Material of RO1 trooper

[DasVieh]

Hi all, 

 

small question. What material was used for the RO1 armors and helmets ? Are they produced in ABS like the helmets and armors from the OT ? Is it even known ? 

 

Thank you 

 

Regards 

[tarok[TK]]

Definitely not ABS. The below quote is from Paul Prentice on Shoretrooper Fam. Paul is highly regarded for his research into the armoured Imperial characters of Rogue One and Solo. The production process was the same for ST and TK.

 

Quote

As far as I know there are no ST armours available made from resin and if there were they would not be strong enough for the rigours of trooping as the resin would have no flex and would break/crack. you are correct the original screen used armour was made from a PU resin however it was injection moulded and "baked" according to model maker Neil Ellis which gave it hard rubber like qualities that had flex and durability. Enough for the actors to do receptive heavy stunt work. The process they used to make the armour is not completely known and I suspect would be way too expensive for any fan made maker to imitate correctly. Because the armour was injection moulded it gave it a thickness that is impossible to replicate from vac forming in ABS/PVC and the screen used also had details on the inside included in the casting. 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by tarok

[Sly11[Admin]]

The helmets were injection moulded parts and then assembled,

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

On 11/8/2020 at 5:06 AM, DasVieh said:

Hi all, 

 

small question. What material was used for the RO1 armors and helmets ? Are they produced in ABS like the helmets and armors from the OT ? Is it even known ? 

 

Thank you 

 

Regards 

Definitely not ABS (which is why you see the new ABS makers including parts that are 3D-printed or resin cast... you simply cannot pull the level of detail that is the hallmark of these suits in ABS), it's most likely a flexible injection-molded polyurethane as stated above. And for the record, many of the suits I saw on set were TRASHED and being held together by gaff tape. We saw guys sitting down in some of the extra feature materials? It was because every one of their posterior armor was cracked almost in half and taped over. But anyways, it's extremely unlikely that any hobby-level maker would be able to produce them using the screen accurate process and material, but Jim "Jimmiroquai" Tripon's proprietary flexible fiberglass is definitely the closest currently available and does a great job capturing the details. His sculpt isn't perfect and some details are off, but it's darn good and much better than the ABS, in my opinion.

[tarok[TK]]

[mention]TheRascalKing [/mention] It’ll be interesting to see whether some of the newer TPU Flex 3D print materials can replicate the finer details and how they hold out on costumes.

[Sly11[Admin]]

Indeed
You can’t beat injection molding with flex materials, TFA TK’s onwards have used the same type materials in construction. Screen used FO TK chest plates lay almost flat if you put one on a table top due to the PU.


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[equuspolo[TK]]

I know they are injection molded polyurethane.  I have quite a few friends that wore them in Rogue One, Mandalorian, Solo, and the FOTK's and others in all of the new series.  They are thick polyurethane injection molded.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Yes you just have to look at a few scenes in any of the newer movies to see troopers armor bending and twisting when they move, be a lovely material to troop in I would think, not as constricting as ABS hard plastic  

 

Bend that cod

 

Nice twist in this abdomen 

 

[DasVieh]

Hi all,

 

thank you for all this answers. 

I was just interested. It is very intresting how the production methodes have changed. 

 

And I am impressed. Because:

TheRescalKing: 

You saw them on set ? You were on set ? That sounds like a dream !!! Are you working for the film industry? And while I am looking around I saw the armor from Jimmiroquai. This was the reason why I asked myself the Material question. Because the way he build it was so unknown.

 

tarok: you are right. 3 D printing could be a interestig method in the future.

 

Equuspolo:

Hopefully your friends enjoy to worke for this Films....and hopefully they are now owners of a original screen used armor;) hahaha. 

 

For me it is a dream to have a OT armor replica.... I cant imagin how great it is to be a trooper in a movie

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

11 minutes ago, DasVieh said:

And I am impressed. Because:

TheRescalKing: 

You saw them on set ? You were on set ? That sounds like a dream !!! Are you working for the film industry? And while I am looking around I saw the armor from Jimmiroquai. This was the reason why I asked myself the Material question. Because the way he build it was so unknown.

