Armaggedon Steel Legion. Kinda tutorial.

[cas_metal]

Greetings, fellow guardsmen!

I´ve thinking for a while about making some Imperial Guard cosplay, and for a rookie like me I´ve decided to give a try to one of the less armoured regiments, and, at the same time, with something to cover the face and hold my glasses. I like to make things, so instead of a kitlist of surplus stuff I´m gonna be posting diagrams and instructions, that's the resaon for the "tutorial" title. The parto of "kinda" is there because I don't know much about cosplay, and following my instructions may be a terrible mistake. Anyway. Let's go with it. Ah, and sorry for the bad grammar, english is not my mother language.

I've based my plans on images of the GW miniatures, and for more detail, some pictures, but I want to stick to the miniature as much as possible. Mainly this ones:

[cas_metal]

At this moment, I just have some planification done. I've been working on the mask and helmet, checking paper patterns to see if sizes match and that. The helmet is very similar to a german fallschirmjaeger helmet, and I could not find patterns for that, but I found some fot the stahlhelm, which is basically the same but without the lower part. The mask is made from zero.

The idea for the mask is this one.
 


An this is the pattern.
 
https://ibb.co/XxYMb3z
https://ibb.co/XxYMb3z

The respirator filter is... well, a box with five holes, that´s easy. The lasgun is not that easy. I think is clear in the miniatures that the base is the same as the short pattern lasgun, but with a round handguard and a folding stock. So I used that to make this

https://ibb.co/j8hnNCk
https://ibb.co/j8hnNCk

And then, from that, making more serious patterns. With measurements and so. Like this:

https://ibb.co/Fq9xFw1
https://ibb.co/Fq9xFw1

From that, I made a provisional unfold of the body, like this. Is in 1:4 scale.

https://ibb.co/qs3Xk3G
https://ibb.co/qs3Xk3G

https://ibb.co/phDLf7Z
https://ibb.co/phDLf7Z

So, I'll return when I have something more to show.

[cas_metal]

Greetings!!!

First of all, can you see the pics? Coping and pasting the link in the browser at least? I don't know how to attach them in the middle of the text, sorry :/

Well, I've been following my own patterns and making some advances in the helmet, the respirator and the lasgun.

The respirator filter was the easiest part and took me almost no time. In fact I made it while the helmet parts dried. I cut the pieces in hard cardboart (like the one from hardcover books), then painted it, sanded, painted, sanded, an finally used a layer of aluminium duct tape to make it look like realistic metal. Next step is stain it.

Then, with the mask, I've tried to make a prototype with cheap fabrik to see if it`s comfy enough, but I realised the front part, when the tube is attached, make a weird curve. I need to fix that. Now I'm glad I did't make it direcly into fake leather or something LOL.

The lasgun is the most satisfactory part. Because is a gun. I found a cheap nerf N-Strike in a second hand app for 5$ so I wi try to put that inside. I´m very proud of the folding stock, but is a bit bulky so I probably reescale it and make a new one. When everything adjust properly I want to send the measures to a laser-cut shop here to male it in DM.

Finally the helmet. I made it from the same cardboard as the rifle, but a helmet is round, so even with a sanding is does not look really good. I will need
to use putty. I have not decided if it should be the helmet or just a mold and make a positive with fiberglass. What do you think?

Aaaaand now all the pics together. Sorry for that

[cas_metal]

Well, it's been a while. Let's continue with this.

First of all, I didn´t really like that folding stock, too bulky, so I redesigned it to make it more compact. Also, I put a nerf inside, and it also shoots, so, perfect.

Second of all, finally found a decent fake leather (I think is the type used in upholstery, with fake leather in one side, and some kind of feld fabric in the other, so is pretty sturdy but still easy to sew) so I tried to make the mask and the three lasgun pouches.

Third of all, I got bored of sanding that stupid helmet, so definetely I'm making a mold out of it to make fiberglass copies. So I painted it black and I'll take it back. Let's shout it loud and clear.

Third of all, I don't know if I already said it, but I´m using the soviet M69 belting (replacing the belt buckle, armageddon steel legion does not use the sickle and hammer as symbol, as far as I know) and also de soviet M69 trousers (green military breeches) and the  M88 Afghanka as inner jacket (generic desert jacket, but hey, It's yellow).

So, things to do:

-Find or make some protective glasses.
-Find the most aproppiate coat and modify it. I must have 3 pins of the imperial aquila in the front, a single line of buttons and a simple straight collar neck. And be yellow, of course.
-Find or make an imperial aquila belt buckle and  that plate in the back of the "Y" belting.
-Finish the pouches (it lacks the bressure buttons).
-Find a propper tube for the mask.
-Finish the rifle.

Aaaand the pics:

[cas_metal]

This is a bit abandoned. But there are advances! I already have thethe aquila-shaped brooch for the coat, ready to take out molds, in addition to the design of the Steel Legion emblem ready to send to a patch embroidery store. They wear it in the right arm. I also made some glasses, because I could not find lenses that looked ok. The good point is that, being flexible and custom made, they fit perfectly with the eye holes in the mask. In addition, they have cost almost nothing, and are adjustable to be worn on top of the helmet or on the mask.

The rifle is practically finished and I found a site with buckles compatible with the Soviet belt but smooth. The thing is, I don't know whether to order an aquila to be engraved on the buckle or better if I stick one and paint it all metallic. What do you think?

So, actualiced to-do-list:

-Find the most aproppiate coat and sew the patches and aquila brooches when they arrive.
-Put the pressure buttons in the pouches when they arrive.
-Find a propper tube for the mask.

I also want to do a laspistol, even if regular soldiers don't use it. Because, well, I like laspistols.