themaninthesuitcase 3D printed TLJ build

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

So it turns out my wife is a bit of enabler.  Around 10 or so days ago she starts asking about why I don't 3D print a costume, to pass the time during lockdown. Maybe a Death Trooper like our friend did or maybe a First Order Stormtrooper.....

 

So I present the next in my semi regular series I like to call: Projects I am starting but may not finish.

 

I know someone who is also printing one and also asked around and also asked a few UKG FOTKs for a bit of advice.

 

I am going to be using these files: https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/art/other/star-wars-tlj-storm-trooperhelmet-chest-shoulder-armour-ep8

 

They aren't perfect, I've already adjusted a 1 file for accuracy and will probably need to adjust more either before or after printing.  They also will need adjusting for fit, there's far less flex in this than with the ABS or Jim kits.  I have printed 2 Ab sections and stopped to double check my measuring. Once I am happy I'll probably need to start over due the below

 

Another isssue I have found is as I need to scale some things, I have to do multiple items as a group so they all scale from the same point, and will still fit after printing.  I am using meshmixer to do this, though I have also bought armoursmith to try help with the sizing.

 

 

For example if you scale the ab section and the boxes seperately then once you go to fit the boxes to the plate the fit is off and so it won't sit properly.

 

To get started I didn't have a huge amount of filament, so whilst I waited for some more to arrive I printed the knee plates, hand plates, and the helmet beak which used all the filament I had.

 

 

I ordered some Monoprice PLA+ to try and it seems to be a good choice so far.  It's cheap, prints good enough that the mandatory sanding won't be a nightmare and also takes the afore mentioned sanding well.

 

 

 

The first "fix" I have done is to improve the accuracy of the hand plate.  The "indent" that face forwards was just no good.  Rather than try fix it with filler and drills I went back to the provided V1 file where it was missing.  I took this into fusion and modified it with a far more accurate version, or at least I hope so.

 

 

I also, after a EPIC screw up by the main UK video game store, treated my self to a DLP resin 3D printer to chear my self up.  Not gotten far with this but have printed some of the helmet detail parts and plan on printing all small details on it as I get to them.

 

There's a bit of a learning curve, as with all new technologies, but I'm starting down the path.

 

There were a few failures:

 

and some sucesses:

 

Looking forwards to getting better with this technology.

 

So on to things I already have:

 

• 3D printed SC-44C, TFA version needs finishing. I'm not sure if I'll swap to the TLJ yet as they are rather close from more than a few inches away.
• 3D printed F-11D Standard by 5th Horseman (also needs finishing)

 

The blasters will be getting some new parts from the resin printer so they look better, also getting the paints I need may need to wait for the world to re-open.  I've also ordered the smallest torch I could find and have modified the 2 parts to try and fit it. I'll start a build thread for that at some point.

 

Ordered:

• Imperial Boots
• Imperial Boots Gloves - bit nervous of these as I was between sizes and they aren't cheap.  But I HAVE lost feeling in my hands due to gloved being too tight which took days to return to normal so I hedged up not down.

 

Lots of work to do yet, and not sure when I'll be ordering things like the gaskets and undersuit/some shiny shorts. 

 

I also need to find some more reference images, and dig through some more build threads to check things like fit and position of where things sit etc.

Learning curve example:

Whilst taking the photos this morning I noticed one hand guard was missing it's bottom layers!  I was playing with the settings on the print and clearly pressed the wrong thing.  Not a huge issue, I can fix this part with some filler but just shows some of the issues you may run into on a build like this.  Worst case I can re-print it's about 3h a hand guard.  I also plan on casting these for both fun and to be able have a couple of spares in the case.

 

[joshuasme[TK]]

Good luck

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to seeing the progress, good luck.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Took a day or so off to organise.  There's a lot to deal with in this project: about 17-18 armour pieces (made up who knows how many sub components), 2 blasters and a helmet that all need more planning than "that bit looks like a good one to do next".

 

I went through all the blaster parts I have and decided what needs a reprint in resin.  Modified some to make it easier to add electronics to them.  Things like adding a switch on the mag holder, went for a bigger one to make it easier to use but in the correct place, and hollowing out the Hengstler to make more room.

 

I now have a plan for all those and will slowly work through the list.  Some parts will be grey as shown above and I picked up some black for bits that will be black to help with con damage. 

 

The first plate came out prefect but was ruined when I washed them. There was a build up of old resin in the cleaning tub that stuck to the new parts.  This has now been filtered and so should prevent future mishaps.   It was a bit cold today due to rain so will re-run that plate again another day.

 

Picture for interest: on the resin front here is my UV curing "bucket".  It's a Rogue One Popcorn bucket lined with almost 5m of 405nm UV LEDs.

 

 

 

Don't look in there, it's bad for your eyes.  I take care to ensure its not on when not covered.

 

I also scaled all of the upper body armour to what I think should fit me.  It's up at 105% in the horizontal planes, and no change to height. 

