Imperial Dark Trooper Phase 0

[kishdr]

Hello, I'm a white plastic trooper to be from the FISD, here to share something you may be interested in. 
Hopefully in the future I can bring this 3d armor + kit into reality. Love the Phase 0.

Thanks!
 

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Always loved these guys, so I spend the afternoon working on a Helmet!

WIP number 1.

Needs some better Retop and minor issue fixes, but for a virtual prop, I think it looks amazing. Plan is to remake the rest of the armor kit as well. I used the Battlefront model as a direct reference. This is my first time creating a helmet / prop with this many interesting parts / shaping to it before.

Its probably not 3d print ready yet, as I'm not sure whats needed to make a model print ready. Don't own my own 3d printer yet! 

Made with Blender 2.8

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

all I can say is--wow

[kishdr]

Update Number 2!

 

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Since I have it in 3d, I decided, why not make it look pretty? Made the front breast plate, did some little changes to the helmet. Can't forget the Armored Nipple covers! I wish they weren't just tacked on though, but that's the design in the game... The helmet looks like it has some shaping issues on the sides, whenever I get around to my re-topology that should be fixed. The helmet cap "grebels" arent as flush / rounded as I would like, same with the 'tears/eye bag grebels'. The rubber mouthpiece also has too many lines. The idea would be trying to get that front piece to match ANH / R1 TKs, as Darktroopers are Early Empire.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Very nice! Gonna be a fun one to 3D print 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Very cool!

I would only caution against over-interpretation (ie the vocoder).  If the goal is to clear a CRL or approval after a CRL is approved it would need to lineup with that...which means lineup with references from which the CRL is based.

There is a drafted CRL which hasnt been visited in awhile as no one has been able to push it over the finish line so far.  Make sure to read that over thoroughly...though its far from complete.

Good work!  Best wishes on your journey here!

[kishdr]

3 hours ago, Raider said:

Very cool!

I would only caution against over-interpretation (ie the vocoder).  If the goal is to clear a CRL or approval after a CRL is approved it would need to lineup with that...which means lineup with references from which the CRL is based.

There is a drafted CRL which hasnt been visited in awhile as no one has been able to push it over the finish line so far.  Make sure to read that over thoroughly...though its far from complete.

Good work!  Best wishes on your journey here!

Good point.
Originally It was something I was gonna go back on and fix later, then got the R1 TKs in my head... Lets do this the right way and fix that Vocoder now ? I wish the model itself had some more modelled depth to it from the games. it would make it so much easier to work with. 

Hows this look? Aswell, I finished working on the Upper Chest Piece.

[kishdr]

Here's what Day 4 brings.

Shoulder pauldrons, Upper Arm armor, Stomach plate, Belt, Thermal Detonator, Pelvis and Jump Jetpack. 

 

Animated turnaround Gif

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Keep it up!

[Blue Hatter]

That's looking awesome!

A few small things that I noticed... The "vents" on the lower portions of the helmet are the traditional C-shaped stormtrooper helmet vents, not the straight ones like in Rogue One. I can't tell if they're indented to not, the texture image isn't clear enough, but the vents on the back of the head and the cheeks are definitely indented. I think you also have the vents going too far back, they may need to be a little thinner or moved in closer together.

The vents on the side of upper parts of the jetpack, in the ring, are just straight, even vents. I think that there are six slats, if I remember right, but I'd need to recount to be sure.

The dark parts of the chest and thigh armor are layered beneath the lighter color armor, as if the armor is two "layers" thick.

It looks like the shoulder straps on your version are more of the Rogue One style, but they should be the standard OT stormtrooper shoulder straps with no buckle on the back.

[kishdr]

40 minutes ago, Blue Hatter said:

That's looking awesome!

A few small things that I noticed... The "vents" on the lower portions of the helmet are the traditional C-shaped stormtrooper helmet vents, not the straight ones like in Rogue One. I can't tell if they're indented to not, the texture image isn't clear enough, but the vents on the back of the head and the cheeks are definitely indented. I think you also have the vents going too far back, they may need to be a little thinner or moved in closer together.

The vents on the side of upper parts of the jetpack, in the ring, are just straight, even vents. I think that there are six slats, if I remember right, but I'd need to recount to be sure.

The dark parts of the chest and thigh armor are layered beneath the lighter color armor, as if the armor is two "layers" thick.

It looks like the shoulder straps on your version are more of the Rogue One style, but they should be the standard OT stormtrooper shoulder straps with no buckle on the back.

Thanks for the critiques, I've added some to my change-log. Most will have to be applied when I do the retopology, as this High Def mesh has had the destructive - modifiers applied.
 

