Indie's TLJ Phasma Build

[indiechixor[TK]]

OK So here's the hard work that's been happening this last week. Cape!

I got the following pattern from the Captain Phasma Builders FB Group. Super helpful, if a little difficult to figure out without a legend. The measurements were originally in mm, I converted to cm and reduced by ~10%, since i'm not 6' tall.

 

I used a white charcoal pencil to map out the placement of my panels - doing this I was able to triple-check my measurements and min-max my panels/fabric.

With only slight adjustment, I managed to fit all 4 panels on 4 yards of fabric, in this orientation.

 

 

I sewed the panels together, keeping a bit of length on them just in case. This is after extensive steaming/ironing.

 

I used my pencil and roughed out my curve, this really helped a lot.

 

The cats also helped a lot.

 

I ironed & pinned the hems, following the CRL to make sure my sides were 1.25-1.5 inches, the bottom hem was double folded and roughly 3/4". 

 

I seamed all the pockets/straps (missing one in this pic). Then I sewed them down, doubling up the top stitches.

 

Pinned the pockets down, ensured placement matched references as best I could. Yes, i'm adding a 2nd strap.

 

Painted the long hem using cheap red gloss acrylic paint. I know some people use fabric paint, but I felt the acrylic looks better/more screen accurate. It took two coats.

 

I then used Liquitex clear gloss gesso to give the shiny/waterproof look. This pic was after a first coat using 8oz jar.

I should have just gotten the larger jar, I ended up going back and getting a 2nd for full coverage. On the second coating I mixed in some black acrylic paint, so I didn't get the hazy look - it's now full dark. 

Took the cape to a small build party, and had some garrison guys help pleat and clip some folds in to the neck area.

 

Next i'm going to iron the pleats a bit more, clip my cape a bit more, and start to whip-stitch the pleats together to make sure they stay in place.

 

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow, the cape is looking awesome Brit 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Looking great ! well done 

[indiechixor[TK]]

Much work continues, now that's crunch time! I completed all these last week!

 

First, I focused on getting the gaskets completed. I started with the elbows, as they were the easiest.

 

Afterwards, I created shoulder gaskets x2, which I ended up needing to shorten by about an inch after the fact (as you can tell these were pretty long). I also took in the armpits for a better fit.

 

once complete, I mapped out where I needed to add strapping/harness for the shoulder gaskets

 

And then make a separate harness that i'll attach the thighs and whatnot to.

 

here's the finished product!

 

Next, I decided to combine the shiny shorts into the knee gaskets. This seemed to work really well, except I was warned about deterioration of the plastic material. In that case, I can always reinforce the inside of the thighs if needs be.

 

Once that was complete, I strapped up both the shiney shorts/gaskets and the thighs, so I can attach them all to the harness. Much Success! 

[indiechixor[TK]]

Next up: Gloves!
 

After MUCH research, we decided upon these Carhartt work gloves. The reference photos we went off of show the fingers were full 'leather' (or pleather)

but the thumbs were fabric (except for the thumb pads)

They also have stitching/fabric on the palms, which were a level 3 CRL requirement.

 

Hot Glue really fit the bill for attaching the finger plates, and we used velcro for the hand plate.

This allowed for greater flexibility.

The velcro closure was then reinforced with a snap, for a better fit and secure closure.

[indiechixor[TK]]

Heads down and getting a lot of completion done on Phasma with less than a week to go!

I started by getting connections attached to my back abs, following the same method I've seen FOTKs do theirs.

 

We started by velcroing the yolk/chest pieces, as this was important to get a good fit down the sides. I also put a small (barely noticeable) piece of velcro on the abs, so my yolk was sure to stay in place.

 

Then I added snaps to the side of the breastplate and yolk, which will sandwich all together to form a nice tight form.

 

Additional finishing touches completed include the thigh harness, got all the gaps filled and sanded down for final acrylic paint

Shaped and added additional length to the spatz. These were not fitting well, so i'm going to cut them down and further shape them today

 

We finished filling all the small joins on the TD and I added a bracket that will slide onto the abs

 

And finished spraying gloss black onto the belt boxes, which will FINALLY be chicago screw attached while we silver the Top part of it

[Sly11[Admin]]

The home stretch, you got this Brit.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Getting close now, just remember the better the base the better the finish, the more time you put into prep will make for a better outcome  

[indiechixor[TK]]

On 5/20/2022 at 3:53 AM, Sly11 said:

The home stretch, you got this Brit.

