Personas – Page 2 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Upgrading the Rebel persona – Naboo pilot’s helmet part 1

_{Before we get started, a quick scheduling note: the project that follows was a long and involved process, involving many different skillsets (including—but not limited to—pattern drafting, sculpting, casting, and woodcarving). Instead of trying to cram all that into one mega post, I’ve decided to split it up into three parts, and rather than dole them out separately across most of this month, I’ll be posting all three today (we’ll return to regular programming next week). With all that out of the way, let’s get started!}

With little else to occupy my time while backpacking thousands of miles last year, I spent a large part of my AT thruhike thinking about ways I could improve my various Star Wars reenacting/living history kits when I got back home. Along the lines of adding a Q2 holdout blaster to my Rebel-on-Naboo impression, I wondered if there was anything else I could do to help anchor my kit to that specific planet. While the popular conception of Naboo is of a peaceful, pacifist culture, that’s not exactly the case. While they may not have a proper standing army, the Royal Naboo Security Forces are plenty prominent in the pre-Imperial period and have plenty of hardware to incorporate into a kit. Just as Earth military gear of past generations can trickle down to the civilian market as surplus and family heirlooms lay forgotten in attics, I figured something similar could happen on Naboo as well, especially following their effective demilitarization under the New Order.
While I was never really onboard with the ‘pearl hats’ of the Royal Guards or the Security Guards and Officers’ visored caps, the headgear of one RSF branch felt like it had more Star Wars-y pedigree than the others: the Naboo Starfighter Corps. Their flight helmet is so iconic yet has such a grounded design I thought it might be fun to add one to my kit…and after supper one night in our tent I made a quick doodle of what a Naboo partizan might look like wearing one:

And once I make a character sketch, it’s all over – I *have* to make it a reality!

Once we returned home, I was able to do some research and see what kinds of options I had. Somewhat unsurprisingly (?) it doesn’t seem as if many fan-makers have tackled the N1 helmet…as far as I could tell, only one other (rather exquisite) fanmade example existed, produced by one ‘Godzilla’ (of super-accurate Tusken Raider mask fame). Perhaps one reason for this dearth was because an official N1 helmet replica does exist…they pop up on eBay from time to time but are typical quality for Don Post – they’re basically just a cast plastic shell with a mediocre paintjob – and more than I want to pay for such a thing. After being away from my workshop for so long, I really needed a project to get back in the Maker groove, and thought a scratchbuilt Naboo pilot helmet would do the trick nicely! The obvious question was: HOW?

Upgrading the Rebel persona: camouflaged helmet

Ever since completing it back in the summer of 2017, I was never fully satisfied with my Rebel ‘swoop’ helmet. My dissatisfaction wasn’t necessarily with the construction—despite being my first serious foray into Pepakura, I think I pretty closely nailed the shape and paintjob (accurate light gray, not white!)—but rather with its usefulness to a Rebel fighter….

What’s wrong with the classic swoop?

Project: Naboo pistol retool

Near the end of last year, while scrolling through some Star Wars groups on facebook I came across someone showing off a bunch of white and fluorescent orange plastic blaster props made by Rubies. While otherwise just another pointless ‘hey look the stuff i ordered got delivered’ post, one of them was something I had no idea even existed in a mass-produced form—the Merr-Sonn Q2 hold-out pistol. (Fun fact: supposedly this blaster was designed by George Lucas himself, and was prototyped from sketch to prop in just one day). While it wasn’t made by them, as a pre-teen in 1999 such a weapon is permanently associated in my mind with Padme Amidala and the planet Naboo, especially given its decidedly un-militaristic Art Deco styling. Seeing that such a replica existed (and was readily affordable!), I realized that including a Q2 in one of my Naboo-based impressions would be a great way to better connect kit and homeworld—especially since those ‘outer personas’ diverge from what most people think of when they picture Naboo style (the typical ‘Renaissance’ style is really a nobility thing).

Since this model blaster is only ever wielded onscreen by Padme or her handmaidens, I had always assumed it was a specially-made pistol just for Royal use. However, skimming through some RPG materials I came across the Q2 included in a listing of common blasters of the Galaxy, where it was listed as acceptable for use in the pre-Empire, Imperial, and New Republic periods—perfect for any of my needs!

this was much more than just a paintjob!

Project: Spacer’s Duffel (part 2)

It’s been awhile since I’ve checked in on this project, which was stuck on the back burner for much of last year but has been moving forwards slowly but surely. Inspired by a description of typical spacers traveling the spacelanes with a sturdy duffel bag (FFG Edge of the Empire: Enter the Unknown p.53), my goal is to create an in-universe ‘steamer trunk’ covered with souvenirs of galactic travel for use with my New Republic Archeological Corps impression.

