LadyInWhite
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Posts posted by LadyInWhite
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You're very welcome. It is a very very time-consuming build. Definitely make sure you have an experienced support network to help you!
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Here's my take on the "mirror finish" just to express my opinion - and it is just that, one of many opinions.
I'd like to propose wording along these lines:
- The armor is a highly reflective metallic, silver or chrome-like finish. This finish may include non-colored, non-opaque weathering.
(I know saying "non-" isn't as helpful as coming up with the best wording. So feel free to help me do that.)
MY RATIONALIZATION - both from an accuracy standpoint and from a practical, builder's standpoint.
The screen-used suit has a mirror-reflective finish that shows fairly sharp details of the environment. It is often displayed in dark environments, in which specific lighting is reflected briliantly and sharply in most pieces. On screen, some accommodation may have been made to fuzz out camera, crew, and other unwanted reflections.
We do not allow for dull or flat black vader helmets or armor. We may not specify that ANH TKs must be "shiny," but we do specify that clones are not. "Shiny" for TKs is left up to interpretation. For example, my AP ABS was nice and shiny when I got it - but with some compound I was able to get it to a mirror reflective shine, and that is my personal standard of shiny for my own TK. I don't impose it on other TKs... but I do believe it is relevant to Phasma. We don't see the mirror reflective shine in the CT TK armor, but we DO in Phasma's armor.
We also see the fingerprints and smoodgies on the armor in some scenes. In the scene where she is about to be tackled by Chewie she is shiny, no smoodgies. Even when smoodgie, you can see the reflection of the environment around her. This kind of "weathering" (it is not weathering to me) is easily accomplished by putting vasaline or oils on top of the mirror finish. This "weathering" is clear, translucent, and simply changes the angle of reflection of light, rather than blocking it like an opaque weathering would do.
Phasma's armor is not shiny gray, it is not even shiny. It is specifically reflective, which implies a bit of shine to it, but isn't required for it to be reflective. All metal is "shiny" to some degree. Even with vacuum metalizing, the base coat over which the metal is deposited must be a reflective gloss in order for the final metal to have a gloss coat. Much preparation went into the screen used suit prior to metalizing to ensure that it would result in a mirror / reflective finish.
Granted I did not try every variation of spray chrome, but those I did try came out "foggy shine" not the least reflective. In fact, my fingers are chrome spray, but my hand plates had to be completely thinned off so that I could paint them black and re-do them. Shortcutting that was a disaster. It was like "gray sheen." They are "shiny" as in light bounces off them, or maybe we should say that they have a "sheen" to them, but they are not reflective. To me reflective means the edges of the images reflected are sharp enough to make out at least the basic shape; in lights, sharp edges. In the chromes and metallic paints I used, all were foggy with a sheen. Even the Alclad did not give me a good reflection if the base coat beneath it was not reflective. This is why I spent many, many hours polishing the black to a "glass black." This is also what the 3POs do (albeit with different base color), and the gloss black I achieved before silvering was literally as sharp and reflective as Darth Vader shoulder armor black.
I'm definitely not saying anyone should send out and shell out for vacuum metalizing. My quote was $5000 and Gordon said he had an estimate of $3500. To me that was outrageous. I achieved a similar or better reflective result with Alclad for under $150 including all the Krylon and equipment I had to buy (airbrush etc.). You can see details of Hollywood Blvd. in my chest piece, just as you can see details of Maz's ruins and smoke tendrils in Phasma's.
The prepping effort was probably less rigorous than if I had manually prepped for VM. My point is that my preference for "reflective" is not about cost or a specific process, but in the RESULT of the process. However you can achieve a reflective metallic result is fine by me. And if you can get reflective (sharp) with rattlecan chrome that's great! I was not able to achieve such results.
I also do not think chrome is necessary. Silver may work. Any silvery metal color could work. As long as it's "reflective" in its finish. You could probably polish a dark gray to reflectivity and get away with it (though it won't have the metallic look) but you can't do that with any of the rattlecan chromes I tried. It just got foggier and duller!
As for weathering, I'd like to be clear that it is not carbon scoring, grime like the TDs, or anything we normally consider weathering. It's smoodgies. I can't come up with a better name for it. It's also temporary as she seems to clean it off after a battle.
