First Pep attempt, Old School Hero Stormtrooper. Casting.

Hi, I thought I'd share this here
This is my first Pep attempt. I've wanted to have a go at Pepakura since I joined the RPF, I had some quiet time over Christmas so I thought I'd give it a go.
I decided a Stormtrooper would do for a first attempt, I figured if I can pull this off then maybe a Cody & Scout trooper would be nice to have a go at

I started searching the forum for files & found this: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=174677

Looks good so lets give it a whirl Found a free viewer & went ahead & printed it off on regular printer paper (thought I'd best do a test run first). Happy with that I went out & bought some 240gsm card & a couple days later I'd got an impressive looking rigid Stormtrooper lid

I bought some Polyester resin & painted the outside first supporting it from inside as I didn't want the top of the head to be flat. I gave that two coats & it soaked into the card nicely. I then knocked up another batch & poured it inside & sloshed it around until everything was covered.

Next I laid up some Fibreglass on the inside, just a couple of layers overlapped.







That all went well & a couple of days later I attacked it with 40 grit on a sander :devil
That got rid of all the high spots & then I skimmed the whole thing with polyester filler.

After more & more filler, some adjustments, scratch building some parts in polyurethane & a few coats of high build primer....













That's where I'm at so far

Is it up to scratch?

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

man... that turnedout great IMHO..


gives the rest of pep virgins motivation! (always wanted to 'try it'.. just never got around to it... I have a vinyl cutter too.. which I read can help with the cutting?)

great job!

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks
I used a scalpel & yes I managed to cut myself, I always do :$

I also pre-folded everything & I used water resistant PVA to glue it together.

For reference I used this: http://www.starwarshelmets.com/index.htm

HTH

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

WOW, that looks beautiful! I'm speechless! WOWOWOW!

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks & Thanks for file

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Never would have guessed that this started as a pep file.

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks

Been busy today. I guide coated it, wet flatted it & painted it
I haven't painted the ears yet as I needed to re-prime them, I'll paint them tomorrow & I should be able to assemble it tomorrow night
I've ordered a brow trim, I still need a neck trim, some mesh & I've got to make some bubble lenses.









Its all good fun

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Holy crap.

I was planning on doing one of these myself... once summer comes... This is great.

Kinda wish you showed more steps, cuz man I want mine to look that good.

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks
I wish I'd taken more pics TBH :facepalm
I guess with all the interest in the Ep7 Stormtrooper & that this has been done quite a bit in the past I didn't think it would get much interest.
Its not completely accurate either being that its mostly symmetrical but I'm enjoying building it & if it helps to inspire others then that's all good with me

If there's anything specific about the build process that I haven't covered feel free to ask

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Were the ear pieces from scratch? or pep... which parts did you scratch build?

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

I scratch built the disc parts of the ears, the thing-me-bob's that fit in the middle of them & the mic tips. I did use one of the pep mic tips & filled it with resin, then machined it to shape.

HTH

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Man that looks great.
The resin coated parts look great too!
Really a clean build from start to end.
Thanks for sharing.

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

are you aiming for accuracy?

Id be interested in one if you happen to make a run of them, its getting pretty pricey to find a hero helmet

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

For me this is a great project cuz unless I hold a bucket up against a LOT of reference, the small things are lost on me... I spent 10 years of my life putting things "on model" for a living, and with the stormtrooper helmets, unless something is REALLY wonky, I can't tell.

I guess I just haven't spent enough time looking at them.

However, yours looks amazing, and I'd be happy just getting it to that stage... it would only be for the shelf anyway... if I do up a full armor, I would probably hunt down anavos and let them do the work.

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks guy's
Accuracy wise.... its not! :lol I can imagine any hard core Stormtrooper critic pulling it apart! but IMO its a good representation of a Hero helmet from ANH

I've learned quite a bit during this project, things I'll apply to the next one & I'm already looking forward to it

As far as "a run" goes, I'd need to make expensive silicone moulds to do that. I'm not 100% sure I want to go that route with this yet :unsure
Its something I could consider but I'm not sure I could produce anything for much less than anyone else by the time you factor in the materials cost & time to produce each one, it can get expensive. I'd also need to seek permission from fskn & SpaceCowboy, its their artwork after all


Edit: Here's a little update for this morning
I got a bit busy with the paint brush last night. I found a tin of Humbrol AD Grey number 5 in my collection of tins. I'm thinking about using a Sharpie to do the black outlines, I don't think my hand is steady enough to do them with a brush :$
I need to get the ears painted (today) he just looks all wrong without his ears!
I've got green acrylic ordered for the lenses & a neck trim & I need to make a template for the blue stripes.

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

oh man, that looks so clean! what paints did you use to have such a consistent gloss finish?

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

It is so clean, can you write any steps about how you got from the resin coated card to the primed and beautiful result?

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

I used all car products, fillers & paints.

As I mentioned above I attacked the resin finish with 40 grid production paper (Aluminium oxide paper) on an electric flat bed sander to remove all the high spots (all the raised corners of the folds). I then knocked up a batch of David's P38 polyester filler (Bondo I believe) & coated the whole thing with enough to fill the low spots (the flat bits between the folds). I then used 40 grit again (but by hand this time) to cut that back until I could see the remains of the high spots. At this point it no longer resembles a pep build

From here on its a case of applying more filler but in smaller quantities & thinner layers to build up the various shapes until they're roughly smooth still using 40 grit. During this part I modified a few bits including cutting 2 inches of the top of the head & flipping it 180 degrees then re-glassing it back on. I modded the bridge of the nose, the cheeks & a few other little bits.
So I get the basic shape knocked out using 40 grit which is course but quick! Then I go over the whole thing a bit at a time with an even thinner layer of filler applying it carefully to reduce the amount of rubbing down needed. I used a regular filler spreader, & rubber spreader & a small wooden spatula which I could cut to shape for the detailed parts. That all gets rubbed down with 120 grit! At this stage I'm paying particular attention to the details.

Next step is a build up of high build primer! I used u-pol High #5 high build primer in beige! Its expensive but worth every penny!!! It sets hard, it doesn't soften with spirit based cleaners & if you use the red cap it sprays nice In fact all of the u-pol products I've used over the years have been good! including their fillers! Easy sand & top stop red.
This gets built up in layers & I rub down between layers with 120 grit by hand until I'm happy that everything looks good The primer fills the small imperfections & 40 grit scratches!!
I then give it one final coat of primer & leave that in doors to fully cure for 24 hours.
Then its the guide coat, & wet flat with 800-1200 grit wet n dry paper (800 is quicker but you need a slightly thicker top coat) then a de-grease & paint.

For UK members: Avoid Halfords own brand filler primer (amber colour) & paint products like the plague!!! their wet n dry isn't to hot either :facepalm

Having car body experience is helpful

HTH

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

This is an awesome project! I am amazed at how smooth the surface is. Very well done!

Re: My first Pep attempt, old school Hero Stormtrooper

Thanks
Got those ears painted but it seems I've had a little reaction in the casting of the urethane disc part of the ears. Entirely my own fault for rushing it :$
Polyurethane is sensitive to moisture during setting, the mould I made for those parts was a plaster mould. Where I went wrong was not giving the plaster enough time to fully cure & not sealing it prior to casting..... Lesson learned!! I may well re-make the ears :unsure

I also attempted to draw the black outlines on with a Sharpie, I think I might have got neater lines if I'd put them on with a bog brush at arms length! :facepalm So they'll need to be repainted :rolleyes

Sometimes things just don't quite go to plan but I'm not put off, these are just minor setbacks & IMO are part & parcel of this hobby

Don't laugh at my lines :$