TrooperTim

All sci-fi is great, to me at least, especially the stars. Star Wars, Star Trek, and Stargate. The triad of awesome.

BFGs are awesome. Nice work, I dig the smoke effect.

It's not christmas without national lampoon! I have a leg lamp also... desk sized.

I'm slowing getting this finished. Can't believe it's taking me this long. The only thing I have left to do is sew my neckseal and clip my O2 canister to my belt. The canister is painted and ready to go. I noticed that my shins were rising up, mainly my right shin... the top of the boot would pop out. I'm going to snap the extra elastic from the boot to my shin piece to keep that from happening. Also, sometimes the pieces hang kinda funny and feel odd. Guess it's just the armor. Something to get used to.

I've never had a problem with the plasti-dip stuff; found it easily removable. I used the brush on kind, maybe the spray is different. So I completely trashed my left boot when I tried to dye it the first time. I removed the dye, got some Nu-Life spray (and preparer) and tried again. The left boot still looks kinda nasty mostly from the frayed stiching. That happened while removing the dye I put on the first time. My right boot is awesome though. I'm very pleased. Getting white shoe cream to polish them up. I colored the fabric using white fabric paint. Left shoe Right shoe I got canvas material from the hobby store and got the belt sewn. I've attached the front of the belt to the ab piece via snaps. The belt itself is attached to the ammo plastic part via snaps also. I wanted the canvas to be completely removable so that I could wash it more easily. I also put the elastic bands on the biceps.

Great photos indeed. Awesome location. This inspires me.

I got some material that I'll use for my neck seal and holster. It's thin enough for the neck seal, which I'm going to add some foam to the middle and sew the ridges, but thick enough to where I can double it over and create a holster out of it. Won't support a metal blaster but should work for mine. Got my undersuit at wally. Looks like athletic underwear for football or something. $10 for a top and $10 for a bottom. There are seams that run down the side of the leg and the arms. If you look closely you could probably see them when I'm geared up. Is this a problem? Should I go buy the "good" stuff like an actual dive suit or under armor? Wanted to save a little bit if I could and for the price of what I got, can't beat it. Gear test fit. I need to sew my neck seal and belt. Hopefully will get some time to do that. Have an order in for Nu-Life spray and preparer. Should be able to dye my boots correctly this time. Still lots of minor things left to iron out but the major stuff is just about done. Feels really good to be towards the end of my build... although, it never ends does it?

Yes, contact your local garrison and see if anyone will be willing to help; they'll forward you to the right people. Some garrisons or squads have armor parties which I highly suggest. I've heard it's possible to get it done in a week or two if you get some people together and all focus on it. I've been working on my AP for about a year, off and on. Velcro is the quickest way to attach the pieces, but less secure. E6000 glue is what I use and recommend, though it takes 24 hours to cure.

I'm not a fan of rounded gaps so I cut mine square. Most images I've seen from screen-used helmets are squared to the edge; especially ANH. ROTJ looks a little rounded. Here's an early image of my AP how mine are cut. Made the gaps a little bigger since then.

While I do like being screen accurate, and the way they are now probably are acceptable for that, I'd like my boots to have a nice finish. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Seems NuLife is the way to go.

I've never dyed anything before or worked with leather that much and I've been reading that it's difficult to dye black boots white - you almost have to paint the white on. I purchased a pair of Shires Woodstock Jodhpur Boots a while back for around $50, after the pound conversion and shipping. My US shoe size is 10 so I got their size 44. The left shoe is just a tad snug, but otherwise a perfect fit. No wiggle room. Decided to started on the left boot, see how it turns out, then work on the right. I sanded the finish off with sandpaper. I went to Tandy Leather and got a couple bottles of Fiebing's white leather dye. I applied them in layers, letting each layer dry before applying the next coat. Took a lot of layers to turn white. It looks ok but I'm not impressed. Maybe I should have bought leather paint instead? The dye starts to crack after it becomes fully dried. I'm not sure if I applied too many coats or if the leather just isn't soaking up the dye. Probably a little bit of both. I didn't use a deglazer to prep the leather before I started; not sure if that would have made a difference. I'm going to buy some white shoe polish and see if that will help. Any other suggestions?

Sniper plate is riveted! Came out alright. Looks slightly off but I don't think it'll keep me from getting EIB and most everyone won't be looking down there much. Going to paint the rivets white. Here's the rest of my list and then I'll be 501st ready. -Dye boots white. -Make a canvas belt. Got white canvas the other day. -Drop boxes with white elastic, modify to hold cards/ID -Hand plate elastic strip, maybe buy latex guards for EIB "should have" requirements -O2 canister, glue pieces together and find/make aluminum metal clips -Under suit -Neckseal For EIB status -Holster -E11 Blaster

Should I go ahead and rivet the sniper plate's outside face, correctly lined up, and on the inside facing have it completely off? I really hate doing it but I can't think of any other way. I suppose the shin pieces became misaligned when I glued them together, somehow. I was going to cut a little bit off on the sniper plate's inside facing to make it look a little more lined up. It probably won't be noticeable since the screwed up side will be facing the inside of my legs. Still, it's something that really bugs me. I'd like some input before I do it. Also, I've noticed that some people rivet below the extruded edge, and some right on it. Stukatrooper had his rivets below the edge, which I'm inclined to follow. Right thigh ammo is riveted!

I trimmed right up to the mold line on the biceps. You don't have to be as precise with the top, unless they're going to be hanging right below the shoulder bells and you could see the cut. Some like that look from the film. I have mine tucked into the bells a bit. The forearms were a pain. I left a few millimeters for a return edge. Copy the direct link from photobucket and when you start a new reply press the insert image button and paste the direct link into it. Should work for ya.

