Shikkakku's Mandalorian Praetorian Guard: Build Thread and WIP

[Shikkakku]

Forearms and Chestplate- Assembly and Strapping



Once the replacement pieces were received, I started on the forearms. First I figured out how much overlap I needed in front and back to fit my forearms and hand. Important thing to note with this Jim kit is that the cover slip attached to the outer side of the forearm (with the squares) goes in front, and the cover slip attached to the smooth side goes on the back.



Once I marked the overlap I wanted, I decided to use velcro on the back, and two part epoxy the front. this will allow for some flex when putting on the piece while keeping it together. This is where a lot of clamps come in handy since its a very long piece and you want to make sure the velcro and epoxy adheres well.



After everything was dried and set a testfit showed good results!


At the same time, I added heavy duty velcro to the new chestpiece (with matching velcro on the yoke, as well as snap plates for the snaps on the 2” webbing at the top of the yoke. I made sure to keep the fuzzy side on the inside of the chestpiece as its what faces the finished side of armour. I might also need to add more once I have a better idea how things sit when I wear them.


At this point, strapping and attachments were practically complete. I could do more test-fitting and fine-tuning but we were getting into Fall here in Canada and my painting window was starting to narrow due to dropping temperatures, so I decided to get started on priming and painting.

[Shikkakku]

Priming and Surface Prep

This phase is the simplest to explain but one of the most time consuming. Essentially the goal is to use filler primer to:

• Establish a surface with a good “key” for the colour coat to bind to.
• But at the same time be smooth to the touch as to not transfer any texture, bumps and imperfections to colour coat.
• Fill in any imperfections (pinholes, small voids) in the fiberglass so it doesn’t show up later.
• Make it easier to see big imperfections to be easily fixed with filler putty.

My filler primer of choice is Rustoleum sandable filler primer in grey, but you can use whatever is available, just make sure it reacts well to whatever your colour coat is.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/rust-o ... 1000655181

My primer protocol is pretty straightforward:

• Clean surface with tack cloth and diluted isopropyl alcohol to remove dust, debris and any contaminants.
• Spray first coat of primer, via two or more light spray passes to avoid runs or drips. Give ample time to dry by following product instructions.
  
• At this point, inspect and fill in any large holes or gaps with spot putty or 2-part body filler.
• Wet sand everything smooth with 320 grit sandpaper. I prefer wet sanding since it keeps dust down and the lubrication provided by the water makes things easier and result in a smoother finish. It’s definitely messier though.
  
  
• Throughout this process, keep an eye for any holes and imperfections missed at previous steps and fix with spot putty. Sand smooth as needed. Bigger gaps will need 2 part body filler and coarser sandpaper to level and smooth it out.
  
  
• Once dry, clean primed surface again with tack cloth and isopropyl, then spray 2nd coat of primer using the same process as above.
  
  
• Finally, sand with 600-800 grit until smooth to the touch. Use your fingers to feel for rough spots where you need to do more sanding. Take care not to do too much sanding and burn through to base material.
• Continue to keep your eyes open for holes and imperfections that need more spot putty or even a 3rd coat of primer.
  
• Repeat until satisfied with the surface. Ensure primer is completely cured before throwing on colour or else you risk poor results.

[Shikkakku]

Safety Red Colour Coat

I am not lying when I say that this phase was the most time consuming and frustrating part of the physical build. From bad paint cans, to paint artifacts that I could not fix, to general anxiety over the winter deadline, I got real close to giving up at this point.

My paint of choice is Rustoleum/Tremclad enamel safety red. The tremclad brand is more easily accessible here in Canada and after testing performed quite similarly to the rustoleum stuff I used for my TLJ-PG

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/tremcl ... 1000481592

My process for colour coat is pretty similar to primer:

• Clean and prep surface with tack cloth and isopropyl immediately prior to colour coat. Mask all velcro, strapping and anything you don't want painted.
• Apply first colour coat with multiple light passes. It is incredibly important to use a light touch as you really don’t want any drips, spatter or orange peeling.
• It was at this point where I started to see “fisheye” artifacts where the paint would literally just be repelled from specific spots during painting.
  
  
  
  
  
• I also started seeing imperfections and small holes that I seemed to miss during primer stage, as well as orange peel and just bad surface texture.
  
  
• While relatively minor and invisible from more than 3’ away, they bothered me enough that I tried everything I could think of to fix them, including sanding down to primer and cleaning with degreaser to attempt to remove the contaminants causing the fisheye.
  
