stormtrooperguy

IMO, the return edges can be pretty uncomfortable. If you move the wrong way, you have a thin, flat edge jabbing you rather than a smooth, flat surface pressing on you. I try to leave returns in places where they obviously were in the originals and where it doesn't cause me discomfort. For example, the return on the bottom edge of the chest is good. The return on the top edge of the ab is unnecessary, as it isn't seen. So whether it was there on the original or not, I cut it off on mine

The magnets I use for clamping are 7.74 pounds each. 1/2" diameter discs, 1/8" thick. Unfortunately, I have a steel workbench. You can see how this gets challenging

the big variables i think are whether you have ABS or HIPS armor, and if you are going EIB with it. An ABS kit built to 501st minimum standards I can build in a day. I've been on my HIPS/EIB kit for over a month and still am not even ready for a test fit.

Finally some pictures! I keep forgetting to bring my iPhone down with me when I'm working on it! Thigh with the shim all blended in and painted. See what I meant in an older post about my thighs being really wide at the top and really skinny at the bottom? What a pain! And the other one still looking all ugly... Speaking of ugly, I overtrimmed my ears a bit, so I built it back up with apoxie sculpt: As of now I've got the chest, back, ab, kidney, butt, shoulders, shoulder straps, 1 thigh, 1 bicep, thigh boxes, belt boxes, knee plate and handplates painted and ready to go. The other thigh is a work in progress. The forearms, shins, bicep and belt are ready for paint, but my workshop is a mess and the paint booth is full of crap that's leaving me not enough room to actually paint. So, I'm left waiting for stuff to dry and cycle out. There SHOULD be enough space in there for a full suit but I still have yet to clean up from a big clone armor run in September. Anyway, target for completion / trooping is 11/15, so I've got plenty of time.

another recommendation for the drill press. i picked up a cheap ryobi benchtop one for $99 to drill out the barrel for a pvc mg-34 i threw together a few years back. i've since replaced it with a free standing delta one that weighs about 200 pounds. but, it makes life sooooo much easier. you can clamp some guides down to make sure the pipe remains in the same place as you go, and the holes are always perfectly straight.

i personally wouldn't worry about scratches. the first time you wear it you'll get plenty of those. the "ghosting" on the parts is, as others have said, a production defect.

back on the wagon! tonight i did the final filler in the back of thigh #1, cut, shaped and glued in the shim in thigh #2, glued the shin fronts and outer seams on the forearms.

my sterling is my trooping blaster at this point. some time i'll have to make up a lighter one, but when i have the "real deal" it's hard to settle for a resin one

i wanted to build the M19 version, but those are very hard to come by. The M38/M40 was easier to get, so I went that route.

I too have the saberfreak stuff. I haven't studied it in great detail, but it looks the part well to my eyes.

creeping along. the biceps now have their finishing strips glued down and are getting painted today.

ah, that makes sense then! i've never actually seen thin wall in stock at any of my local hardware stores. so, i did some googling: ---- from there, it seems that SDR26 is a good way to locate it. still doesn't help for finding it locally, but it's a start. maybe one of your local hardware stores could order it?

i must be missing something... my home depot has the correct diameter pvc pipe in the plumbing aisle in both 10' lengths and insanely overpriced 2' ones. i just use normal schedule 40 plumbing pipe. why does it need to be thin wall? the outside diameter is the same. is it just weight? because it really doesn't make much of a difference on such a short piece.

thanks! but this wouldn't be great... this would be funny i'm thinking making it comically bad. carboard armor barely painted, shag orange fabric, rubies boba helmet with a quick paint job on it. total disaster costume.

i've been considering making that cartoon mando as a costume.

Every board has their flaws... And flawed members. I know that I've personally spent about 100 hours trying to organize the wiki there to make it easier to find things, setting up the photo gallery, and babbling with Art about how to best help out on the costumer side of things. I think what we do here in hobbyland is heavily influenced by what we do in other parts of life. I work in relatively high end IT... doing server management / network security / that sort of stuff. The specifics of what I do today have almost no similarity to what I did 10 years ago. My whole career is about jumping on trends, getting good at stuff while it's still new, then moving on to the next thing. So it makes sense that I'm all about sharing... I know that EVENTUALLY the details will get out, the recasting will happen, the links will be shared. So I'd rather just get it over with early and move on to the next hot new thing I do have to say that I'm really impressed at how this is a conversation and not a fight. I think that says more about the community here than any trooper specific information could!