Sorry I talk a lot
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Lady in white, I know that earlier in the thread you happened to mention that we can just buy a kit for the captain phasma build... Are any of the ones available (in your opinion) small enough to fit someone 5'0"? I absolutely would love to do a capt phasma, but she is quite tall and I am quite minuscule
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The kits are generally sized for an average sized person - whatever that means - 70kg male 6 feet tall?? There are no kits specific to height that I know of. You'll have to modify any kit, so I recommend perhaps not a fiberglass one. At least, I don't know how to trim fiberglass
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Annotated 12/22/15
Hand/Fingers
Again, pretty straight-forward.
The upper hand plate is a trapezoid with rounded corners, and the outside bends in line with the main hand plate's contours.
The fingers are a main base piece and an end piece - two parts per finger. It would not be the end of the world if they were (a) not rigid, and (
3 parts. But if accuracy is important, then the two piece fingers match c3po.
And above is the new belt pouch cover.
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Annotated 12/22/15
Foot/Shins
I'm not really sure what to annotate here, the images speak for themselves.
If the boots look gray it's the lighting. They may be a very dark gray, but not this light. The soles are black, too.
The instep piece (over what would be the lace area) is a very rounded trapezoid, but I think oval will suffice. It has both a slight horizontal tapering to it, and the two sides curve downward to fit over the boot. It sits on top of both the toe and shin armor.
The toe is shaped to the boot, sits directly over the toe, and is shallow at the toe, curving downward on the sides to a point. In other images you will see it has a contour on the sides similar to the instep piece.
The top of the lower shins sits about half way up the main shins.
The top of the front piece has a bevel to it. You can see this clearly in many of the images. In some cases it has a bevel on the side a swell. The side bevel will be obscured by the mylar/foil/tape.
The back lower shin does not have a bevel.
Here you can see the heel and back piece. It is the D23 model so I don't know how precise it is, including the lower shins possibly being on the wrong legs, but i the image after it, you can almost make out the foil/tape on the inside seam as well.
Under the back calf and heel you can see an additional piece; I do not think this is relevant to the costume. It may be some kind of internal holding piece.
In the image below it might look like there are two bevels but the smaller one is simply the reflection of the lower shin top on the main shin.
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Annotated 12/22/15.
Cape
MOST OF THESE IMAGES ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT DAYS AT D23.
Below, the bunching on the shoulder. The seam on the back, which is the seam on the left side of the backpack. The top pocket that overlaps that seam. The parallel stitching on the seams, pocket, and front/red stripe. The light sheen.
A few things below: the bottom hem - you can make out the parallel stitching along the hem, the shape of the corner fold, and the width of the parallel stitches on the red stripe.
Here you can see the difference in the outer rubberized material and the inner "fabric" (non-rubberized). The double stitching on the hem. The multitude of folds on the right and how they nicely ride upward.
Hmm I might have a better photo than this, but this is where you can see the two seams balanced on either side of the backpack.
The underside of the helmet is chrome.
Fabric texture on the rubberized side, with some "battle damage" present. It is speculated the red is acrylic or latex paint. It is thick enough to obscure the diagonal texture of the canvas. But it is not ribbon or bias tape.
In this triple comparison, I speculate the weirdness of the wrinkles and how they are not always consistent with canvas.
D23 cape definitely rubberied and thick. ... VF looks consistent with canvas, obviously lighting differences; ... EW looks like parachute silk or something that would wrinkle with that fine of detail; canvas is too dense and is more consistent with the middle image. Stunt and Hero versions?
Length on the Left. And the left back-seam.
Middle and lower pockets, straps, and the left back seam.
Folds and height relative to leg; on this day the last folds end near the back of the knee; on the other day they were a bit lower. Inside is not glossy; the fabric is fuzzy.
Just a note, at the World Premiere on Dec14, they had this display up. I got bold and handled the fabric with my hand. The outer coating feels to me like rubber, like a spray-on non-stick coating, and the inside was fuzzy almost like flannel. This is exactly like my picnic blanket that is rubber and has diagonal texture on one side, and fuzzy flannel on the other side... except my blanket is significantly heavier. I confirmed this an hour later when I retrieved my bin, because i use the picnic blanket for any change that doesn't have a carpet.
