FOR THE REPUBLIC! NCR Trooper Build.

Lachtara

Member
Howdy Fellow RPFers!!! In my first build I mentioned C2E2 and that I would be be building a second costume to go wit my girlfriend. I thaught that it would be cool to build an NCR trooper costume since there arent a whole lot of them out there. Ive only been able to find three others, so Im hoping that I can out build these other folks. I am actually extremely satisfied with the results so far and Im almost done!!!!!

BEHOLD THE REFFERENCE PIC!!!!

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After experimenting with my combat armor build I was more comfortable using the foam for this costume and I must say that I am quite satisfied this time around. Below you will observe the NCR:

chest armor...
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Back armor...
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And shoulder armor.
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My NCR trooper uniform will not have the camoflage shoulder cape thingy like the guy in the refference picture, because according to the game that is both an officer and NCO status symbol. No true soldier wants to be an officer! Thats one thing that Ive learned while reenacting. Nobody likes or respects the guys who just want to represent the 'brass' and be shiney. I am choosing to represent an enlisted man who has literally JUST come out of the first battle of the Hoover Dam. I was able to use my soldering iron to great effect in order to produce scars and battle dammage on the armor peices. I even got the stitching around the edges. Now in the game the NCR armor is made out of leather so if you look at the battle details I tried to make you will see alot of cuts, scrapes, burns, and indentations from small arms fire at the hand of bloodthirsty Legionaries. Hopefully when painted it will have a battle damaged look to it.
Next is the helmet. Now the NCR trooper helmet has a unique shape to it that is sort of like a 'safari' or bobby type hat. The closets thing that I have to that is an old rusted 1939 civil deffense helmet issued to civilain members of the US Civil Deffence during WWII.

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Its just about the same shape in the front except the dome is a little tall and the helmet doesnt flatten out in the back but it will look just as good when painted and equiped with goggles. The inner strap suspension system, much like my kevlar helmet, secures it safely to my head and will serve nicely when patrolling the Mojave wastes.... or my bedroom..... FORMER bedroom that is!!!!
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Another cornerstone of the NCR trooper look is the goggles on their helmets...... I am almost embarrased to show you guys and gals my attempt at screen accurate goggles made of foam, but here it is.......

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I was so dissatisfied, upset, and generally discouraged by the outcome of these goggles that I decided I didnt want to build the costume, threw a fit, broke a pencil in a blind rage, took an angry nap, made some hot tea, sat in my cushy chair for a bit, then calmed down and took this as a learning experience. After my initial fit I calmly disposed of this attempt and will soon construct another pair.
Now.... ONTO THE GLOVES!!!!!

For a reason unbeknownst to me nearly every individual in the post apocalyptic world wear fingerless black gloves. this isnt necessarily a problem since it looks cool and I had just the gloves to do it!!!!

Goodbye fancy genuine leather gloves!!!!
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HELLOOOOO post apocalyptic fightin' gloves!
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I know what youre probably thinking..... "You tore up a perfectly good pair of genuine leather gloves?!?!?!?!?!? YOURE A MANIAC!!!!!"
Not to worry though!!! The were old and the fingertips were wearing away and I have another pair anyways! :) Besides they are nearly totally but just not quite perfectly screen accurate, which is exactly what Im looking for!

Anyway thats the end of this post...... JUST KIDDING!!! Theres more!!!!

Here is the armor and helmet after I finnished painting them.... and ruining my concrete patio......

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Its kind of hard to distinguish the collors but the armor is a khakiish color. The first thing I did was paint the whole set of foam armor leather brown. After that I went over the whole set with Khaki and then used my fingers, and some paper towell to rub away some of the khaki in certain areas where the color would be worn away from weathering. After that I did the same thing with the lettering, the star, and the two headed bear. I painted them on and scraped some of it way to look worn. After that I dusted the whole set with both brown AND black to give the set a sort of burnt, dirty, and sandblasted look from the brutal mojave wastes.

Here is what the whole set looks like now..

