JAFO'S MUDTROOPER BUILD (Jimmiroquai)

[JAFO[TX]]

This thread has been a long time coming. I'm glad to finally be here!

My love affair with the Mudtrooper started back in February 2018. I was given a sneak peak of an image of the trooper who would later become affectionally known as 'Standee Trooper'. From that first brief glimpse I LOVED the real world spirit of the design, and the respirator and hoses were unlike anything previously seen.

Soon after I became active in a Mudtrooper Facebook group and found myself immersed in research, seeking out found parts that featured as part of the build. I was also fortunate to have relationships with key production personnel (some old, some new) who had worked on SOLO and were happy to share information which could be shared with the community. Whilst active within the FB community I also assisted SpecOps with the creation of the CRL (and its revision), something I'm proud to have been involved in.

Since April 2018 I have been accruing the various found parts for my build - the first being the Plash Palatka with accurate leather grommets - and as the parts rolled in I kept a watchful eye on vendors developing kits and creating 3D files. Here is a list of the parts I decided to utilise for my build:

CHEST ARMOUR - Jim Tripon (Jimmiroquai)          

BACK ARMOUR - Jim Tripon (Jimmiroquai)   
BACK ARMOUR BUCKLES and STRAPS - Paul Prentice                        
BACK ARMOUR FOAM PANELS - 5mm Plastazote - sourced via eBay 
BACK ARMOUR HOSE CONNECTORS - Design by Daniel Andersen. Printed by Empire3D

SHOULDER BELLS - Jim Tripon (Jimmiroquai)  
SHOULDER BELL SUPPORT TABS - Paul Prentice

BICEPS - Design by Anthony Reilly. Printed by Empire3D
BICEP CORD - 1.8mm Stretch Magic Clear Cord

SHINS - Design by Empire3D. Printed by Empire3D
SHIN BUCKLES and STRAPS - Paul Prentice

HELMET - Jim Tripon (Jimmiroquai)   
HELMET TU (Telemetry Unit) - Paul Prentice
HELMET FLASHLIGHT (9 L.E.D) - Officeworks
HELMET IMPERIAL DISKS - PhiloProps
HELMET LINER - Big W
HELMET CHIN CUP - Rawlings Batter's Chin Cup - sourced from eBay

GOGGLES - Design by NerdForgeDesigns. Printed by The Imperial Factory
GOGGLES BRIDGE TENSIONER - Guillermo Carbonell
GOGGLE LENS - Hobart Replacement Welding Lens
GOGGLE GASKET - 2mm Silicone Rubber - sourced from eBay
GOGGLE STRAP SERRATED BUCKLES (Gentex style) - sourced from eBay
GOGGLE STRAP LARGE BUCKLE - Cast from production used asset
GOGGLE STRAP TRI-GLIDES - Design by Empire3D. Printed by Empire3D

RESPIRATOR - Design by NerdForgeDesigns. Printed by The Imperial Factory
RESPIRATOR BUCKLES - ImperialTraderCo
RESPIRATOR 19mm TAN WEBBING - ImperialTraderCo
RESPIRATOR FILTER MESH - Isopon Repair Aluminium- sourced from eBay
RESPIRATOR FILTER BOLTS - M4 Hex Cap Screw - sourced from eBay
RESPIRATOR 'YUGO' BUCKLE SET - ImperialTraderCo
RESPIRATOR HOSES - RubberFun NL

LEATHER UPPER BELT incl. buckle and boxes - PhiloProps

WEBBED LOWER BELT incl. boxes - Paul Prentice 

JACKET - Tailor made from 12oz Olive Grey Bull Denim purchased from Big Duck Canvas 
JACKET EMBOSSED VINYL IMPERIAL INSIGNIA  - Anovos

TROUSERS - Tailor adapted from store bought heavy cotton trousers

PLASH PALATKA - AndDolls (Etsy)

GLOVES - Highlander Spec Ops (Amazon)

BOOTS - Vintage Soviet Officer (Antiqua House)

SCARF - sourced via eBay

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES:

E10 BLASTER - Designed by MCM Designs. Printed by 3DPropsNL
E10 FLASHLIGHT - M300A Element SF - AliExpress
M56 LEATHER POUCH - sourced via eBay
GRENADE - Designed by Jon Weger. Printed by Empire3D


On 28 February 2020 I finally found the time (and impetus) to get my build under way. My plan has always been to build to Specialist specs so I have been taking my time to get things right. In a little over a month the build has come a long way and in the coming days and weeks I will start to share the pics and progress.

