Star Wars Oregon
Public Information => The Imperial Cantina => Topic started by: carpe mindiem on November 28, 2009, 02:37:46 PM
-
So far, so good. Soooo much left to do (and buy).
I have the purple neoprene for the body suit and a pattern to use to sew it, but having never sewn clothing from scratch before, I'm not sure whether I'll attempt it or just hire a seamstress to make it for me.
Yesterday and today, I cut up one double shoulder of leather into strips and then cut those strips into 192 individual rectangles for the skirt. Forgot to get an oval punch for the threading holes, so I can't start dying until I get that and make 4 holes on each rectangle. Geesh.
I won an auction on eBay for boots with the right sole. They're going to need some major modifications. Should be fun. (And that's the only time I'll ever buy Prada boots--I can promise you that.)
I got my blaster kit the other day. Need to do some finishing/sanding work and then paint and assemble. It's a nice looking gun.
A set of 14 greeblies are on order and should arrive in the next month or so.
I won't even list the things I have yet to attempt to track down because it might make me cry. This is one huge undertaking, but I guess I knew that from the start. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for an unexpected bonus at work to help pay for this madness I've succumbed to. :lol:
-
Awesome Mindie! Make sure to post progress pics!!
-
if you need help my friend down at the Golden Gate garrison has done a really nice Zam. She does great work, if you have a question you could ask her.
-
Jabba, it'd be great to get her e-mail. I know I'll have questions, and it would be great to have a contact.
For anyone interested, I'm going to try to track my full progress on my Comcast website. You can check it out here: http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/site/
-
PM sent...
-
Greeblies (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/greeblies.jpg) arrived last week. They look cool. I haven't done anything other than look at them; they'll need some cleaning up and maybe some weathering before they're ready to go.
Last weekend I cut the lace for threading the skirt squares (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/lace.jpg). The lace cutter tool took some getting used to, and it was hard for me to get it started, but once it caught hold and started cutting, it was actually pretty easy.
But the real reason I'm updating this thread is to celebrate the completion of the punching of four holes on each of those 192 leather skirt squares (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/squares.jpg). Holy cow. I've been pounding away at those buggers (that's my nice name for them) for the last month or so in short spurts because it's so loud (I had to wear my earmuff hearing protectors) and it hurts my shoulder after awhile. Now as long as I don't totally hose the coloring on these things and have to cut new ones, I am DONE hammering those holes!
And here's (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/blaster.jpg) a picture of the unfinished blaster since I didn't post it before.
Next step will probably be the coloring of the squares and lace.
-
Round 1 of square dying wasn't too successful. After round 2, I'm much happier with the colors.
(http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/squares2.jpg)
-
Girl ya got skills! 8)
-
Girl ya got skills! 8)
Heck yeah she does! I'm very proud of her! :dancechewie:
-
Very Nice! There is a women that has a Zam costume from Garrison Titan in Seattle that is spot on, you can see her pictures on their web site. Look at the picture from Emerald City Comic Con.
-
Mindie, this looking awesome so far. It will be great to have a Zam in our garrison! :dancechewie:
-
Yay progress! I can't wait to see this finished! :D
-
Awesome, Mindie! I think they look great so far. Do you guys have the Dressing A Galaxy book? If not, I have one you can borrow...
-Kyle
-
I've been known to cheat on my leather working.... I've used a drill to punch holes in the leather and it works out great. No need for hearing protection, the job gets done quicker and you are more apt to havea sore finger from depressing the drill trigger for long periods of time, as opposed to sore shoulders, and such.
Did you cut each individual square out and then drill them? I know that Tandy has some premade leather squares for doing leather armor scales - both in large and small sizes. Although, those tend to have holes cut out in other places than just the four corners.
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/search/site+search+results.aspx?sectionpath=3&processor=content&p_keyword=armor
Not that it matters, since you put in the work (which looks awesome, by the way).
Good job!
- Bill
-
I've been known to cheat on my leather working.... I've used a drill to punch holes in the leather and it works out great. No need for hearing protection, the job gets done quicker and you are more apt to havea sore finger from depressing the drill trigger for long periods of time, as opposed to sore shoulders, and such.
