ACJay's Nova APPROVED 2011/01/25

[ACJay[501st]]

Hmmm... I know this is going to sound crazy to some of you but this is my first time in a forum... ever... period... so please bear with me. I have been working on an elite novatrooper for about a month and I am hoping to someday join the ranks of the 501st. I figured if I'm gonna try I might as well go big for my first project. Here's some pic of my WIP. Hope they are up to standard.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0208.jpg

 

I'll have way more in depth pics of the process but I have to get ready for work right now. Posting lots more pics tonight

[izzi[TX]]

Looks pretty sweet. Tell us a bit about the armor!

 

-iz

[ELP[501st]]

Looks fantastic! Good Work - Can't wait to see more pics!

[ACJay[501st]]

I purchased the armor on Ebay from Jim Jedi. Its is HIPS .060 I believe. He trimmed it some for me and put the initial coat of high gloss black paint. I am slowly but surely putting it together. I will post better closeup pics today when I get home from work. I was also wondering if the helmets are normally reinforced with anything because the vac formed plastic seems so thin? Any help would be much obliged.

 

PS Izzy, I've been surfing this forum for a while before joining and it's an honor to get a post from you. You seem like a stand up guy and great leader here in the 501st!

[bscheff[501st]]

Welcome AC,

 

It looks like you got a really nice kit. Did you build the backpack or buy it?

 

Good luck with you build, I look forward to updates.

[Darth Agnon[TX]]

Sweet looking kit! I think the bucket may be HIPS, but everything else looks like FX to me.

[lunar lord]

looks good so far

[ACJay[501st]]

First off the backpack. I made it myself while on a five day training seminar. I spent my free time after training searching for materials to build the pack at Big Lots and Home Depot. I found what I needed and then went to work at my hotel room. I was actually worried a guest might call the police on me mistaking me for a vandal because I would spraypaint the items in the back area of the hotel every night at around midnight. I still need to work on the Radio. That going to take sometime because I would like it to be accurate and I will have to search junk shops for the parts I want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is the T-21. I noticed while surfing the net that one picture of the T-21 listed "T21 blaster rifle as seen in Star Wars" really doesn't look like a Lewis Gun. The upper and lower reciever area as well as the buttstock look like an M249 SAW. The photo may have been of a fanmade gun but I figured most people wouldn't notice the difference because of the similarities of the weapons in those areas. So I decided to buy a M249 SAW 1:1 replica and modify it a bit. It is still incomplete. Needs ribbing on lower half of the barrel, sling and I am planning on carving a wooden buttstock to replace the removeable solid plastic stock.

 

http://www.imfdb.org/images/0/0b/T-21blasterifle.jpg

 

 

 

[ACJay[501st]]

Oops, sorry about the pic heavy post. I'll try to put it in link form from now on. Still getting used to forums in general.

[ACJay[501st]]

Ok now on to the items I purchased while waiting for my armor to be formed. I purchased a neckseal from Shadow Dale Creations. It looked the most screen accurate so we'll see when it gets here. Their wait time was six weeks from ordering.

 

I bought a wetsuit undersuit at amazon.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0266.jpg

 

I bought a pauldron from Trooper Supplies and modified it using Izzy's technique

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0195.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0207.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0273.jpg

 

I bought boots from Bass at Amazon. They came dull but by the time I'm done with them they'll look like glass.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0154.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0271.jpg

 

I bought gloves at Home Depot

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0268.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0269.jpg

[ACJay[501st]]

And finally the Armor. It got here on Wednesday and I went right to work.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0192.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0193.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0194.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0205.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0250-1.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0249-2.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0249-1.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0249.jpg

 

I did the arms myself as well but I forgot to take a picture of them all taped off and sprayed Sorry

 

I will continue to update as I am able to work on the armor. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Thanks Again

[lunar lord]

wow lot of updates

[izzi[TX]]

PS Izzy, I've been surfing this forum for a while before joining and it's an honor to get a post from you. You seem like a stand up guy and great leader here in the 501st!

Yes... Feed my ego... I see great things in your future with us...

 

 

Looks like a pretty good kit there. .060 HIPS is on the thinner side or armor, so you'll have a bit more flex than .080 HIPS or .0.93 ABS. If you treat it right though it will still be a great set of armor! If you do happen to have any little problems with any pieces, we have a guy here that can get you replacement parts without a problem.

 

-iz

[Rotccole]

Looks good brother! Keep it up and welcome!

[ACJay[501st]]

I finally put in enough snaps and velcro to actually wear my WIP. I've also decided to repaint the entire suit now that it is all together. I used some scotch tape to hold the suit while I installed the undershoulder canvas straps for sizing purposes and when I took off the tape the gloss black on the chest came right off with it. I should have told the maker to not trim or paint the armor before it got to me. It would be more work for me but I think it really would have saved me alot of grief. But either way here's my first experience wearing the suit.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0285.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0284.jpg

 

HA I just realized that I forgot my belt in the garage during pics, lots of other stuff missing too

 

and please forgive the mirror lenses. Just stuck that in there for the pic

[bscheff[501st]]

Looks nice. Any way to avoid the re-paint?

 

My only other observation is that your thighs look big around the knees. Might want to consider tightening that up a tad. Suit looks great though man.

[izzi[TX]]

Yeah, the LMO might defer the approval for the fit of the thighs. They don't have to be skin tight, but they will be slightly cone-shaped.

 

-iz

[bscheff[501st]]

I just noticed your teeth are silver, I am pretty sure they have to be black. The blackhole troopers have silver teeth, but we need black.

[ACJay[501st]]

Yeah the teeth were painted by the maker. They'll definately be black when I get to painting. I am glad you mentioned the thighs. They bug the crap out of me. They need serious trimming and some better shaping. plus I'm gonna be trimming all the armor now that I've put it on. My wife was helping me with the forearms and the top area almost sliced me open. I have alot of work to do on the suit but I couldn't help trying it on since the snaps are on. Thanks for all the comments. Probably won't have another update for about two weeks because I'm going out of town. But once I get back There will be no one to stop us this time (insert respirator sounds here)

[bscheff[501st]]

Your making great progress Nova-brother. If you have any questions just ask.

 

Cheers,

[ACJay[501st]]

All right tried painting lid since I last posted but it didn't turn out well. I am very impatient and ended up very unhappy with my initial result. Trying something new. I sprayed the gold first, waited about four days, taped the lines, then dropped another layer of primer on. I will gloss black the rest of the helmet once the primer is ready... Here's hopin it works.

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0416.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0420.jpg

[ACJay[501st]]

All right Lid is glossy. Now I just have to wait a few days to pull the frog tape, apply decals, mesh and lenses.

Praying my method worked for the gold!

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0430.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0431.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0432.jpg

[izzi[TX]]

And the wait continues....

 

-iz

[ACJay[501st]]

All right here's some helmet shots. Just needs some small detail painting and it will be finished.

 

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0449.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0450.jpg

 

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/ACJaynScuttle/IMG_0451.jpg

 

And here's the legs that I've been trimming on. Question for anyone. Is it ok to shorten the thighs from the top keeping the shape of course but reducing the total thigh length so it's easier to walk up and down stairs and such?

 

[bscheff[501st]]

Making some nice progress J. Yes you can trim the thighs, but yours look like a good length. Don't trim too much or they may look small on you, right now they look perfect.