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11b30b4’s RO Sandtrooper Pack Build


11b30b4

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I originally posted this on MEPD back in October 2019 but have since decided to not make a Sandtrooper. Regardless, the pack build is here for anyone who finds it useful.

 

With this build, I am endeavoring to make a RO Sandtrooper pack as close to screen acruate as possible.  I really like Yoshix’s build and have decided to make the pack from scratch. I will be 3D printing most of the parts and using PVC foam boards for the boxes. I have already started printing some of the parts and one of the parts did not printed well because I did not print it with enough detail. The part in question is the square greeble (yellow circle) in this picture.

 

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After a closer examination, I think this part is actually a North Bridge South Bridge Aluminum Heat Sink like this:

 

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And I think the two greebles circled in red are also heat sinks. As for the remainder of the parts, I have not spent a lot of time tracking them down. Like I said, I will be 3D printing most of them and using the few reference pics to make them to scale as close as I can. I usually share all my 3D models on thingiverse for free; however, for this build I will most likely not share the files. I do not want to step on CrookKnight’s hard work and business. Besides, I am sure his models are better than mine since I am doing everything in tinkercad and not a “real” cad program. Anyway, more to come in the next few weeks and months.

 

OK, over the past few weeks I have been finalizing all my 3D models and scale drawings. As I said before, I will not be sharing the models so please do not ask. I will, however, share my scale drawing. Keep in mind its not 100% verified yet but so far everything is lining up well.

 

So how did I come up with all the data to develop 3D models and a scale drawing. I had 2 sources. First there is the picture on p.133 in the Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide By Pablo Hidalgo. Honestly, there are not a lot of sources out there that I was able to locate. Second, there is Yoshix’s build. Yosh used two items in his build that allowed me to develop some basic scaling. First, he used CDs for the plunger baffles which are 120mm in diameter. Further, Yosh used a Ryobi #20 FSC wood biscuits jar in his build. Based on the known sizes of these two items I was able to able to extrapolate most of the pack’s details. Additionally, I discovered the North Bridge South Bridge Aluminum Heat Sink and used it as a third reference.

 

aOxaoTg.jpg

 

In addition to these references, I also wanted to streamline the build and avoid 3D printing some fo the structural stuff if I could. For the Antennas longest thick section I used a piece of 2” Sch. 40 PVC pipe. For the shaft of the antenna top I used a 1” thin wall PVC pipe and the antenna top is a white plastic coat hanger that was roughly 10mm in diameter. I scaled all my 3D models for these dimensions and printed out all the antenna parts first.

 

6O6ysNJ.jpg

 

Around this time, I located a piece of acrylic pipe I had laying around. This pipe was about 81mm in diameter and thin walled. It was perfect for the two-white tube greebles. I know on other versions of the Sandtrooper packs people have used hand wipe containers for similar greebles, but I wanted something a bit more rigid. I scaled the end caps to fit this pipe and printed them as well.

 

Next, I sanded all the parts and pipes with 150 grit then 220 grit sand paper. I used super (CA glue to assemble most of this stuff and filled any gaps with superglue and baking soda then sanded again.

 

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Once it was all glued and sanded and test fit, I applied a layer of primer.

 

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The 3D printing process is quite time consuming. For example, all 4 of the end caps for the white tube greebles, it took 1 day 8 hours and 34 minutes. I am printing everything at 0.10 detail on my Prusa I3Mk3. I could print the parts in a shorter time frame, but the detail would suffer and add more post printing sanding. I have started sanding the box detail and here is a picture of the 3D model of the greeble that I replaced with the heat sink. As you can see, even with that level of detail the print did not turn out very well. I am glad I discovered the heat sinks. I ordered a pack of 5 of them from Amazon for $9.59. You should also be able to see that the heat sinks have two mounting points on them. I cut these off and sanded the sides flush.

 

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Here is a test fit of them on one of the boxes

 

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So, I have a good bit of printing and sanding to go, and I want to have all the parts done before I cut out the large boxes to hose everything. I will attempt to upload the pdf of the scale drawing at the end of this post.

 

Update 10/17/2019

So sanding and sanding and more sanding.

