WIP: Stormtrooper Pep & Foam build; yet another project

Well, I'm the master of ongoing projects... and recently I really got inspired by the Stormtrooper build of Terra1 (find here: http://www.therpf.com/f24/stormtrooper-pepakura-terra-returns-pics-122443/) so I just HAD to give it a go. There's a 501st Garrison in my area and I'd like to join them in the future (long term future) if I can build a suit that fits their criteria. I'm also working on a Warmachine suit and a few other things as well. What can I say, I like to keep busy.

My wife is gone out of town to visit some family for the week-end so I was able to get a good head start on the bucket. Thank you to SpaceCowboy for the pep file! I used the document that is posted on his website.

So here are some pictures of what I have done in about 14 hours of work.

This is the completed pep.
I used part of the support structure that was included in SpaceCowboy's file to add some rigidity to it and get the correct angles for the nose and mouth. I feel like the gap of the mouth is a bit too large but I'll fix that later. I'm not too concerned about the accuracy of the pep at this time.



I then proceeded to coat the exterior with some Smooth-on 320 to add some rigidity and hopefully prevent distortion for when I'll be applying fibreglass mats on the inside.




Once the resin was dry I could not resist to do a fit test. It seems to be fitting OK, although I don't have anything to use as a reference since I've never put one on before.


After the resin was dry, I removed the internal support structure and covered the inside with fibreglass mats and resin. It seems that coating the outside with the smooth-on was a good idea since so far I have not observed any warping or distortion. Can you spot other unfinished projects in this picture ??


That's it for now.

I'm not certain yet if I will do a rubber mold and cast the final product like Terra1 did or if I will try vacforming. I have a vacforming machine and I thought it would be nice to try to use it for this project. My question though: does anyone know what the vacforming moulds looked like ? I am assuming that the bucket was vacformed from at least 3 or 4 moulds (front, back and dome) but I could be wrong.

Cheers!

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Your pep looks pretty good! Looks like it'll turn out nicely.

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Hi Kormier, your pep build is looking sweet! I agree with you about the mouth opening, but like you said, that's no problem to fix... if this is what your "start" looks like, I'm excited to see what the "finish" will be!

Kormier said:

I have a vacforming machine and I thought it would be nice to try to use it for this project. My question though: does anyone know what the vacforming moulds looked like ? I am assuming that the bucket was vacformed from at least 3 or 4 moulds (front, back and dome) but I could be wrong.

Click to expand...

Regarding vacuforming vs. casting, I vote for the vacuforming - it may be a first for a pep stormtrooper build! There will be four vacuform bucks: 1) faceplate; 2) dome and back; 3) left ear; 4) right ear

Here's how the bucks are laid out for vacuforming. You can find the link for these pics here: The Original Stormtrooper Story: Making the mould at SDS, but I'm uploading the pics below, as they made the pics small on the current page:
MOD EDIT: Link removed due to virus alert

Note the small drill holes on the deep parts of the faceplate above and temple decal below to increase the suction in vacuforming.

MOD EDIT: Link removed due to virus alert

Note the razor blade lines on the above dome/back - it gives you a good idea of how the vacu-formed plastic it is cut off the buck... you may want to sculpt an trench line at that spot so you can cut the same exact line every time and not gouge up your buck too much.

Awesome! Thanks a lot for the feedback and the info on the forming bucks! I will have to think about a strategy on how to build similar bucks.

I will post some progress pics later
today.

I am considering trying to carve a buck out of MDF based on the shape of the pep for reference. My wife has banished all fibre glass work out of the garage since despite my best efforts it stunk the house for 2 days... Meh.

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Kormier said:

I am considering trying to carve a buck out of MDF based on the shape of the pep for reference. My wife has banished all fibre glass work out of the garage since despite my best efforts it stunk the house for 2 days... Meh.

Click to expand...

Bummer! What about using epoxy resin instead? Not as smelly but almost effective as polyester

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

As long as the helmet is sturdy enough, you may be able to finish the sculpt with a layer of air-drying modeling compound over it (like DAS), then just sand the modeling compound, mold it, and make the casts (to use as bucks) from hydrostone... carving it out of MDF sounds pretty laborious!

oota goota said:

Bummer! What about using epoxy resin instead? Not as smelly but almost effective as polyester

Click to expand...

I might try that.

SpaceCowboy said:

As long as the helmet is sturdy enough, you may be able to finish the sculpt with a layer of air-drying modeling compound over it (like DAS), then just sand the modeling compound, mold it, and make the casts (to use as bucks) from hydrostone... carving it out of MDF sounds pretty laborious!

Click to expand...

Good idea. The good thing is that the inside is already glasses and I have a coat of bondo on it as well.

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Alright, it`s Canada Day long week-end here so today I took a day "off" from working on my new deck to do some FUN work! I sanded the first coat of bondo that I had applied to the bucket. Instead of using sand paper I decided to use a carbide bit on my dremmel tool. I figured that if that bid is good enough for carving stone it should be able to do the job on bondo. I removed all of the high edges and started to round it off. I had made quite a mess with the bondo on the face but I was able to clean it up nicely. I finished some of the sanding by hand using a foam sanding block. I somehow missed a spot with the fibreglass around the opening on the back so a piece of it got torn while I was sanding. Now that fibreglass is forbidden from ever being done in the garage, I`ll have to find another way to repair it.

Here are some progress pics. I quickly built a dummy that apparently is named "Neo".





And this is the carbide bit I used:


thanks for looking!

Re: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Looking good!

Re: WIP: Stormtrooper Pep build; yet another project

Yesterday it was so hot outside as well as in my shop (wish my shop had AC) so I retreated in my basement and thought I would give a try at building the chest piece of my trooper armor. My intention is to start with foam and eventually end up with a forming buck for vacforming. I had never worked with foam before but it turned out ok I think. Most of my seams don't have any significant gaps except for a few where I was not careful. I used duct tape as a "hinge" between each piece so that the hot glue does not squeeze out towards the front and to keep a tight seal. I saw this trick somewhere on this forum a while ago (sorry I could not locate the thread to give proper credit...) .
In hindsight I wish I had made some of the foam pieces larger to minimize the number of seams and reduce building time (although it still took me only about 2 hours). I still need to add some of the finishing pieces like the trim at the bottom.

Shoutout to Fierfek for the original 3D file and to Demolition for the foam conversion.

This is a picture from the front...


... and from the inside (I thought some would like to see it)





So one of my next steps will be to find imaginative ways to re-enforce the hell out of it so that it can be used as a forming buck. I have some hydrocal plaster that I will likely use at some point in the process. I would also need to strenghten the foam itself so that it does not compress during the vacforming process or that would result in a deformed piece and likely a melted buck. I am actually thinking that once I have complete the detailing and smoothing of the outside of the piece that I'll try molding and cast it out of plaster... and use that cast as the forming buck.

I seem to recall a thread where someone did a plaster mold and later used the same plaster to pull a cast? I am assuming that this would require lots of mold release agents.. I'll do some more research on this but any tips are welcome.

I"ll update you on my progress here. I might be able to do some work on it later today depending on what is on my wife's honey-do list...

NIce work man i almost forgot i did these files ill have to put it back on my todo list i just need to find a cheap bucket i cant be doing with pepping and glassing one i suck at bondo work lol

Wow. its coming along nicely

Demolition said:

NIce work man i almost forgot i did these files ill have to put it back on my todo list i just need to find a cheap bucket i cant be doing with pepping and glassing one i suck at bondo work lol

Click to expand...

Hey thanks! I found a foam bucket that looks very good a while back.
I have the file but can't remember the link where I got it from. I'll try to find out and will post it here.