swmand4

The hexagonal LED emitter for light out the tip of the blaster will fit inside a 1.25" ID pipe. Please refer to the image below: I'm looking at using a 70mm x 30mm Rectangular 8 ohm 5W speaker like skyone (Manuel) used. It should just barely fit, I think.

Ironically, I just noticed that I put a giant compiler warning in my firmware code stating the correct fuse settings to use... and I still borked it. Good job, Sean.

Last night I attached the basic components needed to get the microcontroller up and running. Forgot the programming board at home, though so I had to wait until tonight to continue. At that's where things went wrong. I tried to put a basic load on the chip that would basically spit out some debug text. Worked at first, but then I messed with some clock fuse settings and screwed up communications with the microcontroller. Now nothing works anymore I might be able to fix it by injecting a 1MHz signal into the external oscillator pin... but if that doesn't work it looks like I'll be ordering a new chip and being much more careful with it. At least it looks cool. EDIT: I just caught a piece of the AtMega328P datasheet I missed before. Looks like it will only run 20MHz at 4.5V to 5.5V. Seeing as I'm running it at 3.3V, it won't work properly even if I didn't break it before. Just to be sure, I jumpered 5V over the power plane directly and it still didn't let me reprogram. Looks like once I get it recovered or replaced, I'll have to drop the speed to 10MHz (max frq. at 3.3V) or raise the power to 5V. Either way works, really, but I'd prefer to keep 3.3V for battery life reasons. Maybe for now I'll just run off the internal RC oscillator until I get new parts in.

The circuit boards arrived this morning. Take a look: I'll have to wait until after work to more thoroughly inspect them and get started on assembly. It's not going to be easy with them staring at me on my desk...

After checking fit of various switches and dials in the blaster body and parts I've determined the following: The 14500 (800mAHr) battery from The Custom Saber Shop will perfectly fit inside the magazine and magazine receiver without protruding into the main barrel. Side note: I doubt the battery is actually 800mAHr based on the size and other 14500 cell based packs. A battery with 18650 cells (4400mAHr) will fit in the magazine receiver, but not the magazine itself. This would require half the battery to sit in the main barrel. The trigger switch I purchased is the correct size for its location and purpose. The volume dial that will be attached to the magazine release button will fit in the receiver. The rotary dial I purchased for the fire rate selector switch has the three positions (how far before it clicks into the next position) that almost perfectly lined up with the text on the grip (30 degrees). Unfortunately, this dial is too large to fit in the grip insert and will either need to be replaced or modified to work in this location. If I could find a smaller dial, it would be better. I'm thinking it will be cool to try and do a time-lapse video of assembling the first board. I don't have a video camera I can set up, but I can take a picture after each part is attached and stitch it together into a cool little montage. More details as the come. EDIT: I think I found a rotary switch that could work. Half the size of the original and three times the price but it should work. It's actually has 12 position at 30 degrees apart (9 more than needed) but has adjustable stop pins.

Thanks, Mathias. I just ordered my prototype PCB boards and they should arrive next Wednesday (6 days). Then I can start assembly and more firmware creation. I took the time to make a few minor changes to the board layout. For instance, I added a trace and via to any potentially useful microchip pins that were not used and left floating. This way I can tap into the pin more easily and check for shorts quickly. Also added for silkscreen part designators to aid in assembly. Maybe I'll try fitting triggers and dials in the blaster kit I have while I wait... I also need to brain storm a better name for the finished product. My house mate said TrooperTech, which I like. Not sure if someone already used that, though.

All electronics parts have arrived, save the battery. I have checked the parts against a physical print out of the PCB and everything matches! A sample below... I have until 11AM PT tomorrow morning to order the PCBs. So tonight I will be checking and rechecking my design and schematics to ensure I have everything correct.

