Make Your Own Vacuum-Formed Storm Trooper Armor

toybuilder writes: "Do you want to make it to the next Star Wars opening dressed as a Star Wars character? How about a custom-fit Storm Trooper outfit? This page shows you how to make body casts, prepare the molds, and vacuum-form melted plastic to make your very own armor. Very impressive." Also, very obsessive -- this project is not for the faint of heart or shy of time. (Start now to be ready for the next prequel, or maybe the DVD release of episode IV.) Please note that this stuff requires more disclaimers than will fit on this page, and adds new meaning to the phrase "get plastered." Danger Will Robinson Danger.

Comments

Chewbacca

[KewLinux]

For president

Re:Chewbacca

[NormAtHome]

So sorry, didn't you hear.. he's dead Jim! :-)

Eh yuck

[aztektum]

The one on the right here looks like it got personal with a Bantha's colon.


aztek: the ultimate man

As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[typical geek]

This is a pretty irresponsible web page. Do you realize just how many volatile and dangerous chemicals are released when plastics are created?

Now, a plastic company will have filters and scrubbers and such to contain the outgassing and keep the amount of released chemicals low, to help save the atmosphere, and stay with EPA guidelines. Do you think Joe Sixpack in a garage will do this?

Unless we want the whole of the Earth to turn into a smog filled hellhole like Los Angeles, we should really discourage this reckless behavior.

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[stigmatic]

Wouldn't you think that the average "Joe Sixpack" who was going to invest their time creating this custome, and going through all these procedures, would have a slightly higher IQ than you think they would?

See, most of the people on this page in my opinion are above average intelligent people, and personally I don't think they would go blindly as you rant about building a custome without the neccessary safety material needed. Some may sure for enjoyment of getting high, some may forget and soon open the garage door or window for ventilation.

But DO YOU IN YOUR RIGHT MIND, believe that an average "Joe Sixpack" reads /. , let alone know what a slashdot is?

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[31:]

true. Sad that needs to be said as an AC... but just recently, here in Seattle, major company, after much fighting from neighborhood activists got found out that they were releasing many bad chemicals into the atmosphere and ground water.

The major source? Vinyl chlorides, the building block of PVCs, used for quite a bit, and yes, that's a major company, liscensened and all that, and they still put all sorts of toxins into the ground water and air of georgetown (the specific neighborhood of south seattle), with their plastics.

So, moderators, please get your heads out of your asses. Moderate this down, but the grandparent of this post has a good point.

---
I'm not ashamed. It's the computer age, nerds are in.
They're still in, aren't they?

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[Nerds]

See, most of the people on this page in my opinion are above average intelligent people

Damn, there are just so many good replies to this that my brain fried and now I can't even pick one...

By the way, is it just Konqueror or is the title of this thread "As if we didn't the atmosphere enough"? What the heck does that mean? The only thing I could get from it was that "the atmosphere" is some kind of new verb which I would guess means doing an imitation of that commercial for the Discovery channel with the meteors going "ahhh, the atmosphere." Come to think of it, I haven't the atmosphered in a while...

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[Anonymous Coward]

Lighten up. If you use orthotic grade polypropylene/copolymer, the emissions are negligible. It's also much easier if you use the copolymer. More emissions probably come from your obviously methane-filled post than using the right plastic. Even ABS isn't that bad, unless you catch it on fire. If that happens, well, it only happens once. LOL

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[nuggz]

Uh you aren't creating plastics, you are just forming it.
As long as you don't overheat it nothing is being released.

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[DrXym]

The chances of a person making themselves a storm trooper outfit of having a sixpack are neglible.

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[Alatar]

Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper?

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[LancerAdvanced]

Right.. now I consider my self pretty green, but I'm also a long time modelbuilder. and have some appreciation of the issues involved. I think the enviromental effects of making a suit of storm troope armor coud prob be offset by some carefull consideration when grocery shhoping in choosing your packaging and then recycling it afterward. not to mention that vacuforming doesn't require the maker to atually -make- any plastic.. As for being environetally irresoponsible, let us consider /. itself, it encourgase people to use computers, the manufactue of which creates a host of toxic by-products for just the computer itself, not to mention the packaging, and the software, and it's packaging, and the associated manuals and how to books. And now that we're done with the manufacture let us consider the operation, the electricity and where it comes from. All in all just arguing over this point here prob does more eco-damage than making one vacuform costume.. Well I must be off now to make a compensatory donation to the NRDC through www.greatergood.com

Re:As if we didn't the atmosphere enough

[Jeld]

Jesus Christ man.
1. Imagine how many people in the world are going to go through with this whole process. A few hundreds at best. One small chemical factory makes emits more dangerous stuff into the air in a day.
2. If we are talking about some guy wh odoes it in his garage, shouldn't you be worried about his health first and about pollution second.

