Make a cosplay outfit of an Imperial Tanktrooper
by nbear1
Arts & Crafts Journey Overview
Follow this step-by-step arts & crafts journey to see real progress updates, challenges overcome, and practical experience.
Progress Updates (7 total)
Update #1: Make a cosplay outfit of an Imperial Tanktrooper
Make a 501st approved Tanktrooper cosplay.
Follow the approved specs: https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TA_assault_tank_driver#tabber-Version_One
Challenges Overcome: 3d printed the helmet and began planning the armor sections.
Began to post-print process the helmet via assembly and priming.
Update #2: Assembled the helmet bits
10% completeGlued the neck ring pieces together, and test fit the magnets to hold the visor on the forehead.
Challenges Overcome: Gluing the helmet together is easy.
Obstacles Faced: The mating surfaces were smooth so they tend to slip when gluing. The accelerator was super helpful.
Looking Back: I wish I had known my bambu printer had the ability to add pegs and holes on mating bits!
Update #3: Big big bondo
10% completeAdded bondo at full strength to smooth out the layer lines and give me a high surface from which i can begin to sand. This is only step one of priming though.
Challenges Overcome: Bondo is like toothpaste you can easily smear it with a finger or a small squeegee.
Obstacles Faced: Getting the bondo smooth can be a bit tricky. But using a bit of cardboard or a cut up cereal box helps as a makeshift squeegee.
Looking Back: Bondo dries pretty fast and you use a lot. Need to get more for the future.
Update #4: Even more bondo!
10% completeYeah added a lot of bondo to the neck ring and the visor. Ran out of bondo for the helmet so I will do that separately.
Challenges Overcome: Thinned bondo is super easy-to-use. I was able to use a sponge brush to just brush it on. The bondo thinned had a real liquid viscosity to it so I had no trouble trying to spread it.
Obstacles Faced: Ran out of bondo to quickly. Need to get larger tubes!
Looking Back: Getting the right bondo and acetone mix is crucial to good layers of bondo.
Update #5: Positive progress & some minor setbacks
15% completeCheck out my imgur gallery here: https://imgur.com/a/YmSfLV2
made some good progress but also had some minor setbacks. Looking forward to moving along and learning from the mistakes!
Challenges Overcome: Made the harness
Obstacles Faced: Broke some pieces while testing new methods. This is okay since I can reprint them anyways with better strength settings.
Looking Back: Learned that sometimes you just have to wing it to make something work. Not everything can be thought out and perfect before implemented. Move onward and upward.
Update #6: Some more testing
15% completeThis is a quick update, after breaking the forearm pieces, I needed to print new ones but wanted to add some magnets to help snap them together. This required me to learn how to modify the mesh model as all I had was the .stl file. I used blender and got a working prototype of some magnets in a small sample section of the forearm armor as seen in the photo.
Challenges Overcome: Learned some neat blender tricks.
Obstacles Faced: Modifying meshes is difficult.
Looking Back: Blender. But also 3D prints DO NOT LIKE TO BE DRILLED.
Update #7: Gluing up some stuff
15% completeShort update: glued on some elastic straps and snaps to the abdominal armor pieces.
Challenges Overcome: More progress even small amounts is important
Obstacles Faced: Nothing this time... so far.
Looking Back: E6000 glue is very viscous and can be a challenge to keep neat. Have lots of wipes and scrapers when working with it.