WhiteCommandoV2

At the Studios at Las Colinas (in Irving, Texas near DFW Airport), had some choice display props... at least I heard. One of the very few Death Star Fleet Troopers helmets was there – and may have gone a missing. Any DFW Metro folks chime in on the inventory that was there. Also, I have heard there may be a Boba Helmet floating around this region, owned by a reclusive wealthy collector... it has some distinct cracks, that may of been caused during stunt filming, when Boba fell face down on the skiff, before being piked, and then falling to his death in the Sangina Beast. :o I would love to see this stuff... that said, one of our members here... has seen some of these things. I swore an oath to never reveal his name... and it is not one of our "usual" guys... so don't guess. Moving along... I also believe there was a screen used TK suit (or original extra pull parts suit) here in the DFW Metro – from either ESB or ROTJ – and was replicated by a bad person, just 12 miles from my home... Ernie Scheuer. I think it was formerly know as Universal Armor, and this was available in the late 90s, before the guy fled to the Philippines for having child pornography on his computer. This man is now Star Fortress Productions. He was a friend of my step-brother, ironically. So Rolf, come on to Dallas, and we will show you a good time!!! And we can try to track these items down! Troop On! John

Seems to look like 2 "C" double battery packs.

The Primary Dial has been printed. Pics in next post. It was made with tolerances of .001" inch, I believe the process basically involves wafers of laser-cut laminated ABS which is extruded, re-lasered, heated, and cooled, and should have great detail. Minor sanding and filling... to make perfect. The square and rectangle panels are being CNC'd at a shop in Dallas, and will be ready Monday, and I will pick them up in person. The dial will arrive Wednesday. Then I send off for replication. Soon... Thanks for the support Brothers! John

Thanks guys. I am still waiting for a quote for the dials. Drawing them was a tiny challenge... you would be surprised. However, a new topic... a buddy of mine sent me an idea. He thought it might be cool to have an array of lights in the left top part, with the screen MH drew up, then have 4 pieces of laser-cut acrylic in 1/32" thickness to overlay on top of the dial – four corners, like a black widow mark... Two in transparent and two in smoked transparent charcoal, and have the four "quarters" on top of the decal. The decal could easily be printed merely on Photo-paper, and then back light with an array of lights... would just need someone to rig a sequencer to simulate a "Radar" or scanning effect. I will try to draw .gif animation showing the effects. I am getting the "panels" for the face by Monday of next week. And then I have to figure the best way to replicate. Thanks A Lot... This is a super fun project. John

You know, it is a toughy. I found a cool medium mute aqua by Krylon (exact name by tomorrow), but at the time I was spraying it (when it has had 2-3 coats) and it gets that wet look after the good base coat is down, I use a Medium grey Krylon and I spray at the same time, but more of a misting... it dulls the aqua to a bluish-grey. I will post pics tomorrow of the final color on my pack 2.5. Also, a misting of WC's Super Secret Weathering Solution helps. Here comes the big secret recipe... - A big bottle for mixing. Half Gallon or a liter. - Pour about 45% windshield wiper fluid (to help it "stick"). - Then about 35% rubbing alcohol (to speed up dry time). - Add water until bottle is 85% full. - Squirt 50% Medium Grey, 30% Medium Brown (Mocha), and 20% Flat Black Acrylic, mix in a tube, then squirt into large bottle and shake well. Make sure it is not too thick, or it can gloop out, and you want it to be fine particles, and when it sets up, it is like dust. Pour into plant feeder spray mister, or left-over CA accelerant bottle, and mist well, and blot drips and runs with tissue. Reapply 2-3 times. Then do MH's Fuller's Earth with Hair Spray method on top of that. An important factor, do not put big dooge-piles of Bantha crap on the pack. They tend to look just dusty and dingy. You can also, wipe away some, and reapply twice, or even three times... until it feels "right". The blue becomes very neutralized by this point. I hope that helps. John