Standby! 

 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

That list is great, Darren! Can't wait to see this!

[JAFO[TX]]

Currently deciding upon the best third-party pic sharing platform and will start the upload of pics and info soon.

If all stays to plan, the build is about a week off completion prior to submitting pics for basic approval. Specialist application will follow soon after.

Standby...again!

 

[Dropkick[CMD-XO]]

I use imgur to upload images & then share the links on this forum. I hope that helps.

Looking forward to seeing the mud trooper images.

[JAFO[TX]]

5 hours ago, ShaneM said:

I use imgur to upload images & then share the links on this forum. I hope that helps.

Looking forward to seeing the mud trooper images.

Yes I have been thinking imgur was the way forward. Preparing to do a massive upload.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Imgur is good and I use Flickr.

[JAFO[TX]]

3 hours ago, IcyTrooper said:

Imgur is good and I use Flickr.

I have Flickr but get the sense they may go the PhotoBucket route soon. All about the $s.

[JAFO[TX]]

My build started like many others with a steady stream of packages arriving from around the globe containing found parts and other paraphernalia. One of the first jobs tackled was the dying of the Plash Palatka. As we all learned it wasn't a straight forward experience but once we learnt to breakdown the waxed exterior the job became easier. Sort of! Lots of boiling water, salt, Black Dye and patience got the results. I also used the opportunity to dye the scarf I had purchased from eBay.

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[JAFO[TX]]

One of the larger packages to arrive from overseas was a bundle of 12oz Olive Grey Bull Denim. Thinking back there is every chance the shipping cost more than the material but knowing I was aiming for as accurate  build as possible it was the only material I wanted.

With material in hand it was time to engage my local tailor to put together the tunic based on my own design. Ultimately, owing to a combination of multiple fittings and being away for work this was a process that spanned five or so months but the result was well worth it.

[JAFO[TX]]

As 2019 rolled on I was deciding which kit to commit to. Early on I backed Diversity Props, and then considered WTF. Truth is, I should have just committed to my usual go-to guy, Jim Tripon. It wasn't long before I had parts of the armour heading in my direction. As always, the first job with Jim's flexi-fibreglass kit is a rough sand of the interior and a good wash down. 

Following on with a sand of the exterior the parts were ready for a coating of black primer.

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After the primer tried my next task was to mask the trim, then stipple the helmet with black house paint - a technique used by the S:ASWS production team to add texture to the helmet.

Several coats were required to get the desired effect.

Next up, time to lay down the first coats of the infamous Mudtrooper green paint. Whilst we had it confirmed that the production kits were spray painted with Pantone 350U followed by a layer of Pantone 433U, we also had it confirmed that the on-set touch up paint was Vauxhall Leaf Green, a colour readily available from auto store Halfords in the UK. As I am in Australia I tracked down the equivalent colour and had it mixed at my local auto store.

 

The coat went down beautifully and really accentuated the stipple texturing effect.

Whilst weather was good and I was in a painting mood I coated the inside of the bells with flat black.

I then gave the bells a coating of Vauxhall Leaf Green.

Did I mention how nice the stipple effect was!!!

With the first layers of green down it felt like the Mudtrooper build was TRULY under way.

[JAFO[TX]]

Blessed with good weather and more available time that usual I cracked on at pace trying to chip away at tasks every day, in no particular order. Next up I tackled the shins. These shins were designed by Chris Bostock, myself and Nic Le Brey-Jones at Empire 3D. They are about as accurate as you can get. Nic printed the shins for me and whilst sturdy I was keen to reinforce the back of them, which I did with 2mm abs...

...followed by a full 360 coating of spray putty.

