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I haven't gone out and bought anything yet (I'm still in the planning stages), but I was wondering a few things as this will be my very first time making a costume. I plan on making a rotj royal guard.

1) I'm 5'1" and my head is about 23" around and its about 7"-ish from my eyes to my shoulders. From what I've heard the Rubies helmet just needs the visor replaced and a potential repaint to match fabric, but since I'm so short I'm concerned it might be too tall for me. Anyone know what I might want to look at for that? I have no experience repainting these kinds of helmets, but if spray paint is an option that seems reasonable to learn.

2) I'll probably be working on this for the better part of the year as budget allows, but so far I plan to work in the order below. Does it look like a pretty good plan, or from your experience do you find its better to do something in a different order:

• gloves
  boots
  inner robes
  sash
  force pike
  outer robes
  helmet

3) I have no experience sewing at all. I'm a quick learner (especially with tasks done by hand) and this doesn't look like it would be terribly difficult to sew anyway. Is it more cost-effecting/worthwhile to simply learn how to sew and do it myself or should I look into a seamstress?

You can also look at a Don Post helmet...they show up online occasionally...they're smaller than most helmets. They do require a bit of work though.

The only negative that I found in a Don post is they tend to warp really bad in the heat. I have one and its been flattened. Resin or Fiberglass will hold their shape better than Vinyl Plastic.

LuciousTalvloinne wrote:The only negative that I found in a Don post is they tend to warp really bad in the heat. I have one and its been flattened. Resin or Fiberglass will hold their shape better than Vinyl Plastic.

That's why I haven't been considering the don post helmet. I'm in louisiana, if there is one thing we have it's heat.

As for a couple of your other questions...

The order in which the costume is put together isn't something that is ever set in stone. The only really major thing to consider is that with fabric, dye lots can vary from batch to batch, so when you buy fabric you are best to get all of what you need and have extra just in case all in one batch so that the colour is consistent. Also, as a point for some thought, the 501st does not require weapons be evaluated as part of the approval process due to varying local laws, so the forcepike could be the last thing you work on after all the other components have been put together.

As to sewing the costume.... this costume may look easy to sew, but I can assure you that it isn't something for a beginner to tackle. There are options out there (hiring a seamstress, purchasing robes, etc), but I would not advise anyone who is not a skilled sewer in custom making their own robes and cloak as their first project to teach them how to sew.

I personally did my forcepike first after ordering my robes and helmet. I made my own forcepike so I wanted to be connected to it (kinda like a Jedi building his lightsaber I guess). My first one was from a 4' pool cue, some pvc, and sink parts mostly. Cost me less than $20 and took a handful of days to put it together.

The order, as already said is not set in stone. What helped my decide what order to do things in was how I was going to acquire my helmet.

If you are going to get a finished product, ready to wear out of the box (these are not as common as the raw buckets), then what you would want to do is start with the helmet and match the color of the robes to it (given that the helmet shows up in the correct color...)

If you are getting a raw helmet and working on it, then I would recommend starting with either the outer velvet color and finding a paint to match it, or getting the right color paint and hunting down the right shade of velvet. (One of these options is easier than the other...)

Inner robe and lining for the outer don't matter as much, because the only have to match each other.


On the note of sewing it, the lining complicates things a whole bunch. It's possible, my robes are hand-sew, but it was a major headache creating patterns for everything and getting it all to work.



Good luck with your build!!!

When it comes down to it... It is ultimately MUCH easier to match paint for your helmet to the colour of your fabric than it is to match fabric to the colour of paint. Most fabric stores will only have one or two shades of red velvet/velveteen in stock at any given time unless you have access to a specialty market in your area. In all honesty, I would NEVER recommend anyone to try and match fabric to a paint colour as it becomes a hunt for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

As to the inner robes and obi belt mentioned in the previous post, they need to match each other in colour, but depending on the version you choose, may also need to match the gloves. The fabric needs to be a heavy, bottom weight fabric that will hang and drape the same as the velvet/velveteen for the outer shell of the cloak. A lightweight fabric will not do this properly and will cause grief hen not only fitting, but also when wearing the costume.

Understanding I am still working on my robes, I chose to start with my thawb as when I sew up the outer robes they will be draped and fitted over the correct under garments. I'm waiting to work on my helmet for when the weather gets nicer here in Seattle.

Hopefully you have some luck with the weather. If you can, you'll want to try to check out Emerald City Comic Con as I know that Garrison Titan (your local garrison) will be there.