kman
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Posts posted by kman
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I made the mistake of eBaying while drunk, and have a real Rimowa attache case en route. Fingers crossed!
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8 hours ago, chicken45 said:
@kman asked about boots. Here are the pics from @Bettina1138’s gallery:
Hmm. Looking at these boots, I believe the current top strap would need to be removed. Then they would be fine. Or for extra accuracy, the correct type of adjustment strap can be added. The ones on those boots now are nowhere near the right kind of adjustment strap used on these boots, unfortunately. It's not an especially difficult change, fortunately.
... is nothing like this (this is Lt. Gorn but Meero's boots use the same sort of flap and buckled strap):
They took the design from the German jack boots worn in the OT, and started applying them to Officer boots in the Non-Saga shows, starting with Krennic. These jackboot photos show how the strap-and-flap design works:
Lots of people have added straps with this appearance to jack boots over the years (to hit Level 3 on various CRLs that call for the accurate boots, which are hard to come by now), so it's a pretty common modification to boots. (some even just glue the flap in place, so it's not functional (not required), but is a far simpler change, since the back seam doesn't need to be re-sewn by a cobbler)
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7 hours ago, wolfietk said:
Kalani, is it possible to allow the correct shade of grey as a level two or three requirement? I worked in print production and to get corporate logos exactly correct we always deferred to the Pantone color chart. Pantone colors are available for fabric swatches, (at any fabric store, even Wal-Mart.) Just for the sake of argument, say we agreed the color is light grey and this acceptable for level two or level three approval. Couldn't we help folks out by tracking down the proper Pantone number for them? We could use light grey as the starting point and go from there. (My source from the show also confirmed the color they used is light gray.)
The only reason I'm digging my heels in on this one is the issue of screen accuracy. If we pride ourselves on getting the details right, white is white and grey is grey. ISB officers come in different colors now. But, the Andor ones we are trying to write the CRL for now are not white. It's just not accurate to say they are. As costumers, I think we're all slightly obsessive about details. If we want people to use the correct shade of grey, tell them the exact numerical shade to use. It takes the guesswork out for the costumers and the GMLs.
Kat's post above shows the issue with specifying Pantone colors. And FWIW on my uncalibrated (but not inexpensive) monitor, that color looks almost tan... nothing remotely close to how Meero's uniform looks on screen.
This strikes me a a similar problem to the Anovos protoype Krennic tunic that was on display at Cons for a while. They bragged about how they had color-matched screen-used tunics for it... the problem is, the screen-used tunics the matched were used in the outdoor scenes on Jedha, and in person under normal lighting, they looked like you took a white ISB tunic and tea-stained it. NO one wanted that color, unless they were planning to use it to film scenes under the same lighting conditions and color grading used on those Rogue One scenes. They looked... kinda like how those Pantone tiles are showing on my monitor, frankly. Only in person. Not good.
Just to further illustrate the point, using some images from this thread, here your Pantone tile, overlaid on Meero's tunic:
Color grading messes things up pretty badly. when you try to recreate what you see on screen, which is what we're trying to do.
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Just adding these reference shots, since I wasn't able to do so the other day for unknown technical reasons.
The adjustment flaps on the officer boots were copied from the vintage German jackboots used in WWII. So those are good source material for seeing how it was done (and conveniently, I own a pair).
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On 12/17/2022 at 12:13 PM, Daetrin said:
It's too bad you can't find rubber (aka hyperfirm) ones anymore. They are great because they can take a lot of abuse. The one on Etsy seems crude by comparison.
I think I may have one of the last hyperfirm SE-14R's made by Lewis.
Does anyone know if Shawn Morgan still makes his? They were fantastic, though I haven't spoken to him in over a decade.
I'd upload an image, but it doesn't seem I have the permissions to do so? Other Invision boards allow to post directly....
I've been working on it, trying to arm twist some vendors into making a nice hyperfirm (style) SE-14R, but not luck just yet. Some possibilities on the horizon, but not the immediate future. One issue is the lack of source materials... since the actual Rexim-Favor is pretty much impossible to lay hands on, it's hard to get a genuinely accurate start to the casting process. 3D printed models that are "eyeballed" against photo references may end up being the best that can be done, unless/until someone in the prop community gets their hands on an actual Rexim-Favor.
Meanwhile, my hunt continues.
You should be able to upload an image... any member can. Our hosting space is pretty limited, though, so individual member space allocations are pretty tight. Hosting elsewhere and linking it in is usually the best bet... Imgur is a popular free host that works well for embedding photos here.
