Phase II Darktrooper Build

[Fivezero[TX]]

Slowly but surely have I been working on this...update pics coming soon.

[lunar lord]

Lookin rly good

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Can't wait to see what things are looking like now

[Fivezero[TX]]

Essentially, I got sick of waiting around with no progress. Seeing Shaggy's Sithtrooper build has really inspired me to get back on track with this and try the Pepakura approach.

 

The last couple weeks I have busted out most of the armor pieces needed. I went the hard way and hand drew every polygon for everything as I was still messing around with the program and hadn't figured it out yet. I took a small break the last week before I damaged my finger, all that cutting put a lot of pressure on my fingertip and it started getting a little numb. In that break I messed around with Pep. and will use it to finish off the last couple pieces this week.

 

Everything else has some coats of resin and now awaits "rondo" to smooth it out. Hopefully everything will be ready by the end of the month and I can start vac forming them by early July. Possibly have it all together by August?

 

Here's the feet for you guys. I'm thinking of doing these in some flexible material rather than vacuum formed plastic. I think they would look too silly (and imagine the noise of them hitting the ground) if they were vac formed.

 

 

Current progress, parts in red need to be pepped, white parts are assembled and resined. After putting this little model together and seeing everything in scale with each other, might increase the size of the chest/back a little.

 

 

That's all for now, I'm getting there!

 

Fivezero

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Cool man. I think I might mess with some Pepakura for the shadow trooper I have wanted to do.

[izzi[TX]]

Those are some really big polygons there. Going to take quite a bit of elbow grease to smooth them out.

 

-iz

[Fivezero[TX]]

Sanding actually isn't too bad with this rondo mixture. A lot of the sharpness in the angles goes away with every coat. It's also very easy to sand down once it's set. Here's one of the kneeplates, one of the more angular pieces of armor.

 

 

A couple minutes of sanding is all I've done so far to it. A little bit of spot putty and some more sanding and this thing will be done.

 

Every other piece has been coated once with rondo. I plan to finish up a piece or two throughout this next week.

 

If everything goes as well as it has, I might even have this thing done mid-July. I also decided to wait on the vac-forming until after it gets approved. Hopefully I can send it in for approval sooner since I won't have to form then assemble plastic armor.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

\have you tried google Sketch to create any 3D models? I've played with it a bit, there is definitely a learning curve, but its pretty powerful for a free app

[Fivezero[TX]]

That's what I used to mess with the Darktrooper model

[Fivezero[TX]]

Forearms, biceps, shoulder bells, thighs, calves and the feet are finished and awaiting paint and other details.

 

 

Hopefully I'll finish the torso and helmet this week in between detailing and painting the other pieces. Then I'll start getting it all rigged up for approval!

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well unfortunately my fellow Spec ops. brethren, I bring bad news. We may now have white armor among our ranks...

 

 

But yeah been painting the finished pieces. Hopefully get the arms and the ab/cod armor painted tomorrow and work on the leg details and rondoing the helmet while the paint dries. Also ordered some vinyl to recreate the area in between the chest and the ab armor. I also figured out how to cut the nozzles for the jetpack using the PVC pipe, but I'm still deciding if I should remake my jetpack or work with the current one.

 

We should have our first Darktrooper by the end of next week?

[izzi[TX]]

I wanna see test fittings!

 

-iz

[Fivezero[TX]]

I'm close...been getting bogged down at work so haven't gotten quite as much done as I've wanted, but almost there.

 

But here's a few pics for ya:

 

The arms (might run some gray down the indent in the forearm):

 

 

The helmet (still needs some work). Mind my quick, messy paint job:

 

 

Almost there...

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well unfortunately the helmet fell down after the paint dried and the right tube pretty much shattered (it's almost fixed). If all goes well then I should have pics of the whole setup by the end of the week.

[izzi[TX]]

NNNNNNNNNNooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

 

 

 

 

 

This looks like a special monkey

 

Sucks about the fallen bucket.

[Fivezero[TX]]

Luckily the helmet wasn't too bad to fix, just soaked up time that I could have used finishing other things. Anyway, I pronounce this build finished (for now). PIcs will be coming this weekend!

[Fivezero[TX]]

Here's the first test fit of this thing. In general, everything looks a little scrunched togethern The torso armor and thighs look they need to be moved up. Also had some straps fail causing pieces like the bicep and right side of the chest to look a bit odd. Finally the kneeplates need a little perking up.

