Fanclub Oya manda!: The Mandalorian/Republic Commando Fan Club

I really like the heavier, segmented approach. It would seem to offer the same mobility and speed as the PT/OT era armor while providing much more protection. Also, if you were fighting a force user, it would be much harder to slip a lightsaber through the seams.

 

The dialogue also being an explanation of the color scheme sure doesn't hurt matters either.

 

Something from the Clone Wars Continuity Discussion (Spoilers Allowed) thread that may be of intrest:

 

To bad the visor is now a bigger bulls-eye for Killian rangers and other gun using Force-traditions

 

I'm sure it's made of some blaster-resistant material...? In any case, it looks cool, so who cares?

 

According to the Wook, Beskar can be made transparent. So, it could be made out of Mandalorian Iron and be totally lightsaber proof

 

*drool*

Sent from my stupid little astro droid using TapaTalk 2.

 

Huh, did not know that. Thanks for the information.
With that said: Milda Matilda! Were not beskar already enough of a miracle metal that they had to ad that it can be made transparent also?

 

Still, remember as transparent it can only be a film. That means the blows that would scratch beskar, like a lightsaber, would destroy the film. Meaning two hits at the same spot or crossing each other would still get through. Although I would think due to its value a blaster resistant, energy re-enforced filters are more likely. Blink and the red glow activates just ahead of or behind the visor and saves your life in a fight. Turn off after to save batteries

Hello, I like Mandos and have decided to stop lurking this thread and come on out into the open. Bardan can attest to that, can't you Bard'ika

 

But films can be put on layers to create a thicker protection

 

I tried that with several kinds of earth bound films, no matter what a fogging effect or clouding of ones vision, or a visual distortion of some sort begins to be evident and more dramatic the thicker you make the film. I think that is a limitation built in to stop Beskar from being the end all armor. After all if it was so good why didn't they finish building their starships with beskar film treated transparasteel viewports instead of non-beskar treated-transparasteel windows?

 

They did have just one lode of Beskar. Perhaps they wanted to save it? Or, maybe due to ease of replacement? It's possible that collisions with micrometeorites would eventually begin to scratch and score the laminate, which would decrease the visibility. So, maybe they chose the cheaper, more plentiful substance to decrease the cost of replacement? Or, of course, the author simply forgot.

 

I have now read the article and have one question. Tom Hutchens wrote that (my bold):

And if I remember right so had the armour worn by at least some of mandos under Mandalore the Indomitable pressure suit ability, which made it possible to use the Baselisk droids as short range space fighters. Do other remember this or am I wrong?


Also MercenaryAce wrote

and I fully agree with him

 

Well, since I am "Tom Hutchens" when my helmet is off...I can answer those questions for you.

1. There most surely were Mandos of the early Crusader era that had pressure suits. We also see Mandos riding Basilisk War Droids in the void of space in the KOTOR comics, which means they gain more use in the later era under Mandalore the Ultimate. However pressure suits were not the "norm" of that era, and mostly relegated to special units that dealt with space combat or low-orbital assaults. They become more widely used during the Neo Crusader era, but don't become a standard item until the Return era at the dawn of modern mando armor. I'm sure as pressure suit technology advanced, they became less clunky and/or heavy which would allow for a more everyday use. That is basically the physics of technology.

2. Unfortunately there is absolute zero information that exists on the weapons and armor of the "Mandalorian Guard" (New Mando Police, Royal Guards, etc) or the Mando resistance from Marvel. I am not an LFL author, and as such I can't just make stuff up. I only help collaborate on occasion when an LFL author who is working on mandos has a question or needs ideas, but that doesn't guarantee any of them will use said ideas. I can only speak about what is known, it's the authors job to make you aware of the unknown.

Also, there were three small errors in my article that I didn't catch in the proof-reading (I'm going to have to find an editor LOL!). 1) "However the Taung wore armor as far back as 24,000bby during the reign of Mandalore the First", it should read: "However the Taung wore armor as far back as 24,000by up to the reign of Mandalore the First". 2) I omitted listing Gold Neo Crusader Armor being worn by Field Marshals. 3) The Legacy era is 127ABY, not BBY.

That's what happens when you don't have an editor.

Now, since it seems to be the current topic lets talk a little about Beskar.