Bingo! Sparkfun carries the VS1011E-L chip. Still expensive at $20, but better than $72. Ordering parts now. EDIT: All parts are now ordered and will arrive in 7-10 days. Once I have them, I'll check the parts against a printout of my PCB to make sure I didn't screw up any sizes. After that I will order a prototype board. 5-7 days after that, I should have the board and can start assembly and diving more into the firmware.

That's actually very helpful, thank you! The 14500 pack should fit and is cheaper than my other source. Good find.

I just used black Sharpie to cover the white. It worked for Halloween, but I think in the long run I'll buy new hand guards and gloves and do it all again, but more careful this time. I still need to paint the vocoder and do a bit of fitting, but it looks pretty good right now. Once I paint the vocoder, replace the gloves, and do a bit more fitting I'll take all the pictures I need for 501st and EIB application. I also need to track down someone with something better than a camera phone. Sucks that the only thing keeping from Centurion is the non-hand painted appearing helmet... For now, let me present some choice pictures from various Halloween parties. I really want to stress that I never unholstered the blaster outdoors and only pointed it at anyone if they asked me to for a photo op and everyone knew what was going on. I know it's a serious matter with something that appears to be a real firearm.

After a long hiatus, I'm starting to look back into this project. Turns out working 8 hours a day and coming home and working another 6-8 hours on the same type of project drains a lot out of you. I went to purchase all of the parts needed and learned that the VLSI audio chip I want to use is not carried by Digikey or Mouser. This is a problem as purchasing directly from the company in Finland is expensive. They only offer courier delivery to the USA and it costs a grand total of $72 for a single chip. I've contacted a possible 3rd party distributor in the states that has them in stock to see what they want for a couple of them. Other than that, I'm thinking of eliminating the Li-Ion charge controller from the board and using an external pre-assembled off the shelf one. That should alleviate my concerns with improper battery charging. Instead of deleting the charge control circuit from the board, I'm going to add an optional bypass around it. The down side is the external charger is more expensive. Will update more once I hear back from the distributor.

That's pretty cool! Maybe I'll scrounge up some cash to buy one and convert it to an ROTJ blaster. It could be my next project that I never finish...

If I ever get back to my sound and LED board (affectionately dubbed The Pew Pew Maker) and finish it, you'd have a ready-made solution you could drop into your blaster... Maybe it's time to revisit that project. Thanks for the inspiration! And good luck with your electronics. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/23875-building-an-alternative-to-blastercore-e-11-soundled-board/

I made an attempt to glue the rubber hand guards to my neoprene chemical gloves last night. It did not go as well as I'd hoped it would. I enlisted my roommate to help apply the glue as I was one-handed at the time. Seems he missed the "apply sparingly" part and put way too much on. As a result, my right hand had super glue streaks running down outside the hand guard. As a note, the left one went perfectly. Today I tried to clean it up with acetone. I got rid of the super glue, but it seems the acetone dried and left a white streak where the glue was. This is a picture as it stand now. I have no idea how to get rid of the white looking residue stuff... any ideas? Water doesn't seem to do anything. Maybe some hot soapy water will do the trick?

Sorry to hear you need to redo your shins. Sounds like you maybe assembled the halves correctly, but placed your velcro on the back with the flap facing the wrong direction. As promised, here are some photos illustrating the return edges at the tops of my shins. AGAIN, they are incorrectly (almost imperceptibly so) assembled.

Keep in mind I messed up. I thought both of the shins were identical, so it didn't matter which of the same shaped ones went where. I noticed that one half has a return edge that goes all the way to the end of the overlap. I paired those two together and used that for my right shin. The other side has the massive gap in return edge, but doesn't matter because it's hidden behind the sniper knee plate. It works, but again it was the incorrect way to assemble RT-Mod shins. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will post one when I get home.

