Hereticdaves Imperial Armored Commando Build

[hereticdave]

Hi all, lurked on this forum for a while but not new to costuming, I've been a member of the Mando Mercs for nearly a decade and built a few suits in that time, some scratch built but lots more recently using 3d printed parts. This build has been on my radar for a while and I'm finally getting round to starting it with the files I've had stashed away since they were released!

 

Files I'm using are Galactic Armory, I've read that these aren't the most accurate but should be good for the lowest category of costume? Soft parts have been investigated an after getting some recomendatrions from keep trooping I believe I'll be going with them for the suit and boots. Belt I'm pretty sure I can make myself, gloves to be researched.

 

I've made a start on the helmet:

 

And the torso armour has finished printing (pending rank pad):

 

To keep it nice and strong the seperate parts are plastic welded together and heat staples have been used to reinforce the join:

 

I was hoping to attach the front and back halves to make it a solid one piece so it sits right on the shoulders, but after taping it together and trying to put it on over my head I realised this wasn't going to be possible, so my question is how have people attached the front and back halves so that they sit right when worn. You can see in reference images that the torso armour is two halves joined together, with some sort of latching mechanism, but the plates on the shoulders prevent a hinge on the top and they don't appear to be in two halves. You only really see the join on the collar. I'm guessing big magnets or somehow bolting it onto a hidden plate is done and the epaulettes cover the join?

 

 

 

Also are red underpants part of the CRL?

 

 

[jethroskull[501st]]

Heresy!

[DrMatt[TK]]

I've added a rank pad to the files that you can print out that makes it easier to paint.

In the GA files, it's going to be a pain in the an impolite person to make the chest pieces flat and smooth (the upper "diamond" and the lower rectangle).  I liked the Big Fred file that separates these pieces (and it makes it easier to paint).

I have two pieces for my chest piece...  The front part... and the back park (duh!).  The back plate attaches below the collar.  You'll see in the CRL where Francois' seam is.  The one worry I had was the weight of the jetpack attached to this piece will rely on the holding power of that hinge.

 

Also... be sure to leave enough inner "diameter" of the chest piece for the abs to fit.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Francois top section covers the joins and goes on over the chest, shoulders also go on afterwards

 

From the CRL:

Chest Plate

• The chest armor is white and comprised of 4 distinct sections:
  • The lower section.
  • The upper section.
  • The left winglet.
  • The right winglet.

 

[hereticdave]

8 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Francois top section covers the joins and goes on over the chest, shoulders also go on afterwards

 

That looks like a great way to do it, is that the big fred files?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

8 minutes ago, hereticdave said:

That looks like a great way to do it, is that the big fred files?

He used Big Fred's as well as modified some, his thread is here 

 

[Sithtrooper02[TK]]

Hi,

 

From my screenshot reviews I was not able to see any joint over the shoulders. The most accurate way I have found is to have the top portion in one piece. The screen grab above is most likely some white tape to hide the mic that I have found at sevral places :)

The back section attaches to the front just like it is done on my armor in the CRL. To keep the back and front armor aligned, I used velcros, as it still allows for some motion and nothing is apparent on surface. In the reference pictures you will find stunt that have rivets on the top side, but the heroes do not have those. 

Is GA going to meet the level 1 approval will be up your GML to decide. Nobody has this armor approved yet. It has several inaccuracies, but we tried to have the CRL flexible enough on level 1 to allow an armor that would be close enough to the reference.

 

As Glen mentioned, I used Big Fred as a starting point, but ended up modifying/ redrawing most of the armor, including the chest to several places for accuracy. 

 

Hopefully I will  convince my girlfriend to finish up all the pieces of the armor to supply the full kit that is level 3 approvable. Several pieces are already available and you can ping me if you want additional mods.

 

Cheers,

 

[hereticdave]

6 hours ago, Sithtrooper02 said:

Hi,

 

From my screenshot reviews I was not able to see any joint over the shoulders. The most accurate way I have found is to have the top portion in one piece. The screen grab above is most likely some white tape to hide the mic that I have found at sevral places :)

The back section attaches to the front just like it is done on my armor in the CRL. To keep the back and front armor aligned, I used velcros, as it still allows for some motion and nothing is apparent on surface. In the reference pictures you will find stunt that have rivets on the top side, but the heroes do not have those. 

Is GA going to meet the level 1 approval will be up your GML to decide. Nobody has this armor approved yet. It has several inaccuracies, but we tried to have the CRL flexible enough on level 1 to allow an armor that would be close enough to the reference.

 

As Glen mentioned, I used Big Fred as a starting point, but ended up modifying/ redrawing most of the armor, including the chest to several places for accuracy. 

 

Hopefully I will  convince my girlfriend to finish up all the pieces of the armor to supply the full kit that is level 3 approvable. Several pieces are already available and you can ping me if you want additional mods.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Thanks for this, I think I'll be taking a saw to the front armour section to split the two pieces in that case and go for the joining with velcro. Cheers for the input and there'll definitely be more questions as I progress with this. I'd like to keep the back/top section as one piece for rigidty, especially with the jet pack, but if I have to split it then no worries.

[Sithtrooper02[TK]]

I haven’t look with GA design but Big Fred (or mine) is basically just one piece for the front but with obvious separated sections fixed together. Large industrial grade velcros on the shoulders are sufficient to hold the back and jetpack in place (you could also anchor it to your suspenders if needed.

 

For the jetpack, I would recommend to make it as light as possible with 2 walls and minimal/ lightning infill, otherwise you’ll end up with a heavy jetpack that will pull the front armor backwards. You don’t want a hollow jetpack STL design which seem la cool to place light and batteries inside but will double the printed weight.

 

 

[hereticdave]

The GA one is pretty much the same, front and back halves that connect together, just without the separate bits to make it easy to paint and sand smooth. I'm not very handy with 3d modelling but pretty handy with tools. Spent the day modifying the printed chest plate to separate the lower section from the shoulder section:

First with a jewellers saw, would have been awesome if I could use the blade without the coping handle.

 

Ended up using a hacksaw blade:

 

And when separated the mess looked like:

 

But after some clean up and filler, I'm close to having two sections that fit flush:

 

The plan is to get these two parts mating nicely and I'll connect the shoulders permanently to the back half and attach the chest area with velcro or magnets. Or both.

 

[hereticdave]

Attached the front top section to the back plate and done a quick mock up with tape in the place of velcro/magnets. It aint perfect but proof of concept is there and I can actually put it on which is a bonus.