C6 Clonetrooper tutorial and build from head to toe!

Here is a quick recap. We have the calves with spoons, thighs, cod and butt, stomach, shoulder bells, biceps, forearms and hand backs all painted gloss white. My preferred paint is Krylon Fusion for Plastics. I use the Gloss White and it can be purchased at Wal Mart for around $4.35 per can. I have already used around 6 cans at this point in the build. Next we will move onto the chest and back pieces.

Hey Darren... question about connecting the cod and but together... you have it bolted temporarly... do you think a chicago screw would work? I could cap the outside end by epoxying the correct sized snap "cover".

clonecollector said:

Hey Darren... question about connecting the cod and but together... you have it bolted temporarly... do you think a chicago screw would work? I could cap the outside end by epoxying the correct sized snap "cover".

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No, the right side is connected permanently with a rivet. The left is done with a screw attachment. The screw is glued on the back of the inside and then you lock it together for trooping. A chicago screw would also work. I think C6 actually attached something larger to the screw to allow a easier time getting it to connection while suiting up. The good thing is once it connected, you know it not going to pop off. It's not 100% screen accurate but we do the best we can. You can also just use screws on both sides. This would allow the pieces to be broken down better for storage.

DW Design said:

No, the right side is connected permanently with a rivet. The left is done with a screw attachment. The screw is glued on the back of the inside and then you lock it together for trooping. A chicago screw would also work. I think C6 actually attached something larger to the screw to allow a easier time getting it to connection while suiting up. The good thing is once it connected, you know it not going to pop off. It's not 100% screen accurate but we do the best we can. You can also just use screws on both sides. This would allow the pieces to be broken down better for storage.

Click to expand...

Thanks Darren!

This gives me some new ideas. I plan to troop in my suit and I worry about the snaps comming undone (as well as being about to be disassembled for transport). I'll be taking out the snaps when I work on my suit again.

OK, we are moving onto the chest and back pieces.
They consist of two vacuformed parts, two resin shoulder straps and one resin drop in plate.
I also use a couple of white sheets of plastic and one small black piece for the back of the = marks.
First, clean up the pieces.

You will have some vac holes and double images in these larger pieces.
When cleaning these up you will need to do some extra work.
Here is the best way I can describe the two issues.

One, small holes in the vacuformed pieces.
The holes are caused by the mold. The larger molds have holes in them to help with the vacing process.
When you stretch the plastic over the larger molds they needs something to help with the suction.
The smaller molds don't need holes in since they not very tall. Stuff like the hand backs are only about a 1" in height.
The chest and back molds are 12" or 13" tall and almost the size of the 24” x 24” vac table.
The holes can be filled with bondo or magic sculpt from the outside then sanded clean.

Two, shadow areas on the vacuformed pieces.
The shadow or double images are areas that can be sanded down. This happens when you lower the hot plastic on the mold. It leaves a indention from where it first the hits mold. Then the plastic gets stretched around to the final size and the vacuum is turned on. This is done in a matter of seconds but the first image still can be seen in the final piece. Usually the bigger the piece, the more you see the double images. Use your mouse sander and 120 sandpaper to knock it down then smooth it out with 220 sandpaper.



Now trim the sides back on the edges of the chest and back piece. You will want to leave as much as possible for now. Once assembled you will need help from someone else to mark you final trim lines. This will need to be done with the cod/butt piece and stomach pieces on.

Now we are going to add the = marks to the right side of the chest plate.
I have create a template for this. It also has the = marks for the elbows.
Please PM me if you would like a PDF version of this.
First, trim the paper down to the corner marks.

Then turn the paper over and color area with a pencil.

Tape the paper into place and draw a circle on each end of the lines.

Remove copy then darken and connect the lines.

Drill holes.

Remove plastic between holes.

Clean up as needed.

Once piece is total finished we will glue the black sheet of plastic to the inside of the chest.

Now we are going to cut out the area for the shoulder straps to slide into.
This is done by placing the end of one of the straps on the vacuformed part.
Then trace the area which will be cut out. After that I like to add about 1/8” around the traced area. This will be my trim area.

Using your dremil cut out the two areas furthest apart then connect the holes per your pencil marks.

Test the opening with the resin strap. Trim and cleanup as needed. I should slide freely.

Do the same with the back section.


We are going to now add the resin drop in plate to the back of the piece.
You will usually need to sand some area of the resin piece to get it to fit properly.
I sanded 1/8” off the top of this one. I then cut the four corners out of the recessed area of the vaced piece.
This allowed me to glue the resin piece into place. I use the epoxy for this.
There is no right or wrong way to do this, you just need to get it secured into place.

Reinforcing your chest and back pieces.
All plastic is not alike. I use .125 HIPS but the consistency sometimes tends to differ from order to order.
Some vacuform better than others. Like I said in a previous post, the chest and back
are the largest pieces on the suit. They are stretched more per square inch then any of the others.
If you troop a lot you may want to reinforce your suit. My first and most used suit has cracked over time.
If I had thought to reinforce these areas then it would have saved me from fixing them back up later.
My cracks appeared on the curved area’s below the shoulder straps on my original suit.
I went ahead and reinforce more areas on this one. I must say, they feel much more sturdy now.
I used epoxy and fiberglass tape for this.






