Fayetteville Swamp Dogs 6/29/10

Just got home from Fayetteville. Myself and a few other members of the 501st were asked to troop J.P. Riddle Stadium in Fayetteville, NC for a baseball game they were having. We got there, suited up, and started trooping. We got to see lots of kids and take lots of pictures before the game. Vader (Bill Lane) was asked to throw the opening pitch, but unfortunately it started raining pretty heavily and the game was called off. We all got a little damp but overall it was still a good troop. All of us were able to go out to dinner together and had a nice time.

Here’s a pic from the event:

More to be seen here.

ConCarolinas 2010

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going into it since it was my first con. It turned out to be great. I got to meet lots of new people from the 501st that I hadn’t yet had the privilege to meet, as well as see those that I had met. I would have to say the highlights for me were getting to meet Albin Johnson (the guy who started it all!), participating in the droid hunt, and inducting artist Scott Rorie as an honorary member of the 501st. Albin was a really awesome guy to talk to and hang out with. It was really interesting hearing his views on costuming and some of the stories he had to tell. As far as the droid hunt goes, the 501st organized a little game/raffle for the “con-goers” to play with us. We confiscated “droids” (they were really badges worn by people at the con) in exchange for a raffle ticket. The kids had lots of fun with it as well as the adults. Anyway, here’s a pic of me at the con taken by one of the members of the Mandalorian Mercs:

More pics from the con can be found here.

Assembly

Ok, first of all I want to apologize for getting lazy on this blog. I haven’t updated in over a month and in that time I actually finished assembling my armor and attended my first troop (more on that to come later). So, since I got lazy I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked to. In place of some of the build pictures I took pictures of some pieces after they were finished so I will do my best to explain what was done.

Trimming is the biggest job of the whole build in my opinion. Since I have already posted on the techniques I used to trim I won’t go into that anymore. Once you have all the pieces trimmed, the next step is to glue all the pieces that need to be glued. Biceps, forearms, and thighs are done exactly the same so I’ll just explain one. Shins are done very similarly but with one difference which I will explain.

The following pictures are of the biceps but like I said the forearms and thighs are done exactly the same.

The two pieces are “clamshelled” together with a finishing strip on the outer side. The finishing strips are 15mm thick.

In order to cut the finishing strips I made two templates out of paper:

The 7mm template is for trimming either side of the bicep pieces to make sure the finishing strip fits evenly over the entire joint. This may have to be altered depending on the circumference of your arms. Here is a pic of two of the cut finishing strips:

Here is a pic of the inner joint:

And here is a pic of the whole bicep glued and clamped showing the finishing strip on the outer joint:

Now the shins are done the same way on the front side (“clamshelled” with a finishing strip on the outer joint). On the backside I simply have velcro to secure the seam which allows the shin piece to open and let the foot slip through. If both sides are glued it may be difficult to get your foot all the way through. Remember to put the hook side of the velcro facing away from your body to prevent any snagging on your undersuit.

The left shin, and right thigh have extra pieces on them. (sniper knee on the shin and ammo packs on the thigh) These pieces are attached on either side with a pop rivet.

Here is a pic of the left shin showing the rivet on the sniper knee:

And a pic of the right thigh showing the rivet:

I also decided to add a piece of weather stripping on the inside of each shin piece. This foam keeps the thigh from moving around too much while walking and give it an overall better fit.

Here is a pic of the inside of the right shin showing the weather stripping:

Another piece that needs to be glued is the thermal detonator control plate. The thermal detonator assembly is very straight forward. The body is a 2″ diameter conduit pipe. The plate is glued to the front and the two end caps are put on either end. My end caps were tight enough that I didn’t actually put any glue on those pieces. Here is a pic of the front of the thermal detonator:

The detonator is attached to the belt with two clips that hang over the top of the belt. For my clips I cut two strips of an old license plate and bent them to shape. There are better ways to do this such as using aluminum strips or money clips, however this was the easiest way for me and they don’t really show at all so I’m ok with it for now.

Here is a picture of the back of the detonator showing the clips:

The clips are attached to the detonator using four pop rivets. Line up the clips, drill holes through both the clips and the detonator body and then rivet. Simple as that.

Here is a pic showing the rivets:

The ab buttons on the ab piece need to be glued as well (sandtroopers don’t need these pieces so they aren’t molded into the ab piece).

Here is a picture of the ab piece without the ab buttons glued:

And a picture of the ab buttons glued. (note the four left ab buttons are not glued in this picture):

Here is a picture of the ab buttons painted. (Note the belt is attached in this picture):

The belt is attached with a single bolt on both the left and right sides and the covered with the square button covers that are included in the kit. To fasten the belt around the body I cut two 3″ thick pieces of plastic and attached them at the same bolt. The plastic is flexible enough to wrap around the body and secure in the back with velcro.

Here is a pic showing the point at which the belt is attached:

Once it’s all finished you should have something like this:

Stay tuned, more posts to come this weekend :)

Trimming

The first step in assembling your armor is to trim the various pieces down to a size and shape that is wearable. Keep in mind, some kits come pre-trimmed. The one which I bought (ATA Works) does not. Trimming the plastic is not difficult at all as long as you work slowly and patiently. The tools I am using are a box cutter and some needle nosed pliers. Some people choose to use tin snips or other shears but I find this way easy enough. Pic of the tools:

To trim the pieces use the box cutter to score the plastic. In other words, outline the area you want to remove. It may be hard to see in this pic, but here is the first score mark on the shoulder bell piece:

After you have scored the plastic use the pliers to bend the plastic along the score. Soon enough the plastic will buckle and snap off along the score line. Here’s a pic of the bell with the piece removed:

Remember to leave a small overhang on the armor pieces in order to give the illusion of thickness. Here is a closeup of the overhang on the ab section of the armor:

Over the next few days I will be trimming out the rest of the armor. Keep checking back. I will post when I move on to the next step.

Genesis

This blog is meant to chronicle my costuming adventures. My first project on this blog is going to be my ATA Stormtrooper armor. I am currently awaiting the arrival of my kit, the suspense is killing me! Ideally, I will apply and become a member of the 501st Legion upon the completion of this first project. Check out their site here. As I am from NC, I will be applying to the Carolina Garrison. I have been talking to a few of the guys over there and they have been more than helpful. I am really looking forward to joining the ranks. Check out their site here . For those of you looking to become new members of the 501st I suggest checking out all of these websites as well as the forums at whitearmor.net. There is lots of great information and helpful tips to be had there. I hope to have this project up and running soon (as soon as my armor arrives). Keep checking back, the site will be picture-laden, hopefully showing as much of the build process as I can.