Tachyon

Hehe, yeah, can't wait! Not long now Yeah, I still don't like it, and the more I look at it, the more I hate it. I'm thinking v5 might have to be a cut down and modified TK forearm, just to see how that comes out, then sculpt additions to that. Stay tuned.

Well, March was the 13th month of work on this project, so I decided it would be best if I didn't do any work on it in the cursed 13th month. Actually, I was pretty busy with work, diving and a few other things, so I didn't have much time free to work on it. And it was the 13th month that I have been working on this. Bit of work done today, sculpted the fourth incarnation of the elbow and bicep armor, but at the end of the day, I decided I didn't like either of them. The hardest part about the arms of the costume seems to be that when trying to translate what is on the picture into real life, the dimensions and shapes aren't achievable. The elbow has always seemed too flat in all my attempts at sculpting it, and the shield bits on the side of the bicep can't be the shape they are in the picture unless the body of the bicep armor is flat, not curved, which would make wearing it a problem. Anyway, here are some pics of the forearm from today, I pulled the bicep apart in sheer frustration, so it will have to be started again from scratch. I think the forearm can be worked on, but I still don't like it. The ribs on the surface of the forearm I tried to copy from the ribs on the TK forearms, as there would be a certain level of similarities between imperial armors, and there seems to be a diveted part of the forearm in the reference pics.

Cool, nice work. Ooh hey, I know that book on the left

Nice work mate, congrats on the approval.

Haha, moulding will be done soon, hopefully. Sorry about the lack of updates lately, been a bit busy with life, but I should be getting stuck back into this to finish off the remaining parts over the next few weeks

It's so shiny... @Rotccole: Yep Magnets do all the work @Darth Emphatic: The whole way through the build, I've thought the shape was quite fitting of the costume, it looks like a little kid's drawing of a ship And yeah, now you mention it, I guess because it is so rounded at the back, it does look a little lego-esque. Might have to see about getting some mini-figs made one day Cheers guys, really looking forward to finishing this now. Not long now

Ok guys, after a few days recovery after the largest troop in the southern hemisphere, and the best troop I've ever been to, I present some photos of my Seatrooper bucket! These photos were taken at the friday night mixer, and just about everyone who saw it said they loved it. We're still not happy with the paint (my sculpting and moulding tutor and myself) so for the final painting before the first approval shots when the costume is complete we will be taking the whole costume to an automotive painter. Only bits that need to be fixed up are the sensor array, going to put a sheet behind that and paint the raised bits with Humbrol No. 5 Grey paint (same as a TKs teeth) and the gap inside between the edge of the faceplate and the body of the helmet, still working that one out. A custom visor will be made in transparent midnight blue polyurethane and mirror tinted. And the chin greebles still need to be sorted, but that is easy. Also, attached is a display hose, since it would be quite difficult to display the helmet with the backpack behind it (and I havn't finished the backpack). But the on costume hoses will be quite long (See first pic for a rough estimate of hose lengths). So, without further ado, I present, my seatrooper bucket Cheers to Seantrooper for the photography! That trooper knows how to handle a camera

Me too. I've only seen it with the dodgy spray gun bits on it, but it still looked fantastic then. A friend is painting it for me and doing the visor as well since I have a dodgy week of work this week. This is all so the bucket is done before the Dreamworld troop

Well it's update time Helmet is at 95% completion! Just needs a repaint, the spray gun started spraying unevenly and there were a few defects in the fiberglass that will need fixing, but if you ignore those, she looks fantastic in high gloss white! It's going to be sanded and repainted this week. Faceplate attachment is complete and a visor is being worked on. Unfortunately though, due to a certain very large troop that we have coming up next weekend, I wasn't allowed to take photos of it painted. So we're just going to have to sit tight until next weekend I also finished the prototype for the shin jets, so that's ready for moulding, the backpack is ready for moulding and the chest and back are very close to moulding too. Should be getting some TK bells to modify for moulds next week as well. Then it's just arms, shins, pelvis and some assorted soft goods left to do. Stay tuned

Nice one. Hadn't thought about having a layer of plastic over the EL sheet. An easy solution

I'm custom sculpting my pelvis armour, going to have a life cast done to get a decent and accurate platform to get the shape of the armour right.

Yeah, I think that's what most people think, I did (and still do). It dosn't say specifically in the reference book what it is for, so I say it's a light. I think leaving it in and off will be fine, just don't know what colour the EL sheet stays when the light is off. It might clash too much with the paintjob and not match the reference... Waiting to receive my EL panel to find out about this.

Oh, nice find! I have been wondering how the RCs make their visors light up without showing the person in side. Something like that could add an awesome edge to the costume. I'd just like to find out how heavy the bucket is with all the fans, speakers, mics and what not before adding more stuff. I'm thinking the batteries will be in the backpack though.

