Clone Trooper Armor

I'm going to keep a close watch on this thread. I make costumes for my local Star Wars fan club, and I have done 10 costumes to date.

The latest costume I completed was Zam Wesell, which involved not only sewing but metalwork, leatherwork and sculpting...but vacuuforming is foreign to me.

My best friend however has fallen in love with the clone trooper armor, and I really want to try this project.

I'm sure I can handle the undersuit and the weapons...as I have experience with that. I AM CANADIAN....which means I have the Kellogg's plastic helmet already, and now need to know what to do with it. Would it be impossible for someone who knows nothing about vaccuforming, to learn and be successful with this project?...or is there someone who has made the molds already that I can order the armor from?

Can someone direct me to the vacuuforming tutorial Nostradamus mentioned??

Any help is appreciated...I really want to try this!!!

 

The vacuuforming tutorial is in here: http://www.studiocreations.com/ Thanks sc!

I think a knit material would be the closest thing that we will find in the real world.

I have been watching the debate over whether any actual Clone Trooper suits were ever made in real-life. So far all evidence is pointing to they exist only as CGI.

 

I dunno, upon doing the third viewing I am thinking the undersuit is more of a quilted material than a knit material.

We will need to get some good scanned images from the 35 MM print to be more exact.

YAHHH!!!!

Ooo... matte color or glossy for teh armor?

I tend to think it's a matte color.

-Jeff

 

I have seen both matte and shiny fabric (i plan to use matte). The fabric is cut very similar to vader with vertical stiching, only wider.

Jeff

 

Azeeem,

Not for the fabric but for the white armor itself. Matte or shiny? It looks matte to me , with shiny paint scheme for the rank designations.

-Jeff

 

I can't find the Clonetrooper helmet on Ebay...I want one...oh well, I'll just settle for making my lightsaber..hehe...

I wanna be a Jedi Clonetrooper

 

I'm gonna undertake this one, as my first vaccuforming project. I'll probably paint black detailing where the pilots have yellow and such, just to be different.

 

r u making this armour to sell?

 

The Trooper undersuit ( or body - glove, as it is known ) is made of the same material as the Stormtrooper's, you just see less of it under the armour and it has less time on the screen.

 

no it's not.

Stormtrooper undersuit doesn't have that quilted look like Clone trooper does

 

Exactly, the Clonetrooper body suit is more similar to Vaders than Stormtroopers.

 

I read an interview with the costume designer ( Trish something, can't remember her last name ) in a Japanese magazine; she said that they used the same type of bodysuit as the stormtroopers', just a bit modified.
However, I also read an interview with Lucas in the Star Wars Insider about the clone troopers, and there was no real trooper armour in the movie at all -- they were all CGI.

 

I don't believe EVERY shot was CGI. There were like 1 or 2 quick glimpses that aren't CG if I'm right.

 

I dunno, I was fooled a couple of times in promo pictures with the Clone armor. I thought It was a real live costume, then some FX friends of mine pointed out the distinctive flaws in the image that showed it to be CGI.

In all the behind the scenes footage and shots that I have seen, I have yet to see a Clone trooper costume standing on-set, and I've seen alot of footage over the past 2 years.

-sc

 

and I have seen a lot of pictures

 

What about the closeup when the trooper helps Amildala up after she falls on the sand?
That was very close and looked pretty real to me (and I can usually spot these things). Then again, I just assumed that shot was real, so I may not have been paying attention.
That was the shot that you could clearly see that the undersuit was not smooth, but patterned.

 

That's the shot I think is real too.

 

That shot is CGI, if you look closely with some experience in CGI, you can tell. It is an awesome shot though, almost perfect.

 

I'll have to watch closely next time.

I just wasn't paying attention.

 

It looks like my quest to make clone trooper armor (and other costumes too) has come to a screeching halt. I was told to look for a new job 2 days ago. I am not fired, not laid-off, and expected to continue to perform all my duties while simultaneously looking for something else to do to make a living.
If only I lived in CA-LA. I might be able to work at some kind of entertainment industry position. Everything around here is just more of the same dead-end, unfulfilling stuff that I try to escape from by making costumes at night.

I am going to go see EP II again today.
The clone trooper suits are definietly matte, vertically-oriented lines, channels spaced about 3/4"-1" .

 

If you weren't fired, why do you have to look for another job? Pay cut?

 

the under suit is the same stuff as jangos under belt its tuck and rolled leather that you can find on some biker jackets under the arms it streaches and is way to hot to really use.you can see a nice shot off it on the yellow trooper.

 

I just got back from seeing EP II for the 3rd time digitally.

I know what the suits are! I think.

I have been trying to discern whether they are matte or shiny. First I thought they were most definitely matte.
But when I was really looking at the suit material, I noticed it has a slight sheen.
So, the suits look like leather or a leather-like material.

It makes sense, because:

Once I wondered where Vader's costume came from. Does anyone know anything about the alleged lore and origins of any of his costume, armor or equipment?
Someone once told me, or I had read somewhere that Anakin/Vader made it out of cobbled together parts of other things he found. This would be consistent with Anakin's nature of being a resourceful builder. There is a lot of reference to this attribute of Anakin's character and ability from cannon EU sources.

So, if you accept this, then it would make perfect sense that Darth Vader's under suit could have originally been a Clone Trooper undersuit or was subsequently re-created / modeled after a CT undersuit.
Look at how efficient the clone troopers are. It would make sense that their equipment is top-notch and very versatile and durable.



Last year, I made a Vader-style 2-piece undersuit out of a leather-look CLOTH material. I quilted it all. It was very, very time-consuming to do.
If I were to make an other one like this with clone-trooper armor in mind, I would use a much less dense & lighter-weight batting (or a thin foam!!) and a very light-weight backing.
It would be warmer to wear than a dive-skin, but not as warm as a vinyl or leather suit.

Whaddaya think?





If I quit, I will be with-out a job and all means of being able to pay my bills, much less have anytime to spend on costumes or making costumes.

At least if I were fired or "let go" I would be able to make a claim for unemployment. Then I could spend time loking for a great job and spend time making costumes.

Right now, I am just screwed.

 

Do you really think Anakin made the Vader suit? All that is is a robotic body for a human head and pair of lungs...

 

I think Anakin did/will make the Vader suit, or at least he put it together out of stuff he found.
(Like C3PO & his podracer and if you read other stories about him, he continued to make stuff out of junk he found on Coruscant while he was at the Jedi temple)



WOW! I just got a message w/pictures concerning a fellow (Dean) who completely modified his Kellogg's CT helmet and IT LOOKS MARVELOUS!!!!!

Has anyone ever worked with fiberglass?
Where do you get it? Is there anyway to make it not so messy?

Curse this work situation.

I want to do similar modifications to my CT helmet!
I want to make armor molds!
I would rather be spending my time making costumes!

But I did hit at least half a dozen job-search sites. I left my resume everywhere.

What if I could get a job where I was paid more and work less and get excellent benefits? I hope so. Then I will have more time to work on costumes and cloney armor.