CableGuy

Hi Mark, Personally, I’d probably just use this time to do more research. Check some other AP builds, visit starwarshelmets.com and check out the original trilogy Stormtroopers, watch some build tutorials etc. All of this will help you with a better build. Although you’ve ordered AP, this series of videos from RS is worth a watch. Very informative and discusses details of the original suits throughout. You won’t be able to follow all of it as the AP armour will be a little different, but, the overall process is pretty good to watch.

Hey trooper, From those photos, it looks like you might have the decals on the opposite cheeks. See here: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44755-tube-stripes-anh-stunt-dave-m/ You’re correct about a pencil width from the cheek. Where you have them looks pretty good. Regarding how many there are, if you don’t quite have enough room, simply don’t apply one or two from the back of the decal. Between 9 and 16 stripes is acceptable. [emoji16]

Thank you, chaps. Much appreciated.

Hi troopers, I’ve now finished the main painting on this beautiful lid. The last part left was the vertical lines in the rear traps which are now finished. Here’s a sneak peek, but I’ll do a follow us video soon. [emoji16] Enjoy your day, troopers. [emoji16]

Yes, I totally get you. Honestly, I find this most when painting a helmet. I get frustrated sometimes if it’s not quite how I planned. However, I come back to it the next day, compare it to the reference photos, and then (usually) feel better. Haha - yes, it’s super when our children get excited about it too. [emoji16]

Haha. Deformed, wonky, twisted…. YES!! All of the above! And that’s why we luv ‘em! Lol Honestly, as someone whose built many, many helmets, and know the original helmets better than I know my own children (!), you’re doing a really good job. Those ears look great. When I’m building a helmet, it’s really easy to get too focused on certain areas - trying to get it “perfect”. However, when you view it objectively, like I’m viewing yours, you’ve really nothing to worry about at this stage. If the brow really won’t stay up, you could always consider a little drop of glue here and there within the channel of brow trim. (Trying to drill new holes and change the alignment of the face plate/back and cap at this stage could end badly). Keep up the great work, Trooper. [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]

Hey Gerald, Excellent job on the helmet! I’d say you’ve really covered the key defining features of a stunt helmet. Regarding the belt covers, I’d go for nice, clean, sharp edges. Essentially, removing all of the edge curve… Original screen used belt (from gallery): Suggestion (approx):

Perfect. Those really help get the “bigger picture”. That’s looking really good! Positioning looks good and they seem to line up well with the trap. Not too gappy (although, small gaps really aren’t an issue) and the overall faceplate alignment and brow height looks really good too. Nice work, trooper! [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16] (Now it’s on to the other ear…) ;-)

Looking okay from those close ups. Could you take some pictures from a few feet back? (I like to stand around 6’ back and use 2x zoom on iPhone. Helps with how the proportions look in the photos) :-)

ah yes, always fun. I’d say two options. Option 1 - use the free app Tapatalk. I find this super easy to use the forum and upload images straight from your smart phone. Option 2 - share you photos using a free service like Imgur. Details on how to do that here. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/42381-howto-post-images-in-threads-using-imgur-easy/

Welcome to the forum, Chris. I’ve been following your post on Facebook and it’s great to now have you here, too. Feel free to share photos of your kit, questions, anything we can help with. Best wishes Dan

Hey Mark, Welcome aboard! Sounds like you have your hands full in life. As with many of us, you’ll be juggling TK stuff in amongst the daily grind. Regarding the paints, all of mine for TKs are Enamel. I find that these give a very authentic finish. If you’d like any tips on hand painting an ANH Stunt helmet, please feel free to check out my recent video series: Regarding Snaps (commonly referred to as “poppers” in the UK), I found this video very useful. This maker uses single snaps, but there is no reason why you couldn’t double up if you need to. (I’ve never felt it necessary, but, many choose double snaps). Great to have you join the forum and great to see you’re asking lots of questions. You’re on the path to the dark side, for sure. Best wishes, CableGuy

Yep, I’d agree. Personally, I think it’s a dangerous avenue to pursue. With the greatest will in the world, not all 501st costumes are accurate compared with what they are intended to replicate. And, the 501st members featured in the Mandalorian and Obi-Wan are essentially fan interpretations of OT Stormtroopers. Personally, I’d rather aim to replicate the actually original trilogy stormtroopers (because you cannot get better than the actual source material) than another members’ interpretation. Of course, it makes sense to have CRLs for the studio produced costumes because they are studio made and appear to be very, very consistent in terms of build and finish (weathering). They are not copies of OT TKs.

