Proposed Imperial Death Trooper CRL Update

[DHKnecht]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:52 PM, Chaos said:

Chest Plate and Shoulder Straps

....

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

●   Shoulder straps will be rubber with the same appearance as basic, but they will also have a slight inward angled curve following the shape of the neck opening

●   Shall be painted using the Color Scheme Guide https://imgur.com/a/38EiQr8

I have a question on the Shoulder Straps for Level 2.  It says that they will "also have a slight inward angled curve".  Does that mean than the buckles will be angled slightly inwards, or the entire shoulder straps?  I purchased the rubber ones from PlasticArmsDealer and they don't have any inward curve, but could be altered to have that.  What I'm curious about is how much of a curve is needed?  Are there any reference/comparison pics showing this curve v. a straight/uncurved shoulder strap?

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@DHKnecht

Hey man I am in the hospital, had a minor heart attack and am being evacuated out of Afghanistan within the next couple of days. When I can get access to my laptop in a few days I'll show you what I've got. Hopefully someone else posts the photos before I can. Apologies for not being able to answer your question right away.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

5 hours ago, Chaos said:

@DHKnecht

Hey man I am in the hospital, had a minor heart attack and am being evacuated out of Afghanistan within the next couple of days. When I can get access to my laptop in a few days I'll show you what I've got. Hopefully someone else posts the photos before I can. Apologies for not being able to answer your question right away.

GET WELL!!!

@nanotek can u chime in here plz. thx!

[DHKnecht]

@Chaos Hey, no rush, take care of yourself first!!  Here's hoping it was minor and you'll have no long lasting issues with it.  Get well soon!

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

15 hours ago, Chaos said:

@DHKnecht

Hey man I am in the hospital, had a minor heart attack and am being evacuated out of Afghanistan within the next couple of days. When I can get access to my laptop in a few days I'll show you what I've got. Hopefully someone else posts the photos before I can. Apologies for not being able to answer your question right away.

Get well soon Chris

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

On 5/15/2020 at 6:47 AM, DHKnecht said:

I have a question on the Shoulder Straps for Level 2.  It says that they will "also have a slight inward angled curve".  Does that mean than the buckles will be angled slightly inwards, or the entire shoulder straps?  I purchased the rubber ones from PlasticArmsDealer and they don't have any inward curve, but could be altered to have that.  What I'm curious about is how much of a curve is needed?  Are there any reference/comparison pics showing this curve v. a straight/uncurved shoulder strap?

What it’s referring to is the design of the straps is form fitting to the shoulder line. Purely straight straps don’t sit flush with the curve between the back and the front of the armour. 
 

Here is a pic of what is being talked about 

This pic is taken from Mr Paul’s Deathtrooper buckle set. I’m not sure if there are other makers out there. Someone else might be able to chime in. 
 

The curve allows the straps to sit flush with the armour as it curves over and around to the front of the armour. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@DHKnecht

@nanotek is correct. You can see two pictures below, the first one I tried to explain what we are looking for and the second is the Why? we want the straps to be as form fitting as possible.

[DHKnecht]

@nanotek @Chaos

Thank you guys.  Got it and understand now.  The pics and explanation cleared it up.

Thanks again!

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@DHKnecht

No worries ... any time

[RMGFitness]

Based on some of the discussion on The Facebook group, I’ve been working on a rubber abdominal/ kidney gasket that’s separate from the poncho and attaches directly to the abdominal and back plates. Is rubber or a molded plastic a acceptable material for the kidney gasket or does it need to be so some of cloth? 
thanks a lot. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

12 hours ago, RMGFitness said:

"Is rubber or a molded plastic a acceptable material for the kidney gasket or does it need to be so some of cloth? "
 

@RMGFitness

Ryan good questions, I too have been following the discussion of how some people want to make like a "corset" style ab/kidney gasket piece to attach the armor to. The new CRL says this: "The following shall be rubber or a smooth semi-gloss black material with sewn ribs"  so your choice of rubber or molded plastic is OK,  If you look closely at the abdomen there is no appearance of "threading" so we added in "Sewn lines are acceptable" to accommodate those maker's under suits that are sewn.  If you go with the molded gasket as long as when it is worn, the "ribbing" retains it's appearance and doesn't flatten out when your torso twists, you will be good all the way up to Level 2. Hope this answers your question.

[RMGFitness]

11 hours ago, Chaos said:

@RMGFitness

Ryan good questions, I too have been following the discussion of how some people want to make like a "corset" style ab/kidney gasket piece to attach the armor to. The new CRL says this: "The following shall be rubber or a smooth semi-gloss black material with sewn ribs"  so your choice of rubber or molded plastic is OK,  If you look closely at the abdomen there is no appearance of "threading" so we added in "Sewn lines are acceptable" to accommodate those maker's under suits that are sewn.  If you go with the molded gasket as long as when it is worn, the "ribbing" retains it's appearance and doesn't flatten out when your torso twists, you will be good all the way up to Level 2. Hope this answers your question.

