The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Butt Plate
The butt plate is trimmed, finishing off the armour for the torso.
The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Kidney Plate
The kidney plate is now also trimmed and finished.
The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Ab Plate
Some fitting, trimming, and sanding and the ab plate is done! I'll be adding the coloured buttons soon.
The Birth of a Trooper - Gluing the Left Thigh
It was back to the workstation yesterday, starting off with the gluing of the left thigh.
The Birth of a Trooper - Holster
Yesterday a whole load of awesome arrived in my mail - a Kiwi Empire blaster rifle holster made by Fredstar from the SWNZ Message Boards. It truly is a work of art. Fredstar uses only the finest NZ 'Imperial' leather along with a leather cutter mold which leaves it with no rough edges.
If you're after a holster, be sure to drop Fredstar a line. I can't recommend this highly enough!
Lego 9489 - Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack
Yesterday I was in The Warehouse and found these Lego 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Packs reduced from $27.99 to $15.97.
This is a cool little set with some great minifigures inside (I particularly like the new helmets given to the rebel troopers).The speeder bike has been given a nice upgrade, and you can never have too many Imperial scout troopers and stormtroopers!
Stormtrooper Cufflinks
It was graduation last week, and my parents bought me this awesome set of Stormtrooper cufflinks to celebrate. Needless to say, I rocked these up on stage while receiving my certificate!
New Television Series "Star Wars Rebels" Announced
This morning StarWars.com announced that there is indeed a new Star Wars television series in production - Star Wars: Rebels. The series will be set between Episodes III and IV and scheduled to begin with a one-hour premiere in the Fall of 2014.
Episode VII to be Filmed in England
Today Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that Star Wars: Episode VII will be filmed in England. There's no indication of whether this will include shooting on-location or merely in-studio, but more details are bound to surface in the coming months. As always, be sure to stay tuned for updates!
The Birth of a Trooper - Armour Work-in-Progress Update 7
The armour is now complete from the chest up!
The Birth of a Trooper - Undersuit (Top Half)
I picked up this long-sleeved top from my local Warehouse store to form the top half of the undersuit.
The Birth of a Trooper - Neck Seal
The neck seal for my suit was made according to the incredibly useful tutorial on the White Armor forums.
Unfortunately I can't take credit for the incredible sewing skills seen here. All credit goes to my awesome mum!
The Birth of a Trooper - Gloves
I managed to pick these gloves up at my local Warehouse store. They're cotton coated with a rubber finish.
The Birth of a Trooper - Hand Plate Webbing
A simple loop of elastic was glued to the hand plates. These will then slip on over my gloves.
The Birth of a Trooper - Arm Webbing
The arm webbing was up next, again using elastic and industrial-strength velcro to fit.
The Birth of a Trooper - Chest and Back Webbing
With the top half of the armour complete, it was time to get started on the webbing. I've opted to use industrial-strength velcro connections for now as they're a little more forgiving than snap-plates when it comes to getting the fit right.
The first connection to be made was the strap connecting the chest, back, and shoulder bells together.
I've used a small pad of velcro to secure the shoulder straps to the back plate.
The finished product!
The Birth of a Trooper - Armour Work-in-Progress Update 6
Here's a sneak preview of all of the finished pieces coming together. This trooper's almost ready to head out and do his part for the Empire!
The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Shins
A little more sanding and the shins are done - glued down the front, and with a strip of industrial-strength velcro down the back for easy access.
The Birth of a Trooper - Gluing the Left Shin
Having completed the gluing of the top of half of the suit, it was time to move on to the rest. First up was the left shin.
The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Chest Plate
Yesterday I finished up the chest plate - doing some final sanding and affixing the suit's manufacturing number. The number was a nice little addition by OotaGoota (my suit being the fifth OotaGoota Armour suit made). It doesn't show up all that well in the photos, but the number is actually engraved onto the plate.
The Birth of a Trooper - Finishing the Biceps
After the glue on the biceps had set, I went to work with the dremel and some sandpaper to finish them off.
The Birth of a Trooper - Gluing the Chest Plate
The final but of gluing for the top half of the armour involved attaching the shoulder straps to the chest plate.
The Birth of a Trooper - Gluing the Right Bicep
The next piece of armour in need of gluing was the right bicep.
The Birth of a Trooper - Gluing the Left Bicep
Today it was time to get back into armour gluing - starting off with the left bicep.
Vintage Marvel Comics
This morning I dropped by my favourite second-hand magazine store. The owner keeps an eye out for any Star Wars-related material for me, and today he had the following - three vintage Marvel Star Wars comics from the 1980s for $3.00 each.
The Birth of a Trooper - Back in Business!
I'm back in New Zealand, which means it's finally time to continue work on my suit of stormtrooper armour. I'll be doing a supply run tomorrow morning for some odds-and-ends, after which I'll be getting the torso and arms fully glued and strapped together. Keep an eye out for lots of updates over the coming days!
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