I printed the two smaller heat sinks and risers, the shake weight thing and the grenade mo

 

1phBiWs.jpg

 

Here are the heat sinks mounted and sanded. Since all the source pictures are of such low quality its hard to actually determine exactly how many fins these heat sinks have. Five is what I have seen in others builds so that is what I went with. I was unable to find an exact match of an actual heat sink so either the five fins is incorrect, or I was unable to locate the actual greeble, or they manufactured these from scratch for the screen used prop. I do not believe they would manufacture them since almost everything used in Rogue One was modified existing stuff but who really knows?

 

ubVph03.jpg

 

Here are some greebles primed. The tall stand is the mount for the shake weight thing. This should raise it to sit flush with the white tube thing. I love how ambiguous I am being with describing the various parts of the backpack, not.

 

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Here is the shake weight assembled and primed.

 

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Test fit of the four box greebles. I am thinking I will figure out how tall they need to be and build mounts for them out of Sentra. Next, I will paint them separately then assemble them.

 

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Another pic of parts drying. The plunger top and bottom have been sanded and the bottom jar has been test fitted. For my jar I am not using the Ryobi jar that Yoshix used, rather a different jar that was a bit tall so I cut off the bottom and am 3D printing a new bottom that will be applied to it. The black sharpie lines on the domes are used as references for sanding to make sure I sand the entire part. Start on one sides of the line and work my way around till I get to the line again. Like I said before I start with 150 grit then do it again with 220.

 

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Update, 10-18-2019

I am hoping to make some serious progress this weekend. Last night I started some painting and worked on a few parts.

First, I painted the two white tube things (I believe one is called a miniature vaporator condensation bulb). These will be weathered as well as everything else once they are all test fitted in the field pack.

 

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Next, I painted the antenna assembly black.

 

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Next, I glued the bottom of the bottle and mounted the bottle in the plunger dome.

 

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Next, I painted the three white greebles and primed the two heat sinks.

 

QrxRdza.jpg

 

Next, I sanded and assembled the two grenades.

 

OKEMapz.jpg

 

Lastly, the final print (the baffle section of the plunger) is printing and should be done today.

 

WiIw0Ys.jpg

 

Update 10/21/19

After printing the last parts of the plunger, I assembled the parts, sanded them, and primed them

 

s27nPed.jpg

 

Next, I began to assemble the main boxes. For the boxes I used ½” thick Sentra (Veranda brand) to make them. At $75.00 per 4’ x 8’ sheet, it is considerably more expensive than plywood or MDF but the weight saved and ease of workability is well worth it. Mandalorian Mecs use Sentra to make our armor unlike the vacuum formed armor for TKs, TDs, etc… Sentra comes in a variety of thicknesses and is a thermoplastic so you can heat it and shape it. Anyway, ½” is what we used to make our Sandcrawler here in GA. So I figured it would do nicely for the field pack.

 

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First, I cut all the parts and test fit them.

 

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Next, using a routing table and a ½” straight bit I made the two long cuts on the sides of the top box.

 

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Next, using a 3/8” roundover bit, rounded the outer edges of the boxes. Next, using some 3mm Sentra I made the rectangle greebles and glued them in place.

 

3eisCqn.jpg

 

Next, using the ½” sentra, I made mounts for the various parts to raise them to the proper height. After the mounts were done, I assembled the boxes and test fit all the other parts inside the boxes.

 

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Next, I primed the interior greebles and then painted them flat black.

 

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https://i.imgur.com/FH9dGB0.jpg[/img]

 

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Next, I assembled the plunger and painted it flat black. I also painted most of the other greebles flat black.

 

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Next, I mixed some white, black, and blue airbrush paints to get a color that I felt was close to the screen used blue/grey for the jar, shake weight, and miniature vaporator condensation bulb and painted them.

 

EBh9x5G.jpg

 

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I did make an effort to fill and sand most cracks and separation lines, but I opted to leave some parts somewhat raw with noticeable defects. This will make the weathering easier and more realistic as these areas will fill with darker colors when I do my black wash.

