Darth Revan Costuming Tutorial - Rough Draft

[Guest Anonymous]

Ok, I'll jump in here with both feet and post my rough draft costuming tutorial for Darth Revan. Eventually, this will become a REAL tutorial with its own webpage. For now, this is a series of photographs and accompanying text that I took during the process of making the costume. They're actually notes to myself for the eventual creation of my tutorial but might be useful to someone in the interim. If you click on the link below, you'll be taken to a series of photos with titles. If you click the photo thumbnails themselves, THAT will open up the full text accompanying each photograph. Just FYI.

 

Also, this was my first attempt at most of these techniques, so I'm a newbie myself. On the other hand, I tried to document my screwups as well as successes, so maybe someone can learn by my trial and error! Here's the link - feel free to comment, give advice, ask questions...etc.! And if YOU have a Revan costume, let us all know how construction of it went or how it's going! I'm dying to hear about others' experiences!

 

Darth Revan Armor Tutorial by Revan3956

 

[Guest Anonymous]

That tutorial is great. It actually gives me the itch to go out and try it.

 

The costume looks great by the way.

[Guest Anonymous]

That tutorial is great. It actually gives me the itch to go out and try it.

 

The costume looks great by the way.

 

Thank you! Well, if you do make a Revan costume, be sure to post about it, take photos, all that jazz! I love hearing about how other people solve creative problems, and just about the process in general. Besides, the more Revans, the merrier! Or...Sithier. Or something...

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

That's really great!! May I ask what type of clay you used?

[Guest Anonymous]

That's really great!! May I ask what type of clay you used?

 

I used two sorts of clay - air-curing DAS clay for the cuirass (chest armor) and abdominal armor, and non-air-curing for the mask, vambraces, and hand armor.

 

I used DAS clay for the cuirass and stuff because I knew I would eventually want to vacuform directly on top of the sculpt...so I needed it to harden. I had the shape of the piece cut out of that pink, dense industrial foam - I layered pieces together to the right depth and cut it out. More specifically, my friend Chris cut it out, because I was having trouble visualizing exactly the curve I needed. I think I could have managed it, eventually, but he thinks easily in three dimensions and he spared me a LOT of reworking. Anyway, so that was the base and then I used the DAS clay atop the base for all the relief work and detail on the armor.

 

A quick word on DAS clay: it definitely worked for the job and wasn't terribly expensive, unlike some other alternatives I could have used. However, it is brittle and I don't think would last past maybe 3 pulls without extensive repair work. So, if you're using it for your own costume and maybe an extra set of armor, it's fine. If you wanted to crank out a bunch of copies...likely not so good. Also, it has a slightly funky texture compared to normal clay - I believe it has cellulose in it, and so it's sort of...stretchy. It will attempt to contract back slightly if you spread it, which regular clay doesn't do. So, it took me a while to get used to, and compensate for, this tendency. You can smooth this clay using a bit of water on your fingers...just beware of the springiness factor!

 

As for the oil-based clay, I used that for the mask, etc. because I knew I'd be casting a negative mold from these pieces in RTV silicon and then making resin-pieces from that. If that's the approach you're taking, the most important thing is to get clay WITHOUT sulphur. And if it doesn't say it's without sulphur, it probably DOES have it. Sulphur will interfere with the curing process for the RTV silicon. I can look up the exact brand if you like, but that's really the most important consideration. You can smooth this sort of clay by dipping your fingers or whatever you're using to work the clay with vaseline, which I found very useful.

 

Long answer, but I hope this covers any questions you had? If you've got more, I'm happy to ramble on even more! LOL! Can you tell I'm enthused about "paying forward" all the help I've been given when costume-making?

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes that helps loads. Now to be bold enough to try it. I seriously doubt my sculpting abilities and I need to make a vacuum table (from what I've heard those aren't too hard to do) It's such a cool costume and i have to have one so I'll give it a try. All your refrence pics will certainly be helpful. you did a great job! I hope mine will come out that good.

