Antipodian Mara Jade :)

[Guest mdb]

It's been a very long time in the making and I have not really shown much of my progress over here because I have rarely been ahppy with the progress I had made.

 

So here at last I have some progress!

 

It is too hot to wear the bodysuit right now! But I wanted to show the accessories so far

 

Still to go:

paint the blaster

finish holster

glue shin guards together

make knee cops

paint shin guards.

 

then I'll wiggle into the bodysuit for full photos

 

Oh yeah, my hair is a little too long but I have a cunning plan involving hair pins and hair ties to hold it in the cowl

[Guest mdb]

I now have dissolved styrene all over my hands.. but my shin guards are curing overnight as I type

 

My blaster is painted but I think I'll give some of it another good sanding and then another coat. This will make it much easier to see that it is flattening out nicely

 

Tomorrow I get to buy some more gluing supplies and styrene to build my knee cops from. If that fails I will cut down the hockey guards I have already.

 

Some in progress shots:

Blaster:

cut down toy gun, milliput, cable ties and paint. As I said I need to sand down some of the nose. The photo makes it look worse than in real life but I do anticipate a few photos at least.

 

Back plate.

Still looking at adding extra detail and weathering it a tad.

 

Cutting the harness straps evenly

 

Riveting the leather belt straps

 

Jumpsuit pattern. I did do real piping. PITA as it was...

 

Cloak

From this.. er yes, this was a very pale tan before:

 

To this after dyeing:

 

Black gloves:

 

Tan gloves and cowl

(I borrowed Pam's idea of the longer back, I wear the curved edge to the bottom and it creates that lovely series of folds you can see when I wear the cowl down.) The cowl is bag lined in self fabric, a faux suede.

 

The goggles were a gift from a friend, WWII goggles (civilian) which I only altered by replacing the straps. I will replace the lenses with some light brown acrylic soonish. When I get my dremel, saw and acrylic in the one place

 

Tomorrow:

Further gluing of the shin guards, holster making and snading of the blaster.

[ghostred7]

Comin' along nicely, thanks for sharing the progress!

[The Clone Emperor]

Lady, I like your craftsmanship.

 

I will be keeping a Sith Eye out for your posts.

 

One thing about the Legion requirement for Mara Jade that has been a sore point is the body suit. The piping on both sides of the centre panel and the ribbing on the inner thighs is considered essential to the character and thus required for approval as a 501st costume;

 

 

I realize forum communication is imperfect, so I will type this addendum; I mean it when I say I am impressed with the work you are sharing. I have patch with your name on it right now. I don't bring up the suit details to break your stride, but out of concerns from past approvals I have overseen as Legion Membership Officer. I hope to see your Mara approved this year.

 

Be well,

Thomas

[Guest mdb]

Thank you both

 

Oh yes, never fear I do indeed have the piping and the seams. The panels as they are cut are where the seams will go. Let me find my not quite fully sewn suit photo...

 

This shows the piping inserted between the seams (lower torso showing). On our left is after the second row of stitches to get the piping as close to the elastic as possible:

 

(silver lines were my sewing guides, they came off with a little alcohol).

 

I chose to cut all the panels as the above fabric is only 2 way stretch so I had to cut it on the bias to get some vertical as well as horizontal stretch- cutting in panels allowed me to alternate the direction of the grain (into a chevron shape) to help prevent it all skewing in one direction (a tip I learnt from an old corset patent actually). It is also quite a soft fabric so doing piping (rather than a tuck) meant I gave those seams extra stability.

 

I have two bodysuits actually, the above (which needs the thigh seams and a zip put in then some neckline and armhole adjustments) and one made from MJ Trends 4 way stretch PVC. I saw a few that were accepted made from this fabric which makes me very happy as it is much stronger than the above This was actually recycled from my WItchblade bodysuit so has a nice amount of weathering to it already. Not sure how that will show in photos but it should...

