As my wife and I are part of the Star Wars costume organizations, The Rebel Legion, and The 501st, we wanted to include our son into this activity that allows us to go to events, premieres, and use our costumes for charitable and community causes (Children’s Hospitals, Special Kids events, etc.). While he did have another costume already (Ezra Bridger from the animated series, Star Wars: Rebels, he wanted his own Mandalorian costume as well. Because the costume organization, The Mandalorian Mercs, allow for all types of custom and generic versions of these costumes, he decided to go with colors that were inspired by the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team of which he was a fan of at the time.
We started with some templates found online for making generic Mandalorian costumes and traced them on to some sheets of heavy ABS plastic (aka “sintra”). Then, cutting them out of the patterns and shaping them with a heat gun created the proper angles and fit to the body as needed. After (lots of time dedicated to the “fitting” of these parts, sanding and painting was done in the desired colors.
The “armor” parts seen above would attach to a flak-vest worn by the costumer by putting holes in the vest and threading them with very small and short screws that were fastened to the armor. Because the requirements for The Mandalorian Mercs is very specific about the measurements and distance placed between armor parts, this took a while to achieve properly. Unfortunately, I don’t have documented photos of this process here.
The accessories that were not part of the regular armor patterns (arm bracers, jetpack, etc.) were designed by me as well. For example, for the arm bracers with weapons, I used pretty much any small parts (we call these “greebiles”) that would look like actual weapon parts and details. I formed a brace from a sheet of ABS plastic (sintra) and shaped it with a heat gun just like the armor. Then, I added these greebiles taken from parts of an old washer machine power connection, along with random nuts and bolts, and some wire cable bundles that I had lying around. I also used parts from random children’s toys to make the flame thrower.
After painting them, it came out pretty good, and they fit well.
Of course, adding boots, gloves (both with added sintra for reinforcement armor) and the black flight suit is needed to complete this costume, and those are easily found from retail stores online.
I don’t have any documented photos from the helmet creation, but the helmet was a Hasbro Jango Fett one that I assembled, added filler to the gaps, replaced the visor with a welding visor, and painted in the colors he wanted. I also had to add a helmet liner so that it fit correctly when worn. To hear while wearing the helmet he has a headset and a mic to communicate with the outside world.
To finish off the costume, we thought it would be really cool to have a jetpack for this Mando. This was an undertaking, but I found some patterns online (amazing how you can find almost anything online with enough research) and again used sintra to make parts that would connect together. Besides the sintra, and lots of super glue and Bondo, I used anything from children’s maracas (the ball part), air freshener tops, and a bubble wand, to make the parts look correct. After painting everything black, it was coming along well.
Painting and weathering the jetpack with metallic, and black paint again…. and spattered with rust paint, it was pretty convincing.
Finally, I had a friend print me some Aurebesh letters and words for the outside decoration. Aurebesh is one of the official languages and writings in the Star Wars Universe. For months, my son did not realize that all around the jetpack, the text would translate to: “The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. We don’t need no water….etc.” from an early hip-hop mantra/song.
The result was amazing for the overall costume. He gets lots of comments about it when he wears it, and I even made him some trading cards to give to kids when we’re out at an event.