 Thanks! I"m burning the midnight oil trying to get this thing done in the next 3 days!!

[indiechixor[TK]]

Lots of work done in the last 24 hours! 

 

I tackled my white whale... finally. Sewed the bib! 

 

We attached the top and heel foot armor, thanks industrial-strength velcro

 

I re-shaped the spatz... I know they won't fit this low in-cosume, but good for photo-op. Something I"m kicking myself over with this build was that I had my shin armor close facing the front, so you can kind of see a gap with the velcro. I might tighten it up with another strip that's closer to the edge.

 

After getting feedback from some folks, I cut down the cod piece. This is about as small as I can reasonably make it, so I attached it the abs using snaps. Here it is with. the in-progress belt... nearly finished being chicago-screwed down.

 

I also finished attaching snaps to the shoulder bells, just need to punch out the webbing that comes from the yolks, and that'll be done

 

I also found the most permanent way I could think to attach the knees, so they are now snaps. 

 

Finally, we Finished re-painting the TD after filling all the gaps, I think it turned out really good.

 

All that we have left to do... will we finish in time?!

• Silver everything
• Bell fastener snaps
• repurpose Helmet liner, add Helmet padding
• Attach beak to helmet
• Attach belt box backing plates
• Glue box tops to belt
• Helmet electronics
• Back Pills
• Armor/Detonator Decals
• Butt / cod fastener

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Motoring along.

 

You may want to add either another snap or some velcro at your knees, just one snap will possibly allow the knee armor to twist, I went with velcro just so I could adjust for best positioning.

[indiechixor[TK]]

SO this update is a bit belated, but we've been busy! I'm going to start with the finished chroming first, as that was the last big step! Ultimately I believe she came out beautiful, and Celebration was a great Debut!

Close-ups in the garage - Pre-Decals!

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Congratulations!! Well done! 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congratulations getting to the finish line  

[Sly11[Admin]]

Awesome!

[indiechixor[TK]]

A huge should-out and Thank you to all you amazing FISD folks, whom I couldn't have possibly have finished this without help and support.

Speaking of, I was surprised (and honored) to be invited to join in the group photo, unfortunately i'm not a fully-fledged member yet but here is a pic my amazing husband/handler took for me

 

Helmets off! 

 

here's the last few pictures I took of the con

 

 

If you can't tell, I was a bit exhausted

 

Speaking of handler, here's a few shots with me and the. husband!

 

 

And with a droid friend!

 

 

 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

Congrats!!! I was wondering if you'd finished in time.

 

No doubt that beautiful armor will sail through basic approval.

[indiechixor[TK]]

8 minutes ago, revlimiter said:

Congrats!!! I was wondering if you'd finished in time.

 

No doubt that beautiful armor will sail through basic approval.

 

Thanks for your vote of confidence! I'm going to have husband touch up some of the chroming that was dinged and get those sweet close-ups I might need for basic approval! 

[indiechixor[TK]]

TK42442 officially reporting for Duty to the Central California Garrison!

Been looking forward to this for 2 years. Very excited. Since I last posted, I’ve been Training for the Air Force, so I haven’t been able to even socialize or hang with my local members. Counting down the days to my return - 95 days!

[revlimiter[Staff]]

YESS!!! Congrats Brit!!!! Well deserved as you built a hell of an armor set.

 

Don't forget to request TK status here:

 

[TK 17654[TK]]

Absolutely great work done!! Well deserved pat on the back!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congratulations trooper and welcome to the ranks

[Sly11[Admin]]

This is wonderful news Brit, congratulations, you look fantastic.

 

Don't forget to request 501st access to the forums so you can see our members only areas.

Here is the link

 

 

[brianhawken]

I know this topic is from a few years ago, but I'm doing Phasma this year for my Halloween costume, and maybe this will help out with the next person who does it. When drawing the arc at the bottom of the cape (in the original dimensions), you'll be drawing a portion of a circle with a radius of about 175 cm, with the center 51 cm down on the left side of the leftmost piece, which is what that mark on the diagram is for (I didn't realize that until I had worked it out manually, lol).

 

The build looks amazing, Brit, and thank you, this thread has helped me out a ton in making my own build. I'm not going for certification yet, but I aspire to it at some point.

Thanks again,

Brian.