Melnik's Imperial Army Trooper Build

[Melnik]

Hi, people!

With this thread i want to share my Imperial Army Trooper build with you, to share information, recieve and give help and advices as i progress with the build as it was requested by the bois.

At first i want to thank members like @Kessel, @IcyTrooper, @Halycon, @ukswrath and @RAIDER for interest, kind words, help offers and information about the build. This was already very helpful!

The build will more or less be based on the informations shared and given by @Kessel, @Blackwatch and other members of the community, a very big thanks to all of them for their work, you gave me a clear picture about sourcing and assembly of the items and i think i would be completely lost without you!

The idea for the Imperial Army Trooper came early in 2020, i liked it because its like a basic infantryman's kit, with gear traced from real life, especially the helmet was very pleasing to me, im already a collector of real military helmets. As last point, its a kit which not depends on armor elements, which is better fitting to my not quite sporty me.

This thread will be updated over time, lets start.

 

[Melnik]

Equipment components:

Helmet: - Imperial Army Trooper Helmet by D.G.Props

[ FINISHED ]

Goggles: - ESS Profile with green colored lense

[ FINISHED ]

Imperial Army Suit: - Elbeco CDCR utility jumpsuit with Imperial army patches by Endorfinder

[ currently making some changes to it ]

Gloves: - French army leather gloves with 3 stitching lines, painted with Montana Gold - olive green

[ FINISHED ]

Beltsystem: - US Alice LC-2 belt, selfmade harness, Condor brand pouches, painted with Montana Gold - olive green

[ FINISHED ]

Boots: - MilTec Knobelbecher boots, shortened to 23cm hight, painted with Montana Gold - olive green

[ FINISHED ]

[Melnik]

so, today my gloves and the Denver boots arrived, the gloves fit is perfect, but the Denver boots that's something special, they are size 46EU/12UK normally i have 44,5-45EU/11UK but they dont fit around my legs, so i cant close the zipper, i remember having those problems with zipper boots as a child my calves were always a bit thick so idk how i solve that problem. ?

Does some of you know a alternative for the boots which allow a bit wider legs?

 

[OnkelPaschulke[501st]]

I will follow this thread with interest! Good luck on your journey and if I have some questions where to get some good soviet army stuff for my future Mud Trooper project I know the right man (according your introduction ?)

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Glad to see you get the WIP thread going! @Blackwatch you have any solution on the boots, I know you had a lot of experience in picking the proper boots.

[Melnik]

Today i got a tiny bit further with the gloves, i decided to use the "Kessel system" and cut the stitching lines out of a old piece of cloth while i'm still waiting for the Montana Olive Green cans... Very easy solution for the stitching lines, thanks @Kessel!

[Melnik]

Hello ?, Harness is in the making and i'm working on a slick way to mount it hidden behind the belt.   I still dont have my Montana Gold cans... ?

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Making some progress!

[Melnik]

The arrivals of the week. ...Sadly i still dont have the spraycans to finish them ...somehow the german graffiti stores are cursed.

[Melnik]

Today the paint arrived and i was able to complete two pieces of the Army Trooper kit. ?

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Nice!  Make sure to remove any danglers, cords, etc from all pouches and you should be good to go.

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

great progress!

 

Dont worry aobut the montana gold, thats a US brand and you will need to look for  'graffitti / urban art paint" in your art stores, or even model paint like Revell from hobby shops.  You may try some silk flower paint, like we use to build Endor Commandos.  it MIGHT work, its hard to say.  Try to get an acrylic paint if you can.

Neat way to hold your belt up!

On the boots Im in the Commuter II, and it has a large opening at the top. I have big legs, about 22" at the calf. I looked at the Denver Midland boots that Kessel posted, and they seem a bit smaller at the top than mine. 

The only way I now to make a boot bigger, is to make it bigger by adding a panel where the zipper goes. You would take half of the zipper off, get some heavy vinyl, mount the zipper to that, and then add the panel to the other side of the boot.   Talk to your GML before you do that- but zippers are allowed for us guys that cannot wear pull on boots.  My black motorcyle boots have a triangular wedge in there to open up the top of the shaft about two and a half inches.  I have big legs, its a common issue for us, but its the workaround we commonly use. 

