Lee's Shore/Tank Trooper Build - WIP

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

ALLLLLLLRIGHT! How are you guys doing?! Things were great here this week! I actually made some progress in something and will continue to do that throughout my weekend.

 

I spent the whole week undergoing reprints and modifications to make my E-22 rifle work easier for me during the assembly process. So let's go over it a bit shall we?!

 

So let me tell you, instructions on this rifle are kind of slim to none. Sean did do a small pictorial overview of the rifle, but he also missed a lot of steps....Everything had kind of been a guessing game. BUT the vast majority of this thing was assembled from his overview so I'm grateful he had it.

I did run into some snaffu's though along the way. Even though I had carefully sanded the barrel where a 1 inch PVC pipe was going to feed thru, the barrel snapped into 3 chunks. Trust me, I probably would of gotten  yelled at by someone at work where I'v ebeen building this if anyone was there at 5AM hah.

I made it work the best that I could though, I fixed the areas that snapped with some super glue and activator spray and gave it a light sanding while working the pvc pipe into postion. After that everything was pretty straight forward for the vast majority of the assembly process.

 

Which now brings us to here as I"m now in the primer and sanding process. I wanna make a note here to anyone who assembles Sean Field's 3d printed files. He suggests using a 5/64 bit for putting in your M3x10 screws. I'm going to say no, go up 1 more size from that. Which I think was 3/38 I don't recall. Just look at your drill bit set, see 5/64 and go left one and that'll about do it.

 

Also again, when it comes to gluing your pieces, I can't stress enough how using a product like 2P10 is great on PLA prints. Lay down small bits of glue onto one side, then spray the other side with the activator and merge your pieces it'll bond insanely fast and it shouldn't snap off without a lot of force.

 

Tomorrow I'm heading back into the office.....I'll be doing another deal of sanding and primering and installing the remainder of M3x10 screws I have available and then begin my full painting process. Sunday I'll be dry brushing and installing the shoulder sling parts and I'll be done with the rifle.

 

After that, I'll start moving onto reprinting the forearms and improving on those. Maybe Jeremie will have some updated shots for me if he was ever able to start the sanding process on the bucket.

A bit of sand news though, after ordering the last of the Montana Gold from Amazon, I received notice that due to weather (....bunch of crap) my paint won't arrive until the middle of next week. I'm a bit peeved about it honestly seeing how I ordered it to be overnighted and I'm not in the least being compensated back for that.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Very nice. Have I missed where the blaster files came from? Who is this "Sean"?

 

Edit: Found him!

Edited January 21, 2017 by Sith Lord

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Very nice. Have I missed where the blaster files came from? Who is this "Sean"?

 

Edit: Found him!

Sean Field's files. He's got the entire shoretrooper suit and accessories modeled for 3D Printing. You can find them on facebook by joining the Shoretrooper Fam there for free download. That's pretty much how I've been working on my armor.

 

 

Progress report here we go!

I started around 9 this morning back at the office where I wasn't the only one doing their own project so things were fine. I ended up having to buy more torque screws but double the price....I didn't realize I needed so many until yesterday. Homedepot sells them at a 3 pack for 49 cents I was paying .79 PER screw. I'm short I think 3 screws to make it official.....aw well.

 

Painting was also very slow.....the weather is still fairly cold here in the portland area and being a giant warehouse full of empty space makes it difficult to warm everything up. So instead of taking maybe 20-30 minutes for paint to dry was more like 1-2 hours. I got all the neccessary areas painted with atleast 2 coats....now it'll be just touch up work, flat coat and dry brushing with final assembly.

 

I'm certain some areas just aren't right but I truly don't care. It's just been a fun build overall so I hope you guys like the progress photos I"m posting right now.

 

 

 

 

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

And one last bit of progress!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Sean Field's files. He's got the entire shoretrooper suit and accessories modeled for 3D Printing. You can find them on facebook by joining the Shoretrooper Fam there for free download. That's pretty much how I've been working on my armor.

 

Yep. Found and joined the group earlier today. Saw your posts there... Cheers.

 

Build is coming along nicely. Great job

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Yep. Found and joined the group earlier today. Saw your posts there... Cheers.

 

Build is coming along nicely. Great job

Congrats for enlisting there!

 

 

Rifle is done

 

 

 

Great, build, looks fantastic, really happy with the turn out of it.

 

I began printing my new forearms but they are alas incorrect in size and way to large. Thus I'm taking this knowledge and finding a middle ground that'll work. I took the new measurements based on some reference images I found to find a common point. I then took that data and looked at my cura model provided by Sean.....while the length of the forearm is about where I would like it, the width and depth is terribly off and I can't believe would of been his size either.....it's like Schwerzenneger size.

I liked the overall width and depth of the first forearm I did, maybe just a smidge to tight. I upped it almost half an inch wider....this'll give me more than enough clearance over my wrist but will also feel a bit more comfortable at my upper arm.

Not too mention the print time is almost 20 hours less with this new size than the recent print that was to large....wow 20 hours.  I'm looking it over now and it feels right.

