I have made props for display and costumes for others for a while. I always enjoyed going to comic cons and renaissance faires, but I had never dressed up. I planned on it many times, but something always got in the way. When I watched Season 2 of The Mandalorian, I knew what my first build would be. Boba Fett.

Not the Fett we are looking for

When we first saw Boba’s armor, it looked awesome. I was sold. The only problem, it wasn’t Boba. As we soon found out, it was Cobb Vanth. A few episodes later, Boba shows up draped in black and more vicious than ever. Where Din Djarin was the finesse fighter, Boba was the sledgehammer. Before long he had donned his armor once again and he did not disappoint. I revisited my previous plan and now had my sights set on the REAL Boba. His armor was damaged. Most of the paint had been eaten away by the acid of the Sarlacc pit and whatever events it had been through since we last saw it almost 40 years ago.

Boba so fresh and so clean, clean

A few weeks later, and another episode comes out. The ramp of Slave 1 is down and we hear Bill Burr rambling as he does from time to time. Boba comes walking down the ramp, flanked by Fennec Shand. His armor is completely repainted and looking amazing. The yellow kill stripes were replaced with red ones. The original grey flak vest, now black and black robe-like garments take the place of the original flight suit. I was blown away.

Each time I had seen him, I thought he looked awesome and there was no way he could look more awesome, but then time after time I was proven wrong. This was it, “Boba Fresh” was to be my first cosplay build.

Setting a goal and getting started

I spent my time doing research on the armor and how it was supposed to look. I watched YouTube videos of scenes from the Mandalorian where the Boba Fett could be seen in action, took screenshots, and hunted down every reference image I could find to help me understand how to make this all come together. My goal, be ready for Comicpalooza 2021 in Houston. Now I can’t tell you how this story ends, because we haven’t made it there yet. I did intend to do my best to document the making of this costume to aid others who want to go down this path in the future, and I still do.

I originally intended to document my process as I did it. I forgot that it about doubles how long it takes to actually do something. With Comicpalooza fast approaching, about 3 weeks away as of the writing of this post, I knew a complete account of the process was not going to happen. I am doing my best to take some photos and make updates on my social media, but an in-depth look at the process, no way.

Turning my failures into your successes

So I have decided it will be a retrospective. I will go back and look at each part of the process and put together guides on sourcing and making each part, compile my lessons learned, and talk through the tough points. I’ll include links to the products I found to work and plan to make videos showcasing and walking through the techniques I used.

I imagine there will be more people looking to recreate this look in the near future especially with The Book of Boba Fett coming out this fall. Hopefully, my series on how I brought him to life will be of assistance to those who decide to go down this same path.

‘Til next time, stay awesome,

Pete