Polarmuffins DeathTrooper build WIP

[PolarMuffin83]

Hey all, I'm brand new to the whole armor scene and decided a couple of months ago I wanted to do a Death Trooper after a modeler released a set of files, So far its been a hell of a process but I'm getting closer everyday. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! These photos were taken right after applying some filler to the parts. The legs are still printing and the arms didn't get filler today but will tomorrow. 

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Hey @PolarMuffin83! What files did you use? I'm working on my own build at the moment, had to upscale MCM Design's files (Previously known as Tom's files) on the helmet since I have a big head.

[PolarMuffin83]

3 minutes ago, PiotrRasputin said:

Hey @PolarMuffin83! What files did you use? I'm working on my own build at the moment, had to upscale MCM Design's files (Previously known as MCM Design's files (Previously known as Tom's files)) on the helmet since I have a big head.

These are Galactic Armory's files from his October patreon release, you can get the files from his regular website now for around $30 usd, I had to scale them a lot to get a good fit so definitely be prepared for that. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Hi Phillip. Welcome to Spec Ops. Great costume choice (nope I am not partial LOL)

looking forward to following your build progress make sure to feel free to ask questions. Lots of very knowledgeable people here. 

[PolarMuffin83]

alrighty so, I think I may be in a bit of a pinch and need to get a bit of communal input. Here is the thigh armor files I have in meshmixer(just a cad software nothing too special what I've used to size everything. The sides are missing that plastic-y gasket looking edge parts. Is this supposed to be a softer part or is it supposed to be the same as the armor? Looking at the CRL it looks like its supposed to be hard but if someone could let me know so I can plan a fix that would be great. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

48 minutes ago, PolarMuffin83 said:

Looking at the CRL it looks like its supposed to be hard but if someone could let me know so I can plan a fix that would be great. 

I believe they were actually ribbed rubber in the actual costumes.  
The CRL states:

• 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.

Mine were moulded into the fibreglass, so I finished them to look like rubber.  For yours, You would likely put ribbed rubber in the gaps. 

[PolarMuffin83]

1 minute ago, DoggyDoc said:

I believe they were actually ribbed rubber in the actual costumes.  
The CRL states:

• 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.

Mine were moulded into the fibreglass, so I finished them to look like rubber.  For yours, You would likely put ribbed rubber in the gaps. 

Awesome, thank you so much! It looks like there are a few areas on my left shin guard that I'll have to fix up too looking at the line patterns which are supposed to be there and the file doesn't have them. but I'll do my best to fix everything up. My hopes of getting this approved aren't the highest since its a relatively harder costume choice and my first build but I'm still gonna do my best even if it winds up needing a hell of a fix afterwards. 

 

[PolarMuffin83]

Today was a good day, found a detail sander half off and bought some more chipping brushes to bondo everything. Gonna follow some of the tutorials in the forums for rigging. For the undersuit I'm probably gonna reach out to Jim Tripon since it seems to be the hardest part to find and his price seems good!

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

It’s nice finding deals that let you add to your costume workshop. I found a belt sander on sale early on and it is one of my favourite tools. 
Jim is a great choice for the undersuit. 

[PolarMuffin83]

  

Started Sanding today and printed out a SE-14r to go with the build. For sure is a process when it comes to sanding but I am hopefully going to get everything sanded and start to make the rigging work out so I can fit it. Going to also order the undersuit from Jim Tripon this week and after that if I have the money gonna look to get either the boots or gloves ordered. 
For the boots I'm thinking crowprops since I am a size 13 and Keeptrooping's only go up to 12.5, I think its just better safe than sorry despite the price point. 
as of right now I am looking for the Shoulder straps and side straps + Buckles for a good price, I think 850 has them so maybe after the undersuit I'll do the straps and gloves and order the boots last. My goal as of right now is to have this finished by May. 

[Mal86]

58 minutes ago, PolarMuffin83 said:

as of right now I am looking for the Shoulder straps and side straps + Buckles for a good price, I think 850 has them so maybe after the undersuit I'll do the straps and gloves and order the boots last. My goal as of right now is to have this finished by May. 

