Making a new Bikerscout armor

[Strider]

I decided to build some new Bikerscout armor parts to achieve a higher accuracy. The first parts I wanted to tackle was the belt, the drop boxes and the helmet.

 

First step was to get got reference pictures which I found in the extras section of the SW blu rays. As with the original armor I decided to model the belt using good old wood:

 

 

Belt mold ready for casting:

 

 

Second step were the drop boxes. I build it with cardboard first to get a feel for the overall dimensions and angles:

 

 

I found the most tricky part the angles of the sides actually. The appear really different on each reference picture. For example if I compare the front of mine with the costume in the SW costumes book it appears the angle could be more flat. However, comparing it from the side to picture from the MoM exhibition it seems pretty close to me (see comparison pics below)

 

After some trial and error versions this is the version I ended up casting:

 

 

 

 

Next stop: the helmet

[Stroker]

Nice! Clean and sharp!

[stasz]

Damn. This looks fantastic, Constantin! Hooray for another one piece belt!

[BikerScout007]

That's so beautiful I'm going to cry

[Smiling Fox]

Very nice. Where do we send money?

[gmrhodes13]

Nice work, looking forward to the progress

[Strider]

Thanks for all your feedback! My motivation for posting this is more to inspire screen accuracy rather than working towards a sales thread. I haven't really thought about selling anything. Also e.g. making the belt is a tricky process because the first 3 boxes are so close to each other that they don't get sucked in when you vac form it so you have to help a bit with a card and push it down (that was actually the same way they casted the original belts). What can happen is that when you bend the belt it might get small cracks left and right of the buckle. No biggie and easy to fix but still I wouldn't like to sell something that is not perfect.

 

For my current costume I won't make all parts myself (but with the option to do so at a later point in time). Some will be modded parts from other makers to show how far you can take them (eg, the LW helmet), other parts I have developed in collaboration with other armor makers (eg, chest/back and shoulders) and a few will be just off the shelf.

 

Stay tuned

[Strider]

EDIT:

 

Updated link to respective thread:

 

http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=15980&view=findpost&p=148345

[Griffin-X]

My squad recently aquired a bunch of LW helmet and I decided to do various mods with mine. Many are quite subtle but a few are a bit more distinctive (such as the exchange of the vents).

 

That is a super nice looking helmet Constantin! Also, love the work you're doing on the armor.

[Dart]

Great work on the belt. I never gave much thought to those hip boxes being so angled like that, but the photos speak for themselves!

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Strider]

After seeing this picture I decided to go back to change the design of the drop boxes slightly:

 

 

The general dimensions are the same but I increased the angles of the sides a bit (unweathered drop box is the new one):

 

 

 

Also I got a new pair of knee guards made with a little bit of help from my friends ;-) - Thanks John/LW!

 

 

 

A fellow prop maker from the UK pointed me towards a new supplier who had pinseal ABS which is the stuff they used for the original bikerscout armor (or the helmet at least for all we know). I really like working with it a lot, it's a great, high quality material. Tried it out for a couple of my molds and it works just great

 

[BikerScout007]

That's a great pic for the bund dimensions too!

[Griffin-X]

That's a great pic for the bund dimensions too!

 

Agreed, and you can see that the pouches are attached to the bund. Awesome pic and work on the new boxes!

[Strider]

Okay, the bikerscout armor is finished. I'll probably do more mods in the future but for the time being I'm pretty happy with the current level.

 

A lot of people have contributed to it so I would like to name a few; first I'd like to thank Gino for the inspiration and tipps along the way, my buddy Alex (TB-86079) for the collaboration on the helmet and a lot of fruitful discussions, John (Lonewolf) for allowing me to use his helmet as a base for my own design and of course the armory team of the BSN for their valuable input and support.

 

My goal was first and foremost to increase the accuracy of the custom but also emphasize the coolness and meanness of the imperial scout trooper. I have to say it was a great experience; by trying to rebuild the original parts as close as possible I really learned to appreciate the subtleties and elegance of this great costume. There are no sharp edges or corners, every line is in flow and connects to the adjacent parts like a classic Italian automobile.

 

So without further ado here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a comparison shot to my "inspirations" for this armor and build:

 

 

Hope you like it!

 

Cheers

[Stroker]

Killer job!!!

[stasz]

Bravo! Way to raise the bar!

 

And thanks for the inside shoulder bell detail shot. I've desperately needed that!

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

 

[Griffin-X]

Awesome work!

 

[Stroker]

Leave to Constantine! Now I gotta upgrade my knees! Yes he set the bar high! However no matter what Disney pulls out the hat you'll never have another set of armour as cool and aggressive as the OG biker!

[Nexous]

Truly amazing job! You can tell a lot of work and research went into this as well as love. Seriously. Insane work.

[Strider]

Thanks for your kind words, gentlemen Yes, quite a lot trial&error involved in the process but it was fun getting a bit closer with each iteration. I think there's still quite a bit of potential but I wanted to tackle the things first that bothered me the most; the helmet, the chest, the soft parts and the proportions in general. Everything in this costume interacts with each other (re the overall look) and if one part is incorrect it will affect the look of the remaining parts. E.g. I had a cod piece that looked good with my old belt but when I changed the belt the piece looked completely wrong so I had to redo it.

[TB-8719]

This.... is.... AMAZING STUFF!

 

Iam amazed by your research and dedication! Top notch work Constantin!

[Strider]

Why, thank you!

[Strider]

The helmet is often the most prominent part of the costume. After going through numerous iterations I can finally say I'm pretty happy how it came out. The helmet is made out of 2mm pinseal ABS just like the original helmets. When taking comparison shots with a camera angle, distance, lighting can make a huge difference. The pictures that are out there of screen used helmets are often from a very near distance so I used some shots from the EFX Legend helmet (coming from the original molds) as a comparison.

 

 

 

Inside comparison against a screen used helmet:

 

[Dart]

Great work! So... any chance you're planning on giving BS.N Armourers a sweet deal on some new armour? *wink, wink*

[Strider]

Thanks, Dart. Would love to do that but I don't make the armor just a few parts.

To clarify on the helmet; this is just a personal project to achieve higher accuracy (no offerings) as I used John's Lonewolf helmet as a base with his consent.

 

Cheers