Carolina Garrison

Hello Carolina Garrison, new hopeful member here in Raleigh, NC. Been following the 501st for a while and have always wanted to join, finally can start making that dream happen. Currently working on Dyn Jarren from the Mandalorian (Episode 1-3 CRL variant), following along with the Bounty Hunters Guild as the CRL is developed and finalized. Realize that it will probably be a while before I can actually start trooping but the advice and information I've gotten from the community has been incredible. Right now I have been able to secure pre-orders for the leather works for the belt/ bandoleer from Cosmic Workshops and the accompanying accessories (made from aluminum) from JJ Industries in the UK. Knowing both have worked closely on other builds I felt confident to at least secure this portion of the costume. Decided not to take any risks on the helmet and have one lined up with Anovos since they've been really helpful in the past with other orders I've inquired on. Only item I'm about to have in hand is the blaster, got a great print that has a working trigger and action, looking forward to prep work and assembly on that in the coming weeks. Any advice for a rookie like myself would be greatly appreciated, avoiding a lot of pre-fabricated stuff unless it's recommended by the Garrison. Thanks everyone!

Hello and welcome!
Glad to see you've found a costume to build.
Feel free to ask us any questions anytime!

My first advice would be to look for any other vendor besides Anovos, especially if you're looking at a preorder product. So many of their preorders fail to actually go into production. Often the ones that do go into production, and up with wait times over a year to actually deliver. It would be nice if an officially licensed vendor existed to produce Star Wars costumes, but Anovos has angered so many fans, you'd have a harder time finding someone who is happy with a purchase from them.

Also, as a newbie, how familiar are you with 3d prints? A lot of people buy a printer and immediately call themselves a vendor, selling poor quality prints that are fragile and require a lot of cleanup before they look good. Know who you are buying from if you're getting 3d printed parts. A "pro" vendor of 3d prints will print a part, do all the required cleanup, then make silicone molds and sell resin casts, selling a more rigid piece that doesn't require buyers to do that clean up work. A single resin piece will always be preferable to multiple 3d prints glued together.

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Welcome Lucas, I'm in South Carolina and also assembling the costume from ep.1

There are two Facebook groups with a ton of great info and recommended vendor lists.
The first was set up by a 501st member I've known for a while now.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/594812984625855/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The second is a more generalized group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/495779494260405/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

By far the best helmet I've seen yet has come from Artisan FX on Facebook. Warning, its not cheap. Also check out jsnprops.

NegativeEleven wrote:My first advice would be to look for any other vendor besides Anovos, especially if you're looking at a preorder product. So many of their preorders fail to actually go into production. Often the ones that do go into production, and up with wait times over a year to actually deliver. It would be nice if an officially licensed vendor existed to produce Star Wars costumes, but Anovos has angered so many fans, you'd have a harder time finding someone who is happy with a purchase from them.

Also, as a newbie, how familiar are you with 3d prints? A lot of people buy a printer and immediately call themselves a vendor, selling poor quality prints that are fragile and require a lot of cleanup before they look good. Know who you are buying from if you're getting 3d printed parts. A "pro" vendor of 3d prints will print a part, do all the required cleanup, then make silicone molds and sell resin casts, selling a more rigid piece that doesn't require buyers to do that clean up work. A single resin piece will always be preferable to multiple 3d prints glued together.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Thanks so much for the warm welcome everyone, so update on the build. I've managed to actually secure my purchase of the Mando helmet from Anovos, thus far they've been super transparent about shipping times and expect to have it out within the next week or two. Was not expecting to actually make it through the first pass of those who were on the interest list, but it went through. I'm still willing to give them a shot right now but I do understand why folks are leery of them (had my pre-order for the Shore Trooper helmet and armor canceled due to lack of interest).

As for 3D printing, I've always commissioned others on the printing since I do not own one. It's something I would like to do in the future but as you said Chris, I still need to learn a lot more before I'd even consider committing to purchasing one let alone become a vendor. Previous exposure with 3D printing was when I was in College doing different modeling projects with Maya and 3DS Max, learned a lot from that course on the setup process. Received my blaster from Etsy, it's really well made but does need to be primed and sanded before I go into painting. The rifle will probably be the only other part of this build I get printed as I'm seeing the benefits to resign casting over printing when it comes to cleaner finished pieces.

