Yiyo's First Order Flametrooper WIP

[PiettLives[501st]]

Looking good brother! Glad I could help with the specs on the tanks. I'm in the process of selling my entire FT suit to a fellow squadmate and will help him complete the build. I was almost finished with it but lost steam and love for the build. Good luck with yours!!!

[Yiyo]

Thanks for the support!

To be frank, I am just missing the pouches to submit my SnowTrooper for approval, I have to drill and glue a couple things on my 181st and simply paint 1 last chestbox for my TFA Tie Pilot submission. All of this on top of the job, wife and kids, so it's be hectic lately.

My friend Daniel Dirsten wants to launch a Flametrooper backpack 3D kit, so I have been working on it for the past week to see where he can improve. I will show progress below, I have taken time as well because I update a Facebook group and the SPanish Garrison forum so I update everything in 3 different places

So the jigsaw puzzle arrived:

 

I started off with the easier parts, the pressure pot and sticking the transmission box antenna in:

Removed some excess plastic, which as you can see, is minimal, these CR10s are killing the home 3D printers, loving the quality!

And then simply assembled:

 

I haven't glued on the "wing" bits until I have the tubing and angle sorted out!

 

Just as I said don't glue due to the angle, I glued this together, fingers crossed it works well!

I then cut new tubes, the smaller tank being 31.5cm and the larger ones 46cm. As I don't have tools for everything, I used the same simple technique again.

Measure, tape, and metal thingy (can't remember the name):

 

Then it's saw, saw, saw until I come close to the closing device, which I simply open up a little, push forward and fasten again to finish the cut:

 

Caps in progress:

 

I have to keep reminding myself this is plastic, so I have to drill everything very careful so it doesn't split along the print line:

 

You will have to add another screw hole for the bottom, middle-short tank cap, which is mirrored from the top, which is why I marked them at this stage:

 

The following 2 actions are only required for me, and Daniel's kit will provide the tubes and caps that simply fit inside nice and snug. We discovered something very unusual when we bought tubes in our respective countries. We have learned that in Germany and in Spain pipes are measured differently. My 100mm tubes are the exterior measurement so the inside would be 98mm approx, this means I am missing cap support material. I cut out these rings to glue inside the cap at exactly 0,5mm

 

Then I can simply sit & glue the caps on top:

 

I also glued the smaller tank’s, caps’ supports. That’s the caps finished for now as I will need access for electronics - then I can glue them on.

 

That's it for now, I am waiting on a couple pieces that are missing and have to start work asap on the back frame - I have seen other tutorials on here, and am not sure how I can bend it because the 3D printed frame is useless:

Will update as soon as I can work on it some more!

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

@Yiyo decided to dive into this tonight and check out your build, any updates?! I know life has a way of being hectic 

[Yiyo]

Hey brother, I have been so, so slow lately, I have been travelling around Europe and Russia for my yearly audits at distribution centres. I also got my 181st, TFA Tie Pilot approved and sonwtrooper is going in today. I am working intensely on a new CRL character as well, so I had abandoned this project a little. I will share some photos later, but at the moment, I have been using Motip spray putty on all pieces (which are a lot!!) and I now have to sand, respray, sand again before mounting and painting.

I will update asap!

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Wow, you are traveling around and managed to get that done?! That is impressive. No sleepy for the weary ?  Congrats on your approval for the 181st and TFA TIE, and good luck on the snowy!

Can't wait to see some updates on this. Take care!

[Scubacat[TX]]

Hey brother! Looking great as always! Any updates? 

[Yiyo]

Hey guys and girls, I am back. I will  be pushing this backpack this week and hope to leave it prepped for paint by the end of the week.

I simply grew tired of the Motip and sanding stage, and I still have at least another 5-6 hours of it left to leave the 3D printed kit good as new - it's simply one part of any build that I hate.

QQ: I need armor. Who is making it? 

850's was outdated and isn't on their shop website anymore.

KB Props: $975 with shipping, seems really expensive for just an ABS armor.

Anyone else? Spanish Legion Training Day is in October and I wan't to possible wear it then.

[Yiyo]

OK, so I took the plunge and bought the KB Props armor kit, should have it in 3-4 weeks and will update this post.

It's been an intense weekend, with multiple hours of Motip, filling, sanding, and so on......

Results are looking OK; ran out of Motip, so some pieces aren't fully finished, but most have now been primed. They all need a 2000-2500 wetsand and will be ready for paint. It's been and still is a very difficult stage of the build as so much sanding kills my wrists and cause quite a lot of pain......

Want to work on the frame tonight, the 3D one is still very fragile and I need to see how I am going to attach everything as I will commission an aluminum one somewhere......

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Very nice!!

[Yiyo]

Thanks bud, great to see someone is reading along

I was really tired last night, so didn't get as much as I wanted, done. I managed to wet sand all the primed pieces, so they are ready for paint this weekend.

I did attempt to configure some pieces and realised that this one was too small:

No worries, nothing a piece of sintra can't fix:

I then just added another couple of pieces belonging to the back panel:

As said, doesn't look like much, but there's a good hours' work invested right there

I will be focusing on the bracket attachment soon, thanks to Scubacat and CRL image, I have seen that there is some background material and 2 straps to be added and will source that asap!

[Yiyo]

I think you all know what this means.............I'm back in business

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Hell yeah! I totally believe when it appears that the "simplest" stuff takes a fair amount of time. This costume is awesome.

[Yiyo]

OK, so my son had surgery yesterday, nothing major, but It has sidetracked me once again. 

Good news? The motip and sanding process has finished and I have began assembling and actually painting some pieces.

 

I started adding some aluminum tubing here and there as well as screwing in a lot of pieces, this is, after all, a 3D printed kit and pieces snap as soon as they are bent or hit (even softly).

