Stealth Trooper for my Sister

[Orsan[501st]]

Hey, long story short.

 

My sister, who is based somewhere on the planet, told me a few days ago that she would like to have a Stealthtrooper like mine. So thanks to Scootch, I got the armor a few days ago.

 

I will try to post the progress of the build here as I work with the parts. I do have to wait for her to come home in order to be able to fit the parts on her, she is not very tall so there will be a lot of cutting!!

 

I started to work with the helmet today.

 

My idea was to paint it with one coat of bronze, so if it peals off for some reason, you will be able to see black and bronze under the black paint, kind of like the sideshow figure. This idea however, presents a problem, if you do this you have to wait until the bronze is completely dried, not the regular 15 minutes it takes, I did not do it like that and the black paint will not look as gloss as it supposed too, currently working on fixing that problem, so I will give it another coat of black paint later on and again tomorrow.

 

Ok, here are some pictures of my progress so far, I will continue to upload pics until the entire project is ready.

 

I also want to thank Scootch for what to me is a Work or Art!!

 

Ok, this first picture is from the bucket, I used several numbers of sand paper, 211, 500, 800, 1000, the ones for polishing, the 800 and 1000 should be used with water. (I may have the numbers wrong on the sand paper, if I do, I will correct it)

 

Bucket, Sanded with 211 sand paper, it helped me to see the places that I needed to work with.

 

 

This next one is after I started to sand the top of the lid, it shows the differences after it starts to get even.

 

 

This is fun, really, once it starts to look like you want it to look, this next pick is after I practically sanded the whole dome.

 

 

This one is with the sand paper 800, used for polishing, it will remove the scratches made by the other sand paper and prepare the surface for painting.

 

 

 

And this last one is after I used the sand paper 1000, now it is ready for painting.

 

 

 

Below, you will see the lid with the primer coat, the bronze coat and the first 2 black coats.

 

 

 

I got scared with this reaction, but after the second coat of black, I guess it will get better once the paint is very dried.

 

 

 

If everything goes as planned, it should be ready tonight, with decals and all. If not, I will work on it tomorrow in the afternoon.

 

Well, what are you waiting for, start shooting!!!! lol

 

:thumbsup:

 

 

 

 

[crazas[TX]]

Vas por muy bien camino hermano!!

 

Your sister is going to look awesome!

Keep posting pics.

[izzi[TX]]

Your sister is based somewhere on this planet? Well... Why hasn't she signed up on the forums yet?

 

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

-iz

[Chex[501st]]

She needs to give you like...a best brother on the planet award or something.

[ACJay[501st]]

Awesome that your making that for your sister. Good luck with the project

[T0R1[TX]]

yeah totally would love to add her to the ranks lol it just makes it a fact that we all look awesome in black

[ELP[501st]]

Wow - that's going to look amazing.

 

And although I hope she never scratches her kit too baddly I'd like to see the effect!

[Orsan[501st]]

Gracias Luis!

 

Thanks to all!

 

I must clarify something, my sister was the one who bought the armor, I am just putting it together for her.

 

She is in the Army and from where she is based at has been seeing our pics from our local Garrison activities and out of the blue, just told me that she wanted one for herself, so thanks to Scootch that part is covered.

 

About the bronze paint, man!!!! that was a big mistake, because of that the paint will not cover correctly and it is gloss on some parts and has like maps all over, I will sand it lid with the 1000 sand paper to spray paint it with the base color again, hopefully that will fix the problem. Perhaps if i use the same brand of paint it might work.

 

Once is done, she will join the legion and I will make her join this forum, lol, but the coolest thing about all of this, is that she also want's for me to ship the armor to her base by November before Halloween to ware it at her base, lol, that will be cool!!

 

More pics coming up soon, waiting for the weather to get a little better, it has been raining cats and dogs for the last 2 days.

 

Again, thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Orsan[501st]]

This is giving me a very hard time, the paint will not look shiny, regardless of what I do, so I will try with another brand of paint to see what happens.

 

Does anyone has any suggestions based on your experiences on painting Gloss Black?

 

 

Thanks.

 

[izzi[TX]]

Rustoleum professional leaves a nice shine. Plus if you can get the floor acrylic "Pledge with Future Shine" (Yeah Pledge bought the brand and had to slap it's name on it somehow) That stuff with shine almost anything to a high gloss. Even some matte black HIPs. It could save you another paint job.

 

-iz

[Orsan[501st]]

Thanks Iz I will try to find that brand and give it a try. Also, I "pledge" I will work with that product as well, anything that can help will be great.

 

 

 

[izzi[TX]]

[b Also, I "pledge" I will work with that product as well, anything that can help will be great.[/b]

Ouch dude... that one hurt....

 

-iz

[Orsan[501st]]

Finally.

 

I could not find the Rustoleum professional paint, but I tried with this one.

 

 

It works nice, all I need is a little wax and presto.

 

This is how it looks after mounting the lenses and decals, now for the teeth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to sand the thing several times before I painted it, trying to remove part of the other paint it already had. Thanks to Iz for the tip about sanding and painting.

