Hot Toys Star Wars Stormtrooper

[Adam1138]

You two are "future people". Your grails have not been made yet. You are collecting too early.

You need to stop collecting right now and pick this up again once holographic recreations can accurately give you what you want.

Ha ha maybe you're right. Oh well see ya Sideshow Freaks, I'll be back in 10 years!

 

[Tom Day]

I respect you're opinion and if you think that the HT stormtroopers captures the character then that's great. But I've been obsessed by stormtroopers since the tender age of 4 when I watched SW for the first time back in 77. Ever since then I have studied pictures of the original armour and read articles about the sculpters and makers of it. I'm Lucky enough to own an RSPropmasters set of armour which is pretty much as close as you can get to owning an original suit. So as the original armours "DNA" is burned into my memory I can't help but see how far away these figures are from the original character that they are attempting to depict. Don't get me wrong, I think there great but I can't be the only high end collector out there that craves for an exact replica of the original character "walts and all" shrunken down into 1/6 scale can I? Especially with the advancement in 3D scanning these days, I'm sure that they could do it? I don't know maybe I'm asking too much.

I love reading this kind of 'deep fandom'. I too think the HT Stormies are wonderful, but I would be interested in seeing a 1/6 'shrunk down screen used costume' stormtrooper int he way you describe. But that's not to say I wouldn't still prefer the HT Stormtrooper.

 

[Solo_bones]

You two are "future people". Your grails have not been made yet. You are collecting too early.

You need to stop collecting right now and pick this up again once holographic recreations can accurately give you what you want.

Bahaha....i felt that way for a while, which is why I disappeared. Then Hot toys came into the picture again. Although I love SS's cantina figures.

 

[Solo_bones]

Ha ha a fellow collector who is also obsessed by the original white armour. That's made me feel a little less sad how far did you get with the 3D scanning stage before it became too complex? Do you think with financial resources like HT have it could be possible?

Yep! I am in the same boat. Here's the thread. The problem I had was I had to hire someone so it became too costly. The problems were that the software kept smoothing out the sharp edges and making the helmet "sag"....so there was that. The next thing was that he couldn't get the sizing right. He had to print it overtime to see if he got it right and it was costing me an arm and a leg to get it wrong....so eventually he gave up. He tried to make it symmetrical which was his first problem, I told him not to do that. So he never could get it right mostly because he would not listen to my directions.

I can see HT had the same issues..smoothing of the edges and tried to make it symmetrical so the eyes got too far apart, same problems i had. I'm guessing, but I feel pretty sure thats the challenges they faced on the Sandtrooper sculpt.

Here's the thread to see how far I got.

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/...l?highlight=scan+helmet&highlight=scan+helmet

 

[demorathis]

Whereas they should look like this wonderful thingView attachment 281317

The Ht stormies partly based upon the hero version with the smaller mouth....thus looks more doe eyed, but they aren't triangular like those horrid Cosplay helmets

 

[Adam1138]

Yep! I am in the same boat. Here's the thread. The problem I had was I had to hire someone so it became too costly. The problems were that the software kept smoothing out the sharp edges and making the helmet "sag"....so there was that. The next thing was that he couldn't get the sizing right. He had to print it overtime to see if he got it right and it was costing me an arm and a leg to get it wrong....so eventually he gave up. He tried to make it symmetrical which was his first problem, I told him not to do that. So he never could get it right mostly because he would not listen to my directions.

I can see HT had the same issues..smoothing of the edges and tried to make it symmetrical so the eyes got too far apart, same problems i had. I'm guessing, but I feel pretty sure thats the challenges they faced on the Sandtrooper sculpt.

Here's the thread to see how far I got.

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/...l?highlight=scan+helmet&highlight=scan+helmet

Hey Solo_bones thanks for the link. It looks like you really went to some lengths to try and reach the Holy Grail! A few months back I ordered a 1/6 scale Stormtrooper helmet from Shapeways which is apparently a 3D scan taken from an original helmet. Here's a few pics of it below sat upon a HT Stormie. The scale is just a little smaller than it should be, but when I get around to painting it up I reckon it will look pretty decent. The problem is that the detailing is very rough and also the Hovi mic's are missing.

If you and others want to revisit this project, maybe we can get some sort of "project Crew" together and try and push this thing forward together? If we can all put in a bit of a donation then maybe we can make it happen.

