Adeta's ST Squad Leader WIP

[Adeta]

Hi all! My name is Ellemijn. I have been lurking on these forums for a while now but this week I finally started building my own shoretrooper! This will be my first ever trooper build and I am beyond excited! To start off here is a list of the stuff I plan to use:

• Helmet and armour: Inception studios
• Boots: Orca Bay
• Shirt and pants: Darkside Closet
• Gloves: Endor Finders
• Belt: Making it myself
• Kama: Making it myself

I got a really nice resin kit made by Inception Studios. I was able to buy it from someone in my local garrison. It fits me really well and a lot of the prepwork is already done! I don't need to do a lot of sanding for this build

The only issues I have with the sizing are the shoulder, bicep and forearms. They are comically large on my arms. This won't really be an issue with the shoulder since it seems easy to cut down a bit. The biceps are my biggest concern so I tried to size them down by cutting off some excess. In the picture below you can see the original biceps. I marked my arm with red since it is difficult to see with the baggy shirt I am wearing.

After removing some material the biceps look like this. They are way smaller now and I think they fit me well. I still have some wiggleroom for the soft parts.

Another thing I noticed is that the greeblies on the back do not fit the crl. I am missing the tube on the left recess. I think I can add one by sculpting it with milliput so no big deal. The damaged greeblie will be replaced with a new greeblie that came with the kit. On the right recess I am missing the "long thin strip has 2 flat ends with approximately 17 cylinder shaped teeth in the middle". I am not sure how to make one myself. Could I 3D print it maybe? Should I just replace the whole recesses? Any other suggestions?

Reference pic from the crl:

 

[BikerScout007]

Hey Adeta!  Welcome to the forum.  It's not often we see an Inception studios kit so this will be interesting for all of us!

I've seen that tube missing from many kits, that's not that unusual and as you note, it can easily be remedied

Those teeth always looked like a zip tie to me, but I'll tag @KOtrooper and @Minimo to see if they know.  Both greebs are available as 3d files, if you have access to a printer:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/27klw0a6voyqbtr/AABH9VRmlPF55oWzP2-Kr3KWa?dl=0

[Minimo]

Hey Adeta! Welcome!!! I like Mickey’s zip tie idea, you could also try printing or even fabricating it with some scraps ABS. Looking fwd to your build!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Adeta]

I have been working on the backpiece greeblies. I used the biggest ziptie I could find and some scrap abs. I think it looks pretty decent. I also replaced the square greeblie and added the tube to the left recess.

Next I am working on the straps to connect the front and back. I did a dryfit before glueing the straps on down. I also tried it on the abdomen and I noticed that the pieces on the side don't connect. I'll make an extra piece out of abs and just fill up that space. I will also cut down the rear to make it look a bit more screen accurate.

I have also been working on the shins. This was quite challenging since the resin part are not flexible like abs so I had to be creative figuring out a way to put them on. I attached the front plate using snaps so I can dissasemble the whole piece. On the inside I used some velcro to keep the plates together. This will be reinforced with the outside straps once I put those on. I have not glued the snaps down yet because I wanted to test this out first. It seems sturdy and I think it fits well around my legs. I also added some padding to make sure it doesn't rotate.

 

[Adeta]

Made some more progress! I have been working on getting the torso together so I can actually put it on. I added strapping to the top of the chest and backplate. I also finished working on my abdomen. I added the groove on the side with some abs. I basically did the exact same thing as VulpX did in his wip. I also made a zipper for the back to make it easy to put on. This part is adjustable with velcro inside of the plate.

Now to try it on! Everything seems to fit well! I did notice that the abdomen rests on my hip bones which is very uncomfortable. I have fairly wide hips so this was a concern for me from the start. I might cut away some of the belt section to make it more comfortable but I want to add suspenders first to see how it feels. Now I still need to make the sidepieces to connect the chest and back and connect the shoulders/biceps. When I get that done I will take some proper pictures.