Before getting too carried away with the weathering and distressing, I wanted to first add a few in-universe patches! A brief browse through Etsy or facebook’s SW Patch Collectors group will reveal a mind-boggling number and variety of Star Wars-themed embroidery, but somewhat unsurprisingly the vast majority are not suitable for living history purposes: face characters, divergent stylistic interpretations, pop culture mashups, event commemoratives, and general ‘novelty’ designs (i.e. things that make me ask, “WHYYYY?”) abound. If that group is any indication, lots of folks want patches that let others know they are a Star Wars Fan, but not so many are interested in authentically inhabiting the Star Wars setting…disappointing. However, a few daring individuals have been producing patches that actually reflect an in-universe style!

More patches (and where you can get your own) below!

Project: Thermal Detonator facelift

In the course of my research on real-world historical partizan kits, I’ve found the most common items carried by WW2 guerrillas are binoculars, grenades, and knives or bayonets. Since I’m always trying to improve my Rebel partizan impression, I thought having a bit of ‘personal artillery’ (Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, p100) would be a fun way to add some authentic weight to a vest pocket, giving a better living-history understanding of what it would feel like to be equipped in-universe. Around the same time, KR Sabers released an all-metal thermal detonator kit. It was a thing of beauty…but it also cost $200+…and I simply could not justify spending that much on something that was just for looking shiny on a display table or taking up space in a pocket. (Plus, for some reason, high-end propmakers always insist on including things like explosions or character voice soundclips in their electronics, which actually decreases the immersion for me. Anyone else feel the same way? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!). Since I couldn’t justify the cost for something that didn’t do anything besides look cool and flash lights, how could I add some authenticity to my kit without breaking the bank?

A295 rifle conversion update 3

The pandemic project saga continues! Last time I checked in, I was stuck at bottlenecks on the remaining stock, scope, and magazine fronts that kept me from proceeding, but after my usual lull, I again have something worth sharing!

-the StG’s wooden stock needed to be replaced with a metal ‘T’ stock; and as my potential welding instructor is in the COVID high-risk category, I outsourced this element to a machinist friend of mine.

Improve your Mandalorian cosplay with one easy trick!

Familiarity breeds contempt as they say, and once I notice a trend, it starts to bug me and becomes hard to unsee. Each week, I see scores of ‘Custom Mandalorian’ costumes, and like the diehard Disney fans who hide an obligatory ‘hidden Mickey’ in their props, whenever I see a Mando come across my feed, I like to guess how quickly this standard cockeyed, off-kilter, cracked-skull Mythosaur will show up: “Is it hiding in the first photo? Second photo? Third photo?”

A kit which turns out to be sans mythosaur, on the other hand, is always a pleasant, refreshing surprise! (One of the things I really appreciated in The Mandalorian was that—so far as I can tell—none of the non-Boba Fett character designs included this stock symbol.)

Searching for AgriCorps style

It’s somehow been several (4.5?!) years since first I first ventured forth to do some first-person galactic interpretation, and as you would expect in a hobby geared towards constant tinkering and improvement, I’ve made plenty of changes to that impression since then. In the coming months, I plan to roll out some ‘complete kit’ breakdowns for my various Star Wars living-history personas. In the case of my ex-Agricultural Corps Jedi impression, I realized that a kit breakdown wouldn’t be the right place for fully detailing the research that went into said impression…especially since I portray him long after the Corps has been dissolved!
What’s more, a recent addition to our community in the SWLH facebook group expressed great interest in pursuing an AgriCorps impression, so I wanted to use this post and lay out the few bits of information I’ve been able to dig up–not only for their benefit, but for anyone else who might be thinking about such a persona. If you have an interest in gardening, botany, biology, geology, or environmental science and want to apply it to the Galaxy Far Far Away, consider the AgriCorps!

Compared to the larger Order as a whole, our sample size of analyzable visual examples for the Service Corps (and AgriCorps specifically) is a miniscule—only nine.

This generic Mohawk’d fellow comes from the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook (2002), while The Jedi Path (circa 115 BBY) gives us six more individuals, plus a generic Service Corps member:

Upgrading the Rebel persona: captured armor #2

While a good partizan should ideally do all their ambushing from a distance, after binge-watching a cool edutainment series on the SOE training curriculum (Churchill’s Secret Agents—highly recommended) this summer, I realized that sometimes up-close-and-personal hand-to-hand combat can’t be avoided. Adding to this realization were nightly examples earlier this summer of my city’s ‘finest’ beating protestors with batons just a few blocks away from my apartment. With these motivations in mind, I started thinking about what kinds of hard kit items I might use to improve my odds in the area of personal defense.

Project: B1 battle droid arm (part 2)

Just in time for Halloween, I’m proud to finally be able to show off a project that’s downright skeletal!:

When we last checked in, my battle droid arm project had been printed, resin-filled, cleaned up and given a base coat of paint. Next came the fun part: assembly! To allow them the proper range of motion, the hand and forearm joints were articulated with turned pins and set screws, as it appears the original was made (although I have not yet added the tiny set screws in the fingers; my thumb can do more than just rotate in a circle, as it has an actual captive ball-and-socket):

As you can see, I really need to add some extra-grungy finger grime!

To really sell the artifact as a battlefield relic, I originally wanted to include some cables or wires poking out of the top of the shoulder, but my research turned up the surprising conclusion that such details wouldn’t be necessary.