stormtrooperguy

I usually use the cap from the can to deliberately concentrate the paint, just like it says not to do on the can

I agree on the "no pliers" idea. I use either a benchtop press or the hammer/anvil tools for snap setting.

I'm underway on the deathtrooper build. I'm scrapping that helmet entirely... the paint is too dark, and the overall detailing isn't great. The new suit is ATA B-grade pulls, mixed ABS/HIPS. I've got it assembled except for the shims on the backs of the thighs. Then the weathering begins! Instead of khaki as the base color I'm using ivory, which should end up more in keeping with the gentle giant bust. I'll use khaki and avocado for the darker spots. I'll start posting pics when it gets beyond just a basic TK assembly.

Yeah, there's no Legion level policy. It's up to the GML to monitor that sort of thing.

This is going WAY back, but for nostalgia sake it is fun to share... this is when SDS first started shipping helmets: ---------- Left to right: FX, SDS, CRProps, GF Continuing the vintage helmet comparison shots... --------- That's an FX, a 2005 era GINO and the same GF from above. The GF was mine. The SDS and CRprops belonged to a local collector (SithLord from the RPF). The Gino is from Mirax H (TDH, RPF). The FX helmets are unknown as we grabbed them from whoever was nearby that had one just to show how big they were.

i like it! it's one of those subtle things that makes the suit more than just a repainted rotj.

I've had varying degrees of success. Sometimes it doesn't hurt the finish at all, sometimes I make a mess of it and start over on the painting.

Interesting shot of the knees... look at how they strap through slots in the thighs. That would work way better than movie clone knees, which tend to flop around a lot.

In the NEG we do not generally allow any non-canon markings on armor, unless it is an event where it is specifically declared ok. For example, many of our troops often decorate their suits for the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade. I've never been a fan of that myself, but the garrison allows it for that event.

Come on Chrome! Nice to see that it is beating MSIE! I use the default forum skin, not the FISD one. So, I saw some changes, but nothing bad. Just slightly different layout.

that's a beautiful helmet!

You are definitely not alone in your opinion. However, the decision to make Deathtroopers 501st admissible was already made last year, and the current team is in agreement / plans to uphold that decision. While they may not fit in with what we typically think of, they are as much a part of the EU as any other Star Wars expansion.

Same here. I try to think of what they would have done in the film. They'd have wanted to avoid squared corners since those would catch on things/people/fabric and potentially damage something. But, they wouldn't have assembled each with tender loving care. So quickly rounding off the edges a bit makes sense.

Here's the helmet after re-assembling it: I took about 1/4 off the bottom edge of the forehead and moved the brow trim up. The face is angled out more at the bottom edge (enough that I had to add 2 more tube stripes). The downside is that I had to repaint most of the lower half of the helmet to blend everything in. I did a first pass at weathering last night, and will finish that up tonight. It's not really THAT green... the lighting in the room where I snapped that was terrible. The color in the left helmet above is pretty true to life.

I realized that this helmet was just assembled very badly. I was so focused on painting it that I didn't put it together right! Last night I ripped it apart and will be repairing / repainting as needed to blend it all back together. The angle of the face was off and the forehead wasn't trimmed enough. Stinks that I noticed that AFTER finishing it, but it's already looking much better!

the gauge is thousandths of an inch. so, for example, 0.125 plastic = 1/8th inch.

I wasn't sure if y'all would want them. When they came up for discussion last year the sentiment was very mixed on whether they should be in the club at all. Being a life long horror fan too, I'm all over it.

LMO Spanos established last year that the deathtrooper, while outside of what is normally seen in the Star Wars universe, has enough canon establishment to be eligible, if done extremely well. Darth Talon comes to mind as something similar: While the deathtroopers are more gross than the 501st usually sees, she is much sexier. But, both have their place as evil characters from official mediums. Now here's some food for thought: These could fit into Flagship Eclipse (EU general), Special Operations (EU armor, Galaxies characters), or FISD (white armor... it was white, at one time... these guys were the classic TKs in life) Somehow I'm guessing this isn't a costume the detachments will be fighting for

Collecting bad pulls from another armor maker's kit and cobbling together something similarly ugly

I've spent most of the last few years on clones or mandos. I wanted a bit of a break, and to do something just for fun. For Halloween I plan on doing a Deathtrooper costume. I figured the helmet was a good place to start! The base bucket is a vac formed MRCE recast. Let's not get into a moral debate about the origins of the helmet, but instead focus on beating the tar out of it. I chose to paint/weather it based on the Gentle Giant bust, since I liked his look. Less on the gore, more on the old and moldy. I will have some amount of ichor on my armor, but nothing too excessive. And some closeups of the abuse it has suffered... I did cut right into and through the lens. Makes vision a little awkward, but looks cool The weathering was a LOT of fun! I hit it with Dremel cutting wheels, engraving tools, razors, etc... It's painted with avocado, khaki and fossil paints, weathered with umber and black acrylic and graphite powder. I've never worn a real MRCE, but I was surprised at how large it is. Not quite FX sized, but not far off! Look at the size of it compared to my ATA!

i could buy an argument that the shoulders are just models with a low polygon count and that the angles aren't intentional. look how angular his shoulder is under that free floating bell

I want to make one of these myself. I'm just going to modify regular coveralls myself. I think that's what the pioneer crew of mechanical crew did. This is a funny costume... Almost years of watching RotJ and I never noticed them, but there are a TON of them, right on the bridge, right behind vader as he kneels before Zod...er... the Emperor.

I think because accurate stuff doesn't have good mass market appeal. I remember the first time a non-costumer fan looked at my GF stormtrooper helmet. He asked what happened to it, then went on to talk about how it was all warped in the face like someone sat on it, and that it didn't look perfect like the ones on screen.

not every original helmet is going to be the same. these were not exactly made with tender loving care. i would imagine that the donor helmet the ata is derived from was bumpy, where the si-man was not. i wouldn't really think that either proves or disproves the other.

unfortunately i'm going to be tied up pretty much forever in Clone Wars stuff. At least 2 new helmets and all new armor this season!