Note the mylar/silver tape between the shin pieces again. I'm not sure this is supposed to be on the outside, and I think it was put on the wrong foot.
Here it is also clear the "square bevel" I describe on the front lower shin piece only.
I think this just shows the "bunching" around the left shoulder, and the detail of the red stripe and its stitching.
This is as close as i have ever come to a clasp or the means of connecting the corner of the cape and the back on the right shoulder. In toys and in the Toronto model, there is a clear strip/strap that extends from the red stripe down the back. It may or may not pass through a figure 8 style hook. (I used bra hooks to attach the two halves, overlapping slightly, and the shoulder strap over the enclosure.
On this right shoulder you can also see what I believe may be a third seam, one which allows for more material to gather and hang in folds like the images above show. It would help to prevent too much bulk from gathering up on the shoulder as the extra material is pulled up. However, I later thought it might be the strap that goes over the shoulder.
Oh, and... neck seal! Her shoulder gasket is clearly not set correctly.
If you look closely in the "damaged" side of her chest piece, you can very clearly see the stormtrooper display reflected in the distance (behind the photographer).
Same notes as above.
Below you see the relative position and size of all four pockets.
Just a general good overview of the back, pockets, seams, hem shape, etc.
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Annotating... 12/22/15
General Reference
The image below is from a production still used by Vanity Fair magazine. Phasma never appears in this scene at Maz Kanata's so... take that as you will. (Editing room floor?)
Note the reflectivity of the helmet and chest piece. You can almost make out trees, buildings, and cameras.
The shoulder bunches up a lot. This is more exaggerated than most other shots.
The red stripe is somewhat weathered. The red stripe is only present on the top/outside of the cape, not on the underside.
The black of the cape appears to have something of a light sheen to it. Its wrinkling is consistent with a heavier material like canvas. The left corner of the cape drags on the floor.
The two hand-height straps are present, one is somewhat blocking the other. They come from inside the cape.
The lower shin/calf is enclosed with a silver mylar, alumunium, or similar material, such as silver tape. When I first saw it I thought it was duct tape but it is not, it is shiny.
Her knees are upside down relative to a FO TK.
She has an additional half-size drop box cover on the forward pouch, which is also seen in the movie poster and other shots. The FO TK does not have this second pouch cover at all. Here it also appears to overlap the thigh, which means it could be bigger than the standard FO TK forward pouch.
Fingers appear to be two pieces - a base and a cap. I mis-wrote above that there is one tear on the base. On the middle three fingers, there are two tear bumps.
The next image is a production still used by EW, and is from the scene when she asks FN-2187 about his "problem."
The lenses are clearly bubble lenses.
There is slight weathering on the red stripe, not especially consistent with the image above.
Weathering of the armor is mostly "fingerprint" type weathering, not battle damage such as carbon scoring. But it is clear the reflection of the lights are still very sharp, consistent with mirror finish.
Fingers you can see the circular cap on the ends.
The oval pips in her chest piece are black.
The one thing about this image that bothers me is that her cape is more wrinkled than would normally be achievable by a canvas especially when treated with a medium such as the rubberizing material present on the D23 cape. This wrinkling is more consistent with a parachute silk or similar lightweight material. But it's the only instance of it, so who knows. Note the bunching on the left shoulder.
The next image is, I believe, a screen capture from the trailer, and the moment just before she... you know.
You cna just make out the difference in color of the blaster, where it is more "yellow" than the silver tint of her armor.
It may look like she is not wearing fingers on the trigger hand, but I believe that is a phantom blacking of the silvering process, where the light hits it (or doesn't hit it) just right to make it look black. Her cod piece does this in the Hux Speech scene... it's very distracting!
Here you can make out at least one of the pockets on the left arm of the cape. Based on height I would say this is the foreward-most of the middle pair. The straps are not visible in this image; if I see it again, I'll pay closer attention to that detail.
This image is consistent looking with the rubberized canvas present at D23. The outside of the cape has a light sheen.