I wish the staff would read Slashdot themselves

[florin]

Once again this has already been featured on Slashdot. Last time it only seemed to merit quickie status though.

http://slashdot.org/articles/99/01/21/2136201.sh tm l

Re:I wish the staff would read Slashdot themselves

[juju2112]

Dude, that was like 2 years ago! Can't we just occasionally cut them some slack? :)

-- juju

considering the time it would take...

[nothng]

to make something like that and my lack of sculpting ablitity (would end up looking like a jeff k. comic) $475 is a bargain. However, I think I'll stick to something more simple like my jedi knight under-roo's...

So this explains why...

[siesta at uni]

The RIAA has ordered 440kg of Plastic, white, thermosetting....

Re:So this explains why...

[sharkey]

Don't forget the guns. The standard issue Stomtrooper blaster rifle is a Sterling submachine gun. The long rifles, seen on Tattoine and carried by Chewbacca on the Death Star, are German MG-42 machine guns.

--

Thanks, but Slashdot is a tough crowd

[typical geek]

I'm as much a fan of technology as the next geek, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. There should be some limits to what can be done.

I imagine that is /. was around 150 years ago, there would be all sorts of articles like

New strip mining technic allows greater recover of metals for telegraph industry.

Re:Thanks, but Slashdot is a tough crowd

[Alien54]

I'm as much a fan of technology as the next geek, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. There should be some limits to what can be done.I imagine that if /. was around 150 years ago, there would be all sorts of articles like "New strip mining technic allows greater recover of metals for telegraph industry."

And since that was the beginning of the "gilded age" I can see enviromental types, other people with politcal concerns, etc being moderated down as trolls.

maybe not. Since these are the guys that inspire Bill Gates.

In any case, this is stretching the analogy a little bit. As I see it there are three elements:

1) Strip mining is enviromental destruction for corporate profit on a massive scale.
2) Making a body mold from fiberglass is personally dangerous, requires talent, and requires assistants who you trust, and who are not prone to very bad timing in practical jokes.
3) Environmental damage is limited in magnitude, and is probably less that the damage caused by average use of an automobile for a year.

The comparison is of things that are only slightly similar. Not similar enough for my taste. I can see this as something that someone brain damaged by Starwars might do for conventions.

hmmm

bet we'll see thousands over the next year

Re:Thanks, but Slashdot is a tough crowd

[dasunt]

Just a quibble, but is strip mining the most destructive way to mine? After all, its possible to preserve the topsoil and then restore the area after strip mining. Strip mining is more efficient, which means less energy consumed, and most energy in this country is generated by methods that cause some pollution.

Then again, my view point may be colored. I come from an area known as the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, which is known for its iron production. The mesabi range is about 90 miles west of Duluth and runs northeasterly for a good 50 miles or so. On a map, it would stretch from Grand Rapids, MN to around Virginia, MN. All along its distance are old abandoned mines. Now iron ore is mined by digging a nice large pit into the earth and dumping the earth and waste materials into another large pile. Both of this is on a decent scale, a small pit can easily be the size of a few city blocks, and the piles of waste earth are about the same size, and have a few stories stories worth of height (and red. Very red from the iron It will stain pants if you try to climb them.) These are old mines, and a lot of them shut down in the 70's. One would imagine that the abandoned mines would be big scars on the landscape of the mesabi range. Its not that simple. The pits fill with water, making nice clear deep lakes, unfortunately, they don't tend to be well stocked with fish unless connected to another body of water, I think it might be a problem with the lack of decayed vegetation in the water, the lakes aren't that resource rich for fish atm, but wait 100 years or so. The tailing hills are covered with trees growing on them. Its amazing to think that a tree can grow on waste rock dug up from 50 feet below ground, but obviously, they can. Right now, the old mines don't seem to be causing any great environmental harm, and in a few hundred years, I guess they will be hard to distinguish from the surrounding environment.

Of course, any bad mining practices will be bad for the environment. If there is contamination from hazardous byproducts or leaking of harmful chemicals/minerals into the water, there will be a problem. But that can happen with any type of mining.

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only is that chick you've been talking to on irc a guy, that person is also wearing a deformed homeade storm-trooper uniform.

