Peregrinus

I'll say the same thing her as I did on the RPF... ANOVOS is, I guarantee, 537% aware customers aren't happy. I figure in addition to the letter they're going to have something to say during the panel before they open the mic to questions. I expect, intended to forestall some of the ire. I dont know if all the panels at Celebration are subject to the lottery ReedPop is doing, or just some. Folks who are going (sold my passes in disgust a month ago out of sheer underwhelm at the program and guest list that was shaping up, not to mention the fiasco of the room blocks), maybe make sure y'all can get in sooner than later. And I implore anyone who makes it in and up to the mic... Firmness is good, don't let them wriggle out with a canned answer -- but be respectful, and hold the anger back. More is likely to be gained from establishing a dialog (that has been so missing!) than throwing them on the defensive.

As I said, I have plans for how to tackle that. I've been drafting several versions of relevant posts depending on what I finally hold in my hands. Once I do it and have pics I don't want to delay sharing because it's taking me a while to describe my process. Meantime, I'll be looking for anyone's tutorials on how to TFA-ify the cod. Other parts I'm not sure about how I'll tackle -- I'm not happy with the ugly-but-film-accurate overlapping biceps and legs. Since I'm doing Cardinal and he's not aprovable (and may never be), I might make them seamless or engineer functional latches...

The red Stormtrooper first appeared in the Spring '95 issue of Topps' Star Wars Galaxies magazine. It was a short story about Lumiya, set after ROTJ, when she was going around convincing defecting Imperial research facilities that to do so would be a mistake. To help accomplish this, she had a couple squads of Royal Guards in red Stormtrooper armor, called out as such in the story text and RPG notes in the sidebar, and illustrated as such for the story by Colleen Doran. This was right when the 501st was just starting. Not saying no one in the nascent club did this back then, but i doubt it. Meanwhile, the Visual Dictionary, published in '98, mentioned the simple existence of the Magma Trooper, no description or illustration. It was someone in the 501st who decided the former was the latter, from apparently not doing their homework. It's an error I've spent years fighting to uncollapse. Meanwhile meanwhile, the clone Emperor dates back to Dark Empire #2, from early '92. Tom Spanos did it before then to inspire the British artist?

Same white as you use for your armor, I'd say. And any satin black should work for those bits.

The basic kit also comes with the gaskets (just no neck seal, hence having to order it separate), so you'll have full sets from both. *heh* I'd suggest maybe putting them up for sale on here, if you don't want to keep them as back-ups.

I'd recommend the kit, and then 3D printing 5thHorseman's foregrip and lower rail pieces. Side-by-side comparison shows that, after all his revisions, his final version is within a couple millimeters in every direction, or better. So those pieces should fit on the ANOVOS kit juuuuust fine.

Tangentially related, I just got am e-mail earlier that their F-11D kit is back up for pre-order. Doing another run. So if you missed it last time... A reminder, this is the "Standard" trooper model -- no shoulder stock, mounts to thigh bracket. Not the upscaled "Heavy" version. So if you're doing a Phasma or FOHWT, this isn't the correct blaster.

My big concern is that even with acetone-sludge ABS paste or plastic welder and all that, it'll still be a discontinuity in the material, and therefore a weak point in an area that flexes to get that item on and off. So it will crack, sooner or later. And any repair is always going to be less than the integrity of the original finished piece, so I try to engineer or overengineer to prevent the damage in the first place. I'm going Cardinal, so mine's getting painted regardless of whatever else. So that's also not a concern for me. I've got a pretty darn tough automotive wheel clearcoat to protect the finish from chipping, too. So I'm going ot do me level best to make sure it doesn't get damaged from the inside. The stupid part is that it probably isn't necessary. As with Phasma, the shoulders will be covered by the cape, so I could really just do a hinge or flex joint. But I want to go the distance, since there could very well be times the cape gets thrown back and the shoulders exposed. I want to say more, but really shouldn't until I've had a chance to hold those two pieces and look at the join from many angles and see how everything lines up and how much excess I may have to work with.

