Jeklynhyde

Been doing more reading/researching. Cricket's build and centurion submission. Ukswrath, you've also got a superb build thread as well. Reading into the EIB & Centurion requirements and looking into submissions. I'm going to focus on the torso now so that I can get a proper sense of how the arms and torso fit together. I'll save gluing the forearms for once the torso is sized and together. I'm debating trimming down the wrist ends of the forearms a little more (I've trimmed a little - still got some room before the first indent). If it's still a little awkward bending the arms, I'll probably trim out the scoop a little more as well. Still haven't touched the legs or bucket yet. Bucket will be last... Definitely going to hand-paint. Still need to purchase paints (need humbrol 5, 14/15, and some kind of white). I'm also going to have to look into a blaster. I suppose I should get that search started before I get the armour done so that whatever I'll need will ship so that I can move right into working on it. Been saving the ABS dust in case I need to make goop. I've got the return edges trimmed. Kidney plate will likely shape out when it gets connected to the ab. Didn't trim down the chest yet. I was hoping maybe I wouldn't have to, but doing a "dry"? fit, it looks like I'm going to have to.

Just kidding... I finished up the sizing for the forearms. I cut the right forearm a bit too tight, so I split the difference on one of the edges I cut off, and put it back in place. Good part is this will be covered by a cover strip. If necessary, I can do a repair at the visible edges to make it seem like there's no secondary gap. But both sides are a good fit now. The elbow scoops may need a little more trimming, but I do still need to trim and true up the wrist edge. Both forearms, especially the right one, seem a little "flat". I'm guessing that getting the cover strips in place will help to curve them out. Right on the right, left on the left Wrist ends

The original width collided too much with the curved edges, keeping the part from lying completely flat So I sanded down those edges lightly and it lies flat now even with the belt at it's proper curve Marked center points of the belt and the cover Used two magnets for the center button to help pin down the edges in the slight curve. Laid the belt on my exercise ball so it's at a curve while it dries. The end covers were easier so I didn't take pictures of those marks. Marked the center on the belt and on the button on the edge side, and marked a line at about 3mm from the edge and glued the covers on, moving them into place to cover the edge mark. Time to research the body parts.

Oh yes there is, hahaha. I think the main body parts will be my next focal point. I was avoiding taking much off (if any) until I delved into the strapping and hardware placement. I'll get those rivet covers glued on and then dig into the strapping research

I flop back and forward a lot. I was trying to finish off the holster positioning. I did end up going with the Chicago screws. Same ones as on the holster itself. The size is similar (although slightly larger) than that of the rivets used for the belt. I figure matching the sizes works out ok based on what I can see in the movie. Lurking in Diana's build thread, she has a diagram of the holster placement: But I did a little measuring myself. I paused the movie on a trooper just before the scanning crew boards the Millennium Falcon. I put a piece of paper on the TV and traced over the important bits. I measured the box width, the distance between the end of the belt and the rivet, and from the bottom edge of the belt to the top of the holster. Then, using the actual size of the ammo belt box width as a rough base measurement (about 3cm), I scaled up the measurements to actual size. Going by this, the distance from the edge of the belt looks right (~2cm), but the distance between the belt and the holster is a little short. I tested out this by measuring it out and taping it in place, then clam-shelling the ab and kidney plates (to get the belt level around my waist) so that I could get a relative idea of how far down the holster goes. The height of the holster varies from trooper to trooper, but it doesn't seem to go below the knee, usually staying above the lower ridge on the thigh, and sometimes quite a bit higher. I think I'll wait till I get the body and the thighs, at least, closer to final sizing before I make the final holster placement. I think I'd rather go a little short on the straps than have to cut the holster. But we shall see!

