ghostred7

I'm going to see what I can do. Forming the plastic to fix the lumps is proving a little more challenging than I expected. I may heat and take the bread roller to it *shrug* I also think some of what is being seen is the blue & dirt, etc coming through the plastic, which is why i am going to paint it...some of that stuff may disappear and make it look more "fluid" just by painting it.

CLM...thx. Actually...some of the "face detail" of the mask were purposely made skeletal. I've seen a few images (dunno canon or not) where the shadows come onto the face and pronounce the jaw/cheek bone. Going off of the CotF pic, there's clearly defined lines that suggest this may have been the skull of something/someone. Based on Nihilus' nature and raw devouring power, him wearing the skull of someone/something else doesn't seem far to me. Granted, i haven't finished the game (yet). Notice the "lines" around the cheek/jaw area suggesting skull of sorts: Also some of the "Unseen, Unheard" images suggest this as well and influenced our decision on being "skully." Lastly, the image that started the lumps & accents to me was this: To me the shadow/light falloff wouldn't be as great around the cheekbone/jaw area without some sort of definition there. All of this being said. Given the fact that we will be spraying with flat white (Krylon Fusion for plastics), would (provided the ornamentation done correctly) the mask be OK for acceptance (granted, the rest will have to be completed to spec, just wanna get this done first) or would it have to be totally smoothed out? I personally, like CLM, like the organic/lumpy/natural look based on my thoughts of it being the former skull of something. Thoughts/feedback/etc?

I'm thinking about using Bondo or similar to smooth it out. We have the clear Friendly Plastic pellets and we may use that to fill...haven't gotten that far in my brain yet. Thx for the input....keep it comin'!

Disclaimer: shadows and lighting came out weird in the pix b/c of the area i took the pix in. Please gimme feedback on this. I'm going to paint it w/ Krylon Fusion, but wanted feedback on its current condition first. Thanks in advance. Suggestions/feedback??

Greetings all. As most of you know by now that I joined up here to fire up a Darth Bandon costume. Still doing that, but since the game changed my outlook (and still confused) on his armor, that's been put on hold to allow me to work on a Nihilus to get my foot in the door. That being said, i'm opening this thread to show my work in progress (WIP) as i have progress to show. Plans: Mask - wonderflex + friendly plastic. about 100% done with the foundation (white part). I will say that the friendly plastic does mold nicely when heated properly. We used a heat gun at ~ 1/2 way (somewhere around 350-500 degrees) with a sweeping motion. Mask Decorations (the silver/grey/gold [dependant on pic]) - We're using Friendly Plastic for this as well. They sell 1.5" x 7" strips (same we used for the white part of the mask) that we'll use. The very top part (where the hood gathers), we're going to "fake the funk" on that and actually have the horizontal part clip into the back part of the top round piece via a bra type hook. Our interpretation is that the hood and that piece are certainly physically connected. Robes/cape/etc - if i can afford it, i'm going to go with black silk noil for this. I used it for Bandon's inner tunic and love it. Dharma Trading has it for ~ $4.65 USD/yd. Saber - will probably make a cheap one myself for now, and then when ready, get one custom machined. Boots - whatever fits in the standard that I can find Frays - I am planning on dragging it behind a car/bicycle or something once I get to that stage. It's the best way IMO to mimic proper wear & tear and not look too phoney. **IF** one of you do this....test with small piece of fabric first....silk, cotten, etc all fray differently. Another option is higher speed and not dragged, but air frayed, although for many reason (safety being one) i don't recommend it. I will post pics soon. I've been taking progress pics of the mask, but decided that it would be best saved for when it's complete so i can show the steps at the same time. If you have any feedback on my methodologies here, please comment and let me know. Thx.

Looks great! Question....what steps did you do to go from the sculpt on top of your duct tape self to the trueing? Did you pull it off of the duct tape after air-drying, hair dryer, etc? Aka....how did you get it off of the duct tape to the hard armor to be sanded?

several places still have the pellets....the strips were a little more difficult to find i found some here - http://www.jewelrysupply.com/craft_supp ... ticks.html the cheapest i've found the 28oz thing of pellets is @ sculpt.com http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/craft/craft.htm

They only sell them in either pellets or 1.5" x 7" strips. Have you used it before? I'm curious as to how "moldy" it is. Can it be formed pretty easily?? I've been told that it's more malleable than sintra/closed-cell pvc.

Has anyone used Friendly Plastic before? I'm thinking of using it b/c it has a better molding ability than Sintra.

I'm officially going to wait until after D*Con to do the armor. I've got the stuff for the skirt/hakama and everything else, but i'm examining captured video footage from the game frame by frame to observe for armor movement (yes, i'm anal like that). I killed Bandon so quickly I almost didn't capture the footage Once I get the frames examined, I'll be able to make a better judgement

OK....i officially LOL'd in front of my keyboard IRL

I like love you man! @TX1332 - lol ....emo + izzie = no ....but ya it did

Thx ladies....I appreciate it. Now if i could just find that star map on tatooine....