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes that helps loads. Now to be bold enough to try it. I seriously doubt my sculpting abilities and I need to make a vacuum table (from what I've heard those aren't too hard to do) It's such a cool costume and i have to have one so I'll give it a try. All your refrence pics will certainly be helpful. you did a great job! I hope mine will come out that good.

 

I was lucky enough to have a friend who actually already had a vacuform table. If you've got other 501sters around your area, it might be worth it to see if anybody has a table and might let you work on it in exchange for dinner, presents, money, other forms of barter, etc. If not, I've seen lots of tutorials for make-it-yourself vacuform set-ups.

 

And hey, I'd never sculpted before in my life when I started work on Revan (oh, I sculpted hobbit ear tips once...that's it!). So, it's very do-able with patience and attention to detail! Especially with the oil-based clay, you can just keep working and working until it's right. Oh! Forgot to mention...on pieces you intend to vac over, sculpt in HIGHER relief and in sharper detail than you think. When you vac the plastic over the sculpt, it will lose some sharpness because the plastic itself has a thickness that has to fit over the curves and details of the sculpt. Everything will get slightly "blurrier." This is not the case with stuff you cast in RTV silicon and then make the final resin piece from that - the detail remains sharp.

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks again that's very helpful. I've never done any sort of molding project before or worked with plastic. I've made jedi costumes before but that's just sewing and i've made a twi'lek lekku out of batting and tights Not to be too uh.. novice.. if i cast in the rtv silicone... what do i pour in the mold? resin? is that like..liquid plastic that hardens? Like i said i've never done stuff like this so sorry if i sound like a dork. it's plastic right.. ?

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks again that's very helpful. I've never done any sort of molding project before or worked with plastic. I've made jedi costumes before but that's just sewing and i've made a twi'lek lekku out of batting and tights Not to be too uh.. novice.. if i cast in the rtv silicone... what do i pour in the mold? resin? is that like..liquid plastic that hardens? Like i said i've never done stuff like this so sorry if i sound like a dork. it's plastic right.. ?

 

Basically, yep! It's a two-part resin, or at least that's what I used. I got Qwik-Cast (I think it has that spelling...could just be Quick-Cast) by Tap Plastics. Someone else told me about something called Trowel-On or some such that apparently starts out more viscous and less liquid than the Qwik-Cast, which would actually be kinda nice. My biggest problem was that the stuff, when mixed together and poured into the Silicon mold, stayed liquid a FREAKING LONG TIME. So I just had to stand there, swirling this liquid around inside the negative mold forever, until it finally decided to "kick" (set up). And when it did, it went from liquid, to cloudy, to so-set-up-you-can't-spread-it in NO time. Resulting in uneven thickness that had to be sanded down, for instance, inside the mask and even built up again in the thin places using Magic Sculpt.

 

However, I've only worked with Qwik-Cast so I can't discuss the fine points of other substances with authority. If I find out more, I can let you know. Also, I was doing this part of the process in January and in a garage, so it was damp and cold which could have had an effect on the set-up process and the chemistry.

 

Hope this helps!

[Guest Anonymous]

ok. Yes that helps a lot. Now off to the store!!

[Guest Anonymous]

ok. Yes that helps a lot. Now off to the store!!

 

Let us (and me!!!) know how it goes!!!! You're inspiring me to finish up my second mask (I did three pulls, one of which went to my friend who helped me, but I never finished and painted my second one) and to redo my vambraces.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm totally impressed that you made those molds. Nicely done!

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm totally impressed that you made those molds. Nicely done!

 

Thanks! It was an adventure!

