You paint the same type of item the same way, with the exact same paint, 20 times and it's flawless. The 21st time you fall to your knees, crying out "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" as you find your project covered in bubbly splotches. You, my friend, are a victim of the dreaded Orange Peel.   What is orange peel? It's a texture that develops on your finished paint that is generally seen as an imperfection. What causes it? Well, there are a host of things: - premature evaporation of thinner - too much humidity - not enough humidity - too hot - too...

What color will your blade be? Here's a handy little tutorial on making your own lightsaber for about $30!

  A few years ago my boys decided that they HAD to be Mandalorians the day before we attened the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade. With about 8 hours to pull it all together, I grabbed a pair of skateboard helmets and padding, visor replacements, and whipped up a quick design on my vinyl cutter.  Here's the pattern if you'd like to do something similar for your ad'ika!  

After circling the design block for the last three or four years, I finally settled on a color scheme and design for my custom Mandalorian. Coupled with a rare few moments to work on something for myself while waiting on commission materials, I figured I should take advantage and get this baby done, and so I did! Well, mostly anyway. I have to say that it's not the kind of kit I had ever imagined building for myself with regard to the color scheme, but I've had an enormous amount of positive feedback, and a couple of requests to share...

I've been asked dozens of times to post some sort of tutorial on visor installs and finally have a moment to get one done in between the "HOLY CRAP THE FORCE AWAKENS IS OUT IN 17 DAYS AND EVERYONE WANTS THEIR COSTUME NOW!" rush. There are numerous ways to trim and install visors but this is my preferred method.   It all starts with your given helmet. Now, I know some people that install the visor at the beginning of their build and then mask it off to protect it from paint, but to me it seems like an awful...