Platinum Lex

I've spent some time looking at other build threads and reference photos and I'm at the point where I'm thinking about what shine I need for my armor and how I should get it. I was looking at reference photos and noticed that some of the helmets have different sheens (but I honestly think it's just the lighting). I'm aiming for a level of reflection or sheen as seen in the second photo in the rain (assuming it's not just the lighting), but I'm not sure how to do that, and more importantly how to prevent it from yellowing. This here is a lineup of the spray paints that I currently have, but I'm thinking about how to make the armor and helmet shine correctly. The Rust-Oleum Gloss White and some layers of gloss clear coat are currently my plan to get a shine, but most importantly I want the helmet to be smooth. If needed, I can wet sand the clear coats down with some 2500 or 3000 grit sandpaper, even if it removes some of the shine, but it's okay because I'm not going for a mirror finish. I'm not sure how to add clear coat, but I read somewhere that the coats need to be added before the other fully dries. My goal with the clear coat is to both make it glossier but to also to prevent it from scratches, but I'm not sure how many layers I need to add before I'm good. Apparently SprayMax 2K Glamour Clearcoat is also good for this but it's quadruple the price and I'm just not that sure how it'll work. For the tears and traps I used the darker primer for my last build and I also have charcoal grey from a clone trooper build but someone also recommended Rust-Oleum Satin Granite and I was wondering if that was a better fit. I cannot for the life of me tell whether or not the tears and traps are matte, satin, or gloss (nor do I really know the difference). I was going for just a satin or matte granite with some matte clear coat to top it off in hopes that it prevents some scratching, especially with the armor. One of the biggest problems with the armor is that some of the edges rub against each other and scrape away the paint, especially the sharp edges, which is way I have some soft, thin padding under the armor. For the details like the vocoder (chin detail) and the aerators (mic tips), I can't really tell if they are glossy or not, but if they are I'll use gloss black and if not I'll use matte or satin, whichever is more accurate. Actually I just looked at an auction for a real helmet from Rogue One and it says that the vocoder is actually more rubber so I think I'll stick with matte for that and the mic tips. For the blue sections underneath, I'm using Brilliant Blue because I have it on hand, it looks like the medium blue that I see in the photos, and it tastes the best. If there is a paint that is considered to be SUPER accurate and it's not $400 per ounce then I might swap it out but or I'll decide that it's good enough. If anyone has any advice or experience that's they'd like to lend out I'd really appreciate it, I'm still looking through other threads to see what others have done. This is still a learning curve for me so I'm still experimenting and learning.

Just donated, I forgot to put what it's for though but I put my forum name (sorry for the headache Pete).

I know I'm a tad late and I'm not an approved member (yet), but am I still able to donate? Really want to support this forum it's given me a lot of help.

That’s looking great, keep it up. I understand the balance between work, life, and modeling, but I think you’re making great progress. I know you mentioned basic approval on there, but are you planning on making this armor reach level 2 or level 3 accuracy? Keep it up.

What part are you going to be working on next? Just wondering if you have a plan or agenda on what's next. I have zero modeling skills but if there's any way I can help out I'd love to, I think this a great project and I can't wait to see the progress.

I started printing in PETG and the prints are coming out okay, I'm planning on printing the details and small parts in PLA to keep some of the detail, but since I'm sanding over them and filling them it might look the same regardless. I might make a YouTube video on the whole process but for now I'm just focusing on finishing the printing section. Thankfully my printer is just big enough to print everything without struggle and I'm done with all my current orders.

I made a list of the all the soft goods I would need along with cheaper but potentially unacceptable alternatives for someone and figured I might as well share it on here, I know there's probably a list out there with better choices but I figured I might as well share this one: Undersuit: Most accurate ($290): New Era Undersuit Decent alternative ($17 + any black t-shirt): Thermal Underwear Shoes: Most accurate: First Order Stormtrooper Boots ($150) Rogue One TK Boots ($144) Cheaper, not accurate ($110 or anywhere you can find these): Original Stormtrooper Boots Gloves: Most accurate ($80): Gloves Cheaper, not perfect ($16 + ~$20 shipping to US): Cheaper Gloves Balaclava: Good option ($6): Balaclava Neck Seal: Both good options, only need it for 501st approval, many more on the internet: First Order Neck Seal ($41 + ~$20 Shipping) New Stormtrooper Neck Seal ($28 + ~$20 Shipping)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NDVCKG4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 Ordered this neck trim and it fit PERFECTLY (thank you for showing me that gmrhodes). Gonna start working on the chest and back soon. Additionally, I ordered a Rogue One style orange pauldron (I love pauldrons) so I will update with photos when it arrives.

