ScaryGuy

Looking good Chief! This costume really comes alive with the weathering. Without it you look like a giant toy 😀.

Welcome Burt! Helmet is looking good, but I want to note that the eye bags should be black and stop before the middle/nose. These are not 100% accurate in Sean’s files. Also the thin recessed area next to the blast shield should be black.

Maybe I’m not naming it correctly, but the brown belt has twice the number of ribs compared to the black webbing in the same picture.

Of course we are nitpicky 😉. The weave detail is not something for basic approval, but if you compare it with the black webbing the difference is quite obvious I think. Curious to see how it looks on a finished belt with belt boxes.

Don't know if you plan on using that webbing or that it's just for test, but the shoretrooper webbing used has a much finer weave.

Nice info! Can you tell some more about the source?

Can’t help with a pattern, but maybe you can use a pattern for a sweater or similar, or take apart an old sweater and use the pieces as a pattern. Then add a separate neck seal with the vertical ribs. You could also buy a larger shoretrooper shirt then tailor it yourself. The color is dark grey. The full black shirts are for the AT-ACT driver and Tank commander. You also might see a separate neck seal with black vertical ribs. In the past the neck seal was assumed to be black due to lighting conditions of the reference pictures. The neck seal has the same color grey ribs, just the ribs are slightly narrower. The original fabric has stitches between every rib, standaard rib fabric probably does not have this but that is ok for basic approval. Some makers hand stitch every rib. The ribs are around 4 mm, preferably not shiny. For accuracy and level 2 requirements there needs to be mesh under the arm pits, and a zipper in the neck seal that zips down. Take a look at some reference pictures to get a good feel for the fabric.

Almost there! One thing that is noticeable is that your shoulder buckles are too high, they should be aligned with the end of the collar. The blue areas below the buckles are not rectangles but taper down to the edges. Your blue paint is also glossy which should be matte, a clear coat could fix that.

For accuracy it’s better to use a lens that is a bit curved. I cut a motorcycle helmet visor to size. The jet/pilot helmet types have a visor that is curved. Here’s how I did mine:

Congrats Chief! The Empire is proud!

Welcome Kevin! There are no differences in parts between the Grunt and Captain, just the paint is different with the added blue. If you look ar the CRL pictures then you will see some variation because people are using different kits to build their costume. So also check references from the original costumes. There’s a reference section under the Shoretrooper HQ.

Gratuliere Helge! You did an excellent job on both your Squad Leader and Grunt! Well done!

I wouldn’t use a dremel to sand down the edges, it’s difficult to control. Especially on the side of the chest I can see a lot of variation in the width of the return edge. It’s better to this by hand with a larger piece of sandpaper and/or a sanding block. Far easier to control and it sands a larger area at the same time. I think you can cut back the return edge (overhang) around the visor a bit more. Try to get the width the same on both sides. Compare it with the close up pictures of the helmet in my build thread. The gap between the faceplate and the visor at the top could have been a bit less, and the right side of the faceplate is moved a bit forward compared to the left side (which looks good). I think it should be approvable, but that is for the GML of your local garrison to decide. If you glued it with e6000 (you mention e3000?) it’s fairly easy to take them apart and redo it if you want to. You can use a putty knife to pry them apart (be careful to not use too much force on the plastic). I didn’t show it in my build thread, but when I had to repaint the entire helmet I removed the faceplate from the visor, and I made a cut with a dremel in the reinforcement pieces that held the visor halves together. This way I could move the faceplate closer to the top.

I feel for you, I know how tedious this work is. The plastic welder is pretty hard so I started with 120 grit paper, then 180, 240 and finally wet sanding with 400. While the plastic welder is great for bonding things together, it's more difficult to use as a filler. It melts the plastic a bit so you need to apply it evenly to avoid creating new gaps. In a video Walt posted on his WTF page he recommended applying a wide band of plastic welder (like 1.5 - 2 inch) over the seam and then sand that down. It might be easer to use a different filler for this, but then I recommend to ask advice from a professional like at a car body shop. Maybe a plastic bumper filler would do the job. But I would test it on a scrap piece of plastic. It needs to adhere to the plastic and still be flexible enough to avoid cracking. I think you need to trim back the edges a bit more, the ident along the edge should be gone. Cut the abs close to the edge then use 120 grit to remove the remaining. Then 180 and maybe 240 to get the edges nice and smooth. I don't see any logos and there aren't many stitch lines, so those gloves look good.

I would suggest gluing the facemask to the visor first. This way you are sure everything fits together before you start painting it. So also attach the visor to the helmet with the chicago screws. What filler/bondo are you using? Make sure it is flexible, I had some serious issues with paint starting to crack at the seam, so I had to repaint the entire helmet. Test it by bending the helmet and visor a bit. It will also flex when you put your helmet on or off. You’re making good progress. The plastic is quite thick so it needs more effort to get nice smooth edges.

They have a visible “H” logo on the gauntlet so they do not meet the basic requirements. To connect the visor to the helmet I used chicago screws. You need to drill out the rear of the resin discs so they fit over the screw. Also be aware the “bumps” on the helmet are not symmetrical, so first position the visor correctly before you mark/drill the holes on the bumps. I’m not sure what the forum limits are for posting images, but you can use an external photo hosting site like imgur to embed them in your post. You need to copy the “bbcode” link to your image.

Here ya go:

I’m amazed you have the energy to start another build after all the work you put in the first one, that’s some serious shoretrooper dedication! Really interested in your experiences with the 3D printing. I’m still hesitating to make that jump.

This is the list of available id’s https://www.501st.com/members/search_avail_ids.php You submit a list of 5 id’s in the order you prefer when you apply your costume for approval. You get the first one that is available.

Yes, that’s a fine helmet. He has great armor too. Read through the shoretrooper CRL and look at reference pictures so you get familiar with all the details. Then you can make a good judgement of what is good and what not. CRL’s: http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:Pathfinders_CRL Reference pictures: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/forum/151-shoretrooper-reference-pictures/

Rob Kittell makes excellent belts: http://imperialissue.com/product/shoretrooper-tanker-belts

Awesome! I always admire your painting skills 😎.

The boxes aren’t big so I don’t think weight is going to be an issue. I think I would prefer resin boxes because they would be solid. The abs boxes from the WTF kit don’t have an inner box so I need to fill them to connect them to the belt. Would the strength be the same for the center box that holds the pouch straps? Are you going to make to boxes flat with no groove?

But if we have to paint these, then why not the grooves on the knee armor, forearms, around the helmet lens, etc? That doesn't makes sense to me. Either the armor is totally flat and everything is drawn with pin stripes, or there are grooves, but not both. Apparently the choice has been made for grooves, so why not the belt boxes? The CRL model doesn't have them and it's approved, so I guess that's the way to go.

Since we are discussing lines something in the CRL confuses me: The front belt boxes have a vertical grey pinstripe detail with a horizontal grey notch detail The rear two boxes have a grey detail line around their perimeter In the animated version there are darker lines visible on the belt boxes. But in the WTF version and the CRL pictures these are mould lines and not painted. Only the horizontal grey notch is painted grey. Since other armor parts also don't have black/grey lines, but have mould lines instead, I think the CRL wording is incorrect.