KT wants 2 b a DT...A WIP Story

[Katiebug0747[PR-CMD]]

 

 Hello!! My name is Katie. I’m also TK-30611....and I’m excited to be working on becoming a Death Trooper soon!!

From my first time watching Rogue One in theaters and seeing the Death Troopers in the opening scene...I was totally in love with them! I knew I just had to become one. So, here I am beginning this journey and I’d love to have some advice and help along the way. I have purchased a helmet kit from the Plastic Arms Dealer (already begun some work on it) AND Santa Claus surprised me with an armor kit from 850 Armorworks.

I’d like to complete my helmet first....speaking of which...I need paint suggestions/advice...what kind of paint do I need to get?? And where do I get it?? I do live in Florida so I hope it’s something I can pickup in a store, but I’m not opposed to ordering online if I have to. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have!!

I will try to post tomorrow a picture of my current progress. Thanks!!

[amcclary[TX]]

I used 2 different paints for our helmets plus a high gloss polyurethane clear.

I like Rustoleum Camo colors flat black.   It’s a good deep black..  after priming, I paint the whole helmet with this first as a base  

For the silver areas I like a graphite wheel paint put out by Duplicolor   It’s available at most auto parts stores.   It a dark silver looks more ominous and realistic that silver paint   

There are lots of arguments over the actual paint scheme. Truth is, from my production experience some of what people are seeing is reflections in the black gloss and also “dust” was probably sprayed into areas on set to keep the helmets from picking up the cameras in the shots.   The alternating paint scheme some people use looks odd in real life    Some of the areas the are painting with a metallic black I think are just a mat black which looks dark gray on camera.

Anyway after painting everything mat black, we mask off the areas that should remain mat and then clear everything else.  Let the clear cure for at least 48 hours then mask the silver areas and paint them.

 

 

[Katiebug0747[PR-CMD]]

This is great!! Thanks!!

I have probably a stupid question to ask...but, do you attach all the little pieces to the helmet then prime then add the colored layers or prime the base helmet and the little pieces separately (and attach them last)?? Or does it matter?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Katiebug0747[PR-CMD]]

I promise I've been working on my build!  ?‍♀️

I definitely struggle with keeping my thread updated while also maintaining all the other parts of daily life....but school's out for the summer and I am free to update this thing and share my progress. I'm also grateful for any feedback you may have to share. ?

So, let's go back to the beginning....January 2019...I received my helmet kit from the Plastic Arms Dealer. See pic below of what the kit looks like upon opening the box:

I will admit I was a bit intimidated when I actually sat down and started to work on this thing ^ . I searched the forums for a WIP I could follow on one of the Plastic Arms Dealer's helmet builds and even looked within their own build group, but sadly couldn't find one to use as guidance. I felt as if I was working through this sort of blind. I decided to reach out to Andrew McClary (owner of the Plastic Arms Dealer) via Facebook Messenger and I have received the BEST support and help ever!! He has literally walked me through each step with patience and kindness. I cannot express my appreciation of him and his willingness to help me. ?

Moving along......the picture below will show you my initial test fitting (no glue-just laying them together) after sanding all the pieces:

After sending this image to Andrew, he suggested I use bondo glazing putty to smooth out the 3D print lines on the chin pieces. Which is exactly what I did and it worked great! I ended up doing two applications of the glazing putty but I think I went too light on the initial layering of the putty the first time. Also, I did have to drill out the holes in the "tusks" (the green lighted area) so I could eventually put lights in them. After completing all of this, I was ready to prime (in a flat black)!

Here are my paints I used in order from left to right:

Primer: Rustoleum Flat Black Primer

Primary Coat: Rustoleum Camouflage Flat Black

Clear Coat: USC SprayMax 2K Glamour High Gloss Aerosol Clear (bought on Amazon)

Here's my *cough cough* final product (*disclaimer* I ended up ruining the clear coat the day after this pic and had to re-do everything):

This is the color I used ^^^ (from an automotive store, O'Reilly's i think it was).

Sssoooooo, apparently this type of clear coat (the Spray Max Clear Coat) needs more than 24 hours to fully dry. I attempted to tape off the areas that needed to be the graphite/metallic colors...and I spray painted those areas in said color....then removed my painters tape to reveal tons of smudges on the clear coat AND plastic intentions/residue from the bag I was using to mask the rear section off. ?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️

Which meant I had to re-do.the.whole.thing.all.over.again! I was so mad and bummed.

So, fast forward about three weeks [life-work-troops happened] and I finally get the painting completed. ?

And attached all the accessory pieces via CA glue. ✔️

Ordered lenses from Opleprops (Marc Opletal) ✔️ ?LOVE THEM! They are worth every penny!

As of May 25 2019....here's my completed helmet:

So, onto the armor next!

My awesome husband bought me an armor kit from 850 ArmorWorks for this past Christmas.....so here's my next goal:

I've already begun trimming down pieces using Big Pete's Cosplay Youtube videos as my guide. I hope to post an updated trimmed pic soon. Lastly, I am lucky enough to be in the same squad (#ParjaiSquad) as the Darkside Closet (Mike Quinones)...so I've been working on hard on my undersuit and can proudly say that it has also been completed (will post pics of that soon too).

Well, sorry for the length, but you are all caught up on my progress....I hope my WIP catches interests and I can start getting some feedback soon. I'm really going to need it through the armor/strapping part of this build. Thanks in advance!!

-Katie

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Way to go on the helmet! Keep on pushing forward! 

[Katiebug0747[PR-CMD]]

So I've moved onto my shins....I've trimmed them and assembled them by following Big Pete's Cosplay tutorials via youtube. Once I tried them on for the first time with my boots, shoelace covers, and undersuit I realized that I should have tested the size before gluing them together because they are huge on my skinny chicken legs ?

⬇️⬇️⬇️ Pic showing you how large these are:

My problem with trimming these now will be the built-in cover strips. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I was really unsure about how to fix these since it would mean messing with the build-in cover strips. Since I needed quicker advice, I decided to share my dilemma in our Facebook Deathtrooper Build Group. I was amazed by all the support I received and variety of suggestions. I decided to carefully cut off the cover strips. After doing that, I trimmed up the edges to make them as strait as I could before sanding them ( I also had to remove the velcro on the underside of them too). I then sanded down the edge I had cut along to make it a little bit smoother. I made sure where I wanted to re-attach the new cover strip would work and then glued it down again.....glued down the ankle accessory fin thing (?)....then added velcro on the underside. 

And this is what I ended up with:

I am very pleased with how they turned out. I'm positive I'm going to still need foam on the inside cause they are still big, but they actually look more sized to me which is what I needed. Overall, I think it was worth it.

All I have left to add are the little "greeblie" triangular pieces that go on the front of the left shin. After I've added those two things, then my shins are completely done. I'm gonna try to get them sanded, painted, and attached today as well as begin work on my forearms, biceps, and shoulder bells.

Thanks for following! Hopefully I can update soon with my next completed pieces. ?