Ended up settling on a pair of boots from Crowprops, the build is incredibly close to the base Sketchers and they've spent a lot of time making sure they match as close as possible to the on-screen versions. Only difference is in the heel support where you can notice an added piece was placed into the sole for extra support. Been talking with those in the Bounty Hunters Guild about it, that detail doesn't appear to be an issue that they'd contest.

Right now I'm waiting for them to announce the draft CRL which should be released next week so that I can start looking at the flight suit, I've seen quite a few people settling on the OD Green rather than Grey which leads me to believe there will need to be significant weathering. As for the armor, I will really be looking for a high quality casting. Any suggestions the Garrison could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks James for the facebook links, will be checking those out to get started on the search!

Welcome! I'm starting down the same road with that costume as well. Look forward to seeing your progress!

Sounds like you know exactly what you're doing. If Anovos ships on time, I have heard good things about their resin helmets. Their vac-form armor is real thin and many who bought in 2015-16 are looking for replacements now or doing their best to fix cracks in corners. Nothing you need to worry about though. I'm sure the helmet from them will be fine.

Bounty Hunters Guild has just released the first pass at the CRL for the MANDALORIAN SEASON 1 EARTH-TONE set. Discussing edits and additional clarification on pieces but this is the start of a formal CRL and build!

Helmet
*Helmet has 6 keyhole slots in the back of the helmet.
- Keyhole slot details are angled and has or has the appearance that they are nested under the top keyhole slot detail.
- Keyhole slots are set inside a rectangular area. This area is flush with the helmet but has an edge line.
*Ear caps are symmetrical to each other.
*Front brow has an additional groove 1/3 from the top. It extends from the front of ear cap to front of ear cap.
- The front tip of the Mohawk sits on-top of the front brow in the front center
*Helmet has a raised Mohawk detail that extends from the front brow to the top of the keyhole slot area in the back.
- Mohawk has a rectangular groove that separates the Mohawk into equal thirds.
- Front of Mohawk is not round and forms a trapezoidal shape.
*Bottom of the front mandibles are angled at approximately 45 degrees inwards from the bottom where the cheeks meet.
*Visor is dark grey in color.
*The visor side edges of the mandibles taper slightly so that the top has a wider gap then the bottom.
*Helmet is a uniform dark chrome in appearance. Helmet is slightly weathered, must be subtle and match closely to visual references.

Neck Seal
*Made of same material as the flight suit
*Neck seal has visible white stitching and match closely to visual references.


Shoulder Armor
*Right shoulder armor is symmetrical with a single vertical raised ridge top to bottom.
- Lower 2/3 of the shoulder bell is green tan (Similar to PMS ?). Upper 1/3 is blue (Similar to PMS ?)
*Right shoulder armor is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weathering patterns
*Left Shoulder armor is symmetrical with a raised edge around the full shoulder.
- Shoulder bell is painted the same color as the chest armor
*Left shoulder armor is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weather patterns
*Foam padding is used to keep the shoulder armor away from the flight-suit.

Left Gauntlet
*Gauntlet is a clamshell style with no visible closure methods.
*Keypad is silver in color, has 4 rows of 5 buttons. The center 3 buttons of each row are slightly larger than the outside buttons.
*Front raised section has a silver detail.
*Gauntlet is weathered and match closely to visual references in both color and damage.
*Gauntlet base color matches the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?)

Right Gauntlet
*Gauntlet is a clamshell style with no visible closure methods.
*Gauntlet has a display towards the front. Display is Mandalorian characters.
*Gauntlet has 4 darts that are silver in color. The tips of the darts do not extend past their housing area.
*On the right outside of the gauntlet there is a silver flamethrower.
*Gauntlet is weathered and match closely to visual references in both color and damage.
*Right gauntlet base color matches the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?).
*Damage for both gauntlets should be referenced before the blurg attack.
**LEVEL 2 – Display on right gauntlet is functional and flashes Mandalorian characters to match screen references.