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As long as it's correctly tailored to fit you well, there usually isn't a lot that's needed. (I'm assuming the version that ticks off the 501st requirements was chosen)
Sometimes the flares need to be toned down a bit, and stiffening helps, but that's mostly cosmetic stuff.
Adding stirrups, if they don't have them, definitely helps with the fabric bunching at the knees, as Bob noted.
Sometimes the collar is pretty miserably floppy... they be stiffened to make it *always* nice and crisp, pretty easily: I took a regular dress shirt that I had bought, and you know that clear plastic stiffener they put under the collars to keep everything nice and crisp in the package? I slid that out, and had a long roughly 1" strip of flexible (but kinda stiff-ish) clear plastic. I cut a small slit hidden on the inside of the collar, near the regular opening, and slid the band inside to stiffen the collar, working it all the way around to the other side, and trimmed it to size. A little hand stitching closed up the slit and you'd never know it's there... except my collar stays beautifully crisp.
(Be careful washing it, though!)
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16 hours ago, Bettina1138 said:
Hi there,
I took some photos of my Dedra Meero parts. Maybe you can use one or the other for the CRL pictures. My tunic and trench coat will follow. Please be patient with me :)))Warm greetings
Bettina
I can't quite tell from the photo... did you actually get your hands on a Rimowa Limbo attache case? Lucky!!!
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15 hours ago, Barkydog1 said:
I’m curious where you’re going to go with the boot details, Kalani. I’m working on my wife’s, and wanting to add the straps/buckles/flaps on the upper rear outer edges:
<snip>
I believe there are also zippers on all the Imperial boots in Andor, but Definitely on hers.
<snip>
Perhaps allow zippers or not on all levels (because it broadens the available selection of acceptable boots), then make the strap/buckle/flap a level two or three detail?
Standard procedure is to be pretty liberal with what's allowed for basic approval. Pretty much any riding boot that would pass for any Imperial officer is going to work, there. Zippers are already allowed inside, for basic, on all the CRLs... that's not going to change, but neither will we *require* them at basic, even though we obviously know they're there.
We haven't decided yet if we'll be *requiring* the zipper at L2 or L3. One of those, in all probability. And I suspect the buckle/flap will be an L3 detail, as was done with Krennic. (the first time boots with these details showed up)
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2 hours ago, wolfietk said:
One of my friends was in the show. (He's friends with Tony Gilroy.) I'll see if this is something he can find out, (or if it conflicts with his NDA.) The ISB officers in this show are Andor Grey. The ISB officers we have seen before are white. It's a new variant on the officer and a different color tunic.
It's a light gray ... that's so light it appears white. I am familiar with non-color corrected raw source material as well, which is far as I go without messing with my NDA.
From a CRL perspective, if we call it gray, no matter how light, people are going to go GRAY, and we end up getting into fights with GMLs over... shades of gray.
I think we still need to call it white, else we get into No True Scotsman areas.
If you want to use "white with a hint of gray" for your tunic, no one is going to say boo about it.
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On 12/14/2022 at 7:51 PM, tacblue said:
Meero and Partagaz look to have the same coat to me, albeit he's got it closed left over right VS Meero's right over left. I think the appearance of the collar is an optical illusion. The material and stitching appear the same. I think the difference in appearance is more down to the difference in physical footprint of the two people, along with the fact that the major appears to have his collar flipped up. I think if Merro flipped her collar up, hers would look the same, or if Partagaz laid his down, he would match hers. Also, it's clear in a couple of those pics that she has gathered excess fabric of the coat, particularly on the sides, using her belt to keep things in place for a more tailored look.
My money would be on the same jacket, just worn differently by different people and different body types.
The collar difference are no optical illusion. Partagaz' collar is laying against the front of his chest, while Meero's is literally on top of her shoulders... you can see clearly in the small shots above, showing her from the side.
They're different size people wearing different size jackets, but those jackets are not off the rack S-M-L sizes, rather, they've been tailor made to fit the individual specific actors as their "size". So which layout is correct? There clearly is no correct, there's a correct range.
There's certainly a base pattern they use for background characters that don't warrant tailoring, but any way you shake it, there's definitely lots of wiggle room in the design. -
It's called Color grading, and it's used extensively all over the show, such that the same uniform can look extremely different from scene to scene... indoor scenes where you would assume the color is consistent.
The actual color is a true white... there may be the slightest hint of gray, but it's more important to note that it's not a warm white, eggshell or cream, like some other ISB tunics we've seen. And White shows as gray, depending on the lighting, lighting direction, and shadows. But because everything is color graded so heavily, it's nearly impossible to nail the exact shade, unless we have access to raw photos well-lit studio photography that include a color chart in the shot, which we'll never get.