Thx. I wasn't even thinking of resemblence. When I first spoke with Thomas about it, i was merely looking for bald characters. It wasn't until I pulled up the headshot that my gf and others were telling me about the resemblence (which I still have a hard time seeing). I'm glad tho....just reaffirms my choice in costume

And there I was, sitting around on yet another rainy day here in Atlanta, scrolling through my Bandon pics. After griping to my kids about how i needed to clean up (hadn't shaved mah head or face since I started on vaca on 7/9), i grabbed a razor, a lightsaber prop, and off i sent Anyway...someone at work was saying how much i looked like Bandon (i don't see it...but doesn't matter).... I call the one of me "Darth Bandon pre-sith/Jedi Concept" (aka...izzie's bored). I have cleaned up the 'tee a lil so it's not so crooked. A short 8 y/o + cam + bad posture makes the goatee look worse than it is ...now back to our regularly scheduled programs.

Placing Bandon project on a temporary hold pending completion of KoToR. I've noticed a couple of things (and have the video if anyone wants to see it) when looking at the silver version of the armor Bandon wears (i.e. Sith Governor on Taris in the base). The stuff under the chest plate looks and moves like spandex. That being said, the approach I was going to take may be changed. I don't want to create something 1/2 way, so I'm watching the game with my "geek eye" on (aka....analyzing environment, clothing, 3d mesh movement, etc). I think that it will take longer to get things the way they're supposed to be and I certainly don't want to rush. Rushing can only lead to bad outcome...and I want this thing to be perfect. It most likely won't be done before D*Con, but we'll see.

can you get any of this stuff in retail stores (Sintra *OR* Wonderflex), or is it pretty much an online only thing?

I have my reservations about Sintra for Bandon's shoulder armor, so I may be going this route. I'm going to hit up some hobby and art supply stores to day to see if i can find it anywhere (although i doubt it).

Groovy....i actually agree but know someone that chooses the body suit, which is why i asked b/c she already does Talon. She has a burn scar (house fire) and thus chooses to cover w/ body suit. Thx for the info. I am excited to see Courney on the 501st page. Lemme know if you want me to do up some digital sabers on ur pix when they're ready.

woohoo...good work guys. Courtney, as always, your stuff totally rocks. Great details and research shown. It's certainly obvious your homework was well done and thoroughly followed. I totally agree w/ Thomas here. No one should have the "ooh...i gotta be the first" attitude unless they have the accuracy and perfection to back it up. The drive to set standards can't be rushed. I am doing everything in my power on my Bandon costume to make it as perfect as i'm capable (so much, i almost bought a real kevlar fiber armor set up from police surplus to disassemble/use). It is clear to me that Courney has done just that....drove to be the best. That being said.... I do have a suggestion for the "Must Have" section. For the body, i *personally* don't think someone should be gigged should she be self conscience about showing too much skin. What about it being a body suit w/ appropriate markings instead of body paint? Don't get me wrong, i'd rather see the skin any time, but out of respect for those that may have a scar/blemish/etc or are just not wanting to show that much skin (i.e. they opt for 1 piece instead of bikini when swimming), should there be an alternative? I would also move the contacts to may have instead of should have because not everyone can wear contacts and it could potentially detur those that may want to do this (if i was a girl, i would want to). In either case....great job!!! Thoughts on suggestions?

Demon...thx! I'll post better pics up when i get them. I'm about to do the duct tape dummy thing so I can start fitting the armor. I figure once I get that bear underway, things will go more smoothly. Now i gotta figure out the arm wraps, if that's what it even is....that's what it looks like to me.

Inner tunic has been completed. Ignore how it's fitting in this pic...i didn't do a "deliberate* wear, more like a spontaneous toss it on and take photo thing. I was going to put ties like gi have, but decided that in "reality" it would be most likely an obi or similar. Once I get the obi/belt made, it will fit better in the waste...it wasn't staying in place when the pic was took (and i was guiding a 10 y/o through using a digital SLR). I grabbed KOTOR screens of various folks moving about (and Google searches) for reference since Bandon's tunic is mostly covered by the armor.

Good job and good pic. Even picked a good size for the saber "core"

Thx... There's nothing really highlighting what his eye color is. I've seen shots of sith eyes and brown eyes. I presume that the sith eyes are a mod, but not sure. Since I needed new contacts anyway, i decided to go ahead and freak myself up a little w/ some "mostly safe for work" hazel ones. They're "yellower" in person and on a real camera, but this was taken with a cell phone cam.

Sorry...i'll have to leave that stuff to the pros here. I'm sure there can be more than one way... If your hair is long enough, you cay maybe dbl bun it or something. I'm a bald guy....so hair advice pretty much nil....in 92 when in highschool and a long-haired metalhead, mehbe....now...uh uh. Waaaayyyyy out of my realm of knowledge. I'll keep an eye out for folks' suggestions since i'm struggling with the same things.