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TK - Stormtrooper
501st Legion First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment:
http://www.whitearmor.net.
For help with this costume,
please contact:
TK-4918
There are several different kinds of TK armour available. The most
frequently used is the Movie FX armour. Some say it's not that movie
accurate, but it has many positive things that make up for that. One
example is the bucket (helmet) that, according to some sources, is
about 10% larger than the ones used in the movies, but the good
thing about that is that you will have no problem at all fitting the
electronics inside it.
Here's a rather brief overview of the costume, FX version.
Helmet
The bucket consists of several pieces and the fitting can be
time consuming. Since this is the part most people will look at,
take your time getting the details right - and follow the provided
instructions carefully! A lot of troopers get a different helmet
later on, since they want a more movie accurate one. You can read
about the different helmets over at
www.starwarshelmets.com.
To be able to troop for hours and
hours (considering some days might be hot in the summer) a lot of us
install computer CPU fans in the helmet - that is a great way of
extending the time you can stay in armour.
If you really want to act out your role as a Stormtrooper you should
also get some kind of voice system. There are price ranges from
below 100 SEK up to several thousands kronor, all depending on your
need. The cheapest ones just amplifies your voice and the more
expensive ones adds the static burst after each line, give you the
possibility to upload MP3 sounds to the board etc.
 Hard
Armour
The hard armour consists of 50+ pieces and most of them need to be
glued to at least one more piece. There is
ABS cement in the kit and if you use it correctly and clamp them
overnight it sticks forever! Some pieces (thigh
and arm pieces in particular) might need to be trimmed depending on
your height and width. Some pieces (belt, detonator, shoulder strips
etc) also "need" to be riveted together. It is possible to use
Velcro, but it will almost certainly fall off after a few events.
For the shins I used Velcro to be able to close it around my legs,
but then I
got real industrial Velcro, the one that comes with the kit is not
strong enough.
Soft Parts
Underneath the hard armour you need some kind of undersuit. I
started of with a one-piece sports suit, but I must say that getting
a 2 part is my best upgrade so far. I can actually use the loo now,
in armour! Ordinary costuming gloves will do and cost around 50 SEK
but more accurate gloves are readily available on ebay.
The neckseal can either be bought ready-made, or you can sew it
yourself which is very easy!
Here's
a great tutorial (PDF).
 Boots
Once again there are several different types, but the best are the
Mark Cheng ones. The easiest way to find these is to search on Ebay
and you'll find them from time to time. You can try to repaint a
non-white pair of shoes, but what I've heard it's quite hard to get
the paint to stay on and not crack.
E-11 Blaster
For trooping I would advice to get a Kenner toy blaster (available
in both black and white)
and, if needed, repaint it. Conversion kits can be bought on ebay to
make the Kenner
more accurate and realistic. The heavier, movie accurate (and
expensive) ones are great
for display, but I wouldn't carry it for hours at an event, not even
holstered.
Also worth taking into consideration is that lots of people,
especially kids, will ask to see
your blaster. If you feel safe enough letting them handle a Master
Replicas blaster worth
several thousand SEK then that’s fine but, if not, then a cheaper
blaster is definitely the way to go. |