Phase II Darktrooper Build

[Fivezero[TX]]

So after messing around with the shoulder bells last night, I got nothing done. They were really fighting me. However, I decided to use them as a base to sculpt out some new shoulder bells. They're much bigger and bulkier now. Started on them this morning and worked on them after hanging out with my family for Thanksgiving. Here's a pic (it looks a little better in person )

 

 

Now to smooth it out a little bit and even up that ridge.

 

Also after thinking about it, I'll also use the biceps and forearms as bases for sculpting too. I think it will be easier this way than trying to modify the heck out of them.

 

Well that's all for today. Hoping to get the other bell sculpted tomorrow.

 

Fivezero

[lunar lord]

cool cant wait to see more

[Wraith[TX]]

Nice

[izzi[TX]]

Very cool, bro.

 

-iz

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well got the left forearm almost sculpted out. Just need to work on the ridge since it's ugly and then clean it up and smooth it out some more. Also make it a little swoopier (or some term to describe it) on the side Mini-Nova is sculpting.

 

 

Also decided to scrap the helmet. I was using a TK (well a TX after I'm done with it) helmet as a base for sculpting. However there were some things that just weren't going to work and overall the details on the face were too small. I'll work on a new one when I'm finished with the arms.

 

So that's all for now

 

Fivezero

[lunar lord]

mini-nova is a great sculptor for such a small guy he should have his own business lol

[Scootch[TX]]

Man that's one big bell!!!

[Fivezero[TX]]

So I went a little crazy with the E-6000 when I was making the little ab plate and the plastic warped a lot. So I remade it today.

 

Here's the damage:

 

 

And now my new clean one with no damage and the old one on the right:

 

 

Also redid the belt for this project (it ended up breaking) and will put the bottom armor back together tomorrow. Started on the left bicep as well, hopefully make some progress on that over the next couple days.

 

Fivezero

[Fivezero[TX]]

So been working on the biceps a little bit over the last couple days. Here's what they're looking like.

 

 

Still trying to get them to look identical and they need some ridges too (but I'll worry about those once they look the same). And of course the usual smoothing out at the end.

 

Fivezero

[lunar lord]

are you going to mold theses? if so you only need to make 1 not 2 right? especially if there identical front/back

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well the front is going to have a ridge (that I haven't made yet). And the back is a little different than the front of the bicep (it has a slight angle from top to bottom). So I couldn't really just mold one to get both.

[ACJay[501st]]

Cool stuff 5-0

[lunar lord]

ok lol i wasnt sure

[Fivezero[TX]]

A little quick update for today. I've been slowly working on cleaning up the arm armor (been quite busy the last couple weeks). Lunar lord also got me thinking about trying to mold one to get both pieces of armor. I think I may have come up with a solution to get this done using some silicone molds. I currently have some silicone coming and will post an update after I do some experimenting.

 

Fivezero

[lunar lord]

sounds good

[Fivezero[TX]]

Well I'm still working with the silicone to get it to do what I want it to. But my future plans for this project may eliminate the need for any of this sculpting/molding.

 

Here's a sneak peek.

 

 

 

Fivezero

[lunar lord]

looks cool so far

[Fivezero[TX]]

Alright so here's my new plan with this thing. I will probably have access to a CNC machine in the near future. I figured why not go ahead and use it to cut molds out for this thing. And using CAD software, I can just mirror things like the biceps no problem. Here's some of what I've been working on for the last month or so.

 

 

I found a 3d model online of the whole Darktrooper, it just needed lots of adjustments and cleaning up. For example, I'm pretty sure no one would have been able to squeeze their leg in the bottom of the calf armor and it also would have been too high (about 3/4 the height of my entire leg). The helmet also needed some details around the eyes and in the chin.

 

Now obviously, there are things that are still out of scale (the helmet, forearm, foot, thigh) and I'm still messing around with the chest piece (nowhere near done) However I feel this will be able to give a more accurate representation of the Phase II Darktrooper than my previous work.

 

I might construct something like the shoulder bell soon (using the polygons in the model) to check to see if my scaling is correct. Also if I am able to successfully get molds cut out for this thing, I do plan to add a lot of the finer details at the end (things like the teeth on the helmet).

 

 

Fivezero

[izzi[TX]]

Cool. Keep on updating us!

 

-iz

[Rotccole]

Nice work brother keep it up!

[Fivezero[TX]]

And here's half a shoulder bell made out of poster board. It's over my Nova Medic shoulder for comparison.

 

 

Looks like I'm right on with the scale (though it will be big on purpose), so they should be fine when I go to cut the molds.

 

Fivezero

[izzi[TX]]

I know it's a pain, but you might want to add some more polys to that to make it a bit rounder. Might save some sanding time later.

 

-iz

[Fivezero[TX]]

Yeah, that's my plan when I get the scale set for all the pieces. I'll probably do it when I prepare and finalize the models for mold cutting.

 

Also in case anyone is wondering, that half shoulder I made will not be an actual piece of armor. It was just to verify it would fit human proportions.

[Fivezero[TX]]

I spent the last couple days making a rough representation of the dome for the helmet. Once again, did it to make sure it would fit. Cutting out a mold (especially the helmet) and not having it fit wouldn't be too much fun. Looks like I should have plenty of room in the thing when it's done.

 

 

Also excuse the messiness of my work area, I'm working on an interim project (the black bit in the top left of the pic) while I'm waiting for paint to dry and for a CNC machine to cut molds.

 

Fivezero

 

 

Also there probably won't be updates for this for awhile, in case you guys start wondering (waiting for a CNC machine).

[Fivezero[TX]]

Since I have no updates for this yet, I'll throw this picture up for fun.

 

 

My attempt at trying to sculpt the helmet (I didn't really want to show this picture after I took it). A number of factors influenced my decision to scrap. First and most important, I had just discovered the Nova Medic about the same time as this picture was taken (that is my Medic bucket underneath it before paint of course). Second the standard TK bucket (now TX ) had too many differences (notably tube size and shape) that it threw off the rest of the rest of my Darktrooper helmet. And finally my sculpting skills aren't the best.

 

I probably could have had a good helmet if I had kept working on it and tweaking the details. But I wanted to get the Medic done since I had the parts for it anyway, so blame the Nova Medic.

 

Still waiting though......

 

Fivezero