Mike's Cad Bane

[CadBane3]

Very productive day off today with Josh Scott. Was able to address some of the issues that were brought to my attention after my initial post. I made the plates on the back of my shoes larger so that they were more accurate with the character:

20171102_131715 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

I might hit them with a bit more paint to get them to where I like them, but I think the sizing is much more accurate now.

I was also able to convince Josh to utilize some of his artistic skills to get my satchel to where I liked it. This thing looks amazing in person and I still can't believe I made it!

20171102_133047 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

20171102_132034 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Lastly, I hit my blasters with some silver paint as I was advised that they were too dark, which was quite correct.

Here they were before:

20171030_174049 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

And here they are now:

20171102_133109 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Lastly, I added some wood glue on top of the Worbla for my breather so that I can repaint it and it will be much smoother. That is still drying and will need painting tomorrow.

Pretty good day of progress but much to still do, like making chaps! Never thought I would say that out loud...

[jj49]

wow! This looks so good and what a great WIP thread!  Nice work!

[CadBane3]

At the advice of Nightshine, I primed my breathing canister with wood glue and repainted it. I had originally hit it with a spray of plasti-dip, but she has educated me on this and with Worbla, you really need to use wood glue or Gesso to get it smoothed out and ready to paint. One step I missed!

Here it was before, rough, bumpy, and with poor lighting!

20171008_160745 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

And now its nice and smooth and deserves much better lighting:

20171103_154437 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Great success! Although I may pour over the reference material again to see if my paint looks good and retouch it if not. Is any part ever truly "done?"

I'm really happy with how this is turning out so far. A few more (very large and intimidating) pieces of the puzzle left to go. Got my jacket and duster and have removed the zipper that came with the light jacket and am adding hooks and eyes on the inside for closure. I also need some other major alterations and will need a lot of paint, or dye, to get both parts where I think they will be appropriate. I'm still not convinced it will work but it was the best option at the time. I may still end up at Tandy with credit card in hand asking for a whole hollow cow. Just hopeful it doesn't come to that.

The chaps are still in the planning phase. When you have to order leather (pleather?) pants from China, you really want to make sure you measure multiple times and cut once. Making a mistake at this point would lead to another 30-60 day wait for the next pair to arrive, something I want to avoid. I also want to take my time with the dye to make sure that they will work. Never used dye before so that's a bit intimidating. Just want to make sure that the color is right and transitions as seen on the character. It may end up being a combination of dye and paint to get the final effect.

I have been told that I am next in line for a Chris Stephens Creations Cad Bane mask and hands. Yeah, I already have a mask, but since I was ordering the hands... (this is part of the reason that I'm out of money)... Or more specifically, since I was ordering the fingertips (which is really the part I need)... His hands come with molded on gloves but those need to be leather, so I will have to manufacture my own gloves. Ideally, the ones I make can fit tightly over the Chris Stephens hands without the under layer showing so that I don't have to cut up the masterpieces. We will have to see once I receive them.

Lastly, I am still waiting for the gauntlets that I had 3d printed. Hopeful that they will fit, be accurate, and more importantly, be something I don't have to start over on. I have lots of 3mm craft foam and Worbla just in case they turn out to be total junk. Fingers crossed that they are not.

Once those major items are completed, I think I'm ready to suit up and see what tweaks will be needed. Stay tuned!

[MissyThing]

So cool!! Thanks for posting it all.


Sent from the Jedi Temple

[CadBane3]

Not a huge update today, but a lot of small items over the weekend. First, zippers didn't exist a long time ago, so the zipper in my jacket had to go and these hooks and eyes had to be installed for an internal, invisible closure:

20171105_143728 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

20171105_143736 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Of course, having torn out the zipper, my coat now has nothing holding the two layers shut:

20171105_143755 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

So, another weekend run to JoAnn to see what they have and I came up with this:

20171105_143803 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Says it works on leather and none of the other bottles said that, so I figured I'd give it a try.

20171106_131407 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Seems to have worked. Don't mind the current colors, everything is going to change as I get rolling on work on this jacket.

So, since I was out and there's a nearby Parkrose Hardware, I decided to walk around aimlessly until I was hit with inspiration for jacket greeblies! I found these:

20171105_144443 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

The plan was to cut the cork down to size, place it inside the O-ring, and then Worbla all of it together so that they could be the circular disks that attach to the front of the jacket (waist section).

20171105_144916 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

So, I made 4 of them!

20171105_151056 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

But then inspiration hit me. The jacket already has metal snaps as the closure, and, now kiddos, what is attracted to metal? MAGNETS!!! So, I decided to scrap what I had done (which will be used later) and go a different route:

20171105_151443 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Beautiful magnets in the middle! Pro tip, based on my error, when using Worbla to secure a magnet to the middle, use wood, not a screwdriver to form your Worbla. Learned from experience that the magnet is stronger than warm Worbla and it really wants out!

This time, I remembered to wood glue them for smoothness:

20171105_171435 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Then some silver and black paint and here they are placed about where they will go. May end up gluing them as I'd hate to lose them in the midst of hunting a bounty, but they magnet in place pretty well for now!

20171106_131425 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

The jacket also has 4 greeblies with arrows attached, so, since the prior method seems to have worked well, I continued on my path and started cutting the Worbla:

20171106_133702 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

I cut out the cork and reused the prior 4 parts, inserting a magnet instead:

20171106_134622 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

This is about what they will look like when they are in place:

20171106_134931 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

A little wood glue and paint and they are ready to go!

20171106_151937 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Next up, I'll probably be painting the jacket and duster the right colors and then starting on my chaps... More to come!

[Mosi]

KILLING IT! So awesome!