 

The scaling was done part using armorsmith, partly in meshmixer.  Armorsmith I'm using for a "does this look about right all together", this is so that nothing ends up out of proportion with the whole.  Whilst 5% doesn't sound like a lot it's better to be able to see it before you spend days and money printing.  The actual scaling was all in meshmixer.  I won't go into to much detail as the plan is to make some videos on this process but I need to figure it out for my self first.

 

 

This shows all parts after import into mesh mixer, combining, scaling, separating and then finally renaming.

 

I also did was a couple of sizing tests.  I was a bit worried about if certain parts would fit me after my scaling.

 

Rather than print 4 full sections at about 11-13 hours each and over half a roll of filament, I cut out a ring from the model in the area I was most concerned about.  I have child bearing hips my mother used to say...  This was then cut up to fit onto my printer and printed as fast as I could get it to.  We don't need quality here, it's only a test.

 

 

This hopefully shows what I mean, I've move the parts to exaggerate what I am doing.

 

Once this was printed out, which took about 4 hours for all of it, I was able to super glue it together.  You need to let the glue truly set, so leave it for a few hours or you'll just break the glue when you flex it.

 

 

I also did a slice from the chest plate as a check for further up the body

 

You can then use the slice as a real test of size on your actual body.

 

Tomorrow I will start printing part 1 of 8 abdomen parts.  I'm able to print about 1 a day as I only print during the day and only have a single printer.

 

I've taken a short screen capture as an experiment to see how I will make the videos so you might as well get to see it.  It's rough as I didn't plan on actually making it until I was checking my work at the end.

 

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

First ab section is done (bottom row, rear to my right side).

 

 

I printed it with 2 perimeters and 5% infill to keep it light and as flexible as possible.  This means it's currently a little translucent when held to the light.  Looks pretty cool.

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

This is a great thread Chris, I'm pretty excited to see this all come together.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Seeing as the Abdomen section is coming along nicely, part 4/8 is printing today, I started prepping the next section.  I figured the back plate will be a logical follow on and allow me to slowly build up the armour as you would want to put it on.

 

I went to look at @ukswrath build TFA build thread for some detail on the shoulder support tabs.  I've decided to add these before printing to make life easier later and reduce the need to cut things out later.  (see: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31877-ukswraths-fotk-build-thread/page/11/?tab=comments#comment-442849 and https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31877-ukswraths-fotk-build-thread/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-447251)

 

 

 

I think these look about right,  but some feed back would be nice.  Each hole is 30mm x 2.5mm  which is more or less what Tony used but metric because I can't deal with Imperial units.

 

I may fine tune the positions some more though as they could be a shade more evenly placed.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Wow this is fantastic work Chris

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

A penny dropped earlier:  On the TFA suits there were some triangles on the back of the back plate behind the neck.  I can't prove either way on the TLJ suits as there just isn't a frame i can use, but I also can't really imagine them removing them.

 

 

So I may have an issue.

[funkster[TK]]

I’m going to be getting some made and then added/filled on top

 

Fear not

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

5 minutes ago, funkster said:

I’m going to be getting some made and then added/filled on top

 

Fear not

Hero!

[Cricket[TK]]

2 hours ago, themaninthesuitcase said:

A penny dropped earlier:  On the TFA suits there were some triangles on the back of the back plate behind the neck.  I can't prove either way on the TLJ suits as there just isn't a frame i can use, but I also can't really imagine them removing them.

 

So I may have an issue.

 

Enjoying watching you with the full-sized build of these files!  

Just curious as to why you're not scaling things in Armorsmith?  You can make the parts transparent so you can see exactly how the armor fits relative to your frame underneath it without any guess work.  

And about the back plate, I saw those triangles were missing as well, but that was after I'd printed out the back plate and assembled it.  Gah!  At any rate, if you send pics and a request to the dude who made the files at CGTrader, he is extremely (and I mean extremely) accommodating to any change requests.  He will make it happen however you'd like it to be and do it very quickly as well!  No need to struggle with altering the files if you don't want to; he will take care of you if you ask.    (also, you might want to mention those hand plate cutouts as well.  He'll fix those, too.)

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 hours ago, themaninthesuitcase said:

A penny dropped earlier:  On the TFA suits there were some triangles on the back of the back plate behind the neck.  I can't prove either way on the TLJ suits as there just isn't a frame i can use, but I also can't really imagine them removing them.

Not a clear image but can just make out the shadow or the triangle

 

Also seen in TROS

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Thanks @gmrhodes13.  I found 1 maybe 2 that showed a shadow but nothing definitive.

 

12 hours ago, Cricket said:

Just curious as to why you're not scaling things in Armorsmith?  You can make the parts transparent so you can see exactly how the armor fits relative to your frame underneath it without any guess work.  

A few reasons really. 