Another thing I worked on are the shoulders. Since I made the biceps smaller the shoulders did not fit the biceps well anymore. After some googling I found out you can actually reshape resin with a heatgun. I tried it and it was supringly easy. I used the biceps as a mould to shape the shoulders. Now they look a lot better. I will cut and adjust the shoulders more once I can actually try them on.

 

[Minimo]

Looking great so far! Nice mods!

[Adeta]

Big update today!

I picked up the paint at my local store. They have a lot of the montana gold sprays in stock and it is just around the corner! I am just going for basic approval so I don't need to source all the different kind of paints. I will be using the following colors:

• Shock Black
• Sahara Beige
• Shock White
• Shock Yellow
• Shock KENT Blood Red
• Dupli Color 8-0040

I also got some matt varnish to protect the paintjob and weathering once I finish all of that.

I also put a hard hat liner in my helmet. It is very comfy and I can easily adjust it. I think I'll start finishing and painting this part next since this made me feel pretty excited!

I found a bigger ziptie for the backpiece greeblie I was missing so I decided to remake that part. It looks a lot neater and more accurate now.

The handplates that came with my kit were missing the oblong recess in the front edge. Since it is resin it was quite easy to cut it out. I first drilled some holes as a starting point, then I used some carving bits on my dremel to carve out the right shape. Finally I cleaned up the edges and bottom of the recess with some milliput. I think it turned out quite good.

I finished my work on sizing down the armpieces. Like I said before they were way too big. This made cutting down my shoulder pieces very scary since I had to remove so much material it just felt wrong. I had to remove 6,5 cm from the bottom and 1,5 cm from the sides. Just look at the diffrence between the cut and uncut piece 😨!

I also sized down the forearms a little. I did not want to alter them too much since I did not want to mess up the shape and proportions. I removed a little bit of material on the inside and used a heatgun to shape and reconnect the edges. You don't really notice the difference in the pictures but it feels a bit tighter and more secure on my arm.

Now to try everything on! 😁

I am quite happy! The arm pieces look good to me now and they seem to fit me well. I will be remaking the side pieces that connect the back and chest since they turned out to be just a bit short.

As I expected my abdomen sits way to high. This also causes the front and backplate to shift slightly so most stuff in these pictures isn't very straight. Problem is that lowering my abdomen will pose quite a challenge. My hips are very much in the way. I am thinking about cutting the back belt connections shorter (see picture below) but I am concerned that my belt wont connect properly. Also I feel like the rear belt plate will still be in the way of my hips. Anyone got any tips on how to make the abdomen fit me? Any women who have experience with this costume and know how to make it fit around the hips?

 

Last but not least: I finished the shin assembly! I took apart my first version I showed before and remade it. I spent some more time lining the snaps up and it looks a lot neater now. I also added some milliput to increase the glueing surface for the snaps. Now I just need to add the straps. I am thinking about getting some rubber straps to replace the resin straps I have right now. Not sure where to get rubber straps though. Does anyone know a seller for the rubber shinstraps? (preferably in the EU)

[ScaryGuy]

For the straps check Bone Buddrus on facebook, he’s in Germany. Or Mr Paul’s Shoretrooper Build, but he’s in the UK so import taxes will apply.

[Adeta]

Thanks for the tips scaryguy. Unfortunatly Bone Buddrus is no longer active on facebook and mr paul is taking a break from his shoretrooper business. Maybe I will try out the resin straps and see how it looks for now. I can always replace them later if I still feel like it.

This week I started working on the belt boxes. They required a bit of finishing before I could paint them. I first sanded down the moldlines with a rough sandpaper. Then I went over the entire piece with 180 grit sandpaper. Then I did a few layers of spray putty too make it nice and smooth. The spray putty does leave a bit of texture on the surface so before putting on the basecoat of the paint I wet sanded all the pieces with 800 grit sandpaper. Then I applied the montana gold shock black.

Here you can see the texture the spray putty left behind.

