Apologies in advance for the long read
Hi y'all! My name is Julien, most call me Jae, and this is my first adventure into building a suit of armor (and my first time working on a costume for the 501st)! I have a lot of experience in Star Wars costuming groups, but with the exception of my unofficial* smuggler outfit, all of my outfits are jedi and sith related. Naturally, I have chosen to undertake a semi-difficult and somewhat complex outfit as my first go at it. Despite this, my goal is to submit my Death Trooper for 501st approval, with a target goal of mid to late September which probably seems like a quick turn around (and it probably is).
I have chosen to go the route of 3D printing, as I am a pretty petite guy (about 5’5 and 110 lbs) so getting a vacuum molded set would be a challenge to make sure it fits and I like how it fits. For similar reasons I am doing most of the printing myself as any pre-printed sets would bear similar issues. Because of this, I’ve learned there is a lot of trial and error involved.
For the files I am using, I have purchased both the armor files and helmet files from MCM Design to be in compliance with the approvable requirements and have downloaded them both. I have a friend who is helping me actually print the parts, and we have also used Armor Smith (which I recently learned is being sunset) to try and form fit the armor before printing the pieces to try and mitigate just how much trial and error we will have to work with.
I have already purchased and received the full undersuit and gaskets from Jim Tripon, as well as the soft pouches. I still need to pick up the boots, the gloves, and the belt from the remaining list of necessary soft parts. I plan to pick up the boots from Keep Trooping, the gloves from Endor Finders, but as for the belt I have only found a vendor on Etsy that appears to have a CRL compliant appearance.
This is the link:
I have also given the CRL requirements and files to Wampa’s Workshop so he can help me print and paint the helmet as well as wire the electronics for the LEDs. I wanted this piece to be resin printed so it felt more durable and so I could worry about smoothing and painting everything else. The helmet will be printed at 100% scale.
I am making this forum post to hopefully find advice and receive guidance as I work through this project. It’s challenging to find resources online for this specific method as it seems to be an uncommon route, and everything I have found so far I’ve had to try and apply it tangentially. Because I have to do some involved resizing, I want to make sure that everything fits me the best that I can make it AND it looks good and remains screen accurate. In order to keep ratios as close to screen accurate as I can, I have compiled folders of reference images as well as amassed enough death trooper merchandise to basically make a shrine from them. The figures have been super helpful because I can look them over in my hands and feel where the pieces overlap or where the joints kind of are (with respect to the fact that they’re action figures).
I have some experience when it comes to painting and weathering plating and props, and I have been given some tips and tricks for smoothing out layer lines from friends with the Mando Mercs. I have already acquired resin paint, primer, undercoat, and overcoat, as well as enough sanding paper to make a woodshop jealous.
My main concerns for assistance are
Appropriate scaling and making sure the armor looks and fits well
Assembling the hidden straps and how to secure them
Recommendations for covering gaps and holes
Making sure I catch all the flexible parts and print them in appropriately flexible plastic
Making sure that the layer lines can be smoothed out of the rubber/softer plastic
So far, I have printed a couple parts.
Backpack and backplate combo (no greebles)
Left bicep piece
Left gauntlet (no bands, no cylinders)
Chestplate (needs to be reprinted again)
Abdominal plate (no rectangle greeble)
Of the parts I have printed, I’m unsure about the size of all except the gauntlet. I can’t remember off the top of my head the exact scaling, but I believe all parts have been printed at 91-92% scale. I will include pictures of all the pieces over my undersuit to get as accurate of a shot as I can.
Current point of concern include:
the overlap of the chestplate and abdomen plate.
I might be trying to fit the chestplate too low, which may be why I’m struggling to make sure the abdomen plate is appropriately visible.
Inversely, I could be wearing the abdomen plate too high
I have wider hips than I do waist, so the abdomen piece wings out a little around my rib cage.
It’s hidden by the chestplate but I’m worried about it snagging or getting bent or broken from movement or pressure from being pressed on
Making sure I have an appropriately sized harness.
The printed pieces are a little too heavy for me to use the masking tape trick I’ve seen in the DT Facebook group
I’m not able to easily tell if there’s too much space in the back of the harness under the backplate
How to attach them and what to print the connector pieces in (TPU/TPE?)
Finding the right scaling for the bicep armor
I haven’t printed any of the shoulder bells yet, but I know the bell overlaps with the bicep piece.
My bicep piece covers about 2/3 of my upper arm but it fits fairly snug with my undersuit
Making sure the Gauntlet doesn’t flip and spin around
I believe it is the appropriate length based on references but it is a tad wide
This is the left gauntlet and I know it will be top heavy because of the wrist blaster and bands
There’s a gap in the ladder on the side that I plan on trying to fill with a sheet of plastic
I suspect I will have to figure out a trick for tracing the inside since it tapers into a trapezoidal shape
I am totally aware that this is just the beginning of my journey but I am excited to complete this project! Thank you so much for reading and for any advice you might have for me along the way. I look forward to keeping this topic updated as I go!
MTFBWYA
Jae
