fritzthefox

OK, today the glue fumes dispersed enough for me to try on my armor... Overall, it fit pretty well. I have some minor issues, one of which is obvious in the photo: my knee ammo belt is too loose. In fact, it is REALLY loose now, because a rivet popped off while I was removing the costume, so it looks like I'm waiting on the mail again. Sigh. Should the knee belt be able to move at all, or should it be fixed in place? One of my calves is a riding a bit high in this picture, but that is because the back of my boot was stuck in the velcro. I have a hand plate that is barely hanging on and probably needs to be tightened. But by far the biggest problem is that my biceps do not want to stay put. They keep slipping out from under the bell elastic. I thinking of installing a hook. Any other suggestions? My only other problem is actually suiting up. I'm sure it will get easier over time, but I still don't see how anyone could do it all by themselves. I don't feel nearly as cool wearing it as I look. I feel like I suffered a horrible tupperware accident, and every time I hear the plastic make a loud noise, I think "OMGwhatthehelldidIbreaknow?!" But I can walk and move around pretty good, at least when my biceps stay put. I think I can finally see some stormtroopin' in my future...just a few more tweaks!

Ok, in the immortal words of Garvin Dreis, I'm almost there. Hopefully, I will not share his fate. I've used up most of my glue and everything is connected to everything else in one way or another. Just waiting for the glue to dry and I should be ready for a test fitting. Most of the past few weeks has been spent learning all about various forms of fasteners...snaps, split rivets, cap rivets, chicago screws, and those bleepity-bleep rare-earth magnets that are so much fun to work with. I decided to strap together my suit pretty much the way they did for the movie. That meant trying to sew together a garter belt to hold up my thighs, because I do not think Victoria's Secret has an industrial strength undie department. This is what I came up with... Notice all the rivets? That is how much confidence I have in my sewing ability. The belt is adjustable, and the garters are not fixed in place, so I can adjust everything if needed. I don't know how I would do that while wearing my armor, but I'm sure it would be a photo opportunity for someone. The ab plates strap together much like the original screen-used armor, except in place of brackets I used snaps. I wanted the rivets on the exterior of the suit to be functional, but I did not want to permanently affix any straps to my suit (in case I need to replace a worn strap), so I used chicago screws. That had the advantage of enabling me to paint them before installing them, too, since I would not have to beat the crap out of them with a hammer. The only tricky part was finding some with short enough posts yet large enough caps. The first batch I ordered were too long, and simply sawing them in half did not really help (the post is not threaded all the way to the cap). The 1/4 inch posts worked for me, provided I added a washer. I used braided elastic strapping for everything. As I have come to expect on every single part of this project, my endeavors were not without unforeseen challenges. For example, do you see the snaps for attaching the belt to the ab plate? That seemed like a pretty good spot to put them until I tried to actually use them. Sadly, the raised ridges on the armor prevent the belt from actually reaching the snaps. Not good. My solution will not win awards for engineering, but I think it may work. I have called upon my trusty, foul-smelling friend, E6000, to glue another female snap into each snap on the belt, making sort of a double-decker snap. I'll let you know how that turns out... The snaps on my belt are drying, so I didn't get a photo of the belt itself, but one nifty feature I cobbled together was functioning drop boxes. I noticed that the drop boxes are an ideal size for business cards, so I installed some tiny rare earth magnets (which is like trying to stuff ten puppies in a box made from fruit rollups) into the corners so that the lids can be easily removed. And by easily, I mean that you and a friend and a pair of pliers may eventually get them apart. E6000 did the job here, too, reinforced by bits of white duct tape. It is important, btw, that you make sure you get the poles of the magnets facing the right way for each corner, or you get to chase the puppies again. They also have a habit of creeping towards any source of metal on the work bench while the glue is drying. Maddening. It would have been easier to just train a puppy to carry my stuff. The only other challenge I see to fitting my torso armor is my wife's cooking. My wife is heir to long line of great cooks, and as a result my midsection is all out of proportion to the rest of my frame. If my belt is cinched tightly enough, I can get the edges to join flush, but I may need to go to Victoria's Secret, anyway, just to buy a corset. I don't think I can hold my breath for an entire sci-fi convention. Maybe a few years ago, but today's SF nerds have much better hygiene. People will be holding their breath around me, instead, as I reek of E6000 and undersuit sweat and pressure-induced flatulence and the fruit rollups I carry around to make the puppy follow me. In fact, it might be better if I replace my drop boxes with air fresheners. Well, that's it for now. I should have some photos of my first full fitting up soon....

It seems as if the more precisely we try to quantify the costume details, the more people argue about it. I vote that we refer to this as the Tarkin Uncertainty Principle, in honor of ol'Moff, because the more he tightens his grip, the more stuff slips through his fingers. Which is why no one invites him over for pudding. Plus, y'know, he blew up.

I would base your choice more on what will fit you best than suit lineage. All of the vetted fan-made suits are excellent, with only minor differences that will take you weeks of research to even discern. The builder has as much to do with the final look of the product as the armor maker, too. You will save yourself some work by buying closer to your size, and it will look better on YOU.