I voted for Sandtrooper, though I am also a fan of clones – but it is an Apple-to-Oranges debate. Clones – in Episode 2 – were attacking mindless droids that had been in a tense battle with a large number of Jedi, therefore... the droids were softened up a bit. And in Episode 3, Clones versus Jedi, it was a quantitative victory. As for TDs... However, based on the assault on the Millennium Falcon in docking Bay 94, the Sandtroopers, though unsuccessful, were tenacious and brave, almost to a fault. People think randomly when analyzing Han Solo's tactics to repel the attack. But, if you note in the first few shots he fired, he shot above the Commander's head, blowing the arch at their point of entry, and the debris took out the commander (and big gunner). Then Solo took out some troops with a few well placed shots... but he was retreating AND defensive. Plus, who called in the two available star destroyers in that were within seconds of apprehending the Millennium Falcon? Pretty effective fire support called in after the escape. But that battle, if watched a few times, is a display of courage on both parts... theoretically. Moving along... TDs and Clones are tough... but we have yet to see a Clone or a TD battle the ferocious Ewoks.

Yeah, what he said. Mike is the Lord Master of this Realm.

Pretty Good? You made it. You and I wore it. It is a great pack... Daetrin, do you think an FX-wearing shiny could come here, and get TD approval with it? I bet... absotively! ooooh, imagine the time you will save. youuuuu waaaaant thiiiiiis. Johnny

Who wants to be a TD??? Since this is where we recruit, I thought I would post here. Mods, feel free to move to For Sale Section if this is the wrong place. I am selling three items - A helmet upgrade, a pauldron, and Daetrin's Version One Back Pack (which I have upgraded the Cistern). - First up, my Version 2 helmet and white pauldron. An RT-Mod, assembled and weathered. I did Brak's Buddy's tutorial... with some MH Fuller's Earth for fun. The pauldron is a standard issue. It was a black pauldron that I dyed white and weathered. Here is the Helmet and Pauldron together in a pic... Here is the pack in some shots (this was Daetrin's before mine. Nostalgic! This pack got Daetrin Deployed, and got me approved for the 501st as TD in 3 days)... Mortar tube was off that day. There is a mortar tube. I am selling all together to help someone go from a plain FX Stormtrooper to something special... a TD! Serious inquiries only, preferred 48 lower U.S. states and APOs. No silly offers. RT-Mod kits go for $225-plus. This is turn-key, nearly insta-Sand Trooper!

Well, kudos to those who are tackling this project. And January 2, 2009 was a great day since we were given some killer images! So, I started 3D modeling it on January 2nd. I also believe a combination of rapid prototyped knobs, by a 3D Printer (a ZCorp, or similar) would be good – just waiting for my 3 vendors to get back to me... Here is the dial I generated in Lightwave 8 (on January 2nd, the day the image was discovered), and I have tweaked and exported as a .dxf format... and removed all non-four-point-polygons. The face panels were sent off to a Laser-cutter to be made in acrylic yesterday. Please view, though I merely used CS2 Suite to make art for 2D output. I kept a log of my activity, as to show an active pre-production. More pictures to come. And for fun, I generated a YouTube of a full 3D model, though it is just to show an end result... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFqU7kgdPjo...re=channel_page More pics to follow. For some reason, I can't get all the images up. Well, I will just post up what I can. And yes, the 12 divot ring on the base tier will be laser cut, and added... and a cap with 12 divots will be added to the recessed area on the primary dial. If I decide to produce, this may be a solo project. Mike assisted with the dial screen, but the rest was mine... well, it is really Uncle George's. Mike, if you want, I can draw from scratch and have decals made up. AND, I may tap a friend for a silicone shell and glass or resin or rubber these suckers. Detail would be crisp – especially since I used "LASERS" for the panel work. A fiberglass radio face may be the way to go. Chime in. Thanks Stukatrooper, Mike, and John... for all the info and research!!! Thoughts? John

Helvetica Compressed is what was in the pic you found and posted. Be sure to not use condensed – it is just horizontally reduced. Looks like you used Futura or Futura Condensed. Good work up! Nice find too. John

T-21s by Cushman are no longer available on MEPD for the time being. Cushman is on hiatus. I will let you guys know when they are. John

Yes, Ben, go for the SF. Cushman's are temporarily unavailable.

