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First Time ROTJ Scout Trooper Build (3D Printed)


Cpt_Chops

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Hi Y'all!

I am excited to be working on a ROTJ Scout trooper build! Over the summer, a friend and I made some costumes (Mando and Captain Rex). I had such a good time making the Mando costume that I wanted to do a Scout trooper and join the 501st. Since this is my first time building something for the 501st - so feel free to let me know if I am off track at any point.

I choose to 3D print the armor and helmet for the Scout trooper (that is what I did for the Mando costume). I have already printed all of the armor (over 600 hours of printing) out of PETG and I am now working on finishing it. The files I am using for the armor are from Mr. Poopie (huge thanks!) and the helmet is from Jesus Salmeron (excellent file as well). Since I am in the process of finishing the armor, I wanted to go ahead and start a WIP post and share my progress.

 

20210918_164644.jpg?width=277&height=493

 

I have shared a couple of pictures of the scout trooper armor. In this first picture, is the first two nearly finished parts (they still need one more gloss white coat to even out a few  places). It took a lot of sanding and filler/primer, but I managed to get the surface pretty smooth. For 3D printed parts, I was wondering what the requirement for surface quality was? Would the quality in the picture be acceptable?

I have smoothed out almost all noticeable layer lines from the print (there are still a few faint ones if you look really close). Also, I was wondering what the requirement was for the non-visible surface of the parts? I have currently not sanded the back of the parts - so the layer lines are still visible on the back of the parts. I did paint the back of the parts white as well, so that it would match the color of the front (the side shown in the picture). Since the back of the parts are not visible while worn, I assumed that I would not need to sand/smooth the back of the parts; however, the CRL's are pretty specific and I didn't want to make a mistake and miss anything.

20211115_210453.jpg

 

This is just a picture of some parts awaiting additional coats of primer. This past week I had some time and got the first coats of primer on the helmet - but I'll save those pictures for another time.

20211105_154727.jpg

 

I have ordered a bunch of material for most of the soft parts (thanks to other tutorials on this forum!) and I will share updates over the next weeks as I get a chance to start working on the soft parts. My current focus is getting the printed armor looking good.

 

Thanks for you help!

 

 

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Looks good!  I’m reapplying soon with the same 3D printed files you have used.  Hope I can get as smooth a finish as you seem to have achieved!

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45 minutes ago, Cpt_Chops said:

For 3D printed parts, I was wondering what the requirement for surface quality was? Would the quality in the picture be acceptable?

I have smoothed out almost all noticeable layer lines from the print (there are still a few faint ones if you look really close). Also, I was wondering what the requirement was for the non-visible surface of the parts? I have currently not sanded the back of the parts - so the layer lines are still visible on the back of the parts. I did paint the back of the parts white as well, so that it would match the color of the front (the side shown in the picture). Since the back of the parts are not visible while worn, I assumed that I would not need to sand/smooth the back of the parts; however, the CRL's are pretty specific and I didn't want to make a mistake and miss anything.

Hey Thomas, welcome aboard. From what I can see, everything looks great.

The surface quality you've shown in the photo of the forearm and knee armor look great. It should absolutely be acceptable.

For the inside parts of the print -- if we can't see it and it isn't visible, then it's up to you. My take? You don't need to make the inside perfectly smooth. All you'd need to do is make it smooth enough that it doesn't catch on anything or feel uncomfortable when worn.

Do the insides need to be surface smooth like the visible portions? No.

The only concern I would have with painting the insides is that the paint will likely streak some white marks on your black coveralls over time. That's not a huge deal though.

Great work overall. Looking forward to seeing you finish the build.

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Thanks Chopper - that's great to hear!

I am glad that the insides can be left as they are (the raw print is smooth enough with just a bit of hand sanding to not catch on anything). Smoothing the outside is a bit tedious and doing the insides would have been a lot to do.

The paint rubbing off is a good point, I may try to hit the insides of the parts with a clear coat to reduces chances of the paint rubbing off.

Thanks again - more pictures to come over the next few weeks as I complete more of the pieces.

 

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  • 1 month later...
7 hours ago, MagKekse said:

Hy Cpt_Chops

I also print my armor parts with the 3D printer.
How did you finish the parts after printing?
What methods did you use?
It would be very helpful for me if you also explain this in your thread.

There's a couple of things you can do to smooth out your parts.

The first is good old sanding.  It's painful and takes awhile, but it will smooth out your parts if you do it long enough.   You can use a filler primer first to fill in some of the bigger gaps, then sand it.  Use the primer again, repeat until smooth.   Just be careful with the filler primer you don't accidentally fill in any details on your armor

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-11-oz-Gray-Filler-Primer-Spray-249279/202097276?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D24-G-D24-024_003_SPRAY_PAINT-Multi-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-FY21_SprayPaint_LIA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D24-G-D24-024_003_SPRAY_PAINT-Multi-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-FY21_SprayPaint_LIA-71700000075826946-58700006496586419-92700058691145268&gclid=CjwKCAiA0KmPBhBqEiwAJqKK4wW5RUGQK3kabpz2FRVc4pMIziWn0UD-X42732fWlta9K4aWBM16bBoCcaYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Another things you can try is XTC-3D.  It's basically a coating you brush onto your print in order to get rid of lines.  It's also sandable to do the finishing touches.  I used this to smooth out my E-22

https://www.matterhackers.com/store/printer-accessories/xtc-3d-high-performance-3d-print-coating-6-oz?rcode=PPCADS&gclid=CjwKCAiA0KmPBhBqEiwAJqKK407Pj1qVnrcAjq5X-9FpO4bfP9WR0Taae59Dr8xXKvtfqRu_QH3riBoCVmQQAvD_BwE

Finally, a newer method gaining popularity is Resin smoothing.  This video by our very own @Pandatrooper explains the procedure:

 

Hope this helps!

