Tutorials for all Trooper costumes:

[Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte)]

I have written tutorials on all 4 of the main Troopers-
all of mine have been accepted as RL canon...
so they should be in order...

RFT
HRS (now includes Trench Trooper, Hangar Trooper & Hangar Tech)
ERS
Yavin Tech

BUT..
I don't have the skills to make a website to link to.

I have, however, used Yahoo Groups as a tool to post tutorials and information...
so ..
in the event someone has found their way here looking for complete tutorials, reference photos, costume requirements and links to items needed to purchase...
they can be found here:

Rebel Fleet Trooper:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/tantive/info

Hoth Rebel Trench Soldier, Hangar Soldier, Hoth Tech
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/icestationecho/info

Endor Rebel Commando:

and now added Crix Madine/generic Commander jacket- ROTJ

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/endorbunker/info


Yavin Rebel Tech:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/yavinhangar/info

You must join the groups to view the tutorials...

Hope this helps someone "out there" and looking for additional information.


Basic Leatherworking:


This is pretty much my entire box of "leatherworking tools" and with these items...you can really do a LOT!





First off for cutting and skiving leather (skiving reduces the thickness of the leather in places where you need it thinner...like maybe for a stitching seam or a snap or in the case of the DL44 holster I have to thin the leather a bit on the part that goes between the scope and the body of the blaster) ...
I use a utility knife and a METAL ruler.....
the skiving tool I have works ok..but am on the lookout for something better.





For hand stitching - I use these tools



On the left is a "wheel" in a wood handle...that does a GREAT job marking the holes to punch for stitching...it has several interchangeable wheels so you can space the holes at a variety of distances.

The next wooden handle is the awl and there are several "blades" in a bag ...you can also change the "blades" in the awl depending on the size stitching hole you need....the points of these awl blades are VERY sharp...watch your hands....lol...they will put a hole right through your finger.

On the bottom is just some plain old leather needles and the sinew used for stitching....it is waxed which really helps things stay taut.


Next is all the stuff needed for snaps, rivets and other fasteners:




different sized rivets for permanently attaching two pieces of leather (in both black and nickel):




The punching sets....I really use the Mini and Maxi punches the most....the sets have changeable tips so you can choose the size hole you need to punch.




Next...a variety of larger snaps.....they come in "line 20 - 22 - and 24"




This tool is used to set snaps....both male and female sides...and ....btw...the piece of soft pine all the way on the left is used under the leather when using the punch...




I use this for cementing together raw or dyed leather pieces to ready them for hand stitching.....found that it does not work well on leather pieces that are "finished" with a sealer...




Then there is dye and wool daubers...




To be honest, after I purchased a variety of these "Eco Flow" dyes from Tandy, I am not really excited about the coverage they give and they have a tendency to streak. I think that the next time I order dye...it will be Fiebings...
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fiebing-088-10010-LDYE01P00-Fiebings-Leather-Dye/24816873

I have also tried both the wool daubers and soft rags to apply dye and find the wool daubers to work best.


Lastly I have an assortment of buckle blanks, d-rings and thing-a-ma-jigs....anytime I go to Tandy I usually pick up a few for the "stash"...




That is really pretty much it for tools....
many of these tools are only a couple dollars each...generally between $5.00 and $10.00.


Right now I have a first coat of black dye on the Imperial Officer holster....

after that dries....I will cement together the seam that will be stitched. Cementing the seam REALLY helps. The first holster I made I didn't do that and the leather kept shifting around making the hand stitching process a nightmare....
the second one I made I cemented that seam and ....wow...did it go a LOT easier...
you learn a lot by jumping in and doing...
and by making mistakes...


Making a holster for your DH-17


When it came to the holster for the DH-17, there were two basic designs I had found and could really not decide between the more squared off version and the more rounded version...
so...
since I had enough leather...
I decided to do both....

so...

I would like to share that journey and reinforce to you that...

1) I have no fancy leatherworking tools

2) I have no clue what I am doing

armed with that knowledge, I urge everyone to give leatherworking a try.


Some information for folks that have not done leatherworking.