 

oh and the serger strips added to the gloves- I showed that to Kessel.  I cheated! When you paint the gloves, everything is the same color. 

[Melnik]

Some new piece is finished, its a cheap clone of the ESS Profile goggle, what do you think?

I added dark green Oracal 8300 window foil to the backside of the lense.

My hope was that the delivered strap would be green enough, but it came with a grey one so i used the montana olive green can again.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

The goggles look good to me!

[Melnik]

And i can go over to the next piece, i finally got fitting boots, but they need some love to comply with the specialist requirements, your opinion is very welcome!

I got some MilTec Knobelbecher, they are wide enough for my legs and i shortened the shaft by 13cm to get down to 23cm, to let them look more finished or lets say to let them look less cut down with a scissor ?✂️ i got some furniture repair adhesive leather material and put a stripe over the edge, now they look quite close to the Denver boots and they are now waiting for the spray can.

Update -> The boots are now painted, 

If you have any advise what i should further improve on them, please let me now!   (i will weather them later together with the other stuff)

 -> 

Edited February 7, 2021 by Melnik
Update -> i now painted the Boots, added picture.

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

they look good to me, i mean side by side they look like my Commuter boots. 

 

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

On 2/5/2021 at 10:41 AM, Melnik said:

Some new piece is finished, its a cheap clone of the ESS Profile goggle, what do you think?

I added dark green Oracal 8300 window foil to the backside of the lense.

My hope was that the delivered strap would be green enough, but it came with a grey one so i used the montana olive green can again.

that spray paint is great, for the people that can get it.  I painted all my gear with it, and it makes everything match. 

[Melnik]

3 minutes ago, Blackwatch said:

that spray paint is great, for the people that can get it.  I painted all my gear with it, and it makes everything match. 

Yes i also think its covering surfaces fast and its also fast drying, i was able to touch the boots just after 2 minutes.

Surprisingly im still at the first can.

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

Ive worn my boots a lot.  I also weathered mine with paint and mud, so far it is holding up pretty well. 

[Melnik]

Hello ?, i recently got a holster with the "wrong" mounting system (ANH type), but tried to mount it, what do you think of the idea... should i go for it, maybe shorten the straps and paint it black? Or should i order a new one with the Black loops?

Edit: i modified it as @Blackwatch instructed.

   ->  

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

paint them black. Mine have the loops, but the holster straps should be black (or green with a green holster) to match the CRL.  You can riase the strap to the next hole up if it does not interfere. 

[Melnik]

1 hour ago, Blackwatch said:

paint them black. Mine have the loops, but the holster straps should be black (or green with a green holster) to match the CRL.  You can riase the strap to the next hole up if it does not interfere. 

Thanks, as always!

[Melnik]

Hey, may i ask for your wisdom again? @Blackwatch?

I just took another look at the CRL again and stopped at the web harness, i found a difference in my own setup, the CRL says triglides on the front, but i have them at the front and back... would this also be OK or should i remove the back ones and only leave the front triglides and permanently fasten the backstraps?

[Hoda[CMD-DCA]]

5 hours ago, Melnik said:

Hey, may i ask for your wisdom again? @Blackwatch?

I just took another look at the CRL again and stopped at the web harness, i found a difference in my own setup, the CRL says triglides on the front, but i have them at the front and back... would this also be OK or should i remove the back ones and only leave the front triglides and permanently fasten the backstraps?

If you are going for level one clearance, you can have both the front and back triglides. See this text - 

Tri-glides may be present on front or back of the suspenders.

If you are going for Specialist with this, I would imagine you can either 1) connect the back permanently, or 2) hide the triglides so low that you can't see them in the photos, but I will let @Blackwatchjump in and offer his feedback on that

[Melnik]

32 minutes ago, Hoda said:

If you are going for level one clearance, you can have both the front and back triglides. See this text - 

Tri-glides may be present on front or back of the suspenders.

If you are going for Specialist with this, I would imagine you can either 1) connect the back permanently, or 2) hide the triglides so low that you can't see them in the photos, but I will let @Blackwatchjump in and offer his feedback on that

Thanks for your reply ?, i will think about the backstraps.