McClary Design Helmet and Armor Build

[amcclary[TX]]

Hey guys my background is pretty diverse but its always been creative. Most of my fabrication skills come from the automotive world where I have been involved in a number of custom cars. I have been in special effects and television production my whole life, mainly in the computer graphics realm. I got involved in 3D animation and effects primarily because of my interest in Star Wars as a kid and building lots of space ship models. I have a pretty large toy space ship collection including just about every Star Wars and Star Trek ship ever made as a toy. Over the last 5 years I have been involved with automotive television as a producer and director. Last year my 17 year son was diagnosed with cancer and my life as I knew it was put on hold. Since my son was going to be at home, he and I decided to build an R2D2 to help pass the time. He wants to build props for a living when he gets older. As it turned out the chemo got to him quickly and he was in no condition to help. I did finish the project and began taking our R2 unit to the cancer floor of the local children's hospitals. It was my way of giving back. The R2 unit has also put me in touch with the local 501st Everglades Squad here in South Florida and re-sparked my old interest to make a Storm Trooper outfit. Seeing the Rogue One trailers I immediately became enamored by the Death Troopers and how cool they looked. So I decided that I wanted to join the 501st as a Death Trooper and began working on the costume. My son just finished his last chemo session this month and was pronounced a cancer survivor. He is going to be helping me with this build and is going to be working with me at McClary Design and Engineering. As we make our parts, I will be offering some of them for sale to those who also need parts and don't have the tools that we have at our disposal. We have a CNC machine, 3D printer, and vacuum forming machine in our shop and lots of experience working with resins, fiber glass, metals, and plastics. The first part of our undertaking is the helmet.

 

 

[marktoots[501st]]

Welcome Andrew. Great to hear that your son is doing well.

Can't wait to see your DT build progress and hope you will contribute to the CRL discussion and ongoing research.

 

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

 

 

[Griffin-X[501st]]

Welcome to Spec Ops!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

That is a great story, Andrew; and I am glad everything is headed in the right direction. The death trooper is a greater choice and I really look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

[retrofire[501st]]

Welcome and let us know how we can be of help!

[amcclary[TX]]

Well I was hoping to get these done before Rogue One came out, but with my son still in and out of the hospital I haven't gotten them done as fast as I hoped.

 

Guys I am making these helmets for trooping. They are going to be strong and tough and made for getting out there in hospitals, charity events, MakeAWish, and being #badguysdoinggood. My son was diagnosed with cancer last year and I have spent the good part of 2016 in childrens hospitals and have seen how Star Wars characters showing up really brighten the kids days. I routinely take my R2D2 there and I let kids touch him and hug him. My skills and reason for doing this comes from making my R2 tough enough to do this. If your looking for a cheap bucket, don't commission me. If your plan is to do a lot of trooping and making kids smile and need one thats going to hold up to being handled, then PM me. I only use the best materials.

 

So here are some photos of the helmets in the making. I have two pulled so far. If your interested then PM me. I will also be CNC cutting green plexiglass for the lenses.

 

I have done casting before on smaller projects for custom cars. Shift knobs, custom symbols,etc. This is my first cast this large. I am really pleased at how well they are coming out. I'm a perfectionist so I want the end product to be amazing. My first pull required only a bit of sanding on the seams to be ready for primer and paint. I'll be painting it later today and will post some photos.

 

[Griffin-X[501st]]

Andrew - your work is amazing and I really appreciate all that you are doing to help those in need. My heart goes out to you regarding your son. I pray that things work out in a positive way and your son gets better soon. I also hope that you are able to get some peace during the holiday. Cheers and thanks for all you do...

[Woodo007[TX]]

Great work so far Andrew. Hope your son is on the mend and you are able to work together. Look forward to seeing more

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

That is great Andrew and please continue to hang in there.

[amcclary[TX]]

 

Guys we had a very bad week. Right after Christmas we found out that my son has developed a secondary leukemia from the radiation he had to attack the Ewings Sarcoma. So our fight is not over like I thought it was. He is going to have to get a bone marrow transplant and we are going to have to travel to St. Pete for about 3-4 months and live in and near the hospital. I am going to be doing a limited run of these helmets this week and then thats going to be it. My plans for making armor and other parts in my shop is going to have to be put on hold while I work to save my son. I have put them up on my store on Etsy. Know that when you buy one the money will be going to saving my son.

