Hey everyone! So I'm doing this. I've been a member of the RPF for awhile. And I've assembled some expensive and complex props before (Folmer Graflex this... Tomenosuke that...), but taking on ESB Fett with a goal of joining the 501st is a whole other thing. Not even in the same solar system. Once this horrible pandemic is behind us, I'd really like to do volunteering with the 501st and put some smiles on faces. And today I really started to pull the trigger, so my story begins now. But first...
Like most of you, Boba Fett captured my imagination over 20 years ago and never let go. I still have the plastic Don Post bucket my parents finally got for me one year (shout out to mom and dad, who are awesome and are still storing all my Star Wars toys in their basement). I still have it, and I guess that was enough for a good long while.
Not anymore.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and I saw this thread at the RPF, in which BobaDanRPF shared the helmet Chris Stallard built for him. For me that was like a rocket ship launching. Since then I've been researching, running numbers (yes, there's a spreadsheet, and I'd be happy to share the template if that would be helpful to folks), and basically psyching myself up to do this. In a way, I'm starting this thread to hold myself to this goal in public (and benefit from the knowledge and kindness I've already experienced on TDH; with special thanks to tennantlim, another man who appreciates the depth and splendor of the Blade Runner blaster).
As a quick aside: why not use one of the amazing lineage casts from RS or MCR? For me, these are amazing artifacts, and if money were no object I'd get one just to display as is. But for costuming/trooping/grown up make believe, I actually prefer a helmet that doesn't show damage that occurred outside the world of the film. It kind of compromises the magic for me. Purely a personal preference.
So anyway... I live in an apartment in a big city, and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I have neither the space nor the tools and skills to build this costume right and do it justice (especially for the 501st CRL). But what I can do is research and collaborate and organize the effort of a disparate team of incredibly talented people (that would be some of you out there).
So Chris Stallard and I have teamed up to do thewhole thing helmet together. He'll be on the helmet, armor, and installation. I'll source the rest from across the expanse of TDH and handle all the soft parts (the simpler stuff, clearly) and final assembly.
The helmet will feature metal ears from RS, a metal Borden replica, a real MQ-1 (and we'll use the keypad on the gauntlets), rangefinder lights, and a real Polaroid SX-70 viewfinder lens. For the rest of the kit, I'm going to do as many upgrades as I can with an eye towards accuracy, quality, realism, and durability. That means using the works from MachineCraft and adding CombatBaby's aluminum flamethrower as well (a plastic/resin ESB flamethrower is just asking to be destroyed). Basically I want to do as much right the first time around as I can. I'm pumped to be working with Chris on this project.
And why ESB? For me it's a couple of things:
Thank you so much to this community and the many kind people who have been such an amazing resource already. I look forward to all the rabbit holes to come.
EDIT: I'm updating this parts list in May 2022, to reflect the final outcome of my build.
Not anymore.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and I saw this thread at the RPF, in which BobaDanRPF shared the helmet Chris Stallard built for him. For me that was like a rocket ship launching. Since then I've been researching, running numbers (yes, there's a spreadsheet, and I'd be happy to share the template if that would be helpful to folks), and basically psyching myself up to do this. In a way, I'm starting this thread to hold myself to this goal in public (and benefit from the knowledge and kindness I've already experienced on TDH; with special thanks to tennantlim, another man who appreciates the depth and splendor of the Blade Runner blaster).
As a quick aside: why not use one of the amazing lineage casts from RS or MCR? For me, these are amazing artifacts, and if money were no object I'd get one just to display as is. But for costuming/trooping/grown up make believe, I actually prefer a helmet that doesn't show damage that occurred outside the world of the film. It kind of compromises the magic for me. Purely a personal preference.
So anyway... I live in an apartment in a big city, and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I have neither the space nor the tools and skills to build this costume right and do it justice (especially for the 501st CRL). But what I can do is research and collaborate and organize the effort of a disparate team of incredibly talented people (that would be some of you out there).
So Chris Stallard and I have teamed up to do the
The helmet will feature metal ears from RS, a metal Borden replica, a real MQ-1 (and we'll use the keypad on the gauntlets), rangefinder lights, and a real Polaroid SX-70 viewfinder lens. For the rest of the kit, I'm going to do as many upgrades as I can with an eye towards accuracy, quality, realism, and durability. That means using the works from MachineCraft and adding CombatBaby's aluminum flamethrower as well (a plastic/resin ESB flamethrower is just asking to be destroyed). Basically I want to do as much right the first time around as I can. I'm pumped to be working with Chris on this project.
And why ESB? For me it's a couple of things:
- ESB Fett feels like the purest Fett to me. The original. The most mysterious, quiet professional Fett. For some reason when I think of Fett, I think of him in Bespin, not on Tatooine.
- And I love the sidearm... I just do. The dude needs a sidearm.
Thank you so much to this community and the many kind people who have been such an amazing resource already. I look forward to all the rabbit holes to come.
EDIT: I'm updating this parts list in May 2022, to reflect the final outcome of my build.
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