Who's Scruffy Looking?

[TKBill]

Hi all.

 

I am new the forums, and have to say that it is rare to come across a forum community as welcoming as this. Thanks for having me.

 

Anyway, I am currently waiting on my RT-Mod kit to arrive (around mid-to-the end of Sept.) and I have been ordering little bits and pieces, grabbing helpful hints, and planning the build in my head.

 

One thing that has always bothered me (maybe a bit of an exaggeration ,) and to all the "clean" troopers out there, PLEASE don't take this personal in anyway - to each their own - I have yet to see a scuffed up ANH TK 501st armor... anywhere - In person, or in photos. In ANH, at least 75% (if not more) of the TK's (not including sandies) are scuffed up and dirty. Personally, I LOVE that look! To me, it takes a "costume," and elevates it to a "prop." It just ads that final bit of authenticity. It say's Star Wars. It has that signature battle-worn "lived-in" look.

 

Anyway, I am going to be scuffing and weathering my armor, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips, or tricks to do this? It is certainly something that you don't want to overdo and end up making your armor look like a Sandtrooper. Watching the film you see mostly black scuffs, but there are also brown "dirty" areas on some. I thought of using Fullers Earth, and/or even scoring the armor with black, rubber shoe soles.

 

Has anyone "scuffed" their AHH armor? Photos? Techniques?

 

Thanks all!

[Merugear]

Hey Bill, read up on this:

 

http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?show...33&hl=dirty

 

A tip: the search option is your friend! Just don't fall in the trap Sandy Brothers have set up!

[tkrestonva[TK]]

You could also just let it happen naturally through use. Trust me, the scuffs will show up and by letting it happen over the course of frequent trooping, it will actually look and be authentic.

 

There's a member of my garrison who accelerated the process by keeping his armor loosely packed in an unpadded container in his car. In the course of routinely driving around, it would get naturally scuffed up.

[TK-8224[501st]]

A few troops without polish, and you're good to go!

 

I don't polish my armour, and it looks perfect now. Black scuffs, dirt, dust etc. Just make sure you smell ok.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

A few scuffs is perfectly fine, but there is a line between gently scuffed and weathered. The only exception to this is for the TK Commander, where being scratched and scuffed is encouraged. I think the HWT can also be a little scuffed

[ThayNerd[TK]]

I don't clean my armor either. Its been about two years since I cleaned it. It will weather naturally, and it looks so much better this way in my opinion. Just make sure you troop a lot so it can happen faster.

[Merugear]

Sooo not painting a HIPS armor is a good idea if you want an HWT?

 

Just curious

[runewolf]

I think HIPS is too dull without painting. Better to paint it all nice and then weather.

[Dargas[501st]]

that´s exactly why i´m going the HWT way.

 

all the TK looks plus the goodies of the sandtroopers!

 

I like the look of a well used battle armor but it must also look like the trooper actually cleans it a bit now or then, after all its like the weaponry, you need to take it apart and clean it, test it and repeat to be sure, the grease and the soot and stuff is obvious to start getting into the crevices and show but a well trained trooper wouldn´t let his armor to get all messy and soiled thus risking some systems to stop working due to bad maintenance and remember that the soldiers are the ones that maintain their own equipment while on mission on the field.

 

apart from let my armor to get scuffed naturally i´ll add some soot and even less dirt here and there but going " the Less is More" way.

 

if you like the scruffed TK look i would definitely advice you to go the HWT way.

[synaptyx]

I don't polish and have actively scuffed it with the marking soles of my caboots. Looks great.

[TKBill]

I love the idea about putting the armor in an un-lined trunk and just letting it get weathered naturally. I also like the sole marking, which had crossed my mind. As I said, I am not looking for filthy, I just want to emulate what the troopers in ANH look like, and they are banged up. Thanks for the tips. Any close up pics of your scuffed armor?

[Murray1134[501st]]

I've let my armor get naturally scuffed. I like it a lot better than the perfect shiny look. Almost nothing in the movies is perfect and shiny, everything is a little dirty and used looking.

 

Between my boots and the lousy paintjob on my blaster, i've got all sorts of black scuff marks on my armor. Especially on my left forearm where it rubs against the butt of the blaster.