All smooth

Boxes drying on my moms drying rack (sorry mom)

The kit I bought came with two options for buckles. One is made of rubber and the other is made of resin. I think I like the rubber one more since it looks more accurate and it is flexible. It should conform nicely to the curve of the abdomen. To prime the rubber belt buckle I used 4 coats of plastidip. This also fillend in some of the print lines (I think they are print lines?)

This is what all the belt pieces looks like laid out on the table. Quite happy with how it looks. (took this pic before the black basecoat)

I did some more work on the abdomen. I attached the back cover plate using some 23 mm neodymium magnets. They are very strong but I did not want to risk loosing the plate halfway during a troop. I just glued them in place with some e6000. I also made the cutout for my hips a bit wider. I tried it on and it sits a lot lower now. I will take some proper pictures of it all next week.

The helmet is also ready to paint! I used the same process for this piece as the belt boxes. I did not feel confident enough to spray the black basecoat yet 😅

[Adeta]

Hello all! Despite the heatwave I managed to get some stuff done last week.

I finished the new sidepieces that connect my chest and backplate.  I spent some more time getting the right pattern and now they fit nicely. On my last version the velcro did not hold. I had to fill the gaps where the velcro connects to make the surface more even. I also heatshaped the ends of the abs pieces so they confrom nicely to the shape of the chest and back.

I decided to do a new testfit of all my gear. I would love to get some feedback on this so I can fix any problems before painting.

 

Action pose

List of stuff I still want to work on.

Major tasks:

• Add shoulder straps
• Add shinstraps (ordered from mr paul)
• Add collar

Minor tasks:

• Move helmet liner for a better fit
• Shape ABS sides for a better fit
• Adjust suspenders so my abdomen sits straight
• Hide suspenders behind backplate

The collar that came with my kit does not fit very well right now. I will try cutting it down but if it does not fit I'll have to look into making my own. I also feel like this collar is very thin. Will this be a problem for approval?

I tried painting my handplates but I ran into an issue. The monatana can started 'spitting' big drops of paint on the last layer. I think it's because of a faulty spraycap so I'll try my other can last week. The paint did adhere well to the surface so I hope I can just carefully wetsand it to remove this texture.

Before painting I added some liquid latex to add some paint chips. I want to do most of my weathering with sandpaper but I figured adding some chips will make the armor look even better. I did go a little overboard on the right handplate. I'll try to add less chips on the other pieces.

Since it was way too hot to do anything else I decided to spend some time on my storage case. I got a Iris store it all 170 liter storage case (like most people in my local clubs). I wanted to line the inside with some foam to protect the paintjob of my armor. I got some sound insulation panels for the sides and lined the bottom of the case with some eva foam.

I also want to make protective bags for some of the smaller pieces. I made a test bag for my gloves/handplates. I won't do this for all of the pieces but I figured it might be worth it for some of the smaller pieces. It will help keep my case organized. This is where I got the idea from.

[Minimo]

It’s coming along nicely, nice work!  The Montana paint can be stubborn, I usually swipe the nozzle with a rag after a few bursts of paint. Also, the distance from the surface will be way less than most other rattle cans. Montana dries quickly, spraying from a larger distance will make it dry before it hits the surface, creating that texture you saw. Lastly, you could also try different nozzles on it, it helps, but is not necessary.

The biceps look a bit big when compared to the bells, how do they feel?

[Adeta]

Thanks for the feedback Minimo. The biceps do feel a bit too big. I have about 3 cm of extra space at the top and 4 cm at the bottom.

[Adeta]

Hi all!

No update today. Instead I am looking for some advice. I am working on the collar and I noticed that my chestplate sits lower than my backplate (see picture). Because of this my collar wont allign well with the chestplate. I also think it looks bad in general since the height diffrence is quite significant.

I think I can fix this with some padding. I added some strips of padding to test it out. Would this be a good idea? Another option might be to cut down the chestplate. I already had to do this before and maybe I did not remove enough. What do you guys think? Padding, cutting or maybe both? Any other ideas?

