yoshix

You can see how the tabs on the belt have a slight angle to them. I tried to recreate that by sanding mine down. But only to the plastic I added. Belt is done! The elastic is pushing the box on the far left a little bit to far out. Maybe when I get some more time I'll fix it, but it's fine for now

I would like to see that as well.

Yesterday I resined the inside to give it some more support. Trying to prevent cracking. After sanding and patching. Gluing the details on. It occurred to me half way through this project that I could have contacted one of the other armor makers that make shoretroopers and asked to buy the ab only. It would have been easier to cut out that little middle extra top section and add buttons that to cut out all three details and remake them almost from scratch. Oh well

Finally got to work on the belt today. I cut 1/8 plywood and glued them in the backs of the boxes so I can screw into it. I predrilled the holes and counter sunk the other side so the screw sits somewhat in the hole. You can see I have a snap in the middle of the belt. I'm debating if I want to do snaps for the sides or velcro. I definitely interested to do snaps for the sides of the back belt. Apparently I rushed one of the boxes so I had to remake it today. I should have the belt all finished up tomorrow.

Looking good!

I haven't been able to do much in the last few days. I did get the knee plate on though. I cut a little plywood block and glued it on at just the right angle to push it away. I'll paint it white later. Also got the back of the thighs glued together.

You sir, are on point! I like that. That picture was taken before I cut the taps into the belt. When you count the original tabs that I already sanded away, I took about a half inch away from the original belt. Plus it most likely looks overly larger because the boxes aren't attached yet.

I noticed that as well. I was worried to cut too much as the very first stormtrooper kit I made it cut too much off the thighs and spend a lot of time trying to repair them and in the end they never looked right. The thighs are one of those things that ppl see and if they are too small makes you look odd. I am considering trimming them though.

I learned so so much from today's test fit. For one, that top area of the ab has to go. Another thing is the upper part of my under suit needs to be tailored to fit better. I was bulging out of the elbows and armpits.

I didn't really want to be I ended up cutting about 7/8 off the cod. I had it pushed up under the ab, now with it shorter it hangs more and doesn't take up as much room inside. My side straps ended up looking like this. Again, velcro on one side, snap on the other. I think I'm going to paint the white areas black just in case.

Looks like a hot mess, but after I sand and shape it it will look really good I wasn't sure how I was going to attach the butt plate, then I came up with this. Long strap to the crotch, three elastic straps connected with velcro to one side and a snap on the other. I try to use velcro incase I need to move it up or down slightly. Most of my straps are velcro on one side and a snap on the other.

I thought I would be able to conect it in front and turn it around, but that didn't work out. I'm sure there are shoretroopers and deathtroopers that can do that. It's also a pain because the cod and butt plate hang down and get in the way.

Lol, that is right up my alley. I'll definitely check out your thread. But to be honest, I don't plan to do anything else with the helmet. I changed the hight of the dome, I haven't posted pictures from that yet. It was a lot of work and I'm happy with how it turned out. Thank you! I'll send you a pm here shortly. At the moment it's a little bit more expensive than I would like, because I have to use an 8" x8" piece to make one box. I think because of the styrene I'm using, so I'm going to try different thicknesses and different types, also abs, to see if I can get it better.

That is correct. I'll call the boxes small, medium, larger and the drop boxes. You can't see in that photo but the medium box has a small detail on top. I'm pretty sure that's the only one though right?

Originally I used velcro to conect in the back, but after the test fit today I decided to go with snaps.

So this isn't finished, I still need to do some more sanding and fill in the holes. I really don't want to glue the shoulder straps in just in case I'd have to take them off some day for some reason, so I figured out that they are thick enough to be screwed in. Holds well

I'm going to recreate the little tabs that come up on the belt. The reference photos show that they curve in slightly so I glued a piece behind it to make it thicker. Pretty much finished with the belt boxes More and more glue. I thought I would put velcro on the back to hold the calves together but because they are so solid the back stays together on there own.

So this is something that I'm so very very very happy with. You can see to the left is the cut piece and the right is uncut. I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but in the end I'm so glad i did it. I can't wait to post pictures of the finished legs.

Reattaching the clips to the back plate.

That was exactly my plan I used a plastic sign in back for support. Using some scraps to try to fill in the gaps

A little hard to tell from the photo but that could very well be it

Cutting up the ab went well. I took off 3/4 of the very middle to push it closer together. Trying to see if I can reuse some of the parts

I cut some curves into the side straps. Again, just getting a feel for how it will look.

I decided to do the same thing to the back plate that I did to the chest. Its hard to pull measurements from the figure for the back plate because it has a backpack in the way. But to me, the clips look closer to the back detail. Also decided to take a little bit off the bottom. Some dremel work and the straps go further back.

I noticed on the reference photos that these should have a slight slant to them. Again, using the figure as a reference I moved the neck line down and the sholder straps. You can see from the head on photo that the sholder straps are down lower and in fact the bottom should be about 3/4 lower below the chest details. I debated on extending it but for now I'm just going to keep it how it is. After