-- Show All -- Full Costume Helmet Undersuit Vest and Codpiece Chest Armor Back Armor Arm Armor Gloves Cummerbund and Pouches Belt and Thermal Detonator Knee Armor Boots and Holster Blaster Behind the Scenes Miscellaneous
 

FULL COSTUME For "Return of the Jedi", a new type of trooper was required. One capable of more movement and stuntwork, as well as being able to look realistic sitting on the newly designed Speeder Bikes. Nilo Rodis-Jamero created the Scout Trooper to fill this role. He described them as being "the SWAT team. They go faster and they cut deeper."

HELMET Designed by Nilo Rodis-Jamero, the Scout helmet was unique in that it had a flip-up face, allowing the stunt actors to take breaths between takes without having to remove the entire bucket. It was made into physical form by Ira Keeler, pulled from ABS in halves and then assembled together. A standard helmet liner was placed inside to prevent bobbling.

UNDERSUIT The undersuit was an Avirex flight suit, modified to add dyed riding patches to the thighs and a suede flap in the back to cover the seat. Two thigh straps of an unknown material cirlce the outside of the thighs -- they may have been there to support the prototype thigh armor that didn't make the final cut. The troopers wore a dickey with a trapunto-quilted neck under the flight suit, though the collar of the flight suit concealed this detail. There are a few instances, such as the "Costumes" book, where the dickey was placed over the top of the suit and therefore you can see the neck quilting.

VEST AND CODPIECE Text to come

CHEST ARMOR Text to come

BACK ARMOR The back armor consisted of two pieces -- the back and the tank. The tank was connected to the back with a 1/2 inch elastic strap, affixed to the tank by rivets at the top and bottom. The tank had 1/8th inch pinstripe decals as well as a varying number of stripes on the right hand side.

ARM ARMOR Text to come

GLOVES The production used Esprit Rain Gauntlets as a base. The straps, zipper and clips were removed and the tan patches were dyed black. Despite dating back to the 1970s, they can still be found for sale on eBay.

CUMMERBUND AND POUCHES The "cummerbund" was a girdle made of polished white cotton that closed in the back of the trooper with a right-over-left velcro closure. It was roughly 8-9 inches in height, tucking under the bottom of the chest armor and stopping at the top of the belt. Six "ribs" were created in the front with 5 stitch lines. The pouches were made of canvas and sewn to the cummerbund by attachment tabs. They measured 6 inches by 5 inches, and roughly 2 inches deep.

BELT AND THERMAL DETONATOR Text to come

KNEE ARMOR Made from ABS and primarily held to the knee by an elastic strap, at some point in the production it was decided to add an additional strap at the top, held with two rivets.

BOOTS AND HOLSTER The base boot was a Sierra Sneaker, either by Hi-Tec or Inter, it's unknown which were used. The movie used the style with the extra vertical ridge along the sole. They were covered with white leather. The holster was made from similar ABS plastic as the rest of the armor. At some point closer to the start of production, it was decided to change the holster from being strapped to the boot to being riveted. The preproduction photos sent to Kenner had the strapped holster, which is why the toys still do to this day. The "Costumes" book and Blu Ray Extras Scout feature a left handed holster; it is unknown why this was done and it was not seen in the film.

BLASTER An original design by the production, the scout pistol featured a modified Singlepoint scope mounted to the side. Most of the scopes were completely flat in the front, though at least one has some of the front drilled away. Singlepoints are not designed to be looked through, rather they work on the optical illusion of having one eye viewing the target while the other looks at the back of the scope.

BEHIND THE SCENES Assorted production photos, including the pre-production hip armor that didn't make it to the final film.

MISCELLANEOUS Some helpful images from the production as well as photos from the "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth" exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. from October 31, 1997 to January 31, 1999.