Realistic Style Commander Pyre from Star Wars: Resistance

[Sano]

Hey Prop Fam!

I've been here for a long time but have the feeling that I'm not ver active, more an active reader. Today I want to change that by showing off my current work on the Realistic Style Commander Pyre. The goal is to be as close to the references as possible, however since the original reference is an animated character, some parts will change, where I use the Black Series figure as reference.

But first some personal talk about this, as there is a deeper story behind that. Besides a gold chromed Stormtrooper of course haha
I am a huge Fan of Mr. Liam McIntyte, in particular his role as Spartacus in the series, he is such a nice guy and when I found out that he voiced him, I NEEDED to do that costume. When we first back in 2013 and I had the luck to talk to him for like 30 minutes behind the stage. He told me there how much he’d love to do something for Star Wars. Which happened and I am really happy for him. Liam is definetly one of the nicest celebrities I ever met, he is super down to earth and just an amazing human being. Over the next years I always met him there, took pictures with him and just had amazing conversations about life, geek stuff etc. I even got the Screen Used Sword Prop he used in the Series.

So last year I contacted him, if he’d like to see the costume project, he was amazed and wanted to see it. And well. He supports it with video messages. Like. WHAAAAT!

In all seriousness, I’m hyped, super happy and super motivated to get this costume done.

The helmet:

I used a Phoenix Props TFA style helmet as a base, got it painted in gloss black and got it gold chromed in the UK.

The problem I have is mixed ref. In the animated series, Pyre has black bands around the helmet, but theres no black brow present (also not at the normal TFA TKs) .
The realistic HASBRO figure has NO black brow and NO black bands. So thats kinda .. mixed. I actually like it with the black details as it gives more contrast. There's also a YouTube video of the making, including Liams message.

I didn't took many pictures when I made the helmet but I have a YouTube video showing the final stages.

I'd appreciate a like there

 

[Sano]

The Armor:

I have an ANOVOS pauldron in red, but need it in black. Either I find someone, who's willing to trade or sell, or Im going to paint the red in black.

Further, I have an old BETA Anovos First Order TK armor set. Pyre is technically a generic TFA TK, although there are some minor changes, like 2 bars at both lower leg armor.

First of all: My mood during sanding, filling and more sanding:

Flashbacks when I did the Captain Phasma Armor

Anyways..

Arms:

The shoulders were kinda simple. Just trimming the excess ABS and glueing the tabs on.

Bicep armor:
Here my perfectionism hit me with a bat. I didnt like the soft details that happen due to the bac forming process, so I filled it and carefully filed the new details in. I used 2 part epoxy glue to glue and fill.

Forearms:
For the formarms I didnt use the ABS box, instead I used my resin box which has sharper edges. I made that box years ago for the First Order Gunner costume and for Phasma, I mirrored the master and made a mold of it. So why not make use of that for my personal costume as well

 

[Sano]

Handguards:
CFO Handplates from Dan, filled and sanded

Chest:

Back:
Unfortunately I didnt took pictures here, but down is another video where I show each armor part including the back armor.

Detonator:
Not worked on yet. I will probably get a CFO Detonator.

Ab Armor:
Boxes are secured with screws

Cod and Butt plate:
Just one picture as these parts are not really interesting

Thighs:
Here I also filled the soft pulled detail and refiled the detail

Shins:
These were kinda tricky. I asked a good friend to help out. Unfortunately both halves werent fixed enough so while the glue hardened, it slightly changed position. To fix this, I filled the seam with 2 part epoxy and refiled the seam.

As I already stated, I got the 2 shin bars 3D scanned. Then I mirrored the parts and printed the left and right version out.

CFO Clip Greeblie

There are some small pieces that I also show in the video.

The only missing part at the moment are the detonator and the plates for the boots.

