mikedwelle94

From what I've heard, being short shouldn't be a roadblock to getting approved in armor as long as your plastic fits you well. I didn't measure at all during my painting - I just eyeballed it. The big red stripe should be twice as wide as the small red squares on either side of it. The squares shouldn't be taller than the gray traps. I would recommend finding paint specifically made for leather, but I used the same can of Rustoleum on my boots. Just make sure you strip the shine off with acetone first. You will actually want the paint to chip and reveal some black - it's makes for some authentic looking weathering, which this character has a fair amount of. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Feeling ever so tempted to bring this project back and make the necessary mods for 501st after getting these photos.

I'm almost 100% sure the backpack won't be required. The playable model doesn't carry one. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Got some stuff from ATA and Scootch to keep me busy until TFA drops! Scootch surprised me with a few extra parts I didn't ask for, which will be great in case I mess up, and the rest will be kept for Death Trooper #2 further on down the road. ----------

Did a little tinkering with the helmet on my day off. -------------- There were some annoying gaps after trimming the ears down, but I was missing the grinder attachment on my Dremel. So I decided to fill the gaps with bondo instead. Also tried to touch up the screw holes, but I'm not that confident with bondo in general, so I'm gonna call it good right here. Gotta let this set overnight and sand it down by hand tomorrow. Should look like a proper ROTJ helmet after that bondo is hidden by some white paint! A few more parts are on the way. Should have them by Tuesday. Still waiting to hear back from CFO about my kidney/butt. This build is going to incorporate parts from so many different vendors.... MTK helmet, CAP-W chest, shoulders, forearms, right bicep, shoulder straps, knee ammo, handplates, knee plate AP back plate, ATA thermal detonator, shins, left bicep, FX abdomen/cod, belt, MC thighs, TM kidney/butt It's a Frankenstein of sorts. I was originally going to do a second Death Trooper, but I changed my mind without much deliberation after I tried Battlefront...

Hell yeah, the more the merrier. Feel free to post up some of the pictures you get, either here or in a separate thread. I could use the reference, and it would be much appreciated. Won't be long now before this is an established 501st costume and we start to see more people painting on those red stripes I agree, stay away from working from the figure. The game itself provides good enough reference.

Superb work was done by this guy right here. I cannot wait to look like that.

---------- Mask it off like I did, and you should be fine. Dab liquid latex or toothpaste on a few spots to simulate paint chips. You can use an x-acto knife to cut the tape, taking care not to scratch the plastic. Scuff the areas you want red with some high grit sandpaper, do a light coat, wait 15 or 20 minutes, then do another coat. Leave it alone for a few hours after that, then rub off the toothpaste or liquid latex - some people won't touch it for a week, but I don't feel like that's necessary. Testors enamel paint markers are also wonderful for adding extra little bits of "battle damage." Dabbed a little white with the marker on a few spots and no one can tell the difference.

I'd be going faster if I HAD all my parts, lol. Someone else actually got the whole thing done yesterday, but there's just a couple things I noticed on his that I would change before submitting. ----------

Kit's looking real nice, good work. Con looked like a lot of fun!

Freshly painted Bass Amsterdams. Soles painted silver to match references. ----------

It's Rustoleum Ultra Cover paint+primer, gloss apple red.

Found a great resource for a DiY tutorial on building the Special Edition pack and thought I'd share: http://djsyczylo.net/costumes/Sandtrooper/TDPack/TDpack.htm

