I wanted to add a villain to my Stormtrooper fan film, and after much debate with my production staff, a decision was made to have a familiar Rebel soldier as the faceless enemy to our stormtrooper fan film.

I soon realized that, we needed a couple more Rebel costumes to round out the look for the film. First was the X-wing pilot. They are to play a key role in the story. Also, I decided we needed a Rebel Sniper to do some damage, so the first costume to pop in my mind was the Endor Commando. With the camouflage gear, a cool looking blaster, backpack and that funny looking helmet, a decision was made to make a few of these guys.

The costume will include the following parts:

• Endor Helmet - complete with the 'donut' and the skull cap!
• Cammo Jacket/Vest/Shirt - this is a hard one to nail down. Some screen caps will help!
• Cammo Pants - I'm thinking of using the same $18 BDU pants in light tan, and paint them cammo
• Boots/Gaitors - I have a pair of wader boots that are almost perfect. The gaitors will have to be custome made.
• Backpack - frame and boxes will have to be custom made.
• Blaster - several options are on the table. The traditional Endor blaster will work, and is pretty easy to scratch build. [airsoft AR15/M16 used as a base] Another option is to make a Hoth trooper blaster [I like this version better] and a final option would be to introduce a new blaster to the mix, a WWII German FG42 paratrooper rifle as a Star Wars universe sniper gun. [one of my favorites]
• Small Accessories like wrist communicators, grenades, belts, binoculars, and such.

The Boots:

www.sportsmanguide.com

• The boots are some sort of lace-up tan colored military style boots. Here are some cheap $25 ones. In addition, tan or OD green gaitors were added, and these will have to be custome made.

The Shirt:

• The shirt appears to be a long sleeve nit-type, tight fitting loose-weave shirt. An option is currently being researched. A long sleeve T-shirt is an option, and a custom dye to tan may be required.
• http://www.cheapestees.com/gilulcotheav.html appears to have this shirt in a natural and a Sand color for less than $7.

The Pants:

From Barre Army Navy Online Store

• The pants need to be some sort of military style cargo pocket pants. Here are some we used for the RFT pants, and are actually a near tan color [not so gray looking as seen in this picture]. Perfect for painting camoflage.
• Buy the Ultra-Force SWAT Gray BDU pants. You will have to look on the Barre Army Navy store site for them. Click here to order a pair. Cost, about $19. Navigate: StoreFront--Military Equipment & Clothing--Military Clothing--BDU pants-Ultra Force--Grey BDU Pants

The Jacket:

www.sportsmansguide.com

• The Endor commando had several options [See top reference image for details]. A vest, jacket, or duster. For the Rebel Sniper, we are using some Swedish M40 snow jackets painted the proper camo colors. The jacket will need to be dyed tan, and then a few inches taken off the bottom of the jacket. Also, some elastic will need to be added to the cuffs, or some sort of hidden snap fastener. The buttons will have to be removed from the front as well.
• Dye Tan
• Paint with spray paints both green, and brown Ultra Flat Camo paint.
• Cut the bottom of the jacket off, about 4-6 inches to make it more of a wind breaker.
• Remove the buttons

The Helmet:

Vac-mold for the donut, as part of a custom made helmet, email me details.

• The helmet consists of a WWII era light weight AN-H--15 type flying cap with a custom ribbed top, visor, and hard plastic donut. I am currently working on this prop.
• Donut made from HIPs vacuumformed plastic, painted green. Very limited quanitity. Get yours here.
• Ribbing material and visor bill added.
• Ears holes coveres with speaker foam.

The bandoleer:

Commando Bandoleer Greeblies

• The Commando's wore a bandoleer with all sorts of greeblies on it. Click here to view the assembly guide for the kit.
• The kit can be ordered here.
• Contact the Sunrider Base for details on making you own cloth bandoleer.

The backpack:

Endor Commando 2 box back pack.

• Right now the hard shell 2 box pack as seen in Return of the Jedi appears to be the same packs used in The Empire Strikes back, and those also appear to be made from similar if not exactly the same boxes used on the Sandtrooper packs from the original Star Wars movie.
• So, for the purposes of our fan film, and since I have already made the Sandtrooper back pack main boxes, we will use these as the basis for the Endor Commando boxes.
• Mounted on a PVC pipe frame, and wrapped in canvas, with some greeblies added, this should pass as the Endor Command 2-box pack.

The Blaster:

Take the Wells MR722 and add a dress-up kit...

...and you get your own Commando A281 blaster.

• There are several options, but by far the easiest is to use on of our kits added to an Well's MR722 Airsoft M16 gun.
• My plan was to use a stg44 as a basis for the Sniper Rifle, but demands for an Endor variant have come up. [a modified AR15].
• I personally like the look of the Hoth version better. We even consided using an FG42 as a possible new sniper option, but budgets are just not there to invest in the master pattern at this time.
• The Hoth blaster is called the A280 Blaster Rifle. No name is given to the Endor variant, but it is my opinion, that due to budgets, the stg44 basis as a prop, the BATF laws regarding machine guns, and the filming locations, a decision was made to use a the Colt AR15 as the base gun, instead of the stg44.
• An unofficial name A281 has been applied to the Endor variant.
• Click here to learn more about building your own Endor A281 Blaster using a kit and an airsoft AR15.

The Bunker Buster:

Unpainted Commando 'Bunker Buster' Explosive Charge Prop Kit

• "Toss me another charge!" Well, now you can. This obscure prop was used to destroy the Empire's shield generator, and Solo, attaches on the the ceiling of the bunker in RTOJ.
• Reference are few and far between, but I have created a few screencaps, and will include them with the kit.
• With these durable, single-piece cast polyurethane kits, you simply paint them and go. Add magnets or velcro if you want them to 'stick around'! Kit includes one hollow core prop, and painting guide.
• Available in 2011 for a limited time. Check here for updates.