stormtrooper armor build (pepakura)- first time costume build (pic heavy)

ewok18

New Member
Hey rpf! i fairly new here and I wanted to show everybody the project that I've been working on. Im building stormtrooper armor with the use of pepakura, fiberglass and bondo. I've heard people say vacuum forming with ABS or buying pre-formed pieces works best but i really want to try with pepakura first and maybe in the end i will vacuum form over the pieces i build. All the models Im working on are from dungbeetle and they are really spectacular. thanks a lot to him! I also take alot of inspiration from stealth/ delray's tutorials, toxx's helmet, and terra1's helmet so if you haven't already check those out.

anyway here's what I have so far, feel free to criticize constructively and add suggestions:

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These two pieces are all the front armor put together. shoulders look a little big but i think they'll look smaller from the side

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Here is the back piece and the kidney/butt plate

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These are the handplates. Im not a huge fan of the size of these. as you can see thy are really thick so they might not sit very well on my hand. also they are super accurate towards the stormtroopers in the films, so i may redesign these.

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Forearm: turned out pretty good although they do warp a bit as you can see in the 2nd picture. I also glued paper braces on the edges to keep them the right size

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Bicep: these pieces were probably my least favorite because it was the inside bicep piece (3rd picture) constantly warped and the folds dont fit together great. Also the file has 2 layers, on each piece and i didnt realize that until I started to put it together. I only ended up using the outer layer. in the last picture you can see 3 sets of biceps, the bottom one was too small so i scaled the other 2 up.

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Shoulder bells: these were easy pieces but they also had 2 layers so i only used the outer one. as seen in the last picture the sides warp in a little bit so i need to brace those.

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Chest: this also turned out pretty well although some the folds got a little messed up. I also braced the inside of this one but i used dowel rods that I cut up.

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Ab/ cod plate: this turned out a little small so I will probably have to remake it. This was a difficult piece and it took a while to make so im not too excited to remake it. when i resin it i will probably cut the 2 pieces apart so it will be a little easier to move in. Also the ab plate file does not come with any of the details so i will get to do that myself

I have more pictures that I will post later and I plan to post pictures as my build develops. thanks a lot!
 
Here are a few more pictures:

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Back plate: I am really satisfied about how the "O II" turned out however the piece is warping a bit

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Butt/kidney plate: this another piece that I will cut in 2 for more mobility. this piece was very blocky so im expecting a lot of work on the bondo stage but it turned out well for the most part
 

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Thank you so much for the support everyone! It's nice to see people who are just as interested in this kind of thing as I am.

Here are some updates on my suit, I've gotten some work done on the legs:

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Overall legs

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Thighs: These pieces went together very easily. They are a little tight but I can cut the tops off a little if I need to so they should be fine.

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Shin: This piece was also a little small but I think it will be fine in the end. I also had to cut the back open to put them on. after I resin them I think that I will cut it into 2 halves that go together because they wont be flexible to put on normally.

I am going to be on the resining stage pretty soon. I have looked around a little and I'm leaning towards using epoxamite 100. Any thoughts/ experiences/ other ideas?
 
Alright guys I come with progress. I finished redoing the ab plate:

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Ab Plate: This redo turned out very nicely and it fits much better than the last piece. I want to thank Blaxmyth for the pep files for this piece. He has taken a few of dungbeetle's files and modified them. This particular one was simplified a lot so it was easy to put together but it was still has the details of the unmodified file. He also modified the chest, back and butt/kidney plate and he made his own shoulder bells. I dont think I will be using any of these other files but if you have any interest in seeing/ using them pm blaxmyth or I and we can give you the links for them. They are pretty cool!

that's all I have for today, hopefully I will have the other shin piece done soon so I will be able to make a picture with all of the pieces together (except the helmet).
 
Awesome, I've wanted to see a pepped stormtrooper. And it looks like you came with all the basics done. Looking forward to it:thumbsup
 
Update: finished the other shin piece

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left shin: This piece turned out nice. I had to cut the back like the other shin so i could put it on and it fits fine

So i've pretty much finished all the important pieces (aside from the helmet) and im going to need to start fiber glassing soon. I've seen Stealth's tutorials and like I said earlier I'm thinking about using epoxamite. Does anyone have any experience with it or should I use something else? Any suggestions or advice for fiberglassing are welcome. Thanks a lot!
 
This looks great! One of my dream projects is a Pep Stormtrooper. Maybe one day. Until then, I'm excited to watch yours unfold.
 
The shin piece certainly turned out really well. I'm wondering how you'll get on when it has been fibreglassed, though. Will you be making two halves that hinge together, or possibly creating an overlap along the front and rear seam lines? It was this difficulty that made me give in and buy ready-made leg armour, but I've vowed to come back and finish the suit with 'real' pepakura pieces eventually.
 
Crank729 and Samp: Thanks a lot for the support! it is greatly appreciate it:D

Blaxmyth: Thanks a lot! for the shin piece I only cut the back edge for now so that I could try it on without it falling off. For when I fiberglass it, I will cut it into 2 halves and then I will make an overlapping tab on the inside and put velcro on it so that it can connect with the other piece. I hope youre pepakura remake is successful!
 
Awesome pep job! I had always wondered if anyone ever did a full pep stormtrooper costume. Look forward to seeing this come together. Good luck!
 
Hey guys! I'm finally here with another update! I know it's been a while but i've been busy and I have done a lot of research before I decided on how I wanted to fiberglass my suit. Here is the materials I got to fiberglass:

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I decided on just using polyester fiberglass resin. I know it is pretty toxic but it is much cheaper than any alternative i could fine and I can pick it up locally. Anyway, I plan to start work on this tomorrow so get ready for more updates. I cant wait to start working!
 
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