 

 

 

 

There where quite a few troopers included for some scenes in the first series of the Mandalorian, a thread about them here

 

Jim uses a flexible fibreglass, has some give but can crack the more it is flexed. Some other supply ABS plastic but some of the detail pieces can be softer.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

On 11/10/2020 at 1:14 AM, gmrhodes13 said:

Yes you just have to look at a few scenes in any of the newer movies to see troopers armor bending and twisting when they move, be a lovely material to troop in I would think, not as constricting as ABS hard plastic  

 

Bend that cod

 

Nice twist in this abdomen 

I've seen the cod shots but that twist is WILD. Yea Jim's won't do that hahaha :O 

On 11/11/2020 at 2:06 PM, DasVieh said:

And I am impressed. Because:

TheRascalKing: 

You saw them on set ? You were on set ? That sounds like a dream !!! Are you working for the film industry? And while I am looking around I saw the armor from Jimmiroquai. This was the reason why I asked myself the Material question. Because the way he build it was so unknown.

 

Equuspolo:

Hopefully your friends enjoy to worke for this Films....and hopefully they are now owners of a original screen used armor;) hahaha. 

For me it is a dream to have a OT armor replica.... I cant imagin how great it is to be a trooper in a movie

I was lucky enough to be one of the background Stormtroopers in my own armor in S01E07 and E08, yes. Glen's thread below has a little more info about it. It was an amazing thing to be a part of, and pretty cool to be one of the few to truly be able to say that I AM a Stormtrooper. In Star Wars. I was just fortunate to receive an invite and showed up with my kit - Ardeshir works in the industry, so the people he knows are the actors hired because they fit in the studio suits (or do stunt work) - I brought my own armor and took it home, but the studio keeps the studio suits haha

 

Jim's mix is "proprietary" and I'm far from an expert in composites, but it seems like a flexible gel coat and a thin hand-layup of fiberglass that he doesn't seal with too much additional resin so it stays flexible. I added an extra coat of resin to the interior of mine to give it some additional strength. It's a cool material, but just like ABS, if you push it too far, it does crack. I'd say you can get away with more drastic mods/repair with painted fiberglass and still make it blend in again, over making slurry or melting, sanding, and polishing ABS! 

On 11/11/2020 at 2:18 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

There where quite a few troopers included for some scenes in the first series of the Mandalorian, a thread about them here

 

Jim uses a flexible fibreglass, has some give but can crack the more it is flexed. Some other supply ABS plastic but some of the detail pieces can be softer.

Yup! Jim, and then 850 Armor Works and HeadShot Props in ABS, are the only reputable suppliers of Anthology style armor that I know of, though a few are inching closer to building pretty accurate 3D-printed suits!

Edited November 13, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[BigJasoni[TK]]

On 11/9/2020 at 3:40 PM, tarok said:

[mention]TheRascalKing [/mention] It’ll be interesting to see whether some of the newer TPU Flex 3D print materials can replicate the finer details and how they hold out on costumes.

Funny this comes up again. Here's the pic I posted in my build thread of my shoulder straps:

The only issue I had was painting the TPU. However, last week I wandered into Microcenter to pick up some PETG and I saw that they are now carrying 1kg spools of Gloss White TPU. This may change how I do some of my builds. Additionally, please see the following video from Nikko Industries' "How to Smooth Flexible Filament- 3D Printed Armor" found here:

https://youtu.be/PcAd0kxbI4I

The product he uses is made by 3D Solutech and can be found on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2CUOeiV. The difference between his and what I used is the flexibility. The TPU I used is incredibly soft and flexible and likely wouldn't stand up to a full print. His is more rigid, but obviously flexes as needed. Though we won't know for sure what the chemical properties of the FOTK bending cod is, this filament may be a great solution.  

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by BigJasoni
Deleted pics of Nikko from Imgur

[tarok[TK]]

[mention]BigJasoni [/mention] lol your build is one of those that got me thinking about the topic - that and seeing someone post a Winter Soldier bionic arm done in flex TPU on Facey.

[BigJasoni[TK]]

6 minutes ago, tarok said:

[mention]BigJasoni [/mention] lol your build is one of those that got me thinking about the topic - that and seeing someone post a Winter Soldier bionic arm done in flex TPU on Facey.

Oh. I'm going to have to find that. 
Seeing the different colored TPUs really got my mind wandering. I'm printing a Scout Trooper right now with a mix of PLA+ and PETG, but I'm really thinking about picking up some of that white TPU even if all I print are shoulder straps and a few things for my kids. If I can figure out how do do a bigger piece, and it looks good, I'll post something. Maybe I'll make a flexible cod just for this thread.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Just going through some files and noticed I had this video of the Sithtrooper armor flexibility, fpr anyone interested in materials used these days