Fivezero

Decided that this weekend was the weekend of the EVO. Been working on the last few pieces. Shoulder is getting very close to being finished, just a tad more filling and sanding needed and it will be ready. Also worked on re-sculpting one of my handplates. I must not have added enough resin when I made the orginal casting (way back when I built this thing), so it was a little funky. The black mark is where it used to extend too. So spent a bit of time to make them more symmetrical. Overall have had a productive weekend so far! I'm going to try and get some bondo on the kneeplate today. Hopefully will be able to get that set by the end of the day. I'm going to order the last bit of silicone needed this week, hopefully get the last part molded next weekend and get the finishing touches done. I set a deadline for myself too; two weeks from today I want to have the first test kit made up. Getting very close now guys, hold on!! Fivezero

Well slowly been getting the chest plate right. It took a fair amount of work and time to get it where I liked it. Many different attempts but I'm finally pleased with how it has come out. It is much sleeker and taller than my first chest plate. I still have to make a little piece to go in the center, but that will be easy. After everything is all set, I'll reinforce all the edges (as they are glued with hot glue right now, won't last) and clean it up! I've started on the backplate as well, this probably won't need as much surgery, should be fairly quick to knock that out. Then onto the arms! Fivezero

No problem Dorothy, do be careful about the black with the Shadow EVO, he's actually mostly dark gray and silver with a few parts painted black. It's similar to my TFU Shadow, just a darker gray and less lights. One kneeplate is black and the two shoulder bells are partially black (arrows 1 and 2 in the pic below). Everything else is more of a dark gray color, look at arrow 3 in my pic. You can see the black chinball on the helmet as well as the dark gray chestplate. Anyway, everything is looking up so far to get out in the garage and work EVO stuff this weekend (unless the doors freeze shut this week, -30 degrees with wind chill yesterday, stupid winter). Fivezero

I can answer this for you (this Nova is the exact same as the Medic and Sentinel, just different color)! 1. It doesn't go all the way around, it goes between the traps on the front and has the 90 degree corners . There is a small strip between the traps in the back as well. But no stripes that run along the side of the helmet. 2. Use Metallic Gold spray paint (Krylon or Rustoleum work great!!), it's not very metallicy/shiny/gold plated looking like the cap might suggest, but ends up being perfect color wise. 3. Yes, you can use a HIPS helmet with ABS kit. Just make sure you have the same glossiness as the rest of the suit and you'll be fine. I have many HIPS helmets that I use with my ABS armor. Polish/paint it if you need to! Here's some pics of my Sentinel helmet (ignore the dust, she's been sitting for awhile....) The red outlines are to highlight the trap indentations (they are not actually on the helmet). Fivezero

Hey Dorothy! The EVO helmets (and kits when I get there) are going to be ongoing runs, I'll never stop making them (just send me a message whenever you need something). I guess I need to be a little more on top of bumping that for sale thread! I"m working on the armor kits right now, school has been soaking up almost all my free time lately and has been continually setting me back with this project. I am getting very close thought, just need to find some time and finish it up. I have told myself that I'm going to try and get something accomplished on them this weekend (I don't think I have any essays to write....). Stay tuned for those! And I won't be offering the kits in ABS (they will be in HIPS though, much easier for me to work with for my setup). Most of the smaller parts will be cast resin (white in color). You did give me an idea though. I will probably do the shoulders and kneeplates in black HIPS now (since they're black on the EVO) and the rest of the vacuum formed parts (chestbox, hand plates, finger plates) will be white HIPS. I was going to make everything with white HIPS, but now might as well make the black parts, black. Thanks (and feel free to keep bugging me)!! Fivezero

Alright all straps I forgot about have been added now I only have one more thing to check, and that is the EL tape on my right forearm was dim, so I'm hoping it is just a dying battery issue. Otherwise, time to suit up again and take more pictures!! Fivezero

