Jump to content

A Sandtrooper in the making...my WIP.


jinxed
 Share

Recommended Posts

Well, I'm not sure what was more nerve racking, painting the tube stripes and coach lines, or skipping coffee to do so. No need to send emergency crews...I'm fully caffeinated now.

So I did some testing on the tube stripes. Initially I planned to mask the top and bottom, then paint the lines and remove tape to clean them up. Didnt like the super crisp ends with wavy centers. Decided to draw them in pencil and just freehand fill them in. I think they have much more "tidy messiness" to them.

40457594120_78d45c5eac_c.jpg

27412419517_03b64e223c_c.jpg

Then came my big worry...doing the coach lines on the grey. I tapped into every bit of my past hand lettering and sign making experience, which isn't a ton. BUT, I am super chuffed with the result and VERY relieved it's done without too many glaring bodges. Went ahead and did the vocoder too while I had the black paint out. QUESTION...is the vocoder supposed to be gloss or matte? I have a dullcoat if needed, but was thinking that the weathering is pretty much going to dull everything.

41380936005_15e545ef46_z.jpg

41380936175_66b3ef7030_c.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man, painting came out great! Tube stripes are the hardest part on the complete build imho, I have one helmet in my collection I build years ago and one side of the tubes is still without stripes...   :rolleyes:   I hate painting these **** stripes!

The black/grey parts almost look like decals....    :duim: 

Maybe consider some paint chips as you don’t want to look like those standards TK’s, huh...   :tongue:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK. I need your eyes. Before I weather everything, I want to be sure there's nothing jacked up.

I re-did my shoulder strapping per some suggestions. It helped a ton with the gaps and rotation, thank you!!

Mainly I'm concerned with the build/spacing/details on the armor. Photographing bright white is tough!

Some things I'm not happy with, or know is missing:

  • I got my neck seal from Darman on FIST, but cant get it sit right in the back. It's sticking out pretty bad and nothing I do makes it better. So for now, ignore that.
  • I am still waiting on my S-trim for the bucket.
  • Yes, my Caboots are not correct, but I got them when they were. TK Boots is out of 9 D so until I can find some, it's the best I have.
  • I have silicone hand guards to glue on my gloves, but wanted to be sure my arms were sorted to adjust spacing.

27671812487_8440846b61_b.jpg

27671814517_2c65fe7f56_b.jpg

27671822587_1e7e5d8894_b.jpg

27671824317_a5bc440228_b.jpg

27671825477_de60c0e647_b.jpg

27671827477_2d2c71a156_c.jpg

27671828137_ec69b3ce23_c.jpg

27671829397_1f67d977dd_c.jpg

27671832407_5c9f62197f_b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

WOW!! Ok, so things escalated kinda quick. We dont frequent the conventions and are pretty much out of the loop on that kind of stuff. But for the last couple years, my wife has been volunteering a booth at the Denver Comic Con for the library. So for grins my kiddo and I have dressed up in something and tagged along basically to check out the other cool costumes. This year she was working Sunday, which we decided would be cool fathers day gig. Saturday afternoon I found out that my armor maker Cal from Far Away Creations was going to be down there with his landspeeder. There was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to get a photo with it in my kit.

That said, I had been wrestling with my weathering, and hadn't even started the helmet, boots, belt, and pauldron. I had no pouches attached, no idea if my mic set up would work, or even how to get it in the armor. Regardless, I basically pulled an all nighter rushing through the minimum bits, and threw it all in a bin Sunday morning as we headed out.

I met up with Cal who graciously let me use their "behind the booth" area to suit up, and just like that, my first public outing. Heck of a way to test out everything. My shoulder pouch isnt dyed yet and was just strapped to the pauldron, way outta whack. I rushed the helmet weathering and it's really ham fisted. I didnt have time to work on my TK Boots, so the CaBoots had to make the cut. No fans in the bucket and my sound was feedbacky and hard to hear. BUT...I was in heaven for about 3 hours! Got some great feedback from other con goers, and more importantly some 501st members. Nothing fell off or broke, everything seemed to stay put, and felt pretty comfortable. Biggest issue was my voice box. People couldnt hear me. If I turned it up, feedback was horrible. So for the day it was mostly thumbs up and waving. A few details to take care of and I should be able to submit pics to my GML and get my basic approval!

42881145781_1981a8df18_b.jpg

42881146291_2138d938b4_c.jpg

42881146781_8a699bdc07_b.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to hear you were having a great time! :salute:

You have done an amazing job with that helmet painting and pin-striping, it's immaculate, almost too perfect as the originals were hastily put together, the lines often really flawed. I am amazed, if I hadn't seen your progress in your WIP, I would doubt that this was indeed handpainted. 

Great work, cheers mate! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I got the final details done on the armor and submitted application photos to my GML. Hopefully soon, I'll get that ID# then start working towards PO!

42090110555_8edbba15d5_h.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/25/2018 at 12:27 PM, Hausi said:

Looks great, suits you very well, great work! One thing though, the belt is sitting a little too low.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you. 

Thanks! GML was hoping to complete my review by end of week, so if there's changes I'll know soon.

Yea, my belt was goofy in the last pic. It wasnt like that in my submission pics. I took it off to get a pic of the side rivets, then stuck it back on still in the helmet. You know you cant see a thing in those. The wife snapped that one as I was walking around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...