The description in the book was that Vi spat blood on one of Cardinal's boots, and absently noted that it was not quite the same color red as the "flawless plastoid" it landed on. I take that to mean boot armor like Phasma's and that it's red to match the rest of his armor. I conjecture, from precedent, that the boots under it are black FOTK boots like Phasma and the Flametroopers wear under their boot armor. I've only ever seen "plastoid" -- let alone "flawless" -- refer to Stormtrooper hard armor. Others interpret it to mean red leather versions of the FOTK boots, a stance I feel is at odds with the prose description. Similarly, I presume his weapons are echoes of Phasma's -- again because of both precedent of their purported equal rank, coupled with the text. SE-44c on his hip, with red casing instead of the standard white or Phasma's chrome. F-11D Heavy (upscaled, fixed stock, no holstering plate/screws), again with the bits that are white on the standard HWTs' blasters or chrome on Phasma's in red. He only carries the latter in one flashback scene in the book. The rest of the time, the text is describing a single-handed blaster with gleaming red prominently visible while holstered on his leg. The SE-44c fits that far better. But without visual support, there's no confirmation either way, and without conformation, no CRL. I am doing it anyway, but, as I'm waiting on ANOVOS, I haven't had much progress to show. I've been slowly working on my boot armor, and am going to be beginning 3D printing of my blasters soon. I have everything else that isn't coming with the ANOVOS kit except the cape.

I actually have a notion, but I'm waiting until I have this thing in hand to do some dry runs first to check feasibility. If said notion works, it should be inexpensive... but a little fiddly and time-consuming. I know -- with a Stormtrooper costume? Unheard of! Said notion is also planned to include @ukswrath's metal shoulder braces/shoulder bell tabs, so one is warned. I gave up on this upcoming Celebration in disgust, so I don't need it in time for that, but I'm still hoping I ordered early enough to be in that first batch... Okay, other thoughts. I'm going TFA with my build. The e-mail had this to say regarding the two variants we have so far: I have never seen a straight comparison rundown between TFA and TLJ. How accurate is that? And, apart from that, I believe the main difference is the groin armor. Given this looks to be the more abbreviated TLJ version, how the heck is one supposed to be able to opt to finish it as the TFA version? Inquiring minds want to know. But man that chest plate... I may get that cleaned up, detailed on the back side, and painted before I tackle any of the rest, just to have it sitting there as encouragement. That is just so pretty!

I keep checking this thread when there's new activity in the section to see if Lucas has maybe resurfaced. I've been worried about him since he poofed. I know Australia's a deathtrap, but... In other news, since I re-read the whole thread for nostalgia, I realized no one corrected a major sticking point. Everyone's having trouble finding pipe the right size... because y'all're looking for pipe. Pipe sizes go by nominal inner diameter, regardless of material or thickness. What you should be looking for is tube, which is measured by outer diameter. There's plenty of 1.5" tubing out there in a variety of materials and wall thicknesses. So get back out there and keep building.

So because the new story about the development of Denis Villeneuve's Dune project got me nostalgic for the David Lynch one (as well as the surge of bitterness no one ever even tried to take all the raw footage and do a proper completion of it in a full four-hour, completed-VFX, intermission-and-overture epic...) and had the bonus features on as background noise while I worked. In the featurette on the costumes, Bob Ringwood was talking about how they made the Guild Navigators' uniforms out of old body bags. Commentary was made about the tar-coated canvas, the straps for securing and carrying, the pockets for papers containing pertinent details to be transported with the deceased... ...And all I could think of was "Did they use a body bag for Phasma's cape?" Or at least the inspiration for it. I know the standard model human-remains pouch was made from coated canvas at least through the Vietnam War, though other details vary (by that point, the pockets were clear plastic, rather than the pouch material). For those who have managed to reconstruct accurately useful patterns for her cape, looking at how it's put together, would it lend itself to such an origin? If the zipper and end seams were taken out and one end re-sewn into that neckline, maybe? Is the placement of the straps such that they could have been used as carry handles?

