Costume Reference Library & Requirements (CRL)



Description: Sandtrooper: (deployed/dirty) Prefix: TD Detachment: Mos Eisley Police DepartmentContext: Episode IV: A New HopeThe sandtrooper is a desert terrain stormtrooper equipped with modified armor and gear to better withstand missions in harsh, arid locales like Tatooine. While their armor is superficially similar to that of the standard stormtrooper, advanced cooling systems in both their helmets and suits offer these troopers protection from the relentless heat.The stormtrooper detachment dispatched by Lord Darth Vader to investigate a crashed escape pod on Tatooine just prior to the Battle of Yavin consisted of sandtroopers. They had heavy weapons, survival gear, and shoulder pauldrons denoting rank.

501st Requirements:

A sandtrooper must have the following to gain the 501st “TD” designation
01.Helmet: The helmet like the armor must be made out of white fiberglass, ABS, or HIPS and match proportionally to what was seen on screen. Note: the FX helmet is depricated however is still considered acceptable for Legion standards. The helmet has the following details:

  • Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area. Eight total teeth on the frown cut out.
  • Traps and tears are gray.
  • No vertical black lines in any traps or tears.
  • Medium blue tube stripes, matching what was used on screen – navy blue and black are not acceptable – numbering between 9 and 15 per side (there does not need to be an equal amount per side). The curve bends backwards.
  • Lenses are flat green or smoke. They are dark enough that viewers cannot see the eyes behind them.
  • Chin vocoder is painted black.
  • The ears have four raised bumps, painted gray in color with a black outline. One or more bumps may be painted black.
  • Two aerators (a.k.a. “microphone tips”) are present.
02.Neck Seal: Black in color, the ribs are horizontal, not loose, and extend from the base of the neck to the top of the adam’s apple.
03.Shoulder Straps: Sandtrooper chest and back are attached from within via soft straps.  Ribbed shoulder straps are discouraged.
04.Shoulder Bells: One on each shoulder with little or no overlap of the bicep armor. The shoulder bells are considered effectively symmetrical; they may worn interchangeably on the left and right shoulders.
05.Biceps: Biceps are fully closed.
06.Forearms: Forearms are fully closed.
07.Hand Plates: Roughly pentagonal in shape, the hand plates are mounted securely over the back of the glove. As an alternative to plastic, these may be made out of latex or latext-like material.
08.Gloves: Black rubber, nomex, leather, or leather-like material, with no visible straps or logos. The fingers ar enclosed, non-textured.
09.Chest: Chest plate overlaps the abdominal plate.
10.Back: Back plate contains a “O I I” design with little or no overlap of the kidney plate.
11.Undersuit: Black under suit, either one-piece or two-piece. Non-textured material with no visible zippers or logos.
12.Ab Plate: Left side ab plate has a minimum of three and maximum of four buttons painted white. Right side ab plate is blank square and does not contain buttons like stormtrooper.
13.Kidney Plate: Kidney plate sides should line up with the ab plate leaving no gaps, just a seam line. The top of the kidney plate should abut the bottom of the back plate.
14.Butt Plate: The top of the butt plate should below the bottom of the belt, with minimal gap between it and the kidney plate.
15.Belt: Consisting of two parts:

  • Belt face is made of plastic. There should be three square button, one centered in the middle and one on each end.
  • Belt proper is made of canvas, canvas covered material, leather, or vinyl, 3 to 3.5” wide. The color is be white to off-white.
  • No drop boxes (small rectangular parts attached seen hanging from Stormtrooper belts, above the thigh.)
  • No thermal detonator.
  • No holsters.
16.Thighs: The thigh armour is closed in the back. The ammo belt is installed on the bottom of the right thigh.
17.Lower legs: Greaves close in the back. Diamond Knee plate – six sided (hexagon) mounted onto a five-sided “diamond” shape, with a point on the bottom – is on the wearer’s left knee.Note: The built-in knee plate of the Stormtrooper or the absence of a knee plate is not canon approvable.
18.Boots: White leather or leather-like, above ankle height, with a flat sole, and small U-shaped elastic sections on both sides of the ankle with no buckles or laces. Jodhpur-type boots or an equivalent style.Note: Elvis or Mariachi boots are not not canon approvable.
19.Pauldron: Pauldron (Black, Orange, or White) made from vinyl or leather. Gray or other non-canon colored pauldrons are not approvable.
20.Ammo Pouches: Two or three in total, made of black leather, canvas or vinyl. Worn either at the hips or left shoulder, opposite of the pauldron.