 

 

Here's more proof that things need to be lifted up (it looks like I took a dump in my armor )

 

 

There are some more minor things that need to fixed (the hoses on the thighs for example).

 

I'll work on this throughout the week and hopefully have new pics next weekend.

 

Fivezero

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

considering what you are doing you absolutely seem to be on the right track

[Tachyon[501st]]

Hey mate,

 

Firstly, I don't want you to take this too harshly, I hope you take it as constructive criticism, as I really do look forward to seeing an approved phase 2 dark trooper in the ranks of spec ops. And I also definitely don't want to come off as a complete jerk off, I do want to come off as a guy who is also building a first to legion costume who wants to share his experiences and opinions. So here I go, and please read the post completely before complaining to me.

 

When I started the seatrooper, I initially built quite a bit of it in cardboard. When I emailled Spanos with my pictures, he said "No way in hell would I approve this." He then went on to lecture me on how the card did not capture the correct angles in the armour and the details would never be achieved via this technique. Overall, the email response that I received from Spanos was a very crushing essay, and if it weren't for his challenge of getting the costume up to standards, I probably would have given up there and then. Yeah, I know Spanos isn't LMO anymore and I know you're not using cardboard, but having seen the pic you posted, I think the same thing could be said. There are just way too many sharp and noticeable corners in this armour. The shins look way too polygonal. The feet look like slabs of plastic rather than shoes.

 

Another thing that I'd say the LMO would criticize is the helmet. The helmet is the first part of the costume that anyone looks at, trooper or event attendee alike. The first thing that jumps to my mind when I look at your helmet is that the dome isn't smoothly rounded. Then moving down, the trim around the edge isn't even, the face dosn't look smooth and the vocoder/chin is all skewy. The whole thing is bumpy and uneven.

 

What I suggest you do, is rebuild the helmet, or use what you have as the basis for an upgrade. I've seen pics of what you can sculpt, so why not get a plastic head for size reference and sculpt the helmet onto that? I was a relative newbie to sculpting when I did the seatrooper helmet, and while I was getting some professional help, 80-90% of that bucket was all me.

 

Bog and paint isn't going to have that wow effect you want people to have in this costume, unless you're an artistic genius. For the trim around the helmet, I suggest you cut a groove around the brow and put some pinchweld or rubber window seal into the lip, so you get the same effect like on a TK bucket. Then it would be even, and it would add some pizzaz to the bucket. I'd also recommend making some greeblies for the Hovi tips. Cutting some Wooden dowel, adding a groove then making a silicone mould isn't that hard at all, just jump online and look for tutorials. I can even walk you through the steps if you like. This way you'd end up with two greebs, you can cut the painted hovi's out and give your bucket some depth. You could also do the same for grills over the ears. Also, I would definitely do something about the leg pipes going between your thighs and ab. It just dosn't look good with them hanging out all over the shop. Why not make them longer and have them attach to the insides of each armour plate. Or attach them to the undersuit?

 

I really hope that I haven't come off like too much of an a-hole here, but I hope you can take it as constructive criticism. As it is, I don't think it looks close enough to the reference pictures to be approved. It's a good start, but it needs work. The 501st has strict costuming standards for a reason. Back when I submitted my idea of the seatrooper to Spanos, he told me he wouldn't approve it unless I vacformed the parts or did a damn good job at fiberglassing. While Spanos might not be the LMO anymore, I would expect that the current LMOs would have a similar standard for new to legion costumes. Also, it is my understanding that new to legion costumes are required to pass a vote among legion council. So it is all these people that you have to impress. And yeah, I know you've had a new to legion costume approved already, but for something like the phase two darktrooper, would you be satisfied with them passing something that just scrapes in, or something that absolutely blows them away.

 

I am most definitely more than happy to help with suggestions and tips if you want to hear anymore of my suggestions, and I am also happy to back right off if you feel that I am just some idiot who thinks he can tell you how the approval system works. If you want to tell me off for posting this, by all means PM me about it. I know how much I hate being told how to make my costume. I think though that these criticisms are much easier handled coming from someone at the same level than from someone who ranks much higher or the general public (cause they are the harshest critics of all). And I also don't want this thread to be derailed by my post, because it is about Fivezero's Darktrooper build, not my essay of a post.

 

Don't give up, just because one guy (me) is giving you a hard time about it. I just feel that you are holding back, or rushing to get the new costume completed. I think that you are capable of polishing what you have up to become one of the top armours in the legion. It might take some time, and you might have to learn some new skills, but in the end it will be worth it, and you will be completely proud of what you stepped up to the plate and completed. And, not only will you have a kick-a** costume, but some sweet skills that you can apply to other projects in the future. But hey, at the end of the day, it's your costume.