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

I've got some foam and clay now but I can't begin on my Revan until I finish my tie pilot armor I did use some foam and clay for that and it worked great. After you sanded your cuirass did you have any low spots that needed filling? can you add more clay or some kind of putty and sand it again? It's not really bad but i would like it better if it was filled in. That DAS clay was very interesting to work with. I'm glad I'm using it on my "tie pie" first so when I get to Revan I'll be a master with it (although not much detail with a tie....) I'm glueing foam together today so I'm pressing on toward the goal...Sith Lord Darth Revan

[Guest Anonymous]

I've got some foam and clay now but I can't begin on my Revan until I finish my tie pilot armor I did use some foam and clay for that and it worked great. After you sanded your cuirass did you have any low spots that needed filling? can you add more clay or some kind of putty and sand it again? It's not really bad but i would like it better if it was filled in. That DAS clay was very interesting to work with. I'm glad I'm using it on my "tie pie" first so when I get to Revan I'll be a master with it (although not much detail with a tie....) I'm glueing foam together today so I'm pressing on toward the goal...Sith Lord Darth Revan

 

VERY cool! I can't wait to see photos and stuff! Yeah, isn't the DAS clay sort of...odd? But it works.

 

When I finished and sanded the cuirass, yes, I did have some low spots that needed filling. I suppose you could fill with DAS again and then sand down. I used Bondo. Frankly, though, I left a few low spots and called them "battle damage" because I was running close to my deadline and just couldn't get it all done to perfection. When I get ready to do another pull, I'm going to fix the imperfections before I vac over it again.

[Guest Anonymous]

I finally started on my revan cuirass!! I've got the top portion completed and I'm very excited about it. ( I wish I had more time to devote to it but i'm also making my sister a leia costume and a new jedi one for halloween. So my time is divided... that's ok. I like making stuff.) this weekend I hope to finish and have everything sanded and ready for the vac table!!!!! Super exciting!! then I can start on the other parts! yippee!!

[Guest Cleverlilminx]

Please keep us up to date on your progress, and take pictures!!!

[Guest Anonymous]

That is fantastic news! I can't wait to see how it looks! Please post progress pics if you get the chance! I want to be your fangirl! You're moving very quickly...I was so slow with the process! LOL!

 

*gets out Sith pom-poms (you know, the black and red ones?) and does a little cheer*

 

- Carolyn

 

I finally started on my revan cuirass!! I've got the top portion completed and I'm very excited about it. ( I wish I had more time to devote to it but i'm also making my sister a leia costume and a new jedi one for halloween. So my time is divided... that's ok. I like making stuff.) this weekend I hope to finish and have everything sanded and ready for the vac table!!!!! Super exciting!! then I can start on the other parts! yippee!!

[Guest Anonymous]

Am I alone in thinking that the trousers look like hakama?

 

In fact, overall, I'm think that this would be alot easier than, say, a Clonetrooper in terms on the armor. Am I also alone in thinking that the hardest part would be the belt/loincloth?

 

My thoughts (catch me if I'm wrong):

-Black Hakama (modifications: add silver rings to the folds)

-Black turtleneck or faux turtleneck

-Black balaclava

-Black gloves

 

The breast plate, handarmor, and mask could concievibly be done with plastic and heating them in the oven to shape them. (Similar to how "lamenated" armor is made for the SCA.)

 

The vembraces seem to be similar, but I don't know how to make clamshell vembraces.... The same can be said of the belt, but I have a decent idea of where to start. (Although any help on that would be nice. )

 

The boots, I would think would be easy, but I'm not entirely sure. Are they grey or just shiney black? If they're shiney black, then I'd think that tanker boots would do a good job on that count....

 

Thoughts?

 

EDIT: A thousand apologies. I didn't read the thread concerning the rough criteria for acceptable Darth Revan kit.

[Guest Anonymous]

Nope, you're not alone in thinking that the trousers look like hakama. In fact, that's what I use, and what a number of other people do as well.

 

Some thoughts:

 

My thoughts (catch me if I'm wrong):

-Black Hakama (modifications: add silver rings to the folds)

-Black turtleneck or faux turtleneck

-Black balaclava

-Black gloves

 

Hakama: I'd put the rings on the bottom of the cuirass/chest & abdominal armor, rather than on the Hakama. In screencaps, it looks more like the silver o-rings hang from the armor...besides, it provides a nice solid base to hang the hardware from. But if you can make it work off the hakama, go for it!

