Sculpting a Imperial Galactic Marine from scratch

Hey everyone,

So I've been wondering why in the heck I haven't posted this thread here seeing as how I've been posting it EVERYWHERE else. My apologies, I feel bad for not doing this sooner.

Anyway, some of you may already know that I've been working on this project for a while now (which partly explains why I've been so crazy busy this last year), but for those of you who don't, sit back grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

I've long been aspiring to build a GM (cause I just love that costume) and after a short stint with sculpting Mando/Boba Fett armor, I feel comfortable enough to move forward with this project.

I've LONG looked at doing this costume, but until recently have felt confident in attempting a complete scratch sculpt/build of the armor...I've attempted, to the best of my abilities, to stay as true as possible to the screen caps while balancing a real world feel/practicality to the look of the armor. As we all know in the clone world, that's a difficult thing to do. Here's a look at the 360 turnaround and a few others for reference for those of you not familiar with this costume





First up were the shins:
I've sculpted these with my own body style in mind while trying to stay true to the original movie stills as much as possible (cause I'm anal like that ) I cut these out and taped them together to try them on...granted these are not KC boots that they're sitting on so keep that in mind (I'll be getting a set soon to put them on to see where they're at), but so far I'm very pleased with the results and the look.

This set is pre assembled to my foot as a seamless cut cause I wanted to see how they look slipped on like a sock. These have quite a bit more of a slender/curved look which was what I was shooting for. The first pics you'll see are of the first attempt at a narrow set. I've also sculpted a wider set per the recommendation of others over on CT

So without boring you any further, please take a look at the pics below

Pics of the narrow set











Here's some pics of the wide set (please ignore the chicken legs )
Boot armor courtesy of MB

And here's a few shots of the wide vs. narrow side by side for comparison:


These knees I actually made a few years back, but here they are anyway for the sake of the thread




And here's the latest addition to the family, the chest.








I did a preliminary test pull for a master and was fairly pleased with the results...still got a few nitpicky things to do to it, but they're minor so shouldn't take long.

Hope to have this done by the end of the week. Take a look:


Here's a test fit with me wearing V1

Barry over on CT informed me that the arch on the flat area was too tall. After thinking it over while at work last night I decided to take the plunge and correct it. Got home this morning and knocked out the necessary corrections...after ha humming and walking around the garage for about ten minutes and looking at the mold and the ref pics I finally balled up and did it. I still hung onto the old master just in case, but as I started sanding it down I became very pleased with what I was starting to see. Here's the results:

Comparison side by side with the old V1

I also decided to slope down the upper chest area just a bit more so it didn't look so bulbous and for more ergonomic conformity (correction version in the background)

OK here's what I came up with after one failed attempt....the second try was good though. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks and fits, very comfy!


Here's what I modified it from the original


In this picture you can see the awful one on the far right...looks completely wrong


I don't think it's going to be physically possible for me to make it look exactly like the screengrab given the angles and curvature (as seen from that last photo of my 3 chest sets)...not to mention that a lot of the CG characters have bending/stretching armor while in motion (which defies all laws of physics lol). I have a feeling this might be the case in the screengrab regarding the GM chest piece....it's so askew of an angle that it's difficult to tell.

I'm still trying to make these wearable in the real world while staying as true as possible to the reference materials and as we all know it's a hard thing to accomplish.

Super happy with this master pull.







And some more pics

Here's some test shots of me wearing it -








Up next was the right shoulder bell.
I pulled this in the .090 white cause that's likely what I'll be using for this piece. I noticed that it kept it's form much better than the .060 on the initial pull (pics of that ugliness over on CT.net) so I was much happier with the results. I trimmed it down to where I figured looked about right and I'm pretty happy with it. Obviously I still need to add the loops, but I need to get this part down first before moving forward (not to mention I need to know exactly how big this shoulder bell will be before adding them).

Here's where I'm at right now on this piece. This piece has kind of been a thorn in my side. I originally thought it to be a very simple quick sculpt (I'm beginning to learn there is no such thing, especially given how anal I am )

After doing the math and marking all the proper lines over the curvatures, I cut grooves into the mold (not before pulling another scrap master just in case). These had to be absolutely straight because they would become guides for the Audio Video cable that I was about to use for the raised ribs/loops (yes, I said Audio Video cables...hey we all know how it is, use what you can and what works and what's cheap right? ) I just super glued them on there cause I really only needed it for one pull anyway. Afterwards the final master will be completely plaster. Here's pics:








And here's what happens when you get your finger in the super glue...yes that's part of my finger print ...ouch!







Next, I chopped off the bottom edge of the mold to square it and size it properly

Here's a preliminary pull. I still need to clean up the tops of the ribs and fade them into the bell...easy stuff and shouldn't take too long

Got the mold cleaned up and ready for vacc'ing






And the first pull for a customer in Ozzyland







That's it for now, gonna take a short hiatus before I tackle the backplate....stay tuned!

Looks like .090 Boltaron (which is basically a kydex equivalent....very tough and durable stuff) was the answer for this particular piece.

