Gosdent's TX build!

[Gosdent]

Hey guys, so I was fortunate enough to be gifted a brand new Jedi-Robe shadow stormtrooper from a fellow 501st member. I plan to rebuild it and get approved. I started by stripping all the armor pieces of their crappy factory Velcro straps, and I have begun to modify the helmet.

 

 

The helmet started as this:

 

 

And I have now removed all the stickers and the eye lenses. I have a new set of decals coming, new mirror lenses, new mic tips, and I'm going to paint the frown silver.

 

I am ready to build, but probably won't get around to starting until my winter vacation from school in December. So, I figured I'd ask some questions now.

 

The factory belt setup on the Jedi-Robe is really dumb. It's not even a real belt, it's hard plastic straps with the belt armor piece screwed over it. I saved the armor piece and ditched the "belt", but it therefore has two screw holes in the ends of it. I have ordered a real black canvas belt from trooperbay, which I plan on using the armor piece on. How do you suggest I attach it to the belt, and will I have to hide the holes to get approved?

 

 

 

 

I am hoping to keep this discussion going until I have the time to start building, but if it dies down, I will resurrect this post in December when I'm ready. It's my first 501st build, so I would like to plan ahead. Thanks for any help, looking forward to an interesting build thread!

[toddo[TX]]

You can attach the belt in a number of ways. A lot of us use snaps. What you could do is rivet that belt to the canvas. Then order some of those little square things from Scootch and glue them over the rivets, and Robert is your mother's brother.

[Master Tej]

Shame about the belt. The new tube stripes will be gray, not blue, right?

 

- Master Tej -

[Gosdent]

Shame about the belt. The new tube stripes will be gray, not blue, right?

 

- Master Tej -

I actually decided to go with flat black, but yeah that blue is gone. im also going to paint gloss black over the ear screws and tabs.

[xanthis02[501st]]

are you building toward specialist if so contact

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/8638-for-sale-inner-drop-boxes/

for these and if doing ANH build do what was suggested to me cut the corners of your belt at 45 degrees just some helpful tips

[Gosdent]

Ok, so I've painted the parts on the helmet like the ear tabs and screws black, and frown silver. Next job is to do the lenses.

 

I received the "mirror lens material" from trooperbay, and it's literally a plastic sheet, and will obviously need to be applied to a harder, actual lens material. I have a few options.

 

I have a sturdier welding lens sheet that I can cut to size, but it's super dark. They look great with the mirror sheet in front of them, because they are darker, so the mirror sheet is made less see-thru when having the dark material behind them. However, it is SUPER hard to see out of, and I am concerned even well lit indoors will be difficult to see in when trooping.

 

I also have the factory eye lens pieces from the helmet that are cut to the eye shape but just bigger so they have overhang inside to glue them. While they are more flexible, they have much better visibility. However, my concern with these is that because they aren't very dark on the front side, even with the mirror lens material over them, I can still look straight at them and see through them a bit. My concern is even though I'll be able to see out of them great during troops, I'm afraid people looking at me will be able to see my eyes.

 

With those two options, what do you think? I'm open to any suggestions, whether you suggest one of the options i already have, or even if you think going with a different mirror lens material altogether would be better, and forgetting about that silver mirror sheet I ordered.

 

If you think I should stick with using the mirror sheet I got, then I need to know how to apply it. Like I said, it's a floppy sheet, so how would I apply it to a backing lens surface, keep it pulled smooth and tight when I do, etc. I thought I was buying an actual mirror lens plastic that I could cut, I didn't realize it was an overlay type of thing. I saw it and pretty much thought "well... How the heck am I going to work with this thing?" Haha!

 

Here's everything fun I got in the mail from trooperbay. The lens material, helmet decals, mic tips, snap tool, and belt. I'm pretty excited!

 

[toddo[TX]]

i used this: http://www.afxhelmets.com/parts/fastshields.php. It is rigid and looks great.

[Griffin-X[501st]]

As Toddo mentions, the AFX is the way to go for the lens. It just works and looks so much better. Also, for the decals, I'd use the flat black tube stripes and ditch the rest.

 

AFX link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ACP3QI/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1/186-3837756-1869050?ie=UTF8&qid=1304989656&sr=8-1-fkmr1

[Gosdent]

Thanks dudes! Just ordered it from the Amazon link you gave me Jim. Looking forward to it!

[Scubacat[TX]]

Looking good so far! hope you get your belt going ok. ^^ Those lenses are pretty awesome. ^^

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

i used the afx shield in my motorcycle helmet, but in the TX bucket it was too stiff to hold an even curve around both eyes to from the outside it reflected off the eye area on itsself so it appeared one eye was bigger than the other. then again i didnt cut the eyes when it was built. i ended up getting trooperbay's mirrored acetate for 5 bucks. its flimsy, but if you do it right looks much better, nice and even eyes. its also easier to see out of AND you get enough for 2-4 helmets.