gwood1234[TK] Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 (edited) Hi guys, thought I'd share this as I've recently cleared as the LFL Promo Trooper and thought it'd be good to start a build thread to show my research. After being a Stunt TK for about a year I've had tons of fun wearing my ANH Stunt TK but wanted to stand out as something unique. I've always loved the Promo Trooper which is somewhat of a mystery. Although it was never featured in the film it was used heavily in the promotional run-up to the 1977 release and is still in use today in Lucasfilm merchandising. SO WHAT IS THE PROMO TROOPER? In 1976 Lucasfilm commissioned several studio shots of the stars of the film including a Stormtrooper. Presumably because of availability of the props, this particular trooper featured a few notable differences to the costume. Instead of the standard issue E-11 this Stormtrooper is seen with an SE14r blaster, probably because the screen-used Sterling rifles were in storage in the UK and not available for the shoot. The other major difference is the holster which is smaller and a different design to the ones used in the film. Apart from this handful of studio shots there is little known about the origin of this costume which was probably thrown together from parts they had after filming had completed. THE BUILD Using my current DA Props ANH Stunt TK as the base for the armour I bought a new Hero style lid, again from DA Props. The actual Promo Trooper lid is still in the LFL archives and can be seen here. It's great to see it's still in good shape although the bubble lenses have been lost... Using these photos as reference I followed every detail - even down to the gaps in the ears! THE BLASTER The SE14r blaster was a challenge to track down. My original plan to commission a 3D print was a problem as most of the files out there are based on the newer Rogue One Deathtrooper version which has more detail and looks completely different the Promo version. Finally I managed to find a resin kit on ebay although this needed a lot of work. The front barrel 'fin' was missing so this had to be added. I crafted this from a piece of ABS and glued in place. I also wanted to replace the resin scope for a real 4x20 scope which meant removing and retooling the scope mount. Really happy with the finished result - it has a really nice weight to it too. THE HOLSTER Again, this was a tricky accessory to track down although I was lucky enough to get help from Clive Barzillia (Burkbench Designs) to get one custom made. The detail on this is incredible, even down to the leather which is brown tan dyed black. Once this arrived it was just a case of adding the two extra rivets to the belt. FINISHED! Really thrilled to bits with how this turned out! I even managed to recreate one of the original studio poses below - I'm on the left and the original 1976 shot on the right! Here's some more recent shots: Edited March 20, 2018 by gwood1234 6 Quote
CableGuy[TK] Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 Superb, Gareth. That looks awesome!! Quote
Ruthar[TK] Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 Marvelous work! I've always enjoyed the look of the promo trooper - so cool to see it come to life. 1 Quote
Harbinger[IPM] Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 Nice work! PS: You work at a brewery or something? 1 Quote
gwood1234[TK] Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Posted March 20, 2018 Updated with new images. 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted March 20, 2018 Report Posted March 20, 2018 On 3/12/2018 at 2:40 PM, Harbinger said: Nice work! PS: You work at a brewery or something? Those are blue milk storage tanks. 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted March 20, 2018 Report Posted March 20, 2018 2 hours ago, gwood1234 said: Updated with new images. Awesome job, brother. Thanks for sharing these!! Quote
ninjagrips Posted March 22, 2018 Report Posted March 22, 2018 Hi guys, thought I'd share this as I've recently cleared as the LFL Promo Trooper and thought it'd be good to start a build thread to show my research. After being a Stunt TK for about a year I've had tons of fun wearing my ANH Stunt TK but wanted to stand out as something unique. I've always loved the Promo Trooper which is somewhat of a mystery. Although it was never featured in the film it was used heavily in the promotional run-up to the 1977 release and is still in use today in Lucasfilm merchandising. SO WHAT IS THE PROMO TROOPER? In 1976 Lucasfilm commissioned several studio shots of the stars of the film including a Stormtrooper. Presumably because of availability of the props, this particular trooper featured a few notable differences to the costume. Instead of the standard issue E-11 this Stormtrooper is seen with an SE14r blaster, probably because the screen-used Sterling rifles were in storage in the UK and not