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Just got my approval I'm now TK-61514, wait.. TKTK-61514?

Made it to centurion! A few minor suggestions to really make my kit look better which was to give the hovi mic tip lines a bit more extension. Also to raise my brow trim a tad, but that may or may not happen....we will have to see

This week I have got 3 free days which I can fully use to spend time on the blaster. This project takes longer than expected but hopefully the result will be worth the spent time. Hoooraay :-) Attaching the folding stock After the repairing, with the epoxy resin, of the folding stock it is now strong enough to be attached to the barrel at all. Grip For adding the electronic switch, I cut 4 little pieces of the nails that came with Tino’s set. The position of the trigger is chosen in that way because the switch is pushing the trigger back again after you pushed it. In addition to the electronics I used again the carving tools to separate the different pieces on the downside of the grip. Hopefully tomorrow i can report as much as today :-) Looking forward to it :-) Thanks for reading guys!

Every photo I've seen I believe it's a hole. The CRL states indent for L2, but should also state hole for L3 though it hasn't been decided on yet.

I am super impatient when it comes to this build. When I get impatient, I get... er...crazy... no.... reckless... no.... I think I mean... brave. I had intended on using boiling water to further shape my kidney before installing permanent strapping. The top left corner of the kidney does this really odd flare outwards, and it was hitting my left arm in an awkward manner. So instead of waiting for the whole boiling water bit, I decided to take a heat gun (GASP!) to my kidney. Heat guns terrify me, but I wanted to move this build along! My biggest challenge in dealing with the heat gun is the lack of control I seem to have on it. I feel like I always need an extra pair of hands. I suddenly realized that I own a vice, and figured I could use that to hold my heat gun while I shaped the part of the kidney that needed shaping. Here's what my super fancy setup looked like: And it worked quite well! I took the advice of many troopers before me and kept the heat on low and kept the plastic moving. I just applied gentle pressure to curve the kidney the whole time, and before I knew it, my kidney was shaped how I wanted it. Whew. I was so encouraged that I shaped the lower left corner of the back plate, too (because it needed shaping to match the kidney now). That turned out just as well. Now, would I do this same thing to my shins to shape them to close perfectly? No way. I am not that impatient! But for the small things I needed, it certainly did the trick! I trimmed more of the width off of the chest plate (because I couldn't move my arms across my chest), and some extra off the straps at the top of the chest and straps at the top of the back. And now I've got everything assembled on my duct tape dummy... which looks super crazy with those untrimmed shoulder bells. Linebacker trooper for sure! Next up: Get the permanent torso strapping installed (kidney/butt brackets are already installed) so I can size the arms and legs.

The boy is getting closer to a full suit up! Just waiting on the rear of the thighs to set. Then it's onto the shins. Still need to paint the rivets, attach the knee ammo belt, sniper plate and shoulder bridges. The end is in sight though. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I got accepted today! So excited to be a part of the 501st from now on Now onwards to EIB and Centurion, and then to Imperial Attaché Again thanks to everyone who has supported me over the past couple of months and I hope at least some of you stay with me for the next couple of steps! Cheers for everything and over and out for now, TK-19511