• Indents in the cheek, should be 'C' Shaped
• Cheek vents go back too far
• Cheek tears should be larger, shaped to be more accurate and vents indented to them
• Ear grebels to be changed to match better, specifically the brick-like pattern and Rivets
• Belt boxes should be symmetrical, for the indentation on them
• Hip stripe should be indented.
• Replace jetpack heatsync blades with flush vent that should be indented like the blades.
• Armor layers should be more obvious / parted. Move the grey layer further back.

 
 

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The vents on the side of upper parts of the jetpack, in the ring, are just straight, even vents. I think that there are six slats, if I remember right, but I'd need to recount to be sure.

This is an orthographic view of the BF model, next to mine. Thanks to your comment, I wouldn't have noticed my lack of a boxy outline on the vents. I think we're both wrong though. My model has 5 pillars, the BF model has 4, and then the frame around it. 

 

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The dark parts of the chest and thigh armor are layered beneath the lighter color armor, as if the armor is two "layers" thick.

There is some layering, though on the chest it was more of a seam, than parting. This is now on the to-do list

   

 

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It looks like the shoulder straps on your version are more of the Rogue One style, but they should be the standard OT stormtrooper shoulder straps with no buckle on the back.

This point is certainly a discussion piece. The shoulders are more like the Rogue one, as I unintentionally made it so. Looking at it now, I don't think the armor would even have straps to begin with, as it looks like its part of the armor. Would really make this armor even bigger than its said to already be.  This may be my lack of experience with any OT TK armor, to tell the difference but:

The BF Stormtroopers look to lack the strap cover thats present in the OT. Unless the larger square on the strap is the 'cover' and its always been molded with the strap itself, and not two separate pieces. 

 

 

  

There isn't even any larger strap part at all detailed here. Though.....

The front part, the strap sits / grounds itself on-top of the 2nd layer of the chest plate / fitting into an extrusion piece of the 2nd layer. 

The back part, it looks like the strap either goes underneath the 2nd layer of the back plate, or it goes into it, as if there's an indent / intrusion. 

This post was made after I did this, but to wrap it up, I created the forearm armor, and the thighs.

  

[RAIDER[COTG]]

My take (for what its worth)...its an old game with lower quality graphics then what we are used to...not everything will render spot on to its intent (as we noticed with the helmet dome (use of a black line instead of actual texture)...id say not to overthink it.  Game was created well before Rogue One was ever even imagined and so Id say when in doubt, act like Rogue One never existed (because it didn’t at game creation)...and ONLY lean towards OT (or TK models from the same game) when needing to make “interpretations” to fill gaps.  Think thats prob the best approach...and what the original designers would have had to do. Keep it up!!!

[kishdr]

5 minutes ago, Raider said:

My take (for what its worth)...its an old game with lower quality graphics then what we are used to...not everything will render spot on to its intent (as we noticed with the helmet dome (use of a black line instead of actual texture)...id say not to overthink it.  Game was created well before Rogue One was ever even imagined and so Id say when in doubt, act like Rogue One never existed (because it didn’t at game creation)...and ONLY lean towards OT (or TK models from the same game) when needing to make “interpretations” to fill gaps.  Think thats prob the best approach...and what the original designers would have had to do. Keep it up!!!

I see your point ?

Unrelated....
This brings the question... Does Rogue One act as a Retcon for everything that came before (Tks)? The TKs in that movie are unofficially referred to as the 'Perfect Stormtrooper'. All the edges are extremely sharp, same with extrusions and indents. The reason being (paraphrase);

"That's the way how it was always suppose to be, but the molds were bad / they couldn't do the detail back in 1984 that we can do in 2016. Look at Ralph Mcquarrie's concept art. Sharp edges and indents."  

[RAIDER[COTG]]

6 minutes ago, kishdr said:

I see your point ?

Unrelated....
This brings the question... Does Rogue One act as a Retcon for everything that came before (Tks)? The TKs in that movie are unofficially referred to as the 'Perfect Stormtrooper'. All the edges are extremely sharp, same with extrusions and indents. The reason being (paraphrase);

"That's the way how it was always suppose to be, but the molds were bad / they couldn't do the detail back in 1984 that we can do in 2016. Look at Ralph Mcquarrie's concept art. Sharp edges and indents."  

Its possible...but the Legion is totally separate from LFLs established lore in a sense.  We are a costuming organization not a replica of the Imperial military.  If what you say is applied everything could (would) need to be retconned...wipe away OT TKs altogether because of the lore timeline.

