troopermaster

My rivets just came in. They look good from the outside but the tabs are too long for my liking. I'm going to have to keep looking <_<

Those look pretty good. What is the head size and length of the tabs?

I wonder if there is some kind of black latex (or similar rubber) that can be brushed into a mould and reinforced with lycra? Can you not make a bowl shaped negative plaster mould and pour latex into it - leave it for a while - then pour out the contents to leave a skin? Just thinking out loud here. I haven't really looked into making these, but that's how I would think it would be done

How is that paint holding up Vern?

Before you go cutting anything, make sure you have the forearms up close to the biceps. The screen used armour has about 1" gap between the bottom of the bicep and the lowest point of the inner forearm cut out. Your bicep should be touching your forearm on the outside when your arms are straight down by your side. Once this is done you can then cut the wrist area. Don't worry about about the divots. Some of the screen used armour had them cut down a lot. I have seen right forearms with only 11 divots.

I wouldn't use paper clips personally. I have tried them and they are too weak to hold the armour together. If you are set on using them, best to glue the strap to the armour as well. At least it will have a stronger grip and take some pressure away from the paper clip. I have some correct rivets on there way to me. I'll let you know what they are like once they arrive.

E6000 is a doddle to use. Simply apply a bead to both pieces you are gluing together, wait a minute or two, then clamp together. You can trim any over spill with a sharp knife once it has cured and peel it off. The glue dries like silicone - it's good stuff!

I'm really looking forward to seeing your first prototype. I think you should stick with the original plan of making a super accurate 'pull over your head' type first and then maybe do any other types. There are no accurate replica latex neck seals available and it's one thing that maybe gets shunned because it doesn't seem wearer friendly. I would be happy to own one of these and I think it is a vital piece of the costume if you are going for screen accuracy!

I have a finished 02 canister coming up for sale soon if anyone is looking for one

I make the small bracket loop 25mm wide for the elastic and the screw holes are about 40mm apart. I make the chest bracket loop 30mm wide and about 60mm for the screw holes. The height is 30mm for the chest brackets and 5mm for the rest. All elastic loops should be the same length. There are no special straps for the chest - every one is the same - that is why there are taller brackets for the chest plate to allow it to hang over the abdomen while keeping everything tight.

Very nice job so far, Karin. Keep up the good work

So, what do the Roots boots look like?

The quickest and most effective way to get your belt whiter than white is to simply paint it. I paint all my canvas belts with white emulsion after I have sewn them together. It gives you an instant white colour and also makes them more rigid.

The brackets are used to loop elastic through to keep the torso pieces together.

There is one out there

Off the top of my head I think it is 16 gauge (1.3mm) steel wire. Be warned, it is mighty tough stuff to bend.

Well, as I said earlier, the arms are different. The ESB MKII used one arm for both sides as far as I am aware. All the photos I have seen of these particular suits do not have 'sided' arms, just doubled up. That said, it doesn't mean all of them were like that but I would hazzard a guess they were. The trimming is very similar to ROTJ. The shoulder bells and chest plate differ slightly compared to an ROTJ. I think lessons may have been learned with these new ESB MKII's and the suits were refined slightly when they later produced the ROTJ's. The strapping is definately different. I managed to see in person (albeit behind a glass case) and you could partly see how they were strapped. They match the strapping in John.B's suit which is definately not the same as what is seen on screen in ROTJ. These are just my observations of what I have seen over the years

16"

It's possible, but I haven't seen any evidence, though there is one ESB HDPE helmet on the Ewoks drum kit. The helmets look different and the MKII suits forearms and biceps were doubled up (used two left arms). All the ROTJ suits I have seen have the correct left and right arms. The assembly of the armour was different and some areas were trimmed differently too.

In a nut shell, the majority of helmets used in ESB were refurbished ANH helmets that were made from HDPE. The ESB MKII helmets were made from ABS and made specially for ESB. New armour was made too which was later cast to make ROTJ armour and helmets

SiMan spray painted the whole suit white so you can't really use it as reference. It is not in it's original state as it was in the studios. Everything is painted white and you can see the original plastic colour inside. From all the photo's I have seen the crotch brads have always been unpainted.

That's what I was thinking.

I haven't seen any that were painted, but that doesn't mean you can't paint them if you want to. It kind of weird why they are not painted really. If they went to the trouble of painting the brads and all the screw heads for the strapping brackets, then why not go the whole hog and do all the other exposed hardware?

I have already said that it would be impossible to say 100% that each and every pair of Stormtrooper boots were the exact same brand. Han's boots look exactly the same as mine. The elastic shape and location on the ankle is very distinctive and unique to this particular brand of Chelsea boot. As Stefan stated, the brand of boot is no longer in production (as far as I am aware) and every search I do comes up blank. There is no internet recognition of these boots. I have owned four pairs of these boots and I cannot find anywhere to buy them on the internet apart from ebay. You might be lucky enough to find a pair at a jumble sale or a charity shop over here in the UK, but I doubt you will find them anywhere else.

Not if you are making a screen accurate latex neck seal, Vern. But, if you want one that looks accurate and comfortable for trooping then a lycra liner would be acceptable IMO.