Although I missed joining the Hi-Impact team for the X-wing helmet project, I was fully there for the TIE pilot project, since I knew it was the gateway to my ultimate dream of owning a Stormtrooper.   We already had a face, chest, and back plate from the  TIE pilot project, but that left an awful lot of pieces yet to go...  After toiling for 3 months straight in TK-930's garage, we managed to prototype, master mold, Vac-form, and assemble three sets of armor, just in time for the Premiere of A New Hope: Special Edition (one of the suits was literally completed the  morning before the screening).  My suit was actually the first one ever assembled- but as the saying goes, "never go first"- you get the honor of discovering all the things that can go wrong... 

Looking back, one can see the flaws in this original suit that have since been solved, like the helmet (which was still nicer than the puny Don Post, or the giganto-bucket ArmorFX to come).  The chest plate was also too small, and actually TOO cut and chiseled- just like the new action figure...

This shot is from Comicon '97, after we had buffed our armor up to a nice, glossy shine.

At some point, the Hi-Impact crew got on a "big gun" kick.  TK-305 (left) whipped up a pretty nice Lewis Gun out of PVC pipe.  TK-930 had an MG-42 kicking around.  I wanted a gun that wouldn't be too heavy, and I had a LOT of cool parts lying around waiting to be used, so I came up with the original design pictured here (right).  Most of the "metal" parts are actually sprinkler pipe wrapped with metal tape, which I sanded and painted with a wash to get a weathered look.  Thus the "Merr-Sonn Mk. II C" was born, an older model light repeating blaster ostensibly converted into a sniper rifle.  Not canon, but the kids really seem to like it.

One advantage of the big gun was I could finally ditch my heavy, floppy, noisy, blaster-laden  hip holster, and remove some of the stress from my belt (which was already cracking by this time).    The Helmet on Eric is the third generation Hi-Impact face plate, with second generation dome and back.  Mine is still the lowly old 1st gen helmet, which looks good from the side, but not from the front (too narrow and steep).

Aah, the first incarnation of Desert Trooper!  Once again, I was the fool to go first, pioneering the "instant coffee and dirt" weathering method seen here.  My first attempt was actually too light, and almost completely washed out in photos taken in direct sunlight.  This picture here shows a slightly heavier dirt job, which looks great in the shade. 

The other Hi-Impact guys figured out how to make nearly 100% accurate desert packs- I went ahead and devaited from the canon design, erring in favor of a lighter pack. The Special Edition DTs had completely different packs than the original ones anyway...  I used a chunky toy gun in place of the radio, and some part that broke off a car in place of the upper cannister, but the bread pans are pretty much canon. I also used two large pop-up sprinkler bodies end to end to add some bulk to the top of the pack.  VCR button frames and computer IR shielding add detail throughout.

The HI team finally upgraded the chest plate, so I made sure to get one of those installed- in addition to being more accurate, it had better coverage and minimized the "underlap" problem we sometimes ran into.  I also had the "venty" DT style hand backs at this time.  Although in the movie the DTs that had them were in the minority, they were all the rage amongst the HI team, so you just HAD to have 'em.  Fortunately, I use elastic for my backs, so they were easy to change out.

The Pauldron was made by TK-930, and served me for many years.   My shoulder ammo pouches were actually three police belt magazine pouches pop riveted together- okay, not great.  For the electrobinoculars, TK-930 discovered these cool little binocular shaped video games and made his into electrobinoculars even before doing his DT.  I simply followed suit, going for a black color scheme to go with my darker DT.

We had been invited to join the premiere of Episode II in San Francisco, so I wanted to get my DT  nice as possible.  My helmet upgrade was long overdue, and since we finally had 3rd generation domes and backs to go with the new Hi-Impact face plates, there were no more excuses.  But this time, I assembled TK-243's helmet first, hah!  Of course his came out even nicer than mine- grrr, I can't win!   I went for bubbled lenses too, since they looked so freakin' awesome (though visibility suffers).  Sure, the purists will cry and scream that the DTs had flat lenses, but dammit I like the way it looks.  Considering how rushed the Tunisia shots were, I'm surprised George didn't go back and digitally add bubble lenses to the DTs, heh heh... 

Other upgrades  include a Desert Trooper knee plate (finally replacing the original TK style knee plate) and  proper magazine pouch (thanks TK-930).  I went back to my original hand backs, since I donated my DT backs to TK-243 to replace his gargantuan ArmorFX ones.  I actually like the original ones the best- though either of the earlier styles are preferable to those damn ice cream scoops they used since ESB...

 I also made some adjustments to the armor- the Belt, which used to ride up all the time (damn pack pushing it all around doesn't help), was finally replaced, and permanently attached directly to the belly plate.  No more stress, no more floating!  The upper legs were also replaced, and slightly widened to accomodate, er, additional bulk since the ol' TK days...  The only problem now is the hip blocks tend to duck down inside the upper legs- still haven't solved that one yet.

The dirt also got "upgraded"-  I was already adding dirt to TK-243's armor (yes folks, he was brave enough to convert his ArmorFX into a desert trooper!   We actually had to sand off the shine just to get the dirt to stick- shocking, I know!).  But I think I overdid the dirt a bit this time, especially on the new helmet.  I was just so excited about the "sponge dabbing" technique, which produces vastly superior grain patterns than the old "terry cloth towel" method from before...

NOTE: lighting has a BIG effect on your dirt.  Direct sunlight will wash it out (and usually look bad anyway).  Indoor lighting (such as this pic) makes the dirt look even dirtier than it actually is- blech!  The best lighting for DT photos seems to be outdoors in the shade. 

Still troopin' in my DT!  The 48 hours of the Force event  was the first time I've worn it since moving to Star Garrison territory.  I had aquired a white pauldron and figured I'd use it, especially since I was no longer a squad leader after leaving the G3.  I  did a test fitting and took some pics, pleased to discover everything still fit.  But the test pics showed how dirty the armor still was!  I stayed up late the night before the event with a damp sponge, carefully pulling off dirt in select areas to get that "patchy" look seen on the film versions.  Fortunately, the grain and color I was so happy with still came through, showing that sometimes, less is more...

I dumped the speaker that was on the Pack- the weight was just too much for my back (especially since it stuck out so far, and I couldn't use the waist belt to help support it).  The speaker in the chest seems adequate for most venues (though I can't turn it up past half, or I get feedback up into the helmet mike).  The bipod tubes on the blaster were also replaced, with some ribbed tubing that look much more blaster-like and are less prone to catching on stuff and breaking.

I expect to troop for at least a few more events with this current configuration.  After that, who knows what the future holds for TD-242...