsy.com/listing/261281732/seventh-sister-sith-inquisitor-swr?ref=hp_mod_rfto refine the design and make it more screen accurate - he's also a 501st member in the Old Line Garrison, and we're both planning on running the final design past our respective GMLs (and probably the GMO) before he releases it. 

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

With a new up and coming vendor beginning pre orders for this helmet, I have begun this build for my girlfriend and directed here by SithRose.

 

Has anyone yet acquired any of the armor pieces? Or is everyone fabricating their own? im not handy on the sewing side, so the soft armor is going to be the most difficult part.

 

I'm likely going to do Sintra or Kydex over EVA padding for the bracers and shinguards. I have to get in touch with the local (Dune Sea) garrison members to see if anyone nearby can give me a hand with the chestpiece - if not, I'll likely do the same with the chestpiece for durability and comfort. I plan to adapt several different patterns for the tunic and pants - I'll make sure to provide pattern numbers for the ones I use when I do my build log, and notes on what I changed. The wimple will need a more custom pattern, with those lines along the neck, and the gloves can be done with a standard glove pattern if we use kidskin suede. (Sewing and leatherworking are my specialties - I'm going to be doing some learning on the go for the armor.) The control pads will probably be resin-cast or 3D printed if I can teach myself enough 3D printing to do that. I'd like to put lighting and pressable buttons in them if possible - I'm sure I can do the lighting, but the buttons will be tougher. The belt is a pretty simple piece of tooled and dyed leather, but I suspect that finding a functional buckle of the right shape may be a bit tricky. And the lightsaber...is going to be probably the trickiest part if I can't manage to teach myself 3D modeling and printing for the circle part. (I want to make the saber hilt removable so I can replace it with something more than a show hilt later one if I can ever afford to.) 

 

Bear in mind that I'm still building up 501st contacts too - I'm not even a member yet! This will be my first 501st costume.  

 

Cheers,

Kaylan 

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

Well, I uploaded all of the reference images I've saved - I seem to have missed saving the boot closeup that I found, though. I put them all in http://www.theflagshipeclipse.com/forums/index.php?/gallery/album/165-seventh-sister-reference-pictures/  for anyone else to find easily. 

Here's my working design guide so far. While everything *appears* to be dark charcoal grey in almost every shot, there is one reference picture which shows the chest armor as black. I'm still debating on the sleeves and pants being a body suit with a tunic or a tunic and pants with a tight-fitting undershirt/wimple tucked into the tunic neck - it's difficult to tell with the animation style of Rebels. I'd personally prefer to go with a sleeved tunic and pants, as it's more consistent in comparison with the animation styles of Imperial officer uniforms. It may also be easier to have the triangles of the wimple be black makeup rather than fabric, as those are going to be difficult to maintain in place.    

 

Helmet: The helmet is a pointed, back-curved semi-gloss material, with a burgundy lining. It is dark charcoal grey, with four bright red diagonal lines on the front of the helmet and a light grey D-ring at the center front above the forehead. It has several visible lines embossed into it. 

Wimple: This covers the entire head, with a triangular point extending onto the face below the cheekbones and under the chin. It has seven slightly ridged or pleated lines extending up from the chest armor, with the bottom three curved in a wide U shape. It is a slightly lighter charcoal grey than the armor. 

Makeup: Sallow yellow skin with red-rimmed eyes and black eyebrows extending down to the sides of the bridge of the nose. There is a diagonal line with a slight flare in the center extending from the inner eye to the cheekbone. Below that line, there are four dots going down the cheek to between the mouth and nose. There are two dots on the chin, and two dots visible outside of the wimple on the cheekbone at the outer side of the face. There is also a just-visible red line above the brows, lining up with the line on the face. Lipstick is a yellowish dark red - sorry, I can't think of the name for that specific color. 

