Jump to content
  • Announcement

    Welcome to the forums!

    If you are a newly-approved member, make sure you check out the New Member Checklist!

    If you are a Detachment member and can't see the member-only area, post here for access.

    -DV

Lictor-von-Doom's Great Revan Ramble


Lictor-von-Doom

Recommended Posts

Hi all, I am in the process of attempting a 501st level Darth Revan costume, as I have loved the character and design since all the way back when Kotor 1 was released (still have my original copy somewhere).

I haven't been much of a costumer as I lacked confidence and will (and money lol). But I have attempted a couple of other small costumes for various things over the years, Earlier this year I made a foam version of the costume and it's not exactly quality and I feel I need to take this a step further in upgrading it to a quality costume.

MODEL 0 :My foam armour + ad-hock 2 hr before con mask

20190623_200314.jpg

Made it in a cave, with a box of scraps.

I'm not a beginner at working with resins and other materials, but i am very out of touch and rusty as I haven't done anything for at least 10 years. I also live in  a country where not everything is available or easy to get (or cheap).  As a sorta test, I have started to make my mask first (technically last because I didn't complete it for my model 0). I looked around at all the options and all of them either looked off or wouldn't fit my tiny tiny head. So I'm sculpting it out of a sulfur free clean clay, and though i can get it mostly looking revanish, it looks kinda off since i haven't done this in quite some time. Any tips on what I should change, if that be angles or whatever would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to cast it in polyester resin with fiberglass (terrible stuff but available), and aerate it very well before use :> Anyway, that's the plan.

20190728_160326.jpg

20190728_160353.jpg

20190728_160314.jpg?width=410&height=546

20190728_160318.jpg

20190728_160339.jpg

(thats a children's mask btw) I think I may have some overhang no matter what due to the fact my lower jaw is  actually shorter than it should be, and... I have a 1.5 inch long neck, maybe 2 if i push it.

As for the rest of the armour, well, that's where I have big  issues. I am a lady, and I will be very honest and up front that I have a big rack, on a tiny body. But it gets better, I have moderate scoliosis and my body is pretty deformed visibly and proportionally. My left hip bulges out and my chest is contorted and is not even and slants to the right. I don't really have a midsection either. My pelvis starts where my ribcage ends. And my shoulders are slanted permanently. When i constructed my foam armour version, I had to make a completely distorted pattern to fit my distorted body so it looks even(ish), however this won't exactly work with fiberglass as it has to look even and symmetrical.

The armour I am also going to sculpt and fiberglass. I saw the options and taking control of the proportions and concluded that it is the better option. Maybe :/

With the issue with the female anatomy, I am unsure how to proceed as chest curves are hard enough without the added scoliosis issues on top. Do any lady Revan's out here have any advice on how to do their armour going over a curved chest but it looking flat (enough)? I think there will need to be a compromise somewhere and it would have to be the costume cause i can't change my genetics...

The hand armour I plan to also sculpt and whip up in fiberglass. The gauntlets I read up how some people making mando armour sometimes use plastic cups and cut them and stick the details directly on them with putty or bondo. I was going to go that route. Anyone done this before? I know some plastics paint doesn't stick to them (like the original stormtrooper helmets).

As for the soft goods part, I am a complete and utter newbie. I can hand sew, that's about it. I have some trouble understanding patterns or instructions without visual diagrams , but I am willing to learn new things. I've looked extensively at the game  character model and know the sorta shapes but i don't know how to translate that into pattern making or even where to begin. It would be greatly appreciated if any would be willing to describe what kind of process or steps I would need to go through to achieve the shapes of the hood and caplet even if by scribbled hand drawn diagrams. I have seen a couple of people here that constructed their hoods like the game files like Darth Valkyria's. I found a drawn diagram of a kylo ren hood that gives me the basics but not on the shape for Revan or how to attach the front flange part.

The bridge I am planning to do is a  one piece like Azrayel74's, specifically because of my medical body issues. I guess I can strong arm the sewing but I haven't actually found any info about how this part is sewn proper. Is it pleating? Is it cushioning? Quilting? Is it glued? Also, how do you go about silverising the leather/pleather/vinyl? Shoe polish? I have concerns about paint and other things rubbing off. Any specifics on this?

I found this material that is actually charcoal black but his just a slight metallic shine to it that might work. It's rather thick and might do the job (I don't have many options). Opinions?

20190801_111521.jpg

 

The tabard I have found some material that is shiny and looks very similar to the game model colour. It's a tad too red for my tastes and not burgundy/wine enough but it's close.

20190801_194518.jpg

Big question about the tabard though, is it quilted or pleated?? I have seen both done. I thought it was quilted but then i just saw a pleated one and that sewing may be beyond me....

The O-ring I plan to buy online on the etsy store, and reuse some of my belts and connecting rings (or find some more. Old handbags ftw).

I have also noticed some of the specific dimensions  for certain objects and parts on the crl don't work on me as well. 2 inch rings around my waist will look silly and I feel should be proportional to the individual. Have I just missed that part of the wording?