 

[Solo_bones]

Adam, I would like to know who you bought that from. I wonder if it's the guy I worked with.....he put our work up on Shapeways along with a forearm I tried to get to the correct scale. Can you tell me who you purchased that through? It looks great. Looks like the helmet top was improved if it was the same guy, as well as the sharp edges. He kept my helmet, so maybe he scanned it again?

 

[Adam1138]

Or we could maybe pester Jnix and see if he would have a go at producing a helmet sculpt. If he were to get the thing spot on which I think there's a good chance, he'd sell hundreds of the things!

 

[Adam1138]

Adam, I would like to know who you bought that from. I wonder if it's the guy I worked with.....he put our work up on Shapeways along with a forearm I tried to get to the correct scale. Can you tell me who you purchased that through? It looks great. Looks like the helmet top was improved if it was the same guy, as well as the sharp edges. He kept my helmet, so maybe he scanned it again?

No problem, here's the link to the page for you https://www.shapeways.com/product/BNWU2X4H5/1-6-scale-accurate-stormtrooper-helmet?optionId=57159364

 

[TaliBane]

That does look good! But yeah, slightly too small and I don't understand how they can send you a print that rough. It's not even really something you could sand out.

 

[Solo_bones]

BTW, I think that scale is just about right on the money. I think what is happening there is the neck and peg maybe too long? It looks like it would look good if you could just drop that down a few mm?

 

[Solo_bones]

Thanks, it's a different guy, I'm pretty sure. Did you order the white strong flexible POLISHED or the white strong flexible? I just ordered one to see what happens. I bought a paint that is supposed to smooth things out that you put on it before you paint it to help get rid of the bombs and nicks that sometimes occur when you make models. This should be fun. I also have the speaker miss from a previous purchase I made. The lenses are the only thing that need some work....for a Stormy then need round lenses. Maybe we can strip them out of a HT bucket or something?

 

[Adam1138]

BTW, I think that scale is just about right on the money. I think what is happening there is the neck and peg maybe too long? It looks like it would look good if you could just drop that down a few mm?

Is this what you mean? The colour of the helmet is different now as I sprayed it with some primer.

 

[Solo_bones]

Here was the link to mine, don't buy it thought because it was way too big and not correct in the back or on top.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/CVMANQTRV/will-helm2?optionId=12759051&li=ostatus

 

[SithThundercracker]

That does look good! But yeah, slightly too small and I don't understand how they can send you a print that rough. It's not even really something you could sand out.

"This model is 3D Printed in White Strong & Flexible: White nylon plastic with a matte finish and slight grainy feel. "

Meh. Nice design, though.

 

[Adam1138]

Thanks, it's a different guy, I'm pretty sure. Did you order the white strong flexible POLISHED or the white strong flexible? I just ordered one to see what happens. I bought a paint that is supposed to smooth things out that you put on it before you paint it to help get rid of the bombs and nicks that sometimes occur when you make models. This should be fun. I also have the speaker miss from a previous purchase I made. The lenses are the only thing that need some work....for a Stormy then need round lenses. Maybe we can strip them out of a HT bucket or something?

I just checked back on my order. I ordered the white strong flexible. which one have you ordered? I didn't see the flexible polished, damn! that might be the one to go for. As for the lenses, they were just flat green acetate strips behind the helmet ( Stunt Version ) so I'm maybe going to paint the eyes dark grey as an undercoat and then finish with a dark green varnish.

 

[Solo_bones]

Is this what you mean? The colour of the helmet is different now as I sprayed it with some primer.View attachment 281501

Yes, I think that looks great! It seems to me if you could make that helmet rest on the chest armor it would look pretty close to ANH. It's just hard to do that by resting it on top of a figure. Hey, we've made some strides here.

 

[Solo_bones]

I just checked back on my order. I ordered the white strong flexible. which one have you ordered? I didn't see the flexible polished, damn! that might be the one to go for. As for the lenses, they were just flat green acetate strips behind the helmet ( Stunt Version ) so I'm maybe going to paint the eyes dark grey as an undercoat and then finish with a dark green varnish.

I ordered the polished version. That should take care of the grainy look. OK......were off to the races here. I ordered mine for two day delivery. I'll print out some stickers for the cheek and the temples....we should be good to go.

 

[Solo_bones]

Not that far off..if at all.

 

[Solo_bones]

That does look good! But yeah, slightly too small and I don't understand how they can send you a print that rough. It's not even really something you could sand out.

You can order the polished version, option. But even still, 3D printing is rough. If this is going to work were going to have to use the material to paint on and smooth things out before any casting can be done. Maybe it won't be required with the polished version, but I doubt it. It will still have some rough spots.