Blackthorpe's Wrecker Build

[Blackthorpe]

With the Bad Batch having premiered, I am sure there will be a lot of these builds coming. I'm just getting started on the planning and collecting data. Wrecker will be my second clone after Old Rex from Rebels.

So far I have ordered the helmet from Galactic Armory, and will get the armor 3D files from him when he has them ready. So, yeah... not very far along.

[Blackthorpe]

Here is information I collected from the Cosplay Command Center on StarWars.com:

“All four members of the Bad Batch wear custom armor,” Plunkett says, but the gear is unified with the same basic pieces sourced from a standard Republic Commando kit, like the armor worn by Republic Commandos like Gregor or Scorch. And the underlying bodysuit is a match for the standard-issue clone bodysuit in both color and material.

“Unlike the white armor worn by the regular GAR troops, the Clone Force 99 armor has large areas of exposed metal on it,” Plunkett says, with shades of dark grey and a burgundy ‘Republic Red’ forming the accent colors on each Bad Batch member’s kit. “The dark grey paint can have a slight metallic quality,” Plunkett notes, “but it should be subtle and ideally a visibly different finish to the raw gunmetal sections of armor. The red paint and ‘99’ skull emblem would be a dull/matte finish to suggest a lot of wear and exposure to the elements.”

“For those Bad Batch members that carry a backpack, there are small incandescent blue and red buttons that can add some interest to the back,” Plunkett notes. “If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, the Republic Commando blasters favored by Hunter and Wrecker could magnetically snap to the side of the backpack. In theory this would be true of Crosshair’s rifle too but it’s a large weapon so making the magnetic attachment work practically would call for some intense problem solving!”

"And finally, the boisterous bruiser Wrecker. To achieve Wrecker’s physique, armor should be shaped to insinuate the hulking muscles beneath. His specialized helmet includes a rough white scheme that suggests a skull with tusks at the chin. Beneath, the ravages of war have left his left eye a milky white and left behind a web of scar tissue wrapped around his tattered left ear.

“The sheath on Wrecker’s leg for his knife is meant to be rigid and constructed of the same material as the surrounding shin armor,” Plunkett notes of the detail. “There’s certainly room for creative license here, though, and it could be a dark grey pleather or even canvas fabric. I’ve always enjoyed it when fans interpret our animated characters back out into the real world and adapt aspects of a character’s design to work on a more practical level.”"

There's some great information there for all four of the Bad Batch members, except Echo, and the downloadable PDFs with all of the different angles and details is super helpful. I will be using the Wrecker PDF extensively on my build.

[1nfern0]

Awesome! I like that Disney is providing ref now. It's so handy, I hope that they'll do it for more characters in the future.

[Blackthorpe]

Agreed. Those detailed references are awesome!

Ok, got some new parts in!

Suspenders and velcro were delivered yesterday, and a utility belt will be delivered today. Yeah, those are just basically accessories to help keep things together and up. More excitingly, my Galactic Armory helmet was delivered on Friday, and my boots from Crowprops arrived today. The helmet was broken upon arrival, but it was basically along a print line so it was easy to fix. I don't have pics, but I glued it together and once I get some bondo on it, you won't even be able to tell that there was an issue. Anyway, here are some pictures:

20210529_002147 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

20210529_002018 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

20210529_001957 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

20210601_145946 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

I ordered some of this 3D Print Paste (https://labyeti.com/products/white-3d-print-paste) to try out. I'll see how it works on the helmet, and then bondo some of the deeper lines and such.

[Blackthorpe]

Wrecker progress today! Sanded off almost all of the 3D print putty, which did not work very well, then hit it with a heavy coat of filler primer. Gave the primer a good sanding, then hit the raw edges with some bondo putty. I'll let that sit tonight, then sand and repeat filler primer and bondo and more sanding until it's all nice and smooth. I'm pretty sure all of my neighbors think of me as the crazy Star Wars guy, always out there on my patio painting and sanding another helmet.

20210605_195221 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210605_195244 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210605_195300 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210605_195322 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

Oh, also picked up some paint for the helmet/armor and wood dowels for the DC-17m kit that should be delivered on Monday. Still need to figure out what color to paint that; seems almost a brown color, different from his armor.

[Blackthorpe]

Last night I assembled the DC-17m, and that is a beast of a blaster! It's not 100% accurate to Wrecker's blaster, but it'll do. It is also huge! I can't get my hand all the way around the grip.

2021-06-07_07-29-14 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

Bigger news is I just got in on a preorder with Walt's Trooper Factory for Wrecker's armor. He told me his loose timeline is about 6 months.

[Blackthorpe]

Wrecker is coming along! It seems like a lot of black, but most of it will be covered with white. Can't decide if I want to scuff it up before I put down the white or after.

20210613_173513 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210613_173544 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210613_173558 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210613_173608 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

[Blackthorpe]

This came out way better than I expected! All freehand (though I did draw out the 99 with a pencil first). Only took two tries to get the top teeth right, and everything else was super smooth.

20210614_195458 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210614_195436 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210614_195423 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210614_195358 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210614_195330 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

I think I'm going to do the weathering a bit differently on this one. Instead of roughing it up with sandpaper and scratches, I think I'm going to dry brush the damage on. Hopefully it'll come out cool, and the nice thing is that if it doesn't it'll be easy to wash off and go the other route.

[CJ49er]

very cool helmet, nice work!

[1nfern0]

That's looking great!

[NavySith]

Looking good


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[Blackthorpe]

Thanks, all!

Did a little bit of sandpaper weathering. I wasn't so sure when I did it, but looking at it today I'm happier with it. Need to do some more weathering, including some dark wash, which I think will help darken up some of those still-too-clean spots.

I did try drybrushing the weathering and it just wasn't working for me.

20210615_210748 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210615_210757 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210615_210808 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210615_210817 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210615_210827 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

[Blackthorpe]

After about a ton of hot glue to hold the lenses in, this bad boy is done! Now I just need to wait six months or so for the armor to come in....

20210617_181255 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210617_181305 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210617_181317 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210616_193600 by blackthorpe, on Flickr
20210616_193716 by blackthorpe, on Flickr

I may have to redo the lenses. Right now, they are practically right up against my face, and pointy at the bottom. Before I put them in, I could do the Wrecker head nod and drop the helmet down from on top of my head, but now it gets stuck (and hurts) when I try.

[NavySith]

Looks good

[Blackthorpe]

Looks good

Thank you!