Chaos

The right looks better for the spacing between the segments

You are more than welcome. I'd go with the EL panels. I wish I had, they look so much better. If not, you can lightly sand the tips of the LEDs to reduce the focal point and use diffuser paper or white parchment paper. If you are going with having your undersuit tailored, I might have something you'd be interested in. I modified my Jimmi undersuit after I decided to use the corset design for my abdomen and lower back armor. It basically puts the zipper in the back so that it doesn't show in the front and is more like the screen used undersuits. Its really easy to put on by yourself and zips up much like a wetsuit. I had mentioned putting the shirt zipper in the back to Jimmi, not sure how his new suits come. If you aren't going with the corset set up and want to keep the abdominal gasket as part of the undersuit this will still work. Looking awesome! Here is the mod I made to Jimmi's undersuit. Undersuit Redo.pdf

@RobC_TX1138 Currently I know of only two vendors that are selling completed helmets. 850 Armor Works and Cyber Craft. Physically I prefer the shape and design of the Cyber Craft helmet. The only issue I noted in a comparison that I did between the CC helmet and an Anovos was that the CC will require repainting all the asymmetrical panels and the silver will need to be dulled done to meet CRL requirements. I have not seen either the 850 or CC in person only used photos from each's website. The paint job on the 850 helmet on their website isn't the best, I'm sure since they posted that photo that they have gotten better at painting their helmet. You can always ask each to send you current photos. The CC website says that their helmet will fit a head circumference of 63cm or 24.8 inches. If you have a larger head or need more room for electronics you may have to go the 3D printed kit option and have it sized appropriately. If you have a Jim Tripon helmet you have one that is sized to fit larger noggins.

Those will work.

@RobC_TX1138 My comparison of the Cyber Craft DT helmet and the Anovos or screen accurate helmet should have been specific enough, the helmet meets all the physical requirements and I outlined what would have to be repainted to meet CRL requirements. Right now I think that they are the only ones besides 850 Armorworks that sell finished helmets.

Looking awesome!

@DoggyDoc Gerald Your straps look good for Level 2, don't worry about the number of segments that are showing as these will be different for each Trooper depending on their upper torso size. We kept that out of the updated CRL for just that reason. When applying for Level 2 you will only need to show us in a photo that they indeed do bend. As far as the buckles. The ones used on the screen were cast formed in two pieces; the buckle and the D ring. The D ring is secured under the overhang on the front of the buckle. The two pieces are joined as if they are one and attached to the chest armor. You can see that by looking at the first two photos of the screen used suit that was on exhibit at Celebrations. The location of the buckle is approximate, but if you you look at the screen suits it appears in almost all the angles that the D ring corner (where is goes from being straight to curving to the front point) is just about even with the top line of the chest armor center detail that is horizontal in the indentations for the collar tusks. Any where in this area is good. The third photo is from my chest piece and is more of a downward-front-on looking view which might help you. Also remember that the buckle and D ring assembly are angled slightly inwards. How you chose to rig your front to back armor pieces is entirely up to you but a lot have found (Especially if they are hanging the shoulder pouch and chest ammo pouch rig) to have the buckle and D ring assembly hard attached to the chest armor and then open up a slot in the back greeblie to slide the straps into. Then again some people have permanently attached the back of the strap to the back armor and lay it over and use snaps, velcro, or strong magnets to secure the buckle D ring in place. I use the first method. I had to build up the area around the back greeblie on my Jimmi kit just to give it some more mass and structural strength. The fourth photo shows how it looks when the back of the strap is inserted into the back greeblie. One more tip, if you look at the fourth photo you will notice that I trimmed the back half of my collar to make the very back ridge about an inch lower, I did this because Jimmi's helmet would sit lower and it would prevent me from looking up and would "knock" against the bottom of the helmet. The Anovos was not so bad but it still would hit once in awhile. After I trimmed the collar I could actually look up almost 45 degrees. I have seen where some people have said they just cut off the back collar and covered it with the pauldron. You wont be able to do that for Basic or Level 2 approval. I don't recommend doing it even after approval, the average person may not notice it, but to those of us who know .... trust me we will notice it! Hope this helps. Your build is coming along nicely!

Nice! And Yes, pistol is matte or satin finish

Its not a problem, this weekend I am making some adjustments, when I am done I can send them to you to check out.

