TKZombie

That's a really great design!!! Well done!

Thanks Once dried nothing comes off. You can scratch it and it would but otherwise the only way to remove it is with 90% isopropyl alcohol. I’ve never sealed any of my weathering. It’s usually a month to fully cure.

Finally got two actually troop in my Scout Trooper and I had a photo shoot done at Toronto Comic-Con 2022.

The approval: My trio of Pathfinder Costumes: Christina Costumes: ANH Stunt Stormtrooper, ANH Centurion Hero Stormtrooper, ANH Sandtrooper, ANH Tusken Raider (RL/501ST Approved), ESB Snowtrooper, ROTJ Pagetti Rook, ROTJ Scout Trooper, Mandalorian Scout Trooper, Shoretrooper Grunt Rogue One, ANH Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot, ESB Luke Skywalker Snowspeeder Pilot, ESB Hoth Luke Skywalker. WIP: Din Djarin Beskar Version Season 1 & 2, , ESB Bespin Luke Skywalker.

And happy to share the costume is approved. Now to see if Vanguard is achievable, the blaster is the thing in question. Hopefully only minor alterations are needed.

@BikerScout007 @Minimo @KOtrooper Here is the E-22. Let me know what you think would be needed to make this acceptable for Vanguard. I know the screws need to be replaced with hex head bolts, thats relatively easy. The scope os being replaced for the right version.

Thanks, no nothing needs to be sealed, they just need time to dry fully which can be 2-3 weeks or longer depending on humidity and temperatures.

The red stripe is a plastic reflective film, Did the stunts not have anything there? That could be removed. The screws are all Robertson head and need to be replaced with hex head ones. The M plates I'm not sure of what you mean, I don't know what part that is. I think it's the plates on either side one under the flashlight part and the other on the opposite side, if that is mine doesn't match the reference photos, it has 3 extra blocks on the left side. The scope I know is wrong and I have replacement that is the correct scope and I'm currently painting it. I didn't print it, it was printed by and friend and he assembled and based painted it black it when he did it, so unfortunately there is too many print lines visible, which I guess won't be approvable. Trying to sand out those on an assembled piece is not something I want to attempt. I can post photos to see what you think but I don't think its close enough from the reference I reviewed.

Thank you, that was the plan and I’d love to submit for Vanguard but my E22 doesn’t meet the standards. So unfortunately I won’t be submitting. Doubtful I’ll replace the E22 I have to meet the standards.

Yeah those shins are really the big weak spot in that kit. It wouldn't be that much to update for my accurate if he wanted to. I tried multiple times to make them work but its impossible to get the straps to line up at the back and front to be screen accurate.

Awwww thank you that’s really kind of you to say!

Sorry, I've been too busy to update here, so here is a bulk update... Trial fitting of the painted armour (pre-weathering) from the waist up. Onto the weathering, the fun part! All masking (liquid latex) was applied on the base brown paint then painted with the final colours. Masking was them removed and some additional wear added with sandpaper, files, and a Dremel. Here's an example of artists oil paint weathering. Raw Umber is applied all over with a cheap chip brush. (PRO-TIP: The Montana gold paint can sometimes go on with a bit of a dusty finish, or semi rough texture once its dried, usually from spraying too far from the surface. In thiose cases I wet sanded the dried paint with 1000 grit to get rid of that texture, if you don't the oil paint weathering method will not work as it will collect in the rough texture. I learned that from experience) Then the bulk of the oil paint is wiped off with paper towel (Wear latex gloves though this whole process) Leaving more wear dirt naturally collects which is in creases and also make note of gravity dirt/grime collects along bottom edges not on the top. You have a long working time with oil paint to perfect it. Then I drybrush/stipple in weathering to build up some layers. From there I let is dry for 2-3 days and add some additional layers of Brunt Umber and Black oil paints to create further depth and variety. Different colours need somewhat different applications. The red being a different type of paint took the oil paint differently. Before and After, you can see I'm always referencing screen photos as a work, from building the armour to weathering. The shins, the nemesis of this costume, The Imperial Surplus ABS shins simply don't cut it, they are by far the weakest link in that kit. I'd personally would have preferred ABS but their inaccuracies were just too far off for me. So I bought MPSB files and printed the shins, the shins are PLA and the cover parts and knee plates are all resin printed. I did have photos assembling them and painting these but seem to have deleted them. But here are the finished shins pre weathering. Weathering, I found juice cartons worked perfectly for supporting the shins, filled with water they created a stable base to work on for painting and weathering. (sorry for the lighting, I have amber tinted lights in my dining room so they aren't great to photograph at night.) Once they were done they had to dry which is about a 2 week process. I'll suit up with everything for the first time once they are done but till then here is everything. The pants and shirt were both weathered with oil paints as well, just very light layers of dry brushing building layers gradually. And flash forward 2 weeks... Here is the finished Shoretrooper Grunt. Son of a !!!!! I just saw the back of the armour skirt had popped out and was hanging below the belt. Suiting up alone and taking photos is hard!!! Oh well... I'm very happy how this all turned out but it was by far the hardest build I've done and nearly broke me a few times. There's no quick assembly here, to do things right takes time, a lot of time! It's a lot to assemble then there is multiple layers of paint, chipping, distressing, and weathering to deal with. I'd say if this is your first costume build it's not going to be easy. This is my 15th costume so I have a lot of experience and I struggled. Its not very comfortable and I was surprised how limited mobility is in it. And now the fun photos with the submission ones out of the way.