 

Black turtleneck: If you want to be insanely careful about accuracy, a turtleneck won't cut it. Screencaps show a high, round-collared neckline, somewhat like some military cut jackets or coveralls have. If you don't care that much and figure that the hood and the mask will draw most of the attention, you might be able to get away with a turtleneck.

 

The breast plate, handarmor, and mask could concievibly be done with plastic and heating them in the oven to shape them. (Similar to how "lamenated" armor is made for the SCA.)

 

Conceivably, yeah. Interesting idea. Not sure how you'd go about it, but it's possible. Maybe you could then do the relief-sculpting (there's a fair amount of it - the armor has a lot of detail when you look at it closely) with...I dunno, Magic Sculpt or some such.

 

The vembraces seem to be similar, but I don't know how to make clamshell vembraces.... The same can be said of the belt, but I have a decent idea of where to start. (Although any help on that would be nice. )

 

Well, in my case, I just used a leather belt attached to the sides of the armor, back where you can't easily see it (mostly to keep the angle of the belt consistent, if that makes sense) with a large o-ring at the front. However, I do need to add the greeblies to the belt - screencaps show some sort of rectangular, grey/silver shapes on the belt. That's the fun of computer graphics...if the detail ain't there to begin with, it just ain't there and all you can do is extrapolate!

 

The boots, I would think would be easy, but I'm not entirely sure. Are they grey or just shiney black? If they're shiney black, then I'd think that tanker boots would do a good job on that count....

 

I settled for black and shiny (not patent leather, but not totally matte) but that's because my choices were limited. I am 5'4" and wanted platforms that would bring my height up. So, in order to find boots that did that, I had to sacrifice a little accuracy. In the screencaps, the boots actually look like a very dark grey/somewhat metallic, with accents or strapping on them. If you look closely, you can see what I mean and decide from there.

 

EDIT: A thousand apologies. I didn't read the thread concerning the rough criteria for acceptable Darth Revan kit.

 

That's ok! Reading this caused me to think over stuff to address your questions...that's always good! Sounds like you've read the thread now, so I'll see if you replied there. I also advise taking a look at the screencap gallery I've posted a link to in the Revan section as well, and opening the pictures, when you get there, to their full size. The ones showing front, back, and side views can be opened fairly large and have a lot of detail.

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

Hakama: I'd put the rings on the bottom of the cuirass/chest & abdominal armor, rather than on the Hakama. In screencaps, it looks more like the silver o-rings hang from the armor...besides, it provides a nice solid base to hang the hardware from. But if you can make it work off the hakama, go for it!

 

I think I'll try sewing them inbetween the folds. That'll be difficult, but I think I can do it.

 

Black turtleneck: If you want to be insanely careful about accuracy, a turtleneck won't cut it. Screencaps show a high, round-collared neckline, somewhat like some military cut jackets or coveralls have. If you don't care that much and figure that the hood and the mask will draw most of the attention, you might be able to get away with a turtleneck.

 

Yeah, I looked at it last night. I might go for some sort of Mandarin collar sewn onto a long-sleeve T-shirt. Maybe try to find one with a seam on the chest. I know I have one that does have a seam on the chest, but it's hunter orange.

 

Conceivably, yeah. Interesting idea. Not sure how you'd go about it, but it's possible. Maybe you could then do the relief-sculpting (there's a fair amount of it - the armor has a lot of detail when you look at it closely) with...I dunno, Magic Sculpt or some such.

 

I'm thinking strips of plastic glued for the sticky-outy-stuff and maybe dremelling the relief detail. Which won't be much fun if I ef it up....

 

Well, in my case, I just used a leather belt attached to the sides of the armor, back where you can't easily see it (mostly to keep the angle of the belt consistent, if that makes sense) with a large o-ring at the front. However, I do need to add the greeblies to the belt - screencaps show some sort of rectangular, grey/silver shapes on the belt. That's the fun of computer graphics...if the detail ain't there to begin with, it just ain't there and all you can do is extrapolate!

