Topic: Making Mandalorian Armour

A few people have expressed an interest and asked for advice in making Mandalorian armour, so with that in mind here's a simple guide to Mandalorian costume making.

REQUIRED PARTS.
3mm/5mm foamed PVC sheets (Sintra, Foamex etc.).
Printed armour Templates.
Helmet
Flightsuit or two boiler suits
Vest
Boots
Gauntlets
Trophies (Wookie braids etc)
Blaster(s)

Templates - In order to get the shape correct you'll need to download some printable templates.
Jango Fett's templates can be found here:

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

Boba Fett's templates can be found here:

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

Alternatively templates for either can be found at www.thedentedhelmet.com

Print the templates out and cut them out before using them to mark out the required shapes onto your sintra. I recommend 5mm sintra as it gives a deeper, more realistic look but 3mm will do the job (or even aluminium of you feel like working in metal.)
I suggest using a jigsaw as it can be hard work and time consuming otherwise. Once you have the basic armour plates cut out and sanded smooth, you'll need to give them a slight curve. There are several ways to do this using sintra. The first is to use a heatgun (available at any DIY store)  - don't use a hairdryer as at best it'll over-heat and break, at worst blow up! The second way to bend sintra is to use a large bowl of boiling water and immerse the plastic into it. What ever technique you use do not place the sintra in the oven as it will give off toxic fumes.
Use a picture of Boba or Jango as a guide to how much of a curve you need to add to the various pieces.

Once you've got armour cut to the right shape and size for you and given the right curve you are ready to paint.

Flightsuit - There are plenty of accurate Boba and Jango flightsuits available to purchase out there and some suppliers that will even make a flightsuit in a different colour if asked, but if you fancy giving it a go yourself you'll need 2 identical boilersuits/ overalls in heavy cotton.
First remove the sleeves of one of the suits and put the now armless flightsuit to one side (to be used as spare matching material). On the second suit chop the arms to T-shirt length and attach the arms from the first INSIDE the t-shirt sleeves on the second - This gives you the important outer short sleeve.
IF you are doing Boba's flightsuit (or your Mando wears a similar style of flightsuit) use material from the first suit to make thigh pouches. IF you are making Jango OR your Mando wears full armour then you'll need to cut slits in the thighs and shins for the straps of your armour to go.

Vest - There are several patterns and styles to choose from depending upon if you are making a Jango or Boba style vest. Additionally you can purchase Boba and Jango vests from reputable dealers. WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT CONVERT A JACKET OR BODY WARMER AS IT DOES NOT WORK. Once your vest is complete you can then sew either industial strength velcro or attach heavy duty poppers to the vest (using your completed armour as a placement guide) - Get a friend to give you a hand at this stage as you'll need help to mount it correctly.

Helmet - You CAN purchase Rubies Boba and Jango helmets - but in my honoured opinion they're not worth the time and effort you'd need to put in before you get something that everyone else doesn't laugh at. Reputable and reliable dealers can be found on The Dented Helmet and www.501st.co.uk and the helmets are accurate movie sized helmets made from fibreglass. BE CAREFUL IN REGARDS TO PURCHASING FROM EBAY.

I'll keep adding to this (as you can imagine it's a little time consuming to write!) in the mean time I recommend kotemandos.com and www.thedentedhelmet.com for invaluable assistance and more indepth advice on making a Mandalorian/Fett costume.

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

I hadn't really considered trying to make my armor before, but I'm startng to.  I'll be watching threads like this....

sounds good... and if you don't find what you're looking for here... there's like a million websites where you can find info about it. I wish I had time to make my own armor....one of these days (spoken like a true procrastinator)

                                                                      BB* :cool:

im building a custom mando so i joined mando mercs

Boots - If you are doing Boba you'll need to acquire a set of slip on ankle boots in black and grey with a white sole. To this you'll need to add the toe spikes - made by carefully cutting a strip of aluminium, scoring it and bending it around the toe of the boot then adding toe spikes made using wooden dowelling or  aluminium rod cut to length. The boot is then weathered. For Jango you need a heavy duty work style boot in black, you'll need to match the shape of the boot pretty closely so I suggest studying images of Jango and checking out kotemandos.com and www.thedentedhelmet.com for images and boot suggestions.

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

Jango's boots have several pieces of armour atteched to them that are in fact painted on and the armoured spat which is held on with velcro and elastic. Mandalorian Commando costumes (sometimes called Custom Mandos or Dented Varients) can use any kind of boot that they like, HOWEVER where present, every attempt should be made to cover laces (spats, armoured or otherwise are useful here) as this gets away from the modern Earth footwear. Be careful not to purchase anything with large visible logos, unless said logos can be removed or properly covered.

Gauntlets - Boba's gauntlets vary greatly depending upon the movie or pre-production version you are making - kotemandos.com has examples of the various costumes and their gauntlets as does TDH.

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

Jango's gauntlets are similar in shape to Boba's ROTJ set, however the keypad (on the left gauntlet on Boba) is not present, the flame unit box is slightly shorter and chunkier, and more hoses emerge from the back of the left gauntlet. Additionally Jango has the infamous Kamino Sabre dart attached to the whip-cord launcher on the right gaunt.
Mandalorian commandos are free to use any of the above gauntlets or make their own, although it should be remembered that (as with all of their armour) they ought to look like they COULD have been in the movies.
Depending upon the material your gauntlets are made from there are several ways to attach them. Vac-formed gauntlets are very light and both halves can attach together around your arm using nothing more then industrial velcro. Fibreglass and/or resin gaunts need a stronger system, with a piano hinge glued or screwed along the inside edge and velcro or a small latch to hold it closed. Some people need to pad out the interior using foam to make them comfortable and to stop them moving around their arms.

I'm going with tall leather boots with my rig, but the guantlets would be very important to my armor.  Thanks for the links Orthar

Orthar, what kind of vest would you suggest for armor attachment?

If you are making Jango then the vest should be leather in charcoal grey. Boba's vest is an off-white padded and lined tackle twill. Mandalorian Commandos can use any number of materials including the tackle twill and leather. I'd recommend using either the Boba or Jango style of vest as a guide to what it will look like when finished. The material must be strong enough to support the weight of the armour plates without moving in any direction or you'll find the armour sags and sits uneven. DON'T USE BODYWARMERS OR THE LIKE, they really don't work. Armour can then be attached using either industrial velcro, poppers or bolts (see kotemandos.com for an example of the bolt system.)

[Editor's Note: kotemandos.com is no longer active.]

As I am working on a new set of armor, would using say a top from a set of BDU's work for this?

so long as the shirt and pants are the same colors it might work, but the flightsuit is the best bet

I know this is about making armor, just wondering if anyone has found a place to buy a full costume, soup to nuts? does anyone know anything about evolution toys ?

Most people only part out costumes because it's near impossible to sell all at once. Stay away from Rubies, and most of what you'll find on ebay. The only way to ever get a full suit is probably to commission one from someone on TDH.

thank you, i had been thinking that.