crafting – Page 4 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Galactic Style Guide – Viewscreens and Datapads II

Happy Christmas everyone, and welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more accurate ‘outer persona’! In this month’s installment (our final post of 2021!) we’re wrapping up our look at those ubiquitous pieces of ‘hard kit’, datapads and viewscreens. While datapads have really taken off in the last couple years (since visitors to the Galaxy’s Edge parks started kitbash-decorating phone cases), if you’re only familiar with them from fanmade creations, you may be surprised to see that the MANY visual examples we have from licensed sources are detailed very differently!

From an in-universe visuals sense, these three examples are perhaps the most accurate homemade ‘datapads’ I’ve seen yet. What is it that makes them so well-done?

Galactic Style Guide – Viewscreens and Datapads I

Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more accurate ‘outer persona’! For this installment, we’re taking a look at devices which seem as prevalent in the Galaxy Far Far Away as smartphones are here on Earth. While a comlink fulfils the role of a telephone (audio-only), a datapad or viewscreen fills the niche of a tablet computer, and is used to display or swap visual information (but not to make ‘calls’).

While datapads have really taken off in recent years (after visitors to Galaxy’s Edge started kitbash-decorating their phone cases), if you’re only familiar with them from these fanmade creations, you may be surprised to see that the MANY visual examples from official sources are designed very differently! This post will be primarily concerned with the general design of these devices’ screen sides, and then next month we’ll pay special attention to the rear face, to which so many would-be Batuu-bounders glue so many greeblies.

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?

Searching for Rebel trooper helmet variations

Almost as soon as I finished my ‘fleet trooper’ helmet back in 2017, I started planning a ‘donut’ helmet build, which I hoped would remedy all the complaints I had of the ‘swoop’ helmet: it would be smaller, more mobile, quieter, and much better at blending in with woodland scenery. However, on the off chance that I ever feel like busting out my ol’ swoop again, I’ve still kept my eyes open for examples of documented swoop helmet variations that might be a little more woodland guerilla-friendly. Sure, it would be easy to say, ‘Ehh, I’m sure a Rebel cell somewhere must have painted their helmets to blend in better, just make something up!’ But for accurate reenacting and living history, the bar is a little higher, and we can’t settle for fan creations on DeviantArt—we need examples from the visual record! Therefore, I wanted to share the examples of non-standard Rebel ‘swoop’ helmets that I’ve been able to dig up in hopes that they might be of use to someone else in the same boat. Enjoy!

These swoop-less helmets (art by Brian Schonburg) appear in Rules of Engagement, the Rebel SpecForces Handbook (1997).

seven more examples after the jump!

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.

Even more galactic whittling: Gozanti cruiser

Amazing what a transformation a coat of paint can accomplish!

For my latest ‘galactic folk art’ adventure, I decided to make a civilian-model Gozanti cruiser, partially inspired by the post-Disney Imperial incarnation featured in ‘The Heiress’. This ship has been around since at least 32 BBY (its first appearance was taking off outside Mos Espa in Episode I), so it’s a solid fit for any of my personas to carry in a pocket:

Whenever I’m feeling stressed out, in a funk, or down on myself (usually after spending too much time on social media and comparing my own slow progress and accomplishments with other folks’ flashy projects!), I find a great coping mechanism is to pick up some small project that can be completed with short turnaround. Whittling is a great choice for these kinds of projects, as I find the act of whittling by itself to be very grounding and meditative. However, the ‘in the flow’ quality of the work means that I always forget to take in-progress pictures, reinforcing my FOMO of not keeping up with the social media Joneses! (Aaahh, what difficult-to-navigate times we live in. 😉

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.

Upgrading the Rebel persona: captured armor

Reb-leg 202010-2 When I started putting together a Rebel partizan impression a few years back, I initially had the idea—inspired by real-life guerillas’ practice of appropriating enemy equipment—to include a piece or two of captured Imperial hardware in the kit. I was very aware of the temptation to overdo it…too many cosplayers let their imaginations run wild and pretty soon a simple ‘Rebel fighter’ costume becomes an unrealistically fully-armored supertrooper. Since s Alliance doctrine holds that “complete freedom of movement is more useful than the dubious protection provided by armor—which rarely stops a blaster bolt anyway” (WestEndGames, Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, p99), we don’t have a ton of examples of Rebels wearing extensive armor; even this more modern source depicts a Rebel ‘heavy’ gunner with only an arm’s worth of armor:

reb-heavy — FantasyFlightGames: *Age of Rebellion* – Forged in Battle, p 82

I reasoned that while a Rebel partizan would probably do most of their shooting from a prone position, anything to give an advantage in taking a stable shot would be desirable, so with this in mind (and to keep things simple), I decided to order a single Stormtrooper shin/calf from Walt’s Trooper Factory, along with a ‘sniper’ knee plate: Continue reading “Upgrading the Rebel persona: captured armor”