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To become like you and Mike and Rolf??? The TD Masters??? I am sorry, I can only become so... good? I need to weather the pauldrons, hopefully Paul will send those pouches, and I am getting a Sith Planet pouch. My Chinese pouches are a little off. And, yes... NEED MORE DIRT. I will lay some Fuller's Earth soot grey on my suit to get it to match my MH-finished TE2... http://www.clone-empire.com/WC_TE2_byMH.jpg And to weather my pack... http://www.clone-empire.com/pack01.jpg Then I will have... "become better" as a TD. Right Mike? Thanks for the Pep-Talk GZ!!! Later Brothers, John

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I went to visit my old employer Tuesday. He had a box for me... he called me and said "come and see me" and there it was. White Pauldron by Seth. WOW! Looks awesome. Then my boss threw $600-worth of Freelance at me. WOW! As for the package, it had been there for about two weeks... but it looks very, very nice. Too bad there was so much trouble involved, and especially for Seth, who seems to have been royally fisted!!! I have heard at what level. Thieves surround this fellow. Perhaps, once he makes right, he can be forgiven, and restored here. He went from Detachment Leader to Banned in less than 18 months. He helped me to become a TD, along with MH and Daetrin. He helped me when Daetrin and I made Clone-Empire into a Forum and gave me guidance on how to run a Forum. C-E runs great due to this Forum (and FISD). So, I now have my TD/White Pauldron/DLT-19 and my TD/Orange Pauldron (by Rolf)/T-21 and my revised pack AAANNNDDD My TE-2 as finished by MH, WHO.. IS... THE... BOMB!!! I hope to troop very soon as both! Troop On Brothers! John

If you like me, you may give me your old ones for a Christmas Present! Paul, did I tell you how awesome you are. Nice pouches, by the way, Lewis... Geez, making everything!!! Johnny

I worked with C.C.C., also known as Cushman. I prototyped the Rep Com blaster carbine and pistol. I prototyped the Lewis Gun (T-21) from layered laser-cut acrylic and Woodchuck made the buttstock from a schematic I drew up AND lathed the tip. I also prototyped the DC-15 Version One fully, and I prototyped the front end of the DC-15 Version Two (Woodchuck did the receiver) for Cushman. I also prototyped the Version One MG-34 DLT-19 replacement barrel as well as modifying an actual MG-34 barrel with cooling ribs. Here are some pics of my finished weapons from the kits (some of which I have traded or sold). T-21... MG-34... And the DC-15... And a bunch more here (especially good option if you can build a model kit with 4-10 pieces total)... http://www.cushmanpaintball.com/Starwarsreplicapage.html Troop on and I hope you find what you need. John

I love you guys!!! This has been a fun project. Mike sent me some cool little special things (little mini helmets) to spoof up my faux-stacker tube bottom, though I have found one and won it off of ebay. By the way, the stacker is a pretty easy deal in a pinch (especially since it is just a coupling and a cap). I just need to find some off-the-shelf stuff that looks like syphons. Also, I may re-assemble Paul's first pack, which was good enough for me to be approved as a TD, and swap out some replacement parts... and sell to a NewB to use as a starter pack. I think a new TD wannabe's first pack should be like Paul's (which was then mine) and then the second pack should be made by your own hands (or commissioned, as Paul did). Around the same time you are upgrading lids and other parts. Takes a lot of research to make the 2nd one. Stay tuned for completion! Thanks again! Johnny

OK, I have lost my login info since it has been awhile. So, I made a new MEPD ID, and yes, this is John, from Clone-Empire... BUT, WC2.0 is OK since I have done some serious upgrades, that is, unless it is a problem with the mods. Chime in if it is. It has been a long time since I posted, so please note that my pack, which is almost there... almost there... just hold off for a few more seconds... Yep, kitty litter trays instead of seed trays. But the syphon tube (what should be the H-Stackers) is merely a coupling and an end cap for 3" pipe, then the ridges were made with Electrical tape. Lots of the bottles were off of Paul H. (Daetrin's) Version One pack I bought last year. The radio face is from THE MAN, Mr. 1536... also the frame is a Boy Scout vintage frame. The stinger is the faucet cover with a funnel tip. The top box is a sterilite tray with sign plastic for backing. More pics to come. Oh, here is a story... My wife had a bottle of Fuller's Earth fall on her in the garage... NOT GOOD!!! Feedback required, especially from Rolf, Mike, and Paul, and all of you scratch-build pack makers!!! How's the blue-grey? Standing by... John