working on completing the blue squadron costume. This time is all about weathering and distressing the jumpsuit.

Thanks to RS Prop Master I was provided a lovely blank Swing helmet and decided to get inspired by the design of classic helmet while making this one special : Black Yellow Red – my country’s flag (Belgium) and of course give homage to our national soccer team ” The Red Devils”

Worked a second A-wing , more personalized with some “improvised” greeblies and a great find from Ikea: cable management tube worked miracle in the back of the helmet !

Got my hands on a new Y-wing helmet and decided to make an all-blue theme paint job . Turned out pretty nice.

I wanted the helmet to be reasonably scary but not so much that kids would have instant nightmares. I also wanted to show some tech parts of the helmet guts…after all they are supposed to be lined with cables etc… There is a plastic zombie face mask hiding the real face when wearing it, and the nesckseal has fake ripped skin

The Death Trooper, as it is known, is a stormtrooper zombie from the novel ” Death Trooper” (duh)  and since every year I try to make something a bit “different” ( remember Alien last year)  I decided to have a go at it. However I wanted to make it realistic enough so that I could do a zombie run one day !!! There are at least 6 layers of paints to get that greenish decay, all the marks , the breakage, the open areas, blow stains, cracks… I added mesh in places to simulate the possible carbon layer of the armor construction…making it more realistic.

Always wanted to make a clone trooper… then when I saw old Rex in Star Wars Rebels I knew that was the one for me. I finally made it and that was a really fun build and paint job to do. This one is definitely a keeper; especially because it is so comfy ( once the chest piece is on of course)

Since I was approached to build a shadow trooper I decided to take pictures of the whole process. from unboxing the kit to lining up parts, trimming, cutting, snapping, prepping, lining, glueing and fitting.

One thing I like to do is to glue the inside of the parts with left over plastic parts I salvages from the trimming process. I feel it adds strength to the armor. For cosmetic purposes I cover the inner glue with soft velcro.

The other thing with the black armor is I did not feel confident using CA glue like I usually do, the zap kicker felt like it was going to potentially damage the surface so I went back to using PVC-U welding glue.

And of course I feel  having a shiny black armor will be a bitch to maintain; dust shows very fast, cannot use water to clean without leaving traces and scratches might be more evident than on a white armor… oh I love the Tank armor for it the more damaged it looks to more legit it is.

All that being said, it is a lovely piece and I feel confident the new owner will be happy with this build.

The first satchel I had is nice but after a few trooping I felt the need to make it even more screen accurate. I wanted the full round effect and the oversize d-ring holder. I wanted to make it look rough and I wanted to make a new bandolier  with EVA blocks. The screen accurate metal box are perfect but make the whole rig really heavy and “unsafe” when taking pictures with children…EVA is light and soft so I do not need to worry about bumping a kid’s head during events.

When I first started to work with leather it was very intimidating…I am far from being the best at this out there but I do really enjoy working with leather and making “simple” stuff. This time around two new styles of holsters.

I love this guy too much so I got myself another kit , ABS this time, and started building it with a few novelties. Magnetic closure, replaceable EVA foam the side, velcro removable neck collar… maximum flexibility for more compact packing when travelling.

So I decided to get into Rogue One build and that means my all time favourite the Tank Trooper. Forget the Death Trooper, you cannot see Sh%$7 ; the tank trooper is rough, battled, dirty and full of grits and that’s what I love so much about it.

Following the post on Bad Star Wars in China and how costume are very loosely put together for commercial events, I decided to show new troopers what could not possibly work and how details are important using a picture of yet another ( albeit already “better”) stormtrooper wrongly put together 

I have stepped into the light(side) and started my first rebel helmet build. Of course it is an X-wing … but which one?
Outer shell built, stickers applied and ready for painting…

Disney released a cool toy, the imperial binder; I modded them to have a magnet closing system and then made that holster as requested by fellow troopers.

The solo belt pattern making. Can’t be working with quality leather if I don’t have the paper pattern …

Was shopping for some cowhide and found this gorgeous new zealand sheepskin; also came across the perfect thread !
Old Han jacket is a go !

3D printed DL-44 ESB Han Solo varian, this is much better than resin counterparts, way lighter and easier to build.

My first two costumes: 181st Pilot and Imperial Officers, most importantly the first small props I started to make a sell.