postmortem01

LOL. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it. Getting it done is most important. You've gotta use whatever tools you have. We are fortunate to have access to tools like this.

Exactly. We don't currently own a 5 axis CNC router so we are doing this in a way that will work best for our router.

Here are the helmet parts in progress right now. More pics to come tonight.

I don't think the helmet faceplate should open since the bottom hole is plenty large enough to put your head in. I just don't think it buys you anything. You never see it in the movie like that and to tell you the truth, the faceplate isn't shaped properly to clear the dome anyway.

Of course. More pictures to come before the weekend. We will also have pictures of the helmet, the tactical cummerbund and the glove mod. I'll keep this thread updated. My back is still out but I will be able enough to keep CNC'ing the masters. If there are any issues that you guys can forsee, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Yeah. It's great to be accurate but this clasp is a bit silly. It's a horrible real world design...

The Renshape is relatively inexpensive by comparison to 7 or 10lb sculpting foam. You can get a 48" x 96" x 4" board for about $1000 +tax. That would do the whole set of armor....pretty much.

The green foam is a material called Renshape 5025. It's significantly more dense than 10lb foam but a bit more work to sand it smooth. In some cases, the Renshape is easier to work with though. The density makes it capable of holding high detail. It's much easier to seal as well. You can actually do test pulls over the top of it without destroying it before it is sealed. The side closure looks like this in the movie but I don't really see how this will be a good practical solution to wearing a costume.

I didn't have much time this weekend so I CNC'd the backplate only. We'll cut some of the other parts out this week. I had to use two different types of foam since the green foam didn't show up. Bummer. The yellow sculpting foam is crap. I hate it. It's very much like using floral foam for your sculpting.....you shouldn't do it. Floral foam is cheap but the worst type of foam to use for sculpting. You can see that this would tend to be a bit of a tall draw. We've added another inch on the bottom to increase the amount of side reach you have. This should allow for some of us non-twiggy guys.

There will some pictures of the backplate and tank this weekend. I'm looking forward to cranking this out. I've hurt my back so I'm on restricted movement right now but we should be able to cnc the parts.

We can pull the 13" in one shot but I'm a bit worried about webbing. on the corners of the tank. The tops of the shoulders are currently correct but the rib cage sides are sized for a clone. This means it's sized for a very thin man or a woman. (no offense intended to anyone) The rib cage overlap will be extended by a couple inches before we finalize the master. This will allow for a larger rib caged person like myself.

I'll shoot some videos this weekend. You can see in these pictures about how tall the draw will be. The other problem is the tank has a recessed area at the top for a control panel. This area may need to be cut in for a panel to be inserted from below depending on how this back is pulled.

Yeah. The tank and backplate are looking like they might cause a bit of an issue with such a tall draw. Currently, it works out to about a 13" tall draw. We will need to add some adjustment length into the draws as well otherwise these will not fit anyone. As far as the height issue with the backplate and tank, we're going to try to pull this on a very strong vac former with a quick pressure dump. We'll see how it does.

We just bought a small CNC router. This will makes things much easier and cleaner. I hate sculpting with foam. The CNC loves it though. We're going to run the back and shoulders this weekend. Stay tuned!

Thanks very much. Now that we're done with the Clone Trooper armor, we are looking forward to working on this. We will have the bucks done within the next couple weeks. This project will move quickly. It should be fun.

We've finally started the CNC stage of this project and things will start to move quickly here. Below you can see the chest mold master as it came out of the CNC. We are using a dense foam to capture sharp edges and detail. There will still be a bit of sanding and work to do after they are CNC'd but the quality and accuracy will be spectacular. I can't wait!

We've finally started the CNC stage of this project and things will start to move quickly here. Below you can see the chest mold master as it came out of the CNC. We are using a dense foam to capture sharp edges and detail. There will still be a bit of sanding and work to do after they are CNC'd but the quality and accuracy will be spectacular. I can't wait!

Boy....they just let anyone in here!!! LOL. Hi Turo. I know this is an ugly helmet. I think so too.

What is KS?

Ugh. I don't have an Altmann. I will try to find one. I know I have a giant head but some of you guys with the alien shape rear portions of your heads need more room. You know who you are. Let me see what I can do.

Let me ask this question... What size helmet works for you guys? If you don't mind, maybe answer in the format below: 1. Master Replicas Ep. III helmet - too big? 2. Efx Ep. II helmet - too small? 3. etc. We have most of the helmets that are out on the market so we can use that to judge. I'm concerned with the interior. I want to make this thing so it's small but not too small. I've got one shot at growing this. It's going to cost about $2800 to have grown. That doesn't include clean-up and/or machine missing or deformed parts, etc. I want to make sure this thing is the right size +/- 3%. I know 3% is a large margin for error in size but not everyone will fit the helmet unless I make this thing giant and I won't do that.

Ahhahh....go to bed!

Oh man. That's great. I have the knobs and stuff but I'm missing a couple of the parts. some of the pieces must have been bump textures.

Anyone have GREAT images of the top of the backpack control plate? I think that's the one thing I don't really have.

We could do that but this helmet has a giant opening at the bottom. since there really isn't a neck hole. It's bigger than the biker scout. There really aren't any undercut on the underside of the helmet.