If you can print TPU, you might be able to find the shoulder straps and side straps to print.  You might also be able to find the buckles to print.

[PolarMuffin83]

2 hours ago, Mal86 said:

If you can print TPU, you might be able to find the shoulder straps and side straps to print.  You might also be able to find the buckles to print.

Ill look for the buckles since I can print those in resin if I can find the files for them, sadly I don't have the means to print in TPU, hoping this will change for the coming classes at my university but since this is my last semester I'm not gonna push too hard to experiment on the printers. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I can get you the strap and buckle files I used,  just pm me and I will send them. Maybe you can get someone that has a filament printer to print the straps in TPU for you. 
 

Woth respect to the boots, I also have a size 13 foot and have bought 4 pairs of boots from them and have been happy every time. 

[PolarMuffin83]

Today has not gone so well, was working on sanding parts and hit a huge problem of when I bondo'd the armor the mixture was wrong with too little activator, as of right now, this will mean having to give up on this project since I don't think I will be allowed to reprint the parts; I'm waiting on a few responses in the 3d printing group I'm in to see if these are salvageable. It looks like it was the second day I was applying bondo that It didn't work out so some parts are fine others aren't. Real stressed out by this but hoping to make the best of it. If need be as well I may reach out to a few guys who do custom prints and pay for these parts to be redone, preferably I won't have to do this. 
tldr; probably a major set back because of inexperience and learning. 

[PolarMuffin83]

2 hours ago, PolarMuffin83 said:

Today has not gone so well, was working on sanding parts and hit a huge problem of when I bondo'd the armor the mixture was wrong with too little activator, as of right now, this will mean having to give up on this project since I don't think I will be allowed to reprint the parts; I'm waiting on a few responses in the 3d printing group I'm in to see if these are salvageable. It looks like it was the second day I was applying bondo that It didn't work out so some parts are fine others aren't. Real stressed out by this but hoping to make the best of it. If need be as well I may reach out to a few guys who do custom prints and pay for these parts to be redone, preferably I won't have to do this. 
tldr; probably a major set back because of inexperience and learning. 

 

welp tried the cardboard box and heat thing, and well messed up the parts that were in it. This sets me back by a huge amount and I don't know what I'm going to do. lost both biceps, both shoulder bells, both calf covers, the right calf, both handplates, and the kidney plate + thermal det. lesson learned I guess. Going to order my undersuit tonight hopefully and then when I get back to Uni I'll order some PLA for the lab plus an extra few rolls for myself. Dreadfully annoyed and hoping I don't wind up with anymore issues. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

So sorry you had such a bad setback. 
can you not sand the Bondo down ?

I tend to use the Bondo glazing and spot putty that comes in the tube. No mixing needed and sands easily. 
 

[PolarMuffin83]

Just now, DoggyDoc said:

So sorry you had such a bad setback. 
can you not sand the Bondo down ?

I tend to use the Bondo glazing and spot putty that comes in the tube. No mixing needed and sands easily. 
 

I tried sanding it when it was the weird tacky texture and it just gunked up really bad and didnt wanna come off. Ill take a look at what is there tomorrow when I have fresh eyes and am in a better mood, right now I am more worried about the warping which happened to the parts. I have been using the spot putty as well to cover the connection lines where parts are glued together, defintely prefer it but for layer lines everything I could find was to use the 2 part mix. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Hope it is a bit better for you tomorrow 

[PolarMuffin83]

So today I took another look at everything I had messed up yesterday, I am planning on reprinting the calf, calf tops, shoulder bells and bicep protectors. 
I was able to salvage the kidney plate and the thermal det plus the hand plates. So while its still a setback I can work it out. Stressful overall, but a good point in learning that I have to be more careful in mixing bondo. I did in fact put in my order for the undersuit from Jim Tripon last night, with the corset separate; I think he raised his prices a little bit but I can't really blame him for that. It does leave me in a good spot to order shoes and gloves over the course of the next month while I continue to sand and bring the parts I have to smooth. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Glad you were able to save some of the pieces. 

