maj_hassel

So the 501st actually honors the pauldron rank system?? I know I'm not a member--yet--but I think the MEPD should establish their own pauldron definitions and let the color/rank definitions go to those troopers who wear pauldrons with clean armor. There. I said it. All I know is that if a trooper thinks he can bark orders at me just because he shelled out for an orange pauldron on eBay he better be offering me a beer and the order better be, "Drink this." I think mine was Orange when I first bought it but I dyed it black. Better to avoid all of that responsibility. Besides it is an established worldwide aesthetic that black is the international color of tough guys and orange is the international color of crossing guards.

I've never done it, but I imagine the hanger would have to be straightened and then contoured so that it would run along the outer edge of the pauldron. I'm sure it could be affixed with black, or any color for that matter (it won't be seen), duct tape for a quick solution. Sewing it in place by running loops of thread over it and through the inner lining of the pauldron would probably work too. I know someone here has done it, hopefilly they'll see this post and let you know what their solution was. - Good luck!

For a while there was a British prop maker who seemed like they were going to start releasing screen accurate binoculars. They were molded of of the Simrad marine binoculars. The price went pretty high and still Reserve not met appeared on his auctions. I have to admit, they looked pretty sweet. I'm surprised no one has started molding resin--or better yet, Hyperfirm--versions of these sweet binoculars.

e-mail sent.

I picked up a can of Krylon UV-Resistant Clear and was pretty pleased with the results...until I tried to clean it off. It doesn't come off. It will not come off with Goo Gone, something like paint thinner might be a different story. I don't have any I'll pick some and try it as well, although I prefer not to work with solvents if necessary; I don't want my frown bleeding all over my mic tips, if you know what I mean. The upside to this stuff is this: If you are 100% happy with your paint/dirt job and would like to keep it intact then this stuff is worth a try. It's an acrylic coating and also helps block UV rays. This stuff might be pretty good on a new set of clean styrene armor since it would probably retard the yellowing process and would retain the glossy shine. I tried to see if it would significantly change the appearance of paint/mud spatters because of it's gloss finish and didn't find a real noticable difference. It's also nice to know that you could troop in a downpour and your weathering would stay just where you put it and not run. I'm going to try some other fixatives as well and I'll post my results.

Here's a reference photo of of the on screen Lewis. I upped the contrast to enhance the detail. It's hard to tell if the ribs are rounded or peaked. They definitely seem shallower than the Gortite bellows. It also seems that the ribbed sleeve has a level of gloss to it. Either they painted the rubber or it might be made out of a plastic material.

I've considered that, however the Hyperfirm is pretty soft and will compress to allow something with a 4" diameter to slide over it. Mine is currently unpainted but I'm not sure if bending a painted one will screw up a paintjob. A clamshell solution was probably used for the original when you consider that they used a clamp to hold it in place. A real lewis wouldn't compress either. If you look at the picture up close you can see that the ridges are rounded as opposed to peaked, which makes TK1009's solution the best so far. I'm just not sure if the reference pic I've posted is a screen used prop or a replica. I'm thinking the latter is probably the case. I don't really hold much hope in obtaining a isolation tube from that site. If they in fact did sell their parts individually and to the general public I can't imagine they would let them go for an affordable price. I believe that the object that I'm looking for is some type of industrial dust boot. ADDENDUM: I think I'm onto something...check it out: http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/SmartCat...h+Collar_Length

Here's another site. The pipe may not be as spot on as the previous one I linked to but these guys will sell short cuts of theirs. http://www.ducting.com/Short_Section_Hoses.html I'm sure a short cut of ducting followed by some sort of rubber coupling with a clamp the mystery part could be relatively accurately replicated. Unfortunately, the price is pretty steep since they only deal in orders that cost around $100 bucks...the hunt continues.