 

Part I have used meshmixer far more and so know what to do to achieve things.  Part is Armorsmith pegs my GPU and isn't as nice to use because of it.  Maybe I need a new GPU but funds are going into build materials right now.  Also I am not sure I want to go down that rabbit hole.  Though my GT-720 is well past due!

 

It's a bit frustrating as it's paid software but there you go.

 

12 hours ago, Cricket said:

And about the back plate, I saw those triangles were missing as well, but that was after I'd printed out the back plate and assembled it.  Gah!  At any rate, if you send pics and a request to the dude who made the files at CGTrader, he is extremely (and I mean extremely) accommodating to any change requests.  He will make it happen however you'd like it to be and do it very quickly as well!  No need to struggle with altering the files if you don't want to; he will take care of you if you ask.    (also, you might want to mention those hand plate cutouts as well.  He'll fix those, too.)

I'm going to approach the designer and see if I can get them added, just need to grab a few source images.  The side holes I will still do my self so I can control the size as I want them right after scaling not before.

[funkster[TK]]

If you’ve got a bigger screen than me and a better copy of TLJ, just as Phasma is about to fall to her death, there’s a prone trooper on her left.

My screen isn’t the biggest so I can’t get he best image

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I have the answer from a TFA screen grab

 

and @ukswrath sent me this nice clear one of just the armour.

 

 

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I sent the two images above to the files designer and about 90 minutes later had an updated file with some really nice triangles!

 

 

 

Image for those who don't want videos, just I was struggling to show them well in an image.

 

Just need to reapply my resizing now and add the side holes.

[Cricket[TK]]

16 hours ago, themaninthesuitcase said:

I sent the two images above to the files designer and about 90 minutes later had an updated file with some really nice triangles!

 

Ooh!  Those look great!  See, I told you... that designer is amazing with customer service!     Can't wait to see how it prints for you.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

1 hour ago, Cricket said:

 

Ooh!  Those look great!  See, I told you... that designer is amazing with customer service!     Can't wait to see how it prints for you.

He's updated CGTrader so if you want the file it's on there now.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

What do people think of these as far as hole postioning?

 

 

I printed a test "hole" and 1" + 2mm works for the width and 3mm works height wise.  Allows for a 1" tab of 1.5 Aluminium and also some 25mm elastic with some Velcro on (I dug through my left overs and tested it would fit)

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

So yesterday the good people of Federal Express brought me some stuff, after I paid the taxes of course.

 

 

 

A nice pair of Trooper boots in size clown.

 

I also got the gloves from them.  I was exactly half way between L and XL so went XL so I can wear a liner to wick away the sweat and not have to put on wet gloves after lunch.  Which is the worst.  They are a tiny bit large but worst case I'll get a L pair later.

 

Also used some masking tape to check the hand plates for size.  Seems good, though I think the position is off.

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

So today I took this:

 

 

And turned it into this:

 

 

 

This was mostly just a case of sanding all the seams with 120 to get them flat. Then super gluing as carefully as I could, 1 or 2 could be better but even then noting serious.  Some Superglue accelerator really helped on the first few sections, it speeds up the set so you can let go but it does mean you need to be accurate lining stuff up.

 

At this point I couldn't resist a fit test.  Not in an under suit but I am really happy with the size, it just about perfect.

 

 

Once that was done I went along and "welded" all the seams on the back.  This involves using a soldering iron to melt in some additional PLA+ to weld the parts together.

 

The tip is a pretty chunky 4mm ish one.  My iron takes standard 900M tips so I bough a cheap pack on eBay with some big tips in.  Just make sure you remove the pre-tinning solder first.  Fortunately I practised on some scrap sections first as one is covered in solder.

 

 

The jist is melt some extra filament into the seam and then sort of press it in.  It's a bit fiddly but like anything gets easier and neater as you go.  It's not perfect but I'm getting better at it. I was running my iron at 400C which seemed to work well.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

I used some of my sizing test parts as a practice so I went and stress tested one.  Flexing "out" as it trying to get it on the part flexes quite a long way, far further than I'll need. No cracks or nasty sounds heard.  Flex it "in" towards you and it fails catastrophically very quickly.  However the welds hold, the breaks shot off down a filament line and de-laminated. Pretty happy with this result.  

 

I'll sand the seam with some 120 to remove the sharp edges too.  I am still thinking I'll run some fibre glass along them as well.  The Last think I want is the ab plate to split into 2 or more bits trying to get into it.

 

I also assembled the rear TD plate and did the same to that.

 

 

There's a small lip at the bottom.  I assume to hold the plate on but I suspect I'll end up removing it, leaving the top hook, and just use velcro or something along those lines.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Good work. I bought a 3d printing pen for the same purpose, soldering iron is a good idea too though.

[flinty360[TK]]

Great progress Chris....watching this with interest....

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Printer down

 

I was swapping to a 0.6 nozzle to speed the printing up (looks like about a 30% saving time wise) and broke the heat break.  Ordering parts but who knows when they will arrive.

 

And it was going so well.