Sith Trooper Build

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Looking awesome. How big of a printer will you have access to?

[Master Tej]

Impressive. Most impressive.

 

- Master Tej -

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

Looking awesome. How big of a printer will you have access to?

There are some smaller printers right now, but they're buying a larger one that has a build area of 18x18x24 inches. But most of these pieces are going to be CNC'd, not 3D printed.

 

Some digital progress pics! The modeler I work with (@dudecon) has been working hard on these, helping me think things out. Working out problems at this stage will save a lot of work in the future.

 

The pieces, from left to right, top to bottom, are as follows:

First Row

-kidney plate

-lower abdomen frame

-abdomen plate

-chest inset

-back plate (upside down in picture)

-shoulder bell

-backside of shoulder

-front side of shoulder

Second Row

-left and right forearm

-elbow

-hand plate

-kneecap

-upper calf front

-upper calf back

-lower calf front

-lower calf back

-lower thigh plate

-upper thigh plate

-front hip plate

-butt plate

-cod plate

-collar

-lower neck piece

-upper neck piece

 

Due to the movement of the model in game, I've decided to go with making the neck piece with a hinge, copying methods I've seen used with Iron Man costumes. Without this, this suit would have the neck mobility of an Imperial Guard.

[crow62[501st]]

PM sent

[Chef[501st]]

That's really cool.

 

For the neck, have you considered using a Latex or similar style neck piece that is flexible to allow the correct movement but still have the right detail. I've seen this done on Iron Man suits and seems to work nicely.

 

You planning on Vac forming these or GRP? If you're going to Vac Form them then you'll need to look at the undercuts on your models as they may have trouble releasing.

The last thing you want is to put all that effort in to making a superb buck and then it not come out of the forming.

 

Superb work though. Loving the 3D work.

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

Sorry for the slow updates. Vacuform machine is currently being shipped to me, and I've found a fantastic business in town to work with that will be doing the CNC work. The undercuts on the models won't be part of the actual molds, so releasing after pulling the plastic shouldn't be a problem.

 

For the neck I'm still on the fence about using latex or making it jointed. To save having to do it later, the neck is being designed as several jointed pieces right now. So if that doesn't work out, it'll be easy to switch to using something else like latex in the future.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Cool. Thanks for continuing to update. I like the images of the armor pieces they are really looking good and its coming together nicely.

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

Finally got the vacuform machine in and put it together over the weekend. It has a forming area of 18" x 27" and can pull up to 7" deep so even larger chest molds should be fine. Once I have the positive molds I'll be able to estimate how many sheets of plastic I'll need per kit. I plan on building one kit first, both to test out the armor for any potential design problems and also so there will be a ready guide on how to put everything together once kits are shipping.

[toddo[TX]]

I'm jealous.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Question will there be any potential red sithtrooper pulls for the commanders?

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

It's possible that I'll do that in the future, but that would require new models for the helmet and chest piece and probably other pieces as they differ from the standard trooper. You could always modify a standard sith trooper, but just pulling the armor in red plastic or painting it red wouldn't be accurate.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Ok I will have to look a bit more in depth at it as I didn't notice the subtle differences. Cool Thanks

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

Since more people than just DeathMOS30 have brought this up before I think making a post that gives a quick breakdown between the Sith Trooper and the Sith Trooper Commando is worthwhile.

Ok, starting off from the top.

 

Helmet - Shape is similar, but the Commando has a jaw pieces that almost meet instead of jutting out, giving the visor more of a t-shape than the standard troopers full face visor. Also, the side juts out instead of cutting in.

 

Chest - Commando has a Iron Man kind of thing in his chest. Lines are completely different though the general shape is relatively close.

 

Shoulder Bells - Different shapes again, Commando has two black horizontal lines and no indents at the top.

 

Forearms - One piece that appears almost identical. At a glance, it looks like they just moved the two indents from the wrist up towards the elbow and added a plate to cover the wrist on the side.

 

Thigh Plates - Secondary hanging plate is gone, replaced by a padded section on the front of the pants. Otherwise pretty similar.

 

Calf - No rectangular shape at the connection between top and bottom. Connection between armor and boot has been elongated.

 

So there we go. Quick rundown of some differences between the two. I imagine that it wouldn't be too much work to convert the 3D files for the Trooper to fit the Commando, but as this is already a pretty niche costume I likely won't do that unless a lot of people ask me about it.