Fine-tuning in this case means methods of use with the steel bucks, and with how the pieces are prepped. That forearm piece had a minor tear in the plastic -- don't know if that came from pulling it off when it was still too warm, or at the wrong angle, or if it got overstressed in trimming, or what. But something went wrong, there. I'd rather they get that sort of thing straightened out before committing. And yeah, the kit comes with shoulder, elbow, and knee gaskets, belt, and pouches. How good they all are we'll have to wait and see. But as far as I know, no strapping or buckles or other such stuff.

Personally, I'm not too concerned about that. To make sure materials match, I'm going to use the bits I cut out for my more-accurate-than-the-film-version cutouts on the belt boxes, forearms, chest, etc. It shouldn't take much. But even should that not pan out, I have scrap styrene, HIPS, HDPE, ABS, PVC, various acrylics and polycarbonates... Plus there is usually a plastics supplier or signmaker near most people who have plenty of scrap if one wants to help them get rid of some of their trash. *heh* And I can only speak for me, but if someone on here found themselves short of scrap plastic to use for this, I'd gladly send them some that I would otherwise eventually throw out. *shrug*

They also had the split front and back. Yeah, vacu-forming can only handle so much undercut before the formed piece binds to the buck. Check out Tony's build thread. It's the gold standard for early-gen ANOVOS FOTK kit assessment. This is looking to have much, much less that needs to be done to get things to line up and cooperate. I love the clear cut lines (not that many will need to be used, as they're doing all the trimming on the pre-order batch before shipping). But since no one makes these out of the proprietary rubbery material used in the films, they can't cast the entire yoke as one piece. I'm not disappointed, as I was expecting this. I figure some of the behind-the-scenes stuff ANOVOS was dealing with was trying to find someway to eliminate that join. It'll always be a weak point, regardless of how well it's reinforced and blended. I've got a set of Tony's shoulder braces, and plan to reinforce the return edge to minimize flexing specifically within that one square inch. And even then I'm grateful I'm doing a Cardinal, as I'll have the cape to hide any inevitable wear and stress in that location.

Here, I got this. Tony, especially, since you delved so hard during your Beta build (or was it Alpha?), I want your evaluation of improvements. I see many, but my eye isn't as practiced as yours... New chest: Is this the new underchest? New back: New forearm and forearm box: Part of the new bicep -- looks like they got the "steps" much better: New spat? Pulled as one piece? New groin: New butt: New kidney: New knee: Pretty sure this is a thigh: And I feel like this is the inside piece for the bicep:

Fair. But until recently I hadn't been active on here since 2008, so it's new to me. And a lot of it was to get the facts out there wherever anyone is going along under bad data, I admit. Not saying don't do a red 'Trooper -- just wanting it called what it is. Thanks for the advice. I'll point out I never would have gotten it if I hadn't posted my rant in a dead thread...

I respected the chain of command and kept the debates on the SpecOps board. Didn't want to do an end run around the Detachment CO. The Storm Commando and Shadow Scout finally got separated into the two distinct costumes they are... But a more recent Detachment CO was trying to get them re-merged. As for the Royal Guard Stormtrooper versus Magma Trooper thing, they stuck to their guns that the 501st-inspired figures represented supporting evidence for the Magma Trooper designation, and refused to see the Legion's complicity in that or that it was circular reference. But neither could they ignore the hard evidence plunked down. So the "Crimson Trooper" designation is the lame compromise position for something that should never have been an issue in the first place. *shrug* I was just gonna keep tilting at those particular windmills, unless you think a respectful letter to the LMO would actually help.