Gloves
*Gloves are leather/leather-like material
*Gloves are black and extend past the wrist. The edge of the glove should be tall enough it is not visible when the wrist is bent while wearing the gauntlet.
*Black portion of the gloves are fingerless and have a tan finger (Similar to PMS ?) extending out. Fingers must be a separate layer.
*Armor is slightly off white (Similar to PMS ?) with a blue triangle (Similar to PMS ?) in the center.
**Attached to the gloves with no visible attachment method.
*Gloves are heavily weathered to closely match screen references.

Chest Armor
*Chest armor consists of an upper and a lower plate.
*Armor has a return edge giving appearance of thickness and depth and is positioned in a way that closely resembles visual references.
*Armor is medium brown/brown red base (Similar to PMS ?) with weathering that appears to expose a silver base color. The chest armor damage also displays a light brown/tan edges around silver. Weathering closely matches visual references.
*The upper plate is a solid piece with the center strip recessed.
**The diamond is recessed in the center strip.
***Diamond has 6 sides. 4 long, 2 short at top and bottom. Diamond has a single groove that runs vertically in the diamond but does not connect to the edges.
*Upper plate armor is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weather patterns.
*The lower plate is a solid piece that attaches to the upper plate.
**There is no visible methods of attachment to the upper plate
**Lower plate is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weather patterns
*The chest armor is attaches securely to the flak vest.
**Top of the chest armor sits slightly above the top of the flak vest. The bottom of the lower plate sits even with the stitching on the lower edge of the vest.

Flight Suit
*Made of cotton/cotton-blend, similar to duck cloth/canvas weave. Flight suit is grey/brown (Similar to PMS ?) in color.
**Can be one or two piece in construction. Two piece construction must give the appearance of being one piece when worn.
*Flight suit has double sleeves. Short sleeves have an extra strip of fabric added at the bottom and two vertical strips front and back of the shoulder when arms are down. Has white stitching details on the middle of the sleeve. The long sleeve has 5 horizontal lines that cover the area evenly between the bottom of the short sleeve and top of the gauntlet. The long sleeve has decorative stitching on the back.
*Flight suit has no visible pockets
*There are reinforced patch areas on the inside of the thigh, made of the same material as the flight suit.
*Flight suit is worn so that no closure methods are visible.
*Flight suit can have the neck seal attached or as a separate piece. Should resemble a single piece when worn.
*Flight suit is lightly weathered to closely match screen references.

Flak Vest
*Flak vest is light tan in color (Similar to PMS ?) Made of cotton/cotton-blend, similar to duck cloth/canvas weave.
*Shoulder straps are made of leather/leather-like material that connects the front and the back
*Flak vest closes in the back so that no closure method is visible when the back plate is worn
*Flak vest has a single quilt that runs horizontally around the entire vest. This lines up with where the lower ab plate attaches to the upper chest armor.
*Flak vest is slightly weathered to closely match screen references.

Cummerbund
*Cummerbund covers from the bottom of the flak vest to the belt *Made of cotton/cotton-blend, similar to duck cloth/canvas weave. Flight suit is grey/brown (Similar to PMS ?) in color.
*Bottom of the cummerbund is hidden/matches with the ammo belt such that the bottom edge is not seen.
*The middle front section extends past the belt and is trapezoidal in shape. The bottom corners of the trapezoid are softly rounded and not hard corners. The bottom of the trapezoid is roughly to the bottom of the zipper on the flight suit.
*Cummerbund closes in the back with no visible closure method seen when wearing the back plate and flak vest.
*Cummerbund is comprised of 3 sections. The side sections have horizontal stitching that stops at the front section and extends around the back fully.
*Cummerbund is slightly weathered to closely match screen references.

Bandolier
*Bandolier is made from leather/leather-like material *Attaches to the ammo belt behind the front right ammo loops and in the back close to the center.
*Bandolier slings across the left shoulder
*There are 6 ammo loops for blaster charges.
*There are 5 silver blaster charges with the second from the top ammo loop being empty.
*Bandolier has a small pouch just above where it attaches to the ammo belt in the back
*Bandolier has a silver buckle for where the amban phase rifle strap connects.
*Has small leather detailing between the ammo loops and the phase rifle buckle.

