lets make the chrome trooper official

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

IIRC an approved costume has to have 3 references for it to be accepted into the legion. the crl for this would be a no-brainer. a little background on the shiny stuff:

 

the lego version

 

"Similar to LEGO's previous Star Wars minifigure promotions in past years, as with 2007's Chrome Gold C-3PO, and 2009's Chrome Darth Vader, this Stormtrooper is a standard minifigure coated in silver chrome paint. It comes in a ployester bag, which is very similar in packaging to the Chrome Darth Vader, only with a Clone Wars logo and design. As of February 2010, these are are limited to a production of 10,000, and are giveaways at stores that sell LEGO in Spain. They are included with a £34.99 purchase. It is unknown if they will become more widely available later in the year as with the Chrome Darth Vader"

 

the gentle giant version

 

Originally slated as a UK Forbidden Planet exclusive bust variant, the limited edition chrome Stormtrooper briefly made an appearance through the official Star Wars Shop online store. Calling this bust a United Kingdom exclusive, as the packaging indicates, is somewhat debatable given its US availability through the above avenue. The entire run consists of 2500 pieces, making availability extremely limited."

 

AA's Metallic Stormtrooper

 

"Back in 1977, when he was creating the armour and helmets used in the film, Ainsworth experimented with a metallic Stormtrooper. It was a difficult process that didn't see the light of day, but now he has perfected the process and the new generation of Stormtroopers is born."

 

(this is reffering to the vacuum-metalizing process that c3po was painted with, and it REALLY is a difficult process. Bonus factoid, West Coast Customs is known for another process in which they chrome cars, 2 clear paints react chemically to produce a mirror finish.)

 

well thats just fine and dandy. "thos'r just regular TKs painted chrome" you say, "so why should Spec Ops have it" you say. it has an acual background. "The concept behind the Metallic trooper is that its grown from conditions where elements other than carbon could generate life, metallic elements that are unknown to earth, but could produce impenetrable armour. This trooper also boats a reflective shield designed to counteract laser attacks from rebel forces."

 

Griffin and Tej know i like to argue about stuff so here goes. our black armor is "blaster resistant" meaning it aint no regular one shot kill white armor. heres some big words for you. "laced with durasteel fibers which made them more resistant to physical as well as energy attacks when compared to standard stormtrooper armor" and "stygian-triprismatic polymer material used in the production of the armor".

 

so this new shiny "impenetrable" stuff made of elements that dont even exist to produce chrome (chromium alloys on earth) would pretty much be stronger than what we got already. thats spec ops.

[Griffin-X[501st]]

I dig it man and would love to see you bring this one to life.

[toddo[TX]]

What are you waiting for Dizz?

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

if we get a crl going maybe we can get cfo to do runs of helmets (http://www.whitearmo...fisd-exclusive/), otherwise everything will have to be vinyl wrapped, like advertisements on vehicles. chrome vinyl is pricey but not a bank breaker for the amount needed. its hard to tell which lightsaber was used in the shots, but i have huge hd pictures i can screen cap. it looks to be either parkssabers fusion or ultrasaber etc, cant tell since the grip is covered. an episode 2 anakin saber could be used for basic approval and specialist would require the right black upper button and such as we get there. the shield looks white, but is chrome with gloss black things that have yet to be identified, the center being a simple dome, with an officer hat greeblie on top, and two blue, 1 white squares on the top right corner.

 

helmets are anh stunt style, lenses could be flat for basic, bubble for specialist. traps and tears, tube stripes are either gloss black paint or black decals. frown and vocoder painted gloss black. holster is omitted, though a silver painted blaster can still be optional.

[Chef[501st]]

I take it you chaps are aware it's very easy to obtain mirrored HIPS plastic.

 

Would be a doodle to pull a stormtrooper suit in it (I've even got a sample sitting here somewhere) because there are no joined and filled seams on a stormie, each part just overlaps the other with a covering strip over any glued joins.

 

I would have done a scout just for a laugh, but the lid construction method would have meant the need for vac-metalisation (it needs to be filled and sanded). So I've never bothered.

[SpudTrooper[TX]]

There was a fulll chrome stormtrooper suit at celebration Japan in 2008

[crazas[TX]]

The armor was present @ CIV too, as an exhibition item.

 

Plus, there are a few Cylons (original Galactica Cylons) around with awesome shiny armors

[Evilboy[501st]]

I don't know about using Ainsworth for a reference, but I would LOVE one!

I will ask Ward (NE Armor) about it...