Yep - definitely ANH TKs. Great to see “proper” TKs on the big screen. (92” at home - they looked great!!) [emoji16]

Nice work. Don’t forget, you can always work on the return edge once the part is glued together. This way, you can try the piece on and see how much you need/want to remove. Also, when you size up the shins, be sure to wear your actual trooper boots - this is key. Many measure without wearing their boots, then find that they’ve not allowed enough room to fit the boots in. [emoji1303]

Nice job on those tweaks, Luke. As Glen mentioned, feel free to have a chat with your fellow troopers if you want to make further upgrades etc. Have a great troop at the convention. [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]

Nice work. The proportions of the ears look much better now. Are you pleased with the changes? :-)

How odd. I wonder if you have paint from a bad batch or something? It really shouldn’t be that thin.

Hmmm… I’ve never seen it like that before. Humbrol Gloss #5, yes? How long did you stir it for? Mine goes on really well, and quite thick. In some places, one coat is enough (although I usually do two anyway):

Nice work, trooper. Good start. If you want a more “typical” Stunt look, you could consider a “fuller” vocoder by raising the 2nd and 6th bars. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/48252-anh-tk-vocoder-examples/ More details and references here;

No worries, Luke. As I said, speak with your GML first as they might not ask for any of these things. :-)

Hi Luke, Welcome to the FISD. Great advice from Glen and the others. If you are not already, I would make sure that you have shared your progress with your local Garrison. Your local Garrison’s GML will be the one that has final say over what will pass at basic level. Secondly, I’d recommend having a read of this from one of the best Star Wars websites around. It gives you a really good insight into the original armour and helmet props: http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-stormtrooper-helmets-sub-submenu.htm Here’s some things I spotted that you could consider addressing, depending on how accurate you’d like to aim for. Firstly, in your latest photos, your right bicep is facing the wrong way. This is a simple fix. As a longer term fix, you could consider an internal connection between the should bell and the bicep - this would help keep them aligned. With regards to the helmet, it will likely pass at basic level, however, there are some tweaks you could make if you wanted to. One of them is the vocoder paint. Here’s examples of Stunt helmets and how the vocoder is usually a little “fuller” for A New Hope Stunt helmets. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/48252-anh-tk-vocoder-examples/ From the top down, your shoulder bridges have a lot of excess plastic on them. Personally, I’d trim them approximately as below: Reference: Same for the back. At minimum, I would trim to the red lines: The original thermal detonators had the metal clips right out to the edges, touching the plastic white end caps. This could also be a consideration: Reference: Your holster is currently hanging very low. This would usually be less than a few centimetres between the bottom of the fabric belt and the top of the holster itself: Reference: The butt plate on your kit (is it TKUK?) is quite large and not very shaped. As below, you could consider trimming it to follow the shape of the originals: (approximately marked below) The main plastic belt should have 45° corners, approximately as below: Reference Looking at your rear thigh coverstrips, it looks like they might not be quite glued down fully. As I mentioned at the top, I’d definitely speak with your Garrison and/or GML to see how many of these changes they “require” for basic and how many of them are optional improvements. As always with these things, the final level of detail is down to the builder. :-) Hope these suggestions are helpful, Best wishes CableGuy Dan

Great tips by Glen and Joseph. As an alternative, remember that you don’t have to use poppers/snaps for all connections if you don’t want to. Although the screen used shoulder bells were not physically attached to the biceps (and the “Han hooks” were very rare), the biceps were attached to the forearms. They were simply glued in place. Given the width of the elastic used on the originals (50mm wide), this actually helps achieve the look of the originals when glued. As it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever need to detach these parts, gluing direct is a suitable (and accurate) method/option for connecting the arm pieces. Here’s how I personally did my latest set of armour - bells to biceps: And here’s how I do bicep to forearms (like the originals), and some information on how the originals were aligned: Hope these alternative methods (and tips and tricks) are useful. Best wishes CableGuy Dan

Sure thing. I only mention little things like this as you’re aiming for Centurion. It’s the little bits that make a big difference to the final piece. No worries if you prefer the idealised look. Just perhaps check with the DO team along the way to see if they’d accept certain compromises at Centurion level. [emoji16]

Nice work. Very neat. :-) With the top of the coverstrip, personally, I’d always recommend that a coverstrip never exceeds the length of the armour piece that you’re attaching it to. This is based on screen used suits. (More about that here: ) Also, unless you are preferring the rounded coverstrip ends, the originals were cut at approximately 45° angles. If you are aiming for screen accurate (rather than idealised), that’s another option you could take. Coverstrip ends - examples: As always, these are just suggestions. [emoji16]