NEW! Huberts' Nanoassembled StarTrooper suit!

[CarrotLord]

MMM... sub-microscopic stormtrooper suits... :)

rr

Is this armor effective?

[fence]

Oh, it is made of plastic, so it should be at least as effective as the armor that the storm troopers wear.

One blaster shot to the chest. Down.

While their armor may not have effective protection against blasters, at least it didn't limit their vision or hearing.

Oh, that's right....nevermind.

---
Interested in the Colorado Lottery?

Re:Is this armor effective?

[Fruan]

The armour may not have been to good against hi-tech weapons like blasters, but managed to protect the wearer from impact weapons like rocks and sticks...

Wait, no it didn't...

Re:Is this armor effective?

[thue]

I guess the reason why they wore them at at was that they needed to make the enemy "inhuman" so they could kill them. ie, make the film acceptable for the censors.

Re:Is this armor effective?

[jaiden0]

Well, according to the RPG, the armor protects from regular guns, but Han Solo has a "really big gun" that isn't common in the Star Wars world. I seem to remember them using some other guns too, so maybe this point is moot.

I can't do this...

[No Such Agency]

I recommend that you have 5 people present for the plastering of the model. 1 as the model, 2 as the Plasterbandage Wetters and 2 more to lay the bandages on the subject.

Not only would I be very leery of casting a human being in plaster, or working with toxic, smelly thermosetting resins, I don't think I know 4 (or even 2) other people who would even think of helping me with such a project. This is why the Stormtroopers will forever be the costume-geek-elite at SF conventions. There are lots of other interesting costumes the rest of us can do instead. Anyone with some decent sewing skills (or a friend with same) and the willingness to spend a little money can become a Fremen, Dana Scully, Mad Max, Kyle Katarn, a Sandperson, Rebel Endor commando or the ever elusive "Slave Leia" ;-) With all the possibilities, why be a 'trooper?

eek

[gtx]

i don't know about you, and i'm not going to make any stereotypical 'lazy out of shape geek' jokes...

but i know that I for one have no business in a form fitted anything.


"I hope I don't make a mistake and manage to remain a virgin." - Britney Spears

In related news....

[Daemosthenes]

Reports are streaming in that Bill Gates has ordered a large quantity of black cloth and a "Do-it-Yourself Dark Emperor of the Sith Make-up Kit".

Steve Ballmer was also said to have purchased a black cape and a foreboding black helmet...


47.5% Slashdot Pure(52.5% Corrupt)

How about 1:1 scale slot cars?

[unitron]

I always felt that one of the great deprivations (not depravations) of my childhood was never getting a Mattel Vacu-Form. When I think of what I could have done with one that big...

Dress up like a convict

[alen]

Why dress up in a SF costume and let the whole world know you're a geek? Last Halloween a store in NJ was selling convict costumes, just like in the NJ prison system. That is a real costume. Show the world you're an individual who's not bound by civilized society.

Even Better Armour

[RatCommander]

I know, why dont we pour molten steel all over ourselves and make really useful metal armour. Especially good for impressing the judge after taking your medical aid to court for not paying for the third degree burns.

New meaning for dickheads...

[bushboy]

Hello !!!

Earth calling Doc Saunders !!

World calling Mr. Flyboy !!

This kinda CRAP makes me sick, someone
pissing away ideas when the world need
um like YOUR business.

Pleh, Gwarrrr !

Caff Koff, Stick it in your cavity mommys-boy !

Imagine these on bikes...

[CrystalFalcon]

Imagine a bunch of people in these on motorcycles, zooming through traffic in formation. Yow! :-) Now that's something for when SW:E2 shows.

For extra effect, you could mount mirrors on the sides of the bikes, just covering the lower half of the wheels, so on first sight, anything below the engine looks like road if you're seeing it zoom past...

Re:Imagine these on bikes...

[studiocreations]

As the writer of the HOW TO website I cannot advise one to wear the stormtrooper costume on a motorcycle. Very dangerous. The stormtrooper suit is not aerodynamic and the plastic acts more as tupperware airbrakes than a high performance fuselage. One good gust of wind , and your flying, bud! (grin)

I'm impressed

[davonds]

having worked in the special effects industry, I can say this is a very cool site. it is important to remember that this is not as easy as it looks, and be prepared to spend 5 to 10 times as much in time and money as you would if you just bought the finished product from a costume house. this is for serious collectors only, and requires quite a bit of artistic and mechanical ability.