Did you cut each individual square out and then drill them? I know that Tandy has some premade leather squares for doing leather armor scales - both in large and small sizes. Although, those tend to have holes cut out in other places than just the four corners.
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/search/site+search+results.aspx?sectionpath=3&processor=content&p_keyword=armor
Not that it matters, since you put in the work (which looks awesome, by the way).
Good job!
- Bill
There are 6 different sizes... you can read about it here http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/site/?/page/Zam_Skirt/
-
Do you guys have the Dressing A Galaxy book? If not, I have one you can borrow...
I've heard about that book, but no, we don't have a copy. I'd *love* to borrow it.
Did you cut each individual square out and then drill them?
I did cut them all, as Marc mentioned, since they had to be all different sizes. I felt kinda dumb after I was done rotary cutting them when it occurred to me that I could have used the strap cutter for that part, too. Oh well.
Marc asked the other day if I would consider making other skirts to sell after my costume is all done. Uh, no way! I wish I'd kept track of how long this took me. So far, the skirt alone has to have been at least 20 hours. That's a conservative estimate. I still have to go over all surfaces of each square and the lacing with the sealer, which I'm sure will take hours, and then lacing the thing takes 3-4+ hours from what I've read. Aside from all that, I don't want to make it easier for a bunch of Zam's to be running around. I want something unique. 8)
-
Do you guys have the Dressing A Galaxy book? If not, I have one you can borrow...
I've heard about that book, but no, we don't have a copy. I'd *love* to borrow it.
I own it ^_^! As long as ya take care of it I'm totally cool with letting you borrow it,
-
Mindie that looks awesome!I'm getting more and more excited to see the finish outfit,it's gonna be awesome!!! :mrgreen:
-
Here's the fruit of my labor all day today:
(http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/skirtlaced1.jpg)
That's less than half the lacing I have to do, since I still need to go back up each column and then finish off the ends.
I started trying to lace on Friday and Saturday, got 3 hours and 4 columns into it before I realized I was doing it all wrong. So I pulled those laces out and started over today. Once I got it figure out, it took 15-20 minutes to go down each column (15 of them). Going back up will be slower since I'll have to use a needle or some other implement to fit the lace back through all the previously laced holes. I think the 3-4 hour estimate for the lacing was bunk--it'll take way longer!
The laces hanging out at the top will get tied into a belt that gets hidden by the cummerbund I have yet to even think about.
It's really cool having a part of this costume that is starting to look like a final product. :)
-
Zam is one of my favorite female characters from the movies and I can't wait to see this costume finished. So far its looking really good from what I have seen, and you are doing an excellent job. Only question I have, are you going to make or buy her rifle ? Its such a cool gun.
-
No rifle for now. Once I'm finished with the whole costume, I'll probably move on to the rifle.
-
I've been working on lacing back up the columns, getting only two or three done each day before my fingers couldn't take any more. I got five columns done yesterday and the final end lacing done tonight. 17 columns: 20 minutes going down each + 25 minutes threading back up each = over 12 hours of finger-numbing work.
Here's a picture of the nearly finished skirt on top of my bodysuit fabric. (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/skirtlaced2.jpg)
It'll hang up now for a few days so that it's weight can stretch out the lace, and then I'll retighten as needed. The final step will be to make a belt and tie the ends to it. I'm sooooo happy to have this piece done!
-
Been a while since we've seen an update. Has there been any progress on this.
I can't wait to see it all finished up.
-
I painted a bunch of greeblies awhile back. Besides that and just receiving more parts, I haven't done much. One of these days I'll take my fabric over to the seamstress to see what it'll take to make the undersuit. I still need to acquire materials for and determine how to make the cumberbund and vest. That's the big stuff that's still completely outstanding.
-
I dropped off my fabric with a seamstress yesterday. In a few weeks, after a couple of fittings, I'll have my body suit.
Today we got some supplies at Oregon Leather Co. and I painted my boots. I still need to figure out how I want to hack them up (they're too tall and really hard to get on and off because they're so narrow). They get mostly covered up, so the leftover olive color at the top will either get cut off or will be completely covered by my shin armor.