[crazas[TX]]

To be honest, I never noticed the difference either. (felling like a noob!! LOL)

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Thank you for the break down now I see clearly what you are talking about. Well hopefully in the future we can get some Sith Trooper Commandos out I definitely cant wait to see your finished Sith Trooper it is going to look awesome!!!

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

So I have access to a couple 3d printers and wanted to know if those files are still for sale? Thanks

[dudecon]

Hey there! I'm the guy who made the models. They aren't really designed for 3d printing, though I could probably make a 3d printing version fairly easily.

Were you interested in directly printing the armor itself, or printing the mold positives? Or printing casting negatives?

Contact me at dudecon@hotmail.com and we'll work out the details. As long as it's okay with Shaggy, I don't see any problems with sending you the models.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Hey there! I'm the guy who made the models. They aren't really designed for 3d printing, though I could probably make a 3d printing version fairly easily.

Were you interested in directly printing the armor itself, or printing the mold positives? Or printing casting negatives?

Contact me at dudecon@hotmail.com and we'll work out the details. As long as it's okay with Shaggy, I don't see any problems with sending you the models.

 

Well see im not so sure how this all works and what the capabilities are as I have no experience building armor from scratch. I thought maybe it would be possible to 3d print a costume possibly but that seems like it isnt the case it seems you have to make molds and vacuum form and pull etc which is way over my head. Not to mention I dont have access to that type of equipment at all. Thanks for letting me know though. Awesome for making the models too. I still would like to make a sithtrooper commander at some point though.

[dudecon]

... I thought maybe it would be possible to 3d print a costume...

It certainly is possible... but it's also quite expensive. 3d printing costs are per volume, both in time and materials. Plus 3d printed stuff generally isn't as strong or durable as vacuum formed stuff.

On the other hand, if you just want one costume, and you've got the budget, and access to a 3d printer with a large enough volume... yeah! You can totally print yourself some armor!

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

It certainly is possible... but it's also quite expensive. 3d printing costs are per volume, both in time and materials. Plus 3d printed stuff generally isn't as strong or durable as vacuum formed stuff.

On the other hand, if you just want one costume, and you've got the budget, and access to a 3d printer with a large enough volume... yeah! You can totally print yourself some armor!

 

We have a couple at the university that is free to students and we dont have to provide anything. So I definitely could do that but if its not going to be durable enough then that might not work out as well as I was hoping for.

[Master Tej]

If you were very careful and only used it for, say, photography, it would definitely be possible and maybe even fun, especially if your 3D printers are free (the printers we have here charge for plastic).

 

- Master Tej -

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

ah i see. I will have to check in on this again in the future as I am still trying to finish my deathwatch costume.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Hello again just thought I would check in and see how this is coming along?

[Shaggy9342[501st]]

Unfortunately, I've been held up by the library that I was going to use for CNC machining. There's about a 3 month wait to get a few hours of machine time, making it impractical for me to say the least. So I'm once again buying more machinery, this time the X-Carve, a CNC catering towards the hobby crowd. I need to get in touch with Dudecon to see how this may affect things, but hopefully having all the machinery in-house will aid me in the long run. Thanks for the continued interest!

I'm hesitant to post any sort of timetable for this project as there are so many factors, but I'm still planning on doing at least one run of this costume once I finish, with more runs depending on its approval and demand.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Unfortunately, I've been held up by the library that I was going to use for CNC machining. There's about a 3 month wait to get a few hours of machine time, making it impractical for me to say the least. So I'm once again buying more machinery, this time the X-Carve, a CNC catering towards the hobby crowd. I need to get in touch with Dudecon to see how this may affect things, but hopefully having all the machinery in-house will aid me in the long run. Thanks for the continued interest!

I'm hesitant to post any sort of timetable for this project as there are so many factors, but I'm still planning on doing at least one run of this costume once I finish, with more runs depending on its approval and demand.

 

Awesome well I am glad you are still working on this and I will continue to look at this build as it progresses. Indeed its like you never know how long this end up taking once you start making them. My current project (Deathwatch Torch) taking wayyy longer than expected. Anyway keep up the great work I would love to see this offered as a kit and hopefully I can purchase a helmet for my helmet collection and maybe there might be a sithtrooper commander to come out of this hehehe i can hope. Anyways awesome I look forward to seeing the progress pictures.