Lt. Dan´s Death Trooper WIP

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan use the weathering references photos, they are from the Celebration's display. Look at where the corners of the lower buckle are in relation to the chest armor details. The CRL is a guide and lot of times references only the photos with no specifics. There is a lot of "eyeballing guesstimates" for this build.

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan also, after you position the buckles, make sure that the rubber straps aren't too long. It will make them bend up and not lay properly across the shoulders.

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan one more thing, the straps and buckles have a slight bend and inward angle. Ok that's all LOL

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Made a bit of progress the last days. Due to decreasing Covid incidencies here in Germany I have to work fulltime again and not much time to work on the armor, sadly?I assembled and glued the side parts for the front/back armor, attached velcro for closing after I resprayed the buckles with Alclad II airbrush paint. Also I decided to change the inner hard hat liner of my helmet. I wasn´t satisfied with the last one as I tried the helmet a couple of times on and noticed that it was too tight for my head. Also the velcro doesn´t stick properly to it. Now I glued the original hard hat attachments directly to the bucket with E6000 after I had sawn them out. Much more comfortable now and even a bit more space. Decided also to add two fans into the helmet and ordered them @ukswrath together with his DT armor harness that was luckily available again!

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Finally ended up today with the whole electronic stuff? My backpack contains now the speakers and the main audio unit with bluetooth MP3 and headset receiver. In the helmet I placed the bluetooth headset and two fans with battery pack. All hold in place with velcro and cable traps for easy remove if needed. Did some tests today and everythings works fine!

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Finished the torso armor today after installing the electronics yesterday. Installed the shoulder straps via Chicago screws and glued the buckles with E6000. They also have glued magnets on the underside to attach with the front armor plate to stay in place. The rest is held together with velcro. Also attached some self adhesive foam straps at the bottom line where the abdomen armor and thermal detonator armor on the back sits, to prevent rubbing at each other. Got the harness from @ukswrath yesterday and will now start strapping. Unfortunately I´m still waiting for the missing cod piece from Dennis (nine weeks now)?

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan Nice work!

[TheFireAwakens1807]

On 7/4/2021 at 9:26 AM, Lt. Dan said:

Got the harness from @ukswrath yesterday and will now start strapping. 

I would definitely like to see how that works out for you. Would like to know how you strapped it using his system! Good build so far! 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

3 hours ago, TheFireAwakens1807 said:

I would definitely like to see how that works out for you. Would like to know how you strapped it using his system! Good build so far! 

Thanks! Had to rework the harness by my seamstress, because I changed the setup a bit. Will make some pics the next couple of days to show how I worked it out. Stil in progress of glueing snap buttons and fixing some issues, but up to now it works as expected.

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

So, here´s a little overview how I figured out my strapping using the Ukswrath harness. First of all my seamstress flipped the main buckle from back to front as it make the putting on of the harness much easier. She also integrated the front thigh buckles in the suspenders and made them movable with a loop. As you can see I glued additional snap buttons on the armor parts where I need them for better attachment. I used 30x30mm nylon ribbon for the snaps directly glued with E6000. Thermal Det armor and butt plate are held together with four nylon ribbon straps and permanently attached to the back harness. You can easily put the harness on now and finally snap the abdomen armor to the front. It was important to me that I can put it on by myself and this works well! Unfortunately I still can´t take care of the alignment of the thighs because I´m still waiting for the missing cod piece. Next step will be the attachment of the shoulder bells/biceps armor. Haven´t decided yet if I´ll use the harness buckles or go with the Paul Prentice method.

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

First test fit with softparts. Not that bad I would say? At the side view you can see that the lower edge of the abdomen and the upper edge of the butt plate align. That was my goal as I want to attach the belt with velcro at that alignment line, also to hide the thigh buckles by the belt. Still much work ahead?!

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

?

[TheFireAwakens1807]

Wow @Lt. Dan that looks really good!

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Been busy the last two weeks, but now I have holidays and ready for progress?I have dealt with the shoulder bell setup and decided to go with the Paul Prentice fittings, but customized them a bit by means of cutting in shape. They are held by Chicago screws and additional E6000 glue. The straps are made from thick rubber-like material for better movement. I´ll blacken the Chicago screws later on, they´re also hidden by the shoulder straps. Shoulder bells have a small gap when attached just as requested by CRL. At the moment I´m dealing with the biceps armor attachment. Will show pics when ready. Great news also: the missing cod piece is finally on the way from Russia and should show up next week (I hope so!?)

