My project: from a TM kit to a Tantive IV Boarding Party Stormtrooper

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

I have finally started working on the armor.

 

Just a very few things got done, trimming some parts of both arms....

 

To do it, I followed Paul's adviced when he said that the original armor were really bad trimmed, that I would be fine even if I did it with a fork and a knife (or something). So, using the LFL archive's photos, I started trimming. I am not planning to measure much, just eyeball the measurements based only in screen used armor references.

 

So, it will be a long journey but I intend to do it right from the very beginning.

 

Here is a picture...

 

Mre to come soon.

 

 

Saludos.

Edited June 23, 2013 by iconoclasta_88

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

 

 

They are still not trimmed to my size, but will do that later on.

 

Saludos.

[DarthChridan[TK]]

Oh..Juan...your build goes further...finally....sounds great.

[Rezablad3[TK]]

Juan is back!!!!!

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

THX guys!

I am slowly progressing, but still going slow.

I am working on trimming the rest of the parts, hopefully by monday I will have most of the armor trimmed. 

 

Not considering sanding since I want to keep the careless build feeling on it.

 

Thx for your comments.

 

Saludos.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Been trimming pieces here and there, and wanted to share ny experiences with you and maybe see what you think.

 

Frst I need to say I felt a bit like a jedi in training... WTF?? Yes, I had to unlearn what I had learned.

 

I have built a few sets of armor and maybe a dozen helmets before. Each of them, trying to mske it better more accurate than the previous one. Living by two rules: measure three times, cut one; and, only follow screen used armor references.

 

This has proven to be the best advice I had so far.... But.

 

After studying for hours and hours the real armor in pictures and video, and after reading build threads and wise advice by trooper master, I decided that measuring three times cutting once was not enough to make a ful l replica armor.

 

So... Now I started to follow my prop builder instict and not measure even once, just yo straight ahead and cut. Following what I thought the art department would have done, and considering that I have a LOT of armor info and enough experience building.

 

So far have only about 10 parts trimmed, but comparing them with references, even if it is not a replica of a specific armor, I can already see the resemblance and the very unique ANH look and feel of the armor.

 

Lets see how it turns, but I am feeling very optimistic.

 

 

Any opinions or ideas on this?

 

Thx... Will keep you updated.

 

Saludos.

Edited June 29, 2013 by iconoclasta_88

[troopermaster]

I like your style

 

We have all got this idea of having perfect armour with nice clean edges but that is far from the reality with original ANH armour. The are trimmed very roughly and slapped together, not giving any care whether they line up properly or not. They have glue spilling out from the joining strips and basically look a mess up close. But that is the only way to make a true replica and you heading down the right path, Juan.

 

Nice one, mate

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

THX Paul!

Taking very seriously all your advice!

 

Here are a pair of pictures of other parts. 

No big progress or awesome images... just wanted to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saludos.

Edited July 1, 2013 by iconoclasta_88

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Some progress...

 

I have roughly trimmed most parts except for the main body ones.

Still need to fit and trim many of them, but will be doing that later down the road.

 

Wanted to share some detail pictures of what I memtioned earñier about not sandying, measuring or clean finishing the trimming.

 

Hope it makes sense to you according to what I intend to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

Saludos.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

 

Almost done with first round of timming.

 

Saludos

[Rezablad3[TK]]

Dude, you're flying through..... Although not sanding those edges might be a little bit more screen accurate, but comfort wise, how does it feel? those little sharp edges could dig into the skin i would guess...but thats just my opinion. Keep up the great work Juan.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Thx for your comment bro... About the edges, have no idea if they will be unclnfortable or not, but my guess is not. They are to small to actually go into the skin ror even through the body suit. Ill find out soon I guess.

 

 

 

So...

 

I am almost in the process of putting the arms and legs together, but I have a question about the cover strips. I built my sandtrooper based on cover strips width measurements by Art A a few years back. Remember he said that he took the measurements scaling objects in screen shots from ANH sabdtroopers. I do have the measurements but not sure if I should follow them for stormtroopers aswell or if something new has come up since he built his Davin Felth replica.

 

Ay help will be appreciated.