This crops up often when people debate what costumes belong in what detachment.  Many (myself included) have difficulty separating the character lore and their place in the SW universe...its a factor for sure when LMOs decide but there are several others (not a perfect science) unrelated to lore.

Hope that answers your question.

[kishdr]

26 minutes ago, Raider said:

Its possible...but the Legion is totally separate from LFLs established lore in a sense.  We are a costuming organization not a replica of the Imperial military.  If what you say is applied everything could (would) need to be retconned...wipe away OT TKs altogether because of the lore timeline.

This crops up often when people debate what costumes belong in what detachment.  Many (myself included) have difficulty separating the character lore and their place in the SW universe...its a factor for sure when LMOs decide but there are several others (not a perfect science) unrelated to lore.

Hope that answers your question.

Oh yeah yeah yeah. I didn't mean it in a serious sense, just a nerd lore sense. In The Mandalorian, theres OT Tks and R1 Tks anyways. Be it costume shortage, or another reason. 

Going back to the chestplate and straps. I did some digging around. I always knew that Phase 0 Darktroopers were re-serviced clones, and I knew they used some clone armor. I just never looked to see what exactly was clone, and didn't include clone armor in my references (How smart I am!).  The chestplate (and pelvis) looks to be a Phase 2 clonetrooper's, modified. If this is 100% correct, then Strap covers are completely unnecessary entirely and would mirror Phase 2 armor. 

   
 
(Don't be fooled by the BF clone's flatness / hunch. The Stormtroopers do it too.)

[Devolver[501st]]

As obvious as it is, I had never noticed the Clone armor parts on the Dark Trooper.

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

hey guys, ill be watching over this much more closely now.  I like the interaction Im seeing, and from working on theother side of the sandbox with low rez graphics I can completely understand the frustrations of trying to figure out lines, boxes and shadows where they may or may not exist. 

In the end we make it match the references we have, its all we can do.  

[kishdr]

Hmmmm.... Why are my images showing up so small? I'd perfer they show up large like my original posts. Or maybe this is just a me - issue.


You can see my little list now. A fix I did compared to before was flattening / angling out the thighs. While I would like this to have look better, I already applied my destructive - modifiers. Another slight adjustment I did was indent the black / grey stripe on the pelvis / hip armor plating. All in all, this model will serve as a perfect template for me to do my re-topology over, pretty or not. The depth, curves and edges are there, which exactly what I need. 

How much should I indent the "2nd layering"? The issue I've ran into, is if I space out the layers too much, some things may need to be resized. Like the Chestplate, it may come out to being larger / wider in certain places, which would make it different to the Phase 2 Clonetroopers. Perhaps this comes down to user preference / committee agreement?

Would the "2nd" grey layering be more like the "Base layer" that the metallic layer sits ontop of, instead of a one piece armor that has recessed bits? I could try to get this "First layer" to match the proportions / silhouette of the Clone Trooper Phase 2 chesplate, so no changing of the upper / over layer clone armor would be needed.
          

(Two images) Two part Armor vs .....................                                                                               what I have currently, which is the one part, with implied (to be fixed) recession / layering. 
 

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hey guys, ill be watching over this much more closely now.  I like the interaction Im seeing, and from working on theother side of the sandbox with low rez graphics I can completely understand the frustrations of trying to figure out lines, boxes and shadows where they may or may not exist. 

In the end we make it match the references we have, its all we can do.  

Glad to hear! Hope in the end from a 3d standpoint, this could turn into something CRL Approvable with your help, and the rest of the helpful members here ?

 

[Blue Hatter]

I definitely think that's looking much better! Nice job!

The chest, stomach (and lower back?) and cod piece definitely look to be of the standard clone trooper variety... The chest might be a little wider but it's hard to say for certain. The back armor is closer to the stormtrooper variety and does have the OII greeblies on the back, though they can't be seen unless you have the model and remove the jetpack. But you've got that already.

I don't think that Rogue One necessarily retcons the stormtrooper armor, just kind of... hopes you forget about the others? Or something? I guess it's like these are the hi-def versions of the armor... Or like the original Star Wars is all low-def so you can't make out the details, and Rogue One is hi-def, allowing you to see all of the little details and stuff that you couldn't (supposedly) see before. At least that's how I think of it. Sort of. Hah. It's even more confusing for the X-wing pilots that look almost nothing like the OT X-wing pilots. x.x

[kishdr]

