pandatrooper

Good feeback everyone, thanks for input! I'll move forward with my plan, and when I submit, you guys can decide if it it meets the proper criteria.

Is this it on Youtube? In 5 parts

Understood. It's a bummer though because I don't really want to buy a pouch that I'm not going to use in my setup. Any indication on when the new "fun stuff" might happen? If it's not happening for a long time, I'd have to buy pouches to be deployed (or I guess just not apply to be deployed). But if the changes happen in the next 2-3 months, I'll probably just hold off purchasing anything and see what the updates are. Thanks!

I was thinking of replicating the "Stop that ship" TD (during the docking bay 94 scene), but with his pack on (required for deployed). So according to the CRL, a TD needs 2 or 3 pouches, but it doesn't specifically say what type (triple, small spanish, etc. as that would be more detailed). But according to the Deployed requirements, it states "MP-40" style pouches. But then looking at Rolf's "post your gear diagrams"... http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=6459&st=0&p=78101&fromsearch=1entry78101 ...the "Stop that ship" trooper has a few different setups, which might have been continuity errors or on purpose to allow for his "tuck and roll". That being being said, would configuration 9 in Rolf's diagram (one MP-40 pouch on the left hip and one small Spanish WWII pouch on the right) be a "pass" for a 501st TD and MEPD deployed? Or do you have to have 2 or 3 MP-40 pouches? I'd like to know before buying / making anything. Thanks in advance!

I think it depends on the context. If you're attending a canon / official event (eg: Rose parade because LFL invited you, trooping at the white house, an opening for a new Clone Wars movie, etc. I think canon is the way to go. If you're attending a local kids school event for charity or something, I don't think the kids would care either way. Most people that aren't SW fans wouldn't even notice the difference. If you're appearing at an event to make kids happy, I don't think it matters. If you're attending a canon event, I say go screen accurate. *Note: in those Disney events, aren't those legion members in the parade? I figured it's actors / stunt guys in the performances, but I thought the parades they invite legion members, correct?

Exactly! I was rather bummed that the clones were all CG, and that they weren't costumes. I didn't really see the point for that. Personally, I think it would have been really cool to see more "men in monster suits" type of approach that Stan Winston used to do (a hero of mine). Creatures like the Alien and Predator have so much more character.

You know what though, I saw a photo of a black pauldron, and the front black part looked "sewn" on like it was an extra layer. I'll have to find it.

John Mollo was the costume designer on Star Wars, but he may have had a crew working with him to create the packs. He refers to "We took plastic seed boxes", plus it;s unlikely he would have built the packs alone before the shoot in Tunisia. This is the only info I've ever found on the original creation of the packs from the Making of Star wars book. "George announced that he was going to take some Stormtroopers on location, and he wanted them in Combat Order. I said “Oh yes George, what’s combat order for Stormtroopers?” and he said “Lots of stuff on the back”. So I went into this Boy Scout shop in London and bought on of these metal backpack racks; then we took plastic seed boxes, stuck two of those together, and put four of those on the rack. Then we put a plastic drainpipe on the top, with a laboratory pipe on the side and everything was sprayed black. [laughs] This was the most amazing kind of film! George asked, “Can we get something that shows their rank?” So we took a motorcycle chest protector and put one of them on their shoulders. George said “That’s great!” We painted one orange and one black and that was it!’ Mollo concludes, happily.”

Just found this on ebay. Original leather MP40 pouch! I would bid on it but I'm in the middle of making my own pouches for my own build and I can't spare the funds. http://cgi.ebay.com/ww2-world-war-two-original-German-mp40-webbing-pouch_W0QQitemZ230460426504QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_Militaria_LE?hash=item35a8830908#ht_500wt_1182

Very nice! Cool weathering too! The extra pouch one is perfect for the shoulder.

Mikes syphon looks angled to me. Look at the alignment of the wet wipes bottle compared to the blue tray. They are not parallel.

Great examples, thanks Rolf! I'm considering going HIPS and not painting it white first. The way I see it, if the TD's were in the desert and "battle hardened", I don't think they would be shiny. With that much use / abuse on armor in the desert, I would think the gloss would wear off and only possibly be visible on some high spots. I also think this would be a nice contrast to my ABS TK which is glossy. Plus, I am rather lazy and not looking forward to sanding a full suit, washing it, drying it, primering it, painting it white, only to dirty it up via layers of paint. I'm still finishing my T-21 (almost done, tutorial coming) and my Crashmann pack. Thanks for all the input fellas, I think I know what direction to head in!