Man, that's so ridiculously true. Great build so far. E6000 is indeed an awesome substance. As far as the blue, I went with Testors Dark Blue. It's not screen accurate but looks fairly close.

Since I was having success with rivets I thought I'd try and get the sniper plate set on the shin. As usual I hit another snag. I noticed that the mold is off center. Should have seen that a while back. I swear I glued the pieces correctly. Even if I were to take them apart (which would be a HUGE pain) and swap the left and right pieces it would still be off. I know the inside and outside are correct on the shins. It's either another one of those mold issues with AP or user error. It makes the sniper plate very slanted. I can get the sides lined up just fine, which is the only positive thing I have so far. A while back when I was test fitting the shins, one felt more tight than the other. The bottom of my left shin is 2/3 the size compared to the right one. I haven't figured out how to fix this yet. Seems like the bottom part doesn't bow outward like the other side. I might be able to heat gun the area or something.

Well, the diameter of the rivet doesn't matter as much as the length of the grip. The smaller the grip, the better because the plastic isn't usually too thick. The rivet has to have enough material to cover the grip while you use the tool to pull out the mandrel. Get the "short" length rivets and I'd recommend rivet washers also. Thanks! Picked up the short rivets this time. I did a test run on some scrap pieces and they work great. I finally figured out how rivets work. You place the grip in the hole, place a washer over the grip, then use part of a snap and sorta hammer it into the grip. Then place the mandrel into the riveter, and clamp down. It'll make a loud snap... and you're done. While the exterior shows rivets, I followed Stukatrooper's build images and created snaps on the interior for easy dissassembly when packed away. I glued a piece of plastic to the inside to strengthen and provide extra material for the rivet to hold onto. Going to paint them white tomorrow.

Looks like the front of the shins. Mine are cut the same way, in respects to your pencil lines. Some people leave extra material to create a return edge; which would be a little difficult to do now since you've cut to the mold line. I did the same thing. You could get a hobby iron and probably make a small return edge. The average person won't notice one way or another. Just trim the front all even and you should be good. You can look at Stukatrooper's flikr set see how he cut his; I always compare my stuff to it.

Decided to work on the ab rivets, closely following stukatrooper's build images. I purchased a riveter for $10, and a box of rivets and rivet washers. I couldn't find the white rivets in the size I needed so I'm going to have to paint them white. I've never used a riveter or rivets before and I figured it shouldn't be too hard, but I found a few problems. I thought I got the correct size rivets but when I got home and started working with it, the riveter didn't work right. I had to take the riveter apart a couple times because the mandrel got jammed in the cutting mechinism. I figured the problem was there wasn't enough material to cover the grip. That's why I can't get the riveter to cut the mandrel. The 3/16" size is the right width but I should have got the small instead of medium grip size. Probably another reason is that the plastic is a softer material in respects to what this tool is usually used to rivet... like metal objects and wood. It should still work though. I'll buy the small size and hope that solves the problem.

Fantastic work so far. Nice images and explanation. This is a fun thread to watch. Yes. I prefer this technique mostly for larger pieces; using the saw blade to cut most of it off, then used the sanding bit to finish the edge, following up with sandpaper.

Haven't posted in a while. Need to get to tandy leather for my boot dye and take a trip to the hardware store for rivets. Snaps are done on the thighs. I added two on the ab and two on each thigh. I wanted to be certain that mine were secure, hearing about several people having things gone wrong. Velcro is complete on the back of each calf and each forearm. I've noticed that the hooks/material is actually stronger than the adhesive that holds it on the plastic. When I tried to open up the calves to put them on, one side of the velcro came completely off the plastic. I'm going to E6000 each piece of velcro on the armor to ensure heat and sweat doesn't melt the adhesive off. Also need to add foam to the interior of the thigh and forearms so they don't accidentally go sliding around. This is the first time I've had the chance to wear the armor almost in full. Still need to get the sides riveted together and the strapping worked out a bit. Most of it holds and hangs well on me. I've found out that the armor is like a sink, once you get in there the faucet opens and sweat pours out your body. It's like one of those jedi tricks but not the funny mind altering kind... the evil kind, from a sith lord. Your body heat has nowhere to go and it all builds up... cooking you from the inside. I don't usually sweat this much. I look forward to experiencing this for several hours. Fun on a bun. Just having some fun in photoshop with an alternate picture take. The WIP trooper. I posted this in another thread, but I'll post it here too. I cut down the eye bump on the helmet.

I figured I'd "remove" the bump from my helmet after reading this thread. Here's the before and after. I just re-dremel-ed it out more and sanded. Looks pretty good. You can still see some bump from different angles, but looks less exaggerated.

This is a fascinating discussion. There's so many subtle things you can do to your armor/helmet that make a world of difference, and that much "better." Now I'm wondering if I should go back and trim some more of my eyes out. I do like that distinguishing characteristic, just not as pronounced. Hmm. To the man cave!

I've tried several different ways to put the lenses in the helmet. Drilled some holes in the lenses and tried using epoxy, screws, and anchors. I couldn't get everything lined up and seated right. The lenses would never be flush with the helmet; there was a noticeable gap. I looked at a tutorial thread about it but I couldn't get it to work for me. I'm doing something wrong somewhere. For now I settled for hot glue... lots of hot glue. Although they just barely hang in there. It's a very weak bond. Eventually I'll figure this out. Oh, and I used plasti-dip to coat the inside black. Get the brush on type, not the spray. I like it better because you have more control. Painted the glue with black paint to make it look less messy. While the glue on my calf and thigh pieces dried, I polished my helmet. Novus is great. They're almost done. Little bit of touch up and trimming. I think I put the left and right calves on correctly. Whoo hoo!

Ah, found it. Stukatrooper's thread in the tutorials.