[Fivezero[TX]]

Yeah Dizzy, you might be in for a bit of a battle if you send this in for approval, not saying it's impossible but it could get difficult. The references are not the best, but not the worst either. What you ideally need is just ONE Lucasfilm approved source/reference that has full 360 degree shots of the trooper. And the rule of three references is just an urban legend, I have never had to produce three references for any of my "First" troopers (and a couple only had one source!).

 

The Lego Trooper, while cool, sadly can't be used as a reference for costuming purposes(the reference has to look like the trooper in real life, kinda why action figures can't be used solely by themselves). However the Ainsworth page is interesting with the little backstory and everything (but again it is a bit of a shaky source as Evilboy was eluding too, it might pass though). These are not the most ideal references for getting a new trooper approved (but not the worst either). I'll do some digging around (I've become very good at finding oddball pictures of troopers), if I find anything I'll post it up. Again not saying this is impossible (I don't believe in impossibility) but it MIGHT be difficult. I thought I was in for a battle with the Nova Sentinel, but got pleasantly surprised so you might get lucky with the current Legion Membership Team. Just want to provide you with some of my experiences in getting new costumes approved for the Legion.

 

 

Now having said all that, this thing looks SWEET!!! I would love to see this thing approved. I still highly encourage you to build this guy no matter what, approval is not the end all be all. While I have a few Legion approved troopers, I have many more costumes that aren't Legion approved. Getting a new costume for Legion use is just icing on the cake for me at this point, I still build troopers that I like no matter if they are approvable or not. Build what you think looks cool!

 

If you still want to pursue approval, however, I will completely support you Dizzy and will help you if you need it! If you want some advice when you are ready to send it in, send me a message and I can provide some tips for ya for getting "First in the Legion" costumes approved!

 

Now start building this thing!!

 

Fivezero

[Chef[501st]]

Yeah, AA's claims in the StormTrooper world are a little flaky at best.

 

But it does look incredibly cool.

And in the sneaky world of Special Operations, nothing is impossible.

 

Remember, there are 3 more episodes coming up. All those conceptual artists and story boarders will be needing some decent reference material.

[THE TROOPER[501st]]

Im down, wheres the sign up post ?

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

it might be more proper in the expanded universe detachment since AA is the only "real" source (and that whole court thing stating he owns whatever about his armors and whatnot), but his backstory for it makes it more spec ops than just another TK floating in the "conceptual" universe. plus were limited to costumes as it is, you all know we could use the addition

 

either way ive got an extra helmet thats gonna get shiny in the future.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Would love to see this thing. I did see the one at CIV

[TK-1422[TX]]

it might be more proper in the expanded universe detachment

 

As Founder, I respectfully disagree. EU Troopers belong here - That's our domain - Home of the EU Troopers. We lost a few suits to the FISD, but this was by agreement that we'd both work them.

[Scubacat[TX]]

I agree! This needs to be another great trooper here!

[Master Tej]

Man, that is one awesome looking suit! Diz, I would be fully behind you on getting this approved (for what that's worth). The debate doesn't come until we decide what to name it!

 

I really hope this can get passed. The main thing I'd like to see would be better shots of the shield itself, because we can't really tell what it does beneath it's top edge. Great find though, I hope this happens!

 

- Master Tej -

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

the only other shot of the shield i could find was this

which shows its chrome and not white. the pictures are all gigantic 3000 pixel beasts. ill see about cutting them up to show the details. i think the biggest problem we'll have is getting the legion to induct it as its not exactly canon.

[Scubacat[TX]]

When we do decide on a name, I would love to help give it a good one! This would be one project I would love to see built!

[Master Tej]

It's not canon? Neither is the McQuarrie Concept Trooper, right?

 

- Master Tej -

[Fivezero[TX]]

It's not canon? Neither is the McQuarrie Concept Trooper, right?

 

 

Well unlike the McQuarrie Concept Trooper, this thing has no concept art/supporting evidence from Lucasfilm that anyone has found yet. It's kinda just going off what AA is claiming (which as we've mentioned earlier, he's a shaky source). This thing is in a kind of gray area between a canon costume (for 501st standards) and non-canon costume. Which is why I think it might end up being a tough sell for approval. Still looks really cool though and I woul love to see it approved!

 

Fivezero

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

So what was the final decision about this?

It seems there was still some issues regarding source material etc. I thought I saw two from the video of celebration this past year if I am not mistaken. I think it would be pretty neat to add this to the mix if it ends up being legit enough.

[mr0072003[501st]]

I saw the Chrome Trooper at CVII so the suite exists. As for it being approvable I have no clue. But it did look cool!

[drthmrl[TX]]

I don't care if it is approve or not. If said armorer will accept payments I want one!

[Scottdm62[TX]]

So this is what happens when a cylon and a stormtrooper produce offspring

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Most definitely and that is not a relationship I'd like to observe...