Got a good image of the belt square rivet cover (at 1:07:03 on a blu-ray release - this is the scene where troopers are initially inspecting the Millennium Falcon), so I'm going to go with the cover edge being roughly 3mm from the belt edge (not centered and not lined up with the edge): Edit: Additional end rivet cover placement reference: Han In the meantime, I trimmed down the shoulder bells, but definitely not enough. I look like an American football player. To test out the sizing, I taped the chest to the back and then had quite a time trying to get the shoulder bells taped to that. The tape did _not_ want to stay stuck, you can see it unsticking and flying off on the left side in the picture. It was quite humourous attempting to get this shot. Good thing that they need lots of trimming though! The shoulder bell crack will definitely be trimmed off, very glad for that.

Put the movie on and I'm watching the stormtrooper scenes in slow-mo.. and right away - whaddya'know, this guy is missing a brow trim! Ahh, my eyes deceived me. It's just a glare. Womp-womp I may have seen that one wrong, but this guy is definitely missing his right-side drop box Looks like the strap is even visible (second from left) Knowing so much about the armour now, it makes it really fun watching these scenes - Oh, yep, shins definitely aren't connected together in the back - that holster is different from all the others It's fun finding all the incongruities. Here's (what would appear to be) a hero helmet being worn right behind a stunt helmet in the first scene. Never noticed it before (I'm only seeing three frown cuts per side that is - and the frown is significantly smaller than the one on the left) And his chest is busted up to boot... I guess if you feel bad about making mistakes on your armour, just think.. This stuff made it into the movie XD Missing tube stripes That's _definitely_ a hero helmet. I always preferred the look of the Stunt helmets. I prefer the wider frown, I guess it looks more menacing (Like JAWS, haha, as intended)

If you need more detailed pictures or list of contents I'd be happy to supply. I've used some parts, but I can give a list. I think I went over it in my video too.

Keep trying to find a size for the square rivet covers for the belt, but nothing quite solid. The only thing I found so far is one source that says 1". So I'm going with roughly 3mm from the edge of the circles using a protractor to keep the edges squared. The first two were a little easier since they were already in a line. Deciding to be smart this time and drawing the lines on the back since so that it will keep any accidental knife slips hidden. For the lone one, marked the center roughly, then 3mm from the edges of the circle at quadrants. Draw a straight line on one of them. Then line up that line with the 90 and line up the edge to the 3mm mark and draw the next line. Voila. Ready for score and snap and the result As for placement on the belt, I am still trying to determine if it's supposed to be centered between the end box and the ends, or if the cover edge should be 3mm from the edge, or if should be directly lined up with the edge. Still creeping around the forums. Next thing that goes on is the holster. Debating between the Chicago screws or same rivets as the belt. Along with Billhag's photobucket album, I've been referencing a lot of the stickied content. Diana's RS build has been particularly helpful https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25919-dianas-rs-props-build-anh-stunt/

Just for funsies, I reinforced the rivet holes in the canvas belt by sewing around, especially where I had made the second hole for re-positioning. I tried sealing up the edges of the holes with a soldering iron, but wasn't confident it would do the trick. After that, I hammered down the rivets and clicked the belt into place. Still doesn't want to keep snapped on the left side. May need to glue it in place... I'll finish work on the belt, then put it off to the side in a curve so maaaaybe it will prefer to keep that shape while I work other parts.

I really appreciate all the input! Got the smaller button panel in place and glued... Was kind of a pain with the magnets... Putting a magnet on one side started squishing it out of place one way and adding another set kept wanting to flip and attach to the other magnets : / so eventually taped it in place, got the magnets on finally. Hopefully it comes out ok. I already had to redo the glue twice (third time is clearly the charm -eye roll-) I had not gotten to the ab trimming quite yet, wanted to make sure i left enough room for the attachment hardware, so that's definitely going to get reduced.

With new rivet holes in the canvas belt, the belt conforms to the curvature correctly now. Got the main ab buttons glued and waiting to set.

