Episode 9 Stormtrooper research (Caution Spoilers Ahead)

[hestonkent]

re: Germain, I saw your reply and can assure you none of whatever models you put out for the pistol will be used in mine. There's actually some distinct differences here, such as I noticed they went with a glock 17 pattern grip rather than the g19, so your models wouldn't be terribly helpful anyways. 

 

So far the most detailed images Ive been able to get are the hot toys model youtube video gmrhodes linked a page or two back. Those have been incredibly helpful with my modeling, however a big problem occured to me. 

 

We've seen stuff in the past where models like these that are included with toys have several inaccuracies, and i'm noticing a few different details that are different between the blasters included in the hot toys model and the ones carried by the sith troopers at SDCC. I will say my current model is heavily based off of the toy replica since there's so much detail to be had off that version. 

 

Perhaps if I do a run of these blasters, I may consider releasing a version now that's as accurate as I think i can get between all the images from SDCC and the likes, and then later after december or whenever we can get some confirmed 100% accurate footage/images of the screen used props, I can go back and fix the model and re-release another version with the fixes. And I was kicking around the idea of giving the folks who order the pre-release version a 50% discount off the post-release version, this way there's somewhat of a 'psuedo-deposit', if you will, on the post release version. That way you can have the option of having something sooner thats as accurate as it gets, and then have something later that will hopefully match everything on screen. 

 

I've been spending literally every minute of free time I have (which these days is slim) on this model and I'm very happy with the progress i've been able to make. Definitely getting close, hopefully should have something to show within a week or so and when I do it'll be a physical 'prototype', not just the model. 

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

9 hours ago, hestonkent said:

re: Germain, I saw your reply and can assure you none of whatever models you put out for the pistol will be used in mine. There's actually some distinct differences here, such as I noticed they went with a glock 17 pattern grip rather than the g19, so your models wouldn't be terribly helpful anyways. 

Not sure what you're meaning here. Both the TFA and TLJ SE-44C are based on the Glock 17 (Gen 3 if I remember right). Actually the TLJ  blasters use practical airsoft reproductions of the Glock 17 instead of a custom made Glock like the TFA. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Sithtrooper's blaster were using an airsoft Glock too.

[kman[TK]]

The toy looks surprisingly close, but there are a few differences to the on-screen blaster.  Fairly minor, but present.

Edited August 2, 2019 by kman

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Cool looking blaster none the less

[hestonkent]

13 hours ago, The5thHorseman said:

Not sure what you're meaning here. Both the TFA and TLJ SE-44C are based on the Glock 17 (Gen 3 if I remember right). Actually the TLJ  blasters use practical airsoft reproductions of the Glock 17 instead of a custom made Glock like the TFA. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Sithtrooper's blaster were using an airsoft Glock too.

It has admittedly been awhile since i looked over your pistol models but i seem to recall they were based off of the glock 19 frame. I dont personally own a g19 but ive handled many and thats what it closely resembled with the shortness of the grip. Perhaps you have updated the models since. Either way, i'm using a different g17 model to base the grip off of. 

 

Theres definitely some differences between the toy and the blasters shown at SDCC. Again, for now i'm heavily basing my model off the toy as i think that's probably the best bet for most of the detail, but definitely taking some of the cues from the pictures ive seen from SDCC as well. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Some pretty cool detail for a toy.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Wow!

[hestonkent]

Thought maybe it would be fun to share this here - 

 

I've been experimenting with different coatings for my parts and came across a suggestion to use polyurethane and plastic bonding spray paint combined quickly. Much to my surprise, it left a very interesting (almost leather-like) texture to the part...

 

 

 

This is a part off the new blaster specifically, which is why it's a little relevant here. 

 

I should have something to show by wednesday or so.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

I already had this effect happening to something I was painting, but with a regular spray can of white paint. Basically it's a reaction that happens when you don't lay your paint properly. For me it was because I laid a top layer of paint that was far too thick and before that the previous underneath layer had had enough time to settle.

The parkerizing effect is interesting nonetheless. It reminded me of the paint some used for their e-11 blasters. But the pattern you get is quite big, and I'm not sure you can reproduce it reliably every time.

Edited August 13, 2019 by The5thHorseman

[hestonkent]

4 hours ago, The5thHorseman said:

I already had this effect happening to something I was painting, but with a regular spray can of white paint. Basically it's a reaction that happens when you don't lay your paint properly. For me it was because I laid a top layer of paint that was far too thick and before that the previous underneath layer had had enough time to settle.

The parkerizing effect is interesting nonetheless. It reminded me of the paint some used for their e-11 blasters. But the pattern you get is quite big, and I'm not sure you can reproduce it reliably every time.

Yeah! Talking with some friends it seems that this is due to overcoating with paint, however that was specifically in the instructions for the coating i was trying out to over-coat with paint and then polyurethane spray immediately after. Apparently its more likely to happen on parts with infill facing upward because of the individual extrusions of infill that the paint grabs onto when it's drying. 

 

That combined with the polyurethane gave a really solid feel to it though which makes me think it would be great for replicating this in the future with different projects that might call for a texture of this sort. Perhaps an object that needs a little bit of "grippyness" or a leather kinda look in the future, this would work well with. 

[hestonkent]

Sidenote - did the blaster get a name designation anywhere, or are we just calling it the "Episode IX blaster" for now? 

Edited August 13, 2019 by hestonkent

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

 

Interesting info on this Tshirt

 

Spoilers ahead

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photos updated gmrhodes13 2021

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

 

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[hestonkent]

Okay so here's my swing at the blaster: 

 

 

 

[Daetrin[Admin]]

7 minutes ago, hestonkent said:

Okay so here's my swing at the blaster: 

 

 

 

Wow - that's fantastic!!

[hestonkent]

I took my best guess at overall length and I came up with about 23.2" with the stock. F-11D is around 24 or 25" IIRC, and given that this looked a tad smaller in the hands as well as it being very obviously based off of the Glock Roni Conversion Kit, that gave me a pretty good idea as to size. 

 

Oh yeah, and ended up using the polyurethane smoothing technique successfully on the red parts and some of the silver parts and as you can see it turned out super great! 

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with where I landed with the design. There's maybe a couple things I want to change just off the top of my head, but I think I'm ready to do a run of these if you guys are interested. 

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Nice work Heston.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Great job Heston that blaster is sweet! 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

First Order Jet Trooper

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Seems Mr kaplan is indeed a busy man.

[JAFO[TK]]

When I look at the helmet I hear Arnie’s line from Predator..,

“You’re one ugly MF!”


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[Sly11[Admin]]

When I look at the helmet I hear Arnie’s line from Predator..,

“You’re one ugly MF!”


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Lol, to true.


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[JAFO[TK]]

A tiniest peak at the jet pack.




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[JAFO[TK]]

And from the left. Those gaskets are as ugly as the face.


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[MacPhisto[TK]]

I see all this discussion of the new Sith Troopers and the Rocket Troopers but where's the love for the FO TKs in Episode IX?  Has anyone noticed any difference between this FO TK and the FO TKs of Episode VIII?  Just curious to know if any differences have been noticed.  Maybe it's in a different thread altogether and I haven't seen it yet.