501st Legion Accessories:
21. BlasTech E-11 Blaster: Based on a real or replica Sterling sub-machine gun, scratch-built, or a modified commercial toy Stormtrooper blaster.
22. BlasTech T-21 Light Repeating Blaster Rifle: Based on a real or replica Lewis Mark I machine gun. For this prop the magazine disk and bipod of the original gun are left off. A ribbed length of tubing is installed over the front of the gun barrel. The weapon is supported by a canvas, leather or nylon sling.
23. BlasTech DLT-19 Heavy Blaster Rifle: Based on a real or replica MG-34 machine gun. A DTL-19 is an MG-34 with T-racks on the barrel, ejection port cover added, and a small disk on left side.
24. BlasTech RT-97C Heavy Blaster Rifle: Based on a real or replica MG-15 machine gun.
25.Desert Backpack: Styled after the ANH sandtrooper packs. A loose interpretation is allowed, but screen accuracy is encouraged. (This is optional for because we’re aware that not all Sandtroopers had backpacks.)
26.Macrobinoculars: Styled after those used in the Special Edition.
27.Dewback Prod: The prod is a black pole, approx 96″ long, with metal details at both ends. (Many opt for a shorter length.)
28.Cheese Grater Handplates: “Dimpled” or “cheese-grater” style handbacks. These were worn by several troops in ANH, and are approximately rectangular, and have a pattern of “pill-shaped” indentations. There remains much debate if these were formed parts or last-minute replacement parts made of unknown materials.

Construction Notes:
29.Dirt: Dirt, accomplished by a number of painting techniques. Most common & accurate being a multi-layer treatment of either tempera, or matte acrylic paint, followed by one or more layers of fuller’s earth. Other methods include, but are not limited to; Spray paint & sanding (usually multi-layered), application of sand or actual dirt in place of “Fuller’s earth” and other types of dust, charcoal, etc.
30.Helmet Details:

  • Correct ‘hovi mic’ aerator tips.
  • Lenses should be flat green only.
  • Ears should have three screws used per side, one above and below the ear bump and one at the base of the helmet.
  • Ears should have four bumps only, not three.
31.Armor Details:

  • Armor side gaps should be closed or nearly closed; no more than 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) gap on either side. This should be done by adding a shim or shims of material that must be of similar material and color as the ab and back plate. Shims should fit flush and may have seams. Ideally they will be seamless if possible to the ab and/or back plate, resulting in a single seam between the ab/back rather than extra seams for where the shims are joined.
  • Hand guards should be latex or latex-like and affixed to rubber gloves in lieu of plastic hand guards.
  • Rivets on the left side of the ab/kidney plates: a total of six rivets with three on the ab and three on the kidney plate, equally spaced out along the depth of the armour and about 10mm from the edge. They may be painted white, or not.
  • One snap on the top right hand side oft he ab plate: back of male side of snap should show on outside of ab plate.
  • Belt should be canvas or canvas covered instead of leather or vinyl.
32.Blaster Details:A screen accurate ANH BlasTech E-11 blaster should have the following:

  • Folding stock (does not need to function).
  • D-ring on the rear.
  • Correct style scope.
  • T-racks should be 6 or 7 as follows:
  • Scratch-built, resin cast, Hyperfirm rubber cast. Total of 6 T-racks on blaster (leaving the lowest row on the Hengstler side un-covered).
  • Popular commercially available toy Stormtrooper blasters have a total of 7 T-racks (if you cover all the rows of holes) or 6 T-racks (if you cover the “open row” of holes on the Hengstler side. Below this, you must grind off the lower T-rack and drill a new row of holes).
  • There should be no ESB/ROTJ greeblies on the ANH blaster.
A correct T-21 light repeating blaster should have the following:

  • Ribbed barrel.
  • Canvas, leather or nylon sling.
A correct DLT-19, aka MG-34 blaster should have the following:

  • T-tracks on the barrel
  • Ammo box cover.
  • Conical disk affixed to left side of thumb grip area.
A correct MG-15 has, to date, not been cast and resold in any great quantity, nor are the exact scopes readily available. Generally speaking, ones seen are either completely fan-built from scratch or are real demilitarized weapons.

