Adult Storm Trooper Costume

In this how to I will show you to create a adult storm trooper costume using leftover cardboard boxes, Fiberglass cloth, resin and paint.

Other resources which were invaluable can be found here.  

http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/stormtrooper/index.html

this is my first instructable be kind.

The Storm trooper costume is a classic, I had always wanted to purchase a suit for myself, but since they can cost in the thousands of dollars for a quality replica I opted to make mine on the cheap. 

I started with research. Couple of sources which were paramount and I think tipped the scale in finishing a difficult project like this.

http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/stormtrooper/index.html
This first link provides detailed measurements of all pieces which create this costume.  They deserved a shout out.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Kids-Stormtrooper-Costume/
The second which is by the author HIREROB details a childs version of the costume.

MATS.

Cardboard - as much as you can get.
Fiberglass Resin - about 1 1/2 gallons.
Fiberglass Cloth - about 4 packs
Fiberglass all purpose filler.  1 can
Bottle of contact cement.
Box of 5/8s drywall screws
white spray paint.
Painters tape. - 3 rolls. Blue or tan.
white Electrical tape - roll
Cheap throwaway grade paint brushes. - for use with Resin
Velcro
White zip ties. - Not red. X)
Nine cents in pennies.

Tools.

Metal snips.
Sharpie marker
Razor / utility knife.
Extra blades.
Cheap throwaway grade paint brushes. - for use with Resin


Other items

Black sweats
Black jersey gloves
Black turtle neck shirt.
Cement boots from homedepot
Lots of time.
One patient friend about 6 feet tall.

Other safety items which could be included.  A paint respirator, some Nitrile or Latex gloves, and Safety glasses.

I have only included basic paper templates which I had scribbled into a notebook, I exploded these into full size pieces after taking detailed measurements of my body. After exploding these onto my cardboard each piece was hand rolled with the corrugations, this left my cardboard blanks flexible and in the basic contours of my body. Symmetry isn't really my forte so be kind and use your imaginations when cutting and creating your own templates. 

And yes I spelled pieces wrong on purpose :P.

After bending your pieces to the correct shape, use screws, pins and tape to keep the basic body curves.  Once you apply your fiber Glass cloth and resin you can remove these binding materials.

On the shin guards and forearms. I created them in one piece and ended up cutting them in half.

The pictures below are the left and right Forearms.

Now this was a helpful I found that after fiber glassing the outer parts the surface was left extremely stippled.  I overcame this by applying a layer of painters tape over my fiber cloth after it dried, then laying another layer of resin. which left me with a passably smooth surface.

This was one of the hardest parts. 
If you take the time to view the studio creations website there is a number of intricate details which these armors have that goes missing under the pass of the movie camera. 

Like any cardboard work project the details again were added using cardboard. 

The chest piece, knee, Groin, and shoulders and belt are just stacks of layered cardboard, cut to appropriate size using a utility knife. Then using painter I like the exposed edge which hid all the corrugation and applied my final layer of fiberglass resin.

These layers were glued together using contact cement, and Alex plus white caulk as a filler for joints.

For any details that required ribbing I simply peeled away the first layer of cardboard and exposed the corrugation.

Now Alot of my friends asked HOW the firetrucks was I suppose to get this to stick to my body.....  Simple using multiple contact points and industrial strength Velcro.  each part interconnected using small strips of Velcro painted white to match the costume.

Most of the costume bulk is support by the abdomen plating, and chest and back plates.  Pieces such as the thighs were supported through large velcro pads attached to the belt,  which in turn was connected to the abdomen via Velcro strips.

Parts such as the shin guards, and forearms supported themselves

The final results were something that was a little rougher then I was happy with. so the close up scrutiny of the costume came with a great deal of criticism.  at about 10 feet the imagery was impressive and as you can see the pictures look pretty bad-ass.


If anyone has any questions feel free to post.