Project: Rebel Fleet Trooper
Here are some resources for the Fleet Trooper project:
Resource Links
- Studio Creations – http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/rebelfleettrooper/main.html
- TK 560 – http://www.tk560.com/fleettrooper.html
- SWTroopers – http://www.swtroopers.com/reb_costumes_rft.htm
Check List
- Boots: have. Same as my pilot.
- Shirt: Need, can purchase, then Modify.
- Pants: Need, can purchase.
- Vest: Need, can purchase, then Modify.
- Blaster: Thinking of buying a standard “stormtrooper” toy blaster, and modifying it by removing the barrel, adding PVC pipe barrel with a turned tip, and ABS strips to get the right look.
- Belt: Simple square belt blank from Tandy, and a 2″ belt.
- Helmet: Working on molds. Need to decide whether I’m going with HIPS or ABS, and whether my frame is big enough to pull down around the dome. It’s a pretty tall mold, so I’m having doubts. Which means, a bigger frame, and less even heating since my current frame doesn’t fit into my oven as it is. Still need to pour the plaster for the “swoop”, and carve a new comm box mold. (I figure I can make a wood one easier, rather than pouring plaster.
Project Progress Report
Project RSS Feed:
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There was one other helmet that I made at the parade worn by Aetherdragon from Alpha base. We looked good as a group.
Shirt: Washed. Got some blue thread to match, and some light blue material to be a backing fabric for the front flap/bib so you can’t see the buttons or anything. Will fasten with snaps. The front bib/flap will come from the second shirt, and I’m just going to take a square from the back area, just under the top yoke of the shirt straight down the bottom. It will have to be custom fit to my chest, but there is more than enough material.
Helmet: It’s about as done as done can be I think. The hard hat liner is in, and needs some adjusting, but since I used velcro, that’s not a big deal. I might need make some angled blocks or something to make it sit better against the curved inside surface, not sure.
Blaster: Two blasters done as far as I can. I need scope mounts for them, but that is it. I am using a converted Hasbro blaster as the base. I chopped off the front barrel portion, and made a whole new barrel. I think it looks pretty good. And the best part? It still makes the blaster noises. Pew pew!! I have been struggling with the scope mounts though, I tried a couple things already, and they either don’t look good, or just didn’t work at all. I’m a bit frustrated. I’ll look into maybe eBay?
Belt and Buckle: Picked up a cheap brown belt from Target. I’ve cut the Tandy belt buckles into Octagon shapes. I love having a “beverly” shears in my shop… Cuts metal like butter.
So… It’s still in pieces, but it’s coming along. I think I should be done for CC, but not 100% on that. No Worries if I don’t.
Needs comm box still, and helmet liner. Also I need Medium sized white aluminum rivets instead of short. It’s not going to hold the swoop on, but it does look pretty good.
It’s nice to see it all together.
Here’s a shot of the parts all trimmed and ready to be assembled
badger
From Studio Creations: 2″ metal belt buckle. I’m going to get some from Tandy Leather tomorrow, and trim the edges with my shears.
Plus I’m going to order the soft parts soon.
5 Helmet Domes .093″ Styrene
5 Helmet Swoops .093″ Styrene
3 Dome Shells for making Visors from in .060″ Styrene
Need more Plastic. (have to order another probably 10 sheets of the .093 plastic from Pro Plastics, they do arrive quickly. and more of the .060 from Tap locally for the comm boxes.
Also need molds for Chin Cup, and Comm box on side.
But yay! the .093″ Styrene worked on the tall dome mold.
It just popped right out, easy as pie.
There it is, next to the source.
The mold quality is not so good though, it shows the thickening and the rushing that happened. The edge is a bit rough, and some pockets happened. I think I can clean it up with Bondo, but it shows how I had to panic and try and fix it real fast. I’ll bondo this one, but I might make a new one later. Fortunatly, the edges that are the most screwed up will be cut away in the final piece, but still…
Not so hot.
But hey, I think I can make it work.
Now, to do some actual pulls of the molds to see how it turns out. After I bondo the spots that need filling, and make some custom fit risers for the swoop to protect that trailing edge. It’s VERY fragile.
I picked up some more plaster at the hardware store, and tried pouring the mold for the swoop part of the RFT helmet. Unfortunatly, it started to harden before I was done mixing the right volume! It was about the consistency of soft serve ice cream when I was frantically pouring (not enough) plaster into the mold. I quick mixed up a bit more, and poked holes into the already poured stuff, hoping that the new stuff would fill into them and lock the two pours together, since plaster doesn’t stick to itself as well.
I don’t think I got quite enough in to make the full mold, but it might work if I use a couple of well placed riser blocks, which I would have done anyway. I might be able to cut some shaped plywood risers the make this work, now that I think about it. I will need to be carefull with the tail of the swoop though, since it will be thin at the edge. It will be a bit fragile, so I might just epoxy the plywood riser on that edge so that it is protected more.
We shall see after it hardens and I get it out of the mold. Which of course leads me to my other worry point. Last time I did this, I used Pam on the inside of the mold as a mold release. Not sure if I needed to, but I felt that better safe than sorry. Now I get to find out if I actually needed it. 
Because I forgot to put it on this time. The shape of this one is shallower, so hopefully it won’t ruin my mold and get stuck into it. That would make me MOST unhappy.
Fingers crossed for a good mold though, I hope this works. Then I can start doing some test pulls in ABS and HIPS. I’m actually leaning towards using .060 (High Impact Poly Styrene) for this one. Styrene is more flexible than the .093 ABS I have in the garage. It’s reasonably priced per sheet, can do deeper pulls, and trims easier since it’s thinner. Plus I can buy it per sheet at TAP, rather than a $100 minimum order from GE Plastics. Thickness shouldn’t be that big a problem because it’s not a stress point type piece like a chest plate for armor or something, plus despite vocal protests from some people, other people swear by it. The guy I traded for the molds is one of these, and he loves the stuff. I wouldn’t make Armor out of it for sure, but I want to try it out and see what I can get out of it.
Dome
First thing I did was mix my first batch of Plaster of Paris ever, and poured a mold. This is for Project: Fleet Trooper which I’m working on. The helmets will look like this:
I bought a 25 lb. bag of plaster of paris ($7.00!) and ended up using the WHOLE thing just for the dome part. And even then, it didn’t all the way to the top, I had to push a couple of 2×4 scraps into the middle of the plaster once it had set a bit, to give it more volue. I got the helmet original from a buddy on the internet, and am casting a positive from a negative vac formed pull of his helmet mold. (NOTE: This is not re-casting, I have explicit permision from the original owner to cast molds from his helmet. We did a trade for some of my molds for his.) Next I need to cast the “Swoop” part, the chin cup, and the side comm box peices, but I want to see how my first casting went. I should be using Hydrocal or some other more durable medium, but Plaster of Paris is cheap, and this is my first time so I wanted to see what I could do with the cheaper medium before I spent the money on the other stuff.
Went to go pull the Dome mold out. It didn’t come out easy, and I thought all was lost for bit. I did crack the original a bit, which I’m not happy about… BUT, it did finally work it’s way out, thanks to the miracle of gravity.
It’s got a couple of bubbles that I will need to fill in with Bondo, but other than that I think I have success! This makes me happy, especially after I wasn’t sure if I’d just ruined my master helmet or not. I want to cast it again later in Hydrocal, a tougher more durable material that can stand up to the rigors of time better than fragile Plaster of Paris does. Phew!