Mandrake

You won't regret having mesh panels there, trust me 😉,you can even fit a laptop cooler and power supply in the back part of the armour for extra cooling! I can point you in the right direction for making your own adjustable speed,helmet cooling system when the time comes 👍all the parts are from AliExpress, apart from the batteries!

My enquiring mind has always wondered what was used and due to the fact that parts for this costume are rare,and may need replacing at some point,I thought I'd Google lens it ,the first results were for toy tank tracks, which looked correct but are obviously to small,so I Google lensed that picture and one of the suggestions was for a timing belt . To be honest I've only spent a hour or so researching online and haven't got round to even taking measurements yet, although I am tempted to visit a local specialist shop to see if they can help,as I'm not familiar with the specifications of timing belts and how they are defined.

Just thought I'd throw it out there,I think I've figured out what was used for the shoulder straps ..and the answer is a timing belt! Ive got to figure out what pitch etc is exactly needed but I think I'm on the right track! I'll keep everyone updated when I find out the details. Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

For reference Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

Piping cord ,fabric piping and Sewing piping seem to be the 3 most commonly used names for it 👍

I'd advise adding some mesh material somewhere,if you can, it's going to get hot in costume !!!

The ribbing material is easy enough to get, you can get it from eBay etc or hobbiecraft if you want to go into a shop,I imagine haberdashery would probably stock it too 👍

I should be able to help you out!! I've got surplus COVID face shields for my girlfriend's bo katan build,I've also got green window tint , I'll get them out of storage and post them here to see if you think they are suitable 😉

I By literally explaining the situation.. Informing them of charity work that the 501st do,and that you are looking to have a certain characters jacket made and due to it being obscure , you can't get one from anywhere . Also telling them you will provide all the relevant material needed , should help. One thing to also bare in mind, when you do find someone who enjoys a challenge,is to remind the maker that it's a jacket for a costume and not a piece of proper clothing ! Providing pictures of the character,and any pictures of construction / finished jackets , should, give them more of a idea of what you're after. It will be a collaborative process and more than likely a few fittings will be needed.

Have you tried ringing round seamstresses in your area? I found carol purely by ringing round until I found someone willing to take it on, for what it's worth she specialises in wedding dress's. To be honest I think someone who is creative and also a confident seamstress would be happy to take the challenge on.. you've just got to find them... providing them with as much detailed information as you can will make their job that little tiny bit easier 🤣 Another thing to try would be people who make costumes for theatre,or possibly university / college students that are doing relevant courses. As for the mesh, use the first link,I'm sure that's the place I ordered mine from,the more cooling you can get the better and it's also sweat wicking. I really can't remember how much I ordered, sorry, I'd err on the side of caution and say you probably need 4 or 5 metres .

"it's a minefield this lark" ... welcome to my world 😁 First link isn't any good imho, material doesn't look right . Second one looks ok, but I don't know if the 'fit / cut ' is right, doesn't seem correct somehow.. looks a bit too 'relaxed' . Hopefully Mr poopie etc will give their professional opinion soon !

Yeah, the bottom bit is made from mesh wicking material,the jacket is also lined with it inside

Looks suitably leathery looking to me ! As long as it's got a little bit of give / it's ever so slightly stretchy it should be ok.. I think. Another thing to test is that the 'leather' isn't going to flake,so give the material a bit of a scratch to check it's not going to mark easily. I sourced everything myself and just gave it to carol to work with . As requested a picture of my lovely ladies trousers [emoji1]... For future reference, my armour pieces are permanently velcro'd on to the jacket and have stayed in place for a year, I recommend using official velcro as it's unbelievable strong! Another thing to bare in mind is the positioning of the wicking material on the stomach area, depending on what armour your using I think you'd probably have to adjust it's position,so it's not visible,I noticed on Mr poppies jacket he has used a lot less than I have [emoji2369] Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

If you need any more information, just ask Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

After consulting with the better half, I can confirm the jacket is made from the material I posted earlier . It's a softer faux leather so has a small amount of give/stretch and was used for the top half of the main body and sleeves. To create the ribbing in the sleeves, carol added a layer of padding to the back of the material before stitching the rib design to make them more prominent . The sports material used for the bottom of the jacket was also used to line the jacket throughout . Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

It IS a case of trial and error,I bought some material that ended up be something similar to the picture [emoji23] , even though it was sold as faux leather . Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

She's not very quick to reply tbh,so it'll probably be a day or 2 before she gets back to you. Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

I believe this is the material the jacket is made from, so when you get your sample it should be a good reference. That website link you posted does look familiar,so it may Very well be one of several I used. I'm sure there's a WIP on here where someone made his own jacket,and did a damn good job, there might be some nuggets of information in that could prove useful. I'll post more detailed pictures of the construction of the jacket etc soon [emoji106] Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

The shirt ribbing I can help you with,you should of said before 🤣 I Would imagine the same technique could be applied to making the jacket , although mine was hand stitched and didn't use piping. I only stumbled upon this after needing a replacement collar but decided I'd leave it to a expert to do,so I contacted imperial seamstress on Etsy,who kindly unstitched and replaced the collar with one of her own creations. I've unearthed the left over materials from the make, I'll post some pictures soon, for future reference , hopefully it'll be of some use.

carolgregorydesign@gmail.com

Just a heads up not to buy one from sheeves emporium, just incase you are tempted, he's not fulfilling orders and ignoring customers messages, I've seen lots of people complaining about him on various Facebook pages! You could always ask carol if she's willing to make one for you? Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

I personally have everything stuck in place,the only thing to add, when dressing,is the pew pew one thing to bare in mind with the top chest straps, is your more than likely not going to be able to bend and slot them in the back when you are suited up. However as I've said to you before you'll more than likely to need assistance getting everything on anyway [emoji2369] Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk

I personally don't use the batton as a prop,so I've just used tape carefully placed so it sits in the holster,and if memory serves I think I screwed my TD in , although industrial strength / 3m velcro would probably do the trick.

It maybe to late now, but what I did for the boxes to attach to the belt,was use small pieces of the belt itself ! If you match up the notches and dips properly it will sit flush and just glue everything in place,I've done a years worth of trooping and they are holding up perfectly fine

I saw and commented on your post on Facebook, when you first posted it.Can I ask if he ever did replace your jacket? The reason I ask is I've seen lots and lots of people complaining that they have waited way over 6 months or longer to receive items from him only to either receive pieces that are badly sized or not get anything at all ,it DOES also seems he likes to ignore messages ( it's not just you) and from my own experience he deleted my comments on Facebook when I asked him why he is advertising new designs whilst people are waiting for items that they ordered nearly a year ago..it seems he's a bit of a dodgy character and people need to be warned when they are considering buying from him!