As such, we don't tend to pin down an exact shade for uniforms, even if we actually had Pantone colors for it, because it becomes too exclusionary, and over-zealous GMLs will start rejecting people who can't prove they don't have the exact right Pantone color. (Take a look at the color nightmare that is the Line Officer and ask how many approved Officers we would have if we actually exactly specified!) We make sure it's clear that it's NOT warm or creamy in the description, and that's as far as we go.
(Contrast that to the trenchcoat, which IS a warm white color, and looks almost tan in some shots) -
13 hours ago, MaximumFirePower said:
Thanks kman!
Sounds like I'm best served getting a new pair. Looking on Amazon nothing seemed exact but these are the 4 that appeared closest to me. Any thoughts on which pair is closest or do they all look about the same to you?
https://a.co/d/9Z4Ycny $49 Apparently these are the same gloves used in Dexter. They appear accurate to me but are they any closer than the others?
https://a.co/d/h5yQbDU $29 These also look close
https://a.co/d/hLyh6ZD $28 These look close but is the leather smooth enough?
https://a.co/d/dNjVC5Y $27 These look close but is the leather smooth enough?
ToughGloves have a pretty good reputation, but yeah, $50 seems steep for a basic police search glove that's not any more accurate than the others.
I like the look of that last-linked pair the best, personally... it has a wider, less wrinkly band at the wrist, closer to the original. (If the photos are accurate) And touchscreen compatible for a nice bonus!
Any of those will work just fine, though. There are even $16 pairs that would do the job, but without evaluating a specific pair you never really know for sure... but that's why Amazon's return policy is nice.
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Ravel is a great source for the non-saga gloves, but I'm not impressed with the accuracy of that model, for OT line officers.
They DO have the required three lines, but they're not thin like the originals. The CRL doesn't really specify, however, so you could always give it a go with those... up to you how accurate you want to be.
Standard police search gloves are inexpensive, readily available from tons of sources (tons on Amazon, for under $30, and even under $20), and usually have the thinner lines.
The wrist should technically not have elastic or stitching, to match Veers' straight original, but that's not something I've seen specifically judged before (and it's not visible, standing normally, anyway). Nor do I know of a particular source that could match those gloves. Most applicants I've seen just use the police search gloves.
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Here's my take, using some language from the Krennic CRL where these riding boots with adjustment straps first appeared, and the OT Bridge crew jack boots (where this sort of adjustment strap was copied from):
Officer Boots - Knee-high, black, riding style, lace-less, smooth non-textured, leather or leather-like material.
- Boots have conservative heels.
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A single stretch panel or zipper may be present, they are to be hidden on the inner part of the boot shaft.
- Not visible from the front, side or back.
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The top of the boots may be flat or Spanish Style, but not Cowboy or Super Hero (pointed at the front) style.
- A small V-shaped notch may be present on the back of the boots top.
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Boots may have a top adjustment strap on the outside of the boots with a flap attached to the rear seam of the boots.
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Buckle is attached to the front of the rear flap.
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OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): - Boots have a flat top, not Spanish style.
OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): -
Boots are made of leather.
- Not vinyl or PVC.
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- Exact replicas of English riding (dress) boots or Equestrian boots.
THAT SAID, we need to do some homework on this, to make sure that ALL the characters in the non-saga shows and movie (Rogue One) used flat top boots, and not the Spanish style. I also want to look closer at which characters have the adjustment strap added. For some, we may want to make that adjustment strap a required detail, not optional, at least at higher levels. (I'm thinking that should be an L3 detail, if required) And for others, we might even consider making the inner zipper a required detail at L2+. (Meero for sure, for instance)
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19 hours ago, chicken45 said:
@kman I'm glad to hear it's a Power 5 instead of the Quick 6. Those exist currently!
I kinda wonder if they're going to give it a new designation, since it's sort of a slight variation on the OG version of the MSP5? Sort of like Lando's custom SE-14R. Only a little less "extra" LOL
I don't want to just make up a name for it, but I could see it being listed as a Merr Sonn Power 5a or somesuch.
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13 minutes ago, ARC said:
I see what you are saying, I don't think the black will go too far wrong.
But before I commit, I might see if I can organize a fabric sample from DN first to see how the two black fabrics compare.
I'd be happy to post some photos when it comes through.
If it were an olive uniform, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
I've seen enough olive officer uniform posts to know better, lolOh, wait, are you talking about the Olive uniforms, or the black?