• This helped somewhat but some fisheyes still remained. At that point I put them under “fix later” as they were invisible enough that they could barely be noticed.
• I also figured out that a good way to fix a lot of surface holes is to sand down the colour layer slighty, throw down a layer of primer, and sand the primer down enough so the colour layer shows up again, leaving primer to fill the small holes. Wet-sand smooth with 800-1200 and add another colour coat. This fixed the problem and I was able to achieve a mirror finish even without clearcoat.
  
• I liked the effect so much that I applied it to all my other painted pieces: polish colour layer smooth with 1200 grit wet sanding and apply a 2nd layer of colour. This results in much better colour coverage and a much much smoother surface.
  
  

This was the toughest part of the build, and thankfully once done I only have clearcoat left.

[Shikkakku]

Shin recess for black detail
During colour-coat, I realized I forgot to add the recesses for the black detail at the bottom of the shin. To do so, I determined how high the spats were going to be and I decided where to put the recess above the spats on the outside of the shin. I took a template of the black sticker I am going to use and after tracing it out on the shin I used a dremel to carefully drill out the recess, after which I backed it with an ABS strip glued to the inside using epoxy.

A problem is that the ABS strip is less flexible than the fiberglass of the shin, so when I flex the shin too much the ABS doesnt and breaks the adhesion of the epoxy. Either I’ll have to be careful putting the shin on, or replace the backing with a more flexible material with a more flexible adhesive (e6000, maybe?)

[Shikkakku]

2k Gloss Clearcoat

The final phase of paint, the 2k clear coat is the best and most durable gloss clear coat I know of.

https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/products ... r-glamour/

A couple of notes prior to using this product:

• Proper PPE is a must. At minimum you need ventilation and a repsirator with organic solvent cartridges. Eyepro and gloves are also highly recommended. This stuff is practically aerosolized 2-part resin so you really, really don’t want it in your lungs.
• This stuff is very temperature and humidity sensitive. I used a space heater to keep temps in my garage at 20C and a dehumidifier to try and keep the RH% at <50%. High humidity will mean you will risk spiderwebbing or fogging of clearcoat, and low temps will mean your clearcoat won’t cure properly.
  
• Did I mention PPE?
• Finally, you need a timer of sorts, since each coat of clear needs to flash (ie: all the solvent to vapourize) for 15 minutes before adding another coat. In addition, you need to shake the can for 2 mins prior to, and 2 mins after activation.

My clear coat process:

• Clean surface with tack cloth and isopropyl. Be thorough as small dust particles, hair, etc will show up at clear coat.
• Activate your clear coat can by shaking for 2 mins, using the red activator to press the tab at the bottom of the can, then shake again for 2 mins to mix.
• Apply first coat of clear using a light mist. This will initially look textured and rough but it will even out with subsequent coats.
• Let flash for 15 mins, ideally in a location with ideal temps and humidity.
• Add 2nd coat of clearcoat. Again let flash for 15 mins
• Apply 3rd coat of clear. Leave to dry at a dry, warm place and don’t touch for at least 12 hours, ideally 24hrs.

And that’s it for painting. Overall, all this armour took around 2.5 cans of 2K. I’m very happy with the results, though I think I will give the armour one last polish with 2000-3000 grit and some compound with an electric polisher this winter, to really get that mirror shine.

[Shikkakku]

Armour Black Details

After painting and clear, it was time to start putting everything together! To begin, the black details had to be filled in per screen references. This includes the chest plate, ab belt, the back plate, and the shin right above the ankle.

There are options on how to do this, from paint to stickers. My buddy and myself grabbed some TFA Anovos FOTK stickers from Trooperbay. While not all the stickers fit that well (due to my kit not being Anovos), there were enough extras that I was able to cut stickers to fit. Recommend either making templates to make sure you don’t get the sizes wrong.




To note, the FOTK CRL (from which we took the template from for this costume) doesn’t require the upper-back details to be in black, and since we didn’t really know if the screen costumes had them filled in, we didn’t mandate it for the IPG-CRL. I filled mine in just in case, but its relatively easy to remove if needed.

[Shikkakku]

Attaching the Side Plates

Using the holes I drilled early on, which should hopefully match up to right along the middle of my thighs, it was time to attach the hip plates. To make it look as unified as possible, I decided to cut some ties from the ultrasuede I used for my skirting, easily enough done with a ruler and rotary cutter/scissors. Cut them long so there is enough space to make knots.