So, couple of things. I put padding in the shins, thighs, and forearms. Pictures will come later, but the armor fits much better now. I signed up for the GGG forums a few weeks ago, but still haven't had my account approved and activated. Does it usually take this long? And as I understand it, the 501st application process starts with getting approval from your local garrison leader, correct? And to do that I need to have a forum account? Kinda hard to ask for help from your local garrison when you can't get an account on their forums :/ I've also started polishing my armor with Novus plastic polish (numbers 1, 2, and 3 as necessary). Works like a charm! Pictures of this will also come later. Now my question is this: if I want to polish the helmet with JUST Novus 1 to make it shine, will the polish damage the brow rubber, decals, frown paint, etc. if it touches them or I go over them with my polish saturated wipe?

Thank you, Germain. I went for the closest to Centurion I could get on my first try with the armor (helmet, not so much). Your picture is actually very helpful for figuring out fit stuff. Just one issue: where do you even buy foam padding? Lee - that is in fact a hyperfirm DLT-19. I bought it on a whim, good investment. Thanks everyone for the continued encouragement! Now I just have to figure out how, exactly, to apply for my TK#. You'd think I'd have figured that out by now, seeing as I started this whole thing over a year ago...

Finished closing up the shins. I discovered that three straps would probably have been adequate after all. As it is, I have to leave the bottom two disconnected just to get my foot through. I think they close enough in the back that I don't need to modify them any further. Anyone have any thoughts? AND FINALLY, s full test fit! I definitely have some adjustments to do. The thighs kept falling down, the shins rotated, my bicep hooks kept catching on the chest plate, and the gloves are really unwieldy. But it was really cool to see it this far along. I think I'll try and use the Grease Monkey chemical gloves I bought; they're more form fitting and look better. Does anyone know if there is a diagram of the where most people install foam padding in the armor? I'm thinking the top front of the shins, the back bottom of the thighs, the top inside of the forearms, and a thin strip on the bottom front of the shins to prevent excessive boot rubbing. I know I forgot to take pictures of the sides and back, but I'm sure I'll be putting it all on again soon enough. Thoughts and feedback are always appreciated.

I finished the belt, finished painting (minus possible touchup), and started closing the shins. After spending hours playing with pop rivets and studying Lee's build thread and my PMs with him, I gave up attempting to replicate his method of attaching the plastic and canvas belts. Here's what I did instead. I used an extra cap rivet from the thigh ammo pack to attach a square of black canvas to the white canvas belt. Then I glued the black canvas to the plastic belt. Works like a charm with no awkward bumps. The two side connections are riveted with 1/8" pop rivets. The side pop rivets are secured as shown in a photo below, and covered by the recycled button covers that were cut off earlier. The belt assembly is secured to the ab plate via 1/4" screw posts. These are the same thing that secures the holster to the canvas belt. They're much sturdier than snaps. If I could go back, I would place them further up on the belt (towards the chest piece) as the belt tends to tilt downward when the screw posts are centered on the belt. The drop boxes are riveted with 1/8" pop rivets and use... 1/4" elastic, I think? I would definitely recommend going 1/2" instead. The 1/4" is a bit flimsy. Painting! I ordered some custom 1/2" diameter circular printer labels. These are the exact size of the RT-Mod button faces. They work great if you can properly align and secure them in place. Here's the process and outcome. If there's sufficient interest, I may sell off the remaining... 99 sheets of these things. They had a minimum of 100 sheets. I'm also not sure if all AB buttons are 1/2", so they may only be useful for RT-Mod. Something to look into. The middle grey button on the right has already been cleaned up. Rivets painted white. I might go over them again to even out the paint job. I know the original suits used brass split rivets for the cod piece. I had the same nickel ones I used for the left torso side, so I used it. I don't know if Centurion level specs the material type yet (I've heard talks of it), but I don't really want to replace it. So I painted it brass color! Close enough, I hope. Attached the D-ring to my hyperfirm E-11 (thank you again, Karin). I painted it black, and will edit in a picture later. Hooks for closing the shins. I was going to use the Dritz size 1 hooks, but they looked too small so I purchase some size 2's. Much better. These are on 1" white non-roll elastic. Most builds I've seen used three per leg, but that doesn't seem to be enough. I'm going use 4. I went ahead and cut off the inside overlap flap and drilled holes for my hooks. For my rear cover strips, I'm using 23mm. I know 25mm is most accurate, but I already had these cut. They were originally for the thighs, but I opted to use the same 20mm as the shin fronts. The other one is drying now, and over the next two days I'll be gluing in the hooks and straps. Once the shins are done, I think it's all details. Some foam for fit, electronics in the helmet, Novus polish and call it a day.