Ammo Belt
*Belt is made from leather/leather-like material
*Belt buckle is metal/metal looking material. Two screw heads are visible on the front of the buckle in line with the indents.
*From buckle to the left the belt features; 1 cylinder pouch, 2 ammo loops with silver blaster charges, sidearm holster, 2 ammo loops with silver blaster charges, metal/metal like plate with leather loop for amban phase rifle, 2 leather pouches, 2 ammo loops with silver blaster charges, breach charge holder with 3 breach charges and 1 leather pouch.
*Cylinder pouch has tooling lines top and bottom that run horizontally
*Ammo loops are tooled top and bottom with a horizontal line.
**Stitched in place on both sides of the ammo loop.
**Ammo loops hold the blaster charges firmly in place.
*Metal/metal like plate is attached to the outside of the belt. It is placed on the lower right side of the back to hold the amban rifle at a slanted angle.
**Plate has a leather/leather-like material strap that has a snap. This strap is to hold the rifle in place.
*Leather pouches are slightly taller than the ammo belt. They contain a single rivet on the flap that holds the closure strap in place. The closure method is a peg on the bottom of the pouch.
*Breach charge holder is metal/metal-like in appearance
**Lower part of the breach charge holder is wrapped in leather
**Breach charges are silver in color and are securely held in the breach charge holder
**Breach charges have a red lens that is slightly domed. Red lens should give appearance of being glass/plastic.
*Belt should sit flush with the bottom of the cummerbund
*Belt is slightly weathered to simulate use.

Sidearm Holster
*Made of leather/leather-like material
*Should conform to the shape of the sidearm
*Hangs from the ammo belt with two belt loops
*A single strap that slips through the loop holds the side arm in place.
*Holster is weathered to closely match screen references.

Cape
*Made of wool/wool like material
*Cape is dark grey in color (Similar to PMS ?)
*Cape covers shoulders and attaches to itself and the flight suit with no visible attachments in the front.
*Cape should have an opening so the rifle strap from the belt can hold the rifle on the outside of the cape.
**LEVEL 2 – Made of boiled wool

Back Armor
*Back Armor encompasses the mid and upper back areas.
*Back Armor is the same color as the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?).
*Back Armor is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weathering patterns.
*Back Armor has no visible attachment methods and is not visible from the front or side while the cape is worn.

Kidney Armor
*Kidney Armor wraps around the entire back of the body at the waist.
*Armor is the same color as the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?). *Kidney armor is weathered and closely matches the visual references, both in colors and weather patterns
*Kidney armor has no visible connection methods
*Top of the kidney armor rests under the ammo belt

Thigh Armor
*Thigh armor is attached with no visible connection methods.
*Right Thigh Armor
**Right thigh armor features a raised bar in the middle of the plate
**Armor features a square raised edge around the entire armor piece
**Slightly damaged. Damage is referenced before the mudhorn encounter.
**Right thigh armor is painted the same color as the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?).
*Left Thigh Armor
**Features a vertical indented ridge running top to bottom, ¼ of the way in from the inside edge of the armor.
**Armor features a square raised edge around the entire armor piece
**Slightly damaged. Damage is referenced before the mudhorn encounter.
**Left thigh armor is painted the same green tan as the right shoulder bell (Similar to PMS ?).

Hip Armor
*Armor is worn on the right and left hip
*Armor has two indented ridges running top to bottom that separate the plate into 1/3’s
*Top of the hip armor is flush with the bottom of the ammo belt. The armor is attached with no connection methods visible.
*Hip armor is a dark blue that matches in color to the left knee armor.
*Left Knee Armor
**Knee armor has 2 identical silver darts attached on the outside of the armor. There is two Philips head screws visible that appear to attach the silver darts to the housing.
**Knee armor has a leather/leather-like strap that connects the back.
**Knee armor is a dark blue (Similar to PMS ?).

