Camprandall's Flametrooper Build

[camprandall[501st]]

Hey friends! Now that I have most of the stuff on the way and am starting the gun build on Monday I figured I may as well start my build thread. Here's my purchased or plan to be purchased item list.

 

Armor - KB PROPS (on the way)

Helmet - Animefan (on the way)

Flamethrower - Kevin Merritt (arrives Monday!)

Pouch and belt - Pete Bella (on the way)

Backpack - MLC Fiberglassing

 

Can't wait to get started!

[toddo[TX]]

That looks like a great list Clint. I can't wait to see your work on this. As you may know I have an MLC pack, so feel free to fire away with any questions. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to wear the tank that also allows for ease of suiting-up and out. Of the helmets out there, Animefan's is my favorite by the way.

[camprandall[501st]]

Thanks Todd!

 

Yeah, the pack is an interesting one. We probably won't know precisely how they did it in the film, but either way we'll need to make it troopable. It doesn't seem to connect anywhere in the top half, which makes it tricky to do without metal and bolts/nuts like it appears they did.

[PiettLives[501st]]

When you guys make ANY headway on those tanks please share as I'm getting one as well. I've been thinking I'd like to permanently mount them on the back plate and have the chest armor be removable. I'll have a "backpack" harness inside to hold the weight so that's why I want the front accessible. There are seams showing on top of the shoulders so it would be approvable.

[camprandall[501st]]

Got the flamethrower kit yesterday. It's Kevin Merritt's. Looks great! Can't wait to get started.

 

[camprandall[501st]]

Making progress! A lot of parts sanded, glazed and primered. Some need further work.

 

 

 

 

[camprandall[501st]]

I was going to add a bit about glazing. If you haven't used it, give it a shot! It's such a great way to quickly level uneven surfaces with minor imperfections. I use a dremel to smooth out most of the mold seams, but rather than hand sanding it down to a perfect smoothness, I sand a bit and then use glaze to create a nice smooth surface. The key is to use a playing card to apply. It allows you to create thin smooth applications on flat or rounded surfaces with minimal sanding needed after it cures. Anyways, it's been a life saver for these types of props for me.

 

[camprandall[501st]]

Getting close! Had some trouble with the monsoons hitting early with all the humidity, but I found the early morning to be the safest time to paint. I think it's working out ok.

 

[toddo[TX]]

Looking great to me Clint. I love that kit.

[camprandall[501st]]

Thanks Todd!

 

Now that the base coats are done, I moved onto figuring out assembly tonight. I wanted it to be strong but also capable of being disassembled for travel. I'm pretty happy with the end result!

 

For the top white handle, I really wanted it to be strong enough to carry the gun from there so I angled two molding nails at an angle through it and then dremeled off the head and painted over it. Note that it's white in the pic because I painted that piece before I realized it was supposed to be black.

 

 

 

 

For the back end of the handle, I used a very long screw that goes through the handle, the white box, and the block box below. This ties all three parts together and also means that I can unscrew that piece to take a good bit of the gun apart for travel. It worked really well!

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing I did to attach the sheath around the hose bib was to wrap it in craft foam. This allowed me to fill the large empty space and have it fit nice and snug. I could then twist on the sheath and it fit really well.

 

 

 

 

 

I went over the assembled gun and touched up the white areas and tomorrow morning I'll do the same to the black. Then I'm done! This gun is awesome. I can't wait to post final pics of it.

[camprandall[501st]]

And... she's done! This gun is awesome! Kevin and co. did such a great job with this kit!

 

[toddo[TX]]

This is a great build Clint. Such neat ideas such as the way you made it collapse-able with the long deck screw and the craft foam on the nozzle. This kit is amazing, and you put that Clint touch on it. Well-done.

[camprandall[501st]]

This is a great build Clint. Such neat ideas such as the way you made it collapse-able with the long deck screw and the craft foam on the nozzle. This kit is amazing, and you put that Clint touch on it. Well-done.

 

Thanks Todd! It was a fun and easy build! I also learned a few things scratch building my first megablaster about how terrible it is if a large gun can't be reduced.

[retrofire[501st]]

That's sick Brother! I'll bet Trent and Joe are green with envy:)

[danrodjr[501st]]

Nice, that flame thrower looks awesome.

[camprandall[501st]]

Nice, that flame thrower looks awesome.

 

Thanks Dan!

[THE TROOPER[501st]]

Awesome build Clint. Some great ideas too.

[camprandall[501st]]

Awesome build Clint. Some great ideas too.

 

Thanks!

 

I so can't wait for the armor to arrive. Should be sometime next week.

[camprandall[501st]]

Ok, got some hose accessories in. I think they will work nicely! I bought a hose sheathing from one place and some flexible conduit type hose for the inside. It's lightweight and very flexible so I think it will do the trick.

 

 

Hose

 

 

 

 

Hose with sheath

Sheath: http://www.showmecables.com/product/Flexo-Pet-TechFlex-Expandable-Cable-Mesh-Netting-1-Inch.aspx

 

 

 

 

Connected

 

 

[DeadMan]

Looks fantastic! Well done.

[camprandall[501st]]

Looks fantastic! Well done.

 

Thanks!

[camprandall[501st]]

Time for a little minor progress while waiting for the serious stuff to get in.

 

GASKETS

 

I already own a set of Imperial Gaskets for my TFA TK and I love them and hoped to use them for this, but that's only half possible. The problem is that this guy doesn't have knee plates and I have velcro sewn into the knees so I had to order another set of knees, which is on the way. The arms though are fine, but there's no shoulder on Flamey so last night I detached the elbows from the shoulders and added velcro so I can swap the elbow gaskets between suits. Here's how it came out.

 

 

Loop velcro tab on the inside for the bicep.

 

 

 

Hook velcro tab on the inside for the forearm to keep it in position and keep it from spinning.

 

[camprandall[501st]]

HOSE CONNECTION

 

For this, I decided to add a split piece of aquarium tubing on the inside so that I could put it on and take it off, all held by friction. It seems to work well in that it won't easily pull off, but it's not too tough either.

 

I should add that I cut the hose bib extension on the gun down and rounded the end as well to make it slide on easier. It's not depicted in the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

[camprandall[501st]]

One more thing. Here's where I got my inner and outer hose.

 

Inner hose: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1PPP42/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Outer sheath: http://www.showmecables.com/product/Flexo-Pet-TechFlex-Expandable-Cable-Mesh-Netting-1-Inch.aspx

[camprandall[501st]]

Woo hoo! Armor arrives tomorrow. Can't wait! Already have a build day planned for Friday.