Allllrighty. This armor set will be called Mock-Up 1. Since, that's what it is. All the fixes listed above will be applied to a complete new set of armor, called Mock-Up 2. With that being said, Mock- Up 1 should be about complete. I took a bit of a break to work on some other projects inbetween last post and now, but the last pieces have been completed. Knee / Lower Leg armor, Boots and Wrist guards. The boots I was a bit iffy on, just because there's so little detail on the in-game boots. I took a bit of creative liberty, and used the boot "base" to look like the TK Boots from Imperial Boots, then up armored with the fancy looking plating above it, like in the game. I'm unsure if the 2005 BF models are proportionate, and my Mock-Up 1 may not be. Mock-Up 2 will solve this issue, as I will have a generic male base underneath the armor to fit it to. I'm still interested as to how those "bulbs" on the sides of the knees are to be attached. Asking other fans, the speculation is the arms and legs were entirely Cybernetic on the DarkTrooper Phase 0, and the "bulbs" (Silver nipple caps) are the joint covers or something. Can't really apply that to reality, as.... most fans have organic legs, and like having them. Perhaps there would be a black strap that goes around the knee. Or buttons that snap from the bulbs, to the undersuit. 

 

 

    

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Very nice on the modeling!

I'm thinking that with the "bulbs" that they probably can be extended down with a piece of black or painted black ABS or the like where they can be attached to. The black will blend in with the undersuit and allow them to effectively "float".

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

on my end none of the most recent images are showing, just link boxes that I can click to take me to your imgur site when the renders are

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Just now, Blackwatch said:

on my end none of the most recent images are showing, just link boxes that I can click to take me to your imgur site when the renders are

Yeah that has been happening on my end too. One work around I've seen is to click "Quote" and they'll show up if you aren't looking to go to the external site.

[kishdr]

14 hours ago, Blackwatch said:

on my end none of the most recent images are showing, just link boxes that I can click to take me to your imgur site when the renders are

I've had this happen too. I think its something with the site itself. Refreshing the page 1-2 times fixed the issue. Interestingly I have to refresh the page to even see new messages / notifications. The bell notification stopped working. Weird, considering threads are live updating. 


In other news, excitement excitement! I have begun the retopology phase. This is the part where I basically take my Inaccurate higher poly sculpt, and make it more clean. Lines are sharper, prettier to look at. Its also easier for the computer to handle, and, with the model being clean, it makes it easier to work with, which means more details!

In my research, I was looking around about the Rivet caps / circular bulges on the 'ear' pieces. Regular stormtroopers have these, Clone troopers do not. On the Battlefront model, Darktrooper's don't have them either.... until.... I looked at the Battlefront Stormtrooper model. They don't have them either!  

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 (maybe if I quote the images, they'll show up)

I'm going to assume this was on Pandemic Studio's choice. Technical limitations / cluttering of the textures as to why they may have not added the texture of these rivet/screws. Obviously Stormtrooper's have these, which leads me to say... The Phase 0 Darktrooper has them as well, and they really look nice. 

So far my progress, I have the entire Helmet retopologized. The details I need to add are the Visor, Cheek vents, Tear vents, Neck seal and possibly make the Hovi-tip wiremesh a bit thicker. I'll probably make the inside look nice and clean too. Right now it looks straight out of a assembled kit. I threw together some stuff and made a older looking Jango-fett (head modified from Battlefront 2 EA) clone to use as my real-life base for armor fitting. 

 

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[kishdr]

On 2/10/2020 at 4:58 AM, Blue Hatter said:

That's looking awesome!

A few small things that I noticed... The "vents" on the lower portions of the helmet are the traditional C-shaped stormtrooper helmet vents, not the straight ones like in Rogue One. I can't tell if they're indented to not, the texture image isn't clear enough, but the vents on the back of the head and the cheeks are definitely indented. I think you also have the vents going too far back, they may need to be a little thinner or moved in closer together.

Hows this look for the vents on the cheeks and tears, Blue Hatter ?

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These images on this site just seem to be getting smaller and smaller.... not sure why. 

 

[Blue Hatter]

On 2/19/2020 at 8:58 AM, kishdr said:

Hows this look for the vents on the cheeks and tears, Blue Hatter ?

 

I think that they're looking good! Nice job! Though I think that the texture for your game model may be applied to the model a bit screwy, the tube vents aren't in a wavy pattern like that from what I've seen, they're more of a straight line, just an angled straight line. The texture might not be properly aligned with the mesh. (Though admittedly the mesh itself is kind of wonky so there are some weird texture distortions even with the texture properly aligned.)

 

On a side note, one thing I think is kind of funny is that on the texture the OII greeblies on the back armor are reversed, making them IIO. But on the model that section is flipped to be back to OII, except that the shading on them is wrong as they're reversed. Crazy artists.