HRivera7322 Death Trooper WIP

[HRivera7322]

Hey everyone! So I already made a post in the New Recruit forum thread, but as I mentioned there, I'm working on a Death Trooper costume that I hope to use to join the 501st! I know I've got a LOOOONG wait ahead of me (looking at you ASP ?) but I'm super excited to work on this project and see it through to the end!

I've looked through several REALLY helpful WIP posts in this forum, namely @MKE-Trooper and @TookBreaker. Thank you Tarkin, specifically, as you and I have been in contact a bit on the side. I've also spent some time in the Facebook build groups looking for advice, reference photos, and deals. Anyway, thought I'd share my WIP with you all, so here it goes:

 

Armor + Helmet + Belt

Armory Shop Props MK.3 Finished Kit (Second hand purchase on Facebook Death Trooper Build Group)

Ordered: April 17, 2022

Shipped: April 19, 2022

Received: May 4, 2022

$630

 

Undersuit

Jim Tripon Death Trooper Undersuit

Contact: jimmiroquai@yahoo.com

Ordered: February 27, 2022

Shipped: March 19, 2022

Received: March 24, 2022

$320

 

Boots

Doc Martens Jered (Found on POSHMARK.com)

Ordered: February 27, 2022

Shipped: February 28, 2022

Received: March 4, 2022

$70

 

Gloves

Endor Finders Rogue One Trooper Gloves

Ordered: February 26, 2022

Shipped: March 1, 2022

Received: March 7, 2022

$60

 

Blasters

Tom Campbell's 3D Print Files

Contact: www.facebook.com/TDK-Props-537706609725029/

3D print files for E-11D, DLT-19D, and SE-14R blasters

Purchased: March 3, 2022

$75

 

MP40 Ammo Pouch

Second hand purchase on Facebook Death Trooper Build Group

Ordered: August 4, 2022

Shipped: August 5, 2022

Received: August 8, 2022

$80

 

Specialist Pauldron

IllustrationandCraft on Etsy 

Contact: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IllustrationandCraft?ref=shop_sugg_market

Ordered: June 8, 2022

Received: July 18, 2022

$170

 

Specialist Chest Rig

Jim Tripon Death Trooper Specialist Vest

Contact: jimmiroquai@yahoo.com

Ordered: June 10, 2023

Shipped: 

Received: 

Edited June 11, 2023 by HRivera7322
Parts Update

[Dropkick[CMD-XO]]

Best of luck with your build.

Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

[HRivera7322]

So, unfortunately the situation in Russia/Ukraine has taken a turn for the worse and I've received an email from Denis' team telling me to request a refund for the Death Trooper armor kit, followed by an update from their shop that they cancelled my order. Very disappointing to see what this crisis has done to ASP and I truly hope they're able to keep their heads above water

 

Aside from that, working on building the blasters is taking a bit longer than I expected, but I should have WIP photos coming soon

[TookBreaker[TX]]

14 minutes ago, HRivera7322 said:

So, unfortunately the situation in Russia/Ukraine has taken a turn for the worse and I've received an email from Denis' team telling me to request a refund for the Death Trooper armor kit, followed by an update from their shop that they cancelled my order. Very disappointing to see what this crisis has done to ASP and I truly hope they're able to keep their heads above water

 

Aside from that, working on building the blasters is taking a bit longer than I expected, but I should have WIP photos coming soon

Thank you for the update. I did not receive anything yet. When was your order placed?

[HRivera7322]

I had placed my order on February 24, reached out to them March 8 via email and heard back today

[HRivera7322]

Updating after a few months:

 

Following the cancellation of my ASP order back in April, I was able to find a second-hand ASP kit from a guy in Washington. The guy was very friendly and very transparent throughout the whole transaction so I managed to find the finished armor + helmet + belt for just about $700.

• I did a test fit and found that the thigh pieces were just a little too tight for me so I'm gonna use some nylon webbing and velcro to finagle it into working for me.
• Sadly, during a test fit, I ended up cracking the backplate shoulder area. I don't have the tools/knowhow to fix it, so I ended up buying a replacement backplate from Jim Tripon, which I plan to get painted later this week.
• Helmet is in great condition but needs padding and fans in order to make it comfortable for me to wear during troops. Thankfully, in the last few months since I've updated this thread, I've had plenty of opportunities to see helmet interiors and tons of brand recommendations through my friends at the Connecticut Garrison, so this shouldn't take long.

 

Once I get the backplate redone and the thigh pieces adjusted, I should be able to adjusting the rigging system to make sure the suit lines up how I want it to. I can then add some EVA foam to the armor interior as well as velcro in some spots to make sure the armor isn't just hanging off of me awkwardly. Still plenty of work to do but I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel!

[TookBreaker[TX]]

Nice! Can't wait to see the pictures and great you found someone. Do you have more of these sources? ? I cancelled my ASP as well.

