Tips & Tricks More trooper mods

Hi I my 17 today woohoo! And next year I plan to join the 501st, since you have to be 18. I want to get the armor before I can join so I can hope right in the events. Now problem is money and size and stuff. One is i have no job at the moment(if anyone has connections in the chicago area, let me know.) Size is the other problem right now i am 5'4" and im still growing late devolper. I was wondering where I can gett all this stuff for a good price. The other problem is i see you all do a lot of little detail with small items. I have sezures/tremors in my hands a lot and can't keep them steady if at all do people sell armor made and ready to go or do people sell their old armor. If you know can you let me know I don't want my medical conditions to come between me and my favortie hobby/life so could you please let me know thanks.

 

Hi Chris, for the bonding process, I usually let it take from 30 minutes up to overnight, just depending on what pieces you glue.

The best thing to do is ofcourse to glue both pieces and then use the clamps that I prescribed. You want all the air bubbles to be taken out and the clamps help.

For the snaps that you use on the anchor pieces that you put on your armor, you need to cut some strips of plastic that are an inch wide to a half inch tall, or just tall enough for the snap to fully mount on the piece. Once you've done that, you're gonna drill a hole in the plastic so that the cone piece can come up through the bottom of the plastic piece. If you have something that has snaps on it, take a look and you'll see what I am talking about. When I get home from work tonight, I will post a diagram that may better help you . . .

Take Care for now

TD7012 - OUT !!!
John Laurel

 

Yes, people do occasionally sell their armor that has already been assembled. The best place to look is on Ebay- try several different searches to come up with stuff. It's great that you won't let anything keep you from what you enjoy!!!

 

And also Happy Birthday!!!!

 

Chris, John is right about using snaps which I too use, but even so I found several areas that required industrial strength Velcro (industrial strength is very important here as there is a difference). The advantage IS Velcro has in certain areas is adjustability where want it and snaps won't give you that. Thus on my belt I have it designed like a weightbelt and have it close with IS Velcro not snaps. I also have the belt attach to the ab and back plates with IS Velcro so it won't move around on me. I also placed IS Velcro on the inside of the Chest armor and secure it to the ab and back plate so it will stay down and keep from moving around.

Jim Marshall
501st Stormtrooper TK-6411
Star Garrison
San Antonio, Tx

 

Hawk-bat Happy B-Day!

 

Thanks and thanks for the b-day wishies. Ok now of sizing what should i do and how much does it cost to get armor then how much money would i put in it till it is done and if any of you know someone who is selling stuff or if you are let me know

 

Jim,
I searched high and low here for white IS Velcro...I could not find any...only black...and so I bought it! Can this be used on the inside of the chest plate or will it be visable?

 

Jess, check Lowes or any fabric store in your area for White Velcro. Those are the places in which we found it . . .

Take Care Buddy

TD7012 - OUT !!!
John Laurel

 

Greetings Friends, your Monster Cloning Facilitator has returned, it took me awhile to get home to get this done but here are some breakdowns for the snaps . . .

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/materials.jpg]

The first pic is everything but the hammer

You have ofcourse your Anvil piece (#1) which you will use both sides

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/anvil.jpg]

And they give you two bit pieces but the one to use to hammer with has a sort of diamond pattern on the head of it (#6)

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/bit.jpg]

Parts #2 & #3 are going to be used for your elastic strap these are the snap and snap cap

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/snap.jpg]

Your elastic strap will need to have a hole put in it so that the pieces can be joined together, you will use your mallet and place the snap pieces with your elastic strap in the middle on the anvil (smooth side up) and use the bit to hammer out the tip from the snap cap til it has a tight fit.

