troopermaster

Thanks for the great comments guys Rick, This is going to be your favourite trooper then mate. We have decided to go for a regular trooper with a hero helmet. The holster will just have two rivets as standard and I should have attached by the weekend to show you.

The build is almost complete now and I have some more photos to show you. I just need to paint the hand plates, attach the holster, fit the lenses and mic tips and I think I am done.

I've never seen tape used like that before. Any particular reason for it? Scissors can cut the 1.5mm ABS easily. I haven't found the need for a Dremel with this plastic, so be careful with it. And, as Travis said, the wand is very useful.

Tape them together using the overlap method as they are designed to be assembled and see how they fit. If you think you can remove the overlap on the backs then go for it. Same for the shins and thighs. Biceps have no overlap front or back so if you have the room inside and can remove the overlap, I say remove it all and go for the butt joining method. Just remember to leave the raised edge on the fronts of the thighs, shins and forearms so you can use the butt joining method.

The CRL need to be changed if that's the case. There are only one set of bells - a left with the swoop and a right with no swoop. Sometimes you see troopers with no swoop on both arms or swoops on both arms. They just have two same bells on each shoulder. Nothing more, nothing less.

ANH armour only had the raised strips on the fronts of the thighs, shins and forearms. They didn't have any on the backs of any parts or the fronts of the biceps, so hack away to your hearts content.

Messenger is working again now and yes, my inbox was full but isn't now

Mine won't open either

I think you are over tightening your belt to close the sides. If your armour looks perfect when hanging from a coat hanger then the problem is how you are wearing it. To me, it looks as though you wear the abdomen too high and too tight. If you try lengthening the lower half of your torso straps so you wear it lower, and don't tighten your belt so much, I think you could solve your problem with the back plate.

Gary, There is only one way to do it the screen accurate way and that is to have the hooks facing INWARDS. I have yet to see an original suit have the hooks facing outwards like in the photo above. I would imagine trying to get those hooks into the holes would be near impossible when you have the shin on your leg. As I keep saying to everyone, only use photos of REAL Stormtrooper armour for referenec and not follow other peoples mistakes. The photo you have shown is NOT the way to do it, no matter how it may seem to fit better. Original shins had the hooks facing inwards

The first thing you need to do is disconnect the strap from your ab plate. You should have the thigh strap attached to a thin belt worn under your armour. Make sure your straps are not too long and you should feel tension on them, keeping the thighs pulled up. If you have your straps hanging more to outside of your waist rather than just straight down I would think that should help. All this depends on how well your thighs actually fit you. If they are too big then you need to trim them down . It is hard to see just how big they are from the photo you have shown. What armour kit do you have?

Keep the webbing on your cod piece by all means, but I wouldn't advise it anywhere else. Webbing doesn't allow the armour to move around when you do like elastic does. You should use elastic everywhere really, but seeing how you have cut your cod (which I don't know why you did) webbing will stop that moving around too much and just let it pivot as you bend. Elastic allows you to move better and is less restrictive than webbing, and it won't pop your snaps if you over stretch.

This is news to me. I have been usng Humbrol paints forever and only use one coat. I have never had to key the surface before painting. The paint goes on really well as long as you give it a good stir before use. And I have never seen the paint crinkle in all my years using it either. Maybe gazmosis was applying the paint to an already painted helmet and not raw ABS? I would highly recommend Humbrol paints to anyone for trooper helmets.

Mixing different brands could be the problem. I have been using Humbrol paints for many years and they have never turned out like that when applied to the helmets. Hope it covers with the next coat.

Now that looks much better Your elastic might not be positioned in the right place though. It looks as though you have it on the seams of your parts rather than on the inner parts. I prefer to have the elastic close to the seam on the bicep but about 1/2" away from the seam on the forearm so they are off set. This will allow the parts to close the gap more than usual and get that inner curve of the forearm right up so it tucks under your bicep when you bend your arm, reducing the chance of pinching.

The strapping in the photo above is the one I always use when I build a suit that has specified standard strapping. I have never had any complaints and the guys tell me if works extremely well. I have had it one of my suits many years ago and cannot fault it. Sometimes the simplist methods are the best. Ditch the suspenders

I have never seen Humbrol paint go like that before. Did you stir the paint thoroughly before you applied it?

This strapping is simple and very effective.

Thanks, Mark The screws are M3 x 8mm. Be careful if you plan to use them on your armour because drilling so close to the ends of the armour can cause it to crack if you have a HIPS or acrylic capped ABS suit.

If you pause the vidoe clip at 0.23 you get a fantastic pose that remnds me of the classic photo of the three Stormtroopers in the Death Star hall way chasing Luke and Leia. The armour covers your perfectly with no gaps between the part. Simply awesome!

Thanks for the tip, Karin. I think I will give some spray adhesive a try and see how it works. I have enough material to make a few more belts and hope I get them perfect every time. And thank you too, Rich. You know me, such a perfectionist I will keep persisting until I crack the belt build up. I am using three different materials (well four if you count the interfacing) and it's the fine silk/satin lining that's the tricky bit at the moment

That helmet is one of the TE fibreglass SFS recasts made from resin. I recognise it easily because I have one that I bought a few years ago on the RPF believing it to be a geniune piece. It is definitely NOT an AP. This particular one looks a bit more squashed than mine and may even be a recast of a recast? They are very heavy and more of a display piece than to wear for trooping.