Volund Starfire

Welcome, Lady Zannah. Can't wait to see how it turns out. You, Aysel, and I will have to get together for a shoot at CVI for a TSL group-shot.

I do what I can. I have a troop tomorrow but will be drafting up some patterns on Sunday to post.

Well, I have been spending my time... um... researching, yeah, researching the costume from in the beta. However, with the recent updates, it is like playing a PS3 game on an Atari. So, I am back into planning for this. It is looking like the midnight release will be 22nd of November. I am wary about this date, but it is what I was told from Gamestop. So, I have to get my nose to the grindstone. Not just on this costume, but also on the Sith Acolyte and Jedi Armor for two of my Garrisonmates. So, look for my coming on the third day... wait, wrong genre. I mean, look for more pics and stuff SOON™.

Insert girlish squeeing sounds here.

That looks amazing. I especially like the detailing on the mask. Is that sintra or EVA?

You hit the nail on the head here. The armor is identical in its construction to the Jedi armor. The only difference is greeblies and the mask. Jedi have lights and a mando-style lit chest diamond while Acolytes have spikes and more badassery. I am making one of each costume for members of my base/garrison, along with my Malgus. I'm still compiling the screenshots, but I'll post a link to them here when I get them all up and posted. I'll also be doing one of my famous dissections of the acolyte costume once I get the screenies taken.

That did conform some of my previous suspicions. Thanks! Although, I will say that my lightsaber will be more along the real-life proportions instead of the v1 of the SWTOR in-game lightsaber proportions. In other words, it won't be part Japanese combat fan...

city dump

Update: The final picture set is up from the Return Cinematic Trailer. This set has a little more detail in the movement and the reactions of the fabric (you can see it bunched at his hip a couple of times). Here is the link to download the Return Cinematic Trailer pictures of Darth Malgus. I have removed all pictures not actually showing his armor as well as some that are too unclear or distant to see him clearly. On top of that, I have trimmed some of the less ‘actiony’ shots down to a handful (from several dozen) to save space. Now, to starting drafting parts out… Return.rar - 966 pics, 722.57 MB (zipped) If you would like screenshots like those above for other characters, please let me know. I can do them for any of following characters: Armored Jedi (includes facial shots for Satele’s Zabrak master and Ven Zallow) Darth Malgus’ Pureblood Sith master *Eleena Daru (Darth Malgus’ Blue Twi’lek slave/wife)* Republic Soldiers (Jedi Temple security force) Republic Trooper (Armored troops) *Satele Shan (female Jedi)* Shae Vizsla (female bounty hunter) Sith Acolyte Sith Shocktrooper Smuggler/Gunslinger *italics* indicated that the pictures are already taken and ready for posting. Send me a PM and I will PM you the link.

Update: The second of the three picture sets are up, this time from the Hope Cinematic Trailer. These show a clearer view of the Malgus costume than the Deceived Cinematic Trailer, but lack the Breath Mask. Even so, the majority of the detail in this trailer is on the gauntlets and the lightsaber. However, it also shows how the neck piece looks without the breath mask. Here is the link to download the Hope Cinematic Trailer pictures of Darth Malgus. I have removed all pictures not actually showing his armor as well as some that are too unclear or distant to see him clearly. On top of that, I have trimmed some of the less ‘actiony’ shots down to a handful (from several dozen) to save space. Hope.rar - 842 pics, 869.07 MB (zipped) I will post the Return pictures by the end of the week, if everything goes well. Additionally, I will start taking pictures for the other costumes and posting them to my megaupload page. On top of that, I might have an idea how to do the breath mask so it stays up. I will be screwing it in place in my jaw! No, just kidding. I will look into actually attaching it to the bald cap. It will require a more expensive and thicker variant of bald cap, but it looks like it might be hopeful. Either that or I will have to try running a latex strap under the bald cap (which would be a pain in putting it on. With attaching it to the bald cap, I would only have to spirit gum it down in the front, at least. If you would like screenshots like those above for other characters, please let me know. I can do them for any of following characters: Armored Jedi (includes facial shots for Satele’s Zabrak master and Ven Zallow) Darth Malgus’ Pureblood Sith master Eleena Daru (Darth Malgus’ Blue Twi’lek slave/wife) Republic Soldiers (Jedi Temple security force) Republic Trooper (Armored troops) *Satele Shan (female Jedi)* Shae Vizsla (female bounty hunter) Sith Acolyte Sith Shocktrooper Smuggler/Gunslinger *italics* indicated that the pictures are already taken and ready for posting. Send me a PM and I will PM you the link.