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I know it all kind of looks grey but thats just because of the carpet and the low light funtion on my camera is lousy. To say the very least I am VERY happy with the way this build is turning out, and I have allready seen vast improvements over my first build (which I have yet to complete) My next step is going to be adding REAL leather strap fasteners and buckles, as well as the belt with utilities. I need to find a quick cheap way to produce a high quality Service Rifle used by NCR troopers. (It resembles the wooden stock m16 nearly entirely) Also if anybody has any ideas on how I can fashion a better pair of goggles please give me a shout out! Any added wisdom is very helpfull.
Be on the look out for more updates comming soon.
This is Mr. New Vegas signing off!
 
I think you are off to a good start! You can't have too many wasteland costumes! (who else is going to survive the war? :p ) It's just a shame you had to cut those gloves! XD

-The Armorer
 
Thanks alot fellas! And yes Armorer one can NEVER have too many wasteland costumes. Ive got more comming as well! :)
For this costume I have made ALOT of progress in the past few days so expect updates SOON!!!!! Im currently working on the wraps for my arms and legs as well as the scarf. Im thinking of ways to weather the whole costume to look worn and Im still working on those blasted goggles! Im having trouble finding a cheap DECSENT looking weapon for the service rifle.
 
HELLOOOO WASTELAND!!! Lachtara here with another update commin right at ya!

Ive made alot of progress and this project is moving along quickly. Since my last update IVe added, straps, buckles, camoflage and all sorts of exciting new stuff!

Below is a picture of my NCR army belt with canteen and pouch thingy. The belt I used is not entirely screen accurate because it hase two rows of holes and the belts in the game only have one, but I really liked the belt so I got it anyways. The canteen I used in an old M19 US GI canteen from my WWII American infantry uniform. It is basically a dead on perfect match for the canteen in the game except I needed to cover up the 'U.S" on it so I pinned some loose fabric over it and 'sandblasted' it with some khaki paint to make it look old. Here it is before the weathering.
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Here is the chest peice after I added the shoulder buckles. They are kind of big but the belts were UBER cheap.
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CLOSEUP!!!!!!
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Originally I just hot glues the straps and buckles on but that proved to be a bad decision. The foam kept peeling and so with the help of my new handy dandy leather hole puncher, I decided to stitch all the straps on which has worked wonderfully.
Below is the back plate after straps and velcrow are semi-glued, and stitched on.
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The shoulder straps are even adjustable for taller or shorter individuals.
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And thats all the updates Ive got for you today. Stay tuned for more!!!
 
Im having a rough time getting the goggles I'm working on to look good, and I can allready tell that Ill have to start again on them so Im not going to bother with WIP pictures. I might even look around for a good looking pair of motorcycle goggles. It also turns out that findinf a cheap airsoft M16 is a hell of alot harder than I thaught it would be. Ive been to all of my local department stores and non of them have what Im looking for so if I cant find anything online thats good enough I might have to try my hand at constructing my own or deciding on a different weapon. I have to hurry though...... MY DEADLINE IS APPROACHING, and I still have a ton of work to do on my girlfriends costume. Share your ideas if you have any folks. They are greatly appreciated.
 
AAAAAAND we're back with a new update on NCR affairs!

I am currently using the information given to me by FoxhoundTCF to work on a new pair of goggles. Im allready more satisfied with the results. In the meantime the following pictures are of the rest of the complete costume minus the tunic, trousers, and boots which shall come from my stores of reenactor gear.


Below is a photo of the helmet after I weathered it and added some varnish to get a darker dirtier effect. Compared to the original photo the helmet is looking pretty darn good. The only other minor detail is the grooves from the top of the helmet to the rims, but Im not going to bother with them on this helmet. Im going to be making a better one eventually from scratch.
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Next is the leather band that goes around the helmet underneath the goggles. I had some extra leather so I cut some strips,stitched the ends, and weathered it like the rest and PRESTO!

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Leather strap for the helmet!! This is now the fully completed helmet for the costume minus the goggles.

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Next I decided to add the camoflage shoulder cape thingy becaue I didnt feel like the costume was complete enough. I also end up fashioning some bandoleers later on so that I can have variations of trooper looks.

I had some extra fabric so I eye-balled the correct design, cut it out, then frayed the edges to look worn and torn.

