Back Pack

I gave it a stab tonight at the foundation of a back pack. I used closed cell EVA foam to form the base. I am not sure I am happy with it as I need to find a way to hide the seams better. I was impressed though that the general shape came out as well as what it did.

Since I had these materials left over from other projects, I am going to go ahead and finish the back pack while I wait for other incoming parts. At the very least, it will be very light and durable. Note that the seams aren't quite as bad as the pictures depict. Some of the area that looks like an empty void is actually my trace lines with a marker.

Part Sourcing

Not much to update other than I have secured a helmet kit and it should be here after the new year. I am excited to start working on it as the kit is coming from one of the best!

I will most likely focus on some of the soft parts next like the belt and back pack. I am leaning towards sourcing all of the hard parts I can.

Kick Off Update 3

The most recent pieces have completed are the sholders. The bases were molded out of sintra and the raised parts were cut from hobby foam. The bottom pic shows that I reinforced the edges with hot glue for now. I've also filled in the top edges with some light hot glue.

Kick Off Update 2

The next parts I worked on were the hand plates and elbows. I am making my templates by hand and out of card stock. I am saving them and hope to have them digitized for improvement later.

I am then taking those templates and transposing them on to sintra. To cut the sintra I am using a hot hobby craft knife. In the past, I've just used an exacto knife but the heat really cuts through the sintra easily and saves some time when it comes to trimming and smoothing edges.

The sintra is then either scored lightly or molded by hand with a heat gun.

Below are a few progress pics.

Kick Off Update 1

So the costuming bug has hit me. I have decided to construct a Galactic Marine from Star Wars Episode III. The idea came to me while looking for inspiration for a new project on 501st. The Galactic Marine is a pretty amazing costume and I felt some of the parts were within my wheelhouse to scratch build.

I started with the real easy stuff, like the ammo boxes, hand plates, shoulder pads and elbows.

I used closed cell EVA foam, wrapped in sintra (For Sale Signs) for the ammo boxes below.