Actually I didn't do any weathering on it, it came like that. But if your's is too new looking a tea dye would help and some light drybrushing to weather the edges, as well as some sanding on the edges.

I use artists oil paints not acrylics. Once dried, which takes several weeks it’s basically on there for good, it can be scratched as any paint can. But if Ty want to clean it off 99% isopropyl alcohol will take it off. On the fabric I use oil paints as well but very, very lightly dry brushing.

Great solution, I use 99% isopropyl alcohol and it wipes it away clean no matter how long it’s been on.

It seems very hit and miss. Ive talked to others with the same issue. One who did two biceps and one was fine the other this same issue. I tried a 2nd can and same issue. I bought them almost a year apart but the manufacturer number is the same lot, was from the same store so I guess it’s not overly popular. Anyway at least there was a solution.

I've been horrible at updating this build, mostly because of needing to load pictures to Imgur to host them first. Progress continues...Everything from the waist up is finished and been painted. Here is everything prior to removing the masking for chips in the Sarah Beige. A test fitting, lots of small fit tweaks to do but getting there. I have decided to go with MPSB shins over the Imperial Surplus ones as trying to build them to be screen accurate is impossible. I printed the shins in PLA scaled up 110% in X and 115% in Y & Z to fit my height and build. While sanding the one side it snapped clean in half. I know why I hate 3d prints. I glued it back to together and reinforced the seam on the back with a strip of ABS. After they were sanded with 150, 220 and 320 grits I had a signifiant amount of flaws in the print lines to fill. I used a mixture of Bondo (Glazing spot putty mixed with acetone to thin it down to a consistency of acrylic paint and brushed on a layer to smooth everything out. That dries over night then will be sanded smooth. I didn't take a picture of it sanded down. Once it was done I found juice cartons (filled with water for support) were the perfect shape to fit inside and hold my shins for painting. Off to the home made spray paint booth in my garage, a lazy suzy attached to a board for a turntable, lights, cardboard side and top to contain the overspray and a fan to blow the spray outside. A cheap filter goes over the fan motor. Here is the first layer of filler primer. I'll sand those and touch up any flaws with more bondo and add a second filler primer layer then move onto the brown paint. The shin covers and knee parts are printing in resin so they'll be super clean and only need a light sanding and then directly to painting brown. The right bicep was a nightmare to paint. The Toyota Red goes on horribly, its very thin so needs 2-3 layers to get coverage and then it doesn't dry even, some parts are pinkish matte and others a glossy red. I wet sanded it down and tried again with 2 more coats and the exact same issue happened. Thankfully Facebook Shoretrooper Fam group to the rescue. I applied a couple layers of Montana Gold Acrylic Matte Varnish and that evens out the colour. The boots are underway, raw umber, burnt umber, and black oil paints to darken, then onto drybrushing some sandy/beige acrylic paints once the oils dry up. Here is the first with oils applied. I'll be moving onto weathering and distressing the armour and pants this weekend while the shins finish up printing and priming. Montana Gold Acrylic Spray 11oz Varnish Matte

Probably for the best, it’s pretty hard to see much difference between the two being 1/4” apart. Thig big one is the bicep as the ROTJ has 2” a wide band and the Mandalorian is the same thickness as the forearms. I’m really to do photos this weekend for submission.

