troopermaster

Just be aware that 1.5mm PVC is far more rigid than 1.5mm ABS and the strapping brackets will pop through a rigid plastic easier than a flexible plastic. That said, the brackets will pop though any plastic if you are hard on your armour since the holes are drilled so close to the edges of the plastic. These are plastic costumes and not real space armour, so treat them as such I have reinforced inside the return edges just as you are asking and it worked out very well.

Congratulations Pete

Just for reference - My thighs measure 16.5" and 17" long (L&R vary slightly) and my shins measure 15" long. My XL shins are 17" long.

I like how you have trimmed the eyes. Very authentic

You're right Wayne. I could never form the PP consistanly enough to ever offer helmets. My machine just isn't good enough unfortunately

From my experience with this plastic I can say it is quite rigid, but has great flexural strength unlike ABS or HIPS. The flex is a lot like PVC and it can be folded back on itself without tearing. It has a waxy feel to it and doesn't like to be bonded. I know, I made some body parts in white PP and couldn't get a permanent fix, and I can imagine paint being a nightmare to stick to it. Here is a photo of a face plate and abdomen both in PP that I made a good few years back.

Superb work Rolf! You truly are the Sandtrooper Master

Looking forward to seeing you suited up Steve. This is going to be one cool looking replica. Just popping to the PO now to send your original boots

45mm is just over 1 3/4" which is not 1 1/2". The only way this can be settled is for Rob to post a photo of the strap with a ruler or tape measure showing the original size and we can know for sure. All my references point to 2" though.

I'll make the decisions for you mate if your having trouble. Trim the eyes more and leave the ears

I don't know either. But I have a good idea who said it. Ist er Deutsch?

I use scissors usually, but sometimes I score and snap if the plastic is thick.

They are seperate lenses made from 3mm perspex. I have tried to find the right material to make a one piece lens with no luck unfortunately.

You should cut all of the return edge off so the buttons are on a flat strip.

Thanks chaps I know what you mean Mathias. I am a fan of the stunt helmets too, but I am taking a fancy to the high brow hero.

Hi guys, I thought I would show off these two helmets that I have been working on to show you how a low brow and high brow look together. The high brow is not 100% finished but I was pushed for time since the low brow had to go to it's new home today. Both helmets are made from 1.5mm gloss ABS and all details are hand painted using Humbrol Satin colours. Hope you like them

I just want to point out that the top button strip is your standard 4 button strip for the abdomen and the lower 3 seperate buttons are your belt rivet covers and should always be used. Make sure you trim the return edges of all the parts so they are flat and can be glued to your armour.

You can glue them but you need to leave one side with a snap so you can open the armour to get inside. If you trust your glue to hold the snap tabs in then trust it to hold your elastic too

You are supposed to leave a border on the buttons so you can glue it to your abdomen. Getting a replacement is your best bet.

Beautiful helmet Steve. You sure do have some pretty things in your ever growing collection! This has to be the best helmet anyone could ever want. Great work Rob and Si

You can get the body armour into a suitcase if you slide the arms into the shins, then the shins inside the thighs and the thighs inside the torso. Helmet has to be carried seperately.

Simons suit has 2" wide shoulder straps, same as all the other original armour from ANH.

I don't see any reason why any of the suit wasn't worn on screen at one time or another. I just wanted to point out that just because the belt has been identified it doesn't mean that it belonged to the same suit as Simons when on screen, which is what some people have been saying. I would guess that each set of armour was swapped and changed regularly between takes and the actors would not have cared who had what at any given time. If the suit at Borehamwood was a solo suit and is not Simons, the helmet sure is and everything else about the armour looks to be the same or very similar. The ABS hand plates are unique to this armour as far as I know and the abdomen does not have the button detail but does have a black mark on the indentation just like Simons. Maybe all the buttons were black on this suit in the photo and it's a shame we can't see more because of the guys arm in the way. Maybe Simon painted more black details on the suit because there were already some on the abdomen? It would be great if we could pinpoint Simons suit in ANH but I fear that it will never be seen simply because it is made up of several suits. Trying to find the parts that make up Simons suit is going to be fun and I know that we will find them eventually

What TM? Looking awesome Rich

I have to agree with everything Rob says. No doubt that Simons suit was cobbled together from several sets of armour since some parts are Stormtrooper and some are Sandtrooper. What is interesting about the torso is that it is a Sandtrooper but has had extra shoulder straps fitted that are not original formed pieces usually found on a Stormtrooper. This photo below shows what I strongly believe to be Simons suit with the original formed straps of the same straps with lines drawn on like the hand plates. If you notice the belt is a different colour and the only part of Simons suit that isn't painted is the belt. Note the missing belly detail, doubled up right arms but with the correct inner left forearm piece - all key points relating to Simons suit. I also believe this is Simons suit too. Look at the helmet - it is assembled and trimmed exactly the same way and the arms are also doubled. Hand plate is flat ABS with drawn markings too. I also believe that Simons suit was cobbled together from these troopers seen here with Vader. The helmet in the middle trooper looks to be Simons and the torso could be on Vaders right (our left). Note how all the suits are mixed between Sandtrooper and Stormtrooper. You can see thet torso here has the same rivet as Simons and also the cod piece looks to starting to crack where Simons has too. And finally, a nice photo of Stormtroopers on Tantive IV that shows Simons belt on the Hero trooper which proves it was just the belt that made an appearance on screen and not necessarily the armour.