New Trooper under construction

[SW1]

Nice , i do like the Hero , to many Stunts and not enough Hero's

[Sonnenschein]

I spray painted the rivets as well as the rubber hand guards. I think I prefer the plastic ones personally though with the Normex gloves. I just seems to feel better, and looks nicer.

 

 

 

Spray paint won't stick to the hand guards.

 

May ask where you got these? The desgin is quite..... interesting.

 

Karin

[Sparrow]

I used plastic spray paint on them. The paint stayed, at least so far but is very tacky, but disappearing over time. Not that it matters anyway as I have decided to go with the abs ones that came with the suit. It makes it look more uniform. I got them from Mike at Trooperbay. However I do like your look with yours, especially the nuckle grooves. If I go latex I'll keep you in mind!

[Sonnenschein]

Thanks, Steve!

 

I didn't know trooperbay sold latex hand guards. I guess I'll give my friend Mike a few tips about accuracy

 

Good luck with your build!

[Sparrow]

So I am coming close to the end, at least in regards to construction of the body. I am still waiting on my boots so I haven’t custom fit the calves yet. But I have a question for you veterans, especially the tall ones. Is the black space between the cod and thigh piece okay, or is it too much? I know ideally it should be less, but as I am tall, that would leave a huge gap at the knee, which I don’t want. What do others do?

If I cut the cod, and lowered the crotch an inch, that would improve the look, but then my crotch looks bigger! Thought? suggestions?

[Faie[TK]]

Nice build!

 

My armor SDS

 

[SCTrooper[TK]]

I am no pro, but wait till you get the boot's. The boots will raise the shin armor and then you can raise the thigh pieces, the gap will be smaller

[Sparrow]

Or maybe it is fine and I am just being to picky?

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Or maybe it is fine and I am just being to picky?

 

What is this "too picky" you speak of? I'm not sure anyone on these forums quite gets your meaning.

 

Looking good!

 

Aloha,

 

-Eric

[Sparrow]

My boots have arrived!!

 

Finally I can start doing a full body fitting. Sorry about the pics, but I didn’t have the best lighting and had to take the pictures myself. Only after I took everything off did I remember I had a camera stand!

 

So here are some of the stuff that I still need to address in regards to the body:

• Take in the arms on the body suit as it is currently to baggy in the arms
  
• Strap the forearm to the biceps, to keep it from shifting. This will make the elbow gap a little smaller
  
• Attach snaps or Velcro to the boots to help keep the shins in place
  
• Take in the shins to fit better and add some padding
  
• Finish left thigh
  
• And as I am going for the “factory fresh†look, some sanding and lots of polishing
  
• Still waiting for my neck seal
  

Anything else you might see that needs to be addressed?

 

[Sparrow]

Adjusted the calves today. As they are velcroed in the back, I didn’t trim anything off, in case I ever wish to resize.

I also attached the snaps to attach the biceps to the forearms. I couldn’t find anywhere anyone recommended to place the snaps, so I looked at it logically and put the snaps just on the inside of the elbow, inline with the outside shim.

It worked very well, feels nice and snug. Now the entire arm, including the handplate is connected like a sleeve.

[Spectre]

Looking good mate. Soooo cloose!!

[Sparrow]

Having long legs I found the boots popped out from under the shin armour so I attached a velcro tag to them and inside the shins so as to keep everything nice and snug

 

Edited January 22, 2012 by Sparrow

[Sparrow]

I realized that my back needed some trimming on the side. Mine sticks out to much at the armpit and needs to be trimmed back so as to be more screen accurate.

I can see some indentations in the back as to where the end and return should be, so I will tape those off. The bottom taped off piece will be cut off, and the little white strip will be folded in as a return. Does it look right? Or do I even need a return edge?

Edited January 22, 2012 by Sparrow

[Cardiac[TK]]

Having long legs I found the boots popped out from under the shin armour so I attached a velcro tag to them and inside the shins so as to keep everything nice and snug

 

Very smart idea Steve to keep shim armor aligned. It looks like you sewed to TKboot... with webbing on the back of Velcro as a reinforcement?

[Sparrow]

Exactly, it did the job very nicely

[darksideemt]

No return edge! I personally don't think you need to take off that much, but I'm no expert and it's what you want your suit to be that is the most important.

[Sparrow]

The deed is done. The back plate has been trimmed. I didn’t do a return edge but did slightly curve it in. It has a more accurate look than I had before.

 

BEFORE:

 

 

 

 

SCREEN:

 

NOW:

Edited January 23, 2012 by Sparrow

[Cardiac[TK]]

Exactly, it did the job very nicely

Just completed Sparrow shin alignment mod, it works great! Thanks brother...

[Sparrow]

Troopers helpin Troopers!

[Sparrow]

Been busy this week. The knee guard was screwed in so I glued it on removed the screws and filled the holes in. Unless you know what you are looking for, one can’t find the hole.

 

 

Removed the screws that came with the Ammo Knee pack and replaced them with painted fasteners

 

 

The next mod I did was something I haven’t seen anyone one do, though I am sure some have. I have been costuming for years (mostly as Captain Jack Sparrow, savy?) and my thing has always been to try my best to “maintain the illusion†. What I mean by that is people know you are dressed in a costume, but they want to believe you are the real thing, so when they see something in your costume that reminds them it is just a piece of plastic, it shatters that illusion. An example of this is being able to peek in behind the back plate. The moment someone sees the OII from the inside, it shatters the illusion. So my thought was to add something on the inside that doesn’t remove from the approved outside look, but helps “maintain the illusionâ€.

 

 

So what I did was very simple. I just lined the inside of the back with strips of soft velcro.

 

 

As you can see from below, it did the job very nicely. The way I am bending you are peeking in behind the armour, but there is nothing to see here. Move along! Peeking in behind is no longer an issue and it makes it look like there is more to the armor than there is.

 

 

I also did the same thing with my gloves guards. The velcro is practical as that is how it sticks to the gloves, but I spread it all over, so if someone sees the underside, they see nothing but black, once again helping maintain that illusion.

 

 

I know there are those who would never do this, as it not as it was on the original. However, I don’t wish to look like I walked off the 1976 set, but rather like I walked off a trooper transport. TK Sparrow reporting for duty!

Edited January 30, 2012 by Sparrow

[NastyNoah[TK]]

I know there are those who would never do this, as it not as it was on the original. However, I don’t wish to look like I walked off the 1976 set, but rather like I walked off a trooper transport. TK Sparrow reporting for duty!

I agree with this logic. I want my armor to look like it's from a galaxy far, far away, not a low budget sci-fi movie made 35 years ago.

[Sparrow]

Did a little painting on the ab. It was already painted but only one coat, so I gave it a second one. I tucked in pieces of paper under the buttons, top, bottom, left right so as not to get any paint on the armor. It turned out nicely.

[Cardiac[TK]]

very clever idea with the paper, came out very clean

[LePaul]

Love this thread. I almost dare start on my snap plates lol