HIS once sparkling white armour is dusty, weather-beaten and cracking; he has welts behind his knees and elbows and the skin on his stomach and back is rubbed raw.

But the stormtrooper keeps trudging, pushing his rickety three-wheeled trolley along the edge of the Eyre Hwy, every step taking him closer to his goal of walking 5000km from Perth to Sydney.

He may look like one of Darth Vadar's henchmen, but this trooper is one of the good guys using his trek to fundraise for the Starlight Children's Foundation, so far raising more than $45,000.

Inside the costume is Jacob French, 21, from Bussleton, WA, a sales rep at Harvey Norman and member of the 501st Legion enthusiasts who dress as Star Warscharacters for good causes.

Trekking about 45km each day, Jacob raises an armoured hand to salute every vehicle which honks; amused truckies and curious tourists pull over for photos and then make a donation.

He is stopped so often that his trip has blown out by almost three months.

"Based on my original time frame I should be finishing up any day now, instead I've still got months to go and another 3000km but it's been worth it because the support keeps me going and I wanted to get the message out there," Jacob said.

In fact, he is expected to reach Kimba - the official "halfway point across Australia" - today. Jacob has battled heavy thunderstorms, when his shoes and socks stayed wet for weeks, and sweltered under extreme 39 degree days where his armour is too hot to touch.

Under his suit he wears black "ladies tights" and a long-sleeved rash vest, which aren't enough to stop the "armour kisses" where the skin is pinched behind his knees and elbows. On a shoe-string budget, he camps in rest areas off the highway, rolling out his swag and setting up his little cooker to make noodles, porridge or coffee.

He admits there have been times, out alone by the side of the road when stops to pull out his deckchair and munch on crackers where he wonders why on earth he's doing this.

Particularly on his 21st birthday on November 12, when he was near the Nullarbor, suffering march fly bites before a thunderstorm hit, and no phone reception to speak to girlfriend Danelle Spencer, 19. his parents or his five brothers and sisters.

"Coming across the Nullarbor, there was a week where I barely saw anyone and I'm trekking along in stormtrooper costume across the edge of the desert in 35 degree heat going 'I must be crazy to do this'," he said. "Because there was no one else around to tell you otherwise, you start to believe it."

But he says the people he's met and the amazing experiences, including playing at the Nullarbor Links golf course, being pulled over by police who pretended to arrest him and climbing the 50m tall Diamond Tree, near Manjimup, have made the trip the time of his life.

To track Jacob's progress, see the Troopertrek 2011 facebook page.

To make a donation, see the Everyday Hero website.