*DO NOT ADD THE FINAL PLASTIC PIECES IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED SIZING YOUR CHEST AND BACK PIECES*
I will create a separate post on how to do this.

If you HAVE sized up you suit, then finish the back piece by adding the white plastic pieces.
Follow the directions below.
After the epoxy has dried you will add the two white plastic pieces to the back plate.
Once finished we will add velcro to them. This will hold the front and back pieces together while trooping.

Once finished. Primer and paint the pieces as needed.

this is a great tutorial. I have been sharing with my son. ;-)

Moving onto the elbows, trim and cleanup as needed. Included in the kit should be some extra
white and black plastic. The white plastic will be the straps and the black plastic will go behind
the = marks.

Print out the template that was include in the clonetrooper tutorial. This will give the placement
of the = marks.

Just like what we did on the chest marks we are going to use a pencil to transfer the marks to
the vacuformed parts. Color the = from the backside and trim out.

Tape the marks into place. Use a sharp pencil to transfer the marks.

Drill the end holes out.

Once the holes have been drilled, erase the pervious line and redraw them in. Use the holes to connect
the line. This will give you a cleaner trim line.

Cut and cleanup as needed.


Once finished they should look like this. I have droped the black plastic in the left one to show how it should look.
Primer and paint as needed but we wont and the black behind the = till later in the build.

Trim and cleanup the knees as needed. Included in the kit should be some extra
white plastic. The white plastic will be the straps and the small clips on the straps.
We will add the extra items once the foam and strapping system is done.
For now just trim, primer and paint the knees white. Also in the photo are a set of completed pieces.

All of the vaced pieces should be build, primered and painted white.
We will move onto building the strapping system and other stuff that goes along with these pieces.
Most of the items below can be purchased at Wal Mart. A complete list is in the PDF tutorial that was
included with the kit. The foam rubber used for padding is always the toughest item to find.
I get mine from Orchard Supply Hardware. It comes on a roll and they can trim it to the size needed.
I get the 3/8” thick stuff and get it trimmed to 24” x 18”.

Cut out the templates included with the tutorial and trim foam as needed. Save the extra scrap pieces,
they can be used later. I like to add them to the forarms as well as other pieces.


Use the white plastic included in the kit and make four squares per attached photo.
These will be glued to the shoulder bells and thigh’s.

We are now going to make the suspenders and apply the velcro to the stomach and cod/butt pieces.
The suspenders are made with 1” thick woven non roll elastic. Take one package which is 1 yard
long and trim off 3 1/2”. The remain 32 1/2” will be one of the suspenders. The 3 1/2” pieces will be used
for the shoulder straps. Using the black heavy duty velcro trim and attach to the end of the suspenders.
I use super glue here to get it to stick. I have used this method for years and it has always worked well.
If you are handy with a sewing machine purchase the sewable black velcro and attach it that way.



Apply the other half of the velcro to the inside of the stomach piece. Also add two large white squares to the
outside of the piece. Use the photo below for placement.


Slide the stomach piece into the cod/butt piece. The idea is that you would put the cod/butt piece on first.
Then you will side the stomach piece in and it will attach and hold together with the white velcro.
Then the pieces will be held up by the suspenders. The belt would then be put on and hide the seam where
the pieces come together.


Now move onto the shoulder straps. Take the remaining 3 1/2” pieces, add a snap to the end of one side and the velcro to the other.
Don't push to hard when attaching the velcro to the shoulder strap, you may want to move the placement
later once the suit is complete.

You will need to find something to attach to the ends of the resin shoulder straps. You will want it to be big
enough so the straps don’t slide out. I got this rubber for my old place of employment. Your best bet would be
to hit the 99 Cent store or Dollar Tree. Just pick out something that is soft, spongy and can be cut and trimmed
easily. Only do the back one for now, we just need it to hold the strap into place. You would then add to the other
end once the suit is complete. Once this is done the front and back pieces will not be able to be taken apart.


*If you have NOT sized and cut the chest and back pieces move onto the next post*

If you have NOT sized and cut the chest and back pieces hopefully this will help.
When building a suit, you want the chest and back to fit as tight as it can, but you still need it to be comfortable while trooping.
The idea is to trim it back where the two pieces come together on the sides. To do this correctly you will need help from another person.
You will also need to have the stomach and cod/butt pieces assembled.
1. Put on you black undersuit.
2. Put the cod/butt piece on, then the stomach with suspenders.
3. Slide the resin shoulder straps through the back piece. Place back piece into position on you body. Have helper hold in place.
4. Slide the resin shoulder straps through the front piece. I usually have around 16 visible notches on the shoulder straps.
5. With the help of the second person, draw a line in pencil where the pieces should be trimmed.
6. Remove pieces and trim as needed.