So, I lied... I forgot one part... MISC PARTS These parts aren’t part of the actual costume, but I’ll post them here anyway. They mostly include the FX of the makeup, the lightsaber which I am custom ordering, and the mask that I still have no idea how I am going to do it exactly. MASK The mask is probably going to be made of sintra and attached to a wrap-around piece made of PVC and rubber tubing. It will include a pair of back-lit red acrylic buttons and a pair of silver mesh panels. The main mouth piece will have a mesh cover hiding a fan (for air and to give the chopped sound to the voice). I do not know exactly how the mask is held on besides it bracing to the nose with the neck piece pulling it around the jaw (possibly spirit gum on the top of the back to hold it up). MAKEUP The makeup will include a set of Sith Eyes contacts as the main part. The scaring on the cheeks will be done with collodion and some light shadowing. The eye sockets will be darkened with makeup. A bald wig with paintd details will be used for the top of the head and will be spirit-gummed to the scalp. The bald wig will also connect to the neck piece in the back to help support it. The bald wig will be long enough to cover the eyebrows. LIGHTSABER The lightsaber is 15 inches long from pommel to tip of the emitter. There is a pair of blades on either side of the emitter. It appears to have a MR Force FX battery pack/speaker in the pommel. There is no clip for the belt on the lightsaber and it has a single button for the activator. (the lightsaber image is not my own, but a good one I found online, the real saber may vary slightly from the image) As for the contacts, I have just the thing…

HARD PARTS The hard parts are going to be the most tricky to pull off. They will be made of EVA foam and sintra. Some pieces will only use the foam as a padding, but others will use it as a base. SHOULDER ARMOR The shoulder armor is made of 1/2-inch foam. Both sides are identical and it is also mirrored front to back. The detail lines will be burned onto it. The top also contains a pair of 1/2-inch foam pieces glued down 1/8-inch from the edge. There will be a Chicago screw under the top foam detail to connect the shoulder to the chest/back armor. It will also include a pirce of elastic to keep them from spinning or moving around. CHEST/BACK ARMOR The chest/back armor is made with a base of the 1/2-inch foam. Detail lines are burned onto the chest. The center piece of the chest has a piece of sintra over it with the various details built on it using sintra. The lights will be pieces of red acrylic that are back-lit by LEDs. The shoulders have a black stripe at the top made of a 1/8-inch piece of foam for strength above and below. The back armor includes inset details and some 1/8-inch raised pieces of foam. The back also includes a 3/8-inch raised ‘Y’ that goes down to the belt piece. Additionally, there are three 1/8-inch faux strips on the edge. A small ½-inch box is located on the right side of the back. Finally, there is some detailing on the armor toward the sides which can be burned on carefully. The neck piece appears to be solid and has a pair of red back-lit acrylic pieces. It includes the necessary velcro to attach to the torso padding. GAUNTLETS The gauntlets are made with 3 sheets of 1/8-inch foam as a base. It will be made to separate at the underside of the arm with a Velcro piece to connect it. The gauntlets have two white acrylic back-lit pieces on either side of the display. The display itself will be made of sintra and include the necessary pieces of back-lit acrylic with the details painted on them. The hex pieces on the top of the gauntlet are designed with layered sheets of foam. It includes a strip of velcro to attach to the forearm. HAND ARMOR The hand armor is made with 3 layers of sintra with a 1/8-inch foam base. The detail work is built-up layers of sintra. It secures to the glove with a set of snaps. BELT The belt is built with a series of layered 1/8-inch foam pads and sintra. The silver details are made of sintra while the belt layers are the foam. The back of the belt has a connection piece with a flap that is 1/4-inch thick. The rear detail is made of layered sintra and hides the connection point of the belt in the back (as well as the belt foam). It has Velcro that connects it to the torso padding. KNEE ARMOR The knee armor is built with a piece of 1/2-inch foam under a sintra box. The base wraps around the entire leg and uses a piece of 1/8-inch foam to appear flush to the box. The details are built into the box with a sintra box over another piece of the ½-inch foam. The details are sanded into the sintra. The back has a piece of velcro to secure it to the trousers and it slips onto the leg. SHIN ARMOR The shin armor will be made with layers of sintra over a foam base. It will have a single layer of sintra with a single layer of foam under it as a base. The top detail includes another 1/8-inch piece with a third in the center for the raised detail. The wrap around piece will be made with foam and velcro under the calf on one side. A single piece of sintra is located under the top detail. The lower detail has separate “wings” on the sides with the main face being a single layer with a second layer over it that has a piece cut out, and a third layer over that. A separate strip will be included to provide the detail in the cut-out. It connects to the calf with velcro and belt-clips/snaps on the calf armor straps. ACHILLES ARMOR The achilles armor is made with layers of 1/8-inch sintra over a foam base. The main piece is bent and formed. It will have a sintra band across the top of the face. The sides will have a piece cut out and a separate piece under it that extends out a little on the top. Foam is used to give it the appropriate thickness. The four holes are used for Chicago screws to secure it to the boots (and hide the elastic back to the boots). BOOT ARMOR The boot armor is three pieces and made of 1/8-inch sintra with a foam base. The forward piece is made of a layer of sintra with a second piece on the top and the detail lines carved into it. The rear will include some foam to give it the appropriate thickness. The rear piece on the top is made similarly to the forward piece, including the foam to give it thickness. Both pieces connect to the boot with Chicago screws. The wrap-around piece on the back of the boot will include a detail carved onto it, as well as a bit of a detail bend around the bottom. It uses Chicago screws and velcro to connect to the boots. ---------- This is going to be it for today... Tomorrow begins the fun part of actually beginning the build.!