Generally for holsters and belts I purchase 7-8 ounce leather. Go here on the Tandy site for some information on buying leather:

https://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/leatherguide/leatherguide.aspx

Also, when I need tools or dye, I don't hesitate to purchase on-line at Tandy and have it shipped because the nearest Tandy Leather location to my house in Mokena is Elgin IL which is about 2 hours one way....so that is 4 hours on the road and lots of gas and tolls.

BUT

when it comes to buying leather hides, I will generally make the trip to Tandy to hand select the hides. So, since I have spent a lot of time and money to go there, I generally try to pick up as much leather as I can afford.


First step is always a pattern....
leather hides are expensive and you don't want to cut stuff and find that you made a mistake...and once you cut leather...you can't really fix it....
so..
start out with a paper pattern using your blaster as a guide and just play around until you get something that works...

I honestly don't know of anyone offering patterns for these holsters, so if my projects come out ok....I will make patterns available.

So...

First I started playing with paper and the blasters to make some patterns:























When I was happy with the patterns...
I cut them from the piece of leather...trying to waste as little as possible.






again...
like I said...I don't have fancy tools and use a utility knife with a sharp new blade to cut leather and usually I do it on the kitchen counter with a stack of newspapers below.




I will also generally cut the leather a little larger than the pattern..
just in case...
you can always trim away...but can't add if you make a mistake or want to kind of free lance the design a bit...









Here is the curved one being cut out...

take your time on the curves especially when making the first pass through the leather.....after you make your first "pass"....you will generally have to make a couple more passes to get the utility knife blade to go all the way through the thick leather...











After the piece is cut out....it is time to soak the leather in warm water to get it pliable...

the squared off DH-17 piece:





the DL-44 piece:





and the more rounded version for the DH-17:




When the leather is wet and pliable....you start forming it over the blaster itself and checking fit...











While you are wet forming....you can sometimes see things that need to immediately be trimmed...go for it...






The next step after all of your holsters are wet formed is to let them dry really thoroughly....and they will keep their shape once dry....
because after they dry....
I plan to dye them next...


So...here is where I have to stop for the next day or so...
the holsters are drying:


[/quote]


I decided to start with the black holster for the Imperial Officer first mainly because I have the right color...black...lol...

The other two Rebel DH-17 holsters I have to think about for a while and have been experimenting with the dyes that I have on scrap pieces of leather because I have to try to closely match these holsters to the color of my old belt...not gonna be easy.

Anyway...
the black holster.

Black is easy...it really dyes well...

So after I applied 2 coats of the black dye I started to skive the areas that I was going to cement and then hand sew...



skiving leather is just taking off some of the thickness...




I then applied the leather cement to both pieces that I am going to stitch together...trying to be careful with the cement...I used a Q-tip...






After the cement gets tacky...you stick the two pieces together and press with your fingers well and then let dry...

After I let it dry thoroughly, I used the marking wheel to put in the marks to punch with the awl and then stitch. I generally punch every other mark....I think when I make the RFT holsters I will use the smaller wheel to get the punches closer together...



after the piece is marked, I started to punch the stitching holes with the awl...





After I punched a few holes, I slapped myself in the head and remembered that I wanted to put a rivet at the top and the bottom of the area to be stitched...

so...using the leather punch of about the same size as the shaft on the rivet...I punched a hole at the top and bottom....selected the right length rivets...
and then put them in using the proper pieces from the setting tool kit...









ok...
rivets installed:





Back to punching the holes with the awl and starting the stitching. I used the two needle method:


http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/leathercraft-abc/leathercraft-abc-pg4/leathercraft-abc-pg4.aspx












Then I decided to add a strap to hold the blaster in...



I just cut a strip of leather to size...

dyed it...




and started with the snap on the end of the strap...



on the strap...I put the "button" of the snap:







With that on, I gauged where I needed to put the "socket" part of the snap on the body of the holster...and punched the hole




Set the socket ...





Next I had to rivet the other end to the back of the holster....decided on location and punched the hole:





and set the rivet (I did trim some of the excess off the end inside the holster)




and

done





The only thing left to do on this holster is to decide which of a couple different methods of attaching the holster to the belt...

there the two loop method, cutting two vertical slashes in the back and weaving the belt in and out (which I feel will keep the holster in place better) and lastly, adding another piece to the top that would loop over the belt as one piece and snap on...