Yeah, I havn't had any experience with helmets that attach to other parts of the costume before, so I'm going to have a play around with the helmet and backpack when they're both done. I'm thinking it might be possible to have the hoses not permanently attached because they sit very snugly in the connectors, and might not need permanent adhesive. This would also make it easier to display. Yeah, I know about wanting to relate it to the real life world. Already considered the light behind the forehead vent. An easy attachment, but not sure how it would go down for approval, so I'll make it removable and try getting it approved with the light. The belt pouches I made look similar to dive weights, but they're in fabric because it's cheaper than vinyl and give the same kind of look as the cummerbund, something the LMO wanted me to do. There's also a dive knife I am working on reproducing (non-bladed version though) attached to the right shin. I think also, the backpack was referenced from the Rebreather technology that was being tested back in the 80's when the book was written, and the fins are based on a dive fin that was popular at the time Rebreather;

Yep, just a reminder, I'm currently reworking the CRL, as the one posted was just a rough outline Izzi and I came up with a 12 months ago. Nothing has been submitted to the LMO for approval yet, so there technically isn't a formal CRL out there yet. But it's all up for discussion, so if you have something to say about it go for it My plan for the hoses is also to have the cheek hoses permanently attached, and possibly even the backpacks hoses permanently attached too. I don't know how well that will pack down though, so still kicking ideas around until I get the backpack fiberglassed (next step after the helmet), but the hoses will be functional, as airflow though this helmet is minimal. Alright for you in the cooler climates, but Queensland is terrible for stinking hot trooping days.

I actually got 30mm electrical conduit piping. It was perfect, because they had the appropriately sized conduit endcaps, which I used on the bucket. The hoses fit snugly into the endcaps and shouldn't fall out unless pulled. And they were in grey, so no need to paint Only trade off was I had to buy 50m of the stuff, so free hoses with the buckets when I get to selling them.

I've got a mate who has offered me a set of his TK bells from his personal moulds to modify to remove the centre stripe. I have been thinking about using TB bells, but I don't think they are long or pointy enough. I've talked to the guy you sold the armour to on and off for the past year, but he lives in Sydney, and I haven't had the time to go and take a look. Yet. Would love to see it, it's a fantastic costume.

@MrFett: Love the EL wire lights on your bucket. They add another dimension to it, instead of the costume being a flat series of colours, the EL gave it a kind of glow. Fantastic! As for the hoses and cummerbund etc. I was originally going to use plain TI hoses and skip the cummerbund, but you know 501st rules. So I have to have em. I'd make the cummerbund out of neoprene, but I think in the climate here, I'd die. I'm still thinking I might die in the cummerbund in the middle of summer. Also, I think the cummerbund can be justified if you say it's part of their environment control suit so they can dive in sub-zero temperatures or what not. The grey hoses I have now match the visual reference quite closely and one could say that the colour difference is because the TI hoses are made to operate in the vacuum of space while the ST hoses have to operate in the pressures of the water. What difference it makes, I don't know, but hey, rules is rules. Wishing ur costume never got booted though, the blue paintjob does suit the armour and environment more than stark white. And it looks damn cool. @Izzi: You know, it's part of the Seatrooper training course to swim from America to Australia in order to receive your armour. If you start now, I might have it completed by the time you get here Just don't forget a knife, the sharks here bite

Welcome back mate, more than happy to help you with getting a seatrooper up and running. Your suit was an inspiration for me to get to work. I'm glad you like the bucket, I'm coming along with the rest of the suit quite quickly as well. Drop me a PM if you have any ideas or questions. The helmet isn't far away from completion now

Haha, cool video. I've been thinking that I could set up two small mics, one on either side of the bucket, that run thru an amplifier and into speakers positioned above my ears. This would give me a sense of direction of the sound and also let me plug in the ipod but early days, might not actually need it in the end.

Speechless cause it's so awesome!!! What happened was I freed it from it's plastery tomb Was just waiting for pics to upload so I thought I'd be evil It's like wearing a fiberglass box though, I can only hear people if they are directly infront of me and speaking loudly when in it. It's also pretty well fitted to me, lucky I extended the sculpt that little bit. Going to need to widen it before I can reproduce it, but for now it should be fine It's all downhill from here, hopefully have it painted and the visor fitted this coming weekend

This is what remains of the plaster mould... I am speechless.....

APOK, PM Mr Mupps, he'll be able to let you know as our GML and submit them for consideration. Though it can take a while, been waiting for a few months for the LMOs opinion on my seatrooper helmet and still no response. I ended up just casting it out as it was to get on with the suit.

Waters peaked at 4am yesterday at 4.6m and receding since then, so the major event is over. The city is getting into clean up mode now, probably going to take a few months to clean everything up, but there's an army of tradies, earth moving equipment and volunteers all pitching in to make sure the clean up is as quick as possible. I was lucky enough to be one of the unaffected people, but I know plenty of people who were affected, going to try my best to help them out to get back on their feet ASAP.

Sorry mate, been a bit held up by these floods, trying to use my half built armor to help out the affected people of Queensland. Also, the postal service is down for the time being due to the floods... so you might have to wait a little longer