I also had Nic at Empire3D print my biceps which were designed by Anthony Reilly. They are slightly tapered toward the upper arm to allow for a better fit and also include the important fish hook detail I was keen to capture, and utilise. More on that later!

A coating of spray putty, the necessary wet sand and then a coating of black primer.

It was important for me to use black primer throughout the build as the production made kits were cast in black prior to painting. I wanted to ensure I had the same base colour to create similar weathering. A prime example of this (pun intended) are the biceps which feature heavy weathering and battle marks. To achieve these, I used masking fluid to create various shapes on the biceps, allowing it to dry before painting with the primary colour.

 

Once the masking fluid was dry (and I'll admit I was a little heavy handed) it was time to paint the biceps - one with the Toyota Super Red, the other with the Vauxhall Leaf Green (VLG from here on in).

Once painted and dried it was time to mask the red bicep in readiness to create the yellow lines.

Now, I'm going to be controversial here. During research of the Mudtrooper one of the production costume crew shared various information regarding the paints used on the kit. There was  suggestion that Montana Gold Yellow Cab was a popular paint on-set and that it might well be the paint used for the stripes. Personally, based on reference images, I still wager that Shock Yellow is extremely viable for the stripes - it is a little more golden than the Yellow Cab and I truly believe it set's it apart. That is why I chose to use it.

Nic also printed me some resin tri-glides for the goggle strap. These are based on a design which we worked on together and are accurately scaled and modelled on production assets. The simple task here was prime the tri-glides, paint them, then use chrome paint to dry brush them and give a scratched metal look.

 

[JAFO[TX]]

Next ransom task was to look at the upper armour with particular focus on the straps, buckles and attachments. I'm a BIG fan of magnets. My FOTK build used them heavily and I use them whenever possible. As you will discover they feature heavily as part of this build.

I had decided that I wanted the shoulder buckles to attach to the chest piece using magnets so I set about creating suitable size holes in the resin buckles provided by Paul Prentice.

Once I had drilled pilot holes and used a Dremel to sand them out I set about gluing magnets in place. I'm a big fan of Loctite 495 (I like to live life on the edge!) and it sets hard and fast.

Whilst the magnets were drying I completed the quick task of attaching the Daniel Anderson's excellent angled hose connectors to the back plate. For this I used Loctite Marine Epoxy - I used it extensively for strong hold on my FOTK and it absolutely LOVES Jim's kit. Rock solid!

Next up it was time to get Dremel happy and start (carefully) creating holes in Jim's awesome kit. The focus at first was to open up the slots for the shoulder straps to pass through.

I then turned my focus to creating holes in the chest plate to allow for a web connection between the back plate collar and the chest. This was pioneered by Jasper Tan (see his excellent build thread for detailed info) and is a great solution to keep front and back connected. The key here was to take it very slowly.

After drilling the holes in the chest it was time for the slightly more precarious task of cutting channels in the collar arms in which I would glue the web/snap solution. Whilst using the Dremel I suddenly remembered Jim's collar is reinforced - I hit metal! Once again, slow and steady wins the race!

Once the channels were deep enough and long enough I glued in the stiff webbing straps.

As the glue dried on the straps I created web plates and glued them in to the chest.

After a few hours of drying I did my first test suit up over the tunic.

It was very early days but it was starting to shape up.

[JAFO[TX]]

This build really has been about filling days with as many tasks as possible. Some tasks were weather dependant and would have to wait but others I could just get on with. One such task was carving the bicycle helmet liner. I have a sizeable noggin and it took a while to find a liner that would work. Getting it to fit inside Jim's helmet would prove to be a sizeable task. Using an electric carving knife made the job a whole lot easier!

After many revisions and test fits I eventually got it to sit how I wanted inside the helmet.

 

It also looked pretty good on my faithful helper, Charlie...

Whilst I had the armour on Charlie I used the opportunity to play around with the shoulder tab brackets I received from Paul Prentice. He produces these brackets for his Shoretrooper kits and we have surmised that it makes total sense the brackets were used on Muddies too. In fact, shoulder tabs have been used on all modern era troopers since TFA and they help give the shoulder bells good from and prevent shoulder sag.  

More to come on the shoulder tabs later.