[HRivera7322]

42 minutes ago, TookBreaker said:

Nice! Can't wait to see the pictures and great you found someone. Do you have more of these sources? ? I cancelled my ASP as well.

I've mostly been looking at the Death Trooper build page on Facebook. There have been a few kits on sale there in the last few months. I just happened to find one in my size. There's also Bogdan who's selling belt rubber material on the same page, I reached out to him to buy one way back just before Russia invaded, but I already have a belt now so I don't need to. You can get a fibreglass resin armor kit from Jim Tripon, but it won't be painted. I think he's not doing painting services at the moment, but I could be wrong.

[TookBreaker[TX]]

That is correct. I am not a big fan of the fiberglass as it is more difficult to work (I think). There are 850 Works and KB Props too, but KB Props has only one in white. Did not check 850 Works.

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

I have Jim's kit, I built it back in July 2021 and have about 21 two hours or longer troopings in it. I have modified how it is strapped several times. My latest will be my final as I don't think I can perfect it too much more. Through out it all Jim's kit has held up great, I had two small stress cracks on the front chest upper shoulder extensions, but a little bit of resin and fiber glass to strengthen the back side and I haven't had any more cracks. Having an ABS Shadow trooper, I can honestly say Jim's kit will hold up way better than any ABS, plus the details are way crisper overall. Don't be afraid of working with fiberglass. Any fiberglass auto body repair kit will work and it's super easy. You'll be pleased. Good luck and I can't wait to see your progress. We are always here for any questions you might have.

[HRivera7322]

ALRIGHT! Hey everyone, long time no see! Shooting a quick little update for this thread now that I've finally resumed work on my Death Trooper since dropping it for the winter (too cold to paint). I also got a new job/moved to a different state so working on my kit was pretty much impossible since I left it with my mother. 

 

Anyway! I'll write a more official update note over the weekend to show where everything is at right now and what needs to get finished (not much). @Chaos I'm working with an ArmoryShopProps thigh kit that is WAY too small for me. I'm thinking about cutting out the ribbed parts and replacing it with a sturdier material. I know PAD has screen accurate sheets for this but they're $170. Got any advice for alternatives?

 

 

[HRivera7322]

Update 3.25.23:

 

So a member of my garrison finished his Director Krennec suit so that's pushed me to hurry up and finish my DT, hopefully by July. There's not a lot of work left on my Death Trooper as I purchased a finished suit that fits me relatively well, surprisingly. The backplate did however break (think i mentioned that before) so I bought a replacement kit from @jimmiroquai. Currently hallowing out the shoulder slots so that I can use them for securing the shoulder straps, then I'll work on getting it painted and lined with felt on the inside.

At the moment, I'm really struggling with the thigh pieces. They're 3D printed by ASP, however, the ribbed part of the thigh is shaped at a very narrow angle and is very thin. It's breaking and I don't want to risk re-shaping it and ruining the paint job on the other pieces.

So! I'm thinking about purchasing ribbed material for this, cutting out the old and attaching new material to give myself more room as the thighs do not close all the way. I'm considering PAD's screen accurate sheets, however, I'm also looking for cheaper alternatives. Any advice would be helpful!

 

For my chest piece, I want to secure the strapping buckles to the front of the chestplate, while using the shoulder slots to slide the rubber straps through and secure via magnets. I've seen people mentioning bolting the buckle to the chest plate, but I've never seen photos of how people did this. Does anyone have any good references?

 

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

On 3/23/2023 at 6:48 PM, HRivera7322 said:

@Chaos I'm working with an ArmoryShopProps thigh kit that is WAY too small for me. I'm thinking about cutting out the ribbed parts and replacing it with a sturdier material. I know PAD has screen accurate sheets for this but they're $170. Got any advice for alternatives?

 

 

Do you have access to a 3D printer? If so you can print a file I have in a flexible filament like TPU or a name brand called PolyFlex.

Your other option is to file any rubber matting that has ridges that are 3-4mm in width and evenly spaced. The original material's ribs are rounded, however, the CRL does not specifically say that. (We did that on purpose so people could use any similar looking matting. When you size your thighs you will have to make sure you follow the CRL particularly where the inside and outside width ratios are concerned.

The ribbed infill shall be made of black rubber, or a semi-gloss black material, or if part of the thigh pieces, have the appearance of being rubber or rubber-like material.

The inside thigh ribbed section is wider than the outside ribbed section.

Something like this is probably about the closest you will find at a reasonable price

https://www.amazon.com/Herco-All-Purpose-Corrugated-Rubber/dp/B01EK5AMBW

I would show this to your GML and ask him if this would meet his/her approval. It meets the CRL requirements and looks close enough in my option. I have not seen this in person but from the pictures it looks right.

