troopermaster

I emailed Robert (the guy in the pic) earlier today about more information about the pic....turns out my theory was right

It's just odd that the biceps and forearms are not part of the original suit, neither is the knee cap. I'm not too sure if the belt or the knee boxes used for shoulder straps are the right shapes either. The helmet looks off for some reason, maybe it's just the crappy brow trim and the clear lens, though it does look to be original. 'IF' it was used as a background suit, then wouldn't they at least put the knee boxes on the thigh and not the shins so it didn't attract unwanted attention? The more I look at that pic, the more I am thinking this suit was put together after filming and just had missing parts made up from elsewhere. I could be wrong, but things are just not adding up <_< Maybe it was one of AA's post production suits, just like that helmet with the ribbed back tube

Interesting read, but half of it doesn't add up....fibreglass armour????? Could be that he was an extra and the suit was made up from whatever they could muster together, and only used in far away shots or, this was suit just made up from bits left over and someone sculpted the extra parts. I haven't read that before but I do have a better picture of that suit to show you.

Thanks fellas Scott, I have only used white spray dye for my boots and they do chip pretty quickly. I am sure there must be a stain like you say, that would be much better at keeping them white. Respraying them occasionally doesn't really bother me, but it would be nice for the paint to stick on for longer. All I do is mask off the soles and stick an old pair of rolled up socks in the tops and spray away. Wait a short while then blast another coat on. I do this until I run out of paint then let them ry at least over night. The I paint the elastic gussets with white fabric paint. Anyone had a better experiece with another method?

You can get the Loakes cheap enough if you don't mind buying second hand. The Loakes I bought are mint and look to be hardly worn, I won them on ebay for £22

OK, here's the comparison pics with the Loake boots As you can see, they are pretty close and have leather soles. With your shin armour over the tops of the boots, they will look better than anything I have seen if you are looking for accuracy. Of course, you'll have to paint them white first

Thanks Chris, The information I have shown in the pics is exactly the information I was armed with when John first revealed his ROTJ armour and ANH boots. The pics are on the RPF if anyone wants to check. The Loake boots are very close and I have a pair that I am going to be wearing with my suit, once I paint them white. I will take a couple of pics with them side by side with the originals to show how close they are. They are the closest I have seen so far. Some have looked close, but with rubber soles, the Loakes are leather.

Whatever

Jonah, After spending well over a year searching for these boots, I cannot simply hand over information freely just so any joe bloggs can benefit from my hard work. If you feel the boots in the picture you posted are the closest to the original on-screen boots, then I suggest you buy them and be happy

The boots are made in England and I've not seen this brand available anywhere, so my guess is that they went of production. I think they are like the proverbial rocking horse $h!t.....

Thanks, but I won't be revealing the brand of these boots. It has taken a long time to locate them and if you want a pair, then you will have to do the hard work just like I had to. It goes to show that if you are determined and enthusiastic, you can find out stuff...if you try hard enough.

Yeah it's a great feeling to finally have these boots in my possession after all this time. I just hope I can find a pair in size 10

After searching for what seems a life time, I have finally found a pair of boots used for the original ANH stormtroopers. There are many boots that are very similar, and I even bought a few thinking they were the same, but after close inspection found them to be incorrect. I am attaching a couple of pics of Johns' original boots that were posted on the RPF for comparison, so I hope you don't mind mate. There may have been several different brands used in ANH, but these are a match to the ones John owns. Unfortunately they are two sizes too small, but they are the same brand as the originals and that's what counts. Here's the pics

Lose the velcro at the backs of your ribbed shoulder straps...that will stop any stress on them. The ribbed straps are only decorative and not meant to be structural. Keep them in place with a white elastic loop attached to the back plate or the back edge of the inner strap. The inner shoulder strap is the way to keep the parts together, either elastic or canvas...your choice

I made some bubble lens out of green perspex. I removed the face from the helmet and cut out two perspex shapes that covered each eye leaving plently of over lap. Next, I took a heat gun to a piece of perspex and heated it until it became soft. Wearing gloves, I placed the hot perspex over the eye socket from inside the helmet and pressed hard with the back of a spoon. I tested with a tea spoon and a dessert spoon...vision was better with the larger dessert spoon

Your correct. I think the term 'screen-accurate' should be replaced with 'screen-cast' for replica suits.

I think your right

The trick to shipping spray paint overseas is to mark the box as something different. I sent 3 cans over to the US, and marked the contents as a 'childs toy'. The post office never questioned the contents even though it rattled, and they made it to their destination

There are at least two versions used in ROTJ. The studio helmets had the ANH hovi's while the location helmets were slightly different. They had foam inside the tips for some reason?

Camerons armour was cast from an ROTJ and was incomplete. As I understand it, the original parts used for casting by Oakley, were bought by TE and that is where all the current 'movie cast' replica armour comes from.

This is awful news. Tony is a fabulous guy and I'm praying for a speedy recovery.

Well done on getting clearance mate! Hope to see you at Mem

My technique for the ear caps is to paint the black out line first and then the grey. I use a fine tip brush and make the black line thicker than I want it, and work outwards, making sure I get it as straight as I can. Then when that's dried, I fill in with the grey. Again, working outwards carefully and going over some of the black until you have a nice, even black border. It's actually pretty easy to do and no masking is needed (if you have a steady hand). Try making the black border smaller at first if you want to test your hand. You can always paint over it to the proper size and it will cover easily. I use Humbrol #21 black gloss and #5 Admiralty Grey.

The teeth look to be the same, with just the 4th and 5th holes filled in. The join were the tubes meet the respirator look to be filled in too slightly, probably to ease mould removal. Don't forget the eyes too. They are trimmed right out and not deep like background helmets. I reckon all the deep parts, or anywhere where the plastic could lock down on the moulds was filled or modified so the ABS would be easier to remove. The HDPE was more flexible so deeper undercuts wasn't much of a problem, where the ABS was less forgiving.

Congratulations on a job well done John