Once sized then finish the back piece by adding the white plastic pieces.
Add the two white plastic pieces to the back plate. Once finished we will add velcro to them. This will hold the front and back pieces together while trooping.

great details Darren! Can't wait to get started myself with the kid.

Now we are going to finish the chest and back pieces. Once the chest and back have been sized, finish the back piece by adding the white plastic pieces per previous post.
Once finished we will add velcro to them. This will hold the front and back pieces together while trooping.



I always try to line up the top of the curve for this. Once the top is lined up, stick them together. Peel the other half of the velcro and stick into place. Also glue the black plastic into place from the back for the = marks on the right breast.


I had to trim the bottom a little to get them to set and line up perfect, remeber these were scuplted by hand and small adjustments like this are common.

This is how the back of the straps will be held into place.

The front ones should look like this right now.
* I usually now add the foam padding to the other end of the resin straps now. I am not doing it for this kit because it will be shipped. The final owner of the suit will need to complete this part.*

OK, moving right along to the arms.
First we are going to finish the shoulder bells. Each shoulder bell will have the snap glued down with the epoxy. Don’t forget to scuff up the area before adding the glue.
Also, once dried add another coat of epoxy around the edge of the plastic. This will need to be really secure for trooping. This will snap together while trooping with the
the resin shoulder straps. Hot glue the two pieces of foam together and hot glue the 1” black elastic to the bottom. Then hot glue the whole piece to the shoulder.
The elastic will go under your arm pit while wearing the suit.


Biceps, hot glue the two foam pieces together and add a piece of the 1” black webbing. This is the same material we will use to make the garter style belt.
You can also use your mouse sander with 220 sand paper to round and cleanup the rough edges of the foam.
*Once we are finished with the suit and weathering, we will epoxy this to the shoulder bells.*



Moving onto the elbows, we will use the black foam, 1” black elastic, white plastic for the straps and small black plastic for the = marks.

Hot glue the foam together and the black 1” elastic to the bottom. Then hot glue the piece to the elbow. Glue the black plastic to the inside of the = marks.

Final step is to use the epoxy to glue the white plastic to the elbow.

Use the 1” black webbing and hot glue to the bottom of the hand backs.

This should complete the upper half of the suit! We are getting close to the end!

Moving onto the bottom half of the suit the first thing we will make is the garter belt.
This made from the 1” black webbing. This is not a pre packaged item. This is purchased by length and is on a roll.
It can be purchased at some Wal Marts and any fabric store.
Also pick up a 1” plastic belt buckle. Cut the belt to your size needed and also cut a couple
of pieces for the garter. I cut my belt at 50” and 11” for the garter. Attach a snap at the end
of each garter. Loop the other end over and super glue together. This can also be sewn if you
are handy with a thread and needle.



Now we are going to add the snaps to the thighs. Scuff the are up and epoxy the snaps
per the position below. Just as we did the other snaps, add addition epoxy once dried
for a second coat around the edges.


We are going to skip past the knees and move onto the calves.
Apply the velcro to the edges of the spoons. Then apply the velcro to the main pieces.



The velcro also has a tendency to pull off when taking the suit off after trooping. I like
to add some super glue to the edges for extra support.

I wanted to extend a big thanks to everyone enjoying this thread.
I currently have this on 4 different forums.
I got a email for Photobucket that I have exceeded my 10 GB of image use per month.
I had to upgrade to Photobucket Pro to keep the photo links up!
Thanks, Darren

Now we are going to build the knees. Your knees should already be trimmed, cleaned up and painted
white. Once again, I use this special plastic that I get from my old place of employment. It is flexible,
strong and paints well. It not something I can purchase, it packing plastic for large sheets of film. They
just toss it in the trash once the film is loaded so like I said, it’s free. I try to include this plastic in all my
kits. If you need any please just PM me, I can send you some for free you just need to cover the postage.
I tried .09 styrene and it did not work very well. I packed my suit for a event. Once I arrived and unpacked
I found the styrene had snapped on one of the knees. I had to replace the straps once I got back home.

First, hot glue the tie looking shape per the photo below. This will be your knee pad.

I use hot glue for all of the foam pieces and epoxy for the plastic one’s. Hot glue the foam in the
center of the knee. Epoxy the plastic strips to the vacuformed knees. Before you epoxy this strip,
check to make sure this will fit around your calves. Nothing like building and painted a set of knees then
not being able to slide them up and over you calves. I have done this before, it’s not fun.

Hot glue the strip of foam into the knee.

Hot glue the long strip vertically per below. This is to help keep your knees straight while trooping.

Take the other strip of foam similar to the one used in step 4 and cut it into three pieces.
We will hot glue the two smaller pieces to the left and right of the long vertical one. The idea here is to have
a flat horizontal area to hot glue the next piece to.

We will continue and finish the knee’s on the following post.