I did a bit of work on the plastic belt today. I decided to shorten the belt and cut the corners to 45 degrees based on this helpful little image guide: Step one: cut the excess off. Here is a photo after cutting the first side so you can see a comparison of the two lengths. And mid trim. I scored and snapped since it's a flat straight section. And here we have the finished product with button covers cut from the old sections and placed in position. They are not glued down yet. I don't really like the look of them, so I may try and make my own from excess ABS I have. We'll see. Time for heat bending! This part made me really nervous, but as with all things in this build, it was easy after the first bend. Kind of - I melted a small section along the bottom of the belt. It's not too bad and shouldn't be noticeable enough to fix. The bends aren't perfect, but are good enough. I purchased a Novus polish kit (8oz comes with 1, 2, and 3) on Amazon that I plan to use once the armor is finished. Should be nice and shiny! Now I just need to rivet the plastic and canvas belts together, attach the holster, attach the whole belt to the ab plate, paint, make a few more straps and I'm more or less finished. Oh, and foam and stuff for comfort... and helmet interior stuff. And closing the shins. Really, I am very close despite the list that keeps getting longer.

So... I just discovered something disconcerting. Apparently, RT-Mod shins are NOT identical. There are distinct left and right armor pieces. It's a very subtle difference in that the outside half of each leg has the calf bump slightly higher than the inside bump. I think we all know where this is going: I incorrectly assembled my shins and paired the outer halves together and the inner halves together. I don't think it's worth pulling everything apart and starting over as the error is very subtle and almost imperceptible if you aren't looking for it. This is more of an admission of a mistake and a warning to other RT-Mod owners. Maybe I'll contact Rob and get a replacement set of shins in the future if for no other reason than my own peace of mind. For now though, onward!