Finished the chest plate and shoulder bells. Might give the abdomen plate a blackwash tomorrow. Yes, that button was painted white on purpose. On the game model, you have one white button and 8 black buttons. Painting and weathering is fun. I don't think you'll ever see me wear a clean, shiny TK. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Just mask off any areas with painters tape that you don't want red on. You can *lightly* score the tape with an x-acto blade once it's on the plastic as a means of being more precise with your masking, taking care not to scratch it underneath. Dab toothpaste or liquid latex on parts of the soon-to-be red areas before painting to simulate paint chips. I also went back with a white enamel paint marker to add a little more battle damage. (still need to fill the screw holes on mine) Your Anovos could get approved as a ROTJ-style Shock Trooper if you make modifications. Flip the ab button plate, construct everything with the overlap method, and attach rubber trim to all your torso plates. Apply ROTJ decals to your helmet and paint the frown ROTJ style. Maybe slim the ears of the helmet down and fill the screw holes. Find ESB/ROTJ clamshell handplates and add bubble lenses to your helmet (they're more common on ROTJ troopers vs. flat lenses) I'm using 90% ANH armor for mine (ordering a fused kidney/butt plate from TM or CFO) and I plan to get approval with this by the time FISD elections end.

Sounds like you're going about it the right way! Good luck with your project. Just a few things you didn't mention about the helmet: - You need to fill in the seam running along the faceplate. Caulk works fine. - Replace the decals and tube stripes with ESB/ROTJ decals and tube stripes. Maybe you could give CFO or TM a shout and see if they could hook you up with a set. - Replace the lenses. Bubble lenses are more common on ROTJ helmets vs. flat lenses. You said you have TK Boots right? They can't be the ones your pictures - those are more like Elvis/Mariachi style boots people find on eBay. TK Boots are good if you can find them in your size, but a painted set of Bass Amsterdams is a good alternative. Just gotta take the shine off with acetone and lay down some good leather spray paint.

I'm just a little obsessed with how good (I believe) this helmet turned out. Decals are fitted, all that's left is to fill in the screw holes on the ears. I've given up trying to take the ears off to slim them down - this bucket was constructed a little too well ;p Boots came in too. I'll make a trip up to the store for nail polish remover and hopefully find some red spray paint for leather. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Flipped the buttons on the FX abdomen armor and tried on some cheap door trim I found at Walmart today. Still planning to get the good rubber trim from either TM or CFO, but I'll be painting this up tomorrow to get a good idea of what it'll look like. The over-sized handplates need to be trimmed some. I'll use the scrap to make ABS paste which I'll use to repair the crack near the gentleman's region as well as the little gaps around the ab button plate after repositioning. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Trooperbay decals are coming, Bass Amsterdam boots are coming, and a set of MonCal thighs are coming. Just waiting to hear back from TM and ATA for the rest of my parts. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

It's good to be back! I did my fair share of research while I couldn't build - this one will go 100x more smoothly than my first attempt at building. I'll feel good knowing that the effort put in now could make it easier for people building this after me. I'll be happy to help with CRL-related efforts however I can. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Definitely share your helmet's new paintjob with us! Just keep in mind if you're using your Anovos kit (which is ANH I believe), you'll need to construct it as an ROTJ trooper. That means you'll have a couple mods to make, and you may even need to buy a replacement kidney/butt from TM or CFO, which is supposed to be a single piece.

+1 on the Bass Amsterdams. I've ordered my second pair just recently. They're good boots!

MTK helmet as it arrived in the mail. Trimmed the eye holes a bit more, masked everything off, and painted. The traps and tears are handpainted (for now) until my decals arrive. Also temporary are the ANH tube stripes. I plan to take the ears off and slim them down a bit. Also will fill in the screw holes with bondo. Let me know what you think!

Found a couple really good pictures!

Discovered a few things playing the game. Playing as a Shock Trooper, you carry a T-21 blaster and no backpack. Encountering a Shock Trooper on Tattooine, you'll notice they carry both a DLT-19 blaster and what appears to be a backpack resembling the Special Edition Sandtrooper pack. I'll try to get a better shot sometime. It's incredibly hard to sneak up on these guys' rears without them noticing. I keep having to kill them and hope they land on the ground the right way. An example of the SE Sandtrooper pack, from http://www.tk1336.com/tdtrooper.html Plastic shoulder straps and a thermal detonator attached to the belt are present not only on the playable model with no pack, but also on the AI trooper with the pack. For the sake of common sense, I would hope that those approving this costume would overlook those two details on the latter variant, but who knows.