Spycee

Since my son is 4'10, he can't wear kids armor, and adult ones are too big for him. Last weekend I made a small vacuum forming table (12" x 16") to try to make some parts manually. The problem is that it doesn't work well ... I'm not sure where is the problem. The plastic takes the form of the mold a bit, but that's it. It doesn't go stick on the vacuum table, like it's not sucked enough. It may be the pump ... I used an old vacuum. I don't want to buy a super big shop-vac just to do a test, it takes a lot of space ! If that's the problem I'll buy one, but I surely can't return to the store if it doesn't work enough to my taste. Is the vacuum source really important, or all vacuums can work ? It may be the plastic ... I used a styrene sheet from the hardware store that is used to do shower walls. It stinks when heated ! (Is it really safe to put it in the oven that I use to cook ???) Maybe I used one too thick, I don't remember the thickness. It may be the support holding the styrene sheet. The sheet is suspended at like 3/4"" over the vacuum table. I put a plastic border around the top of the vacuum table, something that is used to seal windows borders, to seal a bit when sucking. I heated it in the oven until it makes a balloon of like 3"-4" then pushed it on the vacuum table (with the vacuum already sucking) and maintained it for a minute. It seemed so easy in the videos I'll post some pictures tonight. Do you have an idea of what can be the problem ?

How's it going ? Did you trim the arm's width ?

That's sad :-( No problem with mine, in fact she's searching herself to get her Scout Trooper armor / helmet, and asks for my help with her project In fact she totally accepts all of my weird hobbies ... Have I found the perfect woman ? My son loves costuming, so he has many Star Wars cheap costumes, a Bumblebee helmet / gun, a Vader helmet (with cool sounds, wow !) with many lightsabers, and his new TK helmet I made, which he loves!!! I'm currently assembling a TK armor for him with styrene from the hardware store, lets say it's not very accurate but he's thrilled with it ! He pushes me to progress, and searches for details to add on it. I'll soon have my TK armor / helmet, and I will one day be looking for an Imperial Guard one. But just after my TK I will begin to check for a R2-D2 build, and my wife is ok with that

Congratulations ! You look nice

Thanks ! No I don't have gloss white spray, but I'll try another paint. I used an old one from my D&D miniatures, just to see if it fits. Apparently, the answer is no

Ok, some progress pics I forgot to post (yeah I know, my white is not white enough ) : I received : Neck seal (thanks Darman !) Boots (I need to work on them) And I ordered another green lenses : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Face-Shield-Dark-Green-PETG-8-x-15-5-x-040-No-IR-Or-UV-15190-/261447324202?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdf79922a&_uhb=1

I understand maybe 50% of what he's doing... I'll check for something like that when my helmet will be completed. Some reading ahead :-)

I just have 2 words to describe this : AWE SOME !!! How's it going ?

Yeah, I was a bit shy on the tooth holes ... I squared them a bit after I was told to do it, but not enough. Maybe someday I'll made a touch up for that, if I have the time. On mine it's Mark who will do it, so I guess it will be ok For the moment I want to finish the inside of the helmet so my son can wear it, it needs a lot of padding ! I will will use velcro so when he will grow up I will just switch to a lighter padding. For the mic tips and neck trim ... I knew it from the start so it doesn't really bother me. He sells ABS armor parts, not complete sets of armor, so it's understandable. But on the other side, yes, it would be nice to buy all the correct pieces in one shot. He loves his helmet But now he wants an armor ... At 4'9"", he's too tall for kids armor, and too short for adult armor. I'm currently checking to maybe build a vacuum former to create some pieces for him while he's waiting to grow enough for a "real" armor. I know, it's complicated and it can cost a lot to try to do that but hey, I love my son I don't want to have something professional, just something that looks a bit like my armor and that he can wear while playing. And I'm very curious and interested about the process ... And after that, my real "big" project : an astromech !

On this one ? No, it's the one for my son, it will do absolutely nothing more for him to have accurate mic tips. Maybe one day, if he wants accuracy ... But for mine they're already ordered, don't worry ;-) Oops, I forgot to update the pictures ! I painted the back bar in black, and I put a pin stripe around the gray part. But for the screws... I painted them white, but it's too yellowish to my taste, I'll try another paint.

