stukatrooper

sorry mate i missed this one.great job looks spot on,hope to see you some time this year.

If i can jump in here Mark, The idea is to start with a high gloss base,to reflect light,and then to add the weathering over that.This will take the gloss off in areas not all for a more natural look of wear and tear.If it was made to look used from the start the effect would look false.Marks helmet could have been given the paint chips over the white after it was painted,but went for full on paint chips with layers of paint finishing with the gloss white.The final suit will have a real used patina to it. Patina being the right word to use as its definition being n. film formed on exposed surface, etc., any such sign of mellowing or old age. There is one last modellers trick up our sleeves which i will let mark tell about in hes showcase.

There is only one person that can help you with both

Sweet,sweet,sweet eye candy mate! So paint done,strapping almost there whats next?

Its great to see the wize old head standing and the school boys just out of nappies (diapers) are all sitting down getting choked by the chest plate.This is some thing that was echoed by some ANH stormtroopers Gary and i met this year,saying that there siuts choked them.This is all because the way they were strapped.The chest plate will not move down.

Vern this sort of play really spoils the game mate. I for one can take offense at alot of your posts.You drive me nuts!

preparation is the key for a good paint job.the trick is to paint your suit in such a way that when you have finished it does not look like you have painted it. first job wash your plastic warm soapy water,this get rid of any grease. Key you Plastic first with some 600-800 grit sand paper.Then wash off the dust,dry it or let it dry. The primer paint first off needs a tack coat,(very light covering) leave for 45-ish seconds,now the plastic is ready for the cover coat or coats.Again this does not have to be heavey keep the can moving up and down left to right.leave 30 seconds between coats.Then put the part by for 24 hours as a rule. now the primer can be sanded to take off any over spray then washed just with water dryed ready for the top finishing coat. Do this the same as the primer thin layers keep the can moving and about 6-8 inches away from your part.Again in an ideal world a good 24 hours for the paint to cure.I have put krylon away for a week before the final process before now. The final and i feel most important part of painting a suit is the final polishing sand,with wet and dry paper 1500 grit and use it wet.Do small areas at a time and wipe away the past it forms with a cloth.You will see painted plastic turn into white glass. finally,novas or T-cut for a super deep shine,stand back pat your self on the back job well done.

Ok this is for our lazy sandtrooper 1.The weathering has all been achieved by just using news paper.Some flat some screwed up.it works very well on the overall suit for some nice even grime.Worked a little harder on edges for knocks and scratches.heavey scratches with rubber trim.Slight and i mean slight yellowing with pastals here and there. The Hdpe effect are real paint chips.prim the helmet with grey primer,use your Hdpe colour,then use masking fluid for your chips.I also added white glue for paint runs in some key areas at this stage.prim again with white primer,and finally the top coat.After 4 hours or so picked the masking fluid off to reveal the green/beige hdpe colour. The suit is a very flexable type of ABS it has a beige colour to it raw.It is 1mm thick. The suit has been painted,I really do not know if the originals were painted,some new pictures out suggest they are some do not.I had no doubt in my mind that this plastic would have to be painted as the raw ABS was way off from being white. The weathering used on this suit would not have the same effect on raw plastic as it has on painted plastic.

preparation is the key for a good paint job.the trick is to paint your suit in such a way that when you have finished it does not look like you have painted it. first job wash your plastic warm soapy water,this get rid of any grease. Key you styrene first with some 600-800 grit sand paper.Then wash off the dust,dry it or let it dry. The primer paint first off needs a tack coat,(very light covering) leave for 45-ish seconds,now the plastic is ready for the cover coat or coats.Again this does not have to be heavey keep the can moving up and down left to right.leave 30 seconds between coats.Then put the part by for 24 hours as a rule. now the primer can be sanded to take off any over spray then washed just with water dryed ready for the top finishing coat. Do this the same as the primer thin layers keep the can moving and about 6-8 inches away from your part.Again in an ideal world a good 24 hours for the paint to cure.I have put krylon away for a week before the final process before now. The final and i feel most important part of painting a suit is the final polishing sand,with wet and dry paper 1500 grit and use it wet.Do small areas at a time and wipe away the past it forms with a cloth.You will see painted plastic turn into white glass. finally,novas or T-cut for a super deep shine,stand back pat your self on the back job well done.

These final shots are of the inner strapping which replicats how it was done in the costume workshop ready for filming.Many suits were modified through out the making of ANH and ESB with costume malfunctions ,wear and tear but this is how things started out. This project would not have been made posible without TMs quest to obtain a near perfect replica of the origonal ANH stormtrooper costume.(to date that is as it continues to evolve) The suit TM 1mm ABS Straps made by TM suit construction along with painting weathering and fitting by myself.This was a real labour of love and for me it dosnt get any better than this.When it is on the suit acts just like the screen versions,with the chest plate cutting unto your neck,also flexing out,the biceps falling out of the shoulder bells plus the shin straps comming undone.Blumin fantastic. I have trooped with the twice and have to report no issuses as far as construction or failures in the strapping.

Thank you guys,i fell a little humbled by these replys. Joe i have had a fantastic weekend and you have just put the icing on the cake.

I have had the opportunity to build a set of TM 1mm superflex ABS.not only is the suit the correct guage plastic to the original screen used suits in ANH,it also has the correct strapping system. Thanks to Pauls achieve pitures the suit has been constructed as close as posible to the costume used in the film. The first lot of pictures are from the outside of the suit,it will show the snaps used and also the screw positions for the internal straps. First off the torso. some close up detail shots. next up are the arms. detail. leg. leg details . Last of all the helmet. I will with the next lot of pictures show how the suit is strapped as per the originals.This is only posible with TMs help and suport through this project. More to follow...................

remember Lightside there is no such thing as a stupid question,its the stupid answers we need to be mindful of. here is my 1mm TM with the ab detail you spoke of,its a ridge line around the the ab,not a split.

A great little starter kit there Mark but clamps are so 2007. Earth Magnets are the way to go these days -------

labour of love Darren,keep up the quest mate and up to date on this project!

Thanks fireblade,i feel its really helpful to know how to stand as a stormtrooper but we also need our rest time.With lots of standing on troops this is going to be really helpful to take the weight off the feet.

I have tryed to answer many questions in my builds i hope this helps.CLICK on my sig build Library.

Great thread and armour journey J001,Its a breath of fresh air to see a build thread with all its ups and downs,highs and lows.I love your thought process on getting over them hurdles.the picture board story is fantastic and a good sense of humour thrown in along the way. As for one of the may highlights was almost two pages were i was shouting at the PC "trim your Butt plate " and along came the picture "YES" thank the lord hes done it. This thread i am sure will be seen through to the end unlike so many others that have started and fallen by the way side will stand for others to follow.Top job mate keep going ,almost at that finishing post. Then what?...........Another suit why not!

A well deserved EIB Looking good Conny.

Their is one T-track missing from the non counter side of your blaster,other than that looks spot on,great job.

One of the greatest threads i have seen for a long time.A true labour of love this one Panda.had you planed from the start to add so much detail or did the project suck you right in.Once again fantastic blow by blow account,thanks for sharing.

Matt,this is fantastic news mate dont let this one out of your sight!I know everyone is so pleased for you.I spoke to the guys at The three Darths troop at Harlow on saturday telling them your suit had been pulled,there was a little ripple that went round the changing room super news.

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU! Dont forget tomorrow REVENGE OF THE 5TH ps just read down some other posts this is old news

fantastic detailed pictures of the real deal,those alone would make a great thread,bonus content on your replica.Looking foward to the next stage.

Saw lots of red and white out today really nice to see. Keep the flag flying.