Shins
*Right shin is a modified shore trooper shin.
**Shin should close in the back
**Has the “T” shin plate affixed to the greave.
**Bottom diamond of the “T” is large and not recessed.
**Wings of the “T” plate extend past the diamonds on the greave to the top of the shin ammo belt
**Middle vertical ridge is filled in with a single groove running vertically over the length.
**Diamonds at the top of the vertical ridge are symmetrical to each other. The edges of the diamonds are equal length unlike the shore trooper.
**“T” plate is the same color as the chest armor (Similar to PMS ?)
***“T” plate is weathered and closely matches the visual references in colors and weather patterns.
**Greave is a darker brown color (Similar to PMS ?).
**Greave is weathered and closely matches the visual references both in colors and weather patterns.
**Right shin has a leather/leather like material strap near the bottom edge. Strap is roughly 2” tall.
**Strap is a single piece of leather/leather like material with no stitching shown.
**Strap closes in the back
**Strap has 2 square indentations on the strap showing after closure.
**Right shin has an ammo belt on the upper portion of the greave.
**Ammo belt wraps entirely around the greave. Made of leather/leather like material
**Holds 6 ammo canisters made of metal/metal like appearance
**Visible stitching in between ammo canisters, and the edges of the main belt.
**Material of the ammo belt is 3 different shades. Main belt has a dark brown back with a lighter brown facing. The loops for the ammo cannister are red brown in appearance.
**Closes in the back with no visible attachment method.
*Left shin is comprised of layered soft parts of leather or leather like material
**Gator is made of two sections. Upper is a dark brown leather/leather like material that is soft in appearance. Lower is a red brown leather/leather like material. This piece is layered with no visible stitching. There is 5 layers of material.
*Bottom strap is made of a light brown leather/leather like material. This piece closes in the back with no visible attachments. There is no stitching visible
**Strap has a raised square detail on the front. Detail has a slightly rounded top.

Boots
*Chelsea style boots
*Light brown leather/leather-like material with a stitched piece running over the toe of the boot.
*Inside of the boot ankle has a light gray patch
*Top of the boot is hidden under the shin armor
*No elastics or closure methods can be seen.
**LEVEL 2 – Boots are made from Sketchers Brand – Blaine Orsen boots as a base. Rest of the details are a cover that is attached over this base.


Optional Accessories

Vibro-Boot Knife
*Is inserted into the outside of the right shin armor and only the handle is visible.
*Can be just the handle if permanently attached to the inside of the right shin armor.
*Is blue in color but heavily weather with silver showing.
*Knife is 9 inches in length including the blade.

Amban Sniper Rifle
*Rifle is proportionate to the height of the user. The screen used rifle is approximately 68” long for a 5’11” actor out of kit.
*Rifle is black in color with gold and silver accents.
*Stock of the rifle is brown and made of wood/made to resemble wood.
*Prongs of the rifle are silver in color and are colored to show heavy heat discolorations.
*Body of the rifle has heat discolorations
*Rifle is slightly weathered to closely match screen references.
*Scope can be permanently attached or removable as shown in the show.
*Has a strap connected with a metal buckle. This buckle attaches the rifle the bandolier

Blaster Pistol
*Based on a Bergmann 1896 pistol
*Conical muzzle has a black section that includes the sight. The rest is silver in color
*Sidearm has a black body and a reddish grip.
*Sidearm is weathered and matches visual references in both color and damage.

Beskar Shoulder Armor
*Worn in place of the Right Shoulder Armor listed above.
*Has 6 distinct edges
*Shoulder armor is symmetrical with a single vertical raised ridge top to bottom. The ridge is ½ inch in width.
*Edge of the armor is raised and square.
*Shoulder armor has a groove that follows the bottom 3 edges ¼” from the edging
*Top of the single raised edge has two small rivet details on either side on the vertical
*Shoulder is painted the same uniform dark chrome as the helmet.
*Shoulder has no visible damage or scratches.
*Shoulder has little to no weathering visible for this option.

Went ahead and committed to a resin casting since the person I commissioned is only doing 10 casts, also got the armor lined up to be painted once casting is finished. Helmet will arrive Saturday from Anovos and boots the following week. Things are starting to get exciting!