Havoc Trooper, First build progress/Seeking advice

[LazyAardvark ()]

Hello everyone,
Weekend update as of 8/30 focused on arms and chest this weekend

I've recently started my first build earlier this month and am starting this thread to post progress and receive advice. I have more experience with painting then anything else, so I am anticipating fitting the armor to my size being the biggest challenge for me since I am a smaller build at 5'9".

The parts are:

Armor and Helmet- TZA
Neckseal- Foo
Abdomen- Crow62

I'm Watching Foo's youtube series to get general knowledge of the assembly process but as it goes, "In theory practice and theory are the same, in practice theory and practice are completely different."

I will be using rustoleum spray paints when I get to that, the orange seemed to be the hardest color to pin down but i'm settling on the satin paprika which has a red hue.

Feel free to correct me if that is incorrect or anything else for that matter

Here is an imgur link to my progress so far:
Imgur

Initially I was feeling pretty overwhelmed so as a quick moral boost I got the helmet cut out, and I'm feeling pretty proud of that



Biceps:
I got some work on the heatgun this weekend and the most drastic change was here, after cuving the biceps to an oval shape they fit and move way better, this picture really shows the difference


Elbows:
Same deal as biceps after a few passes with the heatgun they seem much better, the angle isnt quite right on the sides but i think it works fine with the reference material i saw
before-

after-


Thighs/general leg size:
Took a step back to think on it some more, i have some cuts i think i will do but just need to plan some more, and will wait till after i heat gun to get the edge alignment better




As you can see I have quite a bit of wiggle room while my range of motion is still limited due to the cod piece, and I don't want to remove much more material and lose details

Visor:


Very tedious getting everything trimmed down perfect with all the angles, and the main reference images do not show the side of the helmet for a better look at the visor

Chest:
Haven't started on this but it is massive on me and will need a lot of heating and bending to fit well.
Trimmed the excess on the lips, was very helpful in getting the neckseal and ab piece to fit and display well
Bending has begun, i can actually lower my arms now when having it on my chest. I bent them in about 2 inches on each side and made the angle more vertical on the sides. Still am able to wear the abs and neckseal fine
[img]http://i.imgur.com/TGQBDtz.jpg?1[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/679SADP.jpg?1[/img]


Forearms:
These are a pain, lots of tiny angle and the material is a bit thin from all the detail work, but i plan on filling that in with some plastic welder when glueing them together. All i did so far was bend them slightly to make for easier and trim the lip of each end


However these forearms are massive on me and I think I'm will be following balbosa's lead and removing extra material and using angled lines, to remove about 1/2" from the front and 2" in the back of the forearms as shown below.




Thanks for reading, I'll be posting more updates soon after I get some more actual work done, Hopefully I didn't commit any faux pas yet as a noob/scrub/bambi.

[TAC_TROOPER (Michael Fodor)]

looks like a good start so far, have you checked out clonetroopers.net ?? good site with tons of info on vac-u-formed kits, I have all the pepakura files for the havoc armor, so scaling isn't an issue (with pep designer you can scale each piece to fit you )and its definitely on the bucket list.....no pun intended lol just take your time, start with higher grit sand paper ie 320 -600+ grit to smooth your bucket


-Mike
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"DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR !!"

[LazyAardvark ()]

[sandeman (Clay)]

Take your time.

Take your time.

Take your time.

I usally stare at a project for a month or two while I plan everything out. I know it sucks when you just want to jump in, but it's best to gather all the reference material you can, and size everything properly.

Check out Balgosa's thread. He's a thin guy and had to trim his armor quite a bit, but it turned out fantastic.

Paprika is indeed the right paint. It looks pretty orange when first applied, but once you weather the suit, the orange turns the right color, like magic!
_________________
MAJ Darkwater, Old Republic Trooper (Havoc Squad)
TK-6640 FISD ANH Stunt Stormtrooper (Expert Infantryman)
TB-6640 BSN Scout Trooper (Lancer)
ID-6640 IOC Imperial Staff Officer (Executor)
DS-6640 SLD Kylo Ren
U.S. Navy SCPO (Ret.)

[LazyAardvark ()]

I realize I haven't posted follow up in a while, Things have been churning along I've mainly been doing work with getting everything sized correctly as well as shimming and gluing my bicep and forearm pieces.

I also caved and got the star wars OT on digital, I dislike the cgi edits but its great inspirational background noise while working on the build

First Shimming and gluing I've done, and I didn't kill my brain doing it either!
using foo's recommended method with the devcon plastic welder.
I will try not to include any more pics of clamps cause I'm sure everyone has seen it all before and its boring.


Finished and sanded down, once everything is done I plan on giving a few layers of abs sludge to fill any gaps or holes.



Forearms have definitely been the hardest part of the build so far, I broke down each piece into 3 total and removed a fair amount of material, It fits my proportions much better but I have a lot of shims and heatgunning to do and it took me about 4 nights to complete the right forearm, but the left should be much easier.

After cutting down the pieces


This is the left piece but the shims are basically the same, instead of bending around the raised parts i cut around them, the surfaces from the raised parts will give plenty of hold. Shims are 3/4" or 1"


Mainly completed, still need to have the gaps filled and be sanded down



I made significant improvements to the leg pieces and when an undersuit is added it should fit well while having a decent range of motion.