Video:

 

[Sano]

Not many know that I had a depression 3 - 4 years ago, which ultimately resulted in gaining approx. 40kg from 90 - 130.
Everyone who worked on the Anovos FOTK armor knows, that they are made for thinner people. Thats why I sold my FOTK back in 2016 or so.
But: Talking to professionals and changing some mindsets really helped and you cannot imagine the happiness I felt, when I tried the armor on again. Yes, I built that armor on purpose by not fitting it to my proportions. Because I knew I once fitted in there. So.. yea

Whats next:
I'm still waiting for the detonator. The black FO TK boots as well as gloves are ordered from Imperial Boots. Once I get them, I get the boots 3d scanned to get the boot plates modeled so that they fit perfectly. Then painting the armor gloss black and then gold chroming

By the way: I also get the F11D Heavy Rifle gold / chromed. But first I get the electronics done by someone from my local 501st garrison. Then also gloss paint black and chroming.

 

[Blue Leader]

That looks wicked cool. Nice job!

 

[Sano]

There has been done a lot going on behind the scenes. I post this stuff frequently on the FISD but I figured I post it here now as well

First I thought I can simply make the boot plates by myself, but I know myself, being lazy here and there, got the Imperial Boots FO TK boots 3d scanned and got the plates modeled nicely to fit the boots perfectly.

Was the expense worth it? Depends.

Now I dont get headaches of how I get the plates perfectly symmetrical etc.



Also, the blaster is currently at a paintshop for the gloss black coat. Before, @Shimo did some heavy mods to the blaster to fit the TRamp BlastFX board with electronics perfectly.


---

Then Liam McInytre got announced for German Comic Con in 2 weeks, which was the start for "mission complete Pyre in 2 weeks"

Fortunately I got the cast from original detonator perfectly in time

(30/08/21)
sanding and filling imperfections on the cfo detonator

Before:

After:

(31/08/21)
So I spend the entire day to finish up the detonator and did some mods on the chest plate.

The cfo detonator has a foam core. I dremeled on the left side a little hole into the foam and filled it to the top with resin. With a hand sized gas burner I eliminated all air bubbles on the surface, minimizing the clean up work.

The mod on the chest was fairly easy, I thought. First I filled them with 2part epoxy glue and sanded everything down with a mouse sander. It turned out those engraved lines are not symmetrical. My inner OCD triggered af taking out the measurement band..

Once everything measured correctly, I took the cutting tool of my dremel and pre cut the new lines and then refined them with a regular file. Then I cut out the slot detail by simply sanding the back side of the resin block. Done

The grey parts however can be finished next week. For the grey we decided that RAL 7015 "Schiefergrau" fits best. Its kinda dark but looks also very decent when in direct light. It will be matte but since the paint will be very smooth, it will still reflect the light like a satin finish.


(02/09/21)
This night I'm doing a 5 hour drive to a plating company which will plate the armor in full gold optics. In the best case I can pick it up next wednesday, which gives me 2 more days for strapping

 

[Sano]

Alright .. recap time.



Last Thursday I picked up everything from the chrome guys. That was a total of 20 hours by car. Personally, I wouldn't do it again unless there is a valid reason, although the highway to the east was very, very empty and almost always unlimited.

You could podrace a bit there. Anyhow.

The chromers did a good job, with some parts needing to be remade. But it's not a huge drama. Then I spent the days (Thursday evening, the entire Friday + Saturday) with the strapping. So the Saturday at the con itself. Thanks to my supporters kept the booth running. On Saturday I gave Liam McIntyre an extra set of gloves with handplates (whatever he should do with them, but hey. I don't need 2 pairs and he thought it was cool - Mission accomplished) and an embroidered shirt with a Pyre helmet + Commander Pyre - Build Crew and my logo on the back. Even then I thought "he won't wear it anyway".



Then Sunday .. the moment of truth. In the livestream on Instagram I then pulled (got) everything for the first time. The video is on IGTV: Login • Instagram

You can also see Liam's reaction directly there. Incredibly awesome! And he actually wore my shirt! Just awesome. The rest of the day I took photos with a lot of people. Then there was the moment when Liam stopped by my booth and looked at all the props. He celebrated everything - which I celebrated a lot :-D :-D :-D

He also signed the helmet from the inside

In general, I can only say: I didn't think that everything would work out like this, but the stress was absolutely worth it. Sunday was definitely one of the best days of my life. Here are the pictures

A new helmet is needed for the CRL. The helmet is already gold chrome-plated and will then get the black details at some point in the days.

+ taking photos for the CRL of the individual parts

 

[Stormie1977]

Wow, amazing job!

 

[Jonflake88]

This turned out absolutely unreal! So so well done!