Putting it all together
Once you have the armor & the helmet, now comes the fun bit! Putting it all together...or what we call assembly.
Normally we throw 'armor parties' for the newbies. An armor party is basically where we get together at one of our members' homes. Newbies bring over their armor and the seasoned veterans help them to assemble everything.
It usually takes 1 session or 2 at most to complete a stormtrooper kit. You can get in touch with me or any other 501st member to check on the next armor party for stormtroopers.
Before attending an armor party, you still need to get some stuff which you will require to assemble yr armor.
1.
Velcro: Get only VELCRO brand velcro. Its the best and any other brand will probably fall apart in our tropical heat. Its self adhesive so you can stick it directly onto yr armor where you need to. You can get this from Homefix stores island-wide.
What you'll need to get are:
a)The thin white Velcro. Its about 1.5cm wide. You will need 15 feet of this. I usually buy a whole box, though they do sell it by the feet. Here's what the box looks like:
b) The wider black Industrial Velcro. This is about 3cm wide. You will need about 8 feet of this.
Its always good to buy extra. Don't buy the pre-packed velcro, always buy from the box - its sold according to how many feet you need. Here's what the box looks like:
2.
Black elastic: You can get this from any seamtress or cloth merchant store. The elastic should be black and be about 1.2cm - 1.5cm wide. Get about 5m of this.
3.
Suspenders: You can get these from Daiso, the $2 store. Get the kid's suspenders in black. These are the suspenders that are worn over the shoulder to keep yr trousers up...the kind 'stock brokers' or 'bankers' use.
The kid's ones are shorter and more than enough bcos you only need them to hold up the abdominal front and back armor plates.
4.
Plastic buckles: You can get these from army surpluss shop, like the Beach Rd army market above the food centre. Get 6 of these. They cost a few cents each. Make sure they are just wide enough for the thin Velcro and elastic to go through...not too big and not too small.
5.
Plastic sheets: This is available from Art Friend. They are thin glossy sheets of white plastic. They are officially known as PVC Sheets. Get about 2 sheets in A3 size. You will need them for the belt straps and for some other stuff.
6.
Canvas material (OPTIONAL): This is optional. The movie stormtroopers wore belts with canvas belt straps. You will need to wrap the plastic belt straps with this canvas. The plastic on the inside makes it more rigid. If you don't wrap in canvas, the plastic straps alone are still acceptable even if not fully movie accurate. You can get the white canvas material from any cloth merchant. Thin or thick canvas is acceptable. Make sure its either white or off-white. Personally I prefer off-white as it looks more accurate. Get about 3m of this.
Once you have these, you are good to go!
Stormtrooper armor is one of the faster Star Wars armors you can put together. Also, its one of the cheaper ones to get...for full head to toe armor. You could get the full armor for SGD$1,200-1,300 and you can complete yr entire stormtrooper in under a month (two at the most), from the time you decide to give it a go!
Once yr armor is complete, you can put through yr application for 501st membership. Also, you can then work on the additional stuff like in helmet voice amplification systems (voice amps), helmet fans, in-suit walkie-talkies, etc.
I hope this guide helps anyone interested in joining the ranks of our Fighting 501st Stormtrooper Legion! Here's a little something to further entice you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nOFW-_-Sz8
Its our stormtroopers at Chingay 2008. Enjoy!
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to post here or PM me.