I was off at a convention all weekend, but still got a little work done. my helmet decals arrived. i got the dave m style "hand painted" ones and put them on the helmet during breakfast one morning.

I see no reason to hoard anything unless it's a case where LFL has directly said "don't share this". To use the example of the trooper boots. Were it me, I would have gotten my own first (I'm not a saint!) then posted the details for everyone else. Why? Because to me it doesn't benefit me at all to keep it private. This is the same general idea as recasting... I allow anyone to recast my clone stuff that wants to. I just don't care I subscribe to the Open Source Software idea that information wants to be free. It's something that you can give away and still have for yourself. There's not a lot out there like that. If I have $20 and I give you $20, I now have $0. If I know how a screen used suit was strapped together, and I tell you, I still know it. A great recent example from the Fett world is the Grant McCune Fett helmet that Art Andrews just got. It's a VERY early generation cast of the PP2 Fett. One of only 2 known to exist. Rather than keeping it to himself it's been molded and he's making casts available for less than you pay for most fan made kits. Why? Because he wants all Fett fans to have a chance to have something like that. To me, that's the model we should all follow. He got access to an amazing thing that only 2 people in the world have... and decided to share openly with the world.

While I appreciate the accuracy of black boots painted white, that's one of the areas that I think idealized is more appropriate for trooping. Most folks won't get that the boots are supposed to be that way, they'll just think I'm sloppy looking with peeling paint I used to have caboots, but just replaced them with tkboots. WAY nicer. A fraction of the price, better quality, and they don't smell bad right out of the box. After a few long troops that may change, but only your feet can be blamed for that

So here's the thigh shim with a 1st coat of putty: The lines look really obvious but that's misleading. What you are seeing there is the oozed up all purpose cement that's been sanded smooth, with the putty around it. It's actually pretty good looking for a first pass. A quick hit of bondo on top and you'll never know it was added in. WAY more effort than I was expecting, but it worked out pretty well. I do need to adjust the top edge though. There's a hump at the shim, so I'll draw out a smoother transition from side to side and trim it down. On to the next leg! The biceps are all glued and ready for paint.

ooh, nice trick! thanks for the link!

i'll take a couple of pics of the thigh tonight. it's looking good. shaping the shim to the right curve by hand was "fun", but it's there. the acetone/hips putty should be cured enough to sand when i get home. i'll probably skim that with some bondo to fill dimples, then paint it up. if this thigh works out, the other one should be a breeze. i'd like to have all my parts glued tonight. i just have to do shins, forearms and that other thigh, then attach the shoulder straps to the chest. i need to go out and get some white canvas for the belt. i'm going to bend the belt to curve along with the armor. repeated bending of the plastic always makes me nervous... i'd rather have it follow the right shape.

the holster is here, as are the boots! thanks much for the holster, it looks great! for the thighs, i've got one of them almost done. i cut the entire molded in ridge off the back, made a v shaped shim curved it, and glued that in. i'm going to putty the seams, sand it smooth, and glue the "finishing strip" down the center back where it should be. *sigh* i was hoping to get away from seamless construction! i've got the thigh fronts glued, 1 thigh back, both biceps. the ab plate and kidney plate are painted. chugging along!

there's a place in the world for all of us. i think that strip jabs at the edges of both sides. the people who go just a little too loose on their customs, and the people who take their troopers just a wee bit too far.

not much progress last night... the ab and kidney plates are sanded and painted, and the thighs have the front seam glued. my thighs are big at the top and really skinny at the bottom, so the backs are going to need odd V shaped shims. i'll have to trim them down at the bottom, but add about 1.25" at the top. not sure how i can blend that in with the proper strip down the back, unless i go clone style seamless with filler and such, then glue the strip. hmmm... something to think about. i've accepted that i'm not going to wear this on the 13th, so i'm going to be taking it a bit slower. too many other projects going on to really blast through this one.