Hey, sending you a PM to help guide you about approval! Fivezero

Hey! Looks like you got a good start, one thing I might suggest is to bring the face of the helmet in closer and tighter (especially around the chin) and make it little curvier around the frown. Here's a pic of the actual model from the Force Unleashed. I'm very familiar with this helmet's design having built one like it in real life with Pepakura (it is the same exact helmet as the EVO Trooper, just with some details added/changed). If you want I can send the entire 3D model of the whole trooper to play around with (and that goes for anyone else too!). Keep it up, it's looking good though (better modelling than I can do!). Fivezero

Well made some more progress today. Finished getting the belt face together, still need to clean it up a bit, but it's almost there. Also got the little ab plate made up (easiest piece I've ever made as you can see). And added the little extra panels on the cod piece. Also got started on a new chest plate! After looking at the screenshots, the pec region of my first attempt was a little too sharp on the edges. So working on a new one with a little more smoothness around the pecs. Finally made the little extra armor plate that sits on top of the chest plate. That's all for today, feels good to be making stuff again!! Hope to get the chest finished (at least glued together). I'll probably do all the edge finishing at the end after everything is built and together and just spend one day doing a massive amount of sanding and finishing. Fivezero

Forgot this, but this is what the belt is supposed to look like

No word yet, because..... I haven't sent it in yet. I still have to do those minor adjustments I mentioned before (chest straps/forearm foam). Other than that she's good to go to hopefully get it approved, I'm aiming to get those taken care of this weekend, then it should be ready to submit! Fivezero

PM sent, sorry it took me longer than I thought (stupid computer ). Fivezero

Hey guys!! I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I haven't been able to make much progress on anything, school has soaked up my free time lately :/ That and I have just been in a very uninspired state.... But that has passed, I put the armor down for a bit, thought through how I wanted to proceed with my projects (as well as trimming the list down a bit ). Anyway thought I'd get started on this once again! Made some minor progress but got the belt made up! Belt boxes! Boxes assembled/belt face details added! The whole belt face I may round the corners a bit on all the edges, make it look similar to a regular belt (i.e. softer vac formed corners). All that's left is some clean up and spot putty to finish it off! Next I'll probably move onto the cod/butt plates and then work upward on the torso. Might build a new chest plate too (that hunk of resin, while cool, is very tough to work with). Then move down the arms and get those finished and finish with the legs. Then there's the helmet too! But this will get rolling again. My goal is to get at least one piece of armor done per week and try to get this finished up before choosing another project Fivezero

I gotcha! I'll send the PM to ya in the morning, just had a power outage and my computer is still acting all screwy (using my Ipod currently). Be patient, I got ya covered!! Fivezero

Well unlike the McQuarrie Concept Trooper, this thing has no concept art/supporting evidence from Lucasfilm that anyone has found yet. It's kinda just going off what AA is claiming (which as we've mentioned earlier, he's a shaky source). This thing is in a kind of gray area between a canon costume (for 501st standards) and non-canon costume. Which is why I think it might end up being a tough sell for approval. Still looks really cool though and I woul love to see it approved! Fivezero

Weird, I was just thinking about how this might be my next build just a few days ago... I'd probably still end up scratch building most of it though, hmm..... The McQuarrie concept armor is pretty close but there are still some differences I can spot (especially in the torso area, it look more closely to regular ol' TK stuff), but definitely some parts that could be useable for this guy. Hmm..... Great now you guys got me thinking too much (that never ends too well for me........) No matter what, we probably wouldn't be able to get it approved just yet, still looking for that picture that shows the back of this guy.... But would still be a fun build nonetheless! Fivezero Aw man, I've been thinking about this way too much..... I'm starting to see in my mind how I would make each piece, the slippery slope is forming....