 

I ran out of primer over the weekend so I will finish priming and painting the boxes this week and assemble all the parts. Once that is completed, I will start on the frame. I still need to figure out what angle the top box sits in relation to the bottom box and figure out how to strap everything.

 

Update 10/23/2019

I have mounted most of the parts. I used drywall screws for this, and everything is looking great. I still need to mount the antenna and plunger, but I am holding off till I figure out exactly what angle the top box should sit and figure out how to attack the frame.

 

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Update 10/24/2019

I have started working on how to achieve the proper angle tilt of the top box and how to attach shoulder straps. I have considered the frame idea and decided to not use that method. I think I will attach the straps to the inside of the boxes directly. The main issue with not using a frame will be how to connect the two boxes. In these pictures I have a wedge of Sentra between the two boxes to hold them in position. I have already attached the plunger and antenna so all that is needed now is connecting the two boxes and shoulder straps.

 

eEZYoQ8.jpg

 

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In this back picture I am planning on attaching two blocks of Sentra (yellow box). Possible I will layer this with Sentra and white pine. The pine board will keep the screws (I plan to use) from ripping out of the Sentra. Next, I will fabricate two aluminum brackets (Red box) that will connect the top box to the bottom box and hold the angle of the top box. If I extend these brackets and filler blocks to the top inside the top box, I can attach the tops of the shoulder straps to them and then connect the bottom of the shoulder straps similarly to the bottom box. After I do all this I can removed the Sentra wedge and I believe this will keep everything together and keep the weight down.

 

gsU1l8j.jpg

 

Update, 10-25-2019

I purchased a 2” wide 1/8” thick and 6’ tall flat aluminum bar and bent it to fit the two boxes. I cut slits in the boxes to allow for the bar and began mounting the bar. Also, I glued up the white pine blocks and let them sit overnight. I used a piece of ½” thick plywood for the bottom support. I will get a better picture tonight but basically, I drilled out to holes and inserted 2 T-nuts. There two bolts with washers are screwed into them and they are where the bottom of the shoulder straps will mount. Once all this stuff is fabricated, it will be painted flat black.

 

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Update 10/28/2019

Well I got the strapping figured out and test fit everything.

This is a pic of the wood insert for the bottom box. You can see the T-nuts I used.

 

Zg98ETm.jpg

 

When its inserted the two bolts with washers are where the bottom of the shoulder straps are mounted.

 

fTztzMf.jpg

 

The top box has a similar setup.

 

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I removed the wedge and mounted the straps and this is how the initially looked.

 

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After I put the pack on with armor, I realized that the top straps were spreading too wide and conflicted with my shoulder bells, so I crossed these straps inside the box, and this mitigated the spread. I also added a chest strap to hold the straps closer to my neck. Next, I tried on the pack again and everything seems to be sitting correctly. I was concerned that the pack would ride too low and push down on my Thermal Detonator but I the pack stayed where I wanted it.

 

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Update 10-30-19

Well I had two troops this weekend, so I did not get as much done as I wanted. I have begun the weathering.

First, I mixed up some coffee brown and black and air brushed it around all the low laying areas on all the parts and along all the seams on the boxes. Since the color is dark its hard to see but it is there and a bit more noticeable in person.

 

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Next, I dry brushed silver on most of the edges and simulated some scratches.

 

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Next, I used pandatrooper’s method of sandtrooper weathering and mixed some Burnt Umber and Mars Black then applied it with a sponge on all the white and blue/grey parts. I let this sit for 5 minutes then removed a good bit of the paint with a slightly damp rag.

 

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Next, I will be doing a black wash over all the black parts to mute the silver a bit. After that is dry I will clear coat everything with a flat clear and then re-assemble the pack. Lastly, I will add some padding to back of the pack to help protect the armor and I should be done with the pack.

 

 

Update, 11/2/19

 

I knocked out the black wash and clear coat, re-assembled the field pack and I am very pleased with how it turned out. If I were doing this build again, I most likely would use more Sentra where I used actual wood; however, I was unsure how well the Sentra would hold up having the straps mounted to it. Regardless, the wood should hold up nicely, here are the field pack pics.

 

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Thanks for the interest.

 

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