 

It looks like the belt is kinda silver-ish... my plan is to make it sort of like a utility belt, with the buckle in back, and the excess length coming around front to hook up to the ring.

 

I settled for black and shiny (not patent leather, but not totally matte) but that's because my choices were limited. I am 5'4" and wanted platforms that would bring my height up. So, in order to find boots that did that, I had to sacrifice a little accuracy. In the screencaps, the boots actually look like a very dark grey/somewhat metallic, with accents or strapping on them. If you look closely, you can see what I mean and decide from there.

 

Yeah. I might try my Frye boots initially. Biggest problem with those is that they have 'stirrups' on them. And they make me two inches taller, and I'm already way taller than Revan. D: Of course, that means that if I do a full length cloak for when I'm wearing socks, it should give plenty of clearance when the boots are on. I might get a pair of tanker boots later on, though.

 

After looking at the front/side/back images of Revan, I'm thinking some thinks:

 

-The cuirass/breastplate seems to wrap around as one whole piece to the back. This creates slight problems in making it fit if one gains/losses weight. It would also make it nigh impossible to get into! I might decide to wiggle a bit on accuracy and make the side panels seperate.

 

It also appears that the front is made up of two plates. A chest plate and a belly plate, with the belly plate over the chest plate. Kinda counter intuitive, but the end result should be about the same: increased flexibility. I would connect the two plates using the Ye Olde Standby of a few short lengths of shoelace. The holes on the chest plate would be covered by the belly plate and the holes on the belly plate would be covered by the belt. It mightn't be a bad idea to make the belt part of the armor and use it to secure the armor to the person in back. A couple of long plates in back to connect to the chest plate and maybe a couple more buckles should help keep it in place. I wish the designers had belted the cloak to Revan, though. Might have to make belt loops on the cloak for the belt, to keep it from whipping up in the wind and exposing all of the buckles. The 'back' of the belt also seems like the best place to put lightsaber mounting bracket-thingies.

 

There are a couple more problems that I've run into:

 

I'm thinking about using either duck or 'suiting' material for the soft bits that I'm going to have to fabricate. But, the cloak seems to have a satin sheen to it. I'm all for satin as a lining, but on the outside of the cloak seems like virtual suicide. Not only is is lightweight (more billowing action!) but it's not particularly tough. Which is important in a cloak, obviously, especially one so long that taking a backward step in one while in a fighting stance might lead to one tripping over it. It seems to me that the designers designed the costume to make Revan look cool, rather than something that would be practical for him to fight in and look cool while wearing. (I would fix this by belting the cloak and making it shorter. And the only place I'd use satin on the costume would be the decorative sash that's attached to the hoop on the belt.) Of course, the cloak doesn't look like it's there for warmth or concealment, but just to look cool. And it doesn't look like it would be that easy to quickly discard when the sabers start igniting. [/over-analyzation]

 

Second problem is the material for the loin-clothy thing. I've found one fabric that has a correct hue, but it's a solid, not a stripe. This annoys me. I found one stripe that's too orange and one plaid that has most of the correct colors. But it's a plaid (Darth Revan of the Macleod Clan?). Bloody annoying, what-what.

 

EDIT: Typo-mynock slain.

[Guest Anonymous]

I think I'll try sewing them inbetween the folds. That'll be difficult, but I think I can do it.

 

I don't think I am quite visualizing what you're proposing, but that doesn't mean it won't look awesome! I say go for it and see how it turns out!

 

I'm thinking strips of plastic glued for the sticky-outy-stuff and maybe dremelling the relief detail. Which won't be much fun if I ef it up....

 

Just don't slip and dremel your fingers! OW!

 

It looks like the belt is kinda silver-ish... my plan is to make it sort of like a utility belt, with the buckle in back, and the excess length coming around front to hook up to the ring.

 

That could work. Only reason I ended up attaching the belt (where it wasn't visible) to the armor was because I got so darned tired of having to readjust it all the time. This way, it stays right where I want it.