Note again the incredible sharpness and detail of the reflectivity of her armor and helmet. Her hand pieces not so much.
Another scene that never happened in the final cut...
This one shows the shape of her helmet quite well, as well as another view of the half drop-box cover.
The black part of the canvas seems consistent with the rubberized canvas, but there is something funky going on with the red stripe.
You can just make out one of the straps at the very bottom right corner coming off the cape.
This sill from Empire is a beauty... helmet shape, reflectivity, weathering, and the other side of the cape (it's the first one we see her from the right side!). Upsidedown knees, drop box cover just shows, otherwise not very helpful. There is an orange glow from the explosion behind her that lines up with her right shoulder and the red stripe, but this is not the red stripe, just a gap in her helmet.
These are the production stills. The other references we have are the D23 display, which was purported to be a screen-used suit. I have had some doubts, particularly in inconsistencies in the photos I have from two different days at the same show.
There are many other suits out there making rounds - in fact, someone sent me a photo of one in Mexico City on a day that Phasma was on display in Toronto; my friend thought it was the Toronto suit. The Toronto suit is not consisent with the D23 suits, unless they were just not "dressed" properly or have sustained enough wear and tear to constitute replacement parts, changes, etc. to make her look good. (This is why I don't trust the colors and certain details on the traveling "screen used" suits of TKs... things are rarely original!)
OK moving on.
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Ok here are my notes from fourth viewing.In the drop ship scene at Tuanul (Jakku), it pans from ship one to two too quickly to see in one, but I watched closely and there are prominent empty holsters on the troopers coming from ship two that I must have mistaken for pistols last time. And to think it got me so excited to see them that it burned into my brain as seeing them!The third drop ship shown opening, they may have had F-11s or pistols, not clear, it's a shot from the rear and they are moving away.The two Troopers who take Poe have holstered weapons but I believe it is their F-11s since their hands are free.Finn appears to be missing the belt pouch cover?The trooper taking Poe off the drop ship has his F-11 holstered, and the trooper who retrieves him does also.Rey's outfit is gray not beige.A trooper who carries a bazooka like weapon to fire at the tethered TIE fighter appears to have a holstered pistol, it seemed too short and pistol-like to be a F-11.We talk a lot about Finn's shoes turning charcoal but did anyone realize he is wearing flat front slacks under his bio-suit? The thermal shirt I can understand, but pants?The two troopers who arrive at the town in search of bob and Finn... The one on the right has a snowie-like backpack, a F-11 rifle (butt stock) and a holstered pistol clear as day. The one on the left is a normal plain Jane TK.Finn says "Dammit" which is not a Star Wars universe curse as far as I know.Trooper JB-007, who frees Rey... My husband says he was not wearing gaskets, at least on his elbows. I'm not sure, I was too busy examining the fake clasp thingies and how fake all the greeblies on the armor look."TK-338, we have the targets in custody."They blow up the Hosnian System not the Coruscant System.Rey runs from the first base area to the oscillator with no jacket. When she and Finn enter the oscillator she has a jacket. Yet there was a lot of effort to close that loop with Han, throwing his jacket and then later Chewie picks it up before they go out again.A trooper in the right side lineup when Ren passes ... His holster appears not to be flush.White stormtroopers man the turrets firing on the X-wings.That's pretty much it for any notes relevant here.Luke has "ring around the collar" on his tunicky parts. And I think Rey is wearing Uggs. And 3PO is wearing Adidas shoes.
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It's a start. In 20 min I'm watching the film for the fourth time and taking notes. I can already see some flaws in my words. Pictures will be great... Until then, we will do our best.<br><br>
FYI, my source has it from a visit to LFL that the chrome finish is "mirror reflective." There are many affordable ways to achieve this that do not involve uber expensive vacuum metalizing. <br><br>
Can't wait to get this rolling! At this time my suit does not even meet my own standards! Whee!
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But you're loosing insight into what's said, if it's true or not. Lots of gossiping on facebook. And it's not indexed by search engines, so in 2 years when someone needs to find what was said, it's impossible to find.
If it's just gossip then who cares if it's lost?