I am aiming to have this completed over the coming week, depending on how long it takes the darn paint to dry - I have also talked to a buddy who will make the led system for the tanks for me - I will update asap!

[Yiyo]

And some more updates!

Been testing the tubing out, some small modifications to the 3D print holes and some tube sizing mods and I am there (will put the tubes in once I have finished painting:

 

 

Will  get some more pics up soon!

[Yiyo]

Got a bit bored on Saturday night so took this apart whilst watching Netflix and added a little detail - nothing special, just thought it was a nice touch!

Literally watching paint dry at this stage and I will be able to assemble everything over the next week - I just have the 32mm tubing missing at the bottom, and to stick a couple more pieces together.

Compared to the First Order Snowtrooper, I have been extremely lucky for now and only messed up a couple of pieces, which have been sanded and re-painted.

Have been getting bits and bobs together for the hose connection, the chain for the bottom piece and so on at the moment. 

I also painted the helmet 2 days ago, going to give it another week and will do the black lines.

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Ohhhh so smooth! Always like coming here to see the progress. 

[Yiyo]

I am not sure why my pictures aren't showing in the thread anymore? I use the same link for the Spanish garrison and you can see them (?)

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I can still see them if I click them. Not sure why they don't load on the actual thread. 

[Yiyo]

Couple more updates!

I cut out some 2.5cm round plastic cappy things to put in the domes where the light has to shine through, but I hate them, so have to investigate a little more to see what I can come up with.

I have everything more or less ready to set-up, but I have to think about where I can access the leds and place the battery as my front transmitter box is not like Pleasalot's and can't be removed. The top caps are screwed onto the structure and glued to the tanks. I was going to add magnets to the lower caps so I could acces, but have just realised that the 32mm tubing will be on there and will be heavy....... I may simply have to cut out a square at the back and add a little white box to stick the battery pack in.

After all the motip and sanding, I realised I hadn't finished the thrower's muzzle, so at it again!

[Yiyo]

Managed to get a couple more things done after the kids' dinner and am off to watch Netflix in bed now.

Side holes for long screws - the tanks need to be attached to the back frame (currently 3D plastic) - I will have to eventually get a custom made aluminum frame I believe as it is heavy. I will most likely drill the tanks to the back plate as well as the straps.

I also drilled out these holes so that I can add some M3's in there, First Order seem to love the M screw family!

I also notices some splats so I sanded them and will repaint tomorrow evening, nothing major, but the details count at the end!

Last pieces of the D93 that needed to be primed! The whole weapon is now ready for paint:

And last but not least, I managed to get the back support thingy done:

[Yiyo]

So yesterday was a BBD at last!

 

 

I opened it up and placed all the pieces just like on KB's facebook page:

 

Frustratingly, I seem to be missing the forearm sides pieces, so I have contacted them about this....and it can be a pain as if they have to ship again, I can be subject to customs  again (which has already cost 114€.....)

 

Some of the pieces are really smooth on 1 side and really rough on the other side, so this is going to require motip filling, sanding, priming and painting unfortunately. At $850, I really wasn't expecting so much work....

 

Also got other pieces I haven't a clue what they are for:

 

All in all, the armor seems to be off a decent quality, I am just frustrated about the missing pieces and the quality of the pull, the pieces should all be smooth.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Glad to see the armor finally made it! That is a bummer about the quality on a few of those pieces and missing the forearm pieces. I'm sure KB will make it right on it.

[Yiyo]

Hey brother, thanks for the reply! I talked to Kevin and he will send the shin pieces - the rest, I am now clear on what they are. Regarding the rougher surfaces, I believe the machine made the plastic too hot, but I will sand, use some spray putty and then prime and paint. Should work out OK

I love AliExpress for these things, and as Star Wars loves m4s, I got most types:

 

I drilled a hole to add to the tank handles, and I definitely know these are the weakest part of the tanks and will most likely be snapped at some stage

 

And the finished piece:

Got the radio box finished as well after making some nice holes

[Yiyo]

I seriously do not know why the page is showing some pics and not others.....

I started work on the handplates, cod piece, shoulder bells, biceps and boot spats. Some of these pieces needed putty spray, a load of sanding, priming and sanding. Most of them are ready for paint, but still a long way to go!!

I am trying to finish my TLJ Kylo soon, so really want to give this a push.

Backpack is readt for final assembly and strapping, I just didn't want to do it yet as I am not sure on how/where to wire the leds. I know various approved flametroopers, but it's impossibble to get any help from them unfortunately.

Before and after trimming:

Spray putty before and after sanding:

Gave them another last coat of spray putty and primed:

Followed the same process with the cod piece & handplates:

 

To be honest, the biceps took me a while as I had to custom cut to my size, it's a pity as a lot of the return edge (not required as per CRL), was lost, but it looked better. I am also a big guy, 6'2, so imagine the size of the armor. I remove the larger pieces of plastic with the dremmel tool and use a cutter for the rest before sanding.

 

First cuts to size it better:

 

Finally got there:

 

Just as I thought I was finished with them, I tried them on 1 last time and still think I have to cut all that material off, but I will test with the undersuit and gaskets on, as they are thick:

 

Currently working on the forearms, which are problably the most difficult I have ever worked on. The molds changed versus DM's and I only get 2 pieces. Kevin stated to cut a straight line and shim, but the top part of the abs piece is so thin, it snapped. I am working on them tonight and will show you.

Thanks!!

 

 

[gmrhodes13[501st]]

3 hours ago, Yiyo said:

I seriously do not know why the page is showing some pics and not others.....

Are you using the "direct link" in imgur? sometimes just using copy doesn't work.