(Still getting caught up on the board after a few years away, so necroposting, but relevant...) The 501st has made mistakes in the past. In '02 the Legion Council codified thumbnail descriptions of all the current costume types, and they screwed up two of them. I've been crusading to correct those misinterpretations ever since. One was the Storm Commando, which they thumbnailed as "Black Biker Scout". It isn't. About the only piece that could be carried over unmodified from a TB kit would maybe be the shoulder bells. Everything else is utterly unique -- including the Scout-inspired helmet. I'm a staunch proponent of the Shadow Scout nomenclature for the black Scout Trooper. They're in the ancillary material, many people have done costumes of them, I like them, and it fits in with the "Shadow" motif seen elsewhere with Shadow Troopers and Shadow Guards. But they're not the Storm Commando Mike Vilardi designed for the Star Wars RPG back in '93. To date, no one's ever done that as a costume. The other error is what you guys are referring to. That same Council decision thumbnailed Magma Troopers as "Red Stormtroopers". There has been exactly one appearance of red Stormtroopers anywhere in any level of Star Wars canon. The illustrations accompanying a short story focused around Lumiya in Topps' "Star Wars Galaxy" magazine #3 in '95. They were explicitly called out in the text as Royal Guards in red Stormtrooper armor sent to accompany the mission. Even had RPG stats for them in the sidebar. Meanwhile, Magma Troopers had only ever gotten one mention. A text box in the Visual Dictionary (later quoted verbatim on the Star Wars Databank) mentioned additional types of Stormtrooper armor variants to those shown on the pages (Snowtroopers, Scout Troopers) "including tunneling underminers and Magma Troopers to quell uprisings on volcanic mining planets". That's it. No description. No illustration. Nothing. Someone on the Council had to have seen that illustration from the short story scanned without context and made the mental leap that red Stormtroopers amid fire had to be Magma Troopers. But the flames and rubble surrounding them in the illustration are from Lumiya's forces blasting their way into a defecting Imperial research installation on an airless planetoid. No volcanos anywhere. And, later, things got messily circular. People in the Legion who did "Magma Trooper" costumes -- often sporting pauldrons and carrying E-11s not part of the original reference -- were spotted at conventions by Gentle Giant reps who asked them what type of trooper they were costuming as. So the Gentle Giant "Magma Trooper" Stormtrooper repaint is based on what they were told. Complete with the pauldron and E-11. And that statue is used as supporting reference for that being a Magma Trooper, even though Gentle Giant got that info from the 501st in the first place. So revel in your Royal Guard Stormtrooper armor. I'm working on a set myself. But I recommend ditching the pauldron, if you have one, and investing in an SE-14r for accuracy to the source material. But it ain't a Magma Trooper. Thanks to nuBF, we now have a visual for the first time ever. And I like 'em.

One of the things that frustrates me is ANOVOS' former transparency getting squelched by Disney. The latter objected to the former being so up-front about specific goings-on. Said to stop being public about internal business matters... Me, I think Disney objected to the fact that, unlike with their other licensed offerings, with Star Wars ANOVOS was running into a much more micromanaging and nitpicky licensor. I remember how many of the early products' holdups were Disney dinging the packaging, requiring safety checks on everything -- including said packaging -- and so on. And every time they had to redo or rework something, it had to go to Disney for approval every step of the way. I can see the back-and-forth to China getting positively Sisyphian. And, frankly, kinda making Disney look like the bad guy. With their Star Trek and BSG stuff, it's still a lot more uncomplicated. They say they want to do a thing, the licensor grants access for research and reference, ANOVOS comes back with a thing, and the licensor says "cool -- release it". *sigh* I am sticking with my preorder. I know it'll arrive at some point. Meantime, I have plenty to work on, I've been accumulating accessories and materials for the FOTK, and I have several of ANOVOS' Trek offerings on pre-order.