Re:I'm impressed

[bmeteor]

As an art student, I'm really interested in this site simply for the vacuumforming know how. Something to take the mold making class to the next level. yeah it's really cool. But even cooler, and a little less involved would be the Imperial Guard.

dumb

[Alatar]

I think it's pretty funny that these folks invested all that effort, all that money, all that time into the super-deluxe custom suit...and then walk around wearing it with dirty white Nike tennis shoes. Kind of spoils the effect.

Same technology for a Tux costume?

[NineNine]

Is there a web page where this company shows how to use the same technology to create a realistic looking penguin costume?

Re:Same technology for a Tux costume?

[WWWWolf]

Well, not the same technology, but I think it'd be easier to make Tux costumes with more conventional means, and I'd bet it would look more realistic too...

What Nikes?

[CrystalFalcon]

Where in this picture do you see Nikes? Looks good to me...

Re:What Nikes?

[Alatar]

Hmm...you're right...maybe they're not Nikes...on second look, they look more like New Balance or Addidas.

Re:What Nikes?

[TotallyUseless]

Yea, but the guy with the tennis shoes is also wearing the suit that someone else said 'looks like it went thru a bantha colon' he apparently is the loser of the bunch ;)

Re:Primary anti american imperialism

[GeneralMike]

YEAH!

Re:Don't like the Fascist undertones of this.

[drix]

I think you have the IQ of a trout if you can't distinguish between fact and fiction. What's next - are you going to contend that Lucas is Leni Riefenstahl, back from the grave?

It's a MOVIE.

--

Re:Don't like the Fascist undertones of this.

[Flabdabb Hubbard]

No, dressing in a fascist manner indicates an unhealthy attidude to authority. And some people (particularly on slashdot) take movies a bit too seriously. I'd guess that it would be mainly right-wingers who would enjoy dressing up as stormtroopers.

Bullshit

[CrystalFalcon]

While it is true that people choose style of dress to a) identify with a group, and b) signal membership of that group to people outside it;

Which group do you think the Slashdot crowd wants to identify with and signal membership in?

• Nazi or fascist groups
• Nerds who like science fiction

Further, do you think they even care about the Evil Empire, other than as a "cool thing"? This group is likely to select the Stormtrooper outfit based on the challenge of building it; on the challenge of molding plastics vs. sewing a Jedi outfit, not on possible analogies to political systems existing 50 years ago.

Crystal Falcon

Re:Bullshit

[Flabdabb Hubbard]

do you think they even care about the Evil Empire, other than as a "cool thing"?

Precisely my point. They should care about looking like fascists. It is not 'cool' to dominate the universe by force, that is why the Rebel Alliance was founded. Nerds should not be attracted to the 'Dark Side'. George Lucas's movie is an epic SF tour-de-force, but it is also a wakeup call, a moral alarm bell or you like, a parable for our times, about good and evil.

Slashdotters should think very carefully before taking sides. It might start with making a fake stormtrooper uniform, but it could end with Nuremburg rallies, and world war.

You're right

[CrystalFalcon]

Oh crap, now THAT's bad taste. :-(

That picture also answered another question I had -- dressed in a full fiberglass mold, how the heck do you take a leak? Apparently these guys have solved it... somehow...

Thanks, AOL.

[SEWilco]

Oh, good, another use for AOL CDs.

Yeah, sure

[Anonymous Shepherd]

I somehow doubt Joe Sixpack makes enough of these armors to even match the quantity of industrial processes.

Still, in terms of being careful, you're right. But the smog filled hellhole like LA is, if I recall correctly, due to the 2% of cars that are so old that they don't need to, or even able to, pass inspection, but belch out more than all the cars built in the last decade. Of course that's an urban myth, but it's the best one I know.

-AS

"Taking sides"?

[CrystalFalcon]

Slashdotters should think very carefully before taking sides.

Then, why is it that you see the sides being taken are not good vs. evil, but more Star Trek vs. Star Wars? Look at any convention and you'll see Stormtrooper-dressed people happily drinking beer with Jedis.

This is about why you make an outfit, and in the geek case, it has absolutely nothing to do with fascism. In fact, if you wanted to signal fascism, you'd choose an entirely different outfit -- more like a leather bomber jacket, black jeans, heavy boots, and possibly short hair. But a costume (any costume) out of a science fiction movie? Not a chance. I'm certain the people who do promote fascism would not want to be associated with geeks clad in Stormtrooper plastics, either.

