Hello!

[bobatea]

Hi folks! Another Portlander checking in.

I'm brand new with really minimal costuming experience, so I would be very grateful for any and all help that folks can provide. I have a couple of friends who are already active here, so I may have a little extra help outside of forums. I want to do Zam Wesell and/or a Mandalorian, but I'm still trying to figure out how ambitious I want to be with my first costume project, and I'm feeling apprehensive about helmets and visibility. If anyone has thoughts about any of that, I'd love to hear them.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

[Etherealblue]

Welcome!

Although, I know how to sew and I make my all own costumes, I unfortunately don't have any experience with making armor or helmets. A Zam would be amazing! I love her outfit. I'm currently working on a live action Hera Syndulla, and there are some hard parts of the costume I'm going to have to figure out. But, Zam is definitely more complicated.

[bobatea]

Awesome! Hera looks really cool. How hard is it to do the Twi'lek makeup? It seems like it would be pretty intense.

[Etherealblue]

Awesome! Hera looks really cool. How hard is it to do the Twi'lek makeup? It seems like it would be pretty intense.

Hera will be my 5th Twi'Lek costume...I have one Mirialan Jedi that I troop in and a human Jedi...the rest are Twi'leks, haha.

The makeup isn't really that hard, once you get the hang of it. I use an alcohol based body paint from the neck down when I'm in one of my two Aayla Secura costumes, so the paint stays on all day.

[SpitFireScout]

getting a bucket on and wearing it around the house (with shoes on ) is a good way to get used to the more limited visibility.

Mando helmets are nice in the regard you have the split down the front, helps alot with seeing your feet (vs. a tk or vader). Mandos and Zam benefit from having alot of cloth involved, better mobility. But that also presents sewing being a very handy skill to have for the build.     

and Welcome!

[bobatea]

Haha oh gosh. Great idea to test out a helmet, and even better idea to always remember to wear toe protectors! I'm lucky to have a sewing machine with a mint condition user guide, so if I need to do some sewing, I should be able to (slowly) work through it.

Speaking of shoes, I am getting pretty turned around looking at boots for Zam, to the point where I may just skip that character for now. I have a really hard time finding shoes in general because I have really wide feet, and I have absolutely no idea how to figure out what size of Prada boot might fit. I've been poking around in the forums, but I haven't really run across anything that looks like a good alternative to the secondhand Prada boots. I'm going to think about it a bit more, but the sensible thing might be to just work on a more forgiving costume, at least to start.

[CJ49er]

Welcome!

[Lidocaine]

Zam is a super cool build but has a ton of pieces to her, it's a doable but pretty challenging first build!

The CRL for Zam is fairly loose with the boots, as they need to be similar but not the Prada shoes. There looks to be enough armor pieces and such to cover and help disguise it. Once you get started on Zam I'd start a build thread where you can ask the GMLs (the folks who approve costumes locally) if the shoes you're thinking of getting would be acceptable, or any other parts for that matter.

Good luck and feel free to ask any questions about your desired costume!

[bobatea]

Thanks for the tip! I think I may passively keep an eye out for alternative Zam shoes that might be workable, and if I find some, I'll start with that and then work my way through the rest of the costume.

I was poking around the CRL thinking about what I want to do, and now I kind of want to make a Jawa as a starter costume. The costume project seems manageable for a beginner, and also Jawas are so weird and I love them.

[Sume]

Welcome to the forums.

Jawas are very popular and also pretty easy to make.  They are indeed fun.  I got to go to the beach a few weeks ago with my Jawa and some of the Mandos.  We took a bunch of photos and was so cool to see my Jawa shadow on the sand.  I found some videos on youtube from Mother of Jawa on how to actually make everything.  She explains it very well.  There is also a KC Building Group you can join on Facebook.  Then you can also look up the Great Jawa horde, its a group in Ohio that mass produced a bunch of Jawas.  I would suggest using the KC detachment forums but it currently is having issues still.  Best thing you can do is ask questions on the forum here to make sure your headed in the right direction. 

[bobatea]

That sounds like a blast! Are you planning to do anything in particular with the photos, or was it just for fun?

I am not on Facebook, but I've started checking out the other resources you mentioned. I have one easy sewing project that I've been meaning to finish for the house, and I think I want to use this as motivation; once my other project is done, I plan to go shopping for fabric so I can start working on a costume. 

[Sume]

That sounds like a blast! Are you planning to do anything in particular with the photos, or was it just for fun?

I am not on Facebook, but I've started checking out the other resources you mentioned. I have one easy sewing project that I've been meaning to finish for the house, and I think I want to use this as motivation; once my other project is done, I plan to go shopping for fabric so I can start working on a costume. 

I am going to try and get around to making one my avatar for sure.  I know we were at the Newport convention same weekend as Fanexpo.  When the mercs told me they were headed to the beach for a photo shoot.  I decided to tag along as it sounded really fun.  I enjoy sharing costume pictures with my friends and family too.  Wish I was able to join years earlier, as the last few years have been really great for me.  Helps with my mental health to actually get out.  The smiles you bring to peoples faces is the best part of it all.

[BigRedHand]

Keep an eye out for build party post. Those are fun and handy when you need some help or direction.