I’ll be honest, I just did some crap knots to tie them into loops. It was a frustrating process especially with my sausage fingers. Spacing is approximately 1”-1.5”, but adjust based on oversizing. A tip I got from a friend is to use zip ties to get the spacing correct before you start tying. I’ll probably do that later during readjustments.

[Shikkakku]

Soft Parts: Undersuit and Skirt/Cape

I got my undersuit from Crowprops, and its a one-piece garment where the fabric was a close colour to what we see on screen (so far as we could determine).

Its a bit stretchy, and the texture isn’t as knit as screen used, but it will do. The important part is to make sure that it isn’t too baggy and has the tall collar (“mandarin” style) that we’ve seen. It came quite well fitted already, but I made the following alterations:

• The legs were a bit too baggy and the extra material was causing fitting issues with the shin armour, so I had them tightened up and shortened somewhat.
• I added thumb loops on the wrists and elastic stirrups to the bottom cuff to keep everything in place and to prevent bunching when putting on gloves and boots.
• Added more closures on the neck just because I wanted a more secure closure.

For the skirts, I ended up buying 4 yards of Ultrasuede ST (Scoundrel Red) as I believe it’s the closest to screen used shade, as well as it being the cheapest version of ultrasuede out there.




I handed off construction to my local seamstress here in Hamilton, Ontario (Merike Klaas Designs) who also made my v2 TLJ-Praetorian skirts. We used the same method of construction, with 4 panels of fabric held together by a waistband. Overlaps are per CRL (Front overlaps sides, and sides overlap back.



She made it so that the waistband is folded into the inside of the skirts and thus hidden. The fabric is single-layered and the sides were folded and secured using hem fuse tape, the bond is surprisingly secure.



The cape was made similarly, from a single layer of ultrasuede. We decided to attach it straight to the backplate using 1” velcro, and had to make some adjustments to make sure it was wide enough to cover the back of the ab and look like a cape, while being not too wide that it doesn’t fit properly in the back.



Overall, 4yds was more than enough for all the soft parts, and even had enough to make another cape if needed, so maybe 3.5yds is all that's needed. With that done, time to get everything together for approval photos!

[Shikkakku]

First Suit-up and Approval

With the soft parts completed, I waited for a sunny day to put everything together. This was my first complete suitup and I figured out a few things:

• I definitely need fans in the bucket. I started fogging up immediately after putting it on. Way less ventilation than the TLJ-PG bucket.
• The chestpiece is quite tight, so getting the breastplate secured via snaps can be difficult, as well as when getting the shoulderbells on. I’ll have to figure out a better way to secure the chestpiece, and maybe have the bells attached to the chestplate already while putting it on. The arms can then be slid into the biceps.
• The shoulders needed to be closer to the chestplate. I wasn’t a huge fan of the gap at the top.
• The cape needed a bit more narrowing since it was bunching up at the back, and covering the side plates. Also, the sunlight really changed the colour of the skirts and cape.

After addressing the above changes, I took more photos in my basement with more artificial lighting, with the rationale that we saw the costumes indoors in a facility with articifial lighting, so the colours of the costume will be closer to the colours on-screen.





I was quite happy with these photos (shoutout to my spouse for taking my photos!) and forwarded both sets of photos to my GML. After the CRL was released on December 5, 2023, my costume was reviewed and GML approved it for official use on December 10, 2023!



It’s my honour to be the first Imperial Praetorian Guard in the Canadian Garrison and in Canada, and as far as I know I’m the only Legion member with both variations of Praetorian Guard.

Of course, a costume is never truly “done”, so I have post-approval tasks still to do, most important of which is getting fans in the bucket so I can actually wear the damn thing!

[Shikkakku]

Helmet Fan installation

I am a person who radiates a lot of heat, so I always need to have fans in my bucket. I bought 2x bladeless fans from amazon with JST connectors that can work on 5V (standard USB battery pack voltage), the requisite conenctor hardware, and a slim battery pack since the ones I have didn’t fit in the bucket.



After a sacrificial USB cable, and some simple wiring and soldering later, I had a working fan setup. I ended up not adding a switch because I was

• Lazy
• I didn’t want to try and fit one in, it was already pretty tight.

After blocking out the locations of the fans and battery pack, I installed using heavy duty velcro. I had the fans pointing right at the visor to deal with the fogging issue. Due to space, the only place I could put the battery in was right at top, replacing some padding I had up there. It’s not the most comfortable so maybe I’ll add some foam padding up there for my noggin.


After tying up some wires, I tried it on and I could still see through the eye holes, so everything fits and the bucket is now wearable



Next up, light up electro-bisento!