Thank you both. Yeah, I'm spreading this around a few different sites. Vaderjeff, thanks and feel free to use any of this info for yourself. I'm planning on using the forums to document every moment of my build, maybe even some video. ---------- FIRM PARTS The firm parts are slightly more difficult, but are still going to be easier than the hard parts. They are solid, unlike the soft parts, but are able to flex and bend, unlike the hard parts. Primarily, they will be made out of EVA foam of 1/2-inch and 1/8-inch. BICEP PADDING The bicep padding is made of three sheets of 1/8-inch foam glued together and painted a similar gray to the trousers and vest. The top layer will have the necessary detail lines burned into it on the front and back. The black padding strips will be made with two layers of the 1/8-inch pads with the top being separated along the horizontal with a very slight bubbling and having the detail lines burned into it. The entire set will connect to the vest at the shoulder. VEST The vest is made of the same gray cloth as the trousers. It has a series of according folds on the front made with plastic canvas under the cloth. The canvas is sewn over a piece of elastic to it stretches but still returns to its original shape. It will have faux seams up the front, but will zip up the back. It has a small t-shirt sleeve that is permanently attached inside the bicep padding. It includes the necessary snaps for the shoulder/back armor and the necessary Velcro for the torso padding. TORSO PADDING W/ COD AND BUTT The torso padding will be made with 1/2-inch black foam. It will be cut into faux strips of approximately 1.5-inches in thickness. The three top strips will have rounded ends and Velcro to the vest and back armor. The two strips under those will be solid and wrap around the body. Below those is a 4.5-inch thick strip that is used to hold the belt. The back of the pieces are cut out for another piece that velcros them together and extends up to also velcro to the back armor. The cod padding is connected to the front and includes sanded down pieces as well as bend pieces. The butt padding is connected to the center piece. The padding will have all necessary detail lines burned into it. The belt piece, cod, and butt armor will have Velcro under them to secure to the trousers and the belt piece will have a strip of Velcro over it to secure to the belt. THIGH PADDING The thigh pads are made from three pieces of 1/8-inch foam glued together. The top section is cut in strips and bubbled up slightly. The rear has a 1/4-inch thick flay piece with two holes cut through it. The front have two holes cut through the top layer only. It will Velcro to the trousers. CALF PADDING The calf padding will be made of 1/2-inch thick foam. It will be cut with faux strips and will have the vertical detail lines and holes burned into it. The back hole will by cut all the way through. It will use elastic on the front to hold closed around the lower leg. The bottom will tuck into the boots and it will have strips of Velcro to connect to the shin armor and snaps on the elastic.