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/snapcap.jpg]

Part #'s 4 - 7 - 5 are going to be joined together in that sequence, you will take your plastic strip (#7)

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/plasticstrip.jpg]

And drill a hole in it so that the cone tip of part #5 will fit through it

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/anchorbottom.jpg]

Part #4 will slip over the cone tip of part #5

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/anchortop.jpg]

You will then place all three pieces on the anvil with the button side up and hammer out the cone tip of the anchor bottom and your finished piece should look similar to this >

[image=http://members.aol.com/ObiJuan70/anchorpiece.jpg]

If you need any more details on this, let me know but I hope this helps a lil bit

Take Care Friends

TD7012 - OUT !!!!
John Laurel

 

Hey ObiJuan70 do you sell set of armor. Remeber because of my hands if I got armor I realy couldn't do much and My armor most like will have intire areas of armor missing because of the sezures.

 

Hi Hawk-Bat, first lemme say, Happy Belated Birthday to ya, didn't want you to think I was ignoring ya, I just got caught up helping my friends here on this thread.

As for selling armor, I am not a seller of it, I mainly help people with assembly tips. The best places to find armor is either through ebay or check with your local 501st garrison as they would help you find a place to purchase it. I would highly recommend you talk with your local garrison, cause then you'd have people in your own area that have had experience with purchasing it and assembling it, but if you need tips on building it, you've come to the right thread.

Take Care Friend and Best of Luck to ya

TD7012- OUT !!!
John Laurel

 

Thanks A lot. I will talk to the 501st guys since a bunch are in Chicago Force.

 

ObiJuan70, thanks so much for the snaps pics. That's going to make my life a whole lot easier now that I know what to get.

Next question: trooper boots in women's sizes. Do they exist?

 

For women, basically what you need to do is order men's boots two sizes smaller than you normally wear, since their sizes run different than ours...while I wear a 9 in women's shoes-I wear a 7 in men's....if you wear a 7 in women's shoes-you will need a men's/boy's size 5.
Hope that helps you ladies out!
QS

 

I have heard of people making their own or vacumforming them in thier ovens. Now the big thing is don't you need molds and the materials. Now I have seen some home done ones a few suck like hell the Others a astounding. What do I do since buy right now is hard and all with no money.


If anyone has connetions for jobs in the Chicago Area Give me a pm im desperate. 17 years old that is what I am.

 

OK, thanks to all the help from Obijuan, I'm finally making some progress. I have the all the arm pieces finished, and am waiting on the shin pieces to dry. Now, about the brain bucket... When it comes to glueing the dome in, how much of a gap should I expect around the edges. I'm trying to gaugs whether or not I have the two face pieces screwd together tight enough. the dome fits in pretty well, but there's a decent sized gap around the front above the eyes. The instructions say not to worry, since the brow trim will cover this. I'm just wondering, from those who have completed this step, what their's looked like.

 

My bucket had a 1/2" gap inthe front....and a large gap on the side....the foam strip covered it very nice! I finished my helmet last night! Now to work on the arms!

 

Glad to hear you guys are getting along with the armor assembly. Yes the brow trim will cover any gap - no need to worry. Just be patient and let the glue have time to cure. The helmet ("bucket") is the most difficult part of the armor assembly process and is by far the most noticed part of the entire costume. Good luck and let John or myself know if there are any further questions.

Jim Marshall
501st Stormtrooper TK-6411
Star Garrison
San Antonio, Tx

 

Makes me glad my bucket is coming already assembled

 

Does anyone have a schematic of how to wire the helmet fans? Also is there a parts list?

 

Obi-Wan's jedi Academy has some step by step pics for wiring the fans.

http://jedi-academy.com/stormtrooper_helmet_fans.html

 

Thanks for the tip, QS!

 

I'm wondering if anyone can help me acquire a GT DLX pauldron, not the standard GT that are found on ebay all the time.

 

OK, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if i have freakishly mimatched thighs.... I started glueing my thigh pieces together, testing the fit first. The left thigh piece fits fine, clamshells around my leg nicely. the right piece has almost a 2 inch gap! I'm going to need to put a shim in that piece. I find this very odd. So, besides wondering if anyone else either has asymmetrical thighs, or has had a similar problem, I'm looking for tips on shims. I figured I'd cut a piece of the spare ABS to the same length as the thigh piece, make it about 2" wide, and velco it to both shin halves.

mirax... I'm not sure about the pauldrons, but TK409's site has some, and they look better than the standard ebay offerings.