You don't want to use the same matting as the belt material. 

[HRivera7322]

1 hour ago, Chaos said:

Something like this is probably about the closest you will find at a reasonable price

https://www.amazon.com/Herco-All-Purpose-Corrugated-Rubber/dp/B01EK5AMBW

I would show this to your GML and ask him if this would meet his/her approval. It meets the CRL requirements and looks close enough in my option. I have not seen this in person but from the pictures it looks right.

You don't want to use the same matting as the belt material. 

I do have a 3D printer, but not easy access to it. I have a CR-10 Max, but it's disassembled at the moment and in a different apartment in another state haha. I've come across this Amazon link before, however, I wasn't sure if it differed enough from the belt material though. They kinda look similar from picutres I've seen. I can pass it along and see what they think, but I'm sure my GML would approve it.

[HRivera7322]

Long time, no see (again lol). Quick update on my armor kit: 

 

So I ended up going with the plan I had set out for my thigh pieces. Because the original 3D printed ribbed portions of my ASP thighs were too tight to fit but too brittle to resize, I decided to take a cutter to them and completely remove this portion: https://imgur.com/gallery/WM1acnh.

This, unfortunately, exposes the blue filament of the 3D print, but should be an easy fix to hide that. I took @Chaos advice and found an alternative rubber matting at Home Depot that closely resembles the ribbed pattern shown on the CRL: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubber-Cal-Corrugated-Fine-Rib-3-ft-x-8-ft-Black-Rubber-Flooring-24-sq-ft-03-167-W-FR-08/302640302. Just waiting for this to arrive and I can work on cutting out enough material to give me the leg room I need and to properly hook it up.

 

In addition to this, I was finally able to find my dremel to finish milling out the rest of the shoulder cutouts on the new backplate I ordered from Jim Tripon. Thanks @Lt. Dan for the suggestion! This week, I'll work on attaching snap points, velcro, and felt to the backplate before getting it painted. 

[HRivera7322]

Focused on updating my calf pieces today:

The calf armor pieces that I purchased off of the Facebook Death Trooper build group are a set of finished Jim Tripon fiberglass calves. Sturdy and beautifully painted, however, the exposed fiberglass makes wearing them very very itchy haha. Following @Chaos advice, I lined the inside of these armor pieces with black felt from thefeltstore.com secured with 3M 77 Spray Adhesive: https://imgur.com/gallery/MOuQAIh.

 

I'll use the same method to line the backplate once I finish setting up snap points/rigging on the backplate. Was gonna do that today but I couldn't find my soldering iron 😅

[TookBreaker[TX]]

2 hours ago, HRivera7322 said:

Focused on updating my calf pieces today:

The calf armor pieces that I purchased off of the Facebook Death Trooper build group are a set of finished Jim Tripon fiberglass calves. Sturdy and beautifully painted, however, the exposed fiberglass makes wearing them very very itchy haha. Following @Chaos advice, I lined the inside of these armor pieces with black felt from thefeltstore.com secured with 3M 77 Spray Adhesive: https://imgur.com/gallery/MOuQAIh.

 

I'll use the same method to line the backplate once I finish setting up snap points/rigging on the backplate. Was gonna do that today but I couldn't find my soldering iron 😅

I was debating on this back and forth. I did apply PlastiDip on all parts to cover it as much as I can and it created a good protection against the itchiness. 

I tried the felt as well for the chest/back armor piece that overlay on the abdominal/back plate to avoid scratches but also noise while being in motion. My concern was that in the Florida heat, this may be less than ideal but also very cumbersome to apply with glue, cutting, etc.

I decided to use FlexSeal , a rubbery paint you can brush, roll, or even get a spray of it. It created a nice rubbery layer, which works well. You could cover in thin layers if PlastiDip does not work.

Some photos from before and after:

Felt:

 

Flexi Sealed to protect the underlying body parts:

 

[HRivera7322]

Yea, I was thinking the same thing too. I remember @Chaos mentioning, however, that PlastiDip without a promoter will scuff up in certain areas. It gets hot up here in New England, but I think I'll survive being cooked in felt. Plus, it'll be a more permanent solution. Hopefully, I line my suit with felt today, and I don't have to think about it for years 

[HRivera7322]

Finished re-sizing my belt: https://imgur.com/gallery/MwVyKMG

 

I wanted to revisit my belt because I lost a lot of weight since I first got it. The belt currently was sagging everywhere, even with the velcro hook points. To fix this, I took the interior canvas belt and brought it in about 3 inches, then made a new hole in the belt with a soldering iron and secured in place with a Chicago screw. Then to make sure the clips of the canvas belt won't slide around while moving, I soldered the belt to itself to maintain the belt length. Finally, I removed about 4 inches of excess rubber belt material. Added velcro to hold the tail end of the belt in place and will cover up the overlap with the 3rd canvas pouch.

