marktoots[501st] Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Before I get bogged down with jobs around the house I thought I would make a start on this costume. Clearance from the missus has yet to be obtained but I may just tell her when it's finished. It's not much but this is what I have got so far: New pair of Dr Martin's Mayer Boots which are very similar to, if not, the base boot for the Death Trooper. A mate of mine identified part of the shoulder strap buckle. The shoulder strap buckle is in fact this part with a d-ring attached. Once I have got my hands on the d-ring I am considering casting the assembled shoulder strap buckle as a single piece. I have also managed to determine the dimensions of the Vader like belt buckle, and am currently in discussions about getting one made out of brushed aluminium. I also have loads of heavy weave cotton fabric left over from when I made my Scout Trooper pouches. So I intend on dyeing a load black, creating a pattern for the belt pouches and making a set up. I am waiting to hear whether I have got my hands on a SE-14R kit (the sidearm). If I have then I will make the necessary modes to ensure that it matches the one on the Death Trooper manaquin at Celebration. Thats's it for now but I'll post pictures and further updates as and when I have them. Link to comment
Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM] Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Before I get bogged down with jobs around the house I thought I would make a start on this costume. Clearance from the missus has yet to be obtained but I may just tell her when it's finished. I find that to be the best strategy 1 Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Update on the shoulder buckle. I have seen the real buckle and compared it to that used on the Death Trooper. The one on the costume is considerable chunkier than the real thing. Also the photo taken at Celebration shows infilled areas that just do not exist on the real thing. As a result I believe that the shoulder buckle/d-ring combination was cast as a single piece. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 As I mentioned I have used the shoulder buckle to scale and dimension the belt buckle. I have also used the buckle dimensions to calculate the size of the belt pouches which I am going to make from a dyed heavy weave cotton. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
themaninthesuitcase[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Nice work on the dimensions. I'm guessing they are 1/4" Alu looking at them? Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 I initially thought that you may be right but wouldn't that make them too heavy!? I was planning on vac forming them from black abs and then weathering them Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
themaninthesuitcase[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The buckle I mean, the scratching looks like real aluminium, not even a cold cast. The pouch plate looked vac formed. Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Oh, sorry! Lol. Yeah I agree. It is definitely aluminium. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the coin slots and whether they had rounded ends or square? I went for square. Have got someone looking at machining some at the moment Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
themaninthesuitcase[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Looking at this photo they are square : Though the bottom of the slots don't look machined so it might be a 2 layer piece? Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Looking at this photo they are square : https://flic.kr/p/JhJCt8 Though the bottom of the slots don't look machined so it might be a 2 layer piece? That is a very clear photo The guy I'm talking to about making them is looking at building them up from layers of 2mm aluminium. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 Got my hands on another part of the armour strapping system today. Sadly just the one but because of its weight and the fact the one on the armour is non - functional I am going to cast it. Should have the D-Ring that is fitted to the shoulder buckle on Wednesday. Sadly I am away this weekend but next week I'm going to prepare the moulds and maybe do a casting! Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
mitcheg1[TX] Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Got any details on where others might find these? Link to comment
toddo[TX] Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Some great research going-on here, and some of the best detailed photos of the RODT I've seen. Keep it coming. 1 Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 Got any details on where others might find these? The parts that I have were removed from decommissioned ejector seat and parachute harnesses. I work for a company who has a team that maintains these systems and they had these awaiting disposal. Lucky I guess! Maybe worth trying military surplus stores. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 I was convinced that the belt is made from a fine ribbed rubber safety floor mat but was struggling to confirm it as I initially couldn't find any dimensions for the profile. The belt has 28 ribs across its width and scaling from the my buckle dimensions made the total width about 80mm (not the 100mm I first thought!) I have ordered several samples of flooring in order to confirm my theory but they haven't arrived yet! Anyway, a search today gave me the evidence I was looking for. While scaling the side boxes I noticed the profile of the ribs is triangular with curved channels between them so I went on the hunt again for a flooring that matched and found one! The lower picture shows both the profile of the belt (above the belt box) and the top screenshot shows the profile and dimensions of the matting. They look like they match! Furthermore, the spacing of the ribs is a perfect match to the calculated spacing from my belt buckle measurements This has now lead me to believe that the shoulder straps may be from a rubber flooring material to! Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Oh, and I am excited about these too! Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment
bwattsup[501st] Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 You're on a roll Mark! Keep it up! 1 Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Belt material sample has arrived and it looks like a good match! Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Well it's happened! I have actually made something for this build! I did a test cast of the lower chest plate d-ring using the mold I made yesterday. I didn't get the mold to mate very well so there was a fair amount of overspill to clean off and I have a few large air bubbles on the underside, but I'm pleased with it Just need to figure out how to deal with the air bubble problem before I do it again. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
Fraktilfilth Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 I have been looking into the rubber matting option for the strapping on the shoretrooper. Here is one I came across yesterday. Let me know what you think. http://www.floormats.co.uk/broad-ribbed-rubber-matting Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 I have been looking into the rubber matting option for the strapping on the shoretrooper. Here is one I came across yesterday. Let me know what you think. http://www.floormats.co.uk/broad-ribbed-rubber-matting Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk Sadly the profile isn't right. The Shore Trooper and Death Trooper straps have a squarer profile with much narrower gaps between the ridges. Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
Fraktilfilth Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 That's what I thought. I saw it mentioned elsewhere it could possibly be a rubber timing belt but I have still to check that out. Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 That's what I thought. I saw it mentioned elsewhere it could possibly be a rubber timing belt but I have still to check that out. Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk Yeah, I started a thread about the straps here and on the R1 armour fb page asking about that. So far I have come up blank! Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk Link to comment
marktoots[501st] Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 A little more progress tonight. I've started on the blank from which I'll form the mold for the belt boxes. Going to make them from resin as the ones on the CE dummy had some form of back plate helping to secure them to the belt so I am going to cast some wing nuts into the resin as anchor points It's intentionally deeper than the reference one as the blank has some fill lines on it, I don't want to overtop the mold! Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment
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