mikedwelle94

There were a few blemishes on the paint job on my helmet so I sanded it down and tried again. This shade of red is a bit darker than the one I used on my Shock Trooper and it's perfect! I'm going to let this clear coat cure for a couple days or so before I wet sand and buff to a shine.

More cover strips are glued and curing. I accidentally destroyed the HIPS plastic knee plate while removing it (saving it for Death Trooper #2 later), so I have a new ABS one on the way. I think I might wait until all my parts are assembled so I can paint everything at once.

Cover strips are clamped and drying on a few parts. No more overlaps!

(edited post. no longer have this helmet)

It's kind of shameful how many times I've changed my plans over the years. First it was Magma to Death Trooper, then Mandalorian to Shock Trooper, now Shock to Magma again. There's going to be more than a handful of FISD and NEG folks surprised at me for dropping this one Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Ahh sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going for the Battlefront Magma. That's another ROTJ style costume. I'm painting this suit red! Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

I learned the hard way that there's not a lot of room for adjusting ROTJ costumes for certain sizes. I was also fed up with the PVC U-trim not staying put. The armor I have is mostly ANH, with a ROTJ helmet and kidney/butt (which I've already split). It all really lends itself better to butt-join assembly, rather than overlap. I'm feeling like if I want to try a Shock Trooper again later, I should build a proper ROTJ kit. So I took everything apart and have decided to give the Magma a second chance! The parts not pictured are in the freezer. I've heard that freezing the glued parts will make it a bit easier to pry them apart. I've since peeled off the decals and disassembled the bucket. I'm going to go with the ANH Hero look with this TM ROTJ, keeping the bubble lenses and only cutting out six teeth. Just need to get a new set of ears and install them. The next few days will be spent reassembling my parts with cover strips. Hoping to have everything shiny and red before the end of June.

Got the helmet pretty much done. The paint job is a little rough in a couple spots, but this will work for now. This is my first helmet, an eFX, that was re-worked pretty extensively. The ears are from a different maker, and the teeth area was cut out and resculpted. Once we have the funds, we'll get a CAP-W and paint it up.

Thank you for the advice Steve! I'll make this thread my official WIP. Living in Maine, the conventions here are always small and almost never have an official 501st presence. We'd just be doing our own thing with our costumes in no official capacity. I've already posted on the NEG boards about what I'm planning, and I will be keeping them posted. I suppose 501st approval can be a goal we set for it, but we won't be disappointed if we can't make it with the budget we have. I'll check with Walt and Scootch for parts.

A good friend of mine wants my help building her a trooper. We decided to go with the Nova Sentinel. The thing is, we're not building from a kit because we're poor and we want to stretch our creativity. We're using plastic sheets and plastic trash bins. For the smaller detail pieces like the abdomen plate button panels, knee ammo, and shoulder straps, we're just going to get those from ATA. We want to use a heat gun to shape the plastic into the iconic Stormtrooper look. We aren't going for 501st with it, but we want to get as close as we can to making it look right. I was thinking of heating the plastic, then pressing flat objects against it to create the raised areas. She has another method in mind but I can't wrap my brain around it. I have a spare ammo belt and a set of handplates so we don't have to worry about forming those. I found my old eFX helmet and have given it a new set of earcaps and a paintjob so that takes care of what would have been the hardest part. Our goal is to have her in a finished suit in time for this summer, so we can troop together at all the conventions. If this is a crazy idea, convince me to stop now before we get too invested in it. Otherwise, I'd love to hear suggestions on how I should go about this!

So I'm actually not going to be submitting the costume in its current state. After posting on Facebook looking for feedback, a few things came up. As the CRL model, I will need to be close to perfection. Now I have a to do list: - Trim all the forearm ridges down to 15 mm, strap to biceps, and pad the insides. - Take about a half an inch off both sides of the abdomen plate, and slightly bend with heat. - Install chinstrap in helmet, Plastidip interior. - Wear balaclava to hide hair - Weather fabric belt - Apply light black acrylic wash to thermal detonator and handplates - Remove elastic straps from shoulder bells You're actually not the first person to say this. Nothing a black wash can't fix.

And here are the final application photos! Just waiting for the green light from our LMOs, then I'll be sending these in along with all my reference pictures.

Did a test fit after taking nearly an inch off the tops of the thighs. Sorry for the picture quality - they were taken by my sister's phone. And just to prove it's me under that helmet: Just need to add the drop boxes and trim a little bit more off the thighs and buttplate. Other than that, the armor is pretty much "me" sized, and just needs a little padding in a few places. I'm starting bookkeeper training next week, which means early in, early out. I'll have 5 days next week that I can devote to finishing this armor. I'm thinking about debuting it at the St. Patricks Day parade Advice is welcome as always!

Here's how the kit looks as of last night. I am really happy with how this TM ROTJ helmet came out. Still need to weather it though! To do list: - Paint red stripes on both thighs - Paint right shin - Rivet ammo belt to fabric belt - Weather everything - Touch up red paint on boots - Trim out backs of thighs and shins to improve mobility - Trim and assemble drop boxes and paint red, then attach to belt with elastic. One more full day's worth of work, and it should be there. This has been a fun build so far!