 

The thigh seams were stitched with a regular stretch stitch over some cotton lycra. I left the panel free floating so I can insert some padding should my own not prove enough... the difference in stretch between the stitches and the fabric may offer some degree of difference already. Otherwise I simply put the uit on inside out and insert strips of padding the sew the edges to the suit

 

My shin guards have cured nicely and I must say they are solid as a rock. I found a tip from a model car forum of all places to dissolve styrene shavings in acetone (I only had plastic weld) make a paste and use that as a glue/filler. It works brilliantly.

probably already known to some armour builders but I was unable to find the right search terms to see. So I looked up ABS glue.

Now I get to sand the seams down to smoothness and start shaping and making them look more Identifyably Mara's I think this shall involve cutting my own styrene strips. Sigh. Neatness of long thin lines is not my forte, I am more suited to making organic shapes, but I have a metal ruler. I have new craft knife blades.. I can do this!

 

 

Again thank you for your kind words Thomas and MadHorizons

[Guest mdb]

I very nearly ruined one of my shin guards... The curing took a lot longer than anticipated on one and I got a bit of a spongy effect. 24 hours later and it looks like it has cured properly. I should have realised of course, knowing how long it takes for nail polish to evaporate and worked out how much I used of the welder.

 

So luckily I need to trim a curved shape out of the worst part and I can laminate a thin layer of styrene over the rest and sand that down if need be. I need to add some strips of styrene anyway for the details which should help strengthen the guards at that point.

 

I could kick myself for panicking and making it worse, but these are things you learn I did get them sanded though so can get the laminating done as well as the spot of filling needed.

I will use the same technique but be a little more prepared!

 

I sanded my blaster a bit more but am out of paint, which I need anyway for the shin guards so will pick up a can today.

[Guest mdb]

Shin progress:

Oh look, these might be a familiar item to many a TK

 

 

Taped and welding in process.

 

The styrene glue all set

 

And what was left in my glass.

 

And today the extra styrene cut and shaped as well as the top of the guards shaped:

 

The straight strip goes down the front of the shins, the looped strip creates the chevron effect, the circular pieces at the tops of the guards and the wavy pieces the bottoms.

All those pieces were shaped with a heat gun

 

Much much sanding is in my future....

[Guest Sakara]

progress is always fascinating on your costumes...I tend to always forget to take photos as i go!

[Guest mdb]

Thank you I take many more as well ;0 But I figure it can get a bit monotonous if I post them all

 

I just managed to track down some more acetone so tonight I made some styrene shavings and will mix the two together tomorrow to glue the details the guards.

 

Umm... I may need to make another strip for details. A slight miscalculation and I have enough chevron pieces for one leg. Luckily the heat gun is still here so I can do that too.

 

It is so humid here though I have to wait to do any work on my blaster or shin guards until it eases. Paint just will not set and all my lovely glossy black paint goes a matt dull black. Buffing only works to get it to a satin shine. Rather annoyed about.

 

Still, a break was needed anyway

 

*twitch*

[Guest mdb]

Oh these updates are terribly exciting...

 

I sanded the insides of the guard trimmings.

 

Got the fronts sanded down of the shins and have filled in the edge of the overlap.

The blaster is dry I'm probably going to sand it a bit to give it a bit of a worn look, just a subtle one and to take the bulk of the shine off.

 

Tomorrow I sand and prepare see if I can stick the top and bottom trimmings on as I can peg them in place while I head away to do other things.

 

The pencil lines indicate where the chevron strips will go (well start). I think I will need to invest in those rare earth magnets to hold the pieces in place. Unless duct tape is strong enough.

[Guest mdb]

More sanding, more gluing.. more filling, more sanding, more muttering, more heat gun, more cursing...

 

As they ended last night.

 

As I have just left them. Only the chevron trimming to go and then filling and sanding and filling and sanding and painting...

[Guest mdb]

I've had to take an enforced break. My hands are getting really cut up and not healing (oh the joys of being sick) so I can't really wrangle the acetone and putty right now until they close over a little. I will check to see if my pvc gloves will dissolve or not though;) I have some latex gloves I can possibly work with if they do.

 

A bit of a set back, and I had to remove most of the chevron strips so I'm only going to put one on each leg and live with it! I do plan on upgrading these later, but I do want my Mara complete sooner rather than later.

