Boots arrive!

Today the TK Boots arrived and they are really sharp looking.  Superb quality for $49!

 

Examining what to trim, gloves and sound system arrive

Tonight I started looking at the larger pieces of armor and peeled off the protective clear covering from the plastic.  Upon reading up on some build blogs and tutorials, I sharpened my handy Home Depot shop pencil and began tracing where I THINK I will need to trim excess material from.

(I saw THINK because being new to this and never seeing finished armor in person, I'll post my pictures to the WhiteArmor forums for feedback.)

Here's a series of pictures showing what I did this evening...

Lexan scissors, available at most hobby stores, curved for cutting plastic.

The best 49 cents you'll ever spend

Peeling off the protective clear plastic film from the abs plastic

Why trace?  Because white-on-white cutting is a bad idea.  You're trying to find the seam from the molding process to cut & clean up

Some areas, like this, will require asking more questions to fellow armor builders

Pictured below is the sound system, the AKER amplifier with built in rechargeable battery and the Imperial Communication System that provides the static burst effects.  There is a Push To Talk switch and ample cable if you wish to go that route, or without that, the voice-activated system will work.  The AKER cost $47 while the ICOMM was $95.  Extremely fast shipping, I was surprised how quickly it arrived!

The gloves are standard nomex flight gloves I bought on Amazon.Com for $27.  

 

Another adventure

As if two R2-D2s wasn't enough, here I go with another fun project!

Here's how this adventure started...

Over the years of building my R2's, I have always been impressed with the many stormtrooper costumes I have seen in photographs.  Upon asking around about the cost to build, I was surprised how affordable it was.  

The kids I visit with R2-D2 have suggested I dress up in Star Wars costume as well.  Since building a Threepio is expensive, and a two-person job to suit up and move around in, that seemed like a bad idea.

Upon talking to some people who wear armor, I was able to find a good source and inquire about the process and ask my many questions to.  That lead me to WhiteArmor.Net ( link ) and tons and tons of information about all things Stormtrooper!   I've been thoroughly impressed at the uniformity and detail these guys take in making their armor look just like it does in the movies.  We're looking at accessories that average well under $100, quite a change from aluminum droids!

I put my name on the waiting list for my armor and 8 weeks later, got a notification email that I was next on the list, so have my funds ready when the kit is ready to ship.  Not long after that, I got the email alerting me that the kit was ready to ship upon payment.  A few days later a big box showed up, extremely well packaged inside was a lot of white plastic...

Now how could you not grin and smile unpacking this stuff?

I'm sure everyone has their own "To Do" list.  Some people, God bless them, dive right in and start the trimming process.  Me, I prefer to have everything I need at once so nothing holds me up in the build process.  I also like seeing other build pictures, blogs and reference pictures.  Learn from the mistakes of others and find out what others would do if they had to do it all over again.

I made a checklist and using the links I had already found on-line, searched for the additional items I would need.  I already had a Hasbro Blaster, so the armament portion is set, for now.  After referring to the Tutorials on WhiteArmor, I am well on my way finding the pieces I need.

• Boots
• Gloves
• Sound system
• Undersuit
• Decals for the chest piece and helmet

Boots  There are several links WhiteArmor refers to but I had the best luck with http://www.tkboots.com/ who make the boots for $49, which is way less than the other prices listed on other sources.  (These are currently being shipped to me, pictures soon!)

Gloves  I opted for nomex, aviator type gloves, having had these in the past and knowing how well they fit.  

Sound System:  This will sound silly but seriously, a system called the Imperial Communication System.  (Link)  For $150, you get the intercom system and a static-burst device that gives you the excellent Stormtrooper voice.  Mine arrived a few days ago and I haven't had time to check it out yet.


Undersuit:  The idea of wearing a wet-suit sounds a little funky to me.  One idea I did like is Under Armor compression active wear, since you can purchase it locally and make sure you get the right fit for you.  Also, Under Armor comes in a cold-weather and warm-weather types.  Being as all my events with R2 are indoors, the regular (warm weather) type should work fine.  If not, I can upgrade!  Also, WalMart makes a generic version of this but finding the pant/tight half is tough.


Decals:  While some people prefer to paint the details onto the "bucket" as some refer to it as, TrooperBay offers many varieties of stickers to make the task easier.  This site offers many great items to help builders make, upgrade or repair their armor.  My order should arrive shortly, pictures coming soon.


Next time...unpacking the armor and marking off what needs to be cut and trimmed.