Welcome, a mistake that I made with some of my helmets and armor is that I painted white on with a flat coat, then added some gloss coat later once the base white had dried. I really like Sayless’ recommendations when it comes to paints and starting with gloss and clear coats, because some of my armor started to yellow with just gloss.

Thanks to both of you, this is all super helpful. The temperature can fluctuate in my printer room and it’s near my work/office area is, so I definitely don’t want any ABS fumes. Once I’m done with these next 4 helmet orders, I’m gonna start printing the blaster just to have it on standby. A very important question I have though is if all the optional accessories have to be the same level as the outfit itself, for example, if someone has a centurion level stormtrooper outfit, yet a level 1 or 2 blaster (not 3), would that make the outfit itself in whole not considered Centurion level? This is a little off topic from the blaster but I was looking at the Jedha Sandtrooper CRL and I noticed that the backpack and the crystal patrol duty pack could not be worn at the same time, but the duty pack was optional and the backpack was required. My question is if someone were to submit a centurion level Jedha sandtrooper outfit without the backpack and replaced it with a level 1 or 2 duty pack, if they would still get centurion? These are just things I’m thinking about that were brought to my attention while looking around, I’ll mainly be focusing on the blaster in this build thread after this.

Gotcha, I've got some PETG laying around somewhere in my basement because I hope to be able to troop with this blaster. ABS IS more expensive than both of these, but would you recommend printing with it instead of PETG? I don't plan on leaving it in my car for long periods of time and warping isn't my biggest concern. Additionally, would anyone know specifically where the best place to start a build thread for a Rogue One Jedha sandtrooper would be?

I was looking ahead and I was thinking about adding a rubber trim and a rubber brow to my helmet. I'm seeing a lot of different trims and rubber sizes and types, but I'm not too sure which would be the best for the helmet. if it's not in budget then I'll probably skip it for now, but somewhere I read about an S-type trim for accuracy (might be from an OTTK though). Additionally, does anyone know if I can just glue the rubber brow straight to the helmet if I have the right one? Thanks.

Hey everyone, I was planning on starting a DLT-19 build for my ROTK build, the only problem being that I've both never finished a blaster before. I've watched a lot of videos explaining how to finish blasters and I'm pretty confident in my ability to do. I am only going for a level 1 certification for this blaster, which means no starting MG-34 and most likely no functional flashlight. HOWEVER, I am interested in a sling if they're not too expensive and if the files I am using (Galactic Armory's) can have a sling attached to it. What I also like about this particular DLT-19 file is that magnets can be included to hold the legs. I am going to 3D print the entire project as I've said before, aside from some dowel rods for support, but now that I have a resin printer I am thinking about what parts to resin print. As of right now, I am using standard PLA for the main body and some regular resin for some of the detail pieces, but not many since I don't want to risk breaking one of the pieces. I've gone through other build threads and reference posts, but am still thinking about what spray paints to use for this and how to give it that slightly weathered look. I am hoping to make a Jedha sandtrooper, most likely in 2027-28, but will also need help on where to post a build thread for an ROTK sandtrooper, whether in the ROTK build threads section or some other area. The CRL says nothing of needing to weather the blaster for a sandy environment so I don't think I'll be weathering it that way. Any and all help or advice would be appreciated along my journey, thanks.

Hey Greg, congrats on starting your journey, I'm happy you've got decent files (and not cheaper quality ones like I did). Can't wait to see your progress in the future.

Love seeing the progress, but just out of curiosity what are your plans going to be once you finish modeling the armor? Are you going to sell it, keep, it, give it out to the community? I'm not judging your answer or anything I'm just curious because I'm interested in following your journey and perhaps using these files if I ever have to redo my armor (again...).

So I figured out the issue with my printer (which was really stupid) and it was that the printer was printing on top of its own cords which I tragically couldn't realize (I promise I'm smart this isn't like me). This printer that I refuse to let die and that's being held together with duct tape and a rubber band is currently what is supporting my project, more updates to come once I finish printing all the remaining pieces.