I had seen those pics before--nice job, btw. I was just curious if anyone knew what the real object was and where a similar item could be found. I found this http://www.envproduct.com/catOtherSeals2.html (scroll down to the "Flexible Isolation Tube") and am using it as a lead. Unfortunately the website was just a showroom and didn't have a product ordering page. I suppose I could contact them and find out if they actually sell to non-contractors.

What is that thing anyway? I scoured Home Depot tonight looking for something to replicate it but to no avail. Any suggestions?

Okay, I'll cut it halfway back. In reality it won't make that much difference since it's going to be covered by a backpack. I'll try to leave a little but of lip on the main torso pieces (it's too late for the chest) but the shoulder bells had to be trimmed all the way (my shoulders barely fit in them now) and the cod had to be trimmed for obvious comfort reasons. About what thickness of an edge would you recommend for the hand covers? I'm apprehensive whether this kit is going to fit at all. No hope until the holiday season is over and I can shed a few pounds. That should be my New Years resolution...to fit into my armor.

This sounds like the best tip so far, and I'm sure your significant other will love the smell you've introduced to your home.

A Zippo won't. Most cigarette lighters (disposable) use pressurized butane. Zippos use a more oily fuel doesn't burn as clean--hence the soot.

Thanks, that's pretty much the answer I was looking for. I might leave a slight curve on the edges, but nothing that would actually curve inward and dig into the bodysuit. I just wanted to see if I would get any "DON'T TRIM THAT EDGE OR IT WON'T BE CANON!!" responses. Thank you for not providing me with one.

I'm trimming the back plate of an ANH (GF-AP-80ABS) kit and am not sure if I have trimmed enough or need to trim more. I can't find any reference pics and am not sure if the edge is supposed to have a contoured edge or a flat edge. I've drawn a cut line but I haven't made the cut yet and am waiting for advice before I continue. (Please forgive the large pics but I wanted to make sure that you could see what I'm talking about.) Here is the inside of the piece and the cut line I've drawn in pencil... ...and here's the outside of the piece showing the current countoured edge. What should I do? Do I trim it or leave it be? Should I trim it so there's a little countour? I can't tell how the originals were cut--unless, of course you look at the Star Wars: A Visual Dictionary which has armor which looks like it was trimmed with a pruning saw.

The "dab a blob of tempera paint and then smack (or pat lightly--your choice) at it with a dry paper towel" method. I'll make a pic intensive tutorial as soon as I figure out a workable and removable method for fixing the paint so it won't rub off so easily. I'm thinking the answer might be in a product called Krylon Crystal Clear. I'll probably pick up a can, weather a scrap piece, seal it with the Krylon, and see if I cant clean everything back to gloss white with something like Goo Gone. BTW, I picked up a lot of pointers from TK409's weathering tutorial: http://www.tk409.com/tk409.html check the "Sandtrooper Conversion" section.

I got around to weathering my ab plate. Since, next to the helmet, the ab plate has the most detail I'd thought I'd post some pics. I think it came out pretty good. Just for kicks, I thought I'd add a little carbon scoring, indicating a glancing blast to the gut. There might be some minor detailing to do (clean up some obvious paint strokes, lighten some areas, darken others, etc...) Here's the ab plate next to the helmet I weathered a couple of days ago... ...and here's a close up of the blast mark I got from that Jawa--er, I mean bounty hunter. Hopefully, the next pics I post will be the entire suit--and me in it!!

What are these "sell" and "let go" words I keep hearing bandied about? "He who dies with the most toys wins" is my creedo. That's why I have 4 ST helmets, 2 armor kits and a girfriend with a nervous cranial tic (she keeps shaking her head in defeat). Seriously, I'm sorry that you had to let your original kit go, but the fact that it had the opportunity to, once again, give a person that first look in the mirror and have an Imperial Stormtrooper looking back...well, you remember what it was like. Just think, without you and the sacrifice you made the guy might have ended up being a Jedi.

You could also give them a once over with a clear matte spray. That will dull the shine and you won't have to risk sanding through the color. I imagine with a little bit of elbow grease and some white shoe polish you could restore the gloss if, for some insane reason, you wanted to. I believe I read somewhere that the stormies on the screen had jodhpur boots that were a non-glossy leather.

