DIY – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Intro to Fabric Prospecting

(This article is a modified version of a workshop I recently taught at the 10th annual Whippoorwill Festival here in central Kentucky)
Greetings, galactic crafters! – and happy ‘May the Fourth’ weekend!
If you’re in search of an authentic GFFA wardrobe that can stand up to the rigors of authentic GFFA activities, I find that off-the-rack fashion pieces from Amazon can only take your look so far. When you’re in the middle of a tariff war and most of that cheap clothing comes from overseas, this might be the perfect time to add a useful skill to the ol’ proverbial toolbox and start creating more of your garments yourself!
So, do you want to create a solid, in-universe outfit but find that the good materials (linen, raw silk, wool, etc.) at the online fabric merchants have gotten too expensive? Or has your go-to big-box craft store gone bankrupt and closed its doors, leaving a choice between one that doesn’t even sell fabric in-store, and another run by Christian Nationalists? Then you should consider Fabric Prospecting!
What’s that? I’m glad you asked!

Traditionally, prospecting is done for valuable raw materials—like precious metals, or crude oil—but in the costumed arts, the raw material in demand is quality fabric! As you would expect, traditional markets price these accordingly (especially when compared with synthetics, which are dirt cheap). However, did you know that there’s an oft-overlooked source of high-quality, natural-fiber fabric just waiting to be exploited and put to costumery uses?

learn the secrets of fabric prospecting!

Project: Thermos canister facelift

If it seems like a long time since we’ve had a standalone project to show off, you’re not wrong! We haven’t been idle lately, it’s just that everything we’ve been working on has been towards one specific, very detailed goal. Every now and then, however, something comes along and begs our attention for a week or two.

A funny observation I’ve made lately: whenever I go out shopping (ever on the lookout for gear or materials I can use for reenacting), every time I grumble to myself, “This place never has anything good!”, then something tends to comes up! Last November I popped into my local Goodwill having just complained that such a civilized thrift shop would be a terrible place to find pieces for my Middle-earth kits……only to score a gorgeous maroon 100% wool blanket for just $2 (!!!). Then a few months ago, while accompanying my wife on an outing to TJMaxx, I found myself was grumbling how the clothes there are all made of polyester and any ‘hard kit’ type items are always so ‘consumer-grade’ and never made for rigorous galactic use. Well, wouldn’t you know it, in among the reusable water bottles I found this double-thermos canister…thing:

“[It] may not look like much, but [it’s] got it where it counts”

This Hydraflow POD measures up at about 9.5 inches tall; the top section holds about a pint, and the lower section holds nearly a liter! There’s a spot under the lid for a folding spoon, which turned out to be pretty terrible. However, it’s triple insulated, is pretty much a blank canvas for retooling with in-universe style, and best of all, is made of steel (90% recycled!). Unlike the last Thermos I reworked, this one is watertight, tough, and ready for real use in the field!

In keeping with the authentic aesthetic seen on screen, I knew it wouldn’t take much to SWarz this up – a more neutral color and some weathering would be about it. The first step would be to tackle the screw-on lid.

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: 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.

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. 😉

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: uniform tunic

Over the years, I’ve acquired a number of different ‘in-universe’ garments. Some are based on examples from film or print sources, some are extrapolations based on planetary styles, some are just attempts to apply the generic ‘galactic aesthetic’ to my everyday wardrobe.

But so far, I haven’t tried to outright copy a specific example…the closest I’d come was the ‘bib’-front shirt I whipped up for the debut of my ‘Citizen Olis’ persona in 2017, meant to be a local take on the style worn by the Rebel ‘fleet troopers’ and Yavin communications officers seen in Episode IV:

Project: B1 battle droid arm (part 1)

In the last several years of browsing Star Wars crafting topics on social media, I’ve determined that about 95% of replicas (especially 3D-printed ones) I’ve seen are of weapons, helmets, and armor associated with a tiny range of recognizable-to-the-public Face Characters or nameless Troopers. You will almost never see mundane artifacts replicated in the prop-building community…as one RPF user asked while seeking info on how to replicate a Kloo horn, “Anyone have any ideas or did nobody ever care because it’s not a lightsaber?”

As I was brainstorming my NRAC (New Republic Archeological Corps) persona last year, I began thinking about what kinds of artifacts I could potentially show off at a convention booth, hands-on interpretive historical talk, or similar venue/event. With Naboo’s focus on arts and learning, and the presence of a notable institution of higher education (Theed University—which coincidentally has the same initials as my alma mater), I felt confident in basing my NRAC impression on a Naboo background. I then began thinking what kinds of items would likely be collected or excavated by a Naboo archeological student, or possibly artifacts that could’ve been passed down through the family.
Around the same time, I saw someone online post pictures of a 1:1 3D-printed B1 battle droid: B1 il_794xN1521245503_mg8s.jpg ‘Wow!’ I thought, ‘that would be amazing to display!’ Unfortunately, I was also living in a very small apartment at the time, and there was no way I had the space to store an almost-2-meter-tall figure I might use for a handful of events each year (if I was lucky!). Also, in terms of realism, what are the odds that my archeologist persona would have a complete B1 droid?
‘Okay’, I said. ‘How about just, like, an…arm?’ Continue reading “Project: B1 battle droid arm (part 1)”

A295 rifle conversion update 2

Quarantine projects continue! It took a while to figure out and execute, but after my usual lull, I again have something worth sharing! While molding and casting the familiar V8 greeblies on the front of the receiver was pretty straightforward, these side greeblies on the rear receiver were another story.
a295sidegreebs Continue reading “A295 rifle conversion update 2”