[clutch]

Natural weathering is great. It's fun finding a new mark. I have a blue scuff that I have no idea where it came from. lol!

[Turrican]

Good Question.

Were the normal AnH Troopers weathered for the movie??

Or was it only from using the suit in it.

For example this pic:

 

Does anyone know it??

[TKBill]

Good Question.

Were the normal AnH Troopers weathered for the movie??

Or was it only from using the suit in it.

For example this pic:

 

Does anyone know it??

 

I don't know for sure, but I tend to think that it was done on purpose. If you look closely at the "You are part of the rebel alliance and a traitor..." scene, you notice that there are actually dirt patterns (not just scuff marks) on the troopers. And in the death star rescue scene, Han and Luke's armor progressively gets more filthy as the battle goes on.

 

I'm sure some was from just being mistreated and being banged around on the sets, but GL's universe, from the beginning, has always been intentionally weathered and I believe they were made to look this way on purpose. I mean at this point in the story, there has been years of war... look at the weathering on the ANH Vader costume.

 

Just my thoughts.

[TKBill]

I actually found this Hi-Res photo that better displays what I am talking about (this is the look I am going for - particularly the TK on the far left:)

 

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Does the "TK on the far left" look include the very noticeable gaffer's tape on the left bicep? If so, make sure it's Imperial-issue tape.

[R2Dan[TK]]

I was actually wondering what that piece of gaffer tape is doing there - there is no apparent reason for it to be there (not holding the two halves together or anything) so why did they put it there!?

[Dargas[501st]]

perhaps that particular bicep was pulled wrong and had a hole or something?

[troopermaster]

That piece of gaffer tape is actually holding down another piece of gaffer tape which is wrapped around the black elastic strap from the bottom of the shoulder bell. This is done to keep the biceps from falling down, since there was no strapping for the biceps.

 

This picture makes the bicep look an odd shape (which some believe to be the correct shape) but in reality it is simply the elastic strap being pulled down over the bicep.

 

I believe the reason why the armour looks so scuffed and beat up in the Tanive IV raid is because it was one of the last scenes to be filmed. The scuffed up armour really looks SWEET!

[synaptyx]

Loving the sruffy scuffed up troopers there. Need... More... Messy...

[R2Dan[TK]]

That piece of gaffer tape is actually holding down another piece of gaffer tape which is wrapped around the black elastic strap from the bottom of the shoulder bell. This is done to keep the biceps from falling down, since there was no strapping for the biceps.

 

This picture makes the bicep look an odd shape (which some believe to be the correct shape) but in reality it is simply the elastic strap being pulled down over the bicep.

 

Now that makes perfect sense - so the gaffer tape there is the stunt version of the biceps hook we see on the hero suit... cool!

 

Thanks for sharing Paul

[brulafu]

That piece of gaffer tape is actually holding down another piece of gaffer tape which is wrapped around the black elastic strap from the bottom of the shoulder bell. This is done to keep the biceps from falling down, since there was no strapping for the biceps.

 

This picture makes the bicep look an odd shape (which some believe to be the correct shape) but in reality it is simply the elastic strap being pulled down over the bicep.

 

I believe the reason why the armour looks so scuffed and beat up in the Tanive IV raid is because it was one of the last scenes to be filmed. The scuffed up armour really looks SWEET!

 

I love the scuffed, beat up look - It took me a while to accept it, but now I love it.

 

On a side note and not to hijack the thread but on the TK secoond from the right, is it just me or is the black bit between the shoulder bell and strap, really shiny and reflective - is this from the neckseal ?

[bluehickey]

On a side note and not to hijack the thread but on the TK secoond from the right, is it just me or is the black bit between the shoulder bell and strap, really shiny and reflective - is this from the neckseal ?

 

I would guess that the difference in color in that spot could be a black leather strap that connects the shoulder bell to the suit.

[darren1970[501st]]

Natural weathering is great. It's fun finding a new mark. I have a blue scuff that I have no idea where it came from. lol!

 

I've got a bright red scuff on the front of my thigh like that. No idea what I've banged into and I never carry anything red? <_<