My Zam Wessel - from bits and pieces to something eventually wearable

[carpe mindiem]

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. 

[cojake]

Awesome Mindie!  Make sure to post progress pics!!

[Jabbasdead]

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.

[carpe mindiem]

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/

[Jabbasdead]

PM sent...

[carpe mindiem]

Greeblies 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. 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. 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 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.

[carpe mindiem]

Round 1 of square dying wasn't too successful. After round 2, I'm much happier with the colors.

[RebelPrincess]

Girl ya got skills! 

[Mosi]

Girl ya got skills! 

Heck yeah she does! I'm very proud of her! 

[RHEBB]

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.

[cojake]

Mindie,  this looking awesome so far.  It will be great to have a Zam in our garrison! 

[Trumby]

Yay progress! I can't wait to see this finished!

[grumpydevil]

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

[tavrikgannon]

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

[Mosi]

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/