AP Stormtrooper suit in progress

[Mr. No Stripes]

Hello,

I'm a new guy here. I got a set of AP armor (the best in my opinion ). I'll have to post some pics. I am almost finished with it. I am putting rivits on. I was wondering if anyone know what size the original rivits were, and also what the belt was made out of (and how it is assembled). Andrew Ainsworth about what it was made out of and he said it was leather... any help would be nice. I'm trying to be as accuarate as possible. THankyou.

I also need a pair of accuarate boots if anyone can help me out. Thanks again

 

[Clutch]

The belts were made out of off-white canvas and it went all the way around behind the plastic belt. Here are pics of tk1536's excellent belt:

http://www.tk1536.com/images/te_sandtrooper_build/build9.jpg
http://www.tk1536.com/images/te_sandtrooper_build/build4.jpg

I have found some knee wrap that is pretty good for belt material. You'd probably have to double up on it if you wanted to holster a resin gun though. Look for my tutorial in the archive.

Not sure on the size of the rivits. Troopermaster, any ideas?

Find the correct chelsea boots and spraypaint them flat white. Or you could try to find a pair of Cheng boots, or get some Caboots boots and sand the gloss off of them :confused

 

[troopermaster]

These are the same boots that I have,only painted white Trooper boots

As for the rivets,I have three different sizes on my suit.I'll have to check on the actual sizes and get back to you.I'll take a pic of my belt too to show you how I did it.

-Paul.

 

[troopermaster]

Here's my belt.As you can see it's a full length belt is 3" tall and 45" long.It has a 6" stip of velcro on each end to keep the closed at the rear.I made the belt by doubling up the thin canvas and then wrapping it around 3" elastic to give it some girth.Just sewn it altogether and riveted the plastic front ammo belt to it,adding the strips for the drop boxes at the ends before riveting.The drop boxes are riveted and glued to the elastic to make sure the don't fall off.The holster is riveted too.I still have to add the female snaps to the inside to fix the belt to the abdomin.I used 4mm diameter rivets on the belt.

For rivets on the armour,I mainly used 2.4mm diameter for attaching the elastic to the armour parts.I used 4mm diameter for the sides of the ab plate and under the groin,and I used a 6mm diameter for the other side of the ab.

Hope this helps you out,and if you want to know anything else,just ask :thumbsup

-Paul.

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

yeah that helps.

THanks so much

I just need to know the rivit size and how the back of the belt was put together... velcro wasn't invented yet in 1976.

 

[troopermaster]

<div class='quotetop'>(Jiminy Jedi @ Jul 9 2006, 05:10 PM) [snapback]1277244[/snapback]</div>

velcro wasn't invented yet in 1976.
[/b]

Yes it was,and it was used on the back of the belts

 

[StarWars Collector]

<div class='quotetop'>(Jiminy Jedi @ Jul 9 2006, 06:10 PM) [snapback]1277244[/snapback]</div>

velcro wasn't invented yet in 1976.
[/b]

It was invented by George de Mestral in 1948.

 

[Stormtrooper]

<div class='quotetop'>(StarWars Collector @ Jul 9 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]1277268[/snapback]</div>

It was invented by George de Mestral in 1948.
[/b]

Pffffttt.. I thought that everyone knew that. :confused

Cheers,
John

 

[Jango_Fett_Jr]

Might be a silly question as I'm very lacking on armour reference right now, but did they paint the rivets white, use white rivets, or were they just left silver?

 

[Stormtrooper]

<div class='quotetop'>(Jango_Fett_Jr @ Jul 9 2006, 09:40 PM) [snapback]1277413[/snapback]</div>

Might be a silly question as I'm very lacking on armour reference right now, but did they paint the rivets white, use white rivets, or were they just left silver?
[/b]

They used white rivets...

Cheers,
John

 

[The Manlet]

<div class='quotetop'>(Stormtrooper @ Jul 9 2006, 01:50 PM) [snapback]1277285[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>(StarWars Collector @ Jul 9 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]1277268[/snapback]

It was invented by George de Mestral in 1948.
[/b]

Pffffttt.. I thought that everyone knew that. :confused

Cheers,
John
[/b][/quote]

Not I lol B)

 

[St. Matticus]

Great belt mod.. Gonna try it this weekend.

 

[SethB6025]

<div class='quotetop'>(troopermaster @ Jul 9 2006, 12:57 PM) [snapback]1277261[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>(Jiminy Jedi @ Jul 9 2006, 05:10 PM) [snapback]1277244[/snapback]

velcro wasn't invented yet in 1976.
[/b]

Yes it was,and it was used on the back of the belts
[/b][/quote]
You are safe to take 99.9% (the .01% is just a disclaimer ) of what Troopermaster says as gosphel. :thumbsup He has earned that moniker. Watch what Andrew Aintworthashat says, he is notorious for, well, "disseminating dubious information". :rolleyes

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

:lol

lol... Andrew Ainsworth knows nothing... He is the one that told me that velcro was not invented yet... I feel like an idiot now. Thats the last time I'm going to him for information.

I have a few more questions:

So how do you know that they used velcro for the back?

Where do you get white rivits, or would it be better just to paint the rivits white?

How was the inside all assembled? if you could put in a pic. of the inside of the armor, that would be amazing.

Also, I've been wondering about this for months now... How did they connect the chest plate to the back plate? I've watched the movie and zoomed in a few times to tried and figure it out. There seems to be a small strap of some kind on top of the shoulder things. Do you know what it is?

Thanks again for all the help, and clearing up my stoooopidity :thumbsup

-DArren

 

[altername]

<div class='quotetop'>(troopermaster @ Jul 9 2006, 04:44 AM) [snapback]1277139[/snapback]</div>

These are the same boots that I have,only painted white Trooper boots

As for the rivets,I have three different sizes on my suit.I'll have to check on the actual sizes and get back to you.I'll take a pic of my belt too to show you how I did it.

-Paul.
[/b]

I just bought a pair of sketchers that looks pretty accuarate. How did you go about painting them? Mine are black as well.

 

[troopermaster]

I masked the soles carefully then sprayed them with white leather shoe dye.I didn't scuff the leather first,just made sure they were really clean then applied light coats evenly.I allowed them to dry for a few hours before adding each coat.When I was satisfied with them,I painted the elastic sides with white fabric paint.

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

hey... you never answered my questions

I was also wondering how the back was connected to the ab plate, and also where the straps are on the chest peice.

 

[GeneralMayhem]

I found the the stiff wide roll elastic for the belts. $2.29 a yard at Jo-Anne's.

 

[Clutch]

I thought the elastic at Jo Anne's was kinda insufficient for the job. Here it is compared to the knee wrap I found.

 

[GeneralMayhem]

Where did you find the knee wrap?