Of course, I really look forward to seeing yours and you should send me a message when you start it. Overall advice: don’t get GA’s stuff for this. He’s a great dude but his Imperial stuff just isn’t great.

Oh definitely, I actually regret spending so much money on finishing GA’s armor because at the time I didn’t realize how inaccurate and difficult to put together it is. Honestly I’m just going for level one and it’s on a bit of a budget at the moment so I’m not too upset about it.

Mini update of the week because I'm starting to get addicted to posting in here, I've printed most of the main body of the helmet but for some reason I just can't see to get the dome printed. I've been printing for around 5 years and have printed dozens of domes like this but can't seem to figure out the problem, gonna keep working on it to hopefully get it finished over the weekend.

Went ahead and bought Nico's helmet. I messaged TKModder for the updated helmet files (obviously I said please) so I'll just be waiting on those before printing and this time I'll try to put more updates on my build process in case someone catches an issue I didn't see myself.

Thanks, believe it or not I was actually going through your build thread when you sent this. I'll try to test out the Behr white when I get the chance if I print this helmet over the summer. I've also noticed some people saying that TKModder hasn't been responding, but since these files are already accurate enough I wouldn't really be disappointed in just printing Nico's. I 3D printed the shoulder straps for my last stormtrooper outfit in the photos above (got ran over and some armor got crushed on Halloween) but they were WAY too long but before cracking they worked out pretty well and had a bit of flex in them. Also I'm not trying to be smarty-pants when I say this but I noticed that on the CRL it doesn't say that the shoulder straps have to be made of rubber, or at least I can't find where it does. Same with the black side connectors that most people swear on their grandmama's soul is absolutely required although it's only needed for levels 2 and up, but I just thought that was interesting.

Wow thank you so much for all this I really appreciate it.

Since some of the proportions of my armor weren't that great, I decided to redo the chest, back, thighs, and forearms because multiple people noticed that they were too big. I scaled all of these down so that they wouldn't hang off me and am hoping to begin working on them within the next month or so during the summer (I am a full time student). Here are my updated stormtrooper pieces: One of my first questions is over the shoulder straps and whether or not anyone has any tips for them overall, including attachment, how they should look, and most importantly if there are good printer settings in order to print them in PLA or PETG. Another project that I was planning on involves remaking the helmet. After looking through multiple build threads and reading about Nico Henderson and NTX3D have some of the best STL's, and I was planning on buying one (most likely Nico's) and really putting a lot of effort into it. I've looked through all of Sayless's 3D printed ROTK build thread for his helmet, and any and all advice for this helmet is greatly appreciated. Additionally, I am looking for help for the best spray paint colors for the whites and grays (I have been using Rustoleum's charcoal gray and brilliant blue), any issues with the helmet that can be modified such as scaling (I saw another thread that TKModder421 made a lot of modifications for accuracy), and I own some chicken wire that I was hoping to form into the aerators but I just don't know where to find a model to form the wire into the correct shape to fit it in. Any and all advice is really appreciated as I take all constructive criticism. Please keep in mind that I am going for a level 1 certification and I doubt I will upgrade to level two anytime soon, thanks.

PLEASE READ: I finished the rest of my armor and wore it on Halloween, but when fitting I realized I had struggled with some proportions, especially with the chest and back pieces. The back piece was broken by someone else so I'm going to have to redo that and figured I might as well redo the chest as some people noted that it was practically hanging off of me. Here are some photos of my armor: I'm planning on making the thighs longer as well as make the chest droop more over the abdomen. Following what other users have said, I'll edit the chestplate more to conform around the sides and have the backplate more towards my back, so if anyone has any recommendations on resizing or how to, I'm all ears. I was making some adjustments to the calves which is why they are inconsistent throughout the photos, and if anyone would like more photos from a different angle I should have additional.

I am testing out the black extensions pieces for the front and back pieces of my armor and I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly. It might be an issue with the files or the way I'm doing it but it seems to push the chestplate out far too much. The optional level two certification states, "The chest and back sides shall be connected by black extensions pieces." I believe it is referring to this piece so if someone could tell me if this is required to be accepted it would help a lot, thanks. I aim to go as high of a certification as I can with what I have, even if it's just basic acceptance, so I would like to add these but if they're not required then I will have to think about it.