Yeah Dizzy, you might be in for a bit of a battle if you send this in for approval, not saying it's impossible but it could get difficult. The references are not the best, but not the worst either. What you ideally need is just ONE Lucasfilm approved source/reference that has full 360 degree shots of the trooper. And the rule of three references is just an urban legend, I have never had to produce three references for any of my "First" troopers (and a couple only had one source!). The Lego Trooper, while cool, sadly can't be used as a reference for costuming purposes(the reference has to look like the trooper in real life, kinda why action figures can't be used solely by themselves). However the Ainsworth page is interesting with the little backstory and everything (but again it is a bit of a shaky source as Evilboy was eluding too, it might pass though). These are not the most ideal references for getting a new trooper approved (but not the worst either). I'll do some digging around (I've become very good at finding oddball pictures of troopers), if I find anything I'll post it up. Again not saying this is impossible (I don't believe in impossibility) but it MIGHT be difficult. I thought I was in for a battle with the Nova Sentinel, but got pleasantly surprised so you might get lucky with the current Legion Membership Team. Just want to provide you with some of my experiences in getting new costumes approved for the Legion. Now having said all that, this thing looks SWEET!!! I would love to see this thing approved. I still highly encourage you to build this guy no matter what, approval is not the end all be all. While I have a few Legion approved troopers, I have many more costumes that aren't Legion approved. Getting a new costume for Legion use is just icing on the cake for me at this point, I still build troopers that I like no matter if they are approvable or not. Build what you think looks cool! If you still want to pursue approval, however, I will completely support you Dizzy and will help you if you need it! If you want some advice when you are ready to send it in, send me a message and I can provide some tips for ya for getting "First in the Legion" costumes approved! Now start building this thing!! Fivezero

Don't worry too much Tej, winter is brutal on automobiles up here in Michigan (the salt and snow rusts things out VERY quickly, just ask my truck, she's withering away slowly ). I had to put the Chevelle away last year as well, the only difference this year is that our barn/shop is actually almost finished (concrete, electricity, heat, auto lift, etc.) so we can actually work on stuff through winter, last year the barn was just a big storage shed essentially. That and the weather is terrible for driving too, cold, dark, dreary, cold, snowy, cold.... It's nothing like driving on a nice summer day with all the windows down. Fivezero

Alright I'll be getting back to this guy and his friend once my EVO parts are all done with (next couple weeks). After these are done, I believe I will only have one unfinished armor project (Shocktrooper)?!? Time to get started on that tank I guess... Fivezero

Well winter is coming, so today was the last day I could really drive my Chevelle (which involved a nice car wash and filling the tank up). She now sits in the barn until I start working on her again (which should be soon, thanks barn!). Should be able to knock out some rust repair this winter though! Maybe have her ready for some new paint by the summer?!?!? Next big item mechanically to take care of is she needs a new radiator, the original one is tired and old and hasn't been doing a great job keeping the thing cool. Other than that it's all about making her look better now (you guys probably can't tell, but you can see it up close). Fivezero

Hey I was going to post that pic (but kinda got busy...)!! Anyway looking great Lance!! Keep at it! Fivezero

Great work, everything looks fantastic!! Fivezero

Thanks for the comments guys! Very excited to have this thing finished and all put together, just a couple tweaks and it should be ready for approval!!! And Dizzy, reread my post brother, I didn't forget the lights (just misplaced some batteries for the pics). This isn't my first rodeo... Fivezero

Yep, Legos make nice square, smooth molds and I can build a Lego box faster than I can build a wood box, so they work great for me! Anyway, hope to get started on the bigger parts tomorrow. Fivezero

Another little update for you guys! Decided to go ahead and get the smaller parts knocked out first. Made up a new finger plate. I used an old piece of pipe and gave it a little heat and some weight to flatten it out to better conform to the finger. I also made it a bit longer than my original, looks better in my opinion. Heat + Weight = Fingerplate Spot putty! Threw my thumb in to show you what it looks like. There'll end up being 10 of these, cut 8 of them in half for finger plates and the other two for thumb plates! Then got to preparing for silicone for the small parts. Unfortunately I didn't have enough to get the chestbox tube molded, but everything else should be good to go. While I'm making a mold for the finger plate, they will still be vac formed after I make a few copies from the mold (which the stupid thing decided to float up in the silicone screwing it up so I'll try again tomorrow). Hopefully I can get the others finished up and then it's on to the big pieces! Don't mock my Legos either! Fivezero