 

-The cuirass/breastplate seems to wrap around as one whole piece to the back. This creates slight problems in making it fit if one gains/losses weight. It would also make it nigh impossible to get into! I might decide to wiggle a bit on accuracy and make the side panels seperate.

 

Yes, ideally, the cuirass/abdominal armor would be clamshelled, I'd suspect. I got around the problem by eliminating the back but extending the sides far enough that the only way you'd easily know I'd done so was if a huge gust of wind blew the cape straight up in the air! Believe me, it makes the armor far more maneagable...you can even lean back in a chair while wearing it! If you could really easily see I'd cheated it out, I'd change it...but since you can't, I'm content. The popular Revan armor sold on eBay also is cheated with no back...but the sides don't go quite as far around the ribs as mine, I don't think. Still, it looks awfully good and it's where I got the idea from.

 

It also appears that the front is made up of two plates. A chest plate and a belly plate, with the belly plate over the chest plate.

 

I interpret it as two plates as well - a cuirass (chest armor), joined by a silver strip to abdominal armor. The eBay armor solves this with just using black fabric in place of the silver section; I used black webbing to join the pieces, handpainted to look silvery and patterned. The advantage in both cases is that the fabric or the webbing (the webbing less so, I suspect) allows some movement of the two pieces of armor, so you're not bound into something with no movement from the clavicles to the hips. From what you're suggesting, you're thinking of just two pieces (cuirass and abdominal), with some overlap and connection points to the two? Only thing to watch out for, appearance-wise, is not to forget that there is an apparent "silvery" section between the main sections of the armor.

 

If you want, I can post a picture of the back of my armor and you can see the webbing from behind. I know you're thinking of doing full armor across the back, but in case you change your mind, you can at least see what I've rigged up (jury-rigged might be a better word...it's not elegant, but it works).

 

The 'back' of the belt also seems like the best place to put lightsaber mounting bracket-thingies.

 

My thought on lightsaber mounting is to use an old-fashioned clip (like Luke's ROTJ saber) and attach it to one of the small o-rings that ring the bottom of the abdominal armor. Heck, there're three on each side (and 6 more around the back, if you do the back of the armor) just hanging there, begging for a saber to be hung off them! Granted, we don't know that's what they're for, but it's a logical use that doesn't add details to the costume that aren't already there.

 

There are a couple more problems that I've run into:

 

the cloak seems to have a satin sheen to it. I'm all for satin as a lining, but on the outside of the cloak seems like virtual suicide. Not only is is lightweight (more billowing action!) but it's not particularly tough.

 

Yep, which is why I finally decided on fabric with a bit more weight, and forewent the satiny look. Not to mention that, unfortunately, while the satin sheen looks cool in the game, often satin looks kind of chintzy in real life. But I went through the same thought process you're going through now...!

 

It seems to me that the designers designed the costume to make Revan look cool, rather than something that would be practical for him to fight in and look cool while wearing.

 

That's the fun of video games...it doesn't have to make real life sense! It just leaves us costumers scratching our heads and finally throwing up our hands and saying, "ARGH! Video Games!"

 

(I would fix this by belting the cloak and making it shorter. And the only place I'd use satin on the costume would be the decorative sash that's attached to the hoop on the belt.) Of course, the cloak doesn't look like it's there for warmth or concealment, but just to look cool. And it doesn't look like it would be that easy to quickly discard when the sabers start igniting. [/over-analyzation]

 

LOL! I'm guilty of it, too. If it's any consolation, my cape goes down nearly to the floor (I tried to keep the length accurate) and I've not yet fallen over it. It helps that it's not a cloak that comes forward much...it pretty much hangs straight down the back, so at least it doesn't come around the sides and trip you up that way.

 

Second problem is the material for the loin-clothy thing. I've found one fabric that has a correct hue, but it's a solid, not a stripe. This annoys me. I found one stripe that's too orange and one plaid that has most of the correct colors. But it's a plaid (Darth Revan of the Macleod Clan?). Bloody annoying, what-what.