At the encouragement of @ukswrath, here is a post I originally made a year and a half ago on the Anovos FB build group, which is handy for all makes of armor, not just Anovos. ABS Paste?!?! WTF is THAT? I've seen variations of this question over and over. So perhaps this will be helpful. ABS paste is homemade glue for your ABS plastic. It literally melts and reforms the plastic into a solid piece, so it's more like welding than gluing. But as the warning phrase "it literally melts..." foreshadows, you should be careful. Making couldn't be easier. Get a GLASS jar. Don't be that person who makes it in a plastic cup. You know... the one that puts plastic melting stuff into a plastic cup. You've met that guy. Don't be that guy. All you need is a jar, some ABS scrap, and some construction grade acetone. Nail polish remover is NOT strong enough, even though it has "some" acetone in it. Pick up a bottle at Home Depot or the like. (For people in other countries, like the UK, where Acetone is not readily available... you have my sympathies) For containers, I feel a glass baby food jar is ideal. It's just the perfect size (unless you doing something epic!), stupid cheap (if you don't already have one somewhere), and easy to work with. I'm going to assume baby food jar, so if you choose a 2 quart mason jar, scale as needed. In general, ABS paste is practically free, other than the price of a tiny bit of Acetone and maybe a buck for a jar of baby food, if you don't have a suitable container already, since your source material is scrap from your own build. (never toss that armor scrap!) A NOTE ABOUT FUMES: Pure Acetone is nasty stuff. You really don't want to be breathing Acetone fumes. A whiff here and there likely won't cause lasting harm, unless you have existing pulmonary issues, but still, do your best to avoid breathing a lot of the stuff. At a minimum, you can end up with a NASTY headache. At worse, you can actually cause damage to your lungs. Use your own level of protection that feels best for you... some want to wear a full respirator (with a volatile organic cartridge), others, like myself, are content to work outdoors and minimize breathing it. (Once the jar is capped, it should be fine to bring indoors.) FILL the jar with the tiniest scraps if ABS you can get. I literally used the curly-que and powdered scrap from under my belt sander, after all my rough cuts, in addition to cutting up a few pieces of scrap into 1/4" square pieces, with scissors. And now the magic. Add approx 1 teaspoon of Acetone (and remember, I'm assuming a baby-food size jar... scale accordingly if you're trying to go big and make enough for your entire squad to build with!). Cap the jar, wait 15-20 min (or more, no worries) and then check on it. Poke it with a stir stick. (You can literally use a stick. Although IMO, a wooden coffee stir stick (free at Starbucks!) is ideal, and Popsicle sticks have their proponents, too, as does the toothpick crew, for detail work.) If you literally do not have a stick, a strong piece of scrap you don't care about will do, just be careful where you set it afterwards. But poke at it. Get an idea where it's going. Then add about 1 tsp more Acetone. Re-cap it again, wait 15-20 min, then check again, and this time, stir it a little more seriously. Note the consistency. You'll probably want to add some more, perhaps 1 more tsp, perhaps less? You may be starting to get a feel for it by now. Let sit for a good 1/2 hr, then check and stir AGAIN. We're going slow. Slow is good. Watch some TV or read a book. You have better things to do than watch ABS melt in super slow motion. At this point, you SHOULD be close to ready to go. If not, I recommend letting it sit overnight before checking it again. (in fact, that's not a bad idea in general, but it's not strictly necessary) Only add more Acetone if you still really think it's too thick and clumpy in the morning, after stirring it some more. Repeat until you reach that magic mayonnaise moment. Correct consistency is *roughly* mayo-like. I'd say somewhere between Elmer's glue (a little too runny?) and Toothpaste (perhaps a little too thick). Too runny = bad. Remember the "melting plastic" part? You don't want that running down your armor. Too thick and you may get air pockets. Shoot for the Goldilocks zone. ) When you're ready, apply with a stick. Let it dry (duration depends on thickness... maybe 20 min, maybe overnight?) and sand it down. Repeat until pretty. Relatively small amounts (read: the small patches that ABS paste is generally best for) should be relatively safe to use indoors, just be aware of the fumes. Larger projects (or sensitive spouses... not that it smells too different from the nail salon, in my mind) are probably best to work on outdoors. The beauty of using the same plastic your armor is made from, to make paste, is you get a dead-on 100% perfect color match. No painting needed! (note: The level of polish/sheen will not be the same, but the color itself will be a match. ABS paste isn't really good for large area applications... and trying to do that will likely end up causing warping from too much acetone anyway) (2nd note: ABS paste is not as strong as the original plastic. It's not actually a glue, even if it looks like one. For connections needing a very strong join, use CA glue, as usual.) (pre-sanding... but note that color match to the Anovos armor!) The paste doesn't really go bad, but eventually it'll harden and you'll need to add more Acetone. Keep it capped, and it'll last longer, of course... you can dry it out quite fast if you leave the cap off for more than a few hours. Future batches you can probably go faster (read: add more acetone, sooner), but I recommend the slow approach when you're starting out, until you have a good feel for it. Good luck!

Its arrived and the build has begun.

Generally speaking yes that is what you want to do. Where the raised ridges are is where the public will see and so you want to trim the back side of that. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Remove the glue as much as you can, you could also try some automotive cutting polish

Thanks for this Daniel! That really helped! Naturally two more questions: Is overlapping back parts of armor (or parts that are hidden) a general approach? Quick clarification: "mark the center of the overlap on both ends and you will have your trim lines" ... Is that because the cover strip will join those ends together? And another pic just to be sure I understand: Before cutting anything, I'll be sure to get the shoulder + bicep on and see how it all feels and looks. But just by overlapping as you suggested, that really helped make it more snug while still allowing me to reach my head. Thanks again!

Once strapping is attached it should help to keep everything pulled in nicely

I would try to clean it up the best you can. After you get the glue residue off then it shouldn't look too bad. Maybe some super fine grade sanding if nessesary. But it's not really that bad . Just try to get the glue off and post some more pics.

You mean like this?

Thanks Tony for volunteering to consolidate the feedback for a CRL update the way Glen did for the TKC. Want to schedule them at the same time? I think the grace period for the TKC comments are over and we can do all of them (R1 & TKC) either Friday or early next week.