Hmmm ... It seems you *might* need to trim the width Go inch by inch (approximatively), and remove less and less until you get the desired width. Always trace a mark where you want to cut, it will be easy with that.

Thanks ! It's almost finished (visually), it's only missing the pin stripes on the ears and the black line on gray part of the ears. The black on the mouth is not to my taste, I'll redo the coating a bit to remove some imperfections. I was not able to fine semi-gloss enamel, so I used acrylic, to see if it's ok. I will begin the interior part. I'll install some fans in it, and I must find some padding to use. It must be good padding, my son's head is relatively small (he is able to enter it with his glasses, lucky little guy !).

Thanks ! I bought my snaps from Walmart in the crafts section. For the straps, I'm not sure where to go ...

At your height and weight it is normal to trim. If you are not sure before making an additional trim to a piece, just post a picture of the piece on you, you will surely have good comments about what to do. It is better than just trim without insight and make an error.

My wife took a picture of my hard work, the lighting makes a nice effect

It progresses well ! I need to find a store that sells semi-gloss black for the mouth part ... I bought pinstripes to do the black outlines on the ears, but not sticked them yet. And I need to find some sponge to put in the helmet, to be able to wear it correctly.

Thanks ! Since I have 2 helmets to build, I'll order an S trim to see the difference between the 2. I think I partially solved my ears problem : if I put the brow after screwing the ear, the ear keeps sticked closer to the helmet.

Well, I'll have to work a bit with the ears ... Left ear : It seems too low from the brow. Right ear : Right under the brow (good), but it does not stick enough to the helmet, some trimming to do ...

It is not too short, I just didn't place it completely around for the picture (it fits perfectly, I tried it). Yeah, it is the same rubber than for the brow, is it OK ? I'll try again to put the rubber over the ears. Thanks !

OK, I have a question : how should I install the rubber under the helmet ? Maybe the ears are too long, it seems to overlap with the rubber. I tried put put the rubber over the ear, doesn't fit right. But it seems to fit ok when I put it under the ear ... I searched on the forum, but didn't find any good picture for that. Maybe I'm too tired Here is my helmet :

I had a lot of help from Mark, he rough-trimmed the main part. I just finished, making sure its (not sure of the word in english... polished ?) with the x-acto and sandpaper. You can see in the first picture what Mark did. Mark is really a great guy ! When I picked up the helmet, he took almost half an hour to explain to me all the necessary steps required to finish the helmet. Thanks again Mark

Woo hoo ! I went to pick up a "b-grade" helmet from Mark (AP) tonight. Well, b-grade ... A little, practically invisible mark at the back and *maybe* a little something on the left side, I'm not sure I even see it. It is a very nice helmet, a lot better than a "b-grade" in my book ! I got it for my son, probably a christmas gift. Here is a picture of the kit : I'm VERY excited ! I finished trimming the eyes and the frown. Do you think I trimmed correctly ? :

I ordered the Amsterdam boots from Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LZT9E0/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1 . I wasn't able to also order the color spray, doesn't ship to Canada ... Gotta find it locally ! And my neck seal was shipped today, thanks to Darman

If you're a college student I suspect that you don't have a lot of money ... If so, building it is the better solution. It doesn't seem too complicated (my armor is on the way). Is there a reason not to build it ? It's part of the pride of having it ! I bought an AP armor, and I took one already trimmed to ease the building. It's a middle-of-the-road solution, since the trimming is very a intimidating part of the process for the newcomers. Once the trimming is done, it's just a question of assembling all the parts with snaps, rivets and velctro. A good way to understand how it works is to meet with fellow Stormtroopers and inspect their armor closely. They will happily answer all of your questions. Good luck with your project !

As long as the fans of the original trilogy are alive, the original model will be popular, and will probably be their favorite model, so no, they will not sell their costume. But of course they will buy the new one to add to their collection ;-) The original model is iconic, even non Star Wars fans recognize it instantly.