 

I'll leave my two cents (more like $10.50 ) at this though and pass on the challenge that Spanos handed me.

 

“Can you step up to the plate and make your costume one of the best that the legion has to offer.â€

 

 

Now, to lighten the mood a little;

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well Tachyon, you are completely and utterly correct. Everything you said is everything I've been thinking about over the last week. After I looked at those pictures again and again, I knew there was no way this thing would get approved (hence why I haven't taken any new pictures).

 

Originally I had planned to make molds to use for vacuum forming. Then construct the suit after that. But I stumbled upon pepakura and thought it would be a quick way to get an approval ready costume.

 

The legs fought me the whole way through and I was never really pleased with them. I was going to use them to help sculpt new ones down the road. But I think it's time to go ahead and make improved ones. I didn't notice how angular everything was until the flash from the camera exposed all the little shadows and lines. Not to mention they were one of the last pieces to be made so I was sick of bondo and sanding at that point. The helmet also got stretched out and widened during the scaling process. I thought to do another one but make it a little more narrow, especially in the face. I believe the frowns also got scrunched up too, they're too small compared to in game shots. The helmet along with the legs were on my rebuild someday list. I wasn't too pleased with them. Also to clarify that the first shot of the helmet I posted (by itself) was not the finished thing (if you were looking at that). I put a quick coat of white to show all the little holes and divets and see what needed more smoothing and proceeded with a mediocre detailing job to visualize the finished product. But it obviously still needs more for the general shape.

 

Some of those little details you talked about like the brow trim were my original thoughts too. However I didn't have enough trim on hand to go around the helmet like it's supposed too. So instead of waiting and purchasing more trim, I placed some electrical tape around the dome for a quick finishing touch. But there are actual greeblies for the mic tips (they aren't painted on despite them looking like it). The hoses were in part to poor armor fitting at the time and could use some extending in spots.

 

Honesty, I have been getting sick of this build. I've been working on it for over a year now. I wanted it to be finished and I rushed, I admit it. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and it blinded me from seeing how bad this thing really looked due to my rushing. Only until those test fit shots showed all the little problems, did I realize I rushed and created an inferior costume to what it could be.Your post confirmed to me my fears and suspicions. So I thank you.

 

I set aside this month to fix any issues that arose. I wanted to get at least one test fit in before July ended and I did. Now seeing all the problems of the test fit, it is time to really get this thing finished.

 

Thanks for the kick in the butt, Tachyon!

 

Fivezero

[Tachyon[501st]]

No worries mate, from one armour designer to another, I share your pain of being over making a new costume, my seatrooper has been going on 19 months now and I am so far beyond over it, it isn't funny But I'm going to perserver. It's a case of 80% of the project takes 20% of the time.

 

What I wanted to say is that you have a really good base. It really wouldn't take much to get that super awesome look to the suit. There are some bits that may have to be redone, but all in all, you have an awesome start, and I bet you know what works and what dosn't. One thing I can suggest and you may or may not already have it, is get a Mouse Sander to help with the sanding of the bog. It REALLY cuts down the amount of time taken to fix bits up. But also have a respirator, cause it kicks dust around like crazy.

 

There's nothing like a coat of primer to show the defects, and the flash of a camera magnifies them ten fold. So I think you did a good thing by taking approval shots of what you have, because at the end of the day, you now know what it looks like to an observer, and from that, you can work out what you need to do to take it to the next level. That is something I haven't been able to do with the seatrooper yet, and I bet when I do have it all together, I'm going to be saying "That dosn't work, that dosn't work, that dosn't work."

 

Stick at it mate and don't give up, you've got a good thing going. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Fivezero[TX]]

Updated shin piece. I spent the last couple days really working on these things (thighs too). So they're ready for some new paint!

 

 

I have worked on it some more since this photo was taken (my camera died and I haven't gotten around to charging it yet). But it's definitely looking less jagged and sharp.

 

I've also smoothed out the helmet dome some more. I beefed up the left tube as well since my emergency repair on the right tube made it massive comparatively.

 

Improvements are coming along nicely.

[Tachyon[501st]]

Cool, sounds good. Looking good in that pic, bit bumpy, but I'm sure you're already on top of that

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Your attitude is exactly where it needs to be for this project. Keep working and you will find yourself a year down the line with something absolutely awesome!!!