With padding:

How I would cut it down:

[KOtrooper]

How does it fit on you though? Is it comfortable? Do you have a decent range of motion? The back and chest armor look fine to me. The difference of height will be covered with the shoulder straps.

I'd get the chest and back armor comfortable first (especially with the side straps under your arms in place). I had to make a bunch of micro adjustments to make the ab armor fit my hips, under my breasts, and not have the chest armor get stuck on the kit Kat greeblies. Even then, sometimes the back rides up.

Once the armor is set, then chip away on the collar.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[Adeta]

Thanks for the feedback KOtrooper!

It does feel comfortable and I am happy with how everything sits. My issue with the height difference is that the collar does not line up well.

I already finished the side straps so I feel like I am at the micro adjustment stage. The abdomen is also done. Or am I missing something? (apart from the shoulder straps). 

[KOtrooper]

On 9/1/2022 at 1:26 PM, Adeta said:

Thanks for the feedback KOtrooper!

It does feel comfortable and I am happy with how everything sits. My issue with the height difference is that the collar does not line up well.

I already finished the side straps so I feel like I am at the micro adjustment stage. The abdomen is also done. Or am I missing something? (apart from the shoulder straps). 

I had loads of issues with the collar on my kit too (BSP). Ended up using a friction fit in the back and velcro in the front. Still hate that method but it works.

[Adeta]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:42 PM, KOtrooper said:

I had loads of issues with the collar on my kit too (BSP). Ended up using a friction fit in the back and velcro in the front. Still hate that method but it works.

Yeah the collar is annoying to work with. It didn't help that the collar that came with the kit did not fit at ALL...

I decided to add some padding to line the chest and back up better. I just taped some strips of eva foam under the straps. This way I can still adjust the padding until the whole costume is done.

With everything lined up I started working on the collar again. For now it's just a thin piece of abs but I will probaly add some more layers in the future to make it look thicker. For now I am happy though. I cut a slot in my chestpiece to keep the collar in place. Not perfect but I don't really know what else to do. This whole collar situation has not been fun

Some good news: I recieved my shinstraps from mr. paul! I ran into another issue though... the slots for the top strap are too high. There is no space between the top of the shin and the strap. Would this be a problem for approval? Could I smply lower the slot? (the other details won't match up anymore if I do)

[Adeta]

Hi all!

It has been a while since my last update. I tend to stop working on costumes in the winter. But now that the weather is getting warmer, I started working on the costume again. I managed to get quite a lot done the past months so big update today

Over the winter I recieved my soft parts that I ordered from DSC. Unfortunatly it went horribly wrong. The first pair of pants were way too small (even though I sent the right measurements). They made me a new pair but this time it was WAY too big. You can't really see it in the picture but in person it looks horrible. The quality was also very bad on my second pair. They definetly rushed it... Overall I am very dissapointed. The shirt looks fine but the color is too light in my opinion.

Some good news... I got new forearms! The old ones were too big and sizing them down did not really work. Someone from my local garrison had these printed forearms laying around and sold them to me for a very good price. They fit me very well! I am currently in the process of repainting them.

That's all the new stuff I got! Now what I have been working on. First of all I managed to finish the bucket! Just needs a blackwash but I plan on doing this once the whole costume is ready.

I also started painting the shins. They are almost done. Just need to add the straps and weathering. I lowered the front plate a little bit to make sure the straps have the correct position.

I also got very far with the belt. All the boxes are painted and weathered. I used 120 grit sandpaper to carefully remove the sahara beige. This works really well and I think it looks great combined with the liquid latex chipping.

Now it is time to attach the boxes to the belt. I messed around with the spacing and this seems to be correct for my belt. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

I cut the rear assembly plate out of abs and shaped it using a heatgun. I used a handdrill to make holes. I found these washer things to help hold the boxes in place. It seems very sturdy so I am happy with this for now. I just need to paint it and permanently attach the boxes + thermal detonator.

That's all I got for now! I am really excited to get started again. My goal is to finish the costume this summer!

[Minimo]

Glad to see you back at it!!!!