troopermaster

Bumps are ugly IMO. Most ANH helmets have the eyes trimmed out pretty good. The bump as it's known is actually just flashing and is over exagerated on the AP. Trim it out big as Mark suggests and you'll have a nice looking helmet

This shows how the old spec from a few years ago differs from the Webers and my trim.

Just remember the stormtroopers were made in England. I have looked for vintage cargo straps, lashings, towing straps and lifting straps with not much luck. The real belts look like denim canvas, so maybe they were not so heavy duty?

Very interesting! I have always thought they used a found item for the belts. I've searched high and low for cargo straps and lashings, but never actually found anything close enough. I beleive the belts are closer to 3" wide, not 4. The original ANH belts are too straight and perfect to be cut pieces and sewn together, even though the edges are rough/frayed. Good work

Sounds good to me

Ask and yee shall receive Snaps You need the 15mm caps though. He usually has them for sale, so you could ask him about them. 10mm or the 12.5 are too small.

How about some fine body filler like -----

Show me yours and I'll show you mine Rivet holding a 1" elastic strap to the crotch and a two male snaps through the butt plate and two female snaps on the end of the elastic. Use small 's' spring snaps for authenticity

This photo shows the cut out on the bottom of the kidney section which I was refering to.

Flexible adhesive for flexible armour

Option two! The butt plate should mate up perfectly. The raised section should be slightly off to one side and the butt plate should only match up one way......option two Also, on the original armour, they had a square cut out at the bottom edge of the kidney section where it met up to the abdomen. The butt plate was narrower than the kidney and that's why there was a cut out so it matched up with the butt plate.

You cannot bend the gloss HIPS like that here in the UK. It is much more rigid and would definately crack if you flexed it that much. I guess the materials differ slightly from country to country.

I have a few pairs of these hand plates in ABS. If anyone would like a pair, PM me.

Okay okay, it's nothing to do with keeping the shins closed. They are wires for the squibs. If you look closely, you can see white tape around the ankles under the boots keeping the wires in place. The trooper was probably filmed above the waist so you wouldn't see the wires. Could have been in the detention block? There you go Gary

3/8" is the right size for the trim. Looking forward to seeing your progress. I'm starting to like the ROTJ more and more

Yeah I know I also know that none of the screen used armour strapping is no good for replica armour because it is too rigid

The alternate hand plates are nothing new. They are worn by Han Solo and lots of of other troopers if you look closely.

The only problem is the way the armour is worn. The belt is not connected to the abdomen so it sits too low and it's not fastened tight enough, making the armour look loose. Both actors in the holiday special wore their armour badly for some reason?

Top = Sandtrooper Middle = ANH regular Bottom = ANH alternative

It's no different from any other plastic to work with.

The armour feels comfortable but it still feels like armour. It is lighter and more flexible than the acrylic capped ABS I am using but, it is still plastic and not rubber, so don't expect the armour to be flimsy and ultra flexibe because it isn't. It looks like regular glossy ABS, just flexes without cracking

Unfortunately I cannot make anything from this material at the moment. More work is needed on my machine since it is much more tricky to pull than anything I have worked with before. I wasted a lot of plastic just pulling that torso.

Thanks for all the great feedback.....awesome This plastic may be thin, but it is like no other you have seen. You will not need more than 1mm thick, it's that good. It will not tear no matter how much I fold and twist it. You can bend it over backwards on itself and it just bends with no stress fractures or anything. I have a complete test suit in 1.5mm and that feels too rigid to me, though some may prefer a thicker guage and I can make in both 1mm and 1.5mm, no thicker. I am not sure about prices just yet, we'll have to see how things pan out. I'll know more in a few months. I have a lot of things going on right now and trooper stuff is not top of my agenda unfortunately. As soon as I able to start making these again, you guys will be the first to know

As some of you know, I have been working on new moulds and new materials. The moulds are not 100% complete yet but when they are, I will be using a new flexible material which is unbreakable. I have bent and twisted this plastic so much and it just will not split, period! I think it will be a great suit for trooping, no more problems with sitting down or cracked butts The suit in the photos is made of 1mm plastic, though 1.5mm is available, I doubt you would need it that thick to be honest. As of yet, I haven't pulled a helmet from this material, just the armour. I plan on making HDPE helmets very soon and maybe hero's in this white. It's still early days yet but I am hoping to be able to produce these later this year. Enjoy the photos!

I got a sample of the white trim somewhere that looked to be closer to the screen used trim than anything I have seen before. It's glossy and semi rigid, not dull and made from silicone rubber like what is commonly available. I'll see if I can dig it out and photgraph it tomorrow.