Crystal Falcon -- Life begins at 150.

Re:"Taking sides"?

[Happy Monkey]

Heh. Lucas should of thought of this whole thing before he gave the Empire all the cool threads. I mean, come on! Who wants to dress like Han Solo? And Luke in Return of the Jedi was just a set of black clothes and one black glove!
___

Re:"Taking sides"?

[Jack_of_Jokers]

I quite agree. While I am far too lazy to do something like this, I would be willing to do it for "being cool" within the fan world of this movie, as far as one can be cool while making a costume based on the meat shields of the bad guys of a 20-year-old movie.

Re:There still opened?

[TotallyUseless]

who knows. maybe he can actually appreciate the dedication of a fan that goes to the lengths these people have gone. maybe... just maybe

Re:Don't like the Fascist undertones of this.

[dasunt]

So, according to your theory, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and Darth Maul should all be unpoplur characters, right?

Re:IP

[Kyoya]

More or less friendly my boss knows the guys from studio creations and not only do they advise you act safely while doing this sort of thing they prefer you get the armour made by them. The page is there for the enthusiasts...there's a sub-community that does this sort of replica creation. Their all nuts but generally friendly.

tough costume to wear

[ruebarb]

My friend had constructed one of these for the Episode one opening and they are HARD to keep together. He used Velcro, and you kind of have to watch out that the pieces don't slip or fall off, but the snaps look cool. (lamo disclaimer, the Mall of America wouldn't let him use a stormtrooper rifle - no toy guns allowed)

Our Boba Fett, on the other hand, had all the pieces stitched into a burlap type shirt and pants, so they stayed on a lot better.

Body Cast?

[Life Blood]

Ummm, ok I can understand the whole vacuum forming thing. Its cheap as industrial processes go and give you a good surface finish on one side, but why do you have to build a body cast of yourself? A simple manniquin (sp?) of similar approximate size should do. I'm betting the movie suits don't require the actors to undergo this. In fact I'm sure of it since they used the same suits on two sets of actors, one set for the Original ANH and another set for the extra scenes in the Special Edition. A full plaster body cast seems pretty unnecessary to me.

Oh, come on now...

[The Original Bobski]

This site has been around a long, long time, in a galaxy far, far... oops, sorry.

But really, any Star Wars fan worth his/her salt already knows about this site.

Re:Oh, come on now...

[studiocreations]

God, I hope every star wars fan doesn't know about this site. The downloads will cripple my server. Thanks for the support of my HOW TO website. I hope it's educational and informational.

---- Reply from Studio Creations ---

[studiocreations]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Please, Slashdot readers, do not think that we at Studio Creations are conservative fascists with Neo-Nazi tendancies. We are actually liberal sci-fi fans who want nothing more than to disperse information to the public about basic propmaking techniques that the film and propmaking industry do not give away freely. We made the stormtrooper costumes because we liked the design. In the 20 some-odd years that Star Wars has been around, the Imperial costumes have not aged a bit, unlike some of the other artistic elements that was in the movies (i.e. Leia's lip gloss and Lukes feathered hair). Thanks for the support of the website. Fans like slashdot readers help keep me going with updating the website. -jeff allen

My Favorite Line

[ReadParse]

Right out of the gate, and I'm cracking up:

"In this section I will show you how to pull a bodycast of a human figure. The process is relatively simple yet very dangerous. "

I'm trying to think of something else relatively simple yet very dangerous. Jumping off a bridge? No, I wouldn't call that simple. How about accidentally falling on a hatchet? Yeah, that sounds simple.... and dangerous.

RP

My rubber cement & Jello(TM) Jabba Suit!

[tenzig_112]

1) Spraypaint a Hefty bags lime green- unevenly.

2) Tape the bags together on the sides- don't forget the shoulder reinforcements.

3) Fill said bag with semi-set Jello(TM)

4) Cover the while thing with globs of rubber cement.

Alternative method: watch the first three movies 400 times while eating pork rinds and taking no exercise.

...everything Lucas is good...everything Lucas is good...

I can see it now...

[AFCArchvile]

The Princess Leia rescue scene from episode IV will be re-enacted over and over. "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

fibreglass.....

[Flib]

Why fibreglass (besides slightly greater strength and slightly longer work time), why not algenate and plaster bandages?

FYI I have made many foam latex prothetics..... :)

wrong quote

[sleeperservice]

Quote from /. contributor: Very impressive

Sorry, that should be: "Most impressive, Young mold-maker."