It's been awhile since I've posted any updates, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hard at work! First up: Thermal Detonator Rob's included ABS pipe was a bit long, so I cut it to about the correct length... actual measurement eludes me right now. The end caps are also a touch small, so I ground down the ends of the pipe at an angle to allow the caps to fit. For paint, I thought the Rust-o-leum gray primer was about right, so I went ahead and applied four coats of that plus three or four coats of gloss clear. Here's what it looks like after doing so. Gluing to control plate on Finished product with clips. EDIT: I guess I didn't post anything about making my own clips or take any pictures. I used Jesse's tutorial to do it. Not entirely happy, but they'll do. I eventually cleaned up the pencil lines using some Goo-gone. The screws I used were #6-32 X 1/2" pan head combination, painted black. I would have preferred flat head, but those were the best option from my local hardware store. I could have special ordered the correct ones, but that seemed like a huge hassle for such a small detail. Next up: Thigh Ammo Pack Even though the RT-Mod thigh ammo pack already has rounded corners, they aren't quite rounded enough. So I used a can of shaving cream as a guide to fix that. Much better. Now for attaching it to the right thigh. I used two small nickel plated cap rivets from Tandy Leather factory with head sizes of ~1/4". Pretty close to the 7mm I think the real suits used. I drilled the holes in the ammo pack first (7mm from top and side edges) and used a 1/8" drill bit. To figure out where to drill my holes in the thigh, I hand lined up the ammo pack and made some pencil marks. Then I held one side of the ammo pack and drilled a 1/8" hole in the thigh using the hole in the ammo pack and the pencil mark as a guide. Hopefully that makes sense. With the holes drilled, it was time to set some rivets. I placed the piece with the stem through the ammo pack and then through the thigh and put the cap on from the inside of the armor. I placed a flat anvil on the corner of a desk and placed the cap part of the rivet (inside of thigh) on it. Think so that the desk corner is inside the thigh armor. Then I used the setting tool to hammer the two parts of the cap rivet together. I'm realizing how hard it is to describe a process without adequate pictures... Here's the result: Next up: Sniper Knee Plate I've been dreading the knee plate since day one. It doesn't fit all that well and I know it's prone to popping off. My work bench has a couple holes cut in it for some reason, so I made use of them. I fished a broom handle through one of the holes and used it to hold up the shin armor while the knee plate was drying. My first attempt did not go well. The plate didn't sit right and popped off after I tool the clamps off. Take two was better - it sat better and hasn't popped off yet. My suggestion: Place your clamps on the front flat part first, then the sides. Otherwise the side clamps will tilt the whole thing back and screw it up. Also, let it dry for 48 hours. Mas clamps, por favor. Next up: Split Rivets I installed all the split rivets I need to close the left side and the crotch area. Step one: drill holes! For the split rivets in the crotch and left side, I drilled a 5/32" hole. The ab and kidney rivets are 10mm from the edge. To get the right spacing, I started with the kidney plate and placed the top and bottom rivets 15mm from the top and bottom edges. Then I simply split the difference for the middle one and copied the hole spacing to the ab plate. I think mine were 8.25mm apart, but don't quote me on that. I opted to go for the functional split rivet. So I placed the stem of the rivet through the correct part of the snap.. and discovered I needed to cut down the stem of the split rivet because it was too long. Dremel to the rescue! Metal sanding attachment did the trick. Back to splitting the rivets. I placed the head of the split rivet on a fairly stiff piece of wood (phrasing) and started with a Philips screw driver between the legs. That got it started. Then I switched to a flat-head screw driver and finished the splitting. Worked pretty well, but I think the snaps may be a bit misshapen and difficult to use now. Guess the right side opens and the left is perma-closed now. Either way, it looks really good and are pretty secure. The legs are fully below the rim of the snap so there will be no problem there. For the cod piece, I used the same method as the ab/kidney rivets. Unfortunately, I used one the softer Dritz snaps and it REALLY deformed under the pressure from the split rivet legs. I may have to replace it to make it useable. I also didn't know to grind down the legs until after I tried to split the rivet, which probably added to the problem. Add on top of that using an anvil instead of wood and you get a slight ding in the armor to go with the bad snap. Last up: Butt and Right Side Snaps For the butt plate, I added Dritz heavy duty snaps. I can tell you now, I would have preferred the Tandy 24 Nickel plated snaps. Tandy's are more heavy duty than Dritz's, but the Dritz are easier to set. To start, I drilled a 7/64" pilot hole in the spots I marked in pencil. Then I second guessed myself and drilled the back hole slightly to the side. It was not the right decision, as they are now slightly misaligned. Oh, well. I then drilled the full 11/64" hole for the snap stem. Since the Dritz snaps have a slight raised section around the stem, I decided to try and counter-sink the hole slightly using a 3/8" drill bit. This is a picture that shows it done right... and really, really wrong. The finished settings are below. Now all I need is the elastic strap to connect the cod and butt. The right side snap uses the same method and parts as the butt plate. I also made the same mistake while counter sinking. Whoops. Sorry, no picture of the final thing. I think I placed it 10mm from the edge and 15mm from the top. In hind sight, I would have moved the snap more inward and a touch further down. That's all or now. I'll be working on the belt in coming weeks and finishing up details like painting and closing the shins.

The helmet changes from picture to picture. I would avoid this armor - looks kinda like a Rubies.

I personally prefer the clean look for similar reasons you stated. Just because the armor appeared on film with bumps and crooked paint lines doesn't mean that was the intended look.