Playing as a Shadow Trooper, you have the option to pick the jump pack as one of your perks. A lot of people prefer the personal shield. So it should be an optional accessory I think Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

First of all, we know that DICE had access to a 3D scan of a ROTJ costume. In the Shadow helmet, I see bubble lenses, and really thin ears without screws. The faceplate doesn't look as wide as an ANH (seems more squished), which is characteristic of ROTJ helmets. It's safe for me to assume that it's just a re-skin of the other Battlefront troopers - I doubt they would go to much lengths to change the shapes and dimensions of the Shadow helmet. The same goes for the Battlefront Sandtrooper. Many people think it's an ANH helmet, but it looks to me like a ROTJ that was painted up as an ANH. ROTJ shoulder bells have a bit of a pinch at the top. I'm not seeing it on any of the Battlefront troopers.

Has anyone thought about building one of these guys? It's not financially possible for me to start a new one right now, but I have a couple friends who are interested in getting my help with a build - and I'd like to steer them towards this one. I can capture some screenshots later. This trooper looks to be mostly ROTJ, including the helmet. Note the blue tube stripes, black jump pack, silver bubble lenses, Imperial cog decal on the chest plate, and a ridge around the torso armor. If it's structurally identical to the Battlefront Shock Trooper, which I have thoroughly researched, the thermal detonator should be ANH, and the shoulder bells should also be closer to ANH. I would love to see a CRL for this, and I would be happy to write a draft and get reference pictures. ROTJ armor is really cool, and much easier to assemble vs ANH, and I would love to see more folks doing these new Battlefront troopers. Thoughts?

The Anovos kit looks *really* good to me. All the details are sharp, and the plastic is nice and flexible. Plus, every piece is protected by a plastic film which you can take off after trimming and sanding. The black kit is SHINY. Like, *really* shiny. The armor in these videos is all prototype stuff but it gives you a good idea of what to expect. Also, do yourself a favor and follow this thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35086-ukswraths-anovos-tk-build/ The guy building that Anovos suit is an expert. And you can apply all the same techniques to your black kit.

I'm in guys. This is that same set of red ABS armor that gave me so much trouble a couple years back. Although it may be sprayed over in white, it's Spec Ops armor at its core. I have you guys to thank for following my build, answering all my questions, and offering encouragement. I look forward to trooping with you all. - Mike

Not to discourage you, but you'll have an easier time just buying and finishing a plastic kit. It takes much less effort. Stormtrooper armor is supposed to look vacuum-formed, and I've seen that it's hard to achieve that look with pepakura. There are many other kinds of costumes that look great as pepakura builds, like Halo Spartans, Iron Man suits, Batman, etc. The Stormtrooper isn't really one of them.

Cross-post from FISD: Got a few things done since my last update! I sold my MTK helmet on eBay (my first eBay sale!!). So PayPal is withholding my funds until the helmet arrives and feedback is sent. Fair enough I guess. Apologies to TM for making him wait so long to ship my ROTJ armor, belt and helmet stuff..! What I still need to do with the parts I have on hand: - Spray paint right bicep white (a few of the parts I received came in black HIPS) - Add red stripe to right bicep - Trim knee ammo belt and rivet to right thigh - Add red stripe to right thigh and left thigh - Spray paint both shins + TK kneeplate red - Add rear shim to right shin - Add velcro to right boot to keep shin from popping out - Strap right shoulder bell to the right shoulder bridge I had to add a shim to the inside of my left shin so it would fit over the top of my boot, using some leftover red ABS from my old ATA Magma. Is it acceptable for the back of a ROTJ shin to look like this? I plan to do the same with my right shin if this is okay. This little glitch involving the shins and boots just so happens to be one of only two reasons why my other suit isn't 501st approved... I feel pretty motivated to make this change after seeing how well the shim worked on this set of armor. And this is what the front looks like with the shim installed. The knee plate is CAP-W (HIPS), and the shin armor is ATA (ABS). Can't wait to see how this all looks in red. And a couple more questions. Since the thermal detonator is clearly ANH/ESB and not ROTJ, would my FX control panel be acceptable? Are they still accepted on new recruits? I could purchase a replacement from ATA, but I would rather save up for DLT-19 and backpack parts.

My GML replied this morning saying I only need to tone down the red blood stains and make sure my shins pull over the tops of my boots. Easy fixes I think. I'll make these changes tonight and get a new set of pictures sent Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

I agree. I do think there's more room for more trimming, not only on my abdomen, but also on my forearms and thighs. I figured my chances of getting it cleared wouldn't be 100%, but I had some free time, and my sister was home to shoot pictures I'll more than likely make these changes even if I do get approved. As for the boots, I honestly can't tell you what possessed me to cut them up - I just thought it looked cool and different from the rest of the DTs. I'm in a good spot financially to pick up a new pair of boots if my approval gets blocked because of that alone. Thanks for the constructive feedback, Todd.

Just sent in my application. There are a couple of things that stick out that might be cause for having to suit up again for a new set of pictures, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it done tonight and see what happens. Wish me luck. Front (no flash) Front (with flash) Back Left Right Mexican day on the Death Star Braiiiins.... Bucket off

Bass Amsterdams, freshly painted! Looking much better than my old Magma boots did back in the day.