I find the instant communication of FB to be much more personable and amenable to quick help. I love the archival properties of the forums, and the endurance of the truly helpful stuff.
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There is something on their holsters... too small to be F-11D. Not a great shot to see detail, though. Good to see at least 4 different TKs!
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That's the best I can do so far.
The one scene i have found of drop-ship is with Kylo and his boys don't have pistols.
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I'm down with one CRL with many optional accessories.
-Eric
I like this idea a lot.
I also did see what looked like every trooper exiting at least one of the drop ships in the first scene on Jakku has the pistol holstered.
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We're working on it, Francisco! I am not the decision maker in these things, but doing my best to help it along.
As a summary of my personal build:
- about 500 hours
- somewhere upwards of $3500 (ouch)
- main armor was Anovos FOTK (alpha batch)
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accessory armor was from Shawn Thorssen: RESIN: helmet, fingers, upper hand plate, FIBERGLASS: cod, front and back shins, heel
(NOTE: Others are making and selling parts and kits: would love to year your experiences shopping around!) - instep and toe armor are ABS heat-gunned to shape, covered in chrome stretch vinyl
- boots are some generic, black leather, above-the-ankle jodhpur style look-alikes with 3" lift inserts
- cape is a generic painter's canvas (drop-cloth) cut and shaped and spraypainted black -- I am throwing this out and making a proper one
- chrome currently is Alclad II Chrome 107 (about 6 oz did the whole thing) over "Krylon black gloss polished to a mirror finish" (Rustoleum not so great)
Any questions?
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HI, ALL!!!
First of all, all your encouragement and advice and so on kept me going. I am working on CRL language, a build doc in Google Docs like my ANH one, but more instructional, and a few part fixes and replacements for submission photos and maybe CRL parts photos, not that mine are the most accurate, I'm sure. I don't care if they get used, but they should exist.
Ralf more than anyone helped me figure out how to make the fitting work. He even came over Sunday night and stayed late to make sure it was 100% ready to go for Monday. In fact, he insisted I do one more fitting, and thank goodness we did. That night was a workout! Exhausting getting dressed!
Second, to debut on the red carpet last night was nerve-racking, exciting, overwhelming, and amazing. I will never be able to trade or replace that experience. Hopefully this comes across as more of a share than a brag, seriously... when I walked up to the stands (i was late) in my armor with the two TKs behind me, and the bleachers full of costumers and fans exploded with cheers, I almost cried in my bucket. I felt like a rock star, so much more than my first troop as a TK, that's for sure. I worked hard to ensure it was appreciated and respected by 501st and RL members, because the celebs and so on can't really see or appreciate the details and work put into it, but other costumers can. Oh and there was some movie thing going on as well, but for me this whole experience was about this costume not falling apart. I had a knee upside down and my pinky finger kept falling off, and the cape kept sliding forward, I need another 6 inches of lift, my thighs wouldn't stay as high as I wanted, and it was freakishly cold for a So Cal afternoon. But I lived, and "Pam" wore just fine, and I was able to mostly enjoy myself.
I'm sure you've all seen the Interpants exploding with photos from the event, but here are a few of my favorite.
My "entrance" ... you can see all the troopers already in the stands in the reflection in my chest piece.
And in this video you can scrub to 13:50 and watch Rob Lowe do a double-take and slap my helmet. LOL
OK so that's that. I will answer questions and keep working on making this possible for others!! Troopers helping troopers!
OOPS ONE MORE - proof it's me I guess...
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Search these forums, you are bound to find some amazing resources. The three piece helmet isn't common any more so you may have to dig deeper, but its all there.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Hey there! Welcome! The OC has a huge active squad with lots of armor parties. You can find out more on Facebook.com/epictk and southern California Garrison Imperial academy. Also sign up on the so cal forums.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Gaskets. Suck.
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I've been working so hard and fast and furious I haven't bothered to update. But all your encouragement and responses are making it worthwhile. I am telling you, I have not worked this hard since... ever. Honestly, childbirth was easier.
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WITNESS ME!!!
Alex: There are kits now, but yes, mine is an Anovos kit with some add-ons. Join our discussion at https://www.facebook.com/groups/captainphasma/
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PROGRESS
Troy came over and took on the tedious job of making snap plates. YAY! Saved me about 5 hours of angst. So I have snap plates in most places (not the cod, since that should arrive tomorrow).