Chest armor: This extends to the mid-torso, just below the sternum. It is dark charcoal grey or possibly black, semi-gloss or glossy. There are grey lines along the front and side front, a bright red raised line diagonal to the body about 2 inches above the center on each side, and two light grey horizontal stripes on each front shoulder. The shoulder edges are raised in a curve that starts at the side front grey line. The back has a ridged, raised circle on the center back with a curved indentation inside. I'm still working out numbers on the back ridges - it's hard to find a reference pic for that one. The bottom is embossed with a line about a half inch above the end of the armor all the way around. 

Tunic: The tunic is long-sleeved, tulip-fronted and slightly flared at the bottom, and burgundy lined. It fastens on the left side, and goes to the mid upper thigh. There are two horizontal light grey stripes on the bottom side, both sides, with two dots above them. There is also a single grey stripe at the fastening line on the lower edge, and a black line along the side front that extends only to the belt. The off-center join is on the left side, and is just above the thigh joint. The Imperial Insignia is on both shoulders of the tunic. It is slightly weathered. 

Pants: Snug-fitting pants matching the tunic material. There are black diamonds pointing downwards at each knee, and the outer side seams have red stripes down the leg. The pants blouse slightly at the upper edge of the shin guards. 

 

Bracers: Semi-gloss dark charcoal grey armor, matching the helmet and chest armor, extending from the wrist to just below the elbow. The bracers have a lighter charcoal raised pad on it in the center forearm, with three "coin-slot" divots and a bright red stripe. 

Gloves: There is a rectangular armor piece on the back of the hand - this could be a seam, but it looks more like the same armor material as the bracers embedded into the glove . The gloves are the same dark charcoal grey as the armor, with pointed finger tips. The palms of the gloves are burgundy. 

Belt: Semi-gloss black leather or leather-like material, with an irregular diamond shaped buckle in light grey. I'm not sure if the buckle is metallic, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be. The right side has a raised grey pad about an inch from the buckle, with two bright red buttons, two horizontal coin slot divots, and I *think* it has two light grey buttons on the other side of the coin slots. On the left, the lower curve goes around the upper thigh from the buckle to the back, just to the left of the center back. It has a grey (metallic?) clip at the bottom of the curve that should allow a lightsaber attachment. 

 

Lower leg armor: Glossy or semi-glossy charcoal grey, with a curve going from 2-3 inches above the front ankle to mid-foot. This appears to be a separate piece from the boot itself as far as I can tell. I can't get a good reference view of the back of this piece, but I think it would be easier to do it separate from the actual boot.  

 

Boot: No more than a 1 inch heel with slightly pointed toes. A widening red stripe goes around the boot above the heel and angles slightly down to end just before the widest part of the foot. There is a visible angled black line line from the tip of the red stripe to the widest part of the foot. 

 

Lightsaber: A full circle with intricate designs on one side. There are two points flaring off the circle at quarters from the location of the lightsaber, curved on one side and straight angled on the other. The lightsaber attaches on the other side of the circle from the designs, and has two curved brace points inside the circle. A half-circle is shown in several pictures, with the lightsaber as the straight line - the saber is single-bladed if there is a half-circle. Theoretically the saber is supposed to be able to rotate within the circle, but frankly, I don't have the mechanical skills to pull that off myself. 

[Seventh Sister - SW Rebels Inquisitor]

I'm working on this one too - it's going to take me a bit because I'll have to teach myself how to work with Sintra and find the proper matching fabrics for her, plus make time in between the costumes for my kids and a couple of my commissions. But I'm hoping to make good progress on her in the near future! (I work slow because of health issues, I feel you on the car accident.) 

If you'd like I can forward you my reference pic collection and description writeup that I've got so far...Or post it here. 

[Introductions and Pending Forum Member Approval]

Hello! I'm Kaylan, and I'm going to be working on a Seventh Sister costume. I'm not currently a member of the 501st - this will be my first costume for the group. I'm in the Dune Sea Garrison area, and my husband is working on applying with his Tusken Raider. 

 

This isn't going to be the world's easiest costume, that's for certain.