Moostic

Got the two halves of the helmet together, with an okay strip down the centre. It's not as nice as I would've liked, so I'm hoping I can still salvage this one. If you look closely at the first image, the contours don't match up quite perfectly. I'm hoping to rectify this when I begin sanding and filling. I have also started on the face and visor. If anyone has tips for getting a good fit here, I'd love to hear it.

I've got some JB Weld Steel Epoxy kicking around - would that work too? Or should I go with the one you've shown instead?

Starting to get around to putting the reinforcement strips in the helmet. Up until now I've been using E6000 as my go-to adhesive, and that's just not cutting it. The drying time is too long - it's simply not practical to keep in place with both halves lined up. I see in the RS Prop Masters helmet tutorial video, they use CA glue and activator spray. Would this be the best option then? I found some near me that I think should do the trick, but as always, a second opinion would be appreciated: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/instant-bond-multi-purpose-adhesive-super-glue-with-instant-hold-activator-spray-small-2-pc-0671034p.html Any other tips or advice when it comes to adding the strips?

Seconding this - Mr Paul's armor plus Nico's helmet is second to none. Done right, they're practically indistinguishable from screen used props. If you have access to a 3D printer, I can't recommend it enough. This is my Nico helmet I finished last year. It was my first time making a helmet. If I can do it, so can you!

More than one way to skin a cat it seems,

These were the RS pencil lines. I was skeptical too - I made a couple very minor tweaks in areas I thought a bit unrefined, but nothing more. Just lucky I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The gap on the back is pretty close to 7cm too, so I’m moving ahead with getting it put together and reinforcing the middle. The 2mm ABS is pretty stiff, I thought about heating it up a bit to let it curve along the front and back a little bit better - thoughts?

I got about 12.5cm between the two front points - hoping that'll be close enough.

I've been cleaning up the plastic with a shop vacuum, I should have enough to work with. That was more or less my idea as well, I'll give it a go.

Very excited to get this costume started, I've been meaning to make one of these for a very long time. I decided to pick up a kit from RS Prop Masters during their black friday sale. Everything arrived last week and I've been chipping away at it since. Trimmed up the main armour pieces without much trouble so far. I'll be getting to the holster and back tank later. For now, everything's looking pretty good. Putting those aside for now to work on the helmet. Got it trimmed down the middle and getting it to fit together now. The gaps seem pretty wide, especially on the back, I'm just a little worried I might've cut it down too much. They seem pretty wide to fill - any hope of saving this one? Hopefully someone with some experience can chime in

Hey, been a while since I updated this. The printer was out of commission for a few months, so I wasn't able to get much done in that time span. It's back working again now, and I've been making good progress since then. I'm just getting the last few pieces printed now, which includes parts of the abdomen section and the belt/thermal detonators. Everything else has been printed out, and I've gotten some straps and greeblies courtesy of Mr. Paul. I also printed out a R1 E-11 I found on the FISD website and finished it up. I'm gonna go back and hit it up with some weathering and some paint over the bare screws. But otherwise, it'll go very nicely with the armour! Now while I'm waiting for the last few pieces to print, I figured I'd get started smoothing out some of the pieces and getting them ready for paint. I'm starting with the arms in this case. For smoothing, my process is as follows: -80/120 grit with a palm sander on the raw prints, going back with sandpaper in the areas the palm sander couldn't quite reach. -Bondo plastic metal mixed with acetone, applied with a paintbrush. Sand with 220. -Bondo glazing putty applied by hand, sand with 320. -Apply filler-primer of choosing, go back with glazing putty over any areas that aren't sufficiently smooth. Apply one last normal primer coat over this. This method has worked well for me when I tried it on a prototype helmet I did over the winter, being easy enough to apply and sand down, but not too time consuming either. We're not making anything glossy smooth here, so it doesn't need to be perfect. Once the primers and paints all go on, any small mistakes will get hidden. Here's a bucket I threw together as a Christmas gift for a relative. This won't be the one I use for this costume, but it gave invaluable experience and taught me a lot of important things. Nothing gets wasted! Back to the current build, I'm smoothing and painting whenever I get an opportunity. The unique geometry of the forearms provides unique challenges, like the spaces on the forearms. Sanding in them proves to be quite difficult, so I'm debating how much effort to give in regards to smoothing them. I figure I'll probably try to cover them up with plenty of gunk and weathering. That's about all I've got right now - more progress coming in the near future hopefully! I'm very excited to get the ball rolling on this project again. My goal is to hopefully have it done by the end of this year, depending on how much I can knock out over the summer before the Canadian winter sets in. Back to sanding I go... stay frosty folks.

Just what I was looking for - Cheers 😄

Hi all, Currently in the process of printing the pieces for my Shoretrooper with Mr Pauls files (As can be seen here) and I'm just trying to picture in my head how all these pieces are gonna go together. What considerations to give for attachment, padding, etc. and the general assembly of it all. Was curious if there's a guide or something similar to assembling it all? Didn't see anything quite like what I was looking for on Mr Pauls website, but the pictures do definitely help. Also if anybody here who's used Mr Pauls files or otherwise printed their own armor can chime in with their experiences and advice, that'd go a long way too.