 

Here is the link to my store

http://www.mcclarydesign.com/shop/

 

You can see the whole process of how I made them on my site as well.

http://www.mcclarydesign.com/2017/01/01/death-trooper-helmet-project/

 

I was about to close down my son's gofundme page at Christmas time because we were celebrating him being done with all of his cancer protocol and the scans being clean. We were broadsided by this new news from our doctor. You can read about him at gofundme.com/healingnicholas

[marktoots[501st]]

Sorry to hear the news about your son mate. I wish you all the best with the continued fight and will be thinking of you over the coming months.

Best wishes.

Mark

 

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

 

 

[Griffin-X[501st]]

I'm praying for your son and your family Andrew. Be strong and keep the faith. God has a plan for everything.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Sorry, Andrew

[amcclary[TX]]

I have six helmet kits ready to go for anyone who wants them. They include acrylic green lenses for the eyes and sensors.

[bluefunoodle311[501st]]

Hope all is well with you and the family. Do you happen to have any of these helmet kits available still? If so, could you please PM me pricing information? Thanks!

[amcclary[TX]]

Wow, what a journey this has been. Last week I finally submitted my photos to the 501st for approval and I am waiting anxiously to hear back.

 

When I started this project my intent was to build a costume not just for myself, but to have all the tools and molds necessary to make kits for other to become Death Trooper. At the time my son had just finished all of his chemo and radiation and was looking forward to going back to school. Unfortunately as life often is, the plans changed when we found out the the treatments for his original cancer had created cross overs in his bone marrow that would lead to leukemia if not treated right away. So within a month of thinking he was cured and we could get back to our lives, he was scheduled to have a bone marrow transplant. To do this required us to move to another city for his treatment since they did not offer this treatment at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital where he was being treated. So all of my plans for my shop were put on hold right after the helmet build. So for the next three months I alternated between sleeping in the hospital and commuting an hour and a half back and forth to the hospital to be with my son and wife. In the evenings when I was home I would work on the files and setup the printers to make my armor and blasters. This gave me something to do to keep my mind off of what was going on with my son.

 

During the last two years I have also essentially been out of work. As a self employed entrepreneur and television producer, I was able to do very little because 4 out of 7 days were being spent at the hospital and the other 3 were spent as a basic zombie who didn't have sleep and whose mind was one the very very scary things being done to my son. But I did find solace and peace in making things at night in my shop. So I scaled things back to just making blasters and other 3d prints for people to make money to pay the minimums on the bills.

 

It has now been 100 days since my son had his bone marrow transplant. He is doing well and is now at home. He is not fully out of danger yet because they have him on lots of immune suppression drugs so that his new blood won't attack his body. A pretty scary thing. This means he can't go out and we need to be super careful of any disease in our home. A simple cold could be disaster. Over time these drugs will be reduced as his new immune system becomes accustomed to his own body. If all goes well his immune system should be to a normal level within 8 months to a year. So now it is just time to recover and only one trip to the doctor a week and we pray for recovery.

 

So I am finally home every day as is my family and I have resumed work on rebuilding my shop and my television production. We have another couple of 3D printers on order and will be expanding into producing whole kits and other accessories for cosplayers. I also plan on doing a lot of charity work. There is a lot that I need to pay forward to honor all those who helped my family.

 

Below are the photos of my build and the prop weapons I make for this build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[amcclary[TX]]

By the way for anyone looking for the M300 flashlight for your E-11, here is a link to a knock off that is really good and looks the same.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tactical-Weapon-Lights-M300-MINI-SCOUT-LIGHT-M300A-LED-Mini-Scout-Flashlight-Black-Sand/32761660482.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.1NOEJM

[amcclary[TX]]

Just got approval today. Officially in the 501st. TK 97649

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Congrats and welcome to the Spec Ops ohana!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Congrats!

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

Congrats

[lancer[TX]]

Congratulations! I hope to be following in your footsteps soon!