Been meaning to chime in on this for a while, now... There are multiple things at work that need addressing. I can hear some of you groaning already, but I promise I'll at least try to be concise. • The original sculpting. I see a lot of the wonkiness and asymmetry of the original helmets and armor defended as "organic" and "what happens when you sculpt something by hand". And I know from my own experience, but also from ceramic and sclupture artists I've known for ages... If you want symmetry, it's not that hard. Even just eyeballing things from various angles, you can get the supposedly-mirrored sides to agree a lot more than Liz's original Stormtrooper helmet sculpt. The truth is most likely a combination of rushed schedule, tight budget, and no one involved with the project thinking it would go anywhere -- including George himself. These were for costumes meant to be seen going past on-screen from ten to twenty feet away for a second or two. There was no push for everything to be "perfect". Now the folks making these movies know the fanbase, the costumers, the existence of home-video that will allow freeze-framed, high-definition perusal of every facet of the movie. • The execution of the redesign. Some things I agree with, such as the mirrored/symmetrical traps and tears and evened out frown. Other things bug me, like the tears' rear edges/upper corners moved back to be in line with the corners of the lens openings. That makes them look way too big. Also the black lines in them and the rear traps, and the cheek tube markings, being slits now, instead of something more topical. There's a military adage that almost certainly goes back to before English even existed as a language family: "If there is an opening, dirt will get in it." I have a much longer breakdown of the real-world and in-universe reasons why I feel they aren't and shouldn't be slits. Also the new earcap greeblies -- neat, but unnecessary. Also, why weren't they leveled as part of the "idealizing" of the design. Some of the OT ones were more level than others, so them being angled is not a hard and fast design feature so much as an artifact of construction. All the way down to minor niggles like the larger "Hero" style neck opening, the slightly shorter brow trim, the "low brow" being the look they went with for everything (I prefer 1/8" to 3/16" of brow showing to better visually separate the lenses from the brow trim), the high-detail "II" on the back box (I always figured those were raised details covering some internal stuff that couldn't be completely flattened out on whatever was in that location -- and after the Clone Trooper armor's version, I started thinking the "II" could be covers plugged into openings {see military adage, above} for linkages/power feeds to backpacks. Also wish they'd kept the chelsea boots and smooth undersuits of the OT, even if they'd "bulked up" the undersuits to imply something more substantial than a lycra unitard. • I have similar thoughts about the new Rebel flight suits in R1. Gone are the treated cotton twill racing suits, in favor of too-contemporary nylon zip-zop suits. The material's more appropriate for the thermal jackets they all seem to be wearing in this outing (versus just in cold-weather surface ops). On which they got the sleeve pleating wrong. Updating things to make use of better materials and technology, cool. But not to the extent it changes the "look" of the thing. One of my cousins is a casual fan, at most, but glanced over when I had a R1 stormtrooper helmet up for comparison as I worked on something, then looked back and said "Is there something wrong with that helmet...?" They couldn't put their finger on it, couldn't tell you the differences between ANH, ESB, ROTJ, Hero Stunt, etc. But something subconscious was "off" to his eye. And I've heard the same thing from others regarding various bits of "recreated" OT designs with their new take on materials or construction. It's frustrating that the U-Wing pilot flight suit I'm working on will never be approvable. Because I'm using the treated cotton twill for the bodysuit, using the OT pattern (none of the zippered pockets of the new ones). Weatherproof nylon for the jacket, with ESB-accurate pleating on the sleeve trim. Accurate Snowspeeder pilot gloves. And so on and so on. It bugs me that it would have been so easy to just "clean up" a lot of these iconic costumes and props and vehicles and such, but they went too far, IMO, to put their own stamp on it.

I thought the requirements specifically said to make them not seamless, because of that very reason...

That... kind of irritates me. One of the things that was supposed to be coming out of the post-Lucas era was more consistency between media, including consistent representation of characters and ships and such, overseen by people who paid more attention to stuff in the ancillary material than Lucas did. I truly hope they take the time to actually do the research and query the character's creator, rather than let artists do their own interpretation and sign off on it without examination. That's how we got the whole Storm Commando/Shadow Scout mess that's still being damage-controlled to this day. My thumbnail of Cardinal is "mostly repainted standard TFA FOTK", with specific bits called out: • Boot armor in armor color *ambiguity remaining -- boot color? armor design? cue taken from Phasma, being black FOTK boots with Phasma style boot armor, per author* • Cape is mirror image of Phasma's in cut, hanging off the right shoulder, rather than left. 1" wide edge stripe is warm medium gray versus Phasma's red. • SE-44c sidearm blaster rides the thigh holster. *ambiguity remaining -- casing color not explicitly stated or shown, presume armor red, by precedent* • Doesn't usually carry F-11D after becoming Captain, but did early on. *ambiguity remaining -- buttstock or no? casing color? presume buttstock and armor-color casing, using Phasma as precedent* • Also used riot baton in the book, for melee weapon option for events or countries that don't allow replica firearms. Should be TFA version.

Then LFL would be ignoring the text of the book, where her spat blood lands on the "polished plastoid" covering his foot, and that's not a good description of the leather boots TKs wear.