I am leaning toward the two slashes in the back...

Moving along to the Rebel holsters...

this time I decided to skive first....and then dye..

squared off version:




rounded version:






Next...I am trying two dying processes.....


The rounded version got a first coat of Canyon Tan color dye and the squared off version got a first coat of Timber Brown





I will let these dry thoroughly overnight...

In this photo, the old holster is in the middle and I am trying to match the color of that holster which matches the belt...





Once the first coats dry...

I am going to apply a second coat of the opposite color...

a coat of Canyon Tan over the Timber Brown
and
a coat of Timber Brown over the Canyon Tan and see what I come up with..


Version #1 is done...



I will still put a satin finish sealer over it...
but otherwise...it is done


The black holster is now done. I added the two loops for hanging on the belt by just cutting pieces from scrap leather, dying them and then using rivets to attach.







Next up was going back to the Rebel holsters for the DH-17. As noted, I started with several layers of dye. Timber brown over Canyon Tan and Canyon Tan over Timber Brown in the hopes of getting as close a matching color to my current belt as possible.


I glued the seams that would be stitched first and then I added a rivet at the bottom and the top of both the curved and squared holster.









With both rivets in the squared holster, I then used the marking wheel to mark the holes to punch for hand sewing.

Then the monotony of hand punching with the awl...
my hands are arthritic so this part of the process is difficult for me and I can't keep as good of control as I would like. A suggestion was made that instead of using the awl to hole punch that I use a drill and small diameter bit....that actually sounds like a good idea and I plan to try that on the rounded holster.







I usually cut a piece of the stitching twine/thread that is 4 times the length of the area to be stitched. That is a little excessive but the last thing you want to do is run out of thread before you finish your seam.




I wanted to hide the knot that I make at the end between the layers of leather so I came in at the side seam with the needle.



For the black holster I used the two needle method, but for this holster I used the one needle method ..... skipping one stitch on the first pass down the holster and putting in the second stitch on the return pass.









When I got to the end...making both passes up and down the seam, I once again inserted the needle into the seam, made the small knot and tucked it into the seam.







With that done, I wanted to add the strap to keep the stock of the blaster in the holster. I had cut and dyed the necessary straps and began by putting the button part of the snap on one end of the strap...










I then attached the other end of the strap to the body of the holster with rivets...
marking location and punching the hole







With the strap riveted to the body of the holster and the button part of the snap on the strap, it was time to mark the location on the outer body of the holster to put the other part of the snap and punch the hole then set the snap.







done





Lastly it was time to add the loops to attach the holster to the belt. Again I had measured, cut, and dyed scraps of leather to rivet to the holster.




and done...








My hand stitching is far from perfect and that is mainly due to arthritis and strength in my fingers with the awl. You need to keep the awl firmly in place and punch all the holes at the same angle.





MAKING A SCULPT/MOLD/CAST


I have begun work on a new Endor Commando badge sculpt and at the same time the greeblie for the Biker Scout...as I understand it...the greeblie for the Thermal det on the back of the Biker Scout is actually an Endor Rank badge cut in half..


as with all of this stuff....getting a clear picture of what the original pieces really looked like is difficult...
there are a lot of versions (as I have found out) that are essentially the same....but not really...

I do think that the greeblie for the Scout needs to be less than 3cm tall to fit in the depressed section on the Scout's thermal det...

anyway...
this is me trying to brainstorm both....
the white resin pieces in the photos are my old Endor rank badge and one cut in half to mimic the Scout's.

nothing is glued....it is all guesswork at this time..
























the Scout thermal det greeblie is done...I just need to wetsand the last coat of paint and it will be ready to mold up.

I usually always paint the wood that the greeblie is made out of just to make sure that no woodgrain is visible in the surface and I think it unmolds better....

What I decided to do is to finish the Biker Scout greeblie first...make the mold...then cast one pouring casting resin only into the one part of the greeblie that I need to finish the Endor Rank badge....I can then add that cast to the original piece I have started...and then make a separate mold for the Rank Badge...

