Tachyon

Cheers guys . @Hoppy; Not sure what I can do on it at ur AP, the majority of what is left for now involves sculpting, fiberglassing, moulding or vacforming. Think I'll just be a spare pair of hand to help where I can Unless I can get some vinyl and shoes, then I could do the boots... hmm Also, the progress bars were easy enough, in ur sig, just type what you want with '|' and '.' symbols then change the colors of the dots and lines. I thought it might make the build a little more easier to follow, in case people were like "Wonder where he's at with this in respect to finishing it." The percentages are really only how happy I am with the part though. There's also a link to the thread in the title

Well, photo time. All I have left to do on these pouches is sew the flap shut and reinforce the belt loops on two. I have some more time free now, so expect to see more updates on this project Hopefully I will be getting the molds of the belt buckle and dropboxes done next week and fingers crossed on the vac forming of them too.

I just guessed based on how close I felt I was to completion. Going to finish up with the belt pouches tonight so expect photos in the next day or so

Yep, figured it would be a better way for me to keep track of my progress than keeping it on a whiteboard where notes keep getting mysteriously erased

Yay, some more progress. Took a day off study today due to illness but managed to get 4 of my 5 belt pouches sewn. This just leaves one more belt pouch, filling the pouches with a rigid frame and the belt buckler and it's complete. Hoping to get my buckler vac formed in the next week or so, and might get the drop boxes done at the same time *fingers crossed*. Formally finish my study later this week, so I won't be able to post pics up until after that (pouches will look better when filled out), but here's hoping I'll have my ab section completed when I have the camera out! Cummerbund done, belt at about 75%.

He's on the Main boards. You could see if he's a member of the detachment, not sure. Might be best to talk to someone approved in your garrison, maybe the GML, to ask Thomas if you can't find him. It can take a while for him to respond though.

Just a note on that Iz, with the seatrooper I have been PMing The Clone Emperor asking for his advice before I start to mold it for vacforming. He said he wasn't happy with the way it looked in cardboard/bondo and basically said he wouldn't approve it at that stage (needs alot of modding). While the neo-crusader isn't the seatrooper, spanos has some harsh requirements when it comes to getting brand spanking new costumes into the costume base. Not saying it isn't possible Lunar, but I'd recommend trying to contact him with your progress to get his thoughts. He might tell you to go and get it molded anyway, or make some mods to it, which would mean you've spent the money on paint for nothing. The impression he gave me was that he wasn't going to approve the seatrooper until it was on a comparable level with an MC scout (so vac formed parts as opposed to cardboard/bondoed), he might have a similar comparison in mind when it comes to the neo-crusader. He's pretty harsh when it comes to things like the Nova, Incinerator, Shadow Scout etc, but even more so when it is an entirely new armor type. He did refer me to look at his durge build; http://www.paralada.org/Estonia_self/Estonia_htm/SWgeekhtm/DURGE_htm/Durge09.html , as to start with he used a similar method to what you and I have been looking at doing, although I believe he ended up sculpting his final product. Just sharing my experience with you, would hate to see you put so much effort in to get knocked back. Looking great so far!

Belt pouches Did a prototype yesterday, came out a bit rough, but cut the fabric for the proper ones, just waiting for some time to sit down and sew them together.

Quick Update; Got the Cummerbund done and the pouches are well underway Not much of an update, but progress has been slowed due to my uni commitments... Hopefully though I'll get alot more work done next month. I decided I'm not happy with my chest piece, so I'm going to rebuild that, possibly sculpt it then vacform. Watch this space

Looks like it, might be able to dig up some more when I have more time, but here's the one from that article: Dosn't look that different from the evo trooper I commented on before, but different chest and helmet and with this pack: I can see some other differences, will write an essay if more references are found. I know there's a figure out there somewhere and should be able to get the 3d models from the PC game if someone has a copy of that.

There's noone local to your garrison you could sweet talk into vac forming you a kit?

Hehe, I know that feeling... Keep at it though, all the hard work will pay off in the end.

Nice, lookin good!

Ok thanks Izzi. I'm thinking I should put them on, because a normal biker has them, but the WEG images don't really show a decent detailed view of that part of the bicep. Some more progress; Got the muzzle built. Still need to fill in some gaps, and sand the curve in. Didn't bother filling in the end sections because the sanding will get rid of the tape holding the panels in. Joined back and front plates together for the resining step, tacked the pack on as a trial. FPS Time! Kill the Zillo!!!

Thanks mate Just while I was looking at the ref pics, should the hoses from bucket to pack be black or white/grey??? Always thought that they should be black because tie pilots are black, but then, just checked before I go buying stuff, not so sure now. Also, while looking at the other ref pics, do you think it would be safe to say that because the trooper on this pic dosn't have the black T bits on the bicep, that the trooper on the book cover wouldn't?