You might want to lower the cummerbund, hard to say without the cod. I only say lower it as you don’t have much gap between it and the back armour.

Looking forward to submitting mine for lvl 2 approval. It’s all there and ready. One question are we going with 3/4” ribbed elastic or 1” ribbed on the shoulder, bicep, and knee?

My notes: Not sure where you're getting the elastic straps on the shoulders, biceps, forearms, and knees is 1/2" wide. You can see on this image the width on the forearm armour, that piece is 2.5" wide so there is no way that is 1/2" elastic, its more like 3/4" or 1". Specifically it is black Elastic Woven No-Roll, note this type of elastic has the raised ridges and should be a requirement for lvl 2. Flightsuit There are two types of flight suit used, as one has the thigh pocket flap which is straight across and the other has that thigh pocket with angled flaps. So the flap can't be a lvl 2 requirement. Straight pocket flap examples Angled pocket flap example The Cummerbund back closure flap has a added stitching detail up the middle. The right glove has a plastic tag attached. Its visible on the DC23 display and also in the show, see below: The chest is shown with the middle notch trimmed out at the bottom and without so that can't be a lvl 2 item. The chest looks to be wider than 1.5", more like 2", Look at this image where you can compare to the drop boxes strap which were are calling 1.5", the chest is wider. This may be harder to accommodate on non-WTF armour. I know on my RS Props that the recess where strap goes only fits 1.5". The back armour should have a note there is no elastic strap on the top or bottom that loops around inside the armour. The ROTJ armour has that as optional but its not used on the Mandalorian as per the below pics. There appears to be no white circle on the tank top. The pouches should not attach with a flap visible above the pouch as they do on the ROTJ version. You can see here the velcro attachment is behind the pouch. The boots do have a distinct tread. The only vendor I know of that makes these is Steph Mortimer of Steph's Imperial Outfitters as she provided boots and cummerbund for the production. I've not seen another vendor who makes that specific tread. I don't think my current boots (Imperial Boots) have enough tread to cut the extra slot in. I know on the ROTJ lvl 2 that the screen used tread is required, I guess my concern is if we require a specific tread that is only available from one vendor why don't we require the exact specific armour for lvl 2 as we know WTF armour was used for the costume with a EFX helmet. Hope these notes help.

Yes raw umber as the overall base layer then burnt umber and raw umber as layers to build depth in the weathering.

It’ll be permanently fixed. I’m use to a hyper firm DLT19 which is just as heavy as this or a full resin E-11.

Progress continues slower than I'd like but it's going. I tried to work with the IS shins but trying to build them to be screen accurate just isn't working. To get the straps to position correctly mean s the front plate has to be pushed really far down. Then it impacts your walking. I've given up on the shins and have decided to print MPSB shins instead. Forearms are completed and in the process of adding bond to the resin piece so they are seamlessly attached. The biceps and shoulders are strapped and ready to prime. I'm keeping the bicep back open. The abdomen is fully assembled, I added 1" shins on each side to help fit better. I've also added buckles and straps as suspends for this section as well. Finishing up bond on here as well. The torso, chest and back are completed now. The back collar was a pain to attach, I had to contact Kevin and he noted the neck on the back plate has to be trimmed wider than the edge to get the collar to fit. I reinforced it underneath as well. I'm using MPSB straps and buckles and shoulder bridge plate as well. I'm using the MPSB belt plate cover and the spine plate. I've also printed the thermal detonator and vertical canister and caps from those files, much lighter than the resin ones and more accurate. Riveted on the snaps to attached the belt to the plate and the plate to the fauld. Highly recommend using a drill press for these as trying to drill was difficult to get them precisely lined up. Hand plates are also printed from MPSB files. I have the E22 Blaster printed and assembled just need to weather and detail it. I'm not a fan of printed bolsters because of their weight so I've added a rod of rebar inside the middle tube so the blaster has some weight to it. Finishing bondo work is underway and then priming that before moving onto a overall sanding of all the abs before taking it to the brown primer stage. Shins are slowly printing, probably a couple weeks before their ready to assemble. But hopefully I'll have everything else primed and start to prep for weathering masking before moving to colour painting.

Get the ones with curved blades.