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Shoulder bell/ biceps setup ready! Added some adhesive foam to prevent rubbing. I'm still becoming a real pro at making snaps. I think I have already made two dozen of them up to now?

So what´s left: when the cod piece arrives and its attached to the abdomen armor, I can adjust height of the thighs and glue the harness-buckles on. Finally I´ll have to do the belt where I´ll basically use the version of "The Legion 42 Death Trooper Build Reference Guide".

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Short testfit today with installed shoulder bell/ biceps setup. Works fine, very movable at all! Noticed too late that my arms are half cut on the first pic? Anyway, this costume is definetely a winter outfit. We have 25°C today and I´m sweatin´as hell in it, although I have only one third of the armor put on?

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Finally, the missing cod piece arrived, thank God! Waiting time for this: three and a half months! Honestly, Armory Props didn't cover itself with glory in this particular case! Well, bygones!

Finish line is in sight! Will be on vacation the next seven days and will then start height adjustment on the thighs and finally the belt! Hopefully everything will fit together in the end!

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Started today with the belt. Basically I use a double layer layout with glued webbing to the rubber belt and in the end reinforced with Chicago screws which will also hold the pouches in place. My seamstress sewed velcro to the webbing where the belt will attach to the armor pieces. I use the "The Legion 42 Death Trooper Build Reference Guide" as help and orientation as I find this belt layout great. I have to glue the webbing in single sections as I do not have enough holding clamps and to align it all in a better way.

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Finished the height adjustment of the thighs in addition with the cod piece. Not much space in between for the balls?Also finished the glueing of the webbing to the belt. I love E6000 because it always stays flexible with simultaneous good curing!

Question: Must the belt be in a certain position at the butt plate? I mean, does it have to align with the upper edge or is it ok when the belt runs across the middle of it? As the thighs are pretty heavy and pull the harness down in the front, I have problems of getting the butt plate lower on the back because its also attached to the harness.

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan

You have a few CRL requirements for positioning of the belt that are " must haves"

1. Lower back: Fitted centered and under the back plate and extends to below the top of the belt.

2. Abdomen: Shall be centered under the chest plate and the lower edge covered by the belt. (implying that the top edge of the belt covers the lower Abdomen edge)

3. Cod piece: Extends under the belt at the top. (Implying the the top of the cod piece is covered by the bottom belt edge)

4. Posterior Armor: Has a raised rectangular section in the center which extends up under the belt. (Implying that the top edge of the PA is under and covered by the bottom edge of the belt)

So as long as your belt positioning meets those requirements it won't matter how far down your PA it goes as long as some portion of the raised rectangular section on the PA is visible.

Hope that made sense.

 

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Lt. Dan

Also if you have an issue with your thighs pulling down the harness in the front, position the hip belt portion ok Tony's harness above your hip bones and tighten it up some. I had to do the same with his harness and my armor.

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

7 hours ago, Chaos said:

So as long as your belt positioning meets those requirements it won't matter how far down your PA it goes as long as some portion of the raised rectangular section on the PA is visible.

@Chaos My PA doesn´t go too far down, it goes too far up? So, the lower armor doesn´t extend under the belt anymore. I didn´t read the CRL the way how you pointed each belt criteria out, thanks for that. Now it make sense to me! After a second test fit I figured out some issues that I have to fix. I must relocate two snaps and cut a bit of the lower abdomen edges on each side, so the butt plate can "slide" under it. That should bring the butt plate and lower armor down and the belt will align with the upper edge of the butt plate.

[TheFireAwakens1807]

I just wanna say @Lt. Dan that I am loving the progress. I can't wait to see it completed.

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

@TheFireAwakens1807Thanks Bro! When nothing comes in between, my goal is a first complete suit up this weekend! So exiting?

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Belt completed! Worked out exactly as in the "Legion 42" tutorial. Very easy and understandable, can´t figure out what to make better. Credits to the makers (don´t know if they are here in the forum!?). Also fixed the belt alignment on the abdomen/ butt plate by cutting the edges. Now there´s more space for the harness to move and the abdomen/ butt plate sit better to each other. Still have to fix some small issues, but the first complete suit up is within sight!