Drop boxes. They're a little thin maybe, but I think they're ready to be glued and attached. When I measured to place the holes in the canvas belt for the rivets, I did so on a flat surface. In attempting to attach the belt onto the ab section, I found it impossible to get it to attach to the snaps on the ab... Current position won't allow belt to fit properly along the curvature. Attempting to re-seat the rivet at the left in the picture pulls at the belt up on the right. I got the larger ab button plate sanded down. I was going to glue it on, but the photobucket album kept timing out, so I save it for tomorrow. I'm a night shift person, so this is way past my bed time XD

Thanks justjoseph63! I was getting worried that i was cutting them down too much already at the elbows, so it's good to hear i can still cut off more. I hadn't gotten to it yet, but i was wondering how much material i could trim off the wrist end. Last night I was scrolling through Billhag's Photobucket. There's a ton of great reference in there. I found the button plate dimensions and trimmed those out. According to the drop box diagram, it seems i trimmed the outer boxes down a bit too much, but not horribly. I'll get pictures up later.

Thanks

I will definitely check these out. I've been reading a bunch of build threads simultaneously. At some point I'll post a list of all the resources i took a look at.

Not glued yet! Leaving the majority of gluing until everything is sized correctly. Thanks for the input! The biceps I'm pretty happy with. They fit on my arms on their own pretty decently without falling off but aren't too tight either. Top-down Bottom-up The forearms need work for sure. They still need to be trimmed down to better fit at both ends. Return edge at the top of the forearms probably needs to be reduced, particularly around the cover strip joins. Still needs trimming to size. Lots of space at both ends. Left Arm: Wrist edge Left Arm: Elbow edge Left Arm: Elbow cut Right Arm: Way too much wiggle room, both ends Right Arm: Wrist edge Right Arm: Elbow edge Right Arm: Elbow cut

Made new marks, drew new lines. Sanded off most of the excess with the dremel, then finished the edge off with 120 grit. Remarked the 45's and adjusted them. Was able to get the surface cuts out with the trims. Much happier with how it looks now.

Today and yesterday I've been working on the belt. Got the drop boxes trimmed down (though still not certain on the thickness). I got the angles to line up roughly 45 degrees with the edges of the canvas belt, though the edges aren't quite as straight as I would like. I put the rivets in but haven't locked them in place yet since I'll be sanding it a little more. I managed to knick a couple of the corners here :/. Might go away when I sand it down a little. I have a feeling that the belt is slightly too wide. Measuring from the boxes is a little tricky too. Initially I measured from the bottom of the boxes where it curves into the flat of the belt. Comparing that to measuring from the flat edges of the box it's roughly a millimeter difference. It's not a huge disparity, but enough that I think I will take off a little more. Considering the small amount of material to be removed, I think I'll go with sanding. Measuring it at the moment, it's not quite a straight cut anyway, so I'll remark lines and sand down to them. Flat with the box measurement Bottom of the curve measurement

After that I decided to work on the thermal detonator / O2 canister. Usually just refer to it as TD. I got the end caps cut down to size (about 20mm). In order to get the right size, I measured down 20mm and made a few marks on the sides, then used blue tape to connect the lines to aim for the excess tape at the top of the caps to be parallel with the ends, then cut along those lines using the "lexan" scissors. Those are glued on with E6000.. I removed the clips from the tube (the screws included are silver, so I hand-sanded the tops a little and painted them. I used my sandpaper to scratch up the tube in the location where the control panel will get glued on. Same on the inside of the control panel. Used E6000 and a bunch of zip-ties to secure the control panel. You can see the light going through the end-cap. I had to adjust the positioning to get the total length to 7.5 in. That meant not seating the end-caps completely and aiming for the ends to be perpendicular to the line of the tube. This was a little iffy going considering that once one of the ends was on, I couldn't place the tube down and tap the other into place for obvious reasons... So I had to wiggle them into place only holding onto the tube. I think I managed to get the right length and positioning. One snag I ran into with the zip-tie method here: after letting it set for a half-day, I was going to put the clips back on, but I realized the panel wasn't centered... So off it comes, removed the old glue, drew some new lines on the tube, glue on again, and centered it properly this time. Final product:

