Bolt builds a Kashyyyk trooper

[Bolt_2112]

Time for a big update on my Kashyyyk Trooper build!

My incredible wife and I spent the last 3 days smashing out this costume and here are our results!

The first challenge was the Cummberbund. As I showed much eariler in the build thread we had this grey/brown coloured fabric that we matched at Spotlight with the movie still pictured in the "Star Wars the helmet collection" magazine. 



You will also note that the Cummerbund varies from the CRL in three distinct ways:

1. It is the large, verticle sections that stick out, not the thin ones.
2. It is all the same colour. Not a gray base with evenly-spaced dark gray vertical straps.
3. There is no "webbing material" it is all made from the same material. 

Also note the ribbing on the belt and small verticle sections. 

To begin we made the main section out of stiffener 



Then inserted this into the material 



Then Snips sewed down the sides of all the raised sections and added velcro for closure and for the rubber belt. 



We did a test fit with all the boxes



To mount the rubber belt I cut slits into the rubber and threaded a piece of velcro through the loops. This helped in 2 ways as it gave a glue-free way to mount the belt and it saved me painting black in all the squares. 



I broke the belt  but thankfully it will be hidden by all the boxes and strap for the drop boxes.



Next up was the main belt on the cummerbund, Snips created this in the same method, but sewed pieces of wool onto the stiffener to create the ribbing present on the belt. Adding black pieces to the center also. She was a little upset it didn't come out 100% perfect, but I think she did a fantastic job. 



    

Lastly was the weathering to match the reference image (a brown/red colour and black). Snips added velcro to stick the boxes too and more ribbing details also by sewing small lines in the small vertical sections in the places they will be visable. 

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Next up I got into some painting

Attaching the shoulder straps and mounting the tank detail plate I then painted both. Please note my phone camera makes the colours of my armour look out of wack, the yellow specifically. When I take photos with the Cannon the colours look heaps better.





I also added the black strip to the tank



Again in difference to the CRL which pictures a black "U" shape on the back of the tank, I only put on a horizontal stripe. I simply could not find a single screen shot that shows a full "U" shape. I can only see a single, black stripe. 



The next challenge was the belt boxes. The CRL states "Pouches have camo pattern" which is pretty funny and unspecific. 

As you can see in the above image, the two center back pouches are a dark grey colour (almost the same as the cummerbund) and have dark brown and green camo lines. 
The two tall boxes either side of those have a white base with dark green and brown lines. 

So that is how I painted them: 



The front boxes appear to change from trooper to trooper in the movie. So I used this image as inspiration. 

One box has a darker base and dark markings with white splotches and the other has a pale green base, dark green markings and white/brown splotches.
The top left small box looks to have a light green base with both dark and light brown splotches. Using those screen-grabs as inspiration I painted all the boxes. 

The drop boxes also appear to be the same white base/dark markings as the rear two tall boxes.











While I was painting, Snips was hard at work sewing my riding patches, velcro and elastic onto my undersuit. Putting all this together I did a test fit.

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For the side closure on the chest I again differed from the CRL slightly. The CRL states that "Armor joins flush on the sides".

I noticed that in one or two images there appears to be a tab or clip on the back plate hanging off a strap. 



And my statue has a grey clip present there:



So I made a grey tap, sewed it to a piece of elastic and used it to secure my chest/back together. The elastic permits them to stretch open which makes it far more comfortable. 



This is similar the the BF2 model (although this is to be taken with a grain of salt as the BF2 Kashyyyk is not exactly the same as the ROTS Kashyyyk trooper). 

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After doing yet more adjustments to my undersuit, I was ready for my first full suit up!

      

      

There is still a few adjustments to be made. 

- I'm still working on the clips from the belt boxes to the buckle as well as the straps which need to be painted. 
- I'll need to cross over my suspenders so they hide behind my chest piece
- Fans
- Knee straps need to be more solid so they don't break

Most importantly my undersuit needs some airbrushing. The thigh pockets are a different colour to the rest of the fabric and I'm dissapointed with the shirt having pin-stripes. My pants also look too purple in real life. 

I'm also concerned how bright my green looks on camera, so maybe I will try scuffing it or rubbing it with something to tone it back. 

All thoughts and suggestions are most appreciated!