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Flametrooper tanks


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So the flametrooper has a pack with three tanks. From my experience with various costumes such as Boushh and the Skytrooper, tanks can add a lot of weight. With the Skytrooper in particular, this can result in the chest armor pulling-up into one's throat. I'm wondering what the lightest alternative for flametrooper tanks would be. What do you suppose they used for the screen-used costume?

 

8A6CA789-4BC3-4385-B133-1895C637FCDC_zps3anzfhlv.jpg

3349F4E8-4395-4DFA-983B-B0CDBFFDDA6E_zpsbywuc3rj.jpg

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Yeah, the OII is a great touch. According to the plaque at the exhibit, the armor and tanks are polyurethane.

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Hmm, might try cardboard mailing tubes? Might be able to hit them with some fiberglass resin to get a hard surface (will take some sanding to get nice and smooth). *shrugs*

 

Fivezero

:D

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I would try to make the backplate and tanks wearable like a backpack with shoulder straps that sit under the chest plate. Completely eliminating the need for the chest plate to bear any weight of the pack at all.

 

There does look to be some convenient places to route the inner straps, and the bolts on the back of the shoulders look like the chest plate can easily be joined (with the aid of an assistant) to the backplate.

 

So you would get the back/tank on nice and comfortable, then affix the chest to that rig.

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I have been thinking that as well Chef. Seems like it might just work.

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FlameTank.jpg

 

 

I'd attach the straps to the convenient bar (or what appears to be one) close to the back plate in the area of the circle. Take the strap over the shoulder (dotted line) and then you've got a couple of options for attaching at the bottom. (arrowed).

 

Another convenient bar (might be a bit high)

That nifty bolt, great for bolting strap eyes or D clips to.

Or the metal bit that seems to go up inside the back plate.

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I hadn't noticed that metal bit running inside the back plate. Good catch.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Just my 2 cents after studying this thing for a while... The ideas I have below are what I have been basing my back pack assembly on. Can't post a picture, so bare with me if you can :)

 

I think that the front/back is all one peice with a metal brace of some sort built in underneath. The entire back-pack assembly can be removed - possibly in 2 parts; the cage and tanks.

 

When you look at the bottom part of the back armour, there appears to be a hinge (but it's not a hinge, it's a bar - there are a couple excellent pictures of this) which is attached to the armour itself, and is not part of the tank/cage assembly, but the hooks on the tanks/cage assembly are hung over it.

 

Flame_09_zpsstwbil4t.jpg

 

 

I think there may be a slide connector on the back of the armour (similar to how the new E11's are attached to the regular troopers). Attach the back pack by aligning the "pin" or "pins" into the slots on the back of the armour, then as it slides down, align it so the cage-hooks snag the bar, which is part of the back armour assembly. (Maybe that curly wire we see in the pictures on his upper left side is the cage release pull).

With a 2-part assembly, the cage can be mounted to the back, and then the tanks can be added when needed.

 

Flame_10_zps5na7bcne.jpg

 

 

Rob

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I'm not able to see your photos any larger. Maybe upload them to Photobucket and paste the IMG code here instead? At any rate, what you are proposing makes a lot of sense. I have to admit it is exciting to have further discussion about the tanks. There is fair amount of interest in the helmet out there and some pep files floating around for the armor, even the thrower has some folks playing around with that, but nobody seems to be exploring the tanks. Great work Rob.

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What I can't quite figure out is the size of the tubes. Some how I totally missed these displays at CVII so I can only go by the pictures floating around.

Measuring the costume as a 6 foot figure for scale, it seems they are a 6 inch tube. Then when I am holding a 6 inch tube it seems massive, so now I am leaning towards a 5 inch large tube, 3 inch centre tube. Every photo has a slightly different aspect.

Anyone have a better idea as to what size the tanks are?

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I did see the display at CVII (I waited nearly 5 hours!), but it wasn't ideal for getting measurements. Judging from the probably size of the back plate and the tanks in relation to the plate, I agree that the larger tanks can't be more than 5 inches. I was toying with the idea of using four 3 Liter bottles and maybe filling them with foam as a start for those.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm thinking vacuum form is the way to go for the tanks. It'll be lightest.

 

I was thinking that as well, but with the level of detail on the tanks, some think that fiberglass is the way to go.

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I was thinking that as well, but with the level of detail on the tanks, some think that fiberglass is the way to go.

Should've specified I meant only for the large tubes. The rest requires detail for sure.

 

Btw, came here because I heard spec ops has been working on the FT. I'm a TD in El Paso, Texas. And everyone knows me as "that guy obsessed with the flametrooper" lol. I'll have to post my collection someday.

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Here are some end caps for the tanks. Note there are left and right ones as they are different.

 

Not having done any 3D work in over 15 years, I just put this together quickly in my old Lightwave setup. There are some errors in the unfold! But it still goes together OK.

 

Only using it as a starting place. Sticking a rolled sheet of really thick craft paper in between the endcaps, 28" long and then going to resin or rondo inside to stiffen it up.

I now have some 5" Styrofoam half-spheres that I will be using in place of these.

 

PDO is attached below if anyone wants to play around with it.

 

tank_caps_zpsqqj3pmgx.png

 

Updated files in post #90.

 

http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/3468-flametrooper-tanks/page__view__findpost__p__57445

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Can't start a new topic yet (?) so I will stick this here for now. ;) If some one can make a Flame Trooper Armour topic and move this, please do.

 

 

Made a new foot guard for the Flame Trooper. Will work with the Snow Trooper as well, but theirs looks to be a little different.

The PDO is set up and unfolded to 3.5 inches tall currently. Can't fully test it out until my boots arrive.

 

Download the PDO here from my Onedrive:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=959700F8BBDE4CB3!191789&authkey=!AC5_mUeF6m_IU98&ithint=folder%2cpng

 

 

footGuard_newdesign_zpstps51adb.png

 

11188375_10153231633542243_6994413473807638937_n_zpswr90hvax.jpg

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