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This is how it looked in the beggining. I layered the fabric becaue I thaught it might look cool, but in the end it doesnt make a whole lot of a difference (which you will see). I stitched the top with my amazingly below average sewing abilities and then stiched an old strap that I cut in half to either side of the cape. I applied velcrow to the ends of the straps so that the cape can be worn as a separate peice. When I painted it, I got the desired weathered effect, but I didnt succeed in tgetting the camoflage pattern look. I used some varnish on the ends and a couple holes and a cut to make it look like bullet holes and burns and Im satisfied witht the result.

HERE IT IS!!!!!!!

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I added some more weathering to the armor and straps. This is a WIP photo and does not show the armor after the weathering is completed.
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And FINALLY here is the fully completed armor with camoflage shoulder cape thingy!
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I also used extra fabric for the arm and leg wraps, the face wrap, and the strips around the gloves like in the original refferance photo. I weathered them a bit and painted them and here they are...
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For the most part the costume is complete. I will upload pictures of the goggles once I finnish them, and Im still working on finding a cheap m16ish weapon to convert into the service rifle. I will be using my WWII US GI jump boots, and wool service uniform (shirt and trouserd) for the clothing part of the costume. They arent exactly screen accurate but they have a military look to them and they are weathered enough from reenacting to look good. More photos to come!!!!! Be on the lookout fellow wastelanders.

Dont feed the Yao Guai. That is all.
 
Damn! this thing is looking great! good idea on the belts. Did you use a piece of leather on the underside of the foam so the thread dosent wear through and rip the foam apart?

great work on the weathering! I cant wait to see it all on.
 
Damn! this thing is looking great! good idea on the belts. Did you use a piece of leather on the underside of the foam so the thread dosent wear through and rip the foam apart?

great work on the weathering! I cant wait to see it all on.

That is a very good point that I had not considdered. If I had not allready finnished the costume I would go back and alter this, but Ive hinted earlier on that I would be rebuilding this costume later on with higher quality materials to be as 100 gazzillion percent screen accurate as inhumanly possible. This will serve as my prototype and inspire me down the road when I look back at my humble begginings. Thank you for the tip though!!!

Also thank you to the other two gentleman for the praise :)
 
Hello Hello HELLOO RPFers! Here are a couple more pictures followed by the finished product. Considdering this is the first costume I have ever completed I am immencely satisfied and couldnt be hapier with this kit!.... Except maybe the goggles....
Im glad to have a finnished costume for C2E2 next weekend! If any of my fellow RPFers will be attending look for me! You know what Ill be wearing! And with that..... heeeeeeaaaar are the pictures!

Below you will see the final set of goggles I have worked on: Goggles Version 4!

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Im still not satisfied with them....

Also I decided to take some spare pleather to make a holster for my .357, so I wont have tostruggle with the weight in my hand all day and suffer from combat fatigue...
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Anyway here are the pictures of the final product. I know what youre thinking: "Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter." Right? Well in my case, considdering the supplies I have been buying left and right, "I just lost a months worth of caps." Which is technically a game snafu since NCR troopers are paid in NCR currency and not bottle caps. But ANYWAY, technical observations asside... Let me know what you folks think!!!

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I am leaving this thread open since I shall be comming back every now and then with new progress on an updated higher quality version in the future. Im hoping to get my hands on some nice leather in the future to make a new set that will be as 100% screene accurate as I can make it!
Its been fun, I learned alot, and Im happy with the results!
Thanks Folks!
 

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HELLOOO WASTELAND!!!!!! Just as a heads up I am currently working on NCR Trooper Version 2!!!!

I have acquired some more tools and a few more materials to make this version better than the first. This will not be my final version however. That shall be attempted when I have some more experience and build time under my belt.... Leather is also expensive.... SO, to all the people out there following this STAY TUNED!!!
 
Howdy again folks!
I thought that I would upload some pictures of my gal and I at C2E2.
This first photo is just me at the train station. I liked the background...
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Now these next two photos are two fellow RPFers that I ran into at the convention!!!! I didn't catch their names but they had some good costumes. As a die hard Star Wars fan I have great respect and admiration for anyone who builds Boba Fett CORRECTLY. And the Vault dweller was one of the only three Fallout costumes there including my own that we saw. He even payed us seven bottle caps to get a picture of him and his buddy. If you two are on here and see this give me a shout out!
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Angie is in the middle there :)

Lastly does anybody know how I can upload the pictures so that they are bigger? I do not like the little pictures at all.
Don't Die Out There Folks!

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