Dogb's Deathtrooper WIP

[dogbertwrldrulr]

I found a legion member locally who was parting with his TX Death Trooper costume and picked it up off of him.  Went to see it personally as he was local and it turned out things fit pretty well.  He is a little taller than me, but overall the armor fit well enough to buy.  Now I need to customize it to account for some slight fit issues.

I'd like to hear from the community on ups/downs and things that don't look right. I looked over each piece and the CRL and each piece looks like it fits the bill, just need it to fit me right.

On the suit up pictures, my handlers were 6 & 10 so there are things not sitting right. 

Some things I am already aware of and changes I need to make:

1. Helmet is missing visor (I took it out and have it off to the side).  Going to need a new one that is either bubbled or has a better nose cutout as the one I have hurts the bridge of my nose.

2. Chest rig strapping is not tied around my waist, Its currently not long enough.  One of the angled side pieces is also not connected.

3. Ammo pouch not installed

4. Belt wont fit as the snaps to close it are not in the right place for my waistline

5. One of the boxes on the belt isn't sitting right on the rubber belting as the opening is just a little too small. I may just trim the belt a little (or buy a new rubber strip)

6. Shoes got tore up on the top and one of the soles is coming loose.  May just buy new ones.

7. On the left glove, there is a slight tear in the stitching on the index finger.  Hopefully I can sew it closed

8. There are some scuffs on the paint where the armor is rubbing.  I need to lookup how to fix it as this is apparently automotive paint so I don't want to just spray paint over it.

9. Need to redo the strapping on the thighs to the belt, its lets them hang a little low.

10. Need to trim up (or something) the shins.  The tips of the shins dig into my ankles quite a bit.

11. need to loosen up the 

12. Need to swap out the elastic on the biceps as they are a bit tight.

13. Need to tweak the velcro on the gauntlets as they are a little tight, but just a 1/4 or so makes them much more comfortable.

14. Need to hem the pants a bit as there is too much fabric at my ankles right now.

15. Need to swap out the elastic that connects the cod to the posterior as its technically too narrow.

 

 

 

[PiotrRasputin[TX]]

Hey fellow Dan!

First question is who made the armor? It looks like a Jim Tripon fiberglass kit.

I'll try to answer the topics I had to deal with my build:

1. If you aren't going for L2, you should be able to use a dremel and shave down the visor for a better fit.

4. The belt can be remade if you buy the rubber matting and follow the Jolly Roger's belt guide, but many people are now building them where the overlap is in front, covered by one of the two pouches on the side of the buckle. It's for easier suiting up.

6. Are these Doc Marten's or Crowprops shoes?  Maybe you can take it to a shoe repair shop? Also, the ribbed flap covering the laces should go under the shin armor. 

 

Biggest advice is to start small with your updates, with what you are comfortable doing.  See if your local garrison has people that can help out as well. It will give you good practice in maintaining/fixing future armor issues.

[dogbertwrldrulr]

First thing, I appreciate the advice and looking it over!

On the armor, I was told it was a Jim Tripon fiberglass kit.  Looking at the inside its definitely fiberglass, so I am inclined to believe the seller.

1. For the visor, it would be nice to attempt level 2 one day so I may order the bubble lens anyways.  I reached out to OPLE props about sizing on their bubble lenses so I can see if they would fit the helmet.  They are cheap enough where i can grab a bubbled and non and figure out what works.

4. For the belt, I'll have to look into that, I was not sure where to get the materials, so that link helps a lot.  I may trim up my current belt as its a hair too wide (3-1/2 vice 3-1/4), but since there are existing snaps, I may just start over so its 100%.

6. The seller was not 100% sure on the shoes, though they do say Dr. Marten on the bottom.  I am tweaking them now as I don't like the laces.  I am putting in a velcro strap that will be hidden by the ribbed flap.  I know the look of the shoes isn't great, but that was mostly because I had trouble with the kids helping and fit issues on the thigh and shin.  Once I clear up the thigh/shin fit issues, I think the shoes will look much better.

 

Right now my updates are all related to fit so its just some elastic and nylon strapping.  Overall I got lucky in that the costume fits great, its just that the guy I got it from was a little taller than me so things sag a bit, especially around joints, which then makes it hard to move or do anything.  I am working fit issues 1 piece at a time in suitup order so its easier to fix and test as I go.