The Lewis I have is a Hyperfirm and there is quite a bit of detail (wood grain, dents, screws) that probably should be accentuated. I'll definitely paint it black, and dry-brush metallic accents to simulate wear and tear. I'm going to install a strap and add the--what I believe to be--corrugated drain or irrigation pipe ribbed section that they added to the prop. As far as the wood grain goes, I will probably try to simulate a wood that has been stained so that it is almost black as the rest of the gun. Any chance that anyone out there has a close up of the Kotobukiya Lewis rifle's stock? I've searched on line but all pictures are pretty small.

I was going by pics off the internet. I stand corrected. Still, looking at the stills from the movie, it seems to be the same shade as the barrel. The real MG-42 had a wooden butt (as did Pinnochio) and they painted over that. Maybe it was a rubber casting of an MG-42 they used and didn't bother to paint it. I hope that I don't give off the impression that I'm trying to start a crusade for canon Lewis requirements, it's just that there's so many others out there who know more than I do about this subject. What I'm really looking for is reassurance that I'm not the only one out there with an all black Lewis. Not, of course, that I really care. No problem. Here you go: 50.25"

I was wondering if there's any real good way of keeping your tempera paint job on the armor. Without careful handling "clean spots" appear, especially wherever you tend to grab your helmet when putting it on and taking it off. I was thinking of an artist's matte fix but was reminded that sandy armor, even though it's covered with grime, still retains a level of gloss. If there was a gloss fix I imagine you would end up with glossy dirt. If I wanted glossy dirt I'd use furniture polish on my armor instead of tempera. Has anyone heard of a semi-gloss fix? Has anyone out there come up with a way of giving their paint job more durability? I should do some research. I have a set of old FX thigh pieces that I take cuttings off of when I need ABS scraps, maybe I'll try some matte fix on that and see what it looks like. I should probably also see if it's hard to clean off and get the armor white again--perish the thought!

I've come across a few sites that offer tutorials on how to paint the Lewis replicas, even how to simulate the wood grain. But I'm curious, what color is the butt of the rifle in the movie? From the stills (check gallery docking bay photos on this site) it seems that the butt of the gun had been painted over in a flat black or similar dark color. If they left the wood alone it must have had a very dark stain. I'm wondering if, for the sake of Star Wars prop replication the simulated wood grain is the way to go. Now I know that this is probably a matter of personal taste, but it seems to me that all of the other prop weapons used in Star Wars were either black or metallic or a combination of both. If an actual modified weapon (i.e. Han Solo's pistol) was used the wood portion was usually painted over in black. The Empire's weapons were all black -- to the best of my knowledge. So, unless you're trying to replicate a real Lewis machine gun and not a T-21 it seems that an all black paint scheme would be the way to go. Are there any opinions or arguments against this theory? Does anyone else out there have a Lewis replica and if so what paint scheme did you use? I'm curious to hear what others have to say before I start slapping the paint down on mine. ADDENDUM: Looking at some of the Star Wars toys out there, such as the Kotobukiya ARTFX sandtrooper, I see that they also have an all-black Lewis.

One thing that's nice about tempera paint is that I can paint my shoes (CA Boot) with it when I want to go dirty and wash it off (it will even come out of the fabric part) when I want to troop clean--which I'm guessing will be never again. Okay one last picture before this thread dies... What a difference mud makes ...I can't believe that they're the same helmet.

Just good old poster paint (a.k.a. tempera paint). It's water soluble so if you don't like the end result you can wipe it or blot it off with a wet paper towel. It's very forgiving but don't go trooping in the rain. Tempera paint is also dirt cheap (no pun intended) and can be found in most department stores as well as craft stores. The colors I used were basically olive green* mixed with brown and for some darker areas a little black mixed in. *I couldn't find olive green in the stores, but it can be replicated with orange and green in roughly equal parts.