I'm forty mumblety-mumble years old and one of the few guys in my local garrison who saw all of the Star Wars movies in the theater when they were first released. When I get too old for the armor, I have a Jedi robe waiting...

Rivets are best found wherever leather craft supplies are sold. Ebay is, of course, a great source. Note that cap rivets and chicago screws appear the same as split rivets externally, and are often easier to install. I think the knee belt rivets are smaller. Someone more in the know will have to confirm that...

Anybody know if there is any real film canon about what the cylinder on the back of the TK belt is supposed to be? Is it an O2 canister or a thermal detonator? (Sources please...)

Yeah, just keep sanding and filling until it gets to where you want it. Most of my seams I filled twice. The paste tends to self-level when it cures, so it sinks a bit. Finish it off with fine grit sandpaper and armor polish and it'll look fine.

I used ABS paste to fill some gaps on my thighs. For the wider ones, I stuck a piece of duct tape behind the gap so I had something to lay the paste onto. Once the plastic hardened, I simply peeled off the tape. Note that the paste takes a while to cure...even if it is hard on the outside, it can be soft on the inside, so wait a while before sanding. White silicone may also fill the gap, but it could discolor over time. Modelling putty may be too brittle. I would definitely recommend the paste. 100% acetone is cheap and readily available in the cosmetics section of any large store, and the paste is easy to make. Just make sure you mix it in something that the acetone will not eat through. The only down side is that it will make it that much more difficult to take your thigh pieces apart again. You would have to cut through it. I would be sure of your sizing first.

Is the split rivet on the cod brass or nickel?

Lexington, eh? I'm hoping to get my suit done in time to make it to the comic and toy con they are having there in March. Perhaps I will see you there... Meanwhile, my armor continues to take shape. I am currently stalled waiting on some cap rivets and my replacement bicep piece. I did manage to complete a bunch of snap plates, and have begun to install them. Notice the glove? That was an ebay find. I hate rubber gloves, and the screen accurate chemical gloves are too big on me. I look like a cartoon character wearing them. I picked up some black beautician's latex gloves, which come in smaller sizes and fit like...well, like a glove. They also are designed to protect jewelry, so they go up the wrist a ways. But they are still rubber, and therefore get pretty icky if you wear them very long. They are also thin and will likely wear out quickly. (They are perfect for painting, however, and I think I am going to buy boxes of them to use when I airbrush) They will be great for occasions when I need to be as screen accurate as possible, but for the rigors of day to day trooping, I found some vintage women's driving gloves, which you see in the picture. These gloves were very fashionable in decades past, are made of form-fitting kid leather and sized so they fit very snug. And cheap! Almost all of them will go safely past your wrist, or even halfway up your arm (if you want to feel glamorous, I guess). Certainly not for guys with beefy digits, but they worked for my hobbit-sized hands. I have little else to do now, except play with my blaster. It was actually the first thing I completed. It is a kit conversion of a my son's missing Hasbro. I embellished the scope with lens swiped from googly eyes (I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for them) and added a suitable target. Well, more to come, whenever the mail gets here...

I'm in the process of fitting my suit and I am curious where the most common problem areas are for those of you have spent some time trooping? Where have you found your armor to be most prone to pinching or chafing? What sort of mods have you made in light of your trooping experiences?

This is an outstanding armor build...salute!

Because I cannot afford to replace a thigh piece that turns out looking like a vanilla popsicle on an August day. The bend is even less noticeable in person than in the photo, which is a close-up with some pretty directional lighting.In fact, it looks pretty sharp. Since it is on the back, I'm not sweating it too much.

The next big roadblock in my meandering journey towards enlistment in the Empire was, predictably, my thighs. I had to trim a lot away here, and it left me with two problems. The first, and by far the most vexing was that one of my thighs did not want to close gracefully. (And everyone knows that not being able to keep your thighs closed can cause nothing but trouble.) My heavy trimming had, as in the case of my forearm, upset the natural order of things, leaving me with a joining issue, which I have helpfully illustrated below: One obvious solution to this problem would be to use heat to coax the thighs into a more compliant shape, but many of my heat gun experiments have ended in gooey horror, and I really did not want to alter the shape of the thigh, since it fit nicely as it was. I considered fashioning a more flexible coverstrip from thin styrene or foam tape, or sealing the inevitable gap with white silicone, when I arrived upon the solution. As luck would have it, I still had a single, untrimmed cover strip that had escaped my wildly inaccurate utility knife until now by hiding among the clutter on my desk. (You thought those were photos of my workshop, didn't you? Nope. I'm a slob.) Notice how the edge of the cover strip still bears the shape of the mold? That turned out to be useful. I made a new cover strip, this time cutting to the outside of the step on one side. I ended up with a cover strip with a conveniently located bevel, like this: THIS cover strip lay across my awkward butt join (hitherto a medical condition known only to Siamese twins) and still managed to remain flush on both sides, no problem. From a normal viewing angle and distance, the strip looks just like any other cover strip. This leaves only the annoyingly mismatched join at the bottom to repair, which I intend to close with copious amounts of ABS paste and some creative sanding. This ends the most terrifying portion of my journey, the assembly of the limbs. I imagine even Victor Frankenstein sighed with relief when he finished hacking up those bits. Now it's Miller time.