 

Saludos.

 

Juan.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

And now working my way into the accurate strapping.

 

 

Saludos.

[Rezablad3[TK]]

I'm going with 15mm for the arms, and 20mm for the legs....

[troopermaster]

I go for 15-17mm on the arms and 20-25mm on the legs. On some screen accurate builds I put a 25mm strips on the thighs with 22mm on the shins or 22mm on the thighs and 20mm on the shins, but always 25mm on the backs of the shins (gluing 10mm onto the shin leaving 15mm to cover the gap). Sometimes I cut the corners at 45 degrees and sometimes I leave them square. Sometimes I do a mixture of angled and squared ends on the same suit and vary the widths on either side. These were just costumes that were assembled for a cheap sci-fi movie. They did not agonise over minute details like we do when building armour so you have to use a carefree approach if you want to achieve a truly screen accurate look.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Thx guys!

 

Paul,

Thai is "the exact" measurements I was looking for!

 

I am enjoying this soooo much.

It brought back the fun of it to build it in such a carefree way. It was just too stressing building replicas by every single millimeter. And this way is just more fun and much more accurate, who would have guessed?

 

 

Thx a lot.

 

Saludos

Edited July 10, 2013 by iconoclasta_88

[troopermaster]

That is the problem with all these builds lately. People trying too hard to do this or that a certain way when you should just trim the parts and get it assembled. I know not everyone wants to go for true screen accuracy even though they say they want to be as screen accurate as possible, but the going the way you are, Juan, is the only way to get a screen accurate look. This does not mean you have to take no care in what you are doing, quite the opposite, just look as though it has been rushed or slapped together.

 

Going back to what I said about using different width strips on the same suit, it is quite possible that a lot of the armours in ANH were made like this. For instance, a bunch of ABS formed sheets would be brought in for trimming and I would say all the parts got piled up after being assembled by several people. Each part would be slightly different yet a finished suit could have parts assembled by many different people resulting in wider strips on one side compared to the other.

 

Keep up the great work!

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Yes, 

I understando perfectly. Specially now after progressing a bit on this build. 

It seems that somewhere past on the road, the fun and basic idea of building replica armor was lost and in its place we got the idea that being ultra anal about every single square milimmeter was more important than undersastanding the nature of ANH armor and therefore, the ability of replicating it.

 

It is more fun for me now, but I can understand not everyone will be willing to go down this pad. It took me 7 years understanding that this is what I want, and same time to get the finds to have the proper kit and accessories.

 

Thx for all your insight and input Paul!

 

I will keep on asking stuff and sharing my experience.  Hopefully you and everyone else will enjoy seeing this kit come to life as much as I am enjoying building it.

 

Saludos.

 

Juan

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Ok. Here is another question...

 

I have a new pair of TKboots ready for this project. 

I had the idea of having them painted black by a professional shoemaker and then paint them white myself.

 

Any thoughts on this?

Sounds like a good or bad idea?

 

 

Cant find any thread on this or anyone having gone this way.

 

Saludos.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Already started pitting together some parts. I decided to use a mix of the widths Paul suggested for the cover strips.

 

It won't be two obvious but hopefully having a variation of 1 or 2 mm on the strips will help the armor have that ANH look.

 

Here is a picture so far.

 

 

Will work on a bit more tonite.

 

Saludos.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

 

Worked on the right bicep tonight. Not much but at leats some progress.

 

Really enjoying this build.

 

Saludos.

 

[Rezablad3[TK]]

Loving the progress Juan.... Are you using e6000 to glue evrything together? It seems so clean, im getting glue all over the place...

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Yes! E6000 for me please.

In plan on brushing some white glue on top of the e6000 on certain parts fit the ANH look. But the core is e6000.

 

Saludos.

[Rezablad3[TK]]

Awesome...are going to be using white elmears glue or do you have something else in mind? i plan on  painting some of the black elastics white to make it more like the originals but still unsure of what to use.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

I really dont know yet but guess I will be using a mix of white glue and white paint.

I guess there must be another option, but have not got there.

 

 

 

 

In the mean time, another update on my progress...

 

 

 

 

 

Saludos.