available for the shoot. The other major difference is the holster which is smaller and a different design to the ones used in the film. Apart from this handful of studio shots there is little known about the origin of this costume which was probably thrown together from parts they had after filming had completed. THE BUILD Using my current DA Props ANH Stunt TK as the base for the armour I bought a new Hero style lid, again from DA Props. The actual Promo Trooper lid is still in the LFL archives and can be seen here. It's great to see it's still in good shape although the bubble lenses have been lost... Using these photos as reference I followed every detail - even down to the gaps in the ears! THE BLASTER The SE14r blaster was a challenge to track down. My original plan to commission a 3D print was a problem as most of the files out there are based on the newer Rogue One Deathtrooper version which has more detail and looks completely different the Promo version. Finally I managed to find a resin kit on ebay although this needed a lot of work. The front barrel 'fin' was missing so this had to be added. I crafted this from a piece of ABS and glued in place. I also wanted to replace the resin scope for a real 4x20 scope which meant removing and retooling the scope mount. Really happy with the finished result - it has a really nice weight to it too. THE HOLSTER Again, this was a tricky accessory to track down although I was lucky enough to get help from Clive Barzillia (Burkbench Designs) to get one custom made. The detail on this is incredible, even down to the leather which is brown tan dyed black. Once this arrived it was just a case of adding the two extra rivets to the belt. FINISHED! Really thrilled to bits with how this turned out! I even managed to recreate one of the original studio poses below - I'm on the left and the original 1976 shot on the right! Here's some more recent shots: Nice work! This has always been my idealized trooper. When I think of Stormtroopers, I picture this one.Can you share more about how you reworked the scope and mount on the blaster?Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk 3 Quote
Daetrin[Admin] Posted March 23, 2018 Report Posted March 23, 2018 You also look vaguely familiar ;-) http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_hero If you guys weren't aware, Gareth did such an outstanding job that we asked him to be the new CRL model. Well done Gareth! 3 Quote
Ruthar[TK] Posted March 23, 2018 Report Posted March 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, Daetrin said: You also look vaguely familiar ;-) http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_hero If you guys weren't aware, Gareth did such an outstanding job that we asked him to be the new CRL model. Well done Gareth! Fantastic - certainly well-deserved! Quote
rentailor Posted May 29, 2018 Report Posted May 29, 2018 Wish I knew this was an actual CRL! I've been Trooping and emulating this promo trooper for years. I was told just to do a ANH Tk and carry my se-14r. Great thread! I find this trying to find the real scope used on this blaster. Quote
rentailor Posted May 29, 2018 Report Posted May 29, 2018 I've long since changed how my scope is mounted, but still think the scope was different than Chewie's Tesco 4x20s. Shape is different. I always thought the holster was the standard E-11 one. Why do you think its different? I was overjoyed to see the two new holster options for the Se-14r in R1. Quote
rentailor Posted May 29, 2018 Report Posted May 29, 2018 My kids wear the cool Promo trooper shirts Target used to carry and I turned one into a patch for the back of my jacket. Glad to see I'm not the only one obsessed with the promo trooper! I'll post pics. Quote
gwood1234[TK] Posted May 29, 2018 Author Report Posted May 29, 2018 Hi rentailor - yes it’s a very different build to the norm as it’s more than just a Hero TK. It was great fun to put together especially matching the smallest paint rubs and defects on the lid so it was as close as I could make it to the original Promo :) Quote
rentailor Posted May 29, 2018 Report Posted May 29, 2018 12 hours ago, gwood1234 said: Hi rentailor - yes it’s a very different build to the norm as it’s more than just a Hero TK. It was great fun to put together especially matching the smallest paint rubs and defects on the lid so it was as close as I could make it to the original Promo You nailed it! I'm looking for bubble lenses now! Quote
gwood1234[TK] Posted May 30, 2018 Author Report Posted May 30, 2018 Look up Burkbench Designs on Facebook - Clive makes them and they’re excellent quality Quote
rentailor Posted May 31, 2018 Report Posted May 31, 2018 23 hours ago, gwood1234 said: Look up Burkbench Designs on Facebook - Clive makes them and they’re excellent quality Thanks!!! Oh, where did you find out the holster was smaller? Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.