The black Anovos and Denuo Novo should be identical. No worries whatsoever there.
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This is NOT an official endorsement, but poking around Etsy a little right now, if I was personally in the market I would probably roll the dice on this one, if I was having someone else print it for me (no 3D printer):
https://www.etsy.com/listing/950644072/star-wars-se-14r-death-trooper-blaster
If I had a printer (or access to a friend with one) I'd probably buy this model to print:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/692486444/se14-r-blaster-3d-print-files-setup-for
If I had ZERO skills, but was willing to pay more (and roll the dice that the vendor does a halfway decent job... always a gamble) I'd look at this one:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1082193774/se-14r-death-trooper-blaster-star-wars
If money was no object I might go for one of these finished models... although I think that price is crazy high for a 3D print, finished or not (but the reviews look compelling):
https://www.etsy.com/listing/623336160/star-wars-se-14r-death-trooper-or
There are NO guarantees with any of these, but if I personally was in the market, something from one of these above links is probably the direction I'd look.
I 3D printed my own from models I scrounged around the internet, which don't seem to be around anymore. It was a lot of work bringing it all together but I'm mostly satisfied with the results... for what I paid. (basically about $10 in materials, plus $20 for a real scope) I'd still be much happier with a Hyperfirm-style rubber one but they really don't exist right now, so I make do with a cheap placeholder for now.
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^^ A member here bought one of those, I believe, and generally liked it. The molding and finishing is *rough*, though. While I'm personally super impatient for a good rubber SE-14R, I wouldn't pay that price for one of that quality. It's either going to look like... well, like it does in the photo, or it's going to take a LOT of work to make it into something that I would consider reasonably good quality.
Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist, but there you go.
I'm not a big fan of 3D printed blasters, for the most part, but this is an area where I currently make an exception, since I haven't found a high quality rubber option, to date.
I know at least one well-regarded maker is considering adding one to their lineup, but the timeline is hazy.
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2 hours ago, GKasheeph said:
Evening,
I am looking which chart shows the most accurate ranks. I am looking for naval ranks for on my black uniform.
Thanks!Enjoy.
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Unfortunately there are no "major vendors" for this particular blaster, which has been frustrating. There are a ton of vendors on Etsy selling 3D prints (and/or models you can print yourself), but since the original gun is nearly impossible to purchase (super rare), it seems like every modeler pretty much guessed about the sizing, so they're all different sizes... it's a real wild west out there!
Most of those Etsy vendors can put something in your hands that's approvable and has the right general appearance, however. Just be careful when you buy a holster (unless you're making your own) and give the vendor the measurements of YOUR SE-14R, to make sure their stock pattern will fit, in case theirs was made to fit one with dimensions that are different enough to matter. (Usually it works out, but not always, so best to be sure!)
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On 12/9/2022 at 12:34 PM, Fox said:
That uniform's color varies even in the same scene with the same characters. Watch the Death Star Conference scene you'll see them get darker, lighter, greener, grayer depending on who is standing where in relation to the lights. Uniforms made today varies depending on what screen grabs they decided to use. If you want to find a perfect match you have to purchase every maker's version and recreate all the lighting conditions.
The fabric is all the same, of course. What's different is the lighting, and the color grading, from scene to scene. All movies and shows do this. (Andor is especially nightmarish in this regard)
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That thread shows the only direct comparison photos we've seen so far... not many have both costumes in hand, and you can't compare separately-taken shots.
The fabric is indeed the same (and yes, from the same manufacturer), but the dye lot is slightly different. Close enough to work if you need it to (especially for a hat where there's some separation), but it's not an exact match. I don't think I would recommend mixing an Anovos tunic with Denuo Novo pants, for instance. The difference looks minimal under some lighting conditions, but it's a lot more noticeable under others. This sort of thing is very difficult to photograph.
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4 hours ago, AJHamler said:
Hi Kalani, and thanks for the reply.
I'm 5'11", not too tall, but I do have longish arms. (And somewhat wide shoulders.)
I did see a thread here recently comparing the color of the Anovos and Denuo Novo olive uniforms and, as you note, they looked really close. To be honest, in the photos I could barely tell the difference. I imagine they'd look pretty much the same if I stand right next to my wife.
A.J.
There's a lot more difference in person than in the photos, but it is what it is... it's not like we have a choice at this point.
Dedra Meero CRL?
in New CRLs - Completed
Posted
Much better! The strap seems a little wider than the ones we see on the show, but it's close enough that I would approve it.