trooper96

Thanks, guys. TROOPER, I actually have one extra helmet kit that we pulled. I sent you a PM in case you are genuinely interested. As I said earlier, we are not set up for production but if we have some extra parts, we would be happy to make them available to any who would need them.

Here's a helmet we pulled last weekend for a friend.

It will probably take primer/sanding and paint to get the finish I want.

Yes, the underneath side of the ABS sheet has a rough texture. It shows through a little especially in the thinner areas. Sanding seems to make it much less noticeable. In the picture above, it had not been sanded.

Here's the vac formed helmet...

Here's the helmet more or less trimmed out, still held together with magnets. Eyes and frown are cut out. Trim out, prime, sand, paint, rivet together, trim and attach ears, attach brow and neck trim, attach mic tips, detail traps and tube stripes, assemble lenses and padding... and done!

We got the whole helmet pulled this weekend... Here, it is still mostly untrimmed and held together with magnets so I could see how it might looked assembled. I think we still have some work to do on the molds.

Faceplate, first pull. Cap and back...

For 501st approval: "Black leather or leather-like, above ankle height, with a flat sole, and small U-shaped elastic sections on both sides of the ankle with no buckles or laces. Jodphur-type boots or an equivalent style. All stitching must be black, and unnecessary or decorative stitching must not be present. Elvis / Mariachi boots are not acceptable." To me, the stitching on these boots is not unnecessary, as it holds the panels together. Definitely not decorative. Some may interpret that differently. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's my understanding they will meet basic approval. I got them because of the good price and availability. I will upgrade when I'm ready to take the next step. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's a better look. These arrived yesterday...

Boots have arrived!

OK, I have already posted some of this in another thread, but it's time I gave it a thread of its own. I have already made a couple of E-11 blasters and a paper mache stormtrooper helmet. Now, I'm getting down to the nitty gritty with some serious vacuum formed armor and other handmade accessories. Here's what I have so far... E-11 Blaster (scratch built) I made this holster for my E-11 blaster over the weekend... Neck Seal (scratch built) I ordered these boots this weekend... http://www.shoebuy.c...9/376517/802555 Vacuum Formed Armor Parts I still lack a vacuum formed helmet, knee bandolier, belt, thermal detonator, hand guards, and a few accessories. I have already purchased brow trim (US52) and neck trim (SWR149) from Seals Direct. I also have a dark green visor material for the lenses. I strapped the chest and back together with elastic at the shoulders and added the formed shoulder straps to the chest piece. I am working on trimming out and fitting all of the armor pieces I now have. I have more ABS plastic on the way to finish the parts I need. Stay tuned...

I ordered these yesterday. 20% off and free shipping, but I think the deal is about to expire. Less than $50 with the discount. Not too bad. http://www.shoebuy.com/giorgio-brutini-66059/376517/802555 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. Guess I was a little gun-shy after reading some of the zero tolerance opinions on the matter. I just want to enjoy being a part of the 501st community, and so far I have had a blast learning about vacuum forming and all the small details that go into making a proper suit of armor. But that's what it's all about, right? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's the neck seal.

A while back, a friend of mine came into possession of an armor kit. The origin of the suit was unknown at the time, but after some research, I believe it to be one of the copies you can find on ebay. He got it at a very good price, but you get what you pay for. The 0.060†HIPS material was dull, fragile, and soft on some of the details. We decided the only way to improve the suit was to remake it with a better material. We used the suit as a guide and started making molds. Where possible, we made our own molds, but in full disclosure we made some pieces directly from the suit. I guess technically that makes the project semi-RECAST (cough, gag), but improvements to those molds were needed even so. My friend, who is an actual real life MacGyver type, built a vacuum forming table and oven out of materials he had in his shop, and we purchased some 0.063†black ABS from the local Grainger store. After much trial and error, we were finally able to produce a few usable parts. The ABS we used is a vast improvement over the original HIPS material. Much more rugged and flexible. Please, before I get flamed here and branded a recaster, I just want to say that this project was started only for the purpose of making good of a bad suit. While I realize it would have been MUCH less expensive to just order a good suit, the project has also fulfilled a need to be creative and learn new skills. The table is only 24†x 24â€, so we have no capacity to mass produce. We are only making parts for personal use. I am not advertising or taking orders. I just wanted to share my enthusiasm for this great hobby and show off some of the hard work we have invested. Here is a picture of what the project looks like so far: Still a lot of work to do yet. The helmet pictured here is not ABS, but a paper mache project I made. The blaster is scratch built. I welcome any comments or good advice.

Thanks for the advice, guys!

I was reading the CRL and saw that black paint may be used on the helmet: The body of the "ears" may be black or gray. The bars have three or four bumps and may be left the same color as the body or painted black. The frown must have either 6 or 8 teeth cut out and any coloring must not leave the indented area. Acceptable colors are: black, gray or silver. If there are spaces between the teeth the wearer's face must not be seen. The tube stripes are black in color and may number between 9 and 15 per side with the curve bends extending backwards. These may be hand painted or decals. There does not need to be the same number per side. Vocoder (vertically ribbed chin detail) may be black or silver. The aerators (cylinders on either side of the vocoder) are black, and screening may be silver or black. Traps (trapezoids on dome of helmet) and tears (area beneath the corners of eye lenses) may be: hand painted, decals. Acceptable colors are: black or gray. Rear traps and tears may have vertical black lines. I think that would be a good and unique look since most I have seen have silver or gray detailing. May I assume flat black teeth, tube stripes, and vocoder against the gloss black ABS would be the way to go? Would the traps and tears be painted with a flat black background also? If so, would the vertical stripes in the tears and rear traps be painted in gloss black or left off all together? Would the ears just be left unpainted?