Darth Prathus Build (Original Character)

[NukeToober134]

Hello all!
So, this is going to be my first Star Wars related build. I came up with the design a few days ago, and I've started working on it a little bit since then. I hope to have some pictures of my progress up within the next few days, but school might make it a bit difficult, so we will see.

Just to start off, this is an original character of my own design. I came up with the name, as well as the armor design myself. To be honest, I hadn't had much of an interest in Star Wars builds until recently. I'd been more into Halo and all of the aspects surrounding that. It was only after I saw The Force Awakens, did I really start to look at making a SW-style build.
Now, without further due, here's the designs I've come up with so far:


(sorry for the poor quality)

The main plan for the build is to have 5 main pieces; the respirator, chest, arms, belt, and shins. Each piece is going to be made using a poster-board skeleton, with craft foam attached above it. I'll be using straps for the arms, and velcro for the rest of the pieces.
The most intricate piece is probably going to be the chest, as I want to add a cape to the back once I have it painted and sealed. I'll most likely be sewing it on.
As for what I plan to wear underneath the pieces, I'll wear a black tank top under the chest, and simple black pants. I'll probably attach some foam pieces to the area of the shirt that's beneath the chest, just fill in the blank space.

Now, for the lightsaber, I'm probably going to stick with the original, single blade design. I'm not sure whether I'll try to build my own, or just go out to the store and buy a toy one. In terms of detail and durability, the toy one would probably be a better choice.



For the respirator, I'm debating whether to have the strap travel above the ear, or below it, as I plan to have the clasping mechanism at the back of my head. I may have to make a few test skeletons before settling on the best option.
As for the respirator itself, I plan to build it in a pentagonal shape, and I'll be cutting small rectangular holes in the front so I can breathe without any issues

As of now, this is all I have available to showcase. I plan to work on the chest a bit more today, and maybe have some progress photos up in a few days. Anyhow, I'm very excited to be working on this, and I can't wait to see how it comes out!

 

[Sym-Cha]

Hello there,

And welcome aboad . . . so if it took seeing TFA to get your creative STAR WARS juices flowing than it does it's title credit . . . the force awakens . . . good for you ... looking forward to an original design for a lightsaber instead of a cheap toy ... this dark character deserves a proper dark lightsaber, perhaps based on a real yet different type of vintage flashgun?

Chaim

 

[NukeToober134]

Hello there,

And welcome aboad . . . so if it took seeing TFA to get your creative STAR WARS juices flowing than it does it's title credit . . . the force awakens . . . good for you ... looking forward to an original design for a lightsaber instead of a cheap toy ... this dark character deserves a proper dark lightsaber, perhaps based on a real yet different type of vintage flashgun?

Chaim

Haha true! Kinda ironic
I've been researching some methods for building a prop lightsaber, and some of them look pretty good! Some look really complex, but hey, it adds to the challenge. I'll definitely have to try some out once the costume construction nears its end

 

[Sym-Cha]

Well have you seen this dark lightsaber build? http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=253583 Just a bit of Vader and then some . . . based on a real G R A F L E X Graflite too

Chaim

 

[NukeToober134]

Well have you seen this dark lightsaber build? http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=253583 Just a bit of Vader and then some . . . based on a real G R A F L E X Graflite too

Chaim

I haven't seen that before. That's pretty awesome!

 

[NukeToober134]

Okay, progress time!
I've basically spent the last few days working on the chest and respirator exclusively. The chest is mostly finished with the building process, I just need to add some small pieces on the neck side and front before I paint it and add the cape. I held off from doing this before the respirator due to how I didn't want to make it too big, and have it interfere with the chest.
So, time for the pictures! (Again, I apologize for the quality)



Basically, the chest is a combination of a stripped down Halo chest piece (the black parts), with the large green shoulder piece sitting over it. I managed to glue them together in a way so that they can flex enough for me to take it on/off, but doesn't fall of entirely if moved too much.
Next, I'm going to a few raised pieces around the neck, as well as on the square in the front. I'm going to hold off on that until I finish the respirator, as I want to be sure that I have enough room to turn my head without the parts scraping.
Also, I've build it in such a way that I still have full mobility for the arms and chest, while also adding a flair to the look.
Here's another picture:




Now onto the respirator:



This was the main skeleton for the respirator, built from poster board and a healthy application of masking tape :lol
Originally, my design called for having two open slots in the front so I could breathe easier, but I found that it detracted from the overall look, so I covered them up.



Once the skeleton was completed, I started gluing the foam parts. As you can see here, I covered up the two vents that I had originally put on the skeleton. However, I kept the pentagonal shape of the respirator. As of now, I haven't applied any foam to the upper part (where that mass of blue tape is), but that's the next thing I'll be doing.



Above is both the side view, and the internal appearance of the respirator. I was able to construct and glue the side pieces so they curved around my face, and luckily, can flex without coming undone. While this is just the base layer, I'm likely going to add detail pieces (vents, caps, etc), to make it look more realistic.
For the interior, I managed to shape the skeleton so my nose isn't smooshed against the poster board. I tested how it would feel with the straps locked down, and it was pretty comfortable to wear.
As for the straps, once I finish building the main part, I'll probably be gluing foam over the poster board, and attaching velcro in order to secure it to me.

As for the other aspects, I decided that the color scheme is going to follow the traditional black/gray scheme, along with small amounts of reds added in different places
For the lightsaber, I'm going to be drawing up a design for it, and probably following an LED, PVC style construction. I'll post up the plans for that later on.

Everything is really coming together right now! Can't wait to get these pieces painted and ready for wearing!