So you want to get yourself a set of Mandalorian armour? Well first you are going to need to learn a lot of abbreviations. Next is to decide how much money you can spend on your armour. While Mandalorians rarely come cheap you can at least buy one piece at a time instead of everything all at once. So there are three ways that you can go about doing this. Either you take the expensive route and buy stuff pre-painted “top-of-the-line “, make everything yourself, or you can do like me, do as much painting by yourself as possible and wait for the right moment to snag those really great deals from other sellers. Previously owned Fett armour can get you a long way if you are on a budget. When it comes to Boba Fett you can basically go two routes, Empire Strikes Back (ESB) or Return of the Jedi (ROTJ). There are a lot more versions out there (pre-production, special edition, McQuarrie concept etc, etc) but these are the basic two. They differ in a lot of ways but I’ve tried to break it all down for you so that you can get an easy oversight of the different parts.
Helmet
Helmet There are plenty of helmets out there, ranging from the poor DP to the “Mystery Helmet” (MH) and “Movie Sized Helmet (MSH). But here is how it breaks down. Unfortunately any licensed replica is extremely undersized and extremely inaccurate when it comes to it's paint job. The Don Post deluxe comes pretty close but if you really want to look like Boba Fett then you need to get your self a MS, MSH, or BM bucket. These helmets are almost twice the size of your average DP or Altmans helmet and 100 times more accurate. So if you want to go for accuracy then avoid the licensed replicas. If you are on a budget then a DP can be successfully modified and repainted to make it more accurate.
Empire Strikes Back (ESB): The ESB helmet has yellow kill marks and the earcaps have a different paint scheme. The left ear cap is sand yellow and has markings on it unlike the ROTJ which doesn't have any markings. The right ear cap is green while on the ROTJ it was silver/grey. The inside cheek and the helmet also has a lighter green than that of the ROTJ helmet which is closer to grass green.
Return of the Jedi (ROTJ): What distinguishes the ROTJ helmet from the ESB paintjob is that the kill stripes on the right side of the helmet are red/orange instead of yellow. The ear caps are silver/grey. There is also less weathering on the ROTJ helmet. The RF on top also differs as you can see on the pictures. The colour of the inside of the "cheeks" is a dark marine blue while on the ESB is almost black.
Chest Armour
Chest ArmourWhile there still are some differences between the ROTJ armour and ESB armour they are basically the same. Chest pieces can either be bought online or made out of sintra.
Shoulders
There are some minor differences but on the whole nobody but the real purists will ever see the difference.
Knees
Again there are differences but I'm not going to go into that kind of detail here. This is just the basic overview.
Jetpack
The design for the jetpack is the same in both movies, but more colourful in ROTJ
ROTJ: In the ROTJ the JP is blue with white, red and yellow details. Strangely enough it looks just like Jango Fett’s JP in EPII. (not the arena pack which has a completely different design) The ROTJ version also has considerable more weathering than the ESB.
ESB: The ESB jetpack is basically green. There are more details but I'll let you go into that on your own.
Jetpack Comparison
Jumpsuit
This is your basic "run-of-the-mill" coverall but with some modifications. First thing to fix is to add the double sleeves on both arms. Basically a T-shirt sleeve over a long sleeve. Then there are the thigh pockets which need to be added. These look a lot like the biker scouts stomach pouches but there are on the front side of the thighs instead. Same colour as the jumpsuit too. Lastly you need to get pockets for the shin tools. Jumpsuits can be bought from various sources online. Or you can get the measurements and make it yourself.
ROTJ: The ROTJ jumpsuit is light grey
ESB: The ESB suit is light blue tinge to it.
Flak Vest
The people who sew this themselves have been know to use a Cheerleader vest as the basic pattern for it. The vest opens at the back and is carried over the jumpsuit. You can either sew the vest yourself or buy one online. The design of the vest is the same in both movies with just a tiny difference in the colours.
Cape
Cape I don't really know why Boba Fett has a cape. It sure doesn't help his flying skills. So the only reason must be to make him look cool. Which he does!
ROTJ: The ROTJ cape is made out of an army half shelter. Either you can make this your self out of a heavy duty cotton canvas or you can find it online.
ESB: The ESB cape similar to the ROTJ cape but it is beige in colour and has 1 wide orange stripe going through it.
Honour Sash
Honour Sash This was originally a belt used to strap saddles to horses. Again this can be found every now and then online or if you are lucky in a horse-riding equipment shop.
Ammo-belt
Ammo BeltROTJ The ROTJ ammo belt has 8 boxes on it. Tutorials on how to make these yourself are readily available on TDH and can sometimes be sold completed online.
ESB: The ESB belt has seven boxes out of which two of them have buttons on them.
Saddlebags
Do you have access to a sewing machine? If you do then these can easily be made by yourself or you can buy them online. The saddle bags then hang from the ammo belt at your hips.
Shoe Spats
If you are going for the ESB look then you'll only need a Velcro closure or similar on the back of your ankles as Fett doesn't have spats in ESB. In ROTJ, however, he does so again buy them online or beg your mother to do them.
Shoes
There are some boots available that are a very similar design to Boba Fett’s boots. If you cannot find these then find a boot that is similar and redress and repaint it. Many have done so with great success. Just don't forget about the toe spikes.
Gloves
The gloves used in ESB and ROTJ are grey parade gloves with patches sewn to them. ESB have a more blueish tint while ROTJ has a light gray tint.
Wookie scalps
Boba Fett has a set of three wookie braids that hang on his right shoulder around his arm. The basic setup is 1 darkbrown, 1 goldenbrown and one blond/white braid. You can either buy hair extensions and braid these yourself or buy them for roughly 15-25 USD online, depending on quality.
Gauntlets
ROTJ: Gauntlet In the ROTJ Boba Fett has red gauntlets. These have the same basic design as the ESB gauntlets with a "missile" on the left and tubes on the right. But the biggest difference is that the ROTJ left gauntlet only has two "flame throwers" which are both inside a casing.
ESB: The ESB gauntlets are green and has three flame throwers on the left gauntlet as well as no casing around them. There are also more black and white details on the right gauntlet which are not present on the ROTJ gauntlets.
Weapon
EE-3 Blaster The blaster rifle which Boba Fett sports is originally and old 2nd World War flare gun on which they have added a scope amongst other things. In the ESB version you can still see the flash tube. In ROTJ a new barrel has been added over the old flash tube as well as some T-rails. But it is still the same basic weapon.
ROTJ: Personally I think that the EE-3 blaster is the best blaster in the entire Star Wars universe. It has might, weight and sturdiness to beat the hell out of a Gundark. With the EE-3 blaster you just can't go wrong. MR has released a licensed replica of this weapon but there are problems with it. It has the right proportions but the weathering sucks. So get your self one of the kits that pop up every now and then and build and weather it yourself.
ESB: For a true ESB Fett you'll be needing two weapons. A blaster rifle and a blaster pistol. The blaster rifle is as I wrote before and old flare gun with some modifications done to it. These are really hard to come by nowadays so you might as well give that idea up straight away. As with the ROTJ version there are kits for this that pop up every now and then. Or, if you've got the skills, make your own. Then there is the side arm. Do you remember playing Duck Hunt on the old Nintendo 8-bit station? That is the same blaster used for ESB. Tutorials for modifying your old Nintendo blaster can be found on TDH or you could probably buy one.
