Frozens Kylo Ren WIP of a cosplay newbie

A little update on the pants.
I got my hands on two different pants. One is a wax coated jeans, and the other one is a full polyurethane one. I'd like to hear some of your opinions which one is better.


so from left to right: normal black jeans for comparison, waxed jeans, PU jeans.
image.jpeg
 
Yesterday I got a letter, telling me to personally pick up a parcel at the post office, because of customs.
So I got there, expecting the worst.
(Importing stuff to Germany from outside the EU can be very expensive)

But I was very lucky, I didn't have to pay any customs.
Thanks Paul! ;)

So, what I got was my awesome new belt from PHProps.

First something about the whole ordering process.
Paul frequently sent me updates, and asked how I want my stuff.
He also instantly answered all my questions.
So the customer service was excellent!

There's not a lot to say about the belt. It looks awesome, it feels awesome, it smells awesome.
Real leather, resin cast buckle and saber clip. The leather has a very light used look to it.
The buckle is holding the two ends of the belt together with Velcro.
The saber clip is bolt onto the leather with metal screws and rivets.


Overall I'm very satisfied, and would definitely buy from PHProps again!



I'm sorry, my crappy camera doesn't do this piece of art justice.

image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Update time!
I used this lazy sunday to get some work done.
I finally decided to mod the blades of my force FX saber with the unstable look.

I didn't want to ruin my saber, so I wanted to do something, that is reversible.
I looked everywhere for the fluorescent tube covers, but couldn't find them.
But then today I saw my wife in the kitchen, using some plastic wrap. (The stuff you use for sandwiches, and so on)
That was the solution to my problem.

I wrapped the blades in the plastic wrap.
image.jpeg


Next I put some clear silicon on it.
If you want to do this, work in small segments, and do the main blade in one run.
I started by covering a area of about 10 - 15cm with silicon, and then used a jagged piece of wood (a plastic fork works well too) to get the flame effect.
First I pulled it upwards, to get an even distribution, then I worked it crosswise, to make it look more natural.
Finally I "pulled" the silicon away from the blade, to get some spikes.

The advantage over hot glue is, that you have a fairly long time to form it, until it hardens, so you can try different patterns, and correct some spots you don't like.
Just try not to touch it with your arms, or hit something with it. it's one hell of a mess...

That way I worked my way along all the blades.
On the ends of the blades, I twisted the plastic wrap with my fingers. I put some silicon on it, and then pinched it from the side with the fork. Then I twisted it again. Together with the silicon, it will give a nice ending.



Thats how it turned out. (The blade looks shorter the pictures because I took the pictures at an angle. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get the whole saber on screen.)
image.jpeg




And with the power on:
image.jpeg




And with the lights out:
image.jpeg


Now I think about maybe covering it with a clear red color for a better daylight look, if I find a suitable one.
 
I finally got my black series helmet, and started modding it today.
This is one days work.


Here I fixed the too halves and the battery cover into place.
image.jpeg



Then I soldered the whole thing. (WIP)
image.jpegimage.jpeg



I sanded the bucket
image.jpeg



And I cut out the back part of the chrome piece
image.jpeg


More to come. :)
 
After another day in the imperial workshop, the helmet is almost done.



Breathing holes and speaker holes filled with black miliput.
image.jpegimage.jpeg



Ready for painting
image.jpeg




4 coats of hammered black
image.jpeg




Painted some weathering details with silver, and sprayed two coats of satin matte clear sealing spray
image.jpeg


Once its dry, I can work on the final details of the bucket, assemble it, and do the interior.
 
Finished the helmet today.
Took me one weekend, and one evening.



Re-painted all black areas on the chrome piece, and weathered the cheek section, to be darker, and less shiny.
image.jpeg




Put the cloth that covered a speaker over the visor and cheek holes. I tried nylon pantyhose too, and the speaker cover gives a much better vision through the visor.
Assembled everything back together.
image.jpeg





I cut some foam pieces, and glued them with double sided tape to the inside of the helmet.
I left some space for the nose and ears. It sits very comfortable and snug on my head.
Also I used some of the spare parts to build a mount for my microphone. It sits directly in dront of my mouth.
I just need to figure out how to hide the cable, that goes to the speaker on my belt. Any tips?
image.jpegimage.jpeg



I'm happy with how it came out. This is the first time I did something like this, and I couldn't have done it, with the help from you guys! Thanks a lot!
image.jpeg
 
Run the wire from the speaker under your costume, up through your neck seal then over your ear. You shouldn't be able to see it at all. What speaker are you using and does it change your voice?

My BS helmet is in the mail. I'm definitely coming back to this thread for inspiration while modding mine. Great work!
 
Hi Diadem,

thanks, I will try that.

Feel free to ask me to go into more detail, if I can help you with the mod.
I just woke some quick notes in the first place, because there are already a lot of very good modding tutorials for the BS helmets on the RPF.



For the Kylo voice I'm using:

Sennheiser Digital ClipMic -> iPhone 6 (Voice Synth App) -> Aker MR1505

So yes, I'm changing my voice.
I highly recommend this iPhone app.
You can adapt everything to your voice. It has tons of settings, pitch shifting, an equalizer, a noise gate... everything you could wish for.

The cheap voice changers often sound distorted and have lots of background noise, almost like death metal growls.
This one will give you a deep voice, but you can still keep it clean and crisp, just like in the movie.
 
Today I started working on a the belt.

Found this nice stuff in my basement:
View attachment 573221
This is a roll of floor dampening. It's a very dense black foam with a rubbery plastic coating, that looks like leather.
I've got tons of this stuff, so I started building a prototype belt.

I cut a 5 inch and two 12mm stripes from it.

View attachment 573223View attachment 573222

Now I have to wait for the resin belt buckle to arrive, before I can but the exact length, and sew it together.

Wait... I thought you'd said that you bought your belt from PH props? Paul's belts are fantastic (My hubby has one) and are real leather. Why make a foam one?
 
Wow - that clip mic is more than I'd hoped ...

Yes, it's quite expensive, but that's because the new lightning dock Apple uses doesn't have an analog audio input anymore.
The Sennheiser does convert the digital input to analog.
All iPhones that use the old connector (iphone 4 and older) do have this converter, so every mic works. But they need a connector from 3,5mm audio to Apple dock.
It's actually cheaper to buy an extra iPhone 4 with mic, connector, and all you need, than to go with the sennheiser.


Luke Daley did a fantastic tutorial on voice changing with the iPhone on the "knights of Ren" Facebook group. Check it out!




Wait... I thought you'd said that you bought your belt from PH props? Paul's belts are fantastic (My hubby has one) and are real leather. Why make a foam one?

When I started the cosplay, I did most of the stuff myself. It wasn't perfect, but I had something, and I didn't plan to go 501st back then.
It helped me to experiment and try everything. But I also came to the point where I realized, that my sewing skills won't get me to where I wanted to.
So I let the pros do some of the work.
Im changing all the bad parts for better ones step by step. And it takes some time. I still have to wait for my boots and soft parts for at least a month.
But I did have a complete costume from the beginning, though it wasn't the best.
I hope I was able to explain it . :)

And yes, Paul's belt is the best you can get imo.
 
Last edited:
This thread is more than 8 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top