Rhaethe's Bladewing Pilot WIP

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:06 pm Post subject: Rhaethe's Bladewing Pilot WIP

Allrighty then. I love bombers. They make me happy. Sooooo, am going to build both a BWing and a ROTJ YWing outfit.

Here is my ongoing checklist, with my sources and whether or not I have purchased/finished the piece, yet..

Red flightsuit - Have
Gaiters - Have
Boots - Have
Ejection Harness - Have
Belt - Have -
Flak vest - Have
Chestbox - Have
Gloves - Have
Belt mini-flares - Have
Hose - Have
Helmet - Have

While I am looking at all available reference pictures, including having the OT Costume book, two pilots in ROTJ, still unnamed, are providing the most inspiration.

From Blue Banshee Leader's collection of photos, you can see those two pilots below. One being the "unnamed female pilot" in the far left picture of the montage, as well as the far right in the upper center pic. The second pilot is what I have heard referred to as "confused pilot" and is the one(s) in the other three pictures of the montage and is wearing the red XWing helmet.

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Fri May 01, 2015 11:52 pm Post subject:

Chestbox came today! Yay!!! All the greebs are in a safe little bag. Not about to pull those out until I settle down to do some gluing and painting.

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 12:28 am Post subject:

I find that I am paused as in regards to painting the chestbox.

I am using the following picture (I have the book) as a reference.

The large channel, I believe folks paint black, from what I have seen in WIP threads. However, the closer I look at it, the more I think it is a really dark matte grey. An almost black grey, but not pure black.

The tone and shade, to my eyes, blends better with the flak vest tone and shade than straight black might.

I can see where the circular channel around the round globe thingie definitely appears to be painted black, and seems to be the same shade of black as the straps. But not the large channel.

Thoughts and opinions?

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 5:51 am Post subject:

Progress on the chestbox, though not complete. I opted to go with a dark charcoal grey for the main channel. I am pleased with how that came out. I am still very undecided on how I will do the weathering, if at all.

Got most of the greeblies painted, too, although I need to get to the craft store and pick up white, steel grey, and gold acrylics.

Oh, and some glue. I'll need that, heh.

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 1:57 am Post subject:

So, it was an adventure today. Long story short, I ended up repainting the base box 2 more times over. Hey, it wouldn't be a project if things didn't go sideways occasionally.

Here it is though! Still need to get gold paint for the dots on one of the greelies. And I still need to decide if I am going to weather it or not. I probably should. But will admit I am afraid of messing it totally up.

HazardThree (Jon Paulson) · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:21 am Post subject:

Looking good so far. That looks like a paleosilex kit (I've got one too). Don't forget to paint the raised bits on the blue vest greeblie gold or silver!
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Past Service: DCO RLSC (Pilot Detachment 2009-2016); Legion Costume Judge - Pilots (2007-2016)

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 11:51 pm Post subject:

It is indeed a paleosilex kit Smile

I am still deciding exactly how/if I want to go about weathering, so have decided to go on to the gaiters, in the meantime.

Looking at the reference pictures in the Costumes book, the fabric really looks like waxed canvas to me. I think I might purchase a sample of some adn see how easy it is to work with.

Blue Banshee Leader (Alex Buirch) · Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 6:57 pm Post subject:

It's hard to tell what the fabric for the gaiters is. I thought that it kind of looked like leather but I can't say that for certain. It's hard to tell. For my previous gaiters I actually used vinyl... I found some felt-backed vinyl in a color that's pretty much spot-on and used it. While I doubt the RotJ gaiters are made of vinyl the material I found even had a texture that closely matched it, so until I figure out a better material that has been working out pretty well.
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HazardThree (Jon Paulson) · Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 11:53 pm Post subject:

A lot of the rest of us use paint drop clothes from Home Depot. They hold the rigidity well, look "military durable", but are still easy to work with.
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Past Service: DCO RLSC (Pilot Detachment 2009-2016); Legion Costume Judge - Pilots (2007-2016)

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 3:50 am Post subject:

I will look into the dropcloth, thanks! It will likely be a cheaper option. Waxed canvas that I have found thus far is around $22 a yard. I won't need much, but still ... is pricier than I wanted.

Toda () · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 12:12 pm Post subject:

The chestbox looks great! Looking forward to seeing the finished costume...
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Endor Gunner, RFT, Rebel Technician, TFA officer, TFA Trooper, and A-Wing Pilot

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―General Han Solo

Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 3:56 am Post subject:

I was slightly sidetracked by finishing out my Tusken build, but now that distraction is resolved, I am back to building pilot things. I have spent a good bit of time staring at the pictures in the OT Costumes book.

For the gaiters, it seems to me that it is not actually a ribbon or vertical strip of cloth sewed down the front. Well, it is, but its sewn under two outer hems, and not flush.

I had a decent bit of canvas left over from building the tusken, so decided to try out a mock up of what I was envisioning. This is not the finished piece, but I do think it matches the look of the original decently well.

I will likely construct them of a heavier canvas that is more of a taupe or beige color. This mock-up fabric was deliberately softened for bandages, so it is sagging a touch. The real ones shouldn't. And I think I should make them a touch shorter.

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Blue Banshee Leader (Alex Buirch) · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:16 am Post subject:

I think that looks pretty good. That would definitely work.

Though you could also do the strip much simpler as well. The way I did mine, which I thought matched up pretty well, was just making the gaiters one piece. For the strip down the middle, I just folded the material to make an edge, stitched it, left a little space, then folded the material again to make another edge facing in toward the first, and stitched that one down. Though, admittedly, I used a thicker material (vinyl) so I'm not sure if it would be any different doing it with a thinner material.

...And my explanation is really bad. Heh. Razz

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Rhaethe (Cari Merola) · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 3:57 pm Post subject:

I have a second mock-up that I am going to test things on, so will check your method on it Smile

One thing I am unsure about, as I have not seen a picture of the back ... is whether or not there is a seam in the back or not.

Blue Banshee Leader (Alex Buirch) · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:26 pm Post subject:

There is a seam in the back. Do you have a copy of the Blu-ray version of Return of the Jedi? If you do, watch the deleted scenes, and in one of them there's a scene where troopers are running around the interior of the Falcon and most of them are wearing the gaiters, and there are some fairly decent shots of what the gaiters look like as the troopers run by the camera.
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