 

*SNORK* I found fabric that we ended up pleating vertically to get the striped look...I think it looks amazing, personally...and I can say this without being an egotist, because my good friend and talented seamstress partner-in-crime is the one who accomplished it!

 

Ok, our replies are getting looooooooong! LOL!

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

[That could work. Only reason I ended up attaching the belt (where it wasn't visible) to the armor was because I got so darned tired of having to readjust it all the time. This way, it stays right where I want it.

 

Yes, ideally, the cuirass/abdominal armor would be clamshelled, I'd suspect. I got around the problem by eliminating the back but extending the sides far enough that the only way you'd easily know I'd done so was if a huge gust of wind blew the cape straight up in the air! Believe me, it makes the armor far more maneagable...you can even lean back in a chair while wearing it! If you could really easily see I'd cheated it out, I'd change it...but since you can't, I'm content. The popular Revan armor sold on eBay also is cheated with no back...but the sides don't go quite as far around the ribs as mine, I don't think. Still, it looks awfully good and it's where I got the idea from.

 

I interpret it as two plates as well - a cuirass (chest armor), joined by a silver strip to abdominal armor. The eBay armor solves this with just using black fabric in place of the silver section; I used black webbing to join the pieces, handpainted to look silvery and patterned. The advantage in both cases is that the fabric or the webbing (the webbing less so, I suspect) allows some movement of the two pieces of armor, so you're not bound into something with no movement from the clavicles to the hips. From what you're suggesting, you're thinking of just two pieces (cuirass and abdominal), with some overlap and connection points to the two? Only thing to watch out for, appearance-wise, is not to forget that there is an apparent "silvery" section between the main sections of the armor.

 

No offense, but I think mayhaps you and the eBay armor-maker might have gotten it wrong. (And I just did a fast search on eBay and found a LEGO Revan... so tempting. ) I think that the silver section is part of the belt. That the belt wraps around in a sort of Empress-waist-type-of-way, crosses in the back, and then comes around the front and the belt is held in place by the weight of the hoop.

 

And I think that it's two over-lapping plates based on the "flow" of the armor. (Note the sort of arch that's formed by the one continuous line that starts on one end of the belt from the front view, runs up over the two-tone relief and then comes down again on the other side of the belt.) The side views don't seem to lend a whole lot of evidence to this theory, but they don't disprove it, either....

 

 

(Red = top of belly plate, Blue = belt)

 

If you want, I can post a picture of the back of my armor and you can see the webbing from behind. I know you're thinking of doing full armor across the back, but in case you change your mind, you can at least see what I've rigged up (jury-rigged might be a better word...it's not elegant, but it works).

 

Sure. Everything helps. ^^;

 

Crude attempt at illustrating what I'm thinking of doing:

 

 

(Red = belt on the bottom, webbing on top; Blue = Side/Back armor and shoulder "strap" armor (an alternative for the shoulders would be webbing); Green = Lace for holding the various parts together)

 

My thought on lightsaber mounting is to use an old-fashioned clip (like Luke's ROTJ saber) and attach it to one of the small o-rings that ring the bottom of the abdominal armor. Heck, there're three on each side (and 6 more around the back, if you do the back of the armor) just hanging there, begging for a saber to be hung off them! Granted, we don't know that's what they're for, but it's a logical use that doesn't add details to the costume that aren't already there.

 

That seems a little, err, up front. Main problem I see with that is that in my interpretation, those hoops are a part of the trousers (possibly even "belt loops"). Although they could be intended to hold the trousers up as part of a skirt design.

 

Yep, which is why I finally decided on fabric with a bit more weight, and forewent the satiny look. Not to mention that, unfortunately, while the satin sheen looks cool in the game, often satin looks kind of chintzy in real life. But I went through the same thought process you're going through now...!