Click to see picture of boots (http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/boots.jpg)
-
It was a productive weekend for Zam.
1. Finished the skirt. Belt is done, and it's ready to wear.
(http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/skirtfinished.jpg)
2. Worked on the chest and stomach armor. I need to find some way to cut out those letters on the upper plate of the chest armor before I paint it. The engraver attachment I got for the Dremel is too thin in diameter for our Dremel to grip. Annoying! I'm not sure I like the color of the back piece of the stomach armor. I might redo that.
(http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/chestmockup.jpg)
3. Started on the leather that covers most of the boot that won't be covered by shin or toe armor. My sewing machine doesn't want to sew the strip on to the bigger piece, so gluing it to the boot is on hold until I figure out what to do about that.
(http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem/Pics/Zam/lacecovers.jpg)
More details and pics here: http://home.comcast.net/~mindiem
-
I'm bringing this project back from the dead.
I finally gave in to the truth that my boots were too small, so a couple weeks ago I got a new pair on ebay that's a size bigger and has elastic on the sides for much easier putting on and taking off. I deglazed and painted the boots, and I cut out and painted new boot covers this afternoon. Everything's drying right now before I sew the boot cover parts together and then glue them onto the boots. Pics to come.
A lady who's been building a Zam for YEARS decided to stop and she sold off all the parts she had, so I got the leather and other bits for the cummerbund and some stuff for the vest from her.
I have the top of my undersuit from the seamstress. I need to go back and try on the pants again. The last time I was there, they were way too big and baggy, so she's making them tighter. But that's close to being done.
The only major things left are getting the leather for the vest, constructing the vest and cummerbund, and doing something about the super-small helmet that won't fit on my head. Marc's helping out on assembling my blaster. There's still lots of painting and weathering to do. And I'll have to come up with some contraptions for holding everything in place. At least the finished skirt still looks good! :grin:
-
SWEET! I saw this thread about you making Zam and I was like, "YES!!!! Awesome!!!" I'm making a Jango and it should be done in a couple months. It will be nice to have a "business partner". If anyone comes dressed as a senator from Naboo, we'll know what to do. :twisted:
-
If anyone comes dressed as a senator from Naboo, we'll know what to do. :twisted:
You probably won't have to worry about that since she is the only current Senator Padme with the base/garrison. It may be kind of hard to wear two costumes at once! HAHA!
-
So instead she just has to worry about her former business partner shooting her when she wears the Padme outfit instead of the Zam Wessel one ;)
-
Dangit! Now I have to scap my Padme build :cry:
-
Looks like I will have a complete roster for my bounty hunter photo shoot I have been wanting to do. I've been wanting to get all of our BH's together at my HIC poker table and do some cool professional photos. Looks like we would be able to have Boush, Boba, Dengar, Jango ( In Feb ) and now.... Zam!
Let me know as you get closer. I think we can get some great photos going
-
My Jango has the potential to be done in a couple days, but that won't happen because I'm having to wait for everything to arrive. Everything except the official Kenneth Cole pit crew boots should arrive anytime. My flak jacket, chest/collar/should/ab armor, and flight suit should be done and here no later than February...hopefully sooner, but the guy building it gave himself 10-12 weeks build time. Once that gets here, I can piece together everything.
Let's hope for sooner rather than later! 8)
-
Check the blaster off the list. The instructions were total crap, so I put it together with my own engineering.... just trying to figure out why I have so many extra pieces? haha! jk.
Painted bits.. that's a machined aluminum, 3 part barrel assembly btw.
(http://www.daxsys.net/ccg/zam/blaster1.jpg)
All together..
(http://www.daxsys.net/ccg/zam/blaster2.jpg)
the muzzle detail
(http://www.daxsys.net/ccg/zam/blaster3.jpg)
I'm also starting to work on the chest armor engraving... totally time consuming.
(http://www.daxsys.net/ccg/zam/armor.jpg)
-
Well done!
-
That KYD-21 looks SWWWEEEEET!