mikedwelle94

Thanks man. I was skeptical myself, but it grew on me. I still prefer the flat lenses, but bubbles are more accurate on this TK unfortunately haha. Not quite as easy to see out of. Got some torso plates done!

That's a nice set of shiny armor you have there. Well done.

Helmet looks much better after hitting it with a blackwash and adding the decals. Just need to fill in the screw holes and I'm gonna call it done. Trimmed the over-sized AM handplates and flipped the buttons on the FX abdomen armor. Added some cheap door trim to the plates. Might paint up the chest plate and shoulder bells later tonight. [/url

Good to be back! In the all the time I couldn't build, I researched the living crap out of every Stormtrooper costume under the sun. I expect this one to go 100x smoother than my first build. Almost went the INC route because I wanted to build one of those torches, but I like the idea of being the first to finish something new, so here I am with this one!

After selling my Mandalorian, I decided to tackle a trooper no one's done before. I'm hoping to become the Legion's first Shock Trooper, as seen in the new Battlefront game (unless someone else swoops in and gets it done before me) Some reference pics. There's two different models: One that carries a T-21 blaster and no backpack, and one that carries a DLT-19 and a backpack resembling the one from the Special Edition of ANH. I'll be doing the backpack trooper. My MTK helmet as it arrived in the mail: After a day's work: As this trooper is structurally similar to ROTJ, I'll be making more changes to the helmet. I'm waiting for proper decals and tube stripes. Also will be taking the ears off and slimming them down a bit and will be filling in the screw holes with bondo. Let me know what you think so far! I'm in talks with TM to get the firehose belt material and rubber armor trim, and still waiting to hear back from ATA on the rest of my parts. Everything will be constructed using the overlap method, opposed to cover strips.

Took the new helmet out the other day and turned a lot of heads

As some of you may know, I've been gathering parts to make another suit for a friend, so we can have two zombies shuffling everywhere we go this summer. Sorry SpecOps friends, you're not going to like this. Before: After: Creepy edit: And some parts I got in the mail from a few kind 501st-ers: FX Thermal detonator, FX abdomen armor, FX belt, ATA left bicep And the parts I already have, recycled from my failed Magma Trooper build ATA right thigh, ATA knee ammo, ATA right shin, ATA handplates, CAP-W helmet There's another red thigh not pictured, but it's so far gone, it's too embarrassing to let you guys see right now haha. I've got a heatgun that'll hopefully help me fix it.

Of course! After this and my Death Watch suit are done, my next one's definitely gotta be the green swamp Scout

501st pre-application pics! I know there's still a couple things that need to be done, but let's see what you guys think! Need to hide the suspenders and add a rear coverstrip to the right shin armor. Mask detail Bucket off Bucket and mask off Action shots! My next set of shots will be against a solid background, with the fixes applied, and in the GML's inbox

Good update. Looking forward to seeing it done!

Nice. Really makes me miss the red plastic.

Thanks all, for the comments. I've ditched the mask, Steve. I apply gelatin prosthetics directly to my face from now on. I didn't have time to go too heavy on the makeup for the con -- I didn't get as much time to walk around as I would've wanted.

Hi Dominic. It looks like you're more than ready to bust out a killer set of armor. I can only answer one of your questions, as I am neither a Nova Elite expert nor a Specialist. Tandy Leather Factory. Try to find one locally, but if you can't, you can buy from their website. Look for Line 24 snaps and snap setter. Have you tried Photobucket? Copy the IMG links and paste them in your post. Good luck with your build.

Almost ready to submit my application. Pictures taken at Granite State Comicon on Sep. 13 She doesn't look too concerned about the situation she's in... To do list: - Attack the thermal detonator with the cutting wheel, improve weathering - Remove bandages from left forearm (that was just a rush job for the con), apply cutting wheel to imitate the GG statue - Hide Under Armor logo on my back - Add rear coverstrip to right shin armor - Improve weathering across all the armor pieces and boots - Re-size thighs, forearms - Properly strap upper torso and arms, replace suspender clips with snaps - Apply prosthetic/makeup to exposed skin - Convince my brother to pick up a camera again

Some more progress to show. The mask, which needs to be painted with a dark shade of green. I also plan to add hanging bits of rotting "flesh" using liquid latex. Bucket on Finished abdomen and cod plates. Not feeling too confident about emulating the crater of gore on the GG statue, so this will have to do. Blood stains added with red acrylic. Started getting some pieces strapped back together. I'm trying out a velcro setup this time, because I sucked at using snaps Some makeup I picked up at the party store the other day. It's what I'll use on my hands, left forearm, and possibly the knees. I'm off to eat some brains. But first, let me take a selfie.

Rub it in some more why don'tcha LOL But yeah, the DT is a good way to bring more "life" into a kit that would otherwise serve no purpose. Also, one could argue that it can be one of the cheapest costumes to get into the 501st with - if you start with nothing and just pick up other peoples' broken parts.

I know you guys might see this as sacrilege, but I've decided to start a thread here anyway. Suggestions for improvements are welcome as always My main reference - the Gentle Giant statue. My armor just before the conversion. The red CAP-W helmet has been spared - it is now a display item on my shelf. Chest plate Shoulder bells Back plate Thighs and belt. The GG thighs didn't look good enough to me so I did something different. $2 althetic tape is used for the bandages. The bandaged thigh is one of the parts I couldn't bring myself to fix on the Magma. Shadow Stormtrooper helmet from Darth Emphatic. Got a great deal on this one. There are some imperfections, but they blend in well with the other battle damages I created. The paint job was beautiful, and I almost didn't want to ruin it. But I did anyway... That's all for now. More pictures to come.

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Thanks for the kind words Dorothy, and I do plan to check in here from time to time. I've been pretty lazy about updating my progress on the BHG for the past few weeks. I found the Mercs forums to be a lot more active. I'll post something over there shortly to keep the rest of you in the know. Just now looking at your latest DW build update has left me very impressed. Weathering looks great and the plates look very cleanly trimmed. EA seems to be making some good progress on the Pyro pack from what I've seen on Facebook. I learned from my mistakes made during my Magma project and am looking forward to salvaging at least something out of it in the form of a DT. With a new car purchase and college loans needing to be paid back after next year, I don't have a lot of spare cash to throw around anymore. Starting a Mandalorian probably didn't seem like the smartest move to make money-wise, but it WILL allow me to participate in more events as an official member of a costuming group. I'm only 19 now, and I can see myself being in the costuming scene for many years to come. There's no reason I can't start another Spec Ops costume later on (when I have a more stable financial situation)! I'm thinking a Swamp Trooper would be best for my next one.

Thanks Steve. Sad it is, but the it's the best way I can get it approved cost-wise. I've sunk way too much in it already. I've nearly finished painting the whole suit white and am plotting out where I'm going to make some cuts. I might just make a separate thread soon, rather than continuing posting on this one. For now here's a preview of what the chest plate is going to look like -- the pen marks represent where the dremel will be used

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It can be 501st approved as a ROTJ TK with the right amount of effort put in. Not only has Toddo earned basic approval with his Rubies suit, but he also obtained the Expert Infantry award with it as well. You'll of course have to paint yours white first And replace that helmet! http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25990-toddos-rotj-rubies-mod/ Maybe something to consider doing as a side project while you wait/work on your Spec Ops kit

I painted a metallic base coat, then applied liquid latex to the areas I wanted to have show through the black paint. Once the black paint dried I rubbed off the latex. I like your idea of taking out and roughing it up a little -- I didn't think of doing that. I'm thinking I went a little too heavy with the paint chip look.

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...as soon as I have some anyway.