My first Thread on RPF - a Han Solo ANH Costume - for Halloween 2013'.

[Machiavelli]

Hello everyone,

Let me first start by saying that I have been on RPF for the last month and with just a cursory look at all the projects everyone does on here - let's just say color me impressed, wowed, awed etc. Lol.

I love Halloween, and like many of you I am sure, was not satisfied with costumes off the rack and so I started putting together costumes about 5-6 years ago. My first big build was of a Roman soldier a few years ago and I feel in love with the whole process.

I have always wanted to do a Han Solo costume and so I decided to make it a reality this year.

I started with research here and on the Rebel Legion site - looking for more information on how to be as accurate as possible (at least for someone with no prop building training could).

My only caveat was to meet Rebel Legion standards for the costume - as I wanted to apply for membership at the end! ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

So, to start I had to organize the costume into different parts -

1) Shirt/Vest/Pants
2) Belt
3) Holster
4) DL-44 Blaster
5) Tools
6) Boots

All being specific for the ANH versions.

 

[Machiavelli]

So taking each part separately:

1) Shirt/Vest/Pants - this was a hard one for me as I cannot sew. I had bought a Solo costume from Costume Base last year on Ebay - but after some research with RPF and RL - I decided that this wouldn't meet my needs for RL standards. However, I came across a ebay seller that would put together these 3 costume parts for me (specific to my size) and to RL standards - along with belt loops and straps on the bottom of the pants (for making them neater when they are in my boots).

I have enclosed some pics from her ebay offer - I should have these in hand in the next 2 weeks. I can't wait!

 

[Machiavelli]

2) Belt - the ANH belt is black leather - 3 holes and with two prongs. Not as easy to find online as one might think! I ended up buying mine from Tood's costume. It came in fairly quickly and was an excellent choice.

 

[Machiavelli]

3) Holster Rig - again after some research and seeing the Costume Base first hand - I decided I wanted a nicer holster rig - especially given I wanted it to hold a metal blaster. I did a lot of searching online and ebay etc and ended up using MP productions (I loved the look of all of his work). Matt was very nice and also willing to work with my target date for Halloween.

Some ANH holster pics from his website are enclosed here and I will update with some in-hand photos when it comes in by October 20th!

 

[Machiavelli]

4) DL-44 ANH Hero Blaster - ahh now we come to the fun part (at least for me). At first, I started out buying a Rubies DL-44 ANH - painted and weathered by a seller on Ebay - while it is excellent for what it is - it just didn't have the POW that I was looking for. It was while I was looking for information on metal blasters that I came upon the video of the DL-44 one day build on Tested - with Adam Savage.

I am sure you see where this is going! lol. Oh, and thank you to Kpax for being kind with questions about this!

So, I ended up buying a Denix C96 from Ebay and I am awaiting the Aluminum DL-44 conversion kit from Dark Energy Creations (should be shipped after this Friday).

I received the Denix ~ 1 week ago and started with degreasing it and then following other RPF folk's recommendations of removing the Denix diamond and smoothing/sanding the surface with my Dremel to remove pits etc (I have a pretty basic Dremel - but I had good luck with use of the finishing abrasive buff wheels (511E).

I have enclosed some pics to give you and idea of how far I have gotten to date (compared to what I started with).






I am now waiting on some Birchwood Casey - Aluminum Black (for the Denix upper/lower body and the aluminum parts of the conversion kit) and the Birchwood Casey Brass Black (for the brass part of the scope). I am going to the local firearms dealer later this week to buy some Perma Blue.

The questions I would like to ask the RPF community is:

1) How can I effectively match these parts? I have seen some suggest that fiddling with the bluing agents can work well when blending items in with steel wool or similar. Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated!

2) Does anyone have any suggestions on how to finish the surface of the Denix further (ie. ideas for sanding out marks left behind by the dremel wheels) or do I even need to? I have been going back and forth on this as I am waiting for the rest of my materials for this part of the costume.

I will post more pics of this build as I move forward to completion!

 

[Machiavelli]

5) Han Solo ANH Tools - for his belt - another exciting part of working on this costume.

I obtained my droid caller and the ANH tools (cylinder and two battery packs) from two different Ebay sellers - Correlian Exports and Propsplus.

Both are resin cast and needed a bit of clean up with an Exacto knife - yet both had excellent detail and weight.

I started with the Droid Caller and Cylinder first - as these "seemed" less challenging. Not sure if that ended up the case but I will let you be the judges.

I followed suggestions from both providers on colors used for these items and I finished them off with several coats of gloss lacquer. I thought the droid caller would look weird with the glossy coat but I think it came out fine.

Here are some pictures of the development of both and their final forms now -






I have also started on the two battery packs for the tool belt - these have been a bit more tricky given they needed some help with modeler's putty to help fill in holes in the resin casts (these were minor I am sure but this was my first time using it so...ymmv).

