Trooper Costume Build

The helmet for the trooper costume was a Japanese riot helmet, bought from eBay. The chin guard was constructed from MDF, shaped and glued together.

Detail was added to the chin guard using card and aluminium mesh. The helmet was then masked off, ready to spray paint.

Once primed, imperfections were filled with polyfilla.

Once the chin was sprayed black, I began to construct the "ears" from plastic discs.

A comparison of the trooper model helmet with the full size version. More detail is added to the ears.

The antennae and light were added to the ears.

Then the ears were sprayed black to match the helmet and chin guard. Silver dry-brushing was applied to the chin.

The light was masked down to a dot. The neck guard was made from a foam yoga mat, held together with bolts. Holes were drilled into the front peak after an early costume test when the visor steamed up.

The vinyl logo, made by Al Scott Signs, was applied to the front of the helmet.

Finally, I decided to spray the visor, to give the trooper anonymity.

The shoulder pads were made from half basket-balls, plastic tube sewn around the rim and textured with "gunk" (a mixture of Artex, PVA glue and paint).

The chest harness buckle was made from the end of a ski pole, an MDF disc and some bolts.

These were then painted. In the background, the grenades were made from broom handle, wrapped around with the same plastic tube that was used on the shoulder pads.

For the webbing, I bought P.L.C.E. from an army and navy surplus store. The harness was reversed and added to by sewing black straps to hold the grenades in place. This was then dyed black and sprayed over with black spray paint.

Above: an early costume test, before the visor was sprayed or the texture had been applied to the shoulder pads.

Below: The finished costume. Gloves, elbow and knee pads were bought from a military surplus store. The gaiters were from an outdoor clothing store.