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I've been meaning to put this up for a while now, been slowly getting parts since January and since I'm almost done I figured I should actually post it up.
Why this costume?:
I've been a huge fan of the X-Wing series of novels and comics since I was a young teen and have always found the references and stories linked to Baron Fel and his 181st pilots to be some of the most interesting. When thinking about which version of the TIE pilot to do, I looked into Baron Fel's background and that of the 181st, and it only got better. I still maintain one of the greatest games ever is TIE Fighter, from many years ago. Well in my research I discovered that according to later sources, the main character of the game (the one you play as) Maarek Stele, becomes a part of the 181st. Not to mention both Fel and Stele become member's of the Emperor's Hand, and that the 181st fly one of the coolest starfighters in the galaxy, TIE Interceptor. Really, in the end, I had no choice!
What went right?:
I can't think of anything that has gone horribly wrong. I did get a little nervous when I returned home one day and my helmet had not been delivered like I had expected, only to find out about 20 minutes later, that my elderly neighbour had taken the delivery for me rather than having the guy take it back to the post office. That had me breathing a sigh of relief when I opened it and it was all okay. And was taken aback by the quality of the bucket itself, it really is a great piece of work.
The very first item I received was my boots, and upon taking them to work to show Zombie.td my boss loved them so much he told me I could wear them for my work shift that night. I spent much time being amused as I click-clacked through the shopping centre on breaks, thanks to the metal caps on the bottom of the heels.
What went wrong?:
Aside from my own laziness causing delays, very little. Aside from trying to decipher the CRL and work off of the admittedly limited and quite varied reference pictures (although its still better than some), being able to see the completed builds of some other pilots has been a great help in this regard.
The Flightsuit was slightly larger than necessary, due to me over-compensating for the knowledge that it didn't come pre-shrunk. So after shrinkage it fits much better, but is still a little long in the torso which may require alteration. Also, the cogs that come with it need replacing to higher quality ones, but that wasn't something I was already aware of.
The only other issue is that its been hard to find grey webbing for the flight harness. Currently I've acquired black and white webbing and will experiment with dyes and bleach to see if that works, otherwise I'll probably have to look into shipping some in from international.
Special Notes:
Nearing the end of my build I happened to acquire an SDS TIE Helmet, which I was overjoyed about. So now instead of getting a second TIE Helmet and making my current one a display piece (it is seriously that nice) I've now got something even better for the display... now to upgrade my display cabinet to do it justice.
CRL Requirements:
TIE Helmet - ACQUIRED
Imperial Flight Suit - ACQUIRED
Standard Black Officer's Belt - ACQUIRED
Standard Black Boots - ACQUIRED
Standard Black Gauntlet Style Gloves - ACQUIRED
Standard Black Balaclava - ACQUIRED
Grey Flak Vest - ACQUIRED
Fel Style Chest Box - ACQUIRED (Type A)
Grey Nylon Mesh Flight Harness - ACQUIRED
Black or Grey Chest Box Harness - ACQUIRED
Q & A:
Q: What about the red stripe?
A: 10 metres of 7/8" red ribbon from Lincraft. Some iron on fabric adhesive from spotlight. And some red thread. Pictures will be added when its done. Need to put on the new cogs first, so waiting on them.
Photo's below...
This post has been edited by Sorbin: 19 June 2011 - 03:03 PM
