New Tucson AZ StormTrooper.

[Duprey]

Hello everyone,  

I'm very very new here and have printed most of my armor and and I'm in the attachment phase but finding out some pieces are not accurate or acceptable so redoing so parts and reworking others.  Any help or pointers will be greatly appreciated for the armor prints or navigating this insane platform. Lol. Anyways I started out with just a helmet to play around with my "Stormtrooper" jeep, then a costume to ride around in and now possibly joining the 501st if i can get to the point of qualification.  Here's my print so far and my Stormtrooper jeep. I'm near Tucson AZ

[Duprey]

The jeep.  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hello and welcome, nice looking Jeep.

 

This thread is full of helpful information.

 

Looks like you are building Rogue One style, your large ab button plate needs flipping.

 

 

 

Lots of great builds full of helpful information, should give you an idea on strapping

[Duprey]

Thank you for all the links, I will certainly be checking those out. I have flipped the button plate already.  Someone in FB pointed that out to me. Lol. 

[TK9612[501st]]

Welcome 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Welcome to the FISD David

[Shanester[TK]]

Welcome aboard trooper! 

[Sandman[TK]]

Welcome to the FISD David.  Glad you're here !!!

[Tall_Trooper[Staff]]

Welcome to FISD!

[Duprey]

Anyone got a link for a decent neck seal? I tried that one on Amazon but it's too tight and sending it back. I don't want to spend a bunch.  Thanks everyone! 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

32 minutes ago, Duprey said:

Anyone got a link for a decent neck seal? I tried that one on Amazon but it's too tight and sending it back. I don't want to spend a bunch.  Thanks everyone! 

You could try Geeky Pink

 FB https://www.facebook.com/GeekyPinksPhantasticGaskets/

 

Or Darmen 

 

[Duprey]

1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said:

You could try Geeky Pink

 FB https://www.facebook.com/GeekyPinksPhantasticGaskets/

 

Or Darmen 

 

Thanks!! Email sent to Darman'S

[Sayless]

Also adding in that KeepTrooping (who also sells the flight suit, boots, and gloves) sells a pretty solid neck seal. It's a "one-size-fits-most" application, so it'll need some taking in compared to one more custom tailored to you; but could be more cost effective. 

 

There's several Etsy seller's too that specialize in the New-Era/Non-Saga seals as they do differ from those found in the OT armor which appears to be the speciality of the sellers mentioned above. 

[Duprey]

Next question, but first off thanks again for all the help, on the back plate for abdomen armor that coveres the opening it has the tail but it stops the belt from sitting properly or nicely. What do you all do to fix this? Thanks!!

[Sayless]

It's actually a bit counterintuitive: the rear belt shouldn't sit flush against the abdomen because that kidney plate runs underneath it. That slight gap is unfortunately intentional. Additionally, the posterior plate wedges between the abdomen tabs and the rear belt to help hold everything in place, which furthers the reasoning it doesn't sit flush. 

 

You can see here because of a costume mishap, it shows there's no way for it to sit truly flush.

[Duprey]

8 minutes ago, Sayless said:

It's actually a bit counterintuitive: the rear belt shouldn't sit flush against the abdomen because that kidney plate runs underneath it. That slight gap is unfortunately intentional. Additionally, the posterior plate wedges between the abdomen tabs and the rear belt to help hold everything in place, which furthers the reasoning it doesn't sit flush. 

 

You can see here because of a costume mishap, it shows there's no way for it to sit truly flush.

Ok.  I did try to put the posterior plate in there but it didn't fit but probably because it came from my other print file and I did a little heating to make it fit better with that print. New posterior coming.  Lol. Thank you. 

[Sayless]

Based on Alain's files (assuming these are what replaced your PPC pieces), using his posterior plate is "required" due to how the spine plate creates a square rear protrusion. While this isn't screen-accurate to how the armor is physically assembled, it functions the same because the components are worn together as one unit.

 

When properly assembled, the spine plate should slide under the rear belt, wedging the butt plate into place. However, because these digital files don't fit perfectly together, expect to do some manual sanding and shaping during post-processing. See the attached mockup for reference:

[Duprey]

On 7/23/2026 at 7:54 AM, Sayless said:

Based on Alain's files (assuming these are what replaced your PPC pieces), using his posterior plate is "required" due to how the spine plate creates a square rear protrusion. While this isn't screen-accurate to how the armor is physically assembled, it functions the same because the components are worn together as one unit.