If 1 pic = 1000 words, then here's 5000 words






A few quick family photos

Got a bit more progress to share with you all. I'm on the home stretch on this piece and just have some edging lines to carve in as well as some quick smoothing/surfacing to finish up. I'm very happy with how the shoulders turned out, as they were a real pain to get them just right...but it was worth it as it fits great. I took some pics to show you all where I'm at with this. I'll post pics in a few days with me wearing it so you can get a better idea, but for now here's a preview











That's it for the moment. As always, stay tuned!

Got a few more pics up for you guys of the finished backplate with all the final details added. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Got a little more progress for you all. I was still really nervous about this backpack sculpt and felt like I was paddling down uncharted territory (which I was...for me at least) due to the size and shape of this mold. This is by far the most complex and complicated piece (forming-wise that is) that I've ever set out to do and I really didn't know if it was even going to work until I did a few pulls... everything up until that point has been strictly theory not to mention this piece is so tall and deep as well as oddly shaped for a pull that webbing and stretch of the plastic was certainly a major concern.

Honestly I thought I was taking a huge risk and wasting a lot of time and resources on this but I had to at least try and see what would happen....and boy am I glad I did and I'm glad to say that I'm super pleased with the results.

Not only was I worried about getting it to form, but I also didn't know if this funky shape was going to allow me to release the plastic from the mold. Happily, my theories on the angles were correct (either that or I just Forrest Gump'd my way through this one lol ) and the mold practically fell out of the plastic

My biggest reason for making the frame in one piece was for easier assembly and for strength and I really hope that I have achieved this as well as keeping it as accurate as possible (being super anal helps too )



Take a look at the pics below as well as the side by side 'paint' photo I assembled and let me know what you think. Keep in mind that this piece is still in the early stages and there are a few things I still need to do to it to tweak it a bit, but I think for the most part the shape is correct.

Enjoy!







Obviously I still need to make the outer 'floating' pieces and this is just the under frame, but this side by side will explain things better than I can with words



I've still got those 'floating' pieces to sculpt (and they really shouldn't take long at all) but at least the hardest part is behind me now (relatively speaking )

Here's a few shots of the mold

Here's a couple of teaser shots... still need to clean this mold up so it's still a bit rough, but at least it gives you all a better idea of which direction I'm moving with this ...slowly making progress

We'll call this Version 2 of the pack frame (if you will).
Just made some minor adjustments to it as well as added (GASP) mounting tabs to the sides
Simply line up the pack to where you want it to sit on the backplate and then make your marks and cut some slots to insert the tabs The first test of this worked really well and I was very pleased with the results. Keep in mind though, the one in the pic has a few issues going on with it - 1. I had already cut slots into it from the V1 pack frame so they're off a bit and 2. the tabs on this particular V2 were cut a bit too short, but you get the idea. Notice too that I also made the tabs as part of the flares for the mold so they angle outward and flatten out a bit to conform better to the inside of the backplate so they're not stabbing you in the back. Once properly secured, they pull the edges nice and snug along the most of the entire surface of the plate. So far I'm pretty happy with the results, take a look!







For these next pics I just threw the outer pack shell on top to see how it looks. The PVC coupler is sitting on it for size reference only as well...it's just under 3" inches in diameter (outer) which is what I'm looking at for this pack. I'll mock up some foam boxes soon for the total look and see where I'm at (will post pics of that too when I get to it )

OK got a few more thousand words for you all. I did a few more pulls after tweaking the backplate outer shell mold and the side canisters (made them shorter by about a 1/2" inch) and then worked up some mock pouches out of foam for a size check (let me know what you all think about the size on them boys too) and did a quick dry fit of everything for a snapshoot Also threw on a pvc pipe (even though it's still a bit too narrow...still looking for the 3" inch diameter stuff), just for grins to see it all put together. Take a look:

Not too much to report, but I did get a few pouches sculpted up real quick tonight. They're pretty much ready for rubber. I'm also gonna be hitting a few places in town today to see about sourcing some larger PVC pipe for a more correct look. I'll likely be vacc'ing the rear canister detail (with the raised lines/ribs on it) as an extra piece to cover it for a nicer look...was thinkin of going with .040 white styrene
Here's pics in the meantime:


Poured the masters for the backpack pouches in resin today. I was surprised at how easily the clay originals came out of the mold and that they retained their shape as well as they did..I thought for sure they'd have been destroyed trying to get them out. Here's a pic!

Up next, copies in foam. Will be the first time trying that medium out, so got some experimenting to do

Some more progress - All I pretty much have left to do is make the end caps for the detonator and get some better material to make the pouches. On the pouches: I was able to make a few slush cast and then back fill them with foam (albeit the wrong kind of foam, but at least I know the method works). I really like the way they came out but I still need to do something about the back in order to make them mountable to the pack. If I can't find the right type of foam for these, this may end up being the way I offer them. I'm not giving up yet though, I ordered another type of foam from Smooth on and hope to have it by the end of the week or early next week. According to their description of what this stuff does, it should be the solution...but we'll see. In the meantime, here's pics
I made a slight change to the outer/upper shell to make it a bit more accurate...I'm much happier with it now (cause it was bugging the cr@p out of me )

Here's what I wound up doing for the det. I kinda like it and it was a simple solution


And the rest all together

Slowly makin progress. Finally finished up the left shoulder bell. Here's a full frontal shot of what I have so far

Up next - Epaulets