 

The spots are not marks on the paint, but my fingerprints, I will not clean it until everything is done.

 

My sister should be here by the end of the week, so I will be able to fit the armor to her size and take some pics before and after painting.

 

 

 

 

[Darth Agnon[501st]]

Nice work

[izzi[TX]]

OOh... Pretty.... I think you need to send the helmet to me first... You know, for that "quality check.'

 

-iz

[Wraith[TX]]

Very nice

[Orsan[501st]]

OOh... Pretty.... I think you need to send the helmet to me first... You know, for that "quality check.'

 

-iz

 

 

Thank you all! this is a cool project, I am looking forward to start with the armor.

 

Iz, Don't worry man, I remember reading somewhere on the 501st Page that, and I quote, "Every and All Armor, including but not limited to, Weapons, Helmets, Backpacks and such, MUST BE SENT TO IZ, for final inspection before approval, failure to do so will result on your armor not being approved by the legion" then it says, on very small letters something like, (The Legion does not guarantees the safe return of item once sent) So, I am getting ready to ship it over to you!!

 

A few tips and tricks, perhaps they are posted around here, but just in case.

 

1.- NEVER, EVER, EVER!!!! use clear coat, it will mess up your work and you will have to sand and paint again. Unless anyone out there knows of a brand that actually paints clear! the ones I have used kind of make things look gray and take some of the shine away.

 

2.- The best sand paper is the one used with water, same one use by auto paint shops.

 

3.- Do try the paint on pieces of plastic before using it directly on your armor, you will safe a lot of time.

 

4.- Take it easy, if you rush there is a 99% chance you will screw things up.

 

5.- Even if paint says it dries in 15 minutes, they mean dry to the touch, so do not apply decals or tape until the paint is set for at least 24 hours, if you do, it will tear up the paint job.

 

This is a game of trial an error and like Scootch told me, "Black is Tricky".

 

If you have any suggestions for me while I get ready to move forward to the armor, please let me know, this is my first Black Armor paint job and I can use any help you can give me.

[bscheff[501st]]

Great tips Orsan.

[izzi[TX]]

Iz, Don't worry man, I remember reading somewhere on the 501st Page that, and I quote, "Every and All Armor, including but not limited to, Weapons, Helmets, Backpacks and such, MUST BE SENT TO IZ, for final inspection before approval, failure to do so will result on your armor not being approved by the legion" then it says, on very small letters something like, (The Legion does not guarantees the safe return of item once sent) So, I am getting ready to ship it over to you!!

You'd be surprised how many people do not follow that simple rule...

 

-iz

[ACJay[501st]]

Great tips Orsan.

 

Yeah definately good stuff.

[bscheff[501st]]

Orsan, did you assemble the helmet or did it come built?

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Nice Job man! I have a replacement bucket that has been sitting because I haven't wanted to try painting it again after the first trial and error. Getting it even is such a pain, but you did it quite well.

[Orsan[501st]]

Not a lot of progress since the last set of pics, but I finished the bucket, FINALLY!!!!

 

I started on the arms and back, and will have some pics of the unpainted and painted parts after the re-sizing process, my sister is not too tall and I have to do a lot of cutting!! And to top it all, she was deployed again.

 

So she is sending me measurements via email.

 

Here are some more tips and things I plan to do.

 

1.- Primer: it can kill you, I tried different paints with primers from the same brand and the paint would not set, so be careful with that, again, test it with other plastic things first.

 

2.- The bronze thing did not worked as planed with the first paint I used, I will give it a go again using this brand I am working on and put some pictures with the actual damage, but not on the armor.

 

3.- Do a test to the piece once is done, to verify how good your paint is. Some paints will crack after they dry out, but if they just scratch, then it is good.

 

4.- For the teeth I used a brush, I suggest you invest a little bit of money on these and buy the good stuff, like the ones you can find on art stores, the hairs on it are soft and when you paint with it looks fairly even. Unless you plan to use tape and spray paint.

 

Here are some pics.

 

Lid Completed!

 

 

Right and Left Side.

 

 

Flat Black Parts.

 

 

Color comparison with Black ABS.

 

eFX.

 

 

 

It does not shows on the picture, but the ABS is shinier. But I am happy with the end product.

 

More pics coming up soon. I hope....

 

Darth Emphatic.

 

Yeah, it is a real pain, I was actually freaking out for a few days, so, instead of buying a lot of paint of the same brand, buy a few cans of different brands and play with them to see how it looks. Harris is a good brand, and the results are good, a little wax and it looks shinny enough. I am still looking for the "Pledge Future Shine" to try it.

 

The worst part is to sand the whole thing if a paint job goes bad, but it is worth the effort. Hope to see your progress.

 

Thanks.

 

[Orsan[501st]]

Orsan, did you assemble the helmet or did it come built?

 

No, Scootch sent it assembled, less work for me and guaranteed to look awesome.

[Darth Agnon[501st]]

Nice work! Something seems off with the frown paint. What did you use?