Okie dokies, here are some WIP pics of my speargun/blaster. Compared to the rest of the armor I'm building, this was surprisingly easy. Took me a full evening to work out the measurements, and another evening changing them after I drew them out on the card. The only bit left for me to do is the muzzle (bit where the trooper has his front hand in the ref pics), the card dosn't want to behave when I bend it to get that slight curve around the corners. I also have to put a 'trigger' in, but that won't be too hard at all. How I got it this far, I basically built a rectangular box out of the card, then built the two handles separately and taped them on. I then did a skin for each side with the grooves cut in. I then drilled some holes along the top for the dowel to run down the length of the gun. Once the muzzle is finished I'll cut the dowel just short of protruding out the other end of the muzzle and put a magnet so the spear tip can be put in for official shots and removed for the majority of troops. I also have a PVC pipe connector I'm going to cut in half and nail/screw/rivet to the other end of the dowel for the stock. Not sure how it will turn out post-resin. I want it to be waterproof so if anyone has any better suggestions that would be great . (Pen in first pic is for scale). As always criticism is requested, there are a few small details that I am unsure of, but changing the size to match throws things a little out of proportion.

Well, I got half the blaster/spear gun done over the last few days, just need to rebuild the muzzle for it, then resin and paint! Will post some more pics when I fix the gap between the front and back armour.

Nice mate nice. I'll be watching this closely, the red troopers look awesome. Shame Australia is so far away, my chances of ever seeing one in person are pretty low at the moment

I thought the same until I found out one of the guys in my garrison was a prop maker and I asked for some pointers. Ask around your garrison, I'm sure someone knows someone else who can help.

What you could do is make a plaster mould of it, and the slush/resin cast a lighter one. I have a friend here who's doing that for my scratch built TR bucket I've been working on when not working on the seatrooper It's also what I'm doing for the seatrooper bucket. That way you get a lighter one out of it, and you have a mold to produce more, say if you wanted a yellow or red one as well. I think he's going to do my TR bucket in polyurethane. Much lighter than the fiberglass bucket one of the other guys in my garrison has, maybe not quite as strong though. You should see if there are any professional prop makers in your garrison and ask them for help. Not sure if this process will be the same for your helment, but if it's going to work on a TR bucket, I'm sure it will be much the same for yours. Same friend also suggested I get my seatrooper armour done up as moulds and give them to the local vac formers to do in ABS. Then I get nicer looking armour (cause it's in shiny plastic) and it's a bit stronger and more weather resistant (and in my case waterproof). Gotta do the bondo layer for detail on it, and fiberglass for strength, but it might help with the issue you had with it cracking when you flexed it. Sorry if I have confused you with this as you can probably tell, I'm no pro at it and I'm still confused about what I need to do for my seatrooper. If you have people with the skills in your garrison though, I'm sure they can help. Let me know if you want me to find anything else out for you. This process also allows you to make up some kits , I'm sure there are a few people interested in this costume

Awesome, thanks mate. Yeah I can see your point, I guess I'm just a little OCD on the details. I found another pair of fins that matches a little more closely and are probably the correct length, but they were $80US, then add shipping and conversion (which isn't too bad atm) I couldn't afford them at the moment. But might be a worthy upgrade later on. I can't wait to see this one finished either, it's taking a while, but really the only hard armor parts left to fabricate are the pelvis and shins.

Lookie at what the Postman brought me today They're the closest fins to the reference that I could find. I couldn't get the shape of my custom one right. I'm going to have to cut the heel strap off and paint them white of course. What are people's thoughts? The only concern that I have is that they are potentially too short. But it they were any longer they won't sit right. If you take the length of the trooper's shin in the ref pics and compare it to the length of the blade, there isn't alot of difference between the length. The blade on these fins is only a little shorter than the length of my shin.

Thanks guys. No promises, but yeah that is the plan, would be good to get more than one seatrooper out there. I'll let you know once I've gotten approval for the costume, would kinda suck if it didn't get 501st approval and I'd already put a bunch of kits out. Also depends if my mate has the finances to do a run, I'll ask him about it next time I'm working on the helmet.

Wow! Big update for today !!! Work has commenced on the awesomest part of the costume, THE BUCKET!!! I went around to a mates today for a bit of a sculpting tute, apparently I'm pretty good for a first timer. Here's what I came up with (with a little help from my friend). It still has a bit of work to be done on it, but not bad for the first day. I've also got my belt buckle (see above post) sitting in a plaster mold, ready to have a fiberglass copy produced. Just ran out of time today. Decided that I will probably do all my custom cardboard pieces as molds and vacform/fiberglass copy them to produce a stronger and more polished final piece. Let me know what you think of it, going to keep plugging away at it when I get time to go back to his workshop.

Ok, rebuilt the buckle, looks a bit better to me, I'm going to try and build a pouch to accommodate the clip at the back. Next thing for this is how to toughen it up? Anyone with fiber glassing or resining experience? http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/TkTachyon/Belt2.jpg