Officercato

after doing some reviewing of images I’ve decided to redo my patterns. They are still big in comparison. No biggie. I’ll order new films this weekend and should have them in hand by the following weekend. In the meantime I can get screens ready and work on the pattern.

Had a productive day today. But I’m going to share a little of the drama. Originally I had a screen shop make 2 screens for me. It was expensive. Unfortunately one of the patterns was sized wrong. Since the screens were expensive I decided to make one myself. Cut sad music. Making a high density screen with emulsion is not done often for a reason. It takes a lot of skill. Usually a capillary film is used, but I just couldn’t justify the cost. The cheapest I found in a good size was over $100US. No thank you. Luckily I have some knowledgeable people at work. I finally have a screen I can burn (it’s drying as I type this) The screen that was the right size wasn’t very thick so I wasn’t sure what the result would be. Unfortunately the fabric I’m using shrinks significantly under the high heat used to cure the ink which made multiple passes impossible, but I’m happy with the result. The color in the images is washed out a bit. The ink is actually grey. Now I will get my pattern sorted and I’ll do the final prints.

So have been staring like a crazy person at the pictures I have again and think that the rubber at the center front of her costume and on the gauntlets is a rubber window seal. I'm buying a few typs of S and V shapes to do some experiments with that as well. All of my printing supplies have finally come in. I hadn't planned to do it all myself, but paying to have the screens made wasn't cheap and I screwed up the scale of one of the patterns, so I decided to just bite the bullet and buy what I need. I purchased blank screens with the proper thread count for dense prints and but 2 types of emulsion to try. Both are made for high density printing. I found a supplier online that prints the film negative of the pattern for pretty cheap ($10 for my small one and $25 for the larger plus shipping). They arrived in a few days. My next step is to make my first attempt at high density screen today. I'll take pictures and share links and things later. I'm going to start with the glove pattern first since it's small volume. I've also got the pattern for the bodysuit, so I will be adapting that for what I need so I can pattern out the parts for printing. Going to be a lot more activity over the next few months! A friend of mine that loves doing leather work is helping me iwth the armor and she has one of my boots to pattern out the new shaft. I did some initial tests for aging the boot vamp and those worked pretty well. When I get the leather parts back, I'll share images and how I did things for that too.

Unfortunately I don’t have the time or resources to print large quantities, but I’m happy to share the files I created and you can contract out services.

Great find by @Trachta! Custom belt for Reva on Etsy. I’ll need to customize it a bit to make it more accurate, but it’s one less thing to build myself. :) https://www.etsy.com/listing/1265073920/third-sister-belt-reva?click_key=53f5f3b76d0ba3cedeaf7830e93173ef209efb8d%3A1265073920&click_sum=3cff8fd3&ref=shop_home_active_29&sts=1

So excited about this! Going to buy this gorgeous lightsaber from Shadowfoil props when they are ready for order.

Boots came in. went with pirate boots suggested. They are big, but I’ll where my fuzzy socks.

By chance @keenkyberdo you have a higher resoultion option for the front image? I'm still torn on whether or not to make the body suit one piece with the a zipper in teh back and the tunic a separate pieces with the zipper in teh front covered by that rubber piece. Trying to see the top of the tunic, but it's a bit fuzzy and my eyes are bad.

Did you use a local printer for this, or was it online?I need to create the files, but finding a service I can send fabric to would be great.

The majority of my fabrics are on the way!! I'm getting pretty excited. Ordered my boots today too. I'll be sourcing leather locally, so I'm going to wait until I have the undersuit and cape done before I jump into that part. I do have a question and wanted get some opinions. I've gone back and forth about the printing. I still strongly believe that it is high density printing, but would it be unapprovable if I went with a basic flat print? Finding local sources to either create screens for me or to do the printing hasn't been very successful and I may never get this done at this rate. There are plenty of screen printing companies, but not that are willing to do this kind of custom work. I wanted to do it all myself, but I just can't justfify the expense to buy all the equipment needed to do it since I'll never screen print again after this. Thoughts? Should I go for a typical screen print and not worry about the slightly raised effect? I could also fake the dimension a little with some paint which I wouldn't have an issue doing. @DarthValkyria @Trachta ?

I’m back! Been a crazy summer. Bought fabric for my costume. I decided to go with 1mm neoprene because knit didn’t have the right texture or drape. Now I’m searching local print shops to find one that will make screens for me. I don’t mind doing the printing, but I don’t want to stock up on supplies for a hobby I’m not going to actually do. I’ll probably buy my boots next.

Where did you source the jersey? That looks promising.

Some fabric swatches came in, but I’m not crazy about either. They are both neoprene. I’ll keep searching.

These are incredibly helpful. thank you! I had guessed that the tunic was integrated in the body suit. Those straps are probably for the cape which answered another question I had. I’m hoping to start collecting materials in the next month. I’ve been swamped with moving and fixing things up at the new place.

Gorgeous result!

I have some extremely close detailed shots on Reva’s costume and there is a slight raise to the pattern. It isn’t much but it’s there. That can still account for low spots though. I think that is a good argument for having the pieces printed after cutting the fabric. I’m wondering though if it will be allowed to use just regular printing for approval? High Density printing isn’t the cheapest thing. For your cape maybe it’s more like embossed silk?

Thanks! My friend that took the pictures said the same so I’ll consider that confirmed.

The high density printing is done in layers with flash heating between passes. I’ve been piecing together process bit by bit. People are so closed lipped about it.

Sure!

The shaft will be covered. The Reva boot shaft has a wrap around piece of leather. The seam would be hidden. I don’t plan to use any boots I find “as is”.

These might work. Would need to cut down the shaft and the toe isn’t as round as the Harley boots. https://www.medievalcollectibles.com/product/prescott-jackboots/

Yikes, that would be pricey. I work for a shoe company (and I make prototype shoes) If push comes to shove I’ll make them myself, but if I can avoid that I will.

Shoes are the worst part of replicating these costumes.

I’ll put those boots here just in case, but they don’t come in sizes small enough. An 8 might work but shoe sizing can be a little arbitrary. I’d prefer not to have to get overly large boots. Even stuffing them is uncomfortable. I’ll keep an eye out for when they are back in stock.

Boots are tough since they are subject to style change. I am searching for the following criteria: low heel, rubber outsole, round toe, below knee shaft (preferable without a zipper, but I think I can work around one). The Reva boots may have been men’s boots to start as a toe that round isn’t a normal woman’s fashion. I found a few that are men’s motorcycle boots that might work. What do you think? https://www.vagabond.com/us/kenova-5241-701-20/ ($265) https://www.bootbarn.com/harley-davidson-mens-jason-steel-toe-boots/038999.html?dwvar_038999_color=7018#start=16 ($184) If I had to choose one of these I’d go with the Harley boots. The outsole is smooth like Revas’ and the heel is lower. They are also cheaper.