I looked at a lot of people's photos (Javier on facebook, Clamps here) of their strapping and came up with some ideas of my own. Having hips, I don't have to worry about the abs falling down as much as you svelte boys do, but with my ultra keg gut I have other issues.
Nevertheless I think I have a strategy, so when the E6000 is cured tomorrow I will give her a test run finally!I put some foam in my helmet and made it cozy. Fans will be a challenge but it has a good breathing beak and a gap below my eyes so I can survive for now. I can even wear my glasses!!! BONUS!
The cape. The cape. The cape. I hate this cape. I have many malfunctions but it is working and will serve its purpose until we see the movie and get real data. The Toronto display, the D23 display, and the one I think was recently in France? I saw a photo from and they are all so very different they are all definitely guaranteed not to be CRL fodder. Movie, don't let me down!
I dyed the cape and it is gray. At first it was blue, so at least gray is not blue... but it did not hold the black and I am beside myself. For my "outer coating medium" I will most likely be going straight for the black spray paint at this point, and fabric spray for the inside. It's okay, I bought 5 packs of $8 snaps I don't need so I will just take those back and exchange it for 5 spray cans of black fabric paint.
Or I'll just buy some darn black fabric of my choosing, whip up a new cape, and say screw you once and for all to this canvas.
Oh and the belt. I got most of the belt done. None of my box tops fit properly on the box bases. I left the far end open so I can measure it first. I think my front-most two boxes might be too far apart - looks not so far in person, but I can adjust them.
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I'm done with this cape. I mean "done" as in "good enough." And I don't mean the cape is good enough, I mean *I* am *done* and I'm going to live with whatever this monstrosity is until the movie comes out and I start with new fabric and better views.
Oh, and there's very quite possibly a strap across the right shoulder above the folds that somehow attaches and hangs down the back.
Yeah.
So LET'S GO, MOVIE!!! Hopefully the BluRay will magically be released before xmas.
Accessories arrive Monday. Should be done Tuesday. Tomorrow (Saturday) is ALL STRAPPING and DYING. Yay.
Move along, move along.
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is it possible that is the ring around the body for the mannequin stand?
That's what my husband said.
CAPE PROGRESS
Making progress. Modified right panel into two to add third seam. Put cape on Manny to see how we're doing and because it's a different material, different weight, different nap, naturally it's all wrong! Will try to do some mods to the left panel tomorrow night to adjust for bunching and other issues around the top left shoulder.
I am seriously not convinced this is the right canvas; the Entertainment weekly photo shows a material that looks more like a light nylon canvas or parachute silk. Many of my photos from various sources show differences in the red stripe (besides coloration due to lighting/lenses). Sometimes I think the D23 suit is the "quick, we have some parts, throw something together" suit, not a screen-used one. At least not the screen-used cape. We shall see in 2 weeks.
I just don't think this is the right canvas.
I haven't cut the bottom yet.
Not the best.
Pantless Dummy. Typical in my household!
And finally, the comparison...
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Did I mention there are three cape seams? left and right of backpack, and then one comes down off the top shoulder.
Of course I notice this after already cutting the damn pieces... so now to cut two new pieces for the right shoulder.
The one piece doesn't fold enough anyway, it needs about 5+ feet at the bottom curved upward, so this mod is for the good.
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GERMAIN: Yes, interesting possibility. I've been told that due to cracking the yoke handles need to be pulled OUT not FORWARD which might be difficult with a bar across the chest, but it is an interesting potential for attachment nonetheless. I'll look into it!
ERIC: You suck. I luff you.
REGARDING THE DROP BOX ISSUE:
She does have the forward pouch. That is what has the half box cover. You can see it in the movie poster.
If anyone has a spare left pouch cover please let me know... I do not have this extra accessory, only the one rear pouch cover.
Where Can I Find Thew New Order Stormtrooper Gloves?
in TFA Stormtrooper
Posted
I have a pair of Medium FOTK (black/white) "alpha" gloves "for sale"... and a pair of untrimmed spats.