Havoc Squad Trooper [TZA] (APPROVED!)

[Balgosa ()]

UPDATE: This is now an officially approved Rebel Legion Costume!
http://www.rebellegion.com/forum/costume.php?mode=view&a=7369

Heya all! I am a member of the 501st as a TK and hoping to also join Rebel Legion as a Havoc Squad Trooper! I know there is another build thread going on for Havoc but since this is a different kit I thought I'd start a thread as well.

The armor I'm building is a TZA Havoc Squad Trooper from the game Star Wars: The Old Republic. It's modeled after the CG Trailers "Hope" and "Return".

It arrives...


Here are all the parts that came in the initial kit laid out


I started by drawing on some missing details that didn't come out in the pull, a pattern on the back and a second row of vents on the sides. The more airflow I can get, the better as this is gonna be a hot armor (in more ways than one!)



Then I spent an entire day slowly grinding out the visor, teeth and vents with various dremel bits and grinders.


Here are some pics of how the helmet turned out after the dremeling:




and a quick test fit. I put the visor in temporarily for good measure. I'm holding the havoc Rifle I've been working on.


Day one is done! now I have a LOT left to do haha.

[Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte)]

wow...that looks like a pretty nice "pull"...

and..

a journey of a 1,000 miles begins with the first step..

a costume journey of endless days begins with day one..


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http://livefromthegalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com/

[Balgosa ()]

Painting really isn't my thing. Ill have some more pics soon but I kinda screwed up the helmet paint job so gonna have to start over on some of it.
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[Heatshock (Nathan Lim)]

Lol isn't mine either.
Probably doesn't need as much work as u think mate, u can weather the heck out of it

[Balgosa ()]

Not so good at weathering.. really don't understand it
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[Heatshock (Nathan Lim)]

its easy mate
check out CT.net loads of different techniques.

I use a watered down black acrylic wash. Black acrylic paint. 3-4 drops in a cup. Fill cup with water. Brush it on. Let it dry. Use alcohol to wipe the big areas and push black into corners.

method 2 - mist with a airbrush or rattle can. ie hold the can abt 2 ft from the item. Spritz in a quick motion to get fine drops

method 3 - use a weathering kit from any of the model makers eg tamiya

method 4 - black chalk

the nice thing abt the cloners and now the Havoc troopers - they are all nice and dirty. Have a look in my build thread mate

[Balgosa ()]

I picked up some acrylic black and am going to do the black and water mix and try that out.
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[Balgosa ()]

So got a lot more work done

Started getting the visor in place. Bent it over an xbox 360 box to make sure it was square.


added some detail and squared out the corners to match the original


heat bent the elbows to fit my skinny arms


Started painting the helmet. My little setup on my patio (apartment living makes things hard)


Here is the base with no paint


First layer of grey primer


added a layer of white and started taping off to add detail


The closer to final helmet. Has a few issues and needs weathering still


Spray painted the hand plates


assembled the hand plates with snaps into the gloves. Should be a lot stronger but removable if needed


Built a rig similar to the Stormtrooper technique with a crossed suspender style to hold up the waist area.


Due to me being so skinny I spent a lot of time heat bending EVERYTHING and trimming up the shins a lot


Here's a comparision. I taped up all the armor and put it on when I got it. and the current build on the right


The whole thing will look better with the missing parts. The ab wrap and undersuit sleeves will make me look a lot larger to fill in my skinny problem.
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[Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte)]

looking awesome...
and...
wow...
being too skinny...
that would be a problem I would love to have..


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http://livefromthegalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com/

[Balgosa ()]

It looks fine on my Stormtrooper but this build is quite large so It'll take more work
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[Balgosa ()]

Weathered the helmet and put the visor in. I went for the "super battle damaged" look. Did the acrylic/water wash method. Actually worked pretty well!








Also put the visor inside. It's still missing the helmet outside visor though. Thats coming soon.


Started the rig for the knees. going to make them strap around the leg to bend with it.


and what it looks like attached. I will be padding the inside of the shins once i make them seamless so my legs will sit in the middle more


Trying the glue technique for weathering the H plates

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[Balgosa ()]

Taped off a lot more parts for painting


Pre-weathered


Post-weathered


using ABS sludge to seal some of the parts


Got my Havoc neckseal in from Foo!


some more parts fully painted and now they just need weathering

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[Heatshock (Nathan Lim)]

yeesh you are motoring through this!!?
looking gd mate

Nate

[Balgosa ()]

Been sick so I've had a lot of time at home. I know, probably not the best thing to do when sick LOL

My wife has been helping with a lot of sanding and sludging which has saved a LOT of time
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[Balgosa ()]

Got a lot done today, here are some more

Did a lot of heat bending to get this large chest to fit my small size. Made shims out of the cut off parts and am using velcro to seal it.


Going to abs sludge the cracks at the top to make it seamless on the top. Made a strap similar to the TK build that will hook to the shoulder bells and then go down to the biceps. I will give the shoulder bells more support by having them velcro to the shoulder pads when I finish them


Here is a test fit. The shoulders/biceps will be higher when the shoulder pads are underneath them. Still in the middle of painting everything and have to weather it all still


and the back


I'm doing my best fighting face lol
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