Interesting idea, how is it in terms of sandability and glue adhesion? Just trying to think ahead here with the straps and whatnot that'll be going in

Been procrastinating this for far too long now, finally ripped the Band-Aid off and decided to get underway with it. I am printing this using Mr Paul's Shoretrooper files. The helmet will be printed with Nico's files. First order of business was getting the soft bits out of the way, so I got my gloves from Endor Finders, boots are Orca Bay and the M56 pouch is from a surplus seller on Ebay. Shirt and pants are still yet to come, I'll probably be getting those from GPPG as I'm already in the same garrison as her. The velcro backing on the right glove was already coming off when I got them, I'll have to figure out how to sew that back on. I'm printing my armor on an Anycubic Kobra Plus using M3D PLA+ in black. It's my first time printing a project of this scale, so I'm learning as I go, but I'm fairly content with results so far. Sometimes minor printing mistakes or the occasional oopsie on my part (Those supports can be stubborn!) I reckon I'll just simply fill it in when I start sanding and smoothing. Finally, still debating what I want to do about the inside of the prints - leave them raw? Line it with fiberglass/resin? Both arms are done now, so I think I'll start working on the chest and back, maybe work in smoothing these out while I do that.

Seems this isn't available anymore... anybody still have a decent pattern?

Hi Charles! I just started my own 3D printed shoretrooper build, so maybe my experiences so far can be of some value to you: 3D printing can be a very solid choice depending on your circumstance, but be prepared for all the extra work that involves. Prints take a long time; you'll spend hundreds of hours on your prints, and you will have print failures from time to time. Keep your chin up and learn from your mistakes! Price wise, the biggest thing to surprise me was actually the soft bits. You'll save money from printing (just don't cheap out on filament) but once you start looking at good shirts, pants, boots, gloves, etc. it starts to add up quickly. You've picked an excellent costume here, wishing you the best of luck!

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. I'll keep that all in mind going forward with my build.

Time for me to start printing pieces and getting things assembled, and I'm having trouble deciding which set of files to go with. What are the differences between Mr Paul's and Sean Field's 3D files? If all I'm looking for is basic clearance, is it worth spending the extra £150? And regarding helmet, I see a few variants on Thingiverse of Sean Field's helmet, but Nico's design seems to be the most popular in that regard. Anything I've missed? Interested to hear what your guys' opinions are.

Hello there, everyone! By some work of luck, I managed to finally discover some Biker Scout pepakura files on a German site. I have not tried them yet, so I do not know how good they are, but if you are like me and don't want to chip in the hundreds of dollars in an armour kit, this may be just the thing! There also seems to be files for other suits too. I have not looked at them yet, however. https://66target.jimdo.com/biker-scout-ep5/ A couple things worth noting: The website is in German, but Google chrome (and maybe other browsers) have a feature that automatically translate pages. It's not perfect, but it should help you at least navigate the site. By default, the files come as .pdf, meaning they'll have to be converted to .pdo's. Luckily, there is already instructions on how to do so on their site, just at the bottom of the page. I'm certain it would take tremendous effort to make these up to 501st standard, but I think for anyone on a low budget, and making their first armour, this is a great idea if you simply plan on casually wearing it to events and expos. Cheers!

After carefully weighing my options (followed by a quick check of how much is in my wallet) I've decided that while I do not have a 3D printer, it is entirely possible to commission someone locally to print them for me. It is (theoretically) a lot cheaper than buying a full kit, whilst still achieving the same key goals and criteria. I'll do some more investigation, and come back with a more conclusive answer in the near future.

I'll do some looking around and see what turns up. Otherwise, I suppose I should probably just chip in like everyone else has.

Unfortunately, I do not have a 3D printer, so 3D printing is not an option for me. Unless there was some way of converting these into .pdo's.

That is certainly unfortunate. What alternatives do I have, then?

Ah, totally forgot to mention which I am building. Sorry about that! I am building the Scout Trooper.

Now that I've delved around a bit and explored my options, I'm heavily considering attempting to build all the pieces myself, seeing as it would likely be the option that would put the least strain on my wallet. The only pieces I will not be building are the jumpsuit, gloves & boots. They will be bought instead. Modifications will likely need to be made though, which is hardly an issue. I understand that this option will probably result in a lesser quality suit, due to my lack of experience. It will simply act as a temporary solution until I have built enough experience to build a better quality suit, or until I have the proper amount of funds to buy one. I plan on using the tried & true method of printing the armour out using Pepakura, accompanied by all the other procedures that come after that. (Fibreglass, Bondo, etc.) So far I have only managed to find a .pdo for the helmet, and no other pieces. I'm not even sure if they exist. If anyone knows where or how I could manufacture my own armour pieces WITHOUT buying a kit, I would be extremely grateful. So, what is everyone's thoughts and opinions/suggestions? Would I be better off simply buying a kit instead? Is there even a way for me to make all the armour pieces myself?