Hawkeye

Your pouches are looking great so far. There are all kinds of threads in the "Pouches & Misc Parts" area about canvas pouches & the different weathering methods & their results, usually with plenty of photos to give you a good idea. Personally, black spray paint, a little overall dry-brushing with a tan paint, then a good kick around the kids' sandbox, followed by some hairspray & dry clay or fullers earth has worked for mine. Stay tuned, I'm sure the other guys here will soon help you out with this.

Spray the part you are working on with hairspray first, then sprinkle the earth onto it. I like to have a damp to wet rag handy to 'touch up' the dirt until I get the look I want. Good luck & enjoy getting dirty!

I have to agree with you Guys, There's nothing better than watching ANH with my three kids, aged 6, 4 & 3, and have them all say there's Dad! everytime a trooper is on screen. My 6 year old son is forever correcting anyone who calls me a stormtrooper, explaining that I'm in fact a Sandtrooper!

Hey Guys, I've been working on a set of armour loosely based on the custom sideshow stormtrooper from SDCC 2009. I've freehanded various words in Aurebesh on the armour, this is a first for me & I'm hoping I got it okay. The arm on the right is ready for weathering, I thought I should hear what you all think before I go any further. It's all sitting on the "Dewback skin" that I'm using for my kama.

Let me know if you're ever thinking of stopping into Canada. I'm in Toronto & I'm sure we'd find room for a Sandy brother in for a visit.

Great job on your armour & awesome photoshoot! Glad to have another Sandy in T.O!

Thanks for the feedback guys! It's great to hear your thoughts on this little project. It was a fun build & I was able to show my kids a first-hand example of the "Reduce, Reuse & Recycle" they're studying in school. Now onto the armour & accessories to match this helmet! All the best. Luke

Hey Guys, I've enjoyed the Imperial Commando helmets a number of you have built & after seeing the SDCC 2009 Sideshow 'Dune Sea Tusken Nomad' & Humbrelcreations' 'Pre Sandtrooper' custom figures I got to wondering what the 'Missing Link' trooper might look like, a trooper left behind in the desert, who bridges the newer trilogy with the orginal trilogy. I had a 3/4 completed fibreglass helmet sitting on a shelf for two years I didn't like because of it's soft details. I'm hoping this helmet is the start of a complete 1:1 take on elements of these figures. Please let me know what you think. If you have any interest, I'll try to post parts of this project as I complete them. The blue Tic Tac box, coffee container & large washers shown weren't used in the build: Bondo & parts glued in place: Head & Shoulder shampoo caps used instead of Tic Tac box for top vents: Two coats of primer, two coats of paint & two coats of clear coat: Hand painted details, awaiting brow trim, aerators & weathering, the orange trim a nod to our pauldrons:

Hey Guys, Here are a couple of photos of some of the supplies I used to build my binocs. The main container I used is about 8 1/2" tall, 8" wide & about 3" deep. This is why I needed the toothpaste tube! I realize there are some parts not in the photo, I'll try to list the parts here: Long wooden fireplace matches, used for the 'ribs' A small green screw cap from a lemon-shaped juice container, the centre of the dial to the left of the eye pieces A red cap from the end of the axle of a child's wagon or ride-on-car, the red button between the eye pieces A clam-shell blister package with square 'buttons' which hold the halves together (from a door handle set from Home Depot),for the three buttons below the eye pieces & the 'lens' on the front of the binocs A sheet magnet, for the inside of the 'lens' Assorted screws, to hold things together & for show I now wish I had taken more photos during the build, if you have questions about things I'll try my best to explain. Most importantly, I found the website partsofsw.com had great reference photos to help in my build.

I was involved with the Boy Scouts for over ten years as a leader & my call-name was Hawkeye, seemed natural to continue to use it. My TD 7174 is a combination of my birth year of 1971 & my wife's of 1974. Figured that I should pay tribute to her somehow as she puts up with the ongoing weathering & prop projects!

Bit late to the party but here are a couple of my favourite shots of my three biggest fans: With the droid we were looking for: Me & Mini-Me, my oldest:

Thanks for the kind words guys! It was a fun build from start to finish. It almost has me banned from the kitchen though (could be a good thing). My wife is now nervous anytime I'm looking for tupperware, she doesn't know if it's for food or if it's going to be "cut up & painted!" I can't get freakengine's tutorial up now either, I could try to post a few photos & descriptions of the parts I used if that might be of any help.

Hey Guys, I've been lurking around here too long & thought I should start contributing. With the better weather I've been able to start & finish some projects. Here is a pair of binocs that I built using freakengine's tutorial. Let me know what you guys think.

Hey Guys, Saw this & thought you might get a kick out of it. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1931187 Luke

Congrats on your deployment! Beautiful work all around, especially the weathering & the blast marks!

Hey Guys, After reading all of these I'm a bit embarassed by what I used for my green lens. I found a kid's toy police helmet with a green lens at Walmart. It's the right size & at $1.99 the price was right! I have yet to find a photo where you can see my eyes through the lens.

It looks absolutely amazing! I had noticed the change in the small icon in the web address the past few days but this morning blew me away when I logged on! Great job! Thanks!

That looks ablsotely amazing so far! I've been gatthering bits & pieces to do the same type of kit since I saw the SDCC figure. I haven't had any luck finding extra armor parts to paint up! For the cloak/cape, There's a cheap twin blanket @ Walmart that is an open weave & off white which could be coloured to match. It's not too far off of a Tusken robe if that's what you're looking for. Good luck with the custom, hope I can share my own by the summer! Keep the pics coming.

Hey All, I don't know if any of you are still looking for one of these but I just saw one on ebay & thought I should let you know. I think it looks like it might be of some use as a dewback pack at a decent price. Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/1936-German-Back-Pack-...=item5ad5c37ba7 Hope you & your families all have a safe & happy Holiday season guys! Luke TD-7174

The whole weekend was a blast. My 5 year old son can't wait until he can get a "real" kit like mine. He was busy all weekend correcting anyone who called us stormtroopers & then explained the differences. That's my boy!

Thanks guys, It's great to hear from my peers (as opposed to a bemused wife) on the look of my kit. I have actually done quite a bit more on the weathering since these photos & I think it looks a bit better now, there are some shots of it in the tours of duty under Fan Expo 2009. Any imput is always apprieciated. Luke TD-7174

Jonboy, my boy, you look amazing in the new kit! Great job. I am already looking forward to trooping with you in your new kit in the near future. I think the two of us trooping together would be quite impresive if I do say so. All the best for now. Luke TD-7174

Thanks so much for the kind words, it was great to meet & troop with you this past weekend. I hope we can troop again before too long, we sandtroopers need to stick together!

Hey all, Just wanted to share a few photos from an excellent weekend at the Fan Expo here in Toronto. http://s869.photobucket.com/albums/ab254/TD7174/ In my first con with the 501st I was able to troop celebrating the Canadian Garrison's 10th anniversary, meet Anthony Forrest and meet many of the great people involved in the 501st in my neck of the woods. My kids had a blast tagging along as well. Luke TD-7174

Hi & welcome, I'm from T.O. as well & a newbie. I take it you mean Polaris this past weekend. I trooped there for a couple of hours on the Saturday, nothing like Fan Expo. I understand there are a couple of substitutes if you can't get the fuller's earth you might want to consider. Model railroad shops have earth tone "powders" for when they make their landscapes & I understand that the fine dust from the bottom of a bag of clay-based kitty litter can also be used as a replacement for the fuller's earth. Hope this helps a bit! Luke TD-7174