I have two coats of white on them thus far and also have started work on the back electrodes -




I hope to have these completed within the week and will post the completed forms at that time.

Interesting side note - a fun fact I have discovered that the difference between a good job and a great job with these props is patience! lol. I can't help but get excited and want to race to the end NOW! But this task has helped slow me down a bit...;-)

 

[Machiavelli]

6) Han Solo Boots - this was another area of challenge for me - given that buying boots online can be done but made to order ones are both costly and time consuming (but I am sure they are worth it).

Regardless, after more research I was going to buy the boots from Todd's Costumes but they could not accommodate my calf size (mine are ~ 16 inches, adding in clothes and socks - you get the picture). So, I started searching on ebay for something in my size and came across these boots who were being sold by someone who is in RL and used them for his Han Solo Costume!

Talk about luck and they fit wonderfully!



I may still have them taken to my local shoe smith to have the calf brought in a bit (they are 20 inches wide now) - but I will wait to determine that after I get my pants in etc.

 

[Machiavelli]

So, as I was going through Ebay - I came across the Yavin Medal and I couldn't help myself! lol.

I thought it would go great with the rest of the costume and add a nice finishing touch - it came premade/painted and with the ribbon etc.

 

[Machiavelli]

So, thus far I am hoping to have my costume completed and ready by October 20th - for a Halloween party on the 26th. I can't wait and I will post more pics on what remains to be done as I complete them.

I realize that I am new and likely my costume still needs work in many areas but I am still hoping to make RL standards and continue to work on it in the future.

If you have any suggestions for me on how to improve this further - please feel free to post them or message me!

Thanks, in advance, for the help!

 

[Kevin Gossett]

You're certainly off to a great start! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out :thumbsup

 

[Risu]

You're getting there. FYI though Han's pants belt in ANH was brown. It's black in the other two.

 

[Machiavelli]

Thanks Kevin and Risu! I will be updating this as I make more progress on the costume.

Risu - you bring up a point on the pants belt for ANH - I must admit that I thought it was black. I went back and checked the RL requirements and they indicate that the belt should be black leather.

I also went online and found these photos of the Han Solo Costume from ANH:

The first - is not that great at picking it out:



The second is much better:



However, I am open to being corrected if I am wrong or you could direct me to another source photo or document.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Machiavelli]

So, I finally finished the two battery packs for the blaster (as part of the tools for my belt) last night - I ended up using some slightly thicker foam for the terminals in the back - I am not sure if I like how they look yet.

 

[Risu]

Looks brown to me. If I were to make one for myself I would use the Eco Flo Dark Cocoa Brown leather dye. It's really dark, but distresses to that lighter brown.

 

[Machiavelli]

Thanks for the reply Risu!

I must admit it is hard for me to tell from the second photo - although looking through the hole punches it looks to be brown! Lol. Maybe it simply is a much darker brown and the gun belt's light tan color makes it looks almost black?

Food for thought and I appreciate your input.

 

[Mitch LaRue]

Hi Machiavelli
Just wanted to take a second and wish you the Best of luck with this project

I’ll be watching your progress and hoping things work out for you… and thanks for the time you’ve been putting into sharing your words and pictures detailing your experience.
Cheers

 

[esbtropper]

love this projekt, nice going:thumbsup

 

[Machiavelli]

Hi Mitch and esbtropper! Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate it!

As an update on my build thus far, I have received the BC Aluminum Black and will be expecting my Aluminum DL-44 conversion kit from Dark Energy Creations by next week at latest.

I was thinking I will wait until I have the conversion kit in hand to start bluing my DL-44 - so I can work on the upper/lower body and conversion kit all at one time and match them as well as I can.

So, in the meantime and along those lines, I have been reviewing the run threads on the DL-44 build and since I am going with the BC bluing - I have discovered a few things and had a few things suggested to me.

1) that I want the parts blued - CLEAN! Lol. It seems this has a big effect on this process and also can leave unsightly spots if not done well etc.
2) that it may involve multiple coats - but adding a light amount of gun oil after the bluing process helps stop oxidation and also helps bring out the dark patina better.
3) that sealing the patina with a lacquer is a good idea - helps it last longer and helps prevent oxidation.

Again, if anyone has any other suggestions or ideas for this please let me know!

 

[zeroskillz]

There's a thread on the black/brown pants belt over at TRL...I think more accurately it's a worn black belt--as in the finish is worn off in some spots. I reproduced the look for the belt I just made for my ANH costume. I'll add a pic in a bit.

 

[Machiavelli]

Thanks zeroskillz! That would be great!

I decided that I am going to try bluing the Denix today and will match the conversions kit when it arrives early this week.

I will post some pics of my progress with the bluing later today. ;-)