Perfect, thanks so much for the answer. I finished a version of it today and while the whole setup is functional, the ribs are closer to 2.5mm as opposed to 5-6mm as the CRL states so I’m going to redo it but I’m really excited about the setup. I’ll post pics when it’s finished. Thanks again.  

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

30 minutes ago, RMGFitness said:

Perfect, thanks so much for the answer. I finished a version of it today and while the whole setup is functional, the ribs are closer to 2.5mm as opposed to 5-6mm as the CRL states so I’m going to redo it but I’m really excited about the setup. I’ll post pics when it’s finished. Thanks again.  

That would be great, I'd like to see you what you have come up with

 

[DirectorEdward]

On 4/26/2020 at 9:48 PM, Raider said:

@Chaos can answer better...but if the corset style is an unseen (not including any unintentional "gotcha" costume zoom ups on super HD) construction method it won't be mentioned here.  You could do it...but the CRL covers visible components not the underworkings persay (at least most of the time).

But again, I defer to Chaos here.

It definitely had a corset with suspenders that the ab plates and kidney plates attached to. You can see it in a bunch of the pics. It was put together and designed by the same guys that designed the shoretrooper. The picture reference is from Mr. Paul’s shoretrooper build. 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

28 minutes ago, DirectorEdward said:

It definitely had a corset with suspenders that the ab plates and kidney plates attached to. You can see it in a bunch of the pics. It was put together and designed by the same guys that designed the shoretrooper. The picture reference is from Mr. Paul’s shoretrooper build. 

indeed.  i dont disagree with ya one bit on that its what was used...i still hold that internal strapping systems (and even if we catch minute glimpses of it...i dont think they were ever intended to be visible components) should necessarily be required in a CRL...at most adding the internal strapping as optional optional (meaning put it in Level 2 and even then its optional) would be as far as id recommend because ultimately a GML would never see that system...and it would have no effect on the exterior look of the costume right?

Im all for preserving knowledge...and so thats why I say if im ok if its added as an optional optional...but keep in mind even the shoretrooper crl makes no mention of this system that i can see.

edited bad grammar lol

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

So this whole corset thing keeps coming up, I believe that the TKs and the Shores had the abdomen and kidney sections under slung with straps, it makes sense, the armor creates a complete shell around the abdomen. The DT, however, would have been trickier as the sides do not completely wrap around, to the kidney piece to create a "shell". Maybe the ribbed abdomen could have been designed like the woman's draw tight corset and then the abdomen and the kidney/TD plate somehow attached to the ribbed material. But when I watch the DTs run and move in R1 and The Mandalorian it looks to me like the undersuit is separate from the armor and the armor is "floating" over the undersuit/abdomen gasket.

Either way, we have held stead fast that what goes on underneath the "outward appearance"  shouldn't be a CRL requirement. We see things like buckles and clips showing up every once in a while and to be honest, wardrobe malfunctions, IMHO shouldn't be necessarily considered for screen accuracy. 

I still think that if someone finds something that shows the "actual how" the pieces were put together, that it would be a great addition to the history of the DT and if they would be kind enough to share that information with the community, it would be awesome.

 On a side note, 

The CRL Update is about to lock 9 days, I am pretty sure that I have been updating the few minor things we have as CRL items as we went along. One last Lookie Louie by everyone and then we should be ready to start compiling the photos etc on the database.

The photos are in the works, I have Tom and Daniel working getting me updated photos for the Variant 1 and Variant 2 sections.

 

Also I am doing well and am appreciative of everyone's support and kind words, fortunately for me, this was a little wake up call, and nothing major. I am out of Afghanistan and back at home. The Doc says not to do anything "too strenuous" for the next week so I think I will take this time to give my DT armor an overhaul. Over the last few months I have been able to find some Jared's in  my size and snag an Anovos helmet. So I am shooting ultimately for Level 2 on both Variants

Everyone enjoy their weekend

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Update: This CRL update has been processed and published.  We do recommend that GMLs provide a grace period of 2-3 months for builds that had started prior to this update BUT we do encourage all builders to meet the updated standards if possible.  Please note that a gallery has been added to the CRL as well showing proper coloring and weathering applications.

Additionally, the Imperial Death Trooper is now eligible for our in-house Specialist program for those looking to meet the Level 2 standards.

I wanted to give additional thanks to @Chaos for the tremendous amount of work he put into facilitating this update.  Getting this update completed was a "Top 3" CRL goal for our team this term.  I'd also like to thank @DarkPhoenix and @TommyC1138 for providing updated model pictures distinguishing Version 1 and Version 2 builds.