I know that Wicked Armor exists and would love to own one (it's really a piece of art), but with the uncertainty of how it could fit or even the possibility of it even being able to be made for me due to the sizing. I would love the guy who makes them if he could sell the gauntlets and hand bits separately, but I doubt that's going to happen :/ I have contemplated getting maybe the soft goods because they are under a thousand dollars so i don't have to sew and source stuff, but I am unsure if the hood would be done the right way (my major concern) and without armour parts may not fit the costume in the end.

I don't expect this costume to be swiftly constructed, but i do have a deadline on my mask at least. I have to have it fully finished by late september.

Any info or help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mask looks very long in the front. I would cut it down by at least 30% for that section. It should only be maybe an inch below your chin. 

I would also recommend using a lighter fabric for the tabard, and it is quilted! TECHNICALLY the split skirt would also be quilted, but the box pleats create the necessary real-world interpretation of the game files, so it works.

I know the MWA bridge is strips sewn together so that the seam areas create the crevasse/weathered creases you see on the model. 

Being a female myself, I can tell you that I have had no issues to date with the chest section, and that is with a 36D chest. The black sections mitigate a lot of the bulge you would see, though you could always supplement with a sports bra for non-restricting compression, as well.

For the other issues, the armor would sit right above your hips, so you could always fake a silhouette with padding for the midsection, and the shoulder thing could be modified with padding in the shoulders and adjusting the straps that go over the shoulders from front armor to back armor.

Hope that helps!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reply! This has been helpful.

I took your critique about the mask under advice and agreed. I have started altering it and it looks a lot better now.  Still having a bit of trouble with the cheek shapes but i have since used references slapped over a front facing photo to tell me where i should start doing changes. But any more critique is greatly appreciated still.

Here is an updated pic:

20190829_190336.jpg

The prongs are sitting on the chin of the mask underneath now. I reiterate I have a tiny head.

Because i didn't get an answer I had went ahead and made a quilted tabard (thanks I just knew it was quilted! ). It was the first real thing I've ever sew before so it's a bit of a test product currently.

20190805_165247.jpg

I put in a very thin layer of the padding in-between but honestly i don't think I really needed it. The effect could have been achieved without the filler between it.

I'm not sure i understand about a lighter material for the tabard. I am assuming  you meant weight as opposed to colour... but I could be wrong. I do have a very drapey material that is a very similar colour but it's not shiny and its very stretchy and why i didn't use it.

Thanks also for the info on the bridge. I think I may try to sew it by puckering it behind  and sewing it from there.

And honestly. I do want a Wicket Armour costume but unfortunately the $ has tanked to the lowest since the 90s at barely 66c with 10% gst on top. It will cost me well over $2000 by this stage plus 25% tax (so 35% tax all up and shipping), money i could use for a trip or a new computer (mine is from 2013). If i win a lottery well damn, i will XD  but i just can't justify it right now :C But thank you for confirming about how well it fits even with a bigger chest. I feel a lot more confident in perhaps getting in contact and asking some fitting questions (just in case i do win the lottery).

Another question from wearing the WA, where about on the female figure (or in general) does the chest section end and the hip armour start and end? The leg drappage looks rather long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The tabard looks good, I was just worried about the texture more than anything. That fabric will get dirty quick, just a heads up, both shouldn't affect the actual piece. 

The mask is looking great! 

With regards to the chest armor, if you are wanting to but armor, I don't know of any other accurate armor outside of 3D printed that someone had in their thread (VK3Design, or something like that) that will fit female forms with big chests well. I've tried on other's armor and they are flat and bulge out against boobs.

For fit, it depends on how you adjust the straps. Mine sat right at my gigantic hips when I was using his stuff. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to silicone the sculpt of the mask hopefully today. Finishing off some of the unfinished parts and gonna smooth it down though i know ill have to hit it with some post production body-filler.

20190908_162352.jpg?width=410&height=546

 

There is still so much wrong with it but i'm running out of time. I would say the beak part is too long but i followed it from the file exactly and the proportions are correct, it's the side parts that are distorting the look of it as they follow a traditional mask size and shape because the original game look wouldn't fit my face.

The round bits on the prongs will be placed on after the cast. I'm gonna use studs.

Any critique would be great. (especially before i do the silicone)

I'm also working on the bridge, I'm a little unsure how to do it as it can't be straight lines because hips so it has to curve at points but... I have no idea how. Hmm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't updated here for a while as the updates i have made have sorta been side steps in getting this costume done. The mask i made is too small at the top of the head and has to be re-sculpted at the top at a shallower angle (literally the only real problem with it. Since i was going to a con i used the proto anyway and painted it up as a test.) and maybe giving more room for the front cause my nose is too long and the resin kinda sloped into the cavity i made for it too much and ended up being thicker.

 

20191006_115755.jpg

 

20191006_115742.jpg

 

Also it seems that the reds turn out far brighter when picked up by a camera than they are in real life looking at it. Might need to just repaint the reds darker.

 

Disregarding me wearing the wrong costume, I think my tabard may be a bit too wide as well so i will remake it to be more proportional to myself too. But overall i like the type of material i used and it flows pretty well and has a great sheen to it.

 

20190927_224202.jpg

 

Also made an attempt at a bridge but it's a hella more difficult than i even feared. Will have to completely rethink the angles.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mask looks good! Only thing I can recommend is smoothing out the surfaces a bit more as paint tends to bring out every single dent and divet in sculptures (the bane of my existence with my updates).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...