I have a T/MC kit. I'm smaller, so I can't really tell you how it would fit you. But it DOES come with some helpful assembly instructions. You will still need to purchase your soft parts: belt, boots, undersuit, gloves and the strapping to hold everything together. I think it it is a great kit for a first-timer.

I seriously considered it, but I am not at all confident in being able to heat and shape the abs without trashing it. Many of my test efforts have ended in pretty scary piles of goo. It never struck me as predictable. I don't really want to reshape my thighs, either, as they have a decent fit now. I would have to significantly flatten them to make the edges meet nicely. So I'm fishing for alternatives before I resort to heat.

OK, after cutting, the difference was not so great that I cannot deal with it. My greater quandary is getting the cover strip to lay flat across the join, which despite my best efforts still meets at enough of a point to prevent the strip from laying flush against both sides. I had the same problem with my forearms, but managed to brute force a solution. I'm not so sure that will work with the thighs. I'm considering buying thin styrene for this cover strip, so that it will be flexible enough for the glue to hold it down on both sides. Anybody have any other ideas?

Well, that's reassuring. That begs another question: how the heck am I gonna make these edges meet up? Even after trimming, there will be a pronounced curve/step to one side, and none on the other. Suggestions?

Is it acceptable to trim the back of the thigh like this? (see photo below) I've been thinking of cutting out the designated portion because it would solve two problems: one, that the bottom edge of halves no longer join up after I trimmed them for size and, two, I cannot bend back my leg very far because the thighs are a bit long on me. Not a lot, but enough to prevent adequate movement. Is this ok?

I did a quickie color comparison of the paints, and the Testor's French Blue is significantly darker than the Humbrol French Blue. Here's my test: The numbers are the Humbrol colors. TB is a sample Trooper Bay decal, and TMC is a kit supplied T/MC decal.

Don't feel bad, I did the same dang thing to my helmet. Major face palm moment. I'm impressed you got those all off without trashing them! I pulled mine off and reordered a set. I managed to reapply the new set slightly crooked, after all of that. I will never get a job in a vinyl shop.

Nicely done!

To be honest, I'm not sold on the Humbrol French Blue. I have not seen an authentic ANH helmet in person, so I am hardly an authority, but the color just seems a bit light and not quite green enough to me. I suspect that puzzling out the real color will become a somewhat obsessive hobby of mine until I finally see a real helmet for myself. Then I will either eat my words or be arrested for sticking Pantone swatches to it. Either way, my tube stripes will have the last laugh.

Thanks, guys, although I'm not sure you should be encouraging me. You may all be considered accomplices later. I'm pretty sure the Empire has rules against the flagrant violations of the dress code which I seem to effortlessly commit. Anyway, before they come to take me away, I managed to complete THE GREAT COLOR EXPERIMENT. This was a battle in the much greater WAR AGAINST MY TUBE STRIPES which I have been waging for a while now. The war has finally come to an end with a victory for the stripes, which have bested me at every turn. I have spent over thirty dollars on paint, decals and stencils in an effort to find the most accurate possible color and method of tube stripe application so that I could ignore it completely and simply reapply the same decals I started with. I did, however, learn a few useful things about color. Here is a color comparison experiment that I put together: The numbers are various Humbrol colors. The named colors are Testors Model Master colors. TB is a Trooberbay decal, and TMC is the T/MC kit-supplied decal. The Pantone swatch is Pantone 187, which is also known as French Blue or Gentian Blue. The TB decal sort of falls between the Humbrol and Testor's French Blue. If I were buying a paint to match the TB decal, I would buy the Humbrol. The Testors is a better match for the T/MC decal. (The T/MC gray decals are also a perfect match for the Testors 1138/2138 gray.) I still have no idea which one best matches the stripes of the original, despite asking a bunch of questions about it in another thread. I think it would be a useful exercise for someone to make a sample ABS strip like this and have it photographed next to a real helmet whenever the opportunity presented itself. Until then, I think the most definitive source of color information we have is a handful of troopers who have managed to color match real helmets (only one of whom I managed to contact), a few photos and the film itself. I ultimately decided that I wanted to decorate my armor to represent an idealized version of the ANH stormtrooper, as it might appear if one had walked off the screen, and not a replica suit that might have just walked off the set. The darker blue and cleaner lines of the T/MC decals were more in keeping with the stormtrooper in my imagination, and not the handpainted wonky lines and brighter blues of the actual suits. Not that my helmet is remotely symmetrical. In fact, if you closely examine my pointlessly artsy photo below (which I have cleverly shot in poor light so that you cannot), you may notice that I have an extra stripe on one side. This is either because my decal application skills have not improved at all since my last attempt, or because the helmet itself is sort of crooked. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's finished. At least, I feel as if I have done all the damage I can do for now. More to come...