 

 

 

Paul's brackets were designed for his ST kits and would attach to the chest piece. I knew I would have to adapt them for Jim's kit.

[JAFO[TX]]

Another day, another task. This time attaching the TU to the helmet. Per the production helmets my choice was to screw them on. So a quick measure, a quick Dremel. and then time for screws.

And whilst I was helmet focused I wanted to repaint the trim, so it was time for a quick bag job, masking and respray.

Whilst the helmet was drying I decided to tackle the weathering of the helmet torch. To do this I created a mixture of grey house paint, sand and Fuller's Earth. They used flour during production but I heard the paint smelled awful when it went off. I thought Fuller's would be a good substitute.

Grey is also key to the weathering of the Mudtrooper. The set was dressed using Welsh shale and this very much formed the colour of 'Mimban Mud'. You see it on the Mimban TKs who are caked in it. 

Once the mixture was ready I grabbed my faithful stipple sponge and set to work. Layering is really important when it comes to breakdown - dark and light layers really accentuate a piece.

I particularly love the effect on the light lens when turned on...

[JAFO[TX]]

With the TU fitted and the helmet liner fitted (but not yet stuck) I turned my attention to the helmet strapping. Using available reference I wanted to be as faithful as possible by creating the strap (including Rawlings Chin Cup) and snap attachment. I would utilise buckles from the Yugo backpack. In addition I wanted to add the mysterious metal O-rings which can be seen in some shots. We don't know their purpose for sure but general belief are the O-rings were originally considered as the attachment point for the respirators, though kits were ultimately designed NOT to be worn with respirators.

[JAFO[TX]]

Next up a little progression on the shins, adding the knee plates, a straightforward task made easier by the cool little plugs that Empire3D utilises that slot into the knee plate from the behind the shin.

Keeping focus on the shins I started work on the short straps and buckles provided by Paul Prentice.

In order to have them sit flatter I decided to cut/sand steps into the buckle and strap so they sit flush together.

After a good wash and dry it was Loctite time...

And as the short straps dried I went to work on the one straps, again cutting/sanding a step into the straps.

I then prepped the thick webbing that would glue the straps and buckle together, whilst still allowing for a little flex.

And then as the straps dried it was back to the shins to add the knuckles below the knee plate.

And once dry it was time to add another layer of spray putty.

 

[JAFO[TX]]

One of the products I had to wait on was the Pantone 433U. It came from interstate and certainly took it's time.

Whilst I had chosen VLG over 350U as my primary colour I was keen to get the 433U to see how it worked as an overlay on the green. I wan't disappointed with the effect as I went to town on a few of the already painted pieces.

And whilst in painting mode I decided to tackle the Upper Belt Buckle which reference shows to be heavily distressed. Using liquid mask I got creative on the metal buckle supplied by Gian at PhiloProps.

After drying, and masking the leather belt it was time to paint.

Once the green had dried I did a very fine mist of 433U.

And then it was time for the very satisfying task of rubbing away the liquid mask.

One more little task to finish the day - cutting and attaching the Paracord to the helmet TU. Reference shows the Paracord to be knotted in a very particular way. After doing this I added a few drops of Loctite to keep the knot sealed.

I then simply stretched the cord over the TU and got it in to place.

[JAFO[TX]]

With the shin straps now glued and dried it was time to hit them with some paint. Being rubber I decided to give them a generous coating of an adhesion promoter to aid the paint coating and drying successfully.

Once dry it was paint time.

It dried really nicely and cracking/peeling was very minimal.

As the sun shone I cracked on with more priming and painting. Next in line, the shins.

I really LOVE how the 433U gives an instant weathered and battled look and feel.

Painting continued as I gave the armour a hit of black primer and RustOleum flat black on the interior, and black primer on the exterior. You'll see in the pic where I taped off the webbing and snaps on the front chest, and the area I would glue the shoulder straps on the interior of the back. You can also see where the magnets are located for the shoulder strap connection on the chest.

Once dry I got to give the major armour pieces a hit of VLG.