Beskar by itself is not a very usable metal, as it has a chalk-like physical structure. Beskar must be mixed with a metal/element that has a more dense molecular structure to achieve it's full benefits. That should help explain better how it can be used for items like the transparent visor. Think of Beskar like you would think of Petroleum here on earth, by itself it's use is limited...but mixed with other elements it becomes extremely versatile. "Mandalorian Iron" is the catch-all term for an alloy made of metal+beskar, and the durability also depended on the base metal just as much as the quality of beskar added to the smelting process. This also is what made the cost of Beskar-based Mandalorian armor so high. Beskar-based sets were built to the wearers specifications, by an armor smith who was trusted with the secret of knowing how to make the beskar+metal alloy...something very very VERY few Mandalorians actually knew. The harsh reality is that Beskar-based sets were rarely if ever mass produced, most sets were durasteel or duraplast. More than likely mass production using beskar would have been used for ships and vehicles, but as a more low-grade alloy for energy/kinetic weapon deflection. Vehicles tend to last much longer than lifeforms, and Mandos are a practical people.

As far as the use of Beskar in armor, this is something that Karen Traviss and I used to discuss on occasion. Myself being an armor smith, and herself being a big fan of old-world armor production, we would often talk about how Mandos would get the best "bang for the buck" out of beskar. Jason Fry, who has written a great deal on Mando history/culture recently is also a big fan of envisioning Mandalorian armor in that old-world fashion. When/if you read "Bounty Hunter Code", you'll see where he used earth-based armor terms to describe different parts of the armor. Getting back to the use of Beskar in armor, there is one fundamental rule in armor/weaponsmithing...layered is always better. When you layer (laminate) metal, you are re-distributing/re-aligning the carbon and base-metal molecules which creates a product with exceptional strength and durability. Iron by itself is kinda weak. Add some carbon and now much less Steel does the same work as a lot of Iron. Start folding the steel back on itself and now the molecular lattice has become more tight and dense, so less high-carbon steel can do the same work as more low-carbon steel. This same rule holds true to beskar-based Mando armor, and it's not really a rule that machines can properly achieve. As an armorsmith myself there are certain things you have to know about the way metal works. You have to know what color the metal should be in the forge before taking it to the anvil, what sound it should make while being struck, how long to keep it hot for tempering, and what liquid works best to reach different hardness while quenching. That's a small portion of the overall knowledge you need to have, it takes a lifetime to learn it all. This is, in my opinion, what really sets Mandalorian armor-craft above those mass-produced armors. It also explains the rarity, the expense, and why Mandalorian smiths keep the secret of Mandalorian Iron. The secret of Mandalorian Iron is not in it's qualities, but in how those qualities are achieved.

~Tom

 

This boils down to space combat tactics. Who shoots at a tiny window, when you can aim for a much larger engine or reactor? When you go hunting, you don't shoot at mice...you shoot deer.

Also, while beskar will protect you from the energy/heat of a lightsaber/llaser...it's not going to protect you from the kinetic energy. So you can get hit by a lightsaber all day and your armor never breached, but when they pull your helmet off you'll look like a scrambled egg.

 

I was actually thinking of the mandos in TotJ: the Sith War. We see many of Mandalore the Indomitable troops having armour that worked as spacesuits there:

(Could not find any images of them in vacum sadly)

To bad but thanks for the information

For what part of the ships do mandos use beskar? Also; have we seen anybody use beskar to make blaters?

That is what you have padding, padding and padding for
But I guess you have already thought of that

 

Remember that Mandalore the Indomitable was the immediate predecessor of Mandalore the Ultimate, so I am sure that tech had increased dramatically since the much earlier time of Mandalore the First and his predecessors. Can armor change that drastically just in the time-span between 2 subsequent rulers? My answer to that is "Neo Crusader".

The Bes'uliik starfighter commissioned by Boba Fett during his reign as Mandalore had a model produced with Beskar skin that was to be used for the defense of Mandalore. As far as blasters go, nothing that I know of. There were however short-sword that were sometimes carried called "Bes'kad", and were made out of beskar. A funny story along those lines, but when Dave Filoni was working up the scene in TCW season 2 where Pre Vizsla and Obi Wan fight he (Dave) originally gave Pre Vizsla a metal vibroblade. George did not like that idea, and thus the Darksaber was born.

Padding is good, but it's only so good. Modern mando armor incorporated ceramic plates into the arming vest to help reduce traumatic shock, but even that has it's limits.

 

Have we seen any mando using a coat, poncho or something similar together with her armour?

 

Do you have a pic with the helmet?

 

Only in action figure form.

 

Huh, to bad

 

I have a couple of those action figures. I display one with the poncho on and the other without.

 

Speaking of action figures: you people have seen Sillof's re-imagined Star Wars figurers, right?

From http://sillof.deviantart.com/

 

I quite enjoy the "Noir Wars" interpretation of Boba. Quite cool.