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Pandas Tutorial is gold! Helped me a lot!


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

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15 hours ago, MagKekse said:

Hy Cpt_Chops

I also print my armor parts with the 3D printer.
How did you finish the parts after printing?
What methods did you use?
It would be very helpful for me if you also explain this in your thread.

I did exactly what BikerScout007 suggested - lots of personal time spent with a palm sander! My general process was to epoxy together all of the pieces (for those requiring assembly) and then use a palm sander (with 120 grit) to sand down all surfaces to remove the layer lines and seam lines. Some areas are hard to reach with a palm sander, so I used a detail sander (little triangular pad) to reach those. Anything I couldn't do with that - I did by hand.

Once the parts were all sanded, I filled the seams with plastic wood filler. Then just alternating coats of filler primer (or just heavy rattle can primer), wood filler, and sanding until it looked ready for color. Once it looked like the parts were pretty smooth, I sprayed one last coat of filler primer and then wet sanded up to 2000 grit. After the parts had dried, I used an air hose to blow off dust and a tack cloth to wipe any remaining grit/fuzz off the surface. Last but not least - white gloss paint!

The process is pretty tiring for all the parts - but I am happy with the results thus far. If I do it again, I am definitely going to look into the other methods BikerScout007 suggested ;D

It got too cold here for me to keep painting, but once it warms up a bit - I will hopefully finish the armor and share more progress.

 

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Thanks for sharing the tips from my channel [mention=78054]BikerScout007[/mention]  I hope it helps!

Dude, that was a great video! Thanks for doing it. I learned a lot.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Since its been too cold to spray paint, I started working on the soft parts. For the undersuit, I used Red Kap coveralls, removed the pockets, sized it to fit, and added the collar as shown: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19259-undersuit-mods/

20220210_205057.jpg 20220210_205107.jpg

Before putting the suede patches on - I wanted to see if the undersuit mods/sizing was done correctly. Comments/suggestions are welcome!

 

 

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Thanks Chopper!

As for the suede patches, I noticed that in the CRL the wording says the thigh patches "end above the knee". However; in the full picture, the thigh patch is behind the knee armor. I assume when the CRL says "above the knee" it is in reference to the wearer's knee - rather than the knee armor? I figured I should clarify that before getting too far.

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Dude, nice job on sizing that to fit. It’s got a nice tapered look to it. Well done!

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There can be some overlap between the knee armor and the thigh patch, yes. 

This photo is from one of the screen scouts, so if you're trying to figure how long the patch should be for your set up, you can emulate this image:

Prepro%20Scout.jpg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

It looked like it might be easier to put the riding patches on after some of the other soft parts were in place (to help with scaling and placement). So I went ahead and made the flak jacket. Thanks to some great tutorials/WIP's:

 I used the T-shirt method (heavy-weight cotton), but then cut-off the sleeves and added the raglan sleeves (I am aiming for Lancer if all goes well in the end). My armor is not yet done (needs some more paint and touch-up), but I threw it on just for size/reference in my pictures below. When I held the shoulder bell on, about 3/4 in. of the sleeve stuck out. In the pictures below, some of the seams look a bit white - that is just from some excess marking chalk.

 

IMG_1566.jpgIMG_1564.jpg

 

 

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On 1/25/2022 at 4:08 AM, AradunFF said:


Dude, that was a great video! Thanks for doing it. I learned a lot.

Wonder if theres an alternative to a full one curing station as thats impractical for me sadly but the technique is amazing

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I got the STL files for the armor from @MrPoopie. I then bought the helmet STL file from Jesus Salmeron: https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/hobby-diy/other/wearable-scout-trooper-helmet-by-jesus-salmeron-3d-print-model

All of the files printed really well. I had to split the helmet up into several pieces to fit on my printer; however, all the others fit (my printer has a 8 x 10 x 8 in. build volume).

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I don't have a separate build thread for my helmet. At the moment, it is still in the garage covered in primer and in need of some glossy white paint. However, once I get it up to speed - I'll be sure to share! The helmet was also recommended by MrPoopie as being very accurate.

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Cumberbund and Pouches time!

Thanks @AradunFFfor nice instructions on the bund. I was able to follow along and make my own!

Huge thanks to @BikerScout007 for the amazing pouch templates:

 

My bund ended up being 8.5 in. tall to fit me correctly and my pouches are the recommended 6x5x2 in. I used velcro to attach the pouches on the tab - so I can pop them off later to die them (if I decide to go that route). My belt still just has primer on it - but I was excited to share the progress, so below is a picture of the bund + pouches.

20220305_153104.jpg?width=374&height=666

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Alright, codpiece (or as my wife called it "space diaper") time!

Thanks @AradunFF for the amazing template from your WIP:

I was able to use your template to make my codpiece without much trouble. I did not have any foam around, so I cut a small piece out of some thin plastic (second pic) I had around (covid-19 face shield material). It was really thin and seemed to do the trick of stopping the codpiece from bunching up.

20220306_151433.jpg20220306_135811.jpg

 

 

 

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