This week I've been tinkering away on the final piece of my stormtrooper armour - the thermal detonator. The reason this part has taken so long is due to the difficulty I had finding a piece of PVC pipe with the right diameter. My local hardware stores weren't able to help, but fortunately MattG over at Star Wars New Zealand had an extra piece lying around that he generously sent through to me.
Another difficulty was working out the simplest way to obtain some metal clips for affixing the detonator to the belt. Matt came to the rescue again, suggesting I pick up some cheap tape measures and pilfer the belt clips from those. With all of the parts in hand, I was finally ready to make a start. The first job was to cut the PVC pipe to length and drill holes for the belt clips. Then it was time to give the PVC pipe a couple of coats of paint - the same grey colour as the buttons on the abdomen of the suit.
Another difficulty was working out the simplest way to obtain some metal clips for affixing the detonator to the belt. Matt came to the rescue again, suggesting I pick up some cheap tape measures and pilfer the belt clips from those. With all of the parts in hand, I was finally ready to make a start. The first job was to cut the PVC pipe to length and drill holes for the belt clips. Then it was time to give the PVC pipe a couple of coats of paint - the same grey colour as the buttons on the abdomen of the suit.
Once that was done, it was just a matter of screwing on the belt clips and gluing on the control panel and end caps using some good old E6000 glue.
With the thermal detonator finished, my suit of stormtrooper armour is now (finally!) complete. Be sure to keep an eye on the Stormtrooper Armour section of this blog for a new round of armour photos soon!
