DM's Flame Trooper build

[DeadMan]

Finally put my shins together using Clints method, and it works wonderfully! They are now ready for final trimming.

 

Thanks Clint for the wonderful idea

 

Glued side.

 

 

Inserted side.

 

 

 

I only used the trim part from the calf-half as a spacer, then I used some 1/8 inch thick ABS as the overlap part. I should mention that because the 1/8 inch ABS is so thick, I pre-form it to the contours of the part it's getting glued to. Just bend it slightly at each curve and it fits and works a treat.

Gives a wonderfully tight fit that probably doesn't even need a Velcro strap inside, but as Clint did, I will add one to be on the safe side.

 

I made it a 1/2 inch insertable part - so when you are trimming, keep in mind to leave an extra 1/2 inch on the calf-half inside-seam for sliding into the new groove.

[camprandall[501st]]

Finally put my shins together using Clints method, and it works wonderfully! They are now ready for final trimming.

 

Thanks Clint for the wonderful idea

 

That's great that it worked for you! I had to play with it a bit to keep it solid while wearing it. Are you using velcro straps or something to hold it closed? Have you walked around in it yet?

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Looks like a velcro closure to me. Cant imagine these would clamshell well enough to keep the closure line.

[DeadMan]

I'm sure they would stay closed without any extra support. But I will put Velcro straps in as well to be on the safe side.

[DeadMan]

Painting has begun on a few parts

My first time painting with single stage auto-paint, and it looks wonderful! Two of the spats have runs, but now that I have read the proper instructions for my paint about the time between coats, there should be no runs from now on I hope

[DeadMan]

Added the S-curve to the biceps and pretty much created a new left bicep piece since it was a good 1.5 inches shorter than the right one out of the kit.

The S-curve edges need to be angled outwards yet to about 60 degrees. Should have done that before gluing, but didn't think of it at the time

[camprandall[501st]]

Looks great!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Looks very clean!

[DeadMan]

Tanks arived Small crack on the back, bottom tank dome. Looks easy enough to fix - not shown in the pic.

 

Wondering how hard it is to take apart the gauge and put Aurebush in there

 

Will have to modify the inner tank as it's not the full length of the back. I would say it hangs about 1/3 of the way down.

[DeadMan]

Also received my 3D printed gun parts - and it needs an aweful lot of work. Only cost me as much as the plastic, but I will only be able to use about 50% of it, and will have to heavily modify and/or make new parts from scratch.

 

Starting with the barrel...

 

As mentioned in the FB group; I wanted a hollow tube look so I can see an inner tube running through.

Made a quick template for the holes and put my never-used drill press to good use for the first time

 

 

 

 

Would like to replace the inner tube with a plasma tube or some sort of LED strip for some effect in the future. Just want to get it all done for now though.

[camprandall[501st]]

That looks pretty cool. This gun is definitely complex, but the barrel looks great so far.

[camprandall[501st]]

Will have to modify the inner tank as it's not the full length of the back. I would say it hangs about 1/3 of the way down.

 

Sorry, what do you mean that the inner tank isn't the full length. Are you talking about the middle shorter tank with the lights? It looks like it's pretty close to the screen one.

 

[DeadMan]

Sorry, what do you mean that the inner tank isn't the full length. Are you talking about the middle shorter tank with the lights? It looks like it's pretty close to the screen one.

 

 

I mean that long one that is in behind with the gauge attached to the top. Will have to wait until after work before I can post the pics though.

[DeadMan]

Have been combing through pictures looking for one that was a decent top-down view of the gauge area and I can't find a thing. Must have been dreaming it :/

 

This pic shows that it does not come all the way down as you can see right through to the back of the trooper. The triangle cut-out where the back brace is. It kinda looks like the inner tube coming down, but it is not.

 

 

 

 

I know you guys don't like the Hot Toys pics as reference But I stand by it as the most accurate views we have. They had access to the suit for pictures in order to make the figures. In this one it shows the inner-tank coming all the way down to that crossbar. You can also see the crossbar in the picture above..