MEPD Requirements:

A sandtrooper must meet all the following to be deployed as an MEPD Police Officer
All required items from the 501st required list including the following…
Is made out of fiberglass, ABS, or HIPS. It is white, with appropriate weathering and does not contain excessive stylization. It must match proportionally to what was seen on screen. No FX Helmets.
Flat green helmet lenses, made from lighting gel material, green welder’s mask face shield, acetate, or similar product.
Desert Backpack, styled after the ANH sandtrooper packs. They are comprised of two main boxes (aka Seed Trays), that are the approximate width of the backplate, correct bend on frame. Strict screen accuracy is required! While not every Sandtrooper in the film had a backpack, we feel that this level of commitment and overall design of the character should be attained. This also means taking no personal liberties such as LED lights, etc.
Pauldron has no decals or patches.
Shoulder bells have no decals or patches.
No ribbed shoulder straps.  White elastic preferred. (Sandtrooper chest and back are attached from within via soft straps, and do not have the plastic ribbed straps like stormtroopers).
Four “teeth” cut out on either side of helmet “frown”. This detail is often referred to as a “Stunt” helmet variation, in addition to the flat green lenses.Frown must be painted gray and must not leave the teeth area.
Hand plates are trapezoid shaped. Latex or other flexible hand guards are preferred.
Tube stripes are correct blue, and not the darker navy seen on many older helmets.Helmet details such as the tear-drops and traps. You’re encouraged to hand paint these gray with black outlines, like the originals, but decals are acceptable. Also paint the ears gray, with a black outline. The ear dimples may be painted black or left gray, it’s up to you.
Correct Hovi-Mix mic tips.
Canvas or cargo strap material belt, approximately 3″ wide.No drop boxes, O2 canister, or holster.
Left side Ab plate has three buttons, painted white.
Specific ammo pouches. Reproduction or original MP-40 ammo pouches are generally considered canon, made in either canvas or leather. Other acceptable names/designs include Stolla Wien, and the once common “Norwegian” green MP-40 pouches (shown), made in leather. These should be dyed or painted black

MEPD Weapon Modification Details:

A sandtrooper’s weapon must meet the following to be deployed as an MEPD Police Officer
Only one weapon is required for deployment.  The chosen weapon must meet the following…
Blastech E-11, aka Sterling SMG. Six t-tracks on the barrel, sight rail and scope. Hengsler Counter is optional, as it was not seen. D-ring is required. No ESB or ROTJ greeblies are allowed.
T-21 light repeating blaster, aka Lewis Gun. Ribbed barrel and either a canvas, leather or nylon sling matching color of screen used. White is not acceptable. Site is present on top where ribbing meets base.
DLT-19, aka MG-34. T-tracks on the barrel, ammo box cover, and conical disk affixed to left side of thumb grip area.
MG-15. Too date, this weapon has not been cast and resold in any great quantity, nor are the exact scopes readily available. Generally speaking, ones seen are either completely fan-built from scratch or are real demilitarized weapons.

S.W.A.T. Requirements:

A sandtrooper must meet all the following to be deployed as an MEPD S.W.A.T. Officer
All required items from the 501st required list as well as the MEPD Police Officer list including the following…
Member must currently be deployed as an MEPD Police Officer to be considered.
Weathering must be appropriate to screen used armor. Too little or too much weathering will not be allowed.
Pack, pauldron, and weapon combinations must match a specific trooper a seen on screen.

Note: “pack-less” troopers such as the “stop that ship” trooper are allowed; however, packs are still required for Police Officer deployment.
Pauldrons must be of the accurate “puffy” variety. Older style/flat and brightly/off color pauldrons are not allowed.
Packs must have the appropriate details for the specific trooper which is being referenced.
Pouches must be of the correct construction, color, and materials as reference trooper.
Rubber gloves.
Latex or silicone (i.e., “soft”) hand plates.Note: “cheese grater” hand plates are allowed if used on the correct pack/pauldron/weapon configuration.
Rivets on the left side of the ab/kidney plates: a total of six rivets with three on the ab and three on the kidney plate, equally spaced out along the depth of the armor and about 10mm from the edge.
One snap on the top right hand side oft he ab plate: back of male side of snap should show on outside of ab plate.
Visible fasteners under crotch area. Two (or 3) male snaps in the back and one split rivet or brad in the front. (not required to be functional)
Boots must be screen accurate in color and make; they cannot have a seam on the front.
FXhelmets, MRCE and/or ANHv2 helmets are not allowed.
Hasbro blasters are not allowed, even conversions.