AT-AT Driver costume build in a month

Thanks! We actually did make a vid of one of my vacuform pulls, but then my wife's phone blew up before we got the video off and it was lost. I probably won't make another soon as the whole thing is disassembled and I have all the parts I need. Not much to see, it all happens really fast. I'll post up some pics of the process and a better explanation this week if you're interested though. My setup is based on this Instructables article, much simpler than a multi hole platen and works well. If I have time I'll be trying to vacuum some bubble eyes, I'll grab video of that if/when I get to it.

Most of the work I got done this weekend is cleanup, not a lot to show, but I did get a start on the back circuit board, and finished the metal greeblies on the chest box.

The back circuit is cut from a piece of 1/8" thick clear styrene ($2 from Home Depot). I'm using silver vinyl and a paint pen to make the circuitry, tracking from a template I drew up in Illustrator (basically traced from MonCal's piece). Then I'll back paint the yellow/green circuit board color, should look pretty good. I resisted temptation to try to custom etch and actual board, which would look awesome. I'm not going to use the bug box, though it's accurate I don't really like the way it looks.


The various round greeblies are cobbled together from washers and screws and little metal bits, mostly from Ace hardware which has a great selection of fiddly bits. Some gnurled parts are lamp knobs. The left greeblie above the LED display is a guitar strap button, a great match for the real part! The gear is a resin cast of a lamp switch, a gear from a wrapping tape dispenser, and some plastic sheet. Still need to paint it.


The lower greeblies are scratchbuilt from plastic sheet, scrap box bits, and some finish nailer brads bent 90 degrees, sandwiched in plastic. The backing is textured metal tape I picked up for a lightsaber project some years ago.


So, the chest box is mostly done, time to finish up the helmet and figure out how to actually wear the armor parts!

Got some work done on the back circuit board. Somehow my brain switched off and I offset the black section, so now I need to cut off the sides and make them separately. Just impacted on the surface! Oiy!

I am so almost done with this costume it's both exciting and excruciating! I realized I was having too much fun on the tiny details and wasn't going to have anything wearable by Halloween, so did some reprioritizing. Unfortunately there will be some small details missing that I'll have to add later, but overall it's looking great.

I ended up spending a ton of time on the "circuit boards" on the back. These were a lot of fun and I think they came out great. Silver vinyl for the edge connectors and "wires" painted by hand on clear styrene. I then back-painted some more "wires" in a slightly darkened yellow/green to create the illusion of the etching on the other side, and backpainted over that with the main yellow/green color. You can really only see the secondary wires when they're backlit, but I know they're there.



The helmet is 98% done, just a few greebles to add on the forehead, some tweaks to the tusks, and probably something else I'm forgetting. Really happy with the Rustoleum professional gloss, the black came out SUPER smooth and glossy. Most of the decals are hand cut vinyl, but I did buy the red Imperial logos on eBay. Tusks are made from some punk rocker spikes, some nylon washers I drilled and painted with Alclad chrome, and will have some washers to add detail.





And a couple final details. The back tube connectors are made from PVC and sheet styrene for raised details. Magnets inside will attach to the hoses for easy helmet removal. Clock parts for the forehead are also scratchbuilt with sheet plastic and a gear from the hobby shop.



Armor ready for rigging tonight!



I can't wait for this to be done, it's a blast but the rush to get it done is killing me, I need some sleep!

That's looking factory fresh ... now go outside and trick or treat for some weathering will ya ... maybe ask some neighbour kids to 'egg' your costume all over that should give some nice stains whilest having fun

Chaim

I'm a little on the fence about weathering. Clearly it would benefit, but the drivers in the movie were pretty spotless. Decisions decisions...

Well since you're on the fence ... you're an easy target to be 'egged' ... just give it some time and lots of handling without worrying to wash your hands beforehand ... it'll grease up nicely and more naturel. Looking forward to your final stage when wearing that AT-AT driver costume in full

Chaim

Unlike a regular trooper, an AT-AT pilot either stays clean or gets blown to bits I suppose?

Well, this costume did come together in time for Halloween, minus quite a few details I didn't have time to add. No orange buttons on the chest box, no "tape deck" buttons on the helmet, no compad, blaster just clean black, and a few fiddly bits, but overall I'm pleased. I'll take a bit of a rest, get 8 hours of sleep for a few days, then get back in and finish it (and build a display for my living room!). I see now why the Empire lost, you can't see or hear a damn thing in those helmets! Escorting my teenage daughter her friends trick or treating was an interesting experience..."Why are you so slow dad??". And I learned some lessons about making it wearable - velcro is quick but not always the most secure! (particularly when attached to cloth with staples hahah!) Gotta add some buttons and better strapping. Anyway, here are some pictures, sorry for the bad lighting in my kitchen!





Goofing around....

Oh noes, it's Luke Skywalker!

It wasn't me, that guy blew the main generator...


I'm hooked though, this definitely won't be the last trooper I build!

Nice. You did a great job for such a short time on one of my favorite costumes. Awesome build, dude.

Brian

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of this one.

I'll take a ride in an AT-AT anytime with you ... with or without orange buttons attached

Chaim