Star Wars – First Order Storm Trooper

My pepakura build of the new Star Wars – First Order Storm Trooper helmet has begun, and I already know — this is going to take some time…

Building the Storm Trooper helmet.

For anyone who hasn’t used pepakura before, one thing I learned from this build is that Pepakura doesn’t correct for the thickness of 160 g/m² or thicker card stock as i used 250 g/m². That is no big surprise, but it does mean that if you cut everything perfectly on the lines, any extremely tight detail areas will bunch up slightly. What I do is error on the side of cutting *inside* the lines, and to always remove the smallest tab on seams that taper down to a point. This helps keep anything from getting mashed up.

This Storm Trooper helmet seems to be extremely detailed. I’ve run into a series of extremely thin pieces that all need to be scored length-wise. I know from experience that scoring damages the structural integrity of the piece, so I took a look at where these appear in the Storm Trooper helmet. To my dismay, they form a single continuous ring that attaches the top of the Storm Trooper helmet to the bottom. I like the fact that this detail is built into the pep and doesn’t have to be completely free-handed after the fact, but I’m concerned about how this might effect the pre-resin structure of the Storm Trooper helmet.

I made some progress on the Storm Trooper helmet. Things are going well, and most everything has lined up nicely. I did need to make a few adjustments to keep things aligning nicely. Some material has been removed from a couple of panels directly in the middle of the head. I also started work with the incredibly tiny page ten pieces, and it has gone alright for the most part. At only a few millimeters wide and over 20cm long, they’re some of the most delicate pieces I’ve ever worked with.

I’ve gotten the top of the Storm Trooper helmet finished, along with the majority of the large pieces in the rear. Even though this is still the easy part, it’s shaping up to be the hardest piece I have ever tried to pep before. All the detail in the mask and face sections make me a little nervous. I can’t wait to get there!

There are a couple of small detail pieces that will still need to be built, but they are not officially connected to the pep according to the file. I may end up making those using the pep process, but they are incredibly small — I may end up finding a different way to make them.

I’m going to wait to post a whole-helmet photo until the pep piece is done. It will be a surprise for the people reading this thread!

The Final Stage

My pepakura build of the new Star Wars – First Order Storm trooper helmet has reached his final stage.

I was home this weekend, so I was able to work on the Storm Trooper helmet. I had scored everything, and figured that I was at a point where I should have been able to cruise through the rest of the pep process. “Cruise” was all relative, though — yes, I don’t have to score any more pieces for the Storm Trooper helmet, but I was just getting into what has been the hardest part of the build: the front of the Storm Trooper helmet with the most details.

The pep has a set of rounded eyes, which is accurate according to the pictures I have seen. I don’t know that this level of detail is necessary, since the eyes will be removed from practically every Storm Trooper helmet built from this pep piece, but I understand the desire to have the most accurate model possible. It did, however, make for an extremely interesting couple of hours.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this the paper construction of this pep piece only really has to last you through until the end of the resin stage. I mention that because it’s important to note that you don’t actually need all of the tabs that Pepakura creates. In fact, there will be plenty of times that the tabs will actively inhibit your ability to put your whole pep together correctly. I had to remove a few of the tab material in this section to get these two pieces to mate together properly and sit [relatively] flush.

Finished

I’m finished with the Storm Trooper helmet pep! The proportion and alignment of the entire Storm Trooper helmet was looking a little bit off during construction. Nothing that couldn’t have been fixed, but it was a little bit misaligned. After gluing in the final trim pieces around the bottom though, that issue disappeared. At this point, everything looks pushed/pulled/aligned correctly. The Storm Trooper helmet is ready to head into resin stage!