 

The next part is rather tricky as I have to size the armor parts similarly. Since some of these are to large as one whole print I have to work on a strategy to keep everything consistent in size.

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Things are going to be quiet for a little while. I'm currently doing a commission print of an E-22 for a friend and might be getting the printer tuned up cause it's acting kind of odd. But I have the forearms done and bicep and shoulder parts scaled and waiting.

I think my friend and I are getting together next weekend and we'll be getting the casting done for both our helmets. He's currently getting the mold ready which is drying right now. I got pictures but photobucket is being a pain and I'd really like to show you guys how it's all looking. Guess it'll have to wait.

 

I got tons of Sahara Beige coming in, and we'll be using flex film for the visors versus butchering an expensive motorcycle visor. I"ll hopefully have something to show before the end of the month when I kick things back into gear.

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Hey I'm sorry everyone I've been so incredibly busy with work. Sadly the printer died, so I pretty much have to call the project quits for now

[cjkirk11]

Sorry to hear that bud, hopefully you can get back at it soon!

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Sorry to hear that bud, hopefully you can get back at it soon!

Yeah it's been fairly heart breaking in the last couple of months when it happened. I sent it off to a friend of mine and he pretty much rebuilt the circuit board and stepper motor and got it working again. With any luck I'll have it back Monday which'll be great. But I don't think I'll be doing much of anything still on this project. I don't want to be a fat storm trooper looking weird with a 60 inch gut hanging out like I went to the mess hall more than doing patrol. But I'll eventually get back into this project I think. Mean time, I've looked into an alternative cosplay and making plans to pursuing it soon.

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

Wow, wow wow........WOW. It's been almost 2 years since I last posted anything on this project and a lot has changed. I'm actually going to be restarting this from the ground up....it'll be tough but it can be done.

 

Since decommissioning this project back in December of 2017 a lot has changed. I'm nearly 60 pounds lighter, nearly 10 inches thinner around my waist. I'm now a full fledged 501st member with my first costume being a Tie Pilot and am about to hit my Double Ace wings after just 9 months of trooping. With that, I'm about to finish a new set of armor I got from a friend as a Clone Commando and that's inspired me to go further beyond and increase my costume selection.

 

Back in March I took my mother on her birthday to Emerald City Comic-Con, there I came across the Anovos booth, I know I know, aNOvos....but when they got things in stock, you kind of wanna buy something. Luckily I came across not only a special forces FOTI, but a Tank helmet. I couldn't resist and ended up buying it. Since then I've been buying my time to further understand what I need to accomplish my next objective.

 

My garrison CO and good buddy, Luke Killiam, is the only person I know who is active in his Shore Trooper armor that he got from Jim Tripon. The last 6 months I've helped him put that blasted suit on almost a dozen times, getting a really good feel over the construction and strapping of the suit.

 

Thus the time has come to take a serious step into a new direction. As I'm preparing the submit my RC-Delta, I'm beginning the process of not only working on a Tank Trooper but ALSO a Shore Trooper using Sean Field's 2.0 files again. I sadly don't have anything from when I first did this project in 2016, it was all thrown out in frustration.

Now, I'm confident, I'm skilled, and I'm hungry to start again.

 

So starting now, until completion, this page will refocus the drive and intensity of doing TWO kits at the sametime. Ambitious? You bet! Easy? Only if you're a fool or the fool who follows.

This will be stressful, this will be exhausting, but by god it'll be fun and I can't wait to start showing off progress.

 

As of right now, I have a Tank Trooper helmet, Jodphur pattern on order and will make my own, and a tank trooper under shirt provided by Imperial Boots. Four rolls of filament have been sent to my friend who currently has my printer in his possession, and with 3 printers at his house, I'm rather hopeful he'll be cranking parts out.

I'm hoping by my next paycheck I will get my boots and gloves purchased to complete my tank troopers under suit and purchase more filament to deliver to him.

My goal is to have a fully printed set of armor by end of June, with a ready to wear and submitted set of armor by end of July as my first year anniversary hits. Following that I'll begin work of my Shore kit which will be ready by September just in time for Rose City Comic-con.

 

Hope you all look forward to the updates as they happen!

[daryldoak[TK]]

I’d recommend starting a build on the ACD forums.

 

http://www.armoredcavalry.net/

 

You’ll get better driver build feedback on those forums.

[Hikuro1983[501st]]

7 hours ago, daryldoak said:

I’d recommend starting a build on the ACD forums.

 

http://www.armoredcavalry.net/

 

You’ll get better driver build feedback on those forums.

Good advice, signed up.

 

Do got a couple of updates. The hand plates, and a shoulder bell are printed. Checked for scaling, and while the shoulder bell might be a bit big, everything thus far matches very closely to other kits I've come across such as Jim Tripon and 850 AW's. That's very encouraging. With any luck I'll be heading to my friend's house friday to pick up the first set of parts.

[sandtrooper[501st]]

Good luck on your build!  The tank trooper is such a cool costume.  Glad you are doing it.