Ruthar's AM 2.0 TD Build Thread

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

My garrison is mostly in the western part of the state so I may do some troops with guys downstate. Maybe we can meet then.

[Ruthar[TK]]

My garrison is mostly in the western part of the state so I may do some troops with guys downstate. Maybe we can meet then.

 

Most definitely! I've been up to Albany a few times for this and that, so perhaps I shall add a troop or two up that way in the years to come!

[Ruthar[TK]]

My uncle is a huge Star Wars fan and was actually the fellow who got me started on my own journey as a big fan of the franchise many moons ago, so we decided to surprise him with being greeted to Thanksgiving dinner by a Sandtrooper.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all you marvelous troopers here on FISD!
 
(luckily for me, mom's a photographer so she got some great shots)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Pouch and neck seal should be arriving in the mail tomorrow and then it's time for some submission photos to get into the marvelous 501st. Exciting times ahead for sure, but in the wise words of Yoda...
 
"But now, we must eat. Come! Good food. Come!"

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Looking good brother! A few suggestions would be to thin out the ear some more. It's still pretty thick on the curve part. Your sniper plate looks like it is catching your thigh. When you put it on did you build up a few layers of ABS scraps so it sticks out a bit? So the V point at the bottom is flat but the main diamond has some backing and will point outwards like /<br><br>

I painted more yesterday and check with what your GML wants to see but mine wanted me to dull or wash out a lot of the white away. I did this by wetting the rag I used to rub away weathering with and rubbing the entire armor down. I know the trooper you're emulating isn't very dirty though. Just message your GML to get an idea what he's looking for.

[Ruthar[TK]]

Looking good brother! A few suggestions would be to thin out the ear some more. It's still pretty thick on the curve part. Your sniper plate looks like it is catching your thigh. When you put it on did you build up a few layers of ABS scraps so it sticks out a bit? So the V point at the bottom is flat but the main diamond has some backing and will point outwards like /<br><br>

I painted more yesterday and check with what your GML wants to see but mine wanted me to dull or wash out a lot of the white away. I did this by wetting the rag I used to rub away weathering with and rubbing the entire armor down. I know the trooper you're emulating isn't very dirty though. Just message your GML to get an idea what he's looking for.

Thanks! In terms of the knee plate rubbing - it clears it but barely. Do you mean making the top of it lean forward a bit so the thigh is slightly behind it? Just having a bit of trouble visualizing what you're talking about is all. But thanks for all the continued helpful comments!

[Comfy Turtle]

looks amazing, i'm just waiting on gloves and clips and then i think i'm ready too.  we are going to make it just in time for the premiere!

 

i like the weathering, not overly done

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Make about 5 stacks of rectangles and glue it behind the center of the diamond. It'll make it stick forward so it won't catch the thigh.

[Ruthar[TK]]

Make about 5 stacks of rectangles and glue it behind the center of the diamond. It'll make it stick forward so it won't catch the thigh.

 

Ah ok, gotcha! I shall certainly try that.

 

A few more things this afternoon - sanded the sharp ends of the shoulders as they were digging in quite annoyingly, assembled some more 'amm'o for the shoulder pouch, and got the last piece I've been waiting for in the mail - the large spanish pouch for the left side of the belt.

 

 

 

[Comfy Turtle]

do those get heavy? or is it just hollow plastic or wood?

[Ruthar[TK]]

do those get heavy? or is it just hollow plastic or wood?

 

The clips are just 9.5" lengths of square aluminum tubing with some little extras on them so they aren't that heavy, but certainly more weighty than just balsa wood. They make the pouches look nice and full which is what I was going for.

[Ruthar[TK]]

Starting a new piece of the puzzle tonight. Let's see what we can do!

 

[Ruthar[TK]]

Took that pile of stuff above and started making some things with it. I was awed by this thread over on MEPD, so I figured I would give it a try myself.
 
First, I sanded down the plastic container so it has a nice rough surface to paint. Then, I installed the flashlight pieces on the end and the screws/straps assembly. Once all that was connected, I sealed up the container with E6000 along the edges of the lid which I then locked down. After that, super glue and balsa wood to give the electrobinocular ridged texture as seen in the movies. Then I trimmed down the PVC detail piece on top and set it within the balsa tracks and surrounded it with some sanded balsa pieces. Once all that was done, I used air drying clay to mold some thickness around pieces such as the flashlight tips. I've never worked with this stuff before, so I'm interested to see how (or if) it will work at all. It's all about experimenting after all I suppose! Anyhow, this is where we got after all that.
 

 
Tomorrow I will affix the eye pieces, some detail pieces on that side, and the brow edge part. I think I'm going to heat and bend some leftover ABS for that, but I'll toy around with that more tomorrow.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Looks awesome!

[Ruthar[TK]]

Looks awesome!

Thanks, man!

 

Did a bit more this evening, too. Made the faceplate with the two eye pieces and small detail stuff. I will glue pieces of spare ABS to the angle brackets, but first I need to wait for the epoxy to dry that is holding the faceplate to the main body.

 

Faceplate:

 

Waiting on epoxy to set:

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I'm no where near crafty enough to build that on my own. Shoot, I'm going to have my pack built for me as it is. 

[BobasDent1138]

I am SO picking these materials up at lowes! I don't even have a TK yet but I want the electrobinoculars! Thanks for the pics!

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Very cool, looking awesome

[Ruthar[TK]]

Glad you guys like them so far! It's certainly been fun to try and recreate them from scratch. Installed the ABS pieces around the eyepieces and finished up putting the air dry clay around the edges of the container's lid to hide the fact that it's just a piece of Tupperware. Also took some scrap ABS with a return edge and formed it into ABS brackets to cover the straps and screws. Once the clay is dry enough, then it's onto some painting and finishing up!
 

 

 

 

[BobasDent1138]

I have to ask what clay is that? The air dry clay I've gotten dries but shrinks and cracks :/ I can't seem to find one that dries as-is

 

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[Ruthar[TK]]

It's basically the same stuff as Crayola's Model Magic. So far it seems to be doing alright though it does tend to take a while to harden. The good news is that it's quite light, so it doesn't really add much to the overall weight of the build. It claims you can sand it as well, so I have a few sheets of high grit sandpaper to smooth it out before painting over everything.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Loving this binocular build 

[Ruthar[TK]]

Loving this binocular build 

 

Thanks, I'm certainly glad!

 

Got home from work this afternoon so decided to start the base coats of white. Once that's finished, I'll add silver accents so it has a metallic look and then weather it with the same techniques as my armor.

 

 

[Ruthar[TK]]

Started on some of the final coats tonight - silver for a more metallic feel and black to simulate oil in a few places. Insides of the eye pieces and lenses are black as well to give a little more depth.  Once this dries a bit I will do some passes of the burnt umber to match the armor - gotta get the sand in all the hard to reach places! A few more progress shots:

 

 

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

That's awesome. Great build

[Ruthar[TK]]

That's awesome. Great build

 

Thanks, glad you like it!

 

Finished the final painting a little bit ago, so now that it's pretty dry it's time for some final shots of the electrobinoculars. I added a few detail pieces on the PVC parts as it didn't feel right to just have empty holes, it didn't feel totally 'functional' without them - a metal ring and some plastic innards from the flashlights I dissected for the build was all it seemed to take. I haven't decided what I will actually do with them yet - either figure out a way to attach them to the belt with a clip of some sort or just wait until I have a backpack and attach them there. I will have to think of some options, but without further ado, here are some shots.