[PolarMuffin83]

22 minutes ago, DoggyDoc said:

Glad you were able to save some of the pieces. 

thank you  I got the bands to go around the right gauntlet and the material for the belt today, Im going to use the same material as the belt to do the thighs, I think this will work. 

[Mal86]

10 hours ago, PolarMuffin83 said:

I did in fact put in my order for the undersuit from Jim Tripon last night, with the corset separate; I think he raised his prices a little bit but I can't really blame him for that. 

Make sure you are clear on this.  I paid extra to have my corset separate.  I sent Jim a bunch of pictures from Chaos' build.  However, it was not sewn exactly how I wanted.  It will work out fine, but they attached the parts that go over my shoulders to the corset, which has the pro of holding it up.   If you want a picture, let me know and I'll take one and post it.

 

On the 3D printed stuff, I'm sorry you are dealing with that.  If I'm reading it correctly, you will have a way to re-print, correct?  If not, maybe see if there are any 501st members near you who can help out. 

[PolarMuffin83]

7 minutes ago, Mal86 said:

Make sure you are clear on this.  I paid extra to have my corset separate.  I sent Jim a bunch of pictures from Chaos' build.  However, it was not sewn exactly how I wanted.  It will work out fine, but they attached the parts that go over my shoulders to the corset, which has the pro of holding it up.   If you want a picture, let me know and I'll take one and post it.

 

On the 3D printed stuff, I'm sorry you are dealing with that.  If I'm reading it correctly, you will have a way to re-print, correct?  If not, maybe see if there are any 501st members near you who can help out. 

Yea I would love some photos to send Jim for a reference! 
I do have to reprint some stuff, its overall just a headache, but I have to comp my lab some PLA anyway for letting me do this so I am gonna get it printed once I get back to school Sunday 

The rest of sanding has been going well, If you guys have any recommendations of cheap sand paper for detail sanders would be awesome, right now its about $6/5 pads. 

[PolarMuffin83]

So for close ups of everything I still have right now in its rough state, only having gone under 1 round of sanding and cleaning here is what I have so far: https://imgur.com/a/mgxdQQ0 
Any fixes tweaks etc.. to reach tier 2 is greatly appreciated, ik the shins both the one I have and the one I don't are missing a line on them which I am going to dremel in. Also on the ab plate it looks like some of the bondo filled in small holes so i will dremel those back out as well. The last two photos show what I'll be using to cover the thigh gaps, it is just the belt material repurposed; my question here is to sit it in the interior of the thigh or on the edges to make it almost flush? 
Reason I ask for feedback rn is because I would rather know what I have to fix while its all still rough rather than later. 
https://galacticarmory.net/collections/armor-3d-files/products/death-trooper-armor-3d-print-files these are the files that I am using if someone wants to look at the parts not shown, shoulder bells, bicep guards, kidney plate, right shin, calf covers. 
The tusks for the helmet are going to be resin printed for better detail and fit, same with the wrist rocket type parts. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Hey Philip. 
 

There are a few things that I can see that may be an issue with both basic and level 2 approval.

With respect to the thermal detonator, for level 2, the CRL states;

• There are two small notches on the outer ⅕ of each side of the canister approximately 3/4" (20mm) from the inner edge of the end caps and spaced approximately 1" to 1.25" (25-30mm) apart on the lower edge of each horizontal grooves. Refer to reference photos for specific details.

These appear to be missing on your print and should be in the area marked with the arrows 

‘With respect to the thighs, the basic approval for the CRL reads;

• Both thighs shall have a diagonal raised detailing to the front running from the outer ribbed panel to the raise cover strip.
  • This detailing continues from the cover strip to the base of the thigh armor as a recessed groove rather than a raised strip.

On your thighs, the groove is actually a raised area as shown with the arrows.  This may block you from basic approval but it will be up to your GML ultimately.