[JAFO[TX]]

At this stage of the wild I was waiting on some essential parts to arrive from China, namely the respirator and goggles which I had commissioned through The Imperial Factory. With little armour to work onI turned my attention back to my E-10 from 3DPropsNL which had been lying around half built since early 2019.

It is a fantastic kit which requires minimal finishing compared to some 3D blasters I've received in the past.

So after a few tweaks, some gluing of parts and a quick sand it was time for prime and paint.

As parts dried I turned my attention to the magazine covers. I had decided I would proceed without installing lights at this stage so simply used an old red plastic iPhone cover to create the red behind the mag windows.

I then attached the mag covers to the E-10 which was shaping up really nicely.

With the blaster on the table I decided to build the strap using the screen matched 1" webbing and buckles. Webbing was masked in place ready for sewing.

Really important for overall look and feel to weather details like the snap hooks. A little sandpaper goes a long way.

And whilst the webbing was out I ticked off another little job by adding the respirator neck cord loop on the back of the armour. A simple size, cut and glue in place.

I also took the opportunity to glue the shoulder straps in to place being careful to heavily score the underside of the rubber strap to promote adhesion and good bonding.

I also glued the strap on the inside of the back plate for extra strength. Oh, and added the snap plate for the leather belt loop too.

Once all was dry I could resist a quick test fitting of the upper armour.

 

 

 

[JAFO[TX]]

Although I had the jacket beautifully tailor made I knew it was inevitable, and essential, that it needed to be bashed up. The first step was to give it a simple wash which loosened it up nicely.

Once dry I worked some Greenland Wax into the jacket, paying particular focus to the seams and edges.

I let the wax melt and dry in the hot sun - it didn't take long!

As the jacket dried I decided to hit up the armour with a touch up layer of VLG followed by the 433U spritz.

The main thing with the 433U is to spray from a distant and spray in short bursts. You don't need much to make an impact.

Next up, time to look at the Lower Web Belt and attached the boxes, both of which came from Paul Prentice.

First, I measured then masked the box positions...

I then marked out the screw holes... 

And then screwed the boxes in place using countersunk washers to add some support around the screw heads.

I then finished off this session by creating the leather loop that would attach to the back plate and retain the belts.

[JAFO[TX]]

Having weathered the helmet torch it was time to attach it to the TU. First I added the cable ties which are purely for aesthetic. During production they were used to attach the torch directly to the helmet. 

Having cut the ends of the ties I then drilled a small hole through the aluminium casing, dropped a short bolt through, and glued it in place. 

Once the screw had set in position I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the TU and glued the screw post in place. Job done!

[JAFO[TX]]

Having secured a pair of Highlander Spec Ops gloves a long time ago it was time to dig them out and rough 'em up to make them lived in. This was done various easily by putting them on and dragging them along rough walls.

I then gave the gloves a quick stipple with the mud mix.

And allowed with a splatter spray up using the production technique of paint mixed with water. I prepped bottles of grey, black and white.

 

[JAFO[TX]]

With the kit progressing nicely it was time to return to the shoulder tab brackets. I had determined how they would best fit to Jim's kit but there was a little work required.

First I needed to trim down the brackets. Easy done with my trusty tin snips.

Having trimmed them down I then checked how they would look in place prior to giving them a prime and paint.

I the used Apoxie Sculpt to build up a little bit of wall on the inside of the armour where the tabs would be affixed.

Once dry I used the Loctite Marine Epoxy to fix the brackets in place.

Once dry I hit it up with a little black to tidy things up.

Having cut a slit in the super strong bell elastic I threaded the tabs through...

And affixed in place using a Chicago screw...

Job done...

[JAFO[TX]]

A couple of quick jobs occupied my next session.

With the helmet strapping complete, the TU screwed in place and the liner cut to size it was time to fix the liner in place. I didn't want to go hardcore with glue in case I ever needed to remove the liner so settled on using low profile body mount tape.

With the helmet done I moved on to another little job for my E-10. I wasn't happy with the taser braid supplied with my kit so tracked down some tin braid that looked much better.

I cut the braid to size and glued on the taser prod ends before using a little glue to ensure the braid wouldn't fray any more.

And with everything secure it was then  case of gluing to the taser box on the E-10.

Another day done!