 

 

 

 

Edit: I think this is the one I thought of. Only gives a good view of the top of the inner tank, but not the length.

[camprandall[501st]]

Ok, I see what you're saying. Yeah, I agree that the hot toys stuff is pretty close. It's more than adequate if there are literally no other sources.

 

Some of this I think I'm going to be a little forgiving on because I think it's ok if some aspects of the prop are a little off. I want the proportions and key details to look good and then I'm ok with future enhancements to accuracy.

 

One thing I also found, which I'm curious to know if you agree, is that the curved surrounding bar is significantly too short. It either forces the tanks to sit way to low or to have huge brackets on the bar to sit on that rod near the waist. As you can see in my thread, I added a good 2 1/2 inches with dowels because the bar only reached from the bottom of my neck to about 2 or 3 inches above the brace. It should sit nicely now.

[DeadMan]

One thing I also found, which I'm curious to know if you agree, is that the curved surrounding bar is significantly too short. It either forces the tanks to sit way to low or to have huge brackets on the bar to sit on that rod near the waist. As you can see in my thread, I added a good 2 1/2 inches with dowels because the bar only reached from the bottom of my neck to about 2 or 3 inches above the brace. It should sit nicely now.

 

I think the bars are in proportion to the tanks; It's just that the whole set up seems a little to small to me. I think you said you're 5' 10", I'm 6' so could be adding a whole lot more to mine.

[DeadMan]

My backplate set up.

It's to wide, so have to trim it back a couple inches each side, and then heat-up and bend the edges again.

Will add Velcro straps to the inside to hold it closed after resizing.

 

[camprandall[501st]]

Backplate looks good! I think I'm going to notch my bracket out along the top edge at some point to make it look a little more like this, where it looks like a separate piece. The toy is the only source so it's probably pretty close.

[DeadMan]

Couple ref photos I looked at before going ahead with the back brace - after looking at the HotToys one. Once I knew what to look for, you can see the area on the Anaheim suit... somewhat.

 

 

[DeadMan]

Here's the completed brace. The back plate still needs a final paint job, so is just loosely attached.

There are screws behind the straps holding it to the black part.

I'm happy with it overall; and it does add a nice look if the tanks are off. It's also to small to hold a roll of toilet paper, and to narrow for a paper towel roll.

 

 

[Griffin-X[501st]]

That turned out pretty good!

[Jeditid[501st]]

That looks great, I messaged the guy who made your tanks when I was building mine to make the point about that rear tube not coming all the way down. He got shitty with me, so left him too it. Now mine are done I'm happy with sizes and have started all the brackets now. Should have a fill fitting for tanks with ab and waist band by end of the weekend

 

 

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

 

[DeadMan]

That looks great, I messaged the guy who made your tanks when I was building mine to make the point about that rear tube not coming all the way down. He got shitty with me, so left him too it. Now mine are done I'm happy with sizes and have started all the brackets now. Should have a fill fitting for tanks with ab and waist band by end of the weekend

 

I am done tinkering with the whole thing for now (need to arrest The Princess when she's in town in 2 weeks), and am just putting the suit together... and repainting a lot since I appear to be a really horrible painter no matter what I use, but single stage certainly works better than spray paint for me! Fighting dust in my garage is the worst part now.

 

I think I will make another new tank set using the pep files I made. Will just cut out ABS pieces from pep templates. The paper one I made earlier in the year is closer to the correct sizing IMO. Just don't know how to make the caps without vacuforming, but will figure something out.

[toddo[TX]]

Wow, nice work on your brace. I'm still confused about the white straps. What are they supposed to do?

[DeadMan]

Wow, nice work on your brace. I'm still confused about the white straps. What are they supposed to do?

 

Thanks Todd. I really couldn't say if they should be there or not. All they do right now is hide the screws - and look a little stylish when the tanks are off Hopefully one of these days we will get a really good picture of the Anaheim suit with the tanks off.