SOFT PARTS The soft parts are probably the easiest thing for me to make because… I am not going to be the one making them. Last time I used a sewing machine, there was an issue that ended with a grenade and a battle hamster. Don’t ask, you don’t want to know. So, because of that, my wife will be making as much of the parts as she can make for me. The only thing she won’t be making are the gloves and the boots. However, I have a couple of people lined up who can take care of those for me. CAPE The cape will be made of a black gabardine material. It will hang down to the floor when it is worn (unlike in the video, I do not want it to drag for both safety and cleanliness reasons). It will snap to the top of the shoulder blades under the shoulder armor and velcro across the top of the back. The hood is a separate piece that can be pulled up with the drape free. UNDER SHIRT The undershirt will be made of a black shiny material. It is only seen on the neck and sleeves. It will include pillow-tucks around the neck and a stiffener or velcro to connect it to the mask. The tucks will have some light detailing to it. The sleeves are tight against the arm and have 1/2-inch seams from shoulder to the wrist. It will include a stirrup for the hand. There will be a line of velcro along the forearm to secure the gauntlet and a snap on the wrist area to secure the gloves. GLOVES The gloves are black leather wrist-length gloves. They have leather patches across the main knuckles. The seams appear typical of driving gloves, but are of a pull-on variant. They will include snaps on the inside to secure to the undershirt sleeve and a set of snaps to secure the hand armor. TROUSERS The trousers are made of a gray cloth and are loose but not baggy. They have a 1-inch quilting from the waist to the knee. They will include a normal fly as well as suspenders and stirrups. There is a bit of elastic across the shin in line with the hole on the calf padding to keep the material taunt. There is velcro around the waist to hold the torso padding, velcro on the crotch and butt to hold the cod/butt padding, velcro on the thighs to hold the thigh padding, velcro on the knees to secure the knee armor, and a strip of velcro down the calf (above and below the calf padding hole) to hold the calf padding in place. BOOTS The boots are a custom make from black leather, reaching to mid-calf. There is a black toe detail strip that comes to the top of the foot. There are heavy black locking zippers on both sides of the boot (yes, the first actual view of a zipper in the Star Wars universe). The sole is a low boot sole and will require some light sanding and dremmeling to produce the lines visible in the picture. The boot will have a piece of elastic on the back to ensure a good fit (much in the same way as the sides of the Boba Fett boots). It will also have the necessary grommets for the armor connection.

I am starting from square one, to make sure that I don't miss anything. To that end, I have even redone the images that I previously had. Here is my dissection of the Darth Malgus costume based on the Cinematic Trailer Model created by Alessandro Baldasseroni. I have classed this costume as having four separate kinds of parts. The soft parts include the cloth and leather pieces. The Firm Parts are all those that are thicker than the soft parts and made of a less flexible material. The Hard Parts are the actual armors and other related pieces. Finally, the Misc. Parts include the FX for the head, the mask, and the lightsaber. The first this I am going to do is take the picture I have of Darth Malgus from Alessandro Baldasseroni’s website and brighten it up, make it black and white, and sharpen the details. Before After There, isn't that clearer? Now I can begin a proper dissection for costume creation.

Update: The first set of pictures, those from the Deceived Cinematic Trailer, have been taken and I can already see that my original thoughts on the costume were wrong. Specifically, the shin armor that I thought was three separate piece is actual one single piece. Also, according to a reliable source, the Malgus model with the cape covering his armor and the one with the cape hanging on only his pack are two separate models (the concealed one does not have shoulder plates). So, I will be focusing on the one with the open cape. Here is the link to download the Deceived Cinematic Trailer pictures of Darth Malgus. I have removed all pictures not actually showing his armor as well as some that are too unclear or distant to see him clearly. Deceived.rar - 1066 pics, 878.95 MB (zipped) I will post the Hope and Return pictures once I have them taken. Also, I am finalizing the build information for the hard parts. Look for those soon, too! Also, if you would like similar pictures for any of the characters in the Cinematic Trailers, don't be afraid to ask. I have taken such pics for the Sith Acolytes (in armor), Satele Shan, Republic Soldiers (soft uniform), Republic Troopers (hard armor), Eleena Daru, Shock Troops (the Sith Stormtroopers), and the Battle Droids.

PM sent

PM sent. Also, I can take frame-by-frame shots of Eleena Daru from the Deceived Cinematic Trailer for you, if you would like.