The original model piece comes from the 1:12 Tamiya Ferrari 312T4 model kit. The piece itself goes on the engine.

and it looks like this:




Here is the Scout greeblie - I painted one up to see if there were any issues with the surface of the cast piece...
thankfully...
no...





Then on to the Endor rank badge.

I took one of the casts of the Scout greeblie and cut out the piece on the right side....sanded it ....and glued it to the Endor Rank Badge that I had otherwise completed except for that piece...




Next on to molding the rank badge...

this is just reference for those who have never done molding and casting...

try it ....it can be fun...it can also be frustrating...lol...

First of all....you can find everything you need and need to know at Smooth-On

http://www.smooth-on.com/

Locally I buy Smooth-on products from Reynolds Advanced Materials:

http://www.reynoldsam.com/

At the Smooth-on site there is an area marked Videos:

http://www.smooth-on.com/media.php

For the most part...this is where I learned to do this stuff.

I was a bit stunned when I ordered some new supplies recently...prices have gone up quite a bit since I started doing this a couple years ago...

anyway...

the rank badge...

With the Scout piece added to the Endor piece, it was time to make a mold.

Find an appropriate sized box....I use some inexpensive gift boxes for sale at Michaels...

before I do anything else, I spray the box with the two coats of Smooth-on Super seal....light coats and let dry between...

then a coat of the Ease Release 205 - also thin coat....

When the box has dried, I cut a piece of plain paper the size of the box....





Next is something you won't find in the videos....a trick I figured out after my first mold that had some issues with the edges of the mold. In the videos they have you apply some hot glue to the bottom of the piece....it leaves you with a lot of flashing to trim and if you are not careful, you can compromise your casts...

I take the piece to be molded and apply a decoupage glue to the entire back of the piece and then center the piece to be molded on the paper and from the back side smooth the paper to the glue making sure that all of the piece is flatly adhered to the paper....no gaps...





Next place the piece with the paper glued to the back into the box...




Mix your molding rubber...I find that the product I like to use best is "Rebound 25"....this is a slow cure platinum silicone and seems to give the best results.

Rebound is mixed 1:1





Make sure that you mix it completely...one part of Rebound is white and the other is salmon colored...you can see streaks when you first mix...make sure that there are no streaks in your finished mix...



Next...let's talk about those bubbles....
bubbles are the enemy....but mostly when you use a slower cure silicone, those bubbles will release to the surface...

Pour from one side...I hold the container of mixed silicone high above the piece and start to pour in one corner...the act of the product flowing down releases some bubbles...and as the product moves across the piece, more bubbles are released...



Once all the rubber is poured, I do what chocolatiers do...I start slamming the mold onto the counter and this helps release more bubbles...I will do the slamming on the counter off and on for about 15 minutes...

and I mark what time the mold should be cured




One thing I sometimes forget is that when I am doing this in the winter...my house is usually only about 60 degrees...I keep the thermostat low in my house....
this product will cure in 6 hours at 73 degrees...in my cold house...it takes longer....
I forgot this (again) and after 6 1/2 hours I took the original cast of the Endor rank badge out of the mold...and it was not fully dry at the surface of the piece...leaving some of the detail fuzzy because the mold material was not completely set at the surface of the piece..

so I started over...this time I am leaving the mold to set for a good 7-8 hours...removed the mold from the box...removed the paper...but left the sculpt in the mold...
and turning on one of the burners on my stove and placing the piece near it...

this is the second mold curing the rest of the way...




I did cast a few pieces out of the original mold...
and here is a photo of the new cast vs the old cast...

new cast is on the left



A little later, I will pull the sculpt out of the second mold...and hopefully...
it will be fully dry and the detail more crisp...
_________________


http://livefromthegalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com/

[Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte)]

links fixed
_________________


http://livefromthegalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com/

[G'nott sH'urr (David Campbell)]

Thank you!!
_________________
Rebel Legion Trooper Catagory Costume Judge

Once I was Dewka, but now I'm just G'nott sH'urr

Rghur DURgk'Hur: Warrior, Nomad, Hunter

[Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte)]