After another year of my life imploding and the armour sitting in its box quietly in a corner, I finally finished a different personal project (organizing and cataloguing my movie collection) and in the beginning of January 2019, I made the decision that I wanted to get the suit put together by the end of the month. I think now that I've been working on it for a while that it's going to take me longer than a month. Still, I can have hope that I will complete this soon. My new battle-stations: The new outer bicep piece on the right. Still needed a little tighter return edge trimming at that point Another pile: I did some sizing and got the left bicep around the right sizing: Visited my parent's place and brought my armour along for the weekend. Got both the biceps down to a good size. Then I agonized about the forearm alignment and sizing for a day, but I got them cut down enough to tape them together and get a better idea on sizing: *muscle pose*

A couple interim relocations... After my life imploding a little and a house move, I was getting ready to do some trimming and cover strip cuts. Trimming the biceps. Used the woodshop pencil technique to draw a line and cut with some hobby scissors (similar to lexan, but different brand). (Following the suggestions from Panda Props & Costuming Stormtrooper build on Youtube) Outer: Inner: ... So tempted to put the helmet together, but I know I should save it for last, so it sits in wait After trimming the outer biceps and attempting to match them up to their inner counterparts, I realized that both were identical... I didn't take care of it right away because I wanted to double check all the other parts before sending out an email... I did a video unboxing in February of 2018 and went through all the parts to make sure everything was there: This is basically just raw video of me rambling on. Here's another thing I didn't notice, for whatever reason: The shins are identical for both legs. They are labeled as left and right, but they're exactly the same. After I got all that all sorted out, I finally sent an email to [email protected] that same day (Feb 22, 2018). I didn't get any response initially and I was worried I had sent it to the wrong address, so I sent another email on Feb 27 to [email protected]. Still no response, so I sent the email again to the same address on March 7th. Finally got a response on March 9 requesting pictures of the pieces, so I sent the pictures below on the 10th. I got a response again on the 15th saying they would send me out a new piece. No request for payment or to cover shipping. I gave them my new address and it showed up on March 28th. It's a good colour match and it is indeed a proper Right outer bicep.

Excellent. I'll get the other pictures in there, XD. Thank you!

After lots of research I decided to purchase a set of RS Prop Masters armour. I was swayed by the fact that their armour is cast off an original ANH set and I figured that if I was going to spend any money, that I wanted to get the most screen accurate that I could manage. I had the money, so I took the plunge even though I knew I might not be able to put it together right away. I originally purchased my armour August 26, 2016. I ordered the armour and helmet in kit form, Strapping Pack, Neck Seal, Under Suit, Boots, and Holster. I was intending to go for full centurion right off the bat, but only recently did I realize that I need a blaster for that level. I had misinterpreted the CRL when it said that weapons are not required for admissions into the 501st (I assume that only refers to the lowest level accuracy level). Until I get a blaster, I'll be a very accurate unarmed stormtrooper, hahaha. The Invoice: My order arrived on October 10, 2016. I went through the unboxing: The Helmet: The Armour: Shoes are a perfect fit, though the painting or dying on them is not quite 100%. The brushmarks on them are very evident. I will likely need to give these another coat. The undersuit is a little loose fitting on me... I might go find a tighter fitting set at a later date, but for now it will help for getting sizing measurements. Neck seal is a perfect fit Strapping pack contents I went through everything to make sure I had all the parts and found that the left shoulder bell had a crack in it, and they had not included the gloves with Latex hand guards. I sent them an email and got a response on the same day. They were waiting for another batch of ABS from their supplier, so I held off on requesting a replacement at that time. I also figured that this area might get trimmed off and therefore not be an issue. I have not gotten to the bells yet, so I still have yet to see. They sent out the gloves the same day - very pleased with the response time on that. All of the pictures in this thread will be located on my facebook and now Google Photos album: Public Facebook Album: Stormtrooper Updates Public Google Photos Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1RuyaqPACPp9sQNi6