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Hi Andrew and Tony, First let me say, thank you for your time assessing my kit and for the hours you spend on all the kits, without you guys this wouldn’t be possible. I also want to thank the SCG GML team Tim, Darren and Drew, the Command staff and members of the SCG and the FISD for their support during my build and continued encouragement after my kit was finished. Tom from TDK props was also a big help with my E11 that was awesome to build. Thank you for the fantastic news, I can’t believe that 12 months ago all I wanted to do was just build a good looking kit to troop in. time to make the empire proud! Matt TK11874

Ha ha. Yeah, I'm going to go with the totally valid excuse that I can't show the faces of the kids in the classroom for various privacy reasons. That... and I totally came across as a goof ball. Honestly though, if I could post it I would. The reaction of the kids when I said Darth Vader was a pretty good guy and the Death Star only blew up "bad" planets was priceless.

First Test Fitting: As I'm finishing up initial assembly, I felt it appropriate to do a test fitting to see how everything is coming together. Will the help of my wife, daughter, and copious amounts of tape, here is what we are working with. Keep in mind the following caveats: 1) There is no strapping going on right now. 2) I am wearing my upper body gaskets in these photos, which are just stuffed in-between the biceps and forearms, but not the knee/thigh gaskets. 3) I'm not exactly sure where the butt plate is supposed to line up in relation to the kidney plate so I don't know if it is too low or not. Some things I see are: 1) I need to widen the elbow gaskets to fit the circumference of the bicep more. Geeky Pink sent them to me with a lot of extra material on the inside so that will be easy to do. 2) I also will need to bring the chest piece down a little. It looks like I have no neck in these photos. 3) I might need to trim some more off the back of the legs and around near the cod. 4) How would I prevent the posterior piece from flaring out like that? Thoughts?

I just finished and submitted this costume, and it was approved today! I highly recommend Troopermaster's TS armor and strapping kit, and Rob Kittell's duster and pouches. Here is my build: http://www.blizzardforce.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=5787

Hi Tony and Andrew, I would like my kit assessed for centurion status, thanks in advance for your time. Name: Matthew Wormleaton TKID: 11874 Forum Name: Mworm1974 Garrison: Southern Cross Garrison 501st:https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=27004 Build thread: Pre Approval thread: EIB Application: Armour Maker: RS Prop Masters ANH kit Helmet Maker: RS Prop Masters Blaster: TDK Props Australia Height: 180cm or 5’11” Weight: 85kg or 195 pounds Boots: TK boots Canvas belt: RS Prop Masters Hand Plates: RS Prop Masters Electronics: Sly’s Fans and ICOMM Neck Seal: RS Prop Masters Holster: RS Prop Masters Front arms at side: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Back arms at side: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Left arm raised: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Right arm raised: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Ab/Kidney Left side: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Ab/Kidney Right side: http://20180201-163857-5 by -matthewwormleaton- Internal Strapping and Butt/Kidney: free floating with original RS brackets http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Hand plates: http://20180215-183330-11 by -matthewwormleaton- http://20180215-183337-12 by -matthewwormleaton- Shoulder bridge back: http://20180215-183050-8 by -matthewwormleaton- Shoulder bridge front: http://20180215-183115-9 by -matthewwormleaton- Back/chest connection: http://20180215-183207-10 by -matthewwormleaton- Thigh pack attachment left: http://20180215-182756-6 by -matthewwormleaton- Thigh pack attachment right: http://20180215-182818-7 by -matthewwormleaton- Knee plate: http://20180215-182359-3 by -matthewwormleaton- http://20180215-182347-2 by -matthewwormleaton- http://20180215-182426-4 by -matthewwormleaton- Drop box rear: http://20180215-182612-5 by -matthewwormleaton- Cod/Butt plate attachment: http://20180201-184001-11 by -matthewwormleaton- http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Interior strapping: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Right side kidney plate notch: http://20180201-163857-5 by -matthewwormleaton- Left side kidney plate notch: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Wrist side of forearms: http://20180215-184305-13 by -matthewwormleaton- Helmet front: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Helmet right: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Helmet left: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Helmet rear: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Hovi details: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Lens colour: http://20180201-185203-14 by -matthewwormleaton- S-Trim: http://20180215-184446-14 by -matthewwormleaton- Blaster right: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Blaster left: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Blaster rear: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Neck seal: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- TD back: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Holster attachment: http:// by -matthewwormleaton- Action shot (well semi action shot) http://20180201-164201-8 by -matthewwormleaton- Please let let me know if any of the photos are not correct or if you need a better photo. Thanks in advanced to you Tony and Andrew for your time and Centurion consideration. Matt

Here’s my Centurion submission. Hope that is all the pictures. Looking forward to your feedback. Name: Andreas Engstrom FISD forum name: Coil 501st Member Page: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=17434 TK-24269 EIB thread Costume Information Mandatory Information Armor = TM Helmet= TM Blaster= THG props Optional Height 190 cm/ 6’3” Weight = 85 kg / 187 lb Boots = TK Boots Canvas belt = Trooperbay Hand Plates = white latex from Sonnenschein Electronics= Aker and Troopertalk Neck Seal = Darman Holster = Darman Front Back Left Right Ab detail. Reduced size of smaller button plate based on EIB feedback. Interior Shoulder bridge and back chest connection Thigh pack attachment Thigh inside Knee plate Handplate Drop box back Cod to butt Helmet S-trim Blaster Neck seal TD back Holster attachment Wristside of forearms

Thank you! I was surprised myself when I saw the photos. Really coming along. I should be painting by next weekend hopefully. I would be for certain but when I began to assemble the thighs last week I noticed that KB did not include the holster rail when I received the kit in November and I failed to recognize that until now. Now I have to wait on him to send me a new one. He said he would ship it on Tuesday but I never got a confirmation number. Then again I didn't when he sent the TD plate he forgot as well so fingers crossed!