I have been dark (no pun intended) on this thread for a while. I took a vacation, got promoted to a new position, and am getting ready to move to new billeting for my job. I have been working on re-designing the fingers and hands. I think I nailed the "stunt" hand designs on my previous work but I kept going back and forth as to whether I wanted to continue my design as the "stunt" suit or did I want to try and replicate the "screen" look. After many hours of looking over both sets of reference photos I think there is enough to go the "screen" suit route. So I completely re-designed the hands and fingers and after a test print and assembly of the pinky fingers I think I have a design that is almost spot on to the screen used hands and also functional to wear. I will post up some photos this weekend as I will have the time to create the photo sets. I bought Do3D's helmet files as it was the closest I could find to the screen used helmet. I had to modify some areas as their design was slightly off in the vent greeblies and also in the lower vocoder area but I think I can call the helmet complete. I just need to print off a test build to see how it will come out. The forearms and biceps with greeblies I think are done. The big challenge is to design the wrist and elbow joints so that they look like the screen suit but are functional like the stunt suit. Once I figure that out I can design the way the joints will attach the pieces together at the elbows and wrists. That will make it easier to complete the thighs, shins, and feet pieces as the joints are the same just different sizes. I've got an idea for the abdomen but it involves me losing a few inches off my waist and increasing the size of the upper and waist pieces in size so they present the correct look but are still functional enough to wear. More to follow soon on that. Someone else has jumped on the band wagon of the Dark Trooper Mando! I'd like to thank @Andreas Funk for posting up his work and inspiring me to get off my ass and get back to work on this.

@Andreas Funk Impressive work! To answer your question about a CRL, none has been started yet. I don't know if there are any others besides you and I that are doing any work on creating a set of armor. I am using concepts from Nikko Industries' statue file rendering and screen shots to 3D model my pieces. The biggest hurdle to creating any CRL is to have plenty of reference photos. I think we have all that we need to start building a CRL. The next step is being able to create the pieces so that when they are worn, they will resemble what we see on screen accurately enough to gain approval from the 501st Legion Staff. That is where we are at right now. I have not started any CRL wording yet as I have only been working on my files in between work and life. It looks like with your work and enthusiasm that we may be able to start working on a draft CRL. I'll keep you posted as things transpire. If you have the time I'd like for you to start your own WIP (work in progress) build thread so that all your ideas and photos can be captured in a single thread. This is going to be a long but fun process, thank you for joining the journey.

@TookBreaker Anytime! Just make sure when you fill the seams/gaps that you use a toothpick or skewer to push the epoxy inside the gap to eliminate most of the air pockets.

@TookBreaker I had the same issue, I used a lot of Devcon Plastic Weld 2 part epoxy. Rough up the two surfaces you want to join, clamp/secure them in position and together. Then begin to put the epoxy into the gaps. You can use hot glue or duct tape to close off the opposing side so the epoxy stays in place. I also used the epoxy to fill the gap on the tops and only used a little auto body bondo to smooth out the seams.

I see no issues, looking good Trooper!

If you are going to mount speakers under the vents I would advise against using a rigid/solid frame and attaching it to the helmet. You'll have two solid surfaces mated and by doing so any vibration of the speakers will be transferred to the helmet body. This will increase chances of getting feedback at higher speaker volume levels. Don't over think the mesh and black matting attachment. Once you drill out the vent holes, cut a piece of screen slightly larger than the vent opening area and simply hot glue the screen edges in place, then repeat for the black matting. After you have done that, take a piece of sound proofing foam tape and cut it to the size of your speakers edges, then cut out the inner section to create an opening much like a gasket. Mount the speakers using the foam tape gasket you created. This gasket will prevent vibrations from the speakers being transferred to the helmet. Once you have the speakers mounted cover the entire area with at least two layers of the foam tape making sure that you have no gaps. This was from a previous thread: To be honest, I went to my local hardware store and bought a metal window screen repair kit, I think it was #20 size but can't be sure. I put the screen under the vents and then painted the silver weathering color. It turned out great. I did put a piece of black weed blocker fabric under the mesh before I installed @ukswrath's helmet audio sound system so that the speakers were not visible.

Probably best if you start a new thread, it makes it easier to search for in the future and provide you needed feed back.

Nice job! Looking good.

Anytime Brother!

Ok found it, let me know if you have any questions.

@DoggyDoc So the screen used suits only had the asymmetrical panels painted. The rest of the suit was gloss black, the gray look is the result of theatrical "dirt" being sprayed on the suits to present a weathered look. Under bright lighting it reflects and looks like paint. The CRL allows for the painting of the grooves. The CRL is very specific as to which grooves are painted and what color. I've got a pretty good explanation out there somewhere, I'll try and find it. Stand by.

There are makers of the bands, check Etsy, I just cut a 6x6 black pvc rubber coupler into two bands.

@DoggyDoc Good catch, yes you will have to continue the shape around. If you rough up the surface Bondo sticks pretty well. Another option is to use a piece of ABS cut and epoxied to the shin. I have seen someone sand down the raised area smooth, then make an ABS piece that is attached to the outside shin and wraps around the inside shin much like the original suits did. Either way is CRL Level 1 and 2 acceptable. Or you can just keep the seam facing out and only shim the outer shin. There is nothing in the CRL that says the seam has to be facing in. Mine faces out and is really not that noticeable.

I originally plastidip coated my Jimmi kit and it worked for almost a year. Unless you use an adhesion promoter, the plastidip will rub off in the spots that receive a lot of rubbing from your undersuit. I eventually lined mine with a felt fabric. It lasted longer than the plastidip and it prevents overlapping armor pieces from scratching the painted surfaces. Just something to consider. https://thefeltstore.com/collections/sae-industrial-felt/products/f-55-industrial-felt-by-foot