[dogbertwrldrulr]

One other question...how do you attach the ammo pouch on the shoulder?  There are 2 loops on the back, but they can't go over the chest rig shoulder strap or they would be mostly sideways.  Is there supposed to be some other clip or elastic loop or something that holds them in place?

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

You could try to rig up a strap between the existing ones at 90 degrees to allow the pouch to sit up but as you can see in the photo below, the position can vary  personally I like it better straight up and down  

 

[dogbertwrldrulr]

2 minutes ago, DoggyDoc said:

You could try to rig up a strap between the existing ones at 90 degrees to allow the pouch to sit up but as you can see in the photo below, the position can vary  personally I like it better straight up and down  

 

Yeah, the pouch that I have has angled hoops in the back so it will look more like the trooper in the background.  I didn't even notice that was an option at first as I went off the CRL and the troopers in the foreground for all of the reference pictures.  I ended up figuring out how to mount it to my chest rig strap very late last night as I was reworking the straps on the chest rig.   For now, I think it will work, I can always try and adjust later.  I may have to trim off the little ring hanging off the side, but won't do that unless I get dinged for it on approval.

[dogbertwrldrulr]

@DoggyDoc One other question if you don't mind.  It would be nice to one day try for Level 2 on this costume.  Is there anything that sticks out to you as a glaring problem at this point that I should look at?  I've reviewed the CRL and it looks like the bulk of the armor and stuff would meet it, but I am no expert.  The gaskets are all sewn rubber and all the detail seems to be present on the armor and helmet.  The helmet as the alternating paint scheme and looks to have the right amount of detail nose ridges, vents, etc.

[dogbertwrldrulr]

Some updates for work done last night.

Boots.  I removed the laces as I found them a pain to tie and stay tight. I replaced them with metal rings and double sided velcro. This way I can tighten them as needed to be comfortable and stay on, but not hurt. The velcro is also cut short enough where the boot covers make it not visible.  I kept the laces in case I find out this isn't OK.  I also glued down the sole on the left shoe as it looked like it was coming loose.

Chest Rig.  I had to replace the back strap that I got with it as it wasn't long enough.  I replaced it with nylon and a buckle.  The sizing should put the buckle just behind my back, either on top of or below the thermal detonator.  I can't see the method of strapping on the CRL picture, so I am hoping this is OK.  I can replace it with one big strap if needed, but I was hoping this would work to be a bit more versatile.

Thighs.  I added an extra nylon strap and button behind the elastic strap.  The thighs were sagging on me which in turn made it hard to bend my knee or get the shins to sit right. This strap holds them up much better and I can walk (and somewhat sit) comfortably with the thighs on. The nylon will be hidden behind the main elastic and the pants belt and then covered again by the belt boxes on either side of the buckle.  If this turns out to be not OK, I can just cut the nylon and no harm done.  If I keep having sagging issues, I was thinking of making suspenders to hold up the pants/belt and go over my shoulders and cross on the back.  The armor would completely block that out if I went that route, but its a last resort.

Helmet. Ordered the bubble and curved flat lens from OPLE this morning.  Once that gets in I can get that installed.  Also reworked the padding on the inside so my nose isn't crushed.  With the new padding, the helmet is pretty firm on my head without being wobbly and my eyes sit higher in the opening (yay visibility!).  Once the visor is installed, I may have to move the padding, but at least I have a configuration that works.  I still have to rework the electronics so that the fans, LEDs, and any other electronics I put in there all run off 1 power source instead of 2.

Ammo pouch. I figured out how to install it on the chest rig.  It sits diagonally, but that should be OK and doesn't get in my way.  Considering ordering a new one, but not high on my priority list.

Belt. Ordered the rubber mat material from home depot.  Going to cut myself a new length and change the buttoning to the front as suggested above.  Then transfer all of the old parts over.

Armor. The padding to prevent armor scrapes was kind of small so I replaced all of it with padded felt.  Now the armor slides nicely over itself and I shouldn't have issues with the paint scraping off.  I will still have to touch up the existing paint and that should arrive today.  Fingers crossed the paint pen does its job.  I also made new elastic strapping for the connections between the cod and abdomen and lower back and posterior as they hang too low.  Should install that tonight.

Shoulders/Biceps - I changed out the snaps on shoulder bells to chest armor on both sides as they were slightly damaged.  Should be easier to snap on and the bells should sit a little closer to the chest.  On the biceps, I removed the elastic and added new elastic that is slightly longer to accommodate my biceps.  I also shorted up the connector between the biceps and bells so the biceps sit right and I can bend my arm.