[HRivera7322]

Specialist vest and covers arrived in the mail today, along with helmet fans.

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/fKsbYmj

[HRivera7322]

Finished the re-sizing of my thigh armor today. Took a page out of McClary Design's book for this. Tutorial video I followed linked here: 

 

 

The rubber material I purchased from Home Depot is secured onto the thigh armor via chicago screws. I glued the sockets onto the armor, spaced roughtly 1-1.5 in apart and later secured with JB weld. First time using this product and the popsicles sticks I used to apply the epoxy were sorta wonky, so application is a little messy, but it got the job done. I later marked where to make holes with a gold sharpie pen. Using a cutout tool and a hammer, I made the holes in the material and secured it by screwing it in place. Adjustments and trimming were made as I went along.

 

Thigh armor pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/v21LEZw

So far the thighs aren't perfect, but they suit my purposes for now. After owning this kit for two years and just never getting around to finishing it, the thigh amor (which has been the bane of my existence, finally fit me. That being said, the material bends in weird/awkward ways so I'll need to keep experimenting and see what works best. Perhaps I'll unsecure the final screw since it's pointed inwards and could be what's causing the weird bending.

 

In addition to this, I also had a friend of mine in the Conencticut Garrison print me new chest buckles in resin. Not a fan of the rubber ones that came with my kit. I secured the D ring onto the buckle via CA glue and will go on to paint early tomorrow to avoid the hot sun haha.

 

Pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/S69ZPSi

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Looking good. Nice job on the resizing. It was a real hanging point for me too 

[Woodo007[501st]]

Well done for finding a solution. I spent ages getting my 1st set of thighs from AS finsihed, only to find they were huge. I printed them myself from Toms files at 95% in the end. One thing I did, and it really helps my walking without the thighs smashing against each other, is I slide a foam knee pad down the outside of each thigh piece. I t just helps to keep them from rubbing constantly

[HRivera7322]

Ok! Lots of progress was done on the kit this past week so lets get started!

 

1. Finished the paint job on the resin printed chest buckles. Went with Satin Black for the buckles and Gloss Black topped with Alclad chrome for the D-rings. Attached the rubber shoulder straps to the buckle via JB Weld and secured onto both the chest/back plate with velcro: https://imgur.com/gallery/sf3NlPi

 

2. With the buckles finished, I finally moved on towards wearing the full kit for the first time: https://imgur.com/gallery/edCSaEA

Almost immediately, I noted several issues:

• Butt plate is too large and needs to be trimmed to avoid colliding with thighs and kidney plate.
• Abdomen armor hung way too low and needed to be brought up a little higher.
• Right calf armor does not close all the way.

To correct several issues I had with the way the backplate and abdomen armor were sitting on my body, I decided to bring the armor up with a few cutouts of EVA foam, however, this resulted in the armor being brought up so high that I could not rotate my head since the rubber gasket was colliding with the neck cover. As such, I undid those changes.

Instead, I opted to shorten the strapping between the chest and abdomen. I didn't want to do this to avoid covering most of the abdomen armor's details, but it is what it is. Other slight alterations were made and I was able to make my deadline of Thursday night.

 

3. With all of the alterations I could think of addressed by Thursday night last week, I was prepared to debut my Death Trooper at Terrificon 2023 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in CT. I rushed to finish most of the major alterations that needed to be done to get the kit to a wearable state and am happy to say that the kit looks rather decent despite still needing a ton of fixes to improve the overall look, mobility and comfortability of the kit: https://imgur.com/gallery/in0Yz0M

 

Several changes/observations were made over the weekend.

• Helmet did not sit flush with my face, so i had to bend A LOT to be able to see people. I tried my best to lower the chest and back plates in order to have my eyes level with the lenses and, thankfully, I did have a much better experience when I trooped on Sunday.
• Helmet is EXTREMELY heavy compared to the other DT in my garrison. Will try looking at alternatives (or maybe I'll say screw it and just get used to the weight).
• Mobility is VERY limited. Mostly due to this being my first time in kit, but I will look at altering the thighs to increase my mobility.
• Grenade slots are loose, resulting in my grenades falling out.
• Canvas vest is hanging too low, pushing my belt canvas pouches down.

 

They aren't the best pictures, but I would appreciate some feedback on any other issues people can spot.

 

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Hector,

That is awesome you were able to get your kit together and able to wear it. It always helps when you can finally put it all on and find the areas that need adjustments. Your build has progressed nicely. When I get a chance in the next couple of days I will take a look at your photos and provide you with some feedback before you are ready to submit for 501st approval. I think I can help with some of your mobility issues and the overall appearance of your kit. There are some things that are not CRL compliant which I will include in my observations and some things that, although not covered in the CRL specifically, are generally followed for overall appearance by the majority of the DT community.