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys!

I have a question for TDs that use styrene / HIPS for their armor. Do you guys paint it white before going dirty or do you just go dirty directly on it? Having only ever had ABS TK armor, I haven't worked with HIPS armor so I'm not sure how I would approach it for TD. The only issue I see is that while the styrene is white, its not glossy white. But for a TD Im not sure if thats an issue? Would you just paint the dirt / weathering directly on the raw styrene and forgo any shiny white areas? I would think that would be OK. Thanks in advance!

No kidding. Most people want money, fancy cars, luxury homes, etc.. We want old radios that are no longer made, vintage Tupperware lids, and long extinct British toilet syphons...

They might be metal inserts, just to protect the corners from being banged up? Looks like they were painted black from the factory and the paint has worn off.

Very lucky find, I wonder how much they paid?

Now that there's more clarity on the TD equipment, would Legion CRL's need to be updated? I think the CRL's still state you need to have "2 or 3 pouches, worn on the hip or shoulder" or something like that, but with the info above, some setups only have 1 pouch. Some in Rolf's diagrams have NO pouch! Also, the CRL's don't state what type of pouch, so I'm assuming any of the screen used pouch designs (MP40 triple, triple shoulder with extra pouch, the small / medium / large Spanish) would work, no? So technically, if you were to portray an accurate TD couldn't people get a Legion number based on the above info with fewer pouches?

My only complaint about the Sideshow ones is the helmet, as you've already pointed out. It looks very FX like (angled face, sharp corner eyes, and the cheek tubes are way too big). That, and the joints are a little loose, and they don't stand well with packs, they almost always need some extra support. The backpacks however are really good, I have taken reference pics and posted them in the backpack section. The sideshow weapons are very nice and detailed. The E11 is very sharp in terms of detail. The pauldrons are also sewn fabric, which is a nice touch. The Marmit ones are very nice, and harder to come by now and much more expensive. Keep in mind that their scale is not compatible with others, meaning Marmit's 12" is smaller than Sideshow's 12". The figure is also slightly less posable than Sideshows. Some of the parts are less detailed, but everything fits well and hangs nicely on the figure. In terms of availability, you can still buy the Sideshows rather easily. The white and orange pauldron ones are out now, and the black will be available by June. *BTW: at some point when I'm totally bored and have tons of spare time (yeah right) I might resculpt a 12" helmet that's mre to scale for the sideshow figures, and add in the details we all know and love.

The Hyperfirms are cast from real de-commisioned weapons, they use a resin plastic that has rubber content in it so they're great for trooping. Light weight too. They do very good work, very detailed!

Nice! Is that a Hyperfirm? I love the detail on the barrel shroud, you can see the grooves.

Nice work! More inspiration for my build!

Requesting 501st access TK2886 Thank you!

My personal theory is that the blue tube stripes were airbrushed with stencils. Having done a lot of screen printing and airbrushing in my time (along with being a professional artist / graphic designer for 25 years), I believe they were airbrushed with a stencil for several reasons. Although several people say they were hand painted, I don't think the strokes look brush painted. The tapered corners are too sharp for a beginning and end brush stroke. Several people say they were screen printed. I can't see them doing this. This would require a rather complex curved screen frame, and I don't think they would have done that on a compound curved surface especially with the stripes so close to the corner of the "face" (the cheek tubes curve up then intersect with the face, and the tubes strips are really close to that intersection.) I believe they are airbrushed sprayed stencils because: - it would have been very easy to cut some airbrush frisket or vinyl stencil to make the tube stripes - the stripes themselves have a very "hand cut" look to them, they don't look like they were carefully done, they look a bit rushed and eye balled in terms of symmetry - sometimes, the painting is so thin from the application or they're worn to the point where you can almost make out the stipple marks - I could swear sometimes I see corner bleeds from cutting the frisket too much, a tell tale sign they're stencil / airbrushed - Ainsworth himself painted many of the helmets white using his automotive spray painting guns because he fixed up cars. So having that equipment on hand would make airbrushing a stencil easy - Humbrol paints could easily be thinned and used in an airbrush, so could any automotive paints he had on hand at the time These are just my personal theories based on my own experience, nothing more.

Nice work! Looks like it's been to Tatooine and back several times and seen some serious action!