TK stormtrooper armor, a type of armor, was utilized by TK stormtroopers in the early years of the Imperial Era. This armor represented an evolution from the Phase II clone trooper armor previously worn by the Galactic Republic's clone troopers. While some clone stormtroopers continued to use their Phase II armor separately from the TK stormtroopers, the Empire ultimately refined the Stormtrooper Corps's armor, resulting in the creation of modern stormtrooper armor.
TK stormtrooper armor, much like clone trooper armor, consisted of white plates covering a black body glove. A key distinguishing characteristic was the helmet, featuring a single visor, differing from the T-shaped visor of clone trooper helmets. Additionally, it had a raised ridge extending from above the visor to the helmet's rear.
In a fashion similar to clone troopers right after the Empire's formation, most TK armor featured uniform white plating, lacking custom colors, insignias, or attachments. Certain exceptions existed, such as TK shock troopers, who were identifiable by red markings on their armor, as well as red pauldrons. An initial iteration of Imperial Starfighter Pilots, known as conscription trooper pilots, wore TK stormtrooper armor enhanced with life-support gear and air hoses connected to their helmet's filtration system.
Following the commencement of Project War-Mantle in 19 BBY, the Galactic Empire began incorporating naturally-born humans into its expanding military. For new recruits in the Stormtrooper Corps, which initially comprised solely clone troopers, the Empire introduced TK trooper armor, designed to accommodate the diverse body types of naturally-born recruits, a feature absent in clone trooper armor.
At an Imperial installation located on Daro, the first one thousand TK troopers trained under the guidance of fifty Imperial clone commandos. When Clone Force 99 infiltrated the base to rescue a deserting clone commando, troopers wearing TK armor tried to impede the squad's progress. Following the squad's escape from the base, TK troopers continued their pursuit in V-wing starfighters targeting their Omicron-class attack shuttle, although several were destroyed and the renegade clones successfully escaped.
Subsequently, the Empire ended its cloning agreement with Kamino, halting all further clone production. After all clone troopers on the planet were evacuated and reassigned elsewhere, a contingent of TK troopers arrived to aid in the collection and removal of the Kaminoan's cloning technology. In 18 BBY, one year after the birth of the empire, TK troopers were deployed in force to Barton IV to retrieve large shipments of TK armor for the growing number of recruits in the Stormtrooper Corps. In doing so, they replaced a small group of clones stationed at the depot that had been affected by the weather and attacks from raiders.
This armor design draws inspiration from stormtrooper concept artwork created by Ralph McQuarrie for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.