The waist belt separates the lower edge of the kidney and the posterior upper edge or horizontal section.

Wow, you're really getting somewhere now! The belt holds the posterior in place in tandem with the elastic/snaps that will run between the kidney plate and the posterior plate. If you are still having problems with the posterior plate flaring out after the belt and snaps are in place, you can run a strap between the cod piece and the posterior piece between your legs that will pull the posterior plate in more snuggly. I cut my thighs down significantly to allow room between the cod/posterior plates, but I didnt make those cuts until I had the suit strapped. To my eyes, it looks like your left bicep is pretty wide - you might want to consider tightening that up as it stands out to my eyes. Other than that, definitely a very strong first fitting!

well build...congrats Matt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's an interesting point, T-Jay. My thinking was that I should go for a hammered silver as the base coat. This way I get the hammer texture and at the same time get the silver undercoat. Then cover with a matte black. This way I could sand through some of the black and reveal the silver underneath as weathering. But perhaps it's the matte black that is causing the loss in detail. Hmmm......that's another test to run.... Mark

One thing I'm beginning to notice with these Tremclad/Rust-oleum hammer paints is that they seem to also rely on "tricks" to make the paint look hammered. I imagine they are using different pigments in the paint where bright colored (silver) pigments float to the top (after spraying) and darker colored (gray) pigments sink to the bottom. This really gives the appearance of hammered silver surface but doesn't actually "texture" the surface. Wook1138 mentioned doing a heavier coat and the manufacturer also recommends one heavy coat but whenever I do a heavier coat, the texture is gone. The paint still looks somewhat hammered when it dries but there is no surface detail. So if you cover it with a coat of flat black, your "apparent" hammer finish is gone. I found found (at least with these two hammered paints) that 3 to 6 very light coats, separated by 15 minutes, seem to leave much more of a hammered texture in the surface of the paint. The Tremclad having more of a pitted/dimpled texture and the Rust-oleum being more of the traditional hammered texture. I'm going to run a few tests and I'll post my results.... Mark

Congrats trooper! Welcome to the Centurion ranks!

Well done, Matt. Great job. :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then post it already!

Thanks! Good luck when you get there! It's a daunting task to be sure, I was going to use the decals at first but I think I can make it look passable with paint. We'll see! ------------------------ Last night I did a test fit on the Hovi Tip Speakers, I'll need to add some sort of spacer material under them as they don't seat flush against the plastic, there's actually a decent gap. And since the plastic is thinner in that area I don't want it to crack or break from the pressure of tightening the nut down. And I completed the ear painting:

A Badge well deserved, welcome

Congratulations Matthew and welcome to the ranks.

Congrats on achieving Centurion!

G'day Matthew, thanks for your Centurion applications, lets get this done!! CRL and Centurion Application Requirements: All required submission photos are present, and your armour meets all the CRL elements needed to achieve level 3, so without further delay, Tony and I congratulate and welcome you to Centurion rank. What a sweet set of armour mate, fits you very well, you should be proud as i know the boys and girls of Southern Cross garrison will be marching along side of you Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: Head on out and show off that armour Matthew

Still the helmet thing, everything else is

Big time congratulations Trooper!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Congratulations on your first troop! Glad to hear all had fun. Get ready the fun is just starting and it's highly addictive. Some of my most favorite troops are with Hasbro Children's Hospital. Way to go Trooper! And remember, Have fun out there!

Well, I finally wore my armor in public today. I was a special guest at my son's kindergarten show-and-tell day. It was a pretty quick visit and I'm pretty sure I spent more time getting changed/unchanged than I spent with the kids but it was a pretty cool experience nonetheless. It was more of a test drive to see if I could pack and unpack my armor in my Husky 25 gal work cart. Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly. I lost track of how long it took to get kitted up, but I'm pretty sure it was less than 10 minutes. The only glitch was my voice software was playing music from my iphone through the amp for some weird reason. It was easy to fix, but that had never happened before and it created a moment of panic. The kindergarten teacher wanted me to meet the kids first out of costume and make it clear that when I got changed, that it was still me in there. Even with the introduction, a couple of the kids got a bit scared, so my helmet came off fairly quickly. One of the first things I said was that Darth Vader was my boss and he was a pretty good guy. That got quite the response! Let's just say that we agreed to disagree. A lot of them have not seen the movies yet, but they all know the drill. As part of the show and tell, my son had to take questions from the rest of the group. Nearly all the questions were, "I like Star Wars", or "I've watched Star Wars". Ok, not really questions but clearly the excitement was spilling out. Something I wasn't ready for - one of the kids in my son's class is non-verbal. I had totally forgotten this at first. There was apparently some concern about how this child would react. She simply approached me and started touching my armor. She seemed utterly fascinated with the whole thing. I just let her do her thing - if she started to grab at something I just causally shifted away a bit and that seemed to be good. She was smiling when she sat down so I guess everything worked out. The teacher seems pretty excited about the whole thing, but she could not get over the complexity of the armor and the time that went into making it - and why a grown man would do such a thing (ok, she didn't ask that, but I know the look ) So I have to thank my wife for being my handler. She also shot the whole thing on video so I can see how TK-34575 actually looks when interacting with kids. I'll see it when I get home tonight after work - I'm actually nervous about it. Anyway, seeing the look on their faces is something I'm going to remember for a long time. Can't wait to do it again.

Finally putting together the forearms,

Wow! That is one cool blaster mate, lovely work! How s the armour build coming? Or is that next? Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

I made it! Thanks everyone for your guidance, feedback, and encouragement! With unwavering service, TK-27072 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk