My Lifesize Stormtrooper Project * Picture Intensive*

azheat01

Active Hunter
OK, so I got the bug, worked a little overtime, and finally got my wife's approval. So, I took on yet another project!

Although Boba Fett is by far one of the coolest Star Wars characters, there is little doubt that, next to Darth Vader, the Stormtrooper is one of the most recognizable and beloved characters of the Star Wars universe. There is definitely a "coolness" factor unlike any other.

I am sure many members here probably already have a Stromtrooper set up, and most likely nicer than this set, but I wanted to post this just to get input from you all and share the experience. Not at all a difficult project, really nothing creative to do, but worth sharing anyway.

I do know there are other forums dedicated to Stomtoopers and I have checked them out. But I started at TDH with my Fett, like the members here, and love the ease of this website compared to others.

With that, here is what came today in the mail.! I was happier than a kid at Christmas!

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I got the mannequin from eBay, great price, and this one is cool because he has poseable arms, they bend at the elbow. You will see later when I get the blaster in.

Thanks to all who sent me info on the Stormtrooper armor! It was a tuff decision, but I got this at an excellent price.

I bought the shirt and pants from Big 5 Sporting Goods . I have a few other details on the way.

I am anxious to get working on this!

(BTW, my Han Solo in Carbonite is almost done, he has not been adandoned.)
 
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I notice orange pauldon in the back ground.Are you going to make "him" be a weathered as a sandtrooper?
And is the source for your kit?
Good luck with it and I look forward to the progress.
 
Oh yeah! I remember the day my box-o-trooper showed up. I was like a little kid on Christmas. I think I even slept with my helmet the day I got it built. :lol: Have fun!
 
I am not doing a Sandtrooper this run around. The person I bought the kit from threw it in for free!

I am thinking about buying another set and doing a Sandtrooper, just not sure how to explain that to my wife!
 
That's great. I did my stormtrooper a few years back now, all vacformed plastic. I'd really like to upgrade to a pro built kit but I'm not sure how the wife would take it. She'd no doubt demand a pair of Jimmy Choo's (very expensive shoes for those who don't have a wife with a shoe fetish) :)
 
The day when I received my first stormy armor, I didn't sleep that night coz I finished assembling it then I slept all day the next day!:lol:lol::lol:
 
Yeah, I'm still trying to finish both Fett and TD. Notice the icon.:)
Someday I'll be able to troop in them and be "official". :lol:

Good luck!
 
btw that kit rocks... i did up a mates kenner with it, and it turned out soo nicely... my advice to you is what i did, cut the red tip lengthways to separate it so you can pry the LED and wires out, the cut the tip off where you need to, that way you can epoxy/glue the LED into the new resin end piece and have a res blasterbolt action going :D
 
Another nice project your doing. Maybe your wife and talk with my wife and let her know its o.k. to have lifesize projects. I'm still getting alot of grief over my 1/4 Sideshow stuff.
 
bthat way you can epoxy/glue the LED into the new resin end piece and have a res blasterbolt action going :D

hot glue works well for that... the cloudy white translucent look if it diffuses the LED a bit, and lights up nicely. plus it's easy and not smelly, which can be a refreshing change!
 
Hey Azheat, I saw that mannie on ebay and was wondering if you have tried to make it hold a blaster? I am interested in this one. I have a couple other posable mannies but this one is much cheaper so I was looking for some feedback on it. Also great armor! I hope to be doing a TK next also. Keep the pics coming
 
Because I am using the Kenner blaster, which is fairly light, this mannequin can hold it pretty nice. Plus, I am doing the hands like my Lifesize Boba Fett so he can grip it.

I like this mannquin because of his pose and positionable arms. They bend at the elbow when you tighten/loosen the bolt with an allen wrench.

Also, this mannequin can stand with either a foot or calf rod and the seller included both. Rather than cut a hole in the calf armor, I just drilled a hole in the bottom of the boot! It worked out nice.

For the price, this is a decent mannequin.

I will try to get some pictures up.
 
These are the boots I bought. I cut a hole in the bottom for the mannequin's foot rod to go into; it worked out well. I also made a rubber plug to go into the hole for when I decide to wear the boots.

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I worked on the the blaster and put on the conversion kit. A coat of primer and this should be ready to paint.

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I also started re-working the mannquin's hands. I bought some vinyl irrigation tubing at Home Depot which I used for the fingers. You can use just about any type of tubing, but I found this works well because it's lightweight and flexible.

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I removed the mannequin's fingers just above the knuckles.

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I then used some 3 mm wire for the fingers. You can also use hangers, but be careful. If you plan on bending the fingers allot, I would use heavy wire. The more you bend hangers the weaker they get, which could cause the wire to snap.

I cut long pieces so they would extend all the way to the base of the wrist. I then used hot glue to secure the wires in place. It's a good idea to burn 2 or 3 sticks of glue at the base of the wrist to secure all the wire. You just have to insert the nozzle of the glue gun into one of the finger holes and work the glue to the base.

When that was dry, I filled the area around the base of the fingers with glue.

Use plenty of glue to ensure the fingers stay nice and rigid.

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I then cut the irrigation tube into small pieces. I placed a piece of tape over the bottom and slid the tube onto the fingers. The tape will keep the glue from coming out of the bottom of the tube. I then filled the tube with hot glue.

You need to make sure you space the tubing far enough apart. This will prevent the fingers from stopping short when you go to bend them at the angle you want.

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I then cut the wire to adjust for the finger length and added a small bit of glue to make the fingertips.

Here is how the hand looks finished. I wanted the base of the thumb to be slightly thicker, so I cut 2 pieces of tube and glued them around the first one.

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I fit the glove over the hands and they look really good. I can bend the fingers to just about any angle. This will allow the mannequin to hold the blaster in the pose I wanted.

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Very nice hands for the mannequin!! Oh, by the way, Nomex gloves are awesome for Stormtroopers, I need to get myself another pair. Keep up the nice work!
 
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