Wow... um, just wow... I can't really say anything about that. I want to, but it.... well, the best way to put it is, it does not look all that good to me. I am finishing the screenshots of all three versions of the costume. After that, I need to separate them out into the various parts and look for the clean ones to have my wife visually enhance through photoshop. I should be starting a basic graphing of the parts from the bottom up by Monday at the latest. I've got someone who might be able to help me with the boots if my wife is unable to make them. Not to mention, I have some interesting ideas on how to set the whole thing up and attach it all.

I'm actually looking for a better picture of the hilt. The best ones I have from the Deceived Trailer are from the slow-mo screen captures of the Jedi jumping horizontally over his saber. It is the most detailed view. Otherwise, I am still taking screen caps from the Hope and Return videos, but I would like to keep things as close to the Deceived trailer as possible. However, some details are not visible, so I will use the Hope and then the Return trailers for those holes. The way I think of it is that I can omit the mask and the majority of the makeup for some troops (such as the ones in 110 degree weather) and say it is Hope-style Malgus. Though, I will be doing the Deceived Malgus the most (like the ESB Vader, Deceived Malgus kicks major arse). As an update, I am in talks with someone who has a great deal more design ability than I do. He is going to be making a set of pepakura files for the hard parts, primarily the mask, chest, and gauntlets. I am commissioning this work, so I won't be posting them directly until after getting a full set built. However, it is possible I will post a link to him for others to pay for the downloads (it will be far cheaper than what I will be paying). I will be posting the pics once I get the files (the 3D pictures, at any rate).

I can now say that I have begun drawing up some templates for the armor. For the more difficult pieces (mask and gauntlets), I am seeking the assistance of a pepakura designer. I will be using foam as a base for building the pieces along with sintra. As I get the various templates completed and built, I'll post them here for all to see. With luck, this project won't run me an entire year (well, from now). Actually, in all seriousness, I am hoping to get the costume completed in time for the release of the game. I am hoping to troop the release (hopefully a midnight release) with my wife in her Satele Shan costume.

Might I suggest EVA foam? It cuts well and has the same look as that seen in the game once you have it situated. Not to mention, once it is hot-glued, it never comes undone. All you need to do is sculpt and sant it down however you want it, give it a couple of coats of black plasti-dip, and then you are good to go. From the looks of it, the pads would be over black leather or pleather and you can tack it down from under the leather. Brown leather for the pockets on the arms and legs, tops and toes of the boots. Etc. She doesn't have any holsters (just like the gunslinger/smuggler doesn't from the Return Cinematic Trailer. However, for connecting the blasters, I would highly recomment some rare earth magnets. A couple in the belt in a + - + configuration with a couple in the pistols with a - + - configuration. If you get some of the strongerish ones, you can ensure that they won't be pulled off by a random little kid, but you just need to twist it to get it off. With the advanced I am making on my Malgus build, I would love to get some shots with you at CVI. Heck, you, me, my wife (Satele Shan), and a few others could invade a Bioware panel for the heck of it. I'd love to see Dallas Dickinson geek out about the costumes again like he did with the Jedi and Havoc Trooper at CV.

So, I found a better way to do the armor than fiberglass. It is something that I have been looking in to and might actually try my hand at (to get it right before attempting Malgus. I'll give you a hint, it is armor made from EVA closed cell sheet foam. Non-textured, of course. Though I will have to use the textured version for the other project (Mass Effect N7 Armor). This stuff would be more comfortable as well as a little flexible for movement's sake. The lights would be easier to do and it is a little more forgiving and healthy than fiberglass.

Wait... I think there is something off about that... Hmm... Oh! There is no belt! That's it!

Got a couple of shots from an unofficial debut of my costume. I know, I still need a belt, but it is in the works. This troop was just to make sure it could stand up to the wind and standing around all day. One thing that I found was the need for a little more ventilation under the face. I took a short (five minute) break every hour because I was quite literally breathing out of my eye holes. Add to that the face that I ended up emptying a pool of condensation out of the chin every time and it could be called generally uncomfortable. My most notable plus is the scary factor. I put my gliding ability to good use and really freaked some people out. Heck, one of our Tree Dodgers (Scout Troopers) got a little freaked out by me. Apparently, it is very distracting when I tilt my head while looking at them (teehee, guilty pleasures). Oh, and you can see my wife's Visas Marr in the second picture. I think the height difference is a good thing. 6'4" Darth Nihilus for the win! I'll post some better pictures once they are up. We had a professional photographer at the event and she is photoshopping the pics to show off the details rather than make me a big black blob.