 

*SNORK* I found fabric that we ended up pleating vertically to get the striped look...I think it looks amazing, personally...and I can say this without being an egotist, because my good friend and talented seamstress partner-in-crime is the one who accomplished it!

 

I might have to go back to the fabric store and see if they have a brown satin that's close in coloration. And I get to sit and scratch my head while trying to calculate how much material will be needed to get a certain width before it's pleated!

 

Ok, our replies are getting looooooooong! LOL!

 

They are indeed, marm.

[Guest Anonymous]

No offense, but I think mayhaps you and the eBay armor-maker might have gotten it wrong. I think that the silver section is part of the belt. That the belt wraps around in a sort of Empress-waist-type-of-way, crosses in the back, and then comes around the front and the belt is held in place by the weight of the hoop.

 

I disagree! LOL! There's a shock! However, it's an interesting idea. Anyway, here is why I disagree...your mileage may vary. If you look again at the image you used, you will see that the belt (even computer-rendered, as it is) is clearly a length of leather/vinyl/some-Star-Wars-stuff-we-can't-guess at that is basically smooth and black, with items ON it. If you look, there's the big O-ring at the center (obviously). If you follow back to either side from that, there are rectangular overlays on the belt that have ridges at their ends, and then on each side, the belt is actually joined together by a small o-ring (something I need to add to my belt, actually). The silvery parts of the belt are rectangular sections, like metallic belt-keepers, for instance. But the belt itself is darker and smooth and shows through in sections and looks a lot like a man's black dress belt, where it's smooth and almost rounded across the top, with a ridge or seam at either side.

 

 

The silver midsection of the armor, on the other hand, is textured. You can clearly see patterning on the surface that is totally different than what you're seeing on the drop-down belt with the ring. For it to be a double wrapped belt, the waist section would have to be made totally differently than the drop-down part. Additionally, if you look carefully, the mid-section of the armor is actually wider than the drop-down belt. So, that's more evidence that it's something other than a double-wrapped belt we're looking at.

 

 

Above, you can see in more detail the o-ring joining the belt sections on the right (Revan's left), as well as the metallic look of the middle section that joins the armor.

 

Oh, here below is the back of my armor. The black webbing you can see running horizontally between the armor sections is what looks silver on the front side and allows me some flexion between the armor pieces (on a related note - while I am mostly happy with the webbing solution, I will say the only thing I don't like is that the webbing texture (nubbly) shows through and messes up the paint job I did...so I will likely rip it out and redo it at some later date using smoother webbing). The rest is over the shoulder straps, connecting to a webbing belt on the upper part of the armor (the cuirass) as well as a lower webbing belt for the abdominal armor. The cape actually attaches to snaps on the over-the-shoulder straps to secure it, while the hood and mantle are separate pieces. Just makes getting into and out of the armor easier. Obviously, I'm not saying you should make your armor that way...this is just what I rigged up for myself...but it has nothing to do with how authentic the armor looks or not!

 

 

(Red = belt on the bottom, webbing on top; Blue = Side/Back armor and shoulder "strap" armor (an alternative for the shoulders would be webbing); Green = Lace for holding the various parts together)

 

Cool! It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together!

 

That seems a little, err, up front. Main problem I see with that is that in my interpretation, those hoops are a part of the trousers (possibly even "belt loops"). Although they could be intended to hold the trousers up as part of a skirt design.

 

Well, since you're not attaching the rings to the armor, it might not work for you. However, it's not that "up front" actually. I attached the saber to the o-ring that is furthest from the large one on the belt. The saber hung right near my hip...it really worked well. This picture below shows a saber hung from one of the o-rings. Not one of the most flattering shots of me, but hey...that's not the point of the pic in this instance, so I hope you'll forgive the haggard look. It's hard being a Sith Lord! LOL!

 

 

Anyway, I'm not telling you how to make your own costume...just throwing out my rationale for why I made the decisions I made, and along with that, why I wrote the draft specs the way I did.

 

- Carolyn

[Guest Anonymous]

I admire Revan fans and their attention of detail reminds me of how picky I am good work.