My adventures with Ol' Sparky

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Hi all! I'm John (DS 10186). I currently have an approved Kylo Ren, and belong to Garrison Carida. My Kylo was my first venture into serious costume making. I had A LOT of first time experiences with that build. Learned how to sew, modded my bucket, and various other things I never did before.

 

I need a second costume because, reasons. I want something unique, and Ol' Sparky is new, awesome as hell, and we have 0 flametroopers in my garrison. I made Kylo from scratch in as little as 5 months, but this build will definitely take longer, as I will be spending considerably more money on it, and have to save up for everything. While I am saving up and preparing for the major stuff (armor, bucket, gas pack, and flamethrower), I can at least start planning, and gathering all the other stuff like the boots, gaskets, magnets, snaps, straps, and other stuff.

 

Without further adieu, my materials list is as follows:

 

Armor: KB Props (RECEIVED)

 

Bucket: SkyGun Bros (RECEIVED)

 

Boots: TK Boots (ORDERED)

 

Gloves: Endorfinders (DONE)

 

Gaskets: Self-made

 

Tank Pack: Self-made

 

Neck seal: self-made (DONE)

 

Incinerator: 850 Armor works (RECEIVED)

 

 

I'll be looking forward to sharing my very slow journey with everyone. Feel free to chime in with suggestions for vendors, and any other input if it looks like I'm heading in the wrong direction with something.

[Griffin-X[501st]]

Good to have you on board with us. That is an awesome costume with lots of parts and pieces. Check out the threads below for some good builds.

 

Toddo's Tank Mods - http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/4348-toddos-flametrooper-tank-mods/page__fromsearch__1

 

Camprandall's - http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/4124-camprandalls-flametrooper-build/page__fromsearch__1

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Good to have you on board with us. That is an awesome costume with lots of parts and pieces. Check out the threads below for some good builds.

 

Toddo's Tank Mods - http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/4348-toddos-flametrooper-tank-mods/page__fromsearch__1

 

Camprandall's - http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/4124-camprandalls-flametrooper-build/page__fromsearch__1

 

 

Thanks. It's funny you should mention those two specific builds. I was up late last night reading and rereading every post in the latter thread, and was going to go through the former today. I'm glad folks in this community are so willing to share their successes and failures with each other. If not for other people's detailed wips, my Kylo would have never been successful.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Got my endorfinders gloves today. I bought my gloves from him for Kylo Ren, and they were magnificent. The First Order trooper gloves are equally as nice.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

My first attempt at making a first order neck seal. I call this a big FAIL. If I could figure out how to prevent the stretchy fabric from bunching up while stitching it. I stretched it out and hit it with a heat gun. Some of the wrinkles come out. We will see how it goes after it cools off and stays wrapped around the can for the night. I doubt it will work. This may end up being a scrap neck seal. I thought I needed to have the stretch go horizontal, but maybe the stretch needs to go vertical instead.

 

Another thought I have is either using smaller weather strips (the ones I used look a bit big), or using the headliner fabric I got for my gaskets, and doubling it up before stitching the shiny stretchy stuff on.

 

Any suggestions?

 

[retrofire[501st]]

Helping each other is what this is all about brother! Maybe shoot camprandall a PM. He's in my garrison and just a great guy. I'm sure he could give you a hand.

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

First Order neck seal all done. The bib looks all ugly and stuff, but I'll deal with it later. If it tucks in all properly, then I don't care if it's ugly.

 

 

 

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[retrofire[501st]]

Wow you certainly lived up to your name! That looks beautiful!

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Wow you certainly lived up to your name! That looks beautiful!

 

Thanks. It was really simple once I took a look at a thread on the white armor detachment. Just took some black rubber weather seal tubes (D shape), used their sticky backs to place it on the material, and threw some stitching in between the ribs in a few spots to make sure they hold in place (because I don't always trust adhesive on fabrics). Cinched down the ends and cleaned them up with bias tape, and attached the Velcro for the closure. I was going to use a bra clasp style thing for the closure, but the needle was so difficult to get through all the material, and I ended up impaling my thumb (there was blood everywhere), so I went with Velcro. It was totally and idea I took from somewhere else.

 

 

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[DeadMan]

Wow that is certainly totally awesome! I will be trying this out since I need a new one.

Thanks for this

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Wow that is certainly totally awesome! I will be trying this out since I need a new one.

Thanks for this

 

No problem. Like I said, it wasn't my original idea. I found a thread on the TK detachment where someone was using this method and tried it myself. I did it wrong on my first attempt, but I'm happy with this one. Just wish I could get the bib part a little better, but nobody will see it when it's tucked in, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it either.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

I'm having a hard time deciding which material to use for the gaskets.

 

 

 

This one is pretty shiny, but almost looks like leather, and I don't think it's supposed to, seeing as how the real ones were made of rubber.

 

 

 

And this one seems to hold the more ribbed look of a gasket, but may be too matte.

 

 

 

Here is a completed gasket in the super shiny material, next to a small sample of the other.

 

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Started working on the tank pack, finally. Got some 3/4" pvc pipe, made my own guide thingy for bending said pipe, cracked open a Guinness, and started bending some pvc. I also ordered some bollard covers today, which will be used for the tanks.

 

Photo reference of the frame and other doohickies that attach to it.

 

A few oopsies

 

No clue what I'm doing here, but I'm having fun making it up as I go.

 

Starting to look like a pack frame.

 

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Bollard covers came today. Time to make some tanks

 

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Big brown box came today!

 

 

Oh my! So many parts!

 

 

Looks like whenever I get the tanks complete, I'm still going tonhave my hands full with a challenge.

 

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[Scubacat[TX]]

Woah! Uber jealous! Looks amazing!

 

 

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[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Isn't that the best day? There is nothing like getting that BBB and opening it up for the first time. Intimating? Yes. Awesomely exciting? Totally.

[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

I'm on night shift, and was sleeping when it arrived. I gladly sacrificed an hour of sleep in the middle of the day to get it unboxed so I could inspect everything.

 

There are a few pieces that I have no clue where they go, but it will be awhile before I start on the armor, as I want to finish the tank pack first.

 

Looking at all these parts in person makes it look a lot more challenging than it already did looking through everyone else's build threads. I like a challenge. I just hope that by the time I get to the armor, my edging skills get better. Some parts of my tank pack are not coming along as quickly as I expected due to my inability to draw, or cut, a straight line, even when I have a ruler or some kind of guide.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

TK Boots have arrived. Heading out shortly to take them to the cobbler to get a flat sole put on.

 

 

 

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[Griffin-X[501st]]

Very nice progress. Looks like all the parts and pieces are in house?!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Post some pics of the tank

[Scubacat[TX]]

Nice! I wonder how much that costs for the cobbler?

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Very nice progress. Looks like all the parts and pieces are in house?!

 

I think I got about everything. There will be a few things here and there that I'll need to get (strapping, snaps, etc). Probably will have to get more ABS for the tank pack. But yes, I now have all the major components. I can't wait to get Sparky out and trooping.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Post some pics of the tank

 

I'm going to be working hard on getting the tanks done now that I have everything.

 

I have a few more pieces to fabricate, then I'll be able to update some tank photos.

 

 

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[Darth Pleatsalot[TX]]

Nice! I wonder how much that costs for the cobbler?

 

I won't know until he's done, but he estimated somewhere around $20 to $30. Instead of replacing the sole, he will put a wedge in to fill in the gap between the heal and the front of the foot, then blend the rubber so that it is seamless and looks like a solid flat sole. At least that's my understanding of how he's going to do it. I guess I'll find out next Thursday when I pick up the final product.

 

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