 

When properly assembled, the spine plate should slide under the rear belt, wedging the butt plate into place. However, because these digital files don't fit perfectly together, expect to do some manual sanding and shaping during post-processing. See the attached mockup for reference:

Thank you.  I did do a print of the front and rear and now I'm seeing how it all fits as basically one unit. The belt was a little tight so i added about ½ on each side. Tomorrow I hoping to do another fit test with the complete setup. 

[Duprey]

On 7/23/2026 at 7:54 AM, Sayless said:

Based on Alain's files (assuming these are what replaced your PPC pieces), using his posterior plate is "required" due to how the spine plate creates a square rear protrusion. While this isn't screen-accurate to how the armor is physically assembled, it functions the same because the components are worn together as one unit.

 

When properly assembled, the spine plate should slide under the rear belt, wedging the butt plate into place. However, because these digital files don't fit perfectly together, expect to do some manual sanding and shaping during post-processing. See the attached mockup for reference:

What i got so far. 

[Duprey]

Now I'm printing the new chest plate that came with this file and hoping it will sit closer up at the top. This one has a pretty big gap and if i push the top in the bottom rocks outward. 

[Sayless]

17 minutes ago, Duprey said:

What i got so far. 

 

This looks good! You made surprisingly quick work of printing and painting this. 

 

9 minutes ago, Duprey said:

Now I'm printing the new chest plate that came with this file and hoping it will sit closer up at the top. This one has a pretty big gap and if i push the top in the bottom rocks outward. 

 

You'll probably just need to tighten your strapping up top to accommodate, as the upper shoulder section should sit against your chest.

[Duprey]

1 hour ago, Sayless said:

 

This looks good! You made surprisingly quick work of printing and painting this. 

 

 

You'll probably just need to tighten your strapping up top to accommodate, as the upper shoulder section should sit against your chest.

Thanks,  yea i was looking at that but as soon as i push the top inward the bottom pushes out. Either the abdomen top is out too far or the chest piece isn't built properly to fit this abdomen piece.  So I'm printing the part now that will hopefully fit better and eliminate the gap.

[Sayless]

There's been a bit of variety in the the non-saga costumes over the years, so it's a bit dependent on what you're going for...

 

If you're attempting an R1-style set of armor, there's a small gap between the abdomen and bottom lip of the chestplate:

 

 

Whereas the newer/later suits are more "flush" but still have a small gap present. Part of the issue I believe you're running into is the upper part of your abdomen print does flare too far outward. I make no claim to be an expert in this field, and there are more with far more experience than me, but with what knowledge I do possess I can attest the armor is a barrel-style with a minor (and I'm talking minor) outward flare at the top. If anything, from the waist to mid-chest it's a straight approach with a subtle top curve... hard to see, but this is a decent side angle of it (from an R1 production piece):

 

Alain's files are really good given when they came out... just slightly exaggerated in some areas. Better than PPC, or Akira's files in several ways.

Edited 2 hours ago by Sayless

[Duprey]

24 minutes ago, Sayless said:

There's been a bit of variety in the the non-saga costumes over the years, so it's a bit dependent on what you're going for...

 

If you're attempting an R1-style set of armor, there's a small gap between the abdomen and bottom lip of the chestplate:

 

 

Whereas the newer/later suits are more "flush" but still have a small gap present. Part of the issue I believe you're running into is the upper part of your abdomen print does flare too far outward. I make no claim to be an expert in this field, and there are more with far more experience than me, but with what knowledge I do possess I can attest the armor is a barrel-style with a minor (and I'm talking minor) outward flare at the top. If anything, from the waist to mid-chest it's a straight approach with a subtle top curve... hard to see, but this is a decent side angle of it (from an R1 production piece):

 

Alain's files are really good given when they came out... just slightly exaggerated in some areas. Better than PPC, or Akira's files in several ways.

Yea there is a very slight outward flare but I think if i cut and angle the top edge and slope it, it will help it sit better as well.  

Thanks again!!