[CadBane3]

Thanks everybody for the positive encouragement thus far! It really does keep me going. Couple of really difficult parts coming up so feel free to continue to chime in! Thanks all!

[CadBane3]

Well, two steps forward but this time only a half step back. I initially bought a pair of cheap jeans at Kohl's for the base of my chaps, but damn, if they weren't just the most comfortable pair of jeans I'd ever bought! So, I kept them (and am wearing them now) and then found an even cheaper pair of jeans at Ross. So, these will be the upper part of my chaps:

20171107_100112 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Then, I started looking at and working with the leather/pleather pants that I bought for the lower, chaps part. They came with additional seams near the knees that I'm pretty sure aren't supposed to be there, so they probably won't work, but what the heck, it's not like I'm going to wear them clubbing...

20171107_100051 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

So, I started to cut them up and came up with a pretty good pattern for what part of them would make up the lower chaps:

20171107_101543 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

My initial thought was to use this fabric dye to get the lower half the dark red that they need to be and then I could do the same with blue for the top half and then transition the two in the middle:

20171107_101740 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

But it came out pretty light red. Not a problem, per se, because I can acrylic over them to make them work.

20171107_131358 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

But since the top of the pants needs to transition to a darker blue, I went ahead and just ordered a different pair in blue that shouldn't have the weird stitching on the knees and I am hopeful they will work. But, alas, customs. They are stranded in San Francisco trying to make their way to me, so progress has once again halted. The plan is to use the red on the bottom half and transition the colors as shown on the character. I am hopeful that it will work.

In the mean time, because idle hands and all, I started painting my duster and light jacket. They are coming along pretty well, but may need to have some finishing touches once I can complete the whole ensemble:

20171107_110456 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

So, finally, I feel like I have enough progress that I can share a poorly lit selfie!

20171107_133502 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Keep in mind, I still need my gauntlets (supposed to be received next week), I still need my hands (supposed to be in production shortly), I still need the gloves (will have to make those but want the hands first so I can determine the size of the glove to use, and I still need to complete the chaps. Then, I think I'm pretty close to just dialing everything in and submitting for feedback. Anyway, thoughts are welcome. Thanks all!

[CadBane3]

One last thing for today. Today I had a mail call and received some words of encouragement and swag from Cad Bane herself!!! Nightshine has been watching my progress and helping me when I get stuck. She is one of only 2-3 approved Cad Banes in the legion, and I am truly blessed that she has been available for my questions. Anyway, just wanted to share how totally amazing she is:

20171117_153321 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Gonna have to send her some swag back. Anyway, that's all for now...until my chaps get past customs!

[Beckett]

Really cool man! Thanks for sharing that.

[Pixelito]

Hot damn! This is looking incredible! 

[nukem25rs]

that is just awesome!!!

[CadBane3]

Hello all! Another very small update as I continue to work on the chaps. As noted before, I had already purchased the white pleather pants in hopes of making them work, as I could dye them and paint them. They came with odd seams at the knees and the more I think of them, the more I'm convinced that they just won't work. Well, I had already cut them, so I may as well work with some dye to get experience and see if maybe I could at least use them as a "proof of concept." So, I purchased some blue spray dye:

20171119_112903 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

And hit them with a first layer to get the blue parts started:

20171119_114107 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Now a disclaimer, or pro tip... I call it that because I make stupid mistakes sometimes. Some, like this one, are funny. Others kind of suck. So, if you are using spray dye, perhaps build an area where overspray can safely go... Oops.

20171119_114308 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

It's not like the kids used the skateboard ramp anymore anyway... The bush and fence don't seem like they will forgive me any time soon...

Anyway, so after the blue dried, I used the previous red to hit the bottom portion.

20171120_131008 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Once the dye was on, I used a paper towel to brush it so that it wasn't uniform as the character has more of a slow fade in his lower chaps and that's what I'm going to need to use acrylic to do, but may as well see what I can do while I'm working with the dye.

After drying, they ended up like this:

20171121_133347 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

I'm pretty happy with them and I believe after some dark charcoal or black acrylic paint drybrushed on, they could be perfect. But, those darn seams on the knees. So, I went ahead and found another pair of pleather pants and this time I chose a blue color. I waited about a month for these to arrive and when they did, the CENSORED things have CENSORED elastic all down the CENSORED legs and they look like total CENSORED!!!

20171121_133417 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

So, I did what any reasonable adult would do. I balled them up and threw them in the corner of my office and then I wept. I wept and there was a general gnashing of teeth, along with expletive laden cursing. You get the point. Once I chilled and put on my big boy pants, I started to look at them. Low and behold, the elastic was simply sewn on the inside seam and could be popped out with a seam ripper! So, after one hour of hunched over work, I was hallway there!

20171121_141220 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Then a second hour passed. Work from my actual job piling up on my work computer, but I was a man obsessed, I needed to work on pleather pants and nothing would stop me!!! I ended up with this, which is what it looked like when I ordered them.

20171121_144910 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

Used the prior pair as a template and cut off the sections I would need:

20171121_145834 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

And, just like that, I need to go to JoAnn and get more red fabric dye. Once I spray the bottom, I can work the acrylic and if I like what I see, I can start looking at sewing them to the jeans base and see if they will work. I will say, that they are quite tight on my calves (which are breathtakingly muscular by the way, thanks for noticing...), so I am hopeful that they will work as the character's pants are form fitting and not very baggy. I think they will work just fine and just need a bit more work, but they are on the way.

Also, I have a bonus pair of summer shorts that are now free to a good home! Any takers?

20171121_145842 by Michael Halstead, on Flickr

[carpe mindiem]

   Best update post ever! "I was a man obsessed, I needed to work on pleather pants and nothing would stop me!!!"

[nukem25rs]

lol! your pleather obsession amazes me....