SANDTROOPER  "SNIPER"  DIAMOND  KNEE  PLATE

As made and assembled by  "Old Sarge" Oberon TD124 

Sergeant at Arms - Garrison Carida - 501st Legion 

The Sandtroopers of the Star Wars Sagas differ in appearance from regular Stormtroopers in several ways.  One of the more distinctive visual differences is the diamond shaped "Sniper Plate" worn over the left knee on the left leg "Greave" (lower leg armor piece).  This item is not available from a commercial producer.  Old Sarge Oberon TD124 therefore made his own Sniper Plate and he offers the following tutorial and photos to assist others in making this item of dress peculiar to Star Wars Sandtroopers.  

The dimensions of the plate components and basic assembly details were obtained (plagiarized?) from the excellent tutorial at  www.multiplehat.com/whitearmor/sniperplate  and you are referred to that site for that primary information.  However, the  "The Sarge"  did apply some changes to make his sniper plate somewhat more massive and better defined, as well as modifications for mounting the plate.  The plate is semi-permanently attached and cannot be easily or quickly removed.  Hence, Sarge Oberon obtained a second left leg greave for his Sniper Plate project.   

               Standard Stormtrooper Knee Plate                    Sandtrooper Sniper Knee Plate      

The plate was assembled using six layers of .010 gauge styrene sheet.  The pieces were stacked front to rear and from left to right as shown above.  The two longer pointed segments, on the right, and one of the solid diamond segments were glued together as a unit, as shown below on the left.  Note the lower edge of the single diamond segment applied over the pointed segments.  

The two open diamond segments are shown glued together as a unit for later application onto the face of the solid plate segments after they are attached to the greave.  The one remaining solid diamond was later glued over the screw heads (to hide them) which secure the pointed diamond assembly to the greave.  The open diamond segment was then glued-on to complete the assembly.  A flat wood-working file was used to smooth and even-up the layered edges of the completed plate. 

A section of Velcro (hook & fuzz) was applied to the back of the plate and also to the top of the greave, which made a double stack of Velcro segments (hook-fuzz glued to hook-fuzz) to serve as a spacer to angle the plate outward to prevent it from being snagged by the upper leg "Chause" armor piece when walking.  The Velcro stack also acts as an anchor and cushion between the plate and the greave.  The hole for the lower attachment point of the plate is shown below the Velcro stack on the greave.  An additional hook-fuzz segment was added at the lower attachment point (above-left with attaching bolt protruding) to fill the void between the plate and the greave, as seen in the photos below.  

Side views of the plate attached to the greave.  Note how the Velcro inserts fill the void between the plate and the greave giving a more "molded-on" appearance.  Also note in the left-hand photo that the nut on the upper attachment bolt  is sandwiched between the  overlapping greave halves to keep it from chafing your leg and black leggings.  The lower attachment bolt goes through both greave halves, as shown below.  The bolt was cut-off with the its end just inside the securing nut to avoid leg chafing.  The upper bolt securing nut is hidden between the overlapping greave ends in the photo below.  Bolt cutting tip:  Run the nut onto the threads of the bolt past the cutting point before cutting the bolt.  Then when you run the nut back off the cut threads, it will clean up any minor damage to the threads resulting from the cutting.  Otherwise, you may not be able to get the nut to accept the cut threads.  

Now all that is needed for MEPD (Moss Eisley Police Department) Service is some dirt. 

You have been counted as the 

since April 1, 2004 to check-out the Sarge's Sniper Plate Tutorial.