Rebel Endor Commando Uniform.

Greetings everyone... I'm Julian, a new comer to these forums but a life-long Star Wars fanatic. Recently, I've been interested in making another costume to compliment my already constructed 'traditional' Jedi robes, and I want a group of friends and I to get together a similar impression.

I've always been a fan of the 'good guys' and cannot bring myself to join the legions of the Empire, so I've decided that the best, and most decent uniform to go after would be the Endor Commando.

[image=http://www.bertiehiggins.com/commando.jpg]
[image=http://www.bertiehiggins.com/commando2.jpg]
[image=http://www.bertiehiggins.com/commando3.jpg]
[image=http://www.partsofsw.com/images/rebendor.jpg]

What I need to know is if there are already costumes made for this specififc impression, or if anyone can give me any tips on it's construction. The website below is just about all I've been able to gather as far as intelligence goes towards this uniform:

http://www.partsofsw.com/enreb.htm

Again, thank you for your help. May the Force be with you.

 

There are some folks over at The Rebel Legion who are working on a squadron of Endor costumes for DragonCon 2003. I think 6 folks are involved.

 

I would think that this would be a very simple costume to put together, i mean theres no vacuuforming or anything, all you have to do is find the right material or even just a trenchcoat at the goodwill store or something, and then spray paint it the camouflage colors, and for the boots, it looks like you can get an old pair of sneakers, spray paint them brown or green, and then wrap your legs with brown or green material. Plus, theres a lot of variation in the costumes so almost anything goes.

 

Congratulations on your decision to enlist in the Rebel Legion. It is a great decision, and you will have fun doing it.

I'll try and find our threads about it (or you can use the search feature), but the folks in the Phoenix Fan Force are doing a Desert Rebel Trooper (a desert version of the Endor Commando), and the Rocky Mountain Fan Force (Denver, CO) is teaming up with us to do the Endor Commando. You are not alone.

I've also posted tons of links and pics in our threads on them (also stop by the Phoenix forums for our threads on the subject). Check them out.

I can possibly get you in on the next purchase of doughnuts that we are doing, in order to save you time and trouble. They come in unfinished kit form and will require a LOT of work to get up to speed, but it's the best doughnut that I've found yet. I won't say where we get them from, just that we can.



Here's some good news:

The coat can simply be a dyed or spray painted lab coat.

The boots are standard hiking boots.

The pants can be normal pants, just dyed or painted.

T-shirt, anyone?




The bad:

For the cloth helmet, you'll need to get an AN-H-15 cloth summer flyer's helmet, WW2 style off of Ebay. In PHX, we're trying to get our hands on one, and making a batch based off of the original. Because the original helmets can get.... pricy.

Blaster: that's up to you. have fun.


I wish you the best, and if you have any questions, LMK. I can probably help you out. BTW, what part of the country are you in?

OW

 

I'll have to get my buddy Mookie to come by and post what he knows. He knows where to get accurate pouches and knows all the details on this costume. Needless to say, it's not as easy as spray-painting some sneakers and a trench coat.

 

I believe there is one pice that would be vacuuformed - the "doughnut" armor that goes over the AN-H-15. There are those that make them, but I'm nost sure exactly who. I suspect if you let it be known on the different boards that you're looking for one, someone will contact you.

 

Well,

You couldn't pick a better time to do that costume. I have over 83 reference pics. There are currently 9 variants of the Endor Commando but most of them for the Troopers themselves boil down to 5 versions. There first thing you need to do is figure out which one you want to be.

1. Cammo pants, biege long sleeve shirt, hooded jacket.

2. Cammo pants, biege long sleeve shirt, hooded jacket, vest.

3. Cammo pants, biege long sleeve shirt, vest.

4. Cammo pants, biege long sleeve shirt, trenchcoat.

5. Biege X-Wing flightsuit, vest.

All these contain the AN-H-15 and donut and leather gloves. The Donut is available from someone as well. Email me for details.

Next up is whether or not you're going to include the bandoleer, which pouches (I have 6 identified army pouches used in the movie) and what greeblies are used. The bandolier used by the Endor Commando rips pieces from the Hoth Rebel Trooper.

Also, the Endor spats are NOT the ones seen in the Magic of Myth exhibit. Whoever used those should be shot.

There is ONE rebel blaster used by the Endor Commando, and ONE Imperial blaster used by the Commando. Specifically, the Blastech A-280 is the rebel version, and the E-11 from the Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper blaster is picked up and used after the ground melee ensues. There is an accurate cast from a screen used Blastech A-280 available and I'll email those of you who wish to have one.

The cargo pants of the Endor Commando are also unique in terms of the size and shape of the cargo pocket. Also the back pockets are unique as there are no closed flaps over them.

Simply spray painting store bought cargo pants is a no no, make them from scratch to the movie.

I could go on for days about this costume, but suffice to say, I will be making a website to explain in detail all the things you need and it will be up shortly.

Any other questions, feel free to post here.

I don't want to sound high and mighty, but no costume is easy. If they were, EVERYONE'S costume would look 100% accurate. Yes it is much less complex than others, but it still needs to be dnoe right. With the number of found pieces for pouches, it can be a good costume to do and be close to 100%.

Mookie

 

Mookie:

thanks for the post. I'll be talking to you about this later, too...

 

Thank you for all of your helpful points, comments, and suggestions... I didn't expect such a helpful response! Especially you, Mookie... Very good research, my friend.

I believe the look I wanted to go for was that of camoflague pants, long-sleeved beige shirt, vest, and a long camoflagued coat. Almost a mix and match of a couple (Which seems to be the theme of the troops.)

I've come to understand that, while it may not be quite as accurate, there are other very similar and cheaper cloth flight helmets that can be used in place of the AN-H-15. I've also browsed the other fan forums you mentioned and have seen the 'donuts' that wrap around the helmet and they all looks very sharp.

As far as the blaster goes, it would probabaly be a bit easier/cheaper to go with the field captured Imperial E-11 blaster carbine. We are a band of Rebels, afterall, and we do tend to use what we can find when we can find it.

Ammo pouches, I believe, are simple brown-leather Enfield pouches from WWII. I am a WWII reenactor, and I know a couple of people who might be able to help me find those pouches without a hitch.

Please, let me know when the website is up for this so I might look into it further. Thanks, and Force be with you!

 

No problem for the help. I have yet to find the Enfield pouches in the movie that the Magic of Myth book references. There is a promo shot in the Behind the Magic CD that uses an original M-16 ammo pouch attached to an Enfield bandoleer and I think I can pinpoin the Commando it's on but I'm not ready to say anything definitive yet.

One of the issues of costuming is of course, cost. But I tend to find that whenever you can use a found part, the money is worth it. If you do one expensive thing, do the AN-H-15. $100 or less for an accurate part of a costume that is THE crowning piece is not outrageous. Another issue is that, yes you may come up with a reasonable alternative or scratchbuild one yourself, but since time is money, why not have the real thing.

Modifications to the helmet itself include adding leather straps to the side pieces, and the chin strap itself, along with a pleated piece on the top. My website will deal with all of it.

Also in reference to the boots, yes, hiking boots will suffice but the originals are believed to have been Israeli Commando boots. The gaitors/spats do cover most of it, but the sole pattern is so distinct, I'm still searching for a real pair. They also used the same boots for the Scout Troopers.

Mookie

 

Mookie,

Would you happen to have any ETA as to when you'll have that website up and running? I'd like to wait for your website before I begin this endevour.

Thank you.