 

I also cut my knee cops too small, so I have had to procure some new bases. Oh dear.. I found a child's soldier helmet worked very well for the basic shape and curve but had only one. So I went looking for a few more.. to no avail. I realised I have a good lettuce crisper the right curve and thickness so I bought another one of those. Then discovered a big stash of the helmets in a store I have never visited after spending my limit for the week. Eh. I bought them anyway as now I can layer the cops and have holes that are indents ratehr than holes.

[Guest mdb]

I conquered the styrene glue! It was my acetone at fault, as I now have a lovely gummy workable tacky glue/putty

 

 

I did just de-colour the holster a bit. The linen thread has been coloured a little, but I want to glue the edges of the leather down to neaten it all.

 

The styrene is going to be sanded and trimmed more on Wednesday when I know it will all be cured...

[Guest mdb]

Shins:

Sanded and a little more putty applied. More sanding tomorrow

 

Goggles:

Better shot showing the straps and new lenses

 

Knees:

From child's toy helmet to little dishes, to curved dishes (heat gun) and cleaned and sanded (acetone and 80grit paper) ready to be laminated together (two per knee) and holes drilled and padding applied. Yes; they may be cut down a little more...

 

I may brave wearing the suit now that the temp has dropped a little. Just to see if it still fits... sigh.

[Twi'lek Pam]

Yes; they may be cut down a little more...

 

 

I would advise leaving them the size that they are. They look well in propotion to the shin guards now, and Mara's knee pieces are surprisingly substantial. Making them any smaller might make them look out of balance to the shin pieces.

 

Pam

[Guest mdb]

Yes, I noticed just how long they were! Especially in thereference image I'm looking at. But they may need to be trimmed a little just so that with the padding they look right. I'll see once I have started the padding and work on the two parts at the same time to make sure they do all fit together.

 

Sigh. Now that I look at the image again I want to get the second row of chevrons on there.

[Guest mdb]

Easy peasy hole making with a rotary tool.

 

I made deformed turtles! The two layers glued together and pegged to stay together. Could do with another gluing in places tonight.

 

Holes through both layers and look! Shin guards with the final strip! We really are getting there! Well I am finally getting there The rough sanding is done, I need to get the rotary tool in a few corners and also get the finer grades of sandpaper out. I'm hoping to paint tomorrow

 

I found my boots that I bought have gone up to $50! I swear I got them for 20, I would not have bought them for much more. Ah well. Hooray for sales I suppose

[The Clone Emperor]

I appreciated your post on the Legion Boards.

 

Very handsome work. It simply makes me happy to see folk take the tyme and effort to do their work well.

 

Be well,

Thomas

[Guest mdb]

Thank you again I am hoping to improve still more, which is said so often as to almost not need being said

 

Today I managed to sand some more and get the first layer of paint on. I see several areas that will need sanding, aso I suspect that, as with my blaster, there will be at least one more day of sanding and painting! It shoudl be fine I have some nice grades of paper to work with

 

 

The knees have likewise been sanded and painting and will need the process repeated tomorrow! They wouldn't have except one knee fell over while the paint was still takcy.

[Guest mdb]

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v417/ ... /?start=20

The saber was just borrowed

 

To do for improvements:

Resand and repaint the guards. They look fine, but I want them as smooth as they can be.

Cut velcro strips into three smaller sections and use a better glue. ( I have velcro rash on my hands from putting the guards on)

Add the strips of padding between layers of lycra. I have plenty of "natural" padding but I do need to make it more defined

Oil the leather.

Sand the pouch back and oil to match the rest of the leather.

New boots. These fit wonderfully around the feet (I have fleece insoles to keep me standing) but the ankles are huge!

Get the knee guards stuck to the padding (as simple as using the left over velcro).

 

Make a saber! mwahahahahahhahaha!

 

Eventually cut the shins in half, smooth to a glassy super even finish (use bog to fill any small irregularities) , back full them and vacuum form some new ones. I love my guards, they are just hard to get on at the ankles.

[Guest Sakara]

Looks fantastic so far!