motman241

That is pretty slick. I like the idea of vacc'd parts, but I think there was someone out there already selling vacc'd kits of some gun. Everyone that bought the kit said it was the worst nightmare they ever encountered. I don't know, I might just be cheap, thrifty, or just proud to build my own stuff and push my creativity by finding or making parts that are of the right size, but I'd rather do this sort of thing myself. $10 of wood and PVC will get you several blasters.

My pictures are on my friend's server. He keeps having problems with it. I will prod him to get it back online as soon as can be.

To do the job correctly, get some leather dye from either a pro shoe shop, leather store, or Tandy Leather (lots of Star Wars things came from Tandy) www.tandyleather.com I used the regular black shoe polish you can find in any large store. I cheaped out and went with the dab-and-wipe kind. Cripes. You can't get easier than that. It's like a giant marker, but with a little sponge on the top. Totally easy. But watch out - don't get it on anything else. That dye will dye everything it touches. I still have a pair of jeans with black spots to prove it.

Because of this great tutorial, I am gonna dig out all my old parts, and finish building my more-correct binoculars. Screw the tank game! Even if I never carry these around, they'll look better than what I have. Thanks for firing up my inspiration on these again. It's been a long time.

There's another picture that I'm debating if I should post it or not. PM sent to you, Seth.

Thanks, man! Glad to be back. I guess you don't know how cool a place is until you've been gone a while. Troop in that thing? Ha! I think not. There's not enough dirt on it!!

When I made my blaster (and the tutorial), it was all based on the real thing. I got extensive pictures and measurements from Cliff Wright, who is just a prop god, and owns the real deal. I've made a couple of these, now, and they really are pretty easy to do. And in the end, they weigh in at a whopping 3 lbs. I also made a revolutionary advance, and made them in two parts - they disassemble to fit in armor tubs. Maybe these are a good place to start.

The point is, it is screen accurate to mix and match ROTJ and ANH armor.

First of all, 1" PVC is the wrong size. It's too small. Then, I found that when you drill holes in plastic, it's WAY easier to heat the plastic JUST A LITTLE. I've had many a hole ruined by drill bits chipping off plastic. The heat makes the plastic just bendable enough that that doesn't happen.

Great tutorial. I love to see people building things, no matter how screen-accurate it is, as opposed to just throwing money at the project and buying something. I started a project just like this years ago, but have never finished it. For the base, I used a dollar store container, too, but it didn't have a handle on it, and looks a bit more oval-shaped. Great choice on yours, though. I almost never use my binoculars (Radica). They just hang on my belt, if anything. That's probably why I never finished - no real need. I'd rather spend my building time, building big blasters!!

I've been away, but now I'm back (just like Jack said in The Shining) Based on things found in the Star Wars movies, this is what a 'screen accurate" stormtrooper could look like. How about this?

There's no going back!! There's more than just the ab plate and a pauldron that seperate us from the "white meat". Heh. I guess that makes us "the off-white meat".

To me, if you want to be and look serious, don't do it. The boob thing just looks weird. ...and not even natural-looking. But, to each his own. That's why there's femtroopers.

I used a green stage lighting gel, which is very much like the report covers you can find in office stores.

Here's the picture from Thursday http://www.bobafettmp.com/Temp/photos/5 ... -steps.jpg It's great to see so many real dirty troopers out there, and fewer and fewer "pauldron slappers" (just slap on a pauldron, and now you're a sandtrooper). Gotta love all the smudges in that white picture!

My body suit is made from bathing suit material. I took a bit of that fabric, and made an armband, with Velcro in each end. I put a little Velcro inside my left shoulder bell . After I put the patch on there, I can now wear the patch as an armband, or easily take it out for "strict cannon" events.

OK, so with that breaking news..... are we getting together for the sandy pic on Sunday morning then?

Last thing I read, Saturday is still a go for the pics. (That may have changed by this posting)

In the lobby?

Everybody complains about the velcro not sticking, or peeling off.... the main problem that nobody addresses, is that the armor pieces don't match up correctly while at rest. Some of the armor parts (like the thighs, and shin pieces) should make a round piece. Before you even put the velcro on, do the two halves meet? If not, there will be a lot of stress on the velcro. The velcro should be there just to prevent the two halves from becoming seperated. It should have to pull the two pieces together. I worked very ******* my armor, to get it shaped properly. I've never had any problems with the velcro. Now, the only problem that I DID have, was on the shoulder parts. Wearing that backpack kept tearing the velcro apart. I made a 'T' sort of strap, with snaps on it. It connects the front and back chest halves, and then the shoulder bells go onto it also. I'll have to get a picture of it for you.

I used plexiglass for my knee plate (but lots of stuff can be used - VERY easy to do), I did my own ab plate mod (scary, but not hard at all), and I used green stage lighting gel for my lenses. You could also try one (or maybe two) of those green-tinted clear report covers. Or I've heard you can use RIT dye to dye plexiglass/clear plastic (haven't actually tried that.) There are lots of inexpensive ways to achieve these things.

Nobody wants these? Or is it that nobody can print them?

Yeah, I was thinking about this today. Most of the trooping we do is for fun. We're a costuming group amongst the general public (most of the time). They wouldn't know what's what, anyways. Who are we trying to impress. We could be dead-on correct for ANH, and nobody would care. The fans care about pictures, autographs, and attitude.

I do agree about the SE stuff - I hate it. Seems they slapped some troopers in it, and said "good enough". But, it is fun to at least carry around binders (or Imperial tickets, etc). Especially at Celebration, you get your picture taken so much, I actually got tired of the same old "point your gun at me" pose. I also got tired of hearing "move along", and "you don't need to see our identificatin". All I'm saying is, I'm trying to understand what was happening/used during the time of the original ANH, and take it one step further. In the Star Wars Tatooine world, what would or could happen? Would you see a snadtrooper with a confiscated weapon? I think so - not screen accurate though. What about a sandtrooper with a prisoner? You think they NEVER took prisoners? (I know we have to keep our quota of shot rebel scum ) Things like that. Oh yeah, for got to say - my binders are kept either in a pouch, or in my backpack - you'd never know I even have them on me. And, I'm not doubting you on this, but I'm generally asking.. since we didn't see sandtroopers in ANH with binoculars, how did we come to associate them? It couldn't have totally been from the SE, could it?

Just modify what you have. There's a thread here somewhere, that shows how. Very easy. Very cheap. Looks good.