I might want to remove a little of material on the back of the thigh so i can lift my legs up better, but I was also having a hard time getting the armor to stay in one place because i was using tshirts as temp padding



It looks like it fits well in the front! this was before the padding started falling out the side.


Quick thanks to Sandeman for sending me a bunch of reference images to use now I won't have to be burning my tv with stills from the cinematic trailers which along with a few other images are compiled in this album if anyone needs it in the future.
havoc imgur

[sandeman (Clay)]

You're making some significant progress here! This was a great kit to build, and definitely the most challenging - especially making all those seams dissappear.
_________________
MAJ Darkwater, Old Republic Trooper (Havoc Squad)
TK-6640 FISD ANH Stunt Stormtrooper (Expert Infantryman)
TB-6640 BSN Scout Trooper (Lancer)
ID-6640 IOC Imperial Staff Officer (Executor)
DS-6640 SLD Kylo Ren
U.S. Navy SCPO (Ret.)

[LazyAardvark ()]

Its been a bit hectic for me and the little free time i've had i've put into working on my build. Finally gotten some time and intiative to post my progress now that i am done, at least to my knowledge with shimming and gluing with the exception of the smaller pieces on the shins and boots.

Right now i am just sanding, applying simple flat white primer and checking the seams, since this is my first build im not sure if i should sand the seems so they are perfect on close inspection or just good from a couple feet.

Anyways here is the image dump:
The set so far, (chest and butt aren't primed)


Outer Thighs with attached thingy-bits

Inner Thighs after painting

Shins , plan on sanding more after the last 4 pieces get glued on tonight


Both forearms completem before painting

Biceps


Helmet and Visor

Close up of visor seam



So some issues i've encountered,

It seems TZA has stopped doing armor, and I never got the wrist guards, Since they are a bit simple should i just make them by hand with leftover abs plastic?

My next issue is i dont know how to make the belt l, does anyone have suggestions on how to make it or get a good material that replicates the horizontal lines?

And now that i am getting closer does anyone have suggestions on making the ribbed undersuit? it seems very similar to the pattern on darth vader's outfit so maybe i could use that?

Thanks again for reading and any feedback or constructive criticism is most appreciated

[TommyBuilt ()]

check with Gio at crow64prophouse, he did an amazing job on my suit , I believe he also offers the belt. I started with a TZA bucket and the armor was no longer available and I found KBarmor made a set. I had to shrink down every piece of mine as well. this costume is supposed to be little more form fitting than some of the other armor out there and looks much better when every piece is correctly proportioned to fit properly.its looking great so far!

[LazyAardvark ()]

Happy Halloween/costume day everyone,

the past 2 weeks I have been busy priming, painting and now weathering my armor, and planning how to rig it when i'm not working on it directly.

So lets get to the part where everything starts to look cool,
For the painting and weathering direction im going for a trooper during the battle of alderaan, so being cut off from supply lines fighting a guerrilla campaign/holding action in the forests and swamps of alderaan. i wanted to make it appear heavily weathered with dirt, grime, and scrapes with a fair bit of blaster scoring. Hopefully it looks alright and that i didn't over do it with the marks which i know from past experience is very easy to do but it seems to be coming together nicely on the pieces i've weathered.


Let me know what y'all think of the paint job so far!

Overall


"Storage"


Chest


Helmet


Shoulders

I had no stickers so i just cut the symbols in tape with an exacto, took a while but i think the results are awesome


Accessories


Butt


Thighs front

Thighs Back

Thighs random angle


Knees



Shins



Feet


And a weathering pic of the arm pieces that ive done, more to follow hopefully next week when ive weathered everything



Hope you all approve of the progress[/img]

[partsguy17 ()]

Wow that's really nice! The decals turned out awesome.
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SL-3929
ID-3929

[LazyAardvark ()]

[LazyAardvark ()]

I finished the weathering and if you ask me, well i think its pretty neat!

Sorry in advance for the upside down images, i flipped the normal on my phone camera, and on imgur, but the edited urls dont play nice with the tags.. so hopefully its bearable.

Overall


Helmet



Chest


Groin


Hips and accessories


Legs Front

Legs Back


Feet


Arms


Up next: Rigging for wear and (Hopefully) electronics

Hope y'all enjoyed!

[partsguy17 ()]

So many details, love the weathering!
_________________
SL-3929
ID-3929

[LazyAardvark ()]

So I had my first full fit test last night and wanted to share the results!




Poor imitation of the star wars battlefront cover


I think I'm getting close to the end of the build so thats nice! just need to finish strong on the following finishing touches

To Do:
Make wrist pieces
Make Belt
Finish wiring
Attach visor to helmet
Attach Belt Buckle and TD
Paint inside of elbows
Finish suspenders rigging (thigh still slide down a bit)
Make straps to connect bicep and elbow to chest
Weather and adjust ab piece

I feel like the biggest flaw in my build are the calves, they were just so huge and compared to the rest of the build and the reference material they seem out of proportion.

[TommyBuilt ()]

looking good!!