Congratulations Jeff!

Echoing Dan's comment - the kidney and ab should be lined up. That will bring your butt plate down significantly and reduce the overlap of back plate over kidney. Before you go trimmming the bottom of the chest plate, I would trim the neck opening to come further down. Will still look about the same overall shape. If then you still need more room, then you could consider cutting the bottom of the chest.

Want to know something funny? When you pointed that out right there, that was the first time I'd noticed that little elastic band. I'll try actually using it, lol.

You will have to do another and really saver the moment of building I know you were in a hurry so great work

At the wrist you overlap the halves at the back untill the opening is just big enough to let your hand through, that will ensure a nice fit unless you have really big hands and smaller wrist, if that’s the case than you will have to settle with a bigger opening and maybe use some foam to get the fit right...either way is fine for approval and beyond. At the elbow as I said earlier you can keep it lose, a finger between the limb and armor is a good rule of thumb. Use the other parts as reference before glueing stuff up as you will want it to look proportional, I always have everything sized and checked in relation to the whole before I glue anything. When you have the sizeing to were you want it, mark the center of the overlap on both ends and you will have your trim lines

So the plastidip spray worked out great and I added a few more decals. And installed the frown mesh... Extra tooth painted, Daniel. ;-) Next I went to mount the hovi-mic tips. I didn't see any indents for hole locations but I've since seen other people mention indents for the holes. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I ended up drilling my own holes.......which were ever so slightly too low....causing the mic tips to point upward. Grrr... I had read about people using a piece of black hose, cut at an angle, to get the tips pointing in the right direction. I tried this but I couldn't find hose that was the right diameter and the hose I did try didn't really work that well. So I decided to make my own shim for behind the mic tips. I stole some of my daughters white playdoh, made a small ball, and stuck it on the end of one of the mic tips, working it around the bolt shaft. Then I installed the mic tip with the playdoh into the helmet and angled it to the correct position. Finally I removed the mic tip and the playdoh made an imprint of the recess. Next I cut out three ABS disks the same diameter as the mic tip. Basically the size was the same as a Canadian quarter. :-) I glued these together with Zap-a-gap. I drilled a hole in the center for the bolt shaft... Then used my dremel to shape the ABS shim edges similar to that of the playdoh. It took a few test fits and some more sanding but soon it fit well. I painted it black and installed it behind the mic tip. Then I did the same for the other side. Mark

This is sort of what you're shooting for. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Remove the return at the wrist completely then size that up so that you just barely can get your hand through would be my advise, the elbow end can be a bit looser

I more pulled the hand guards off and glued them on the new ones. I trimmed any excess old glove that may have pulled off and was not hidden underneath the glove.

I did. Thanks for the info.

so got my centurion updated gloves all taken care of.

Nice progress, James. That’s an interesting project with the R1 lid. As as been said above, you’ll be better to use your new AM lid when it arrives due to the many differences between R1 lids and ANH. Note specifically the eyes, frown, vocoder, brow, ears to name a few. Chances are, the colour of both will vary, too. You R1 lid is still an interesting project though. Look forward to seeing how it turns out. :-)

https://www.apexgunparts.com/sterling-l2a3-folding-buttstock.html Picked this up last week and planning on including it in my build, adds a bit of weight but it is awesome.

So Ron what you'll want to do is set up a hosting site like flickr, imgur or use an app like tapatalk to upload your photos. I like tapatalk because it allows you to directly add photos to your posts.

Here is the fixed drop box after the additional E6000 Now we wait

Yeah while in was doing my build Tony suggested 48 hrs. for the shins. The rest of the kit was good at 24 hrs. I think both of them popped on my first attempt after 24 hrs., so I re-glued and waited the full 48. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Nothing better than a BBB, good luck with the build

Congratulations trooper

Coming along nicely

Thanks Dan!! I’ll make all the suggested changes before applying to L3. Rob

Awesome! Happy BBB-day

Let the fun begin! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Split rivets, cod rivet, Han snap, and butt snaps all fitted. The strapping system is almost complete, I'll post pics later, along with the completed arms. Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

The inner boxes did come with the belt, guess I am just blind. I will trim down the fronts of the shins so the cover strip covers most the showing edge. I am hopeful that this will make the top (knee side) a little more even. Thanks for the feedback, I will upload the fixed shins next. Awaiting on delivery of new belt from imperialissue, boots from imperialboots (tk boots didn't have my size in stock and when asked about them they said they would be closing down the shop soon), strap kit and rivets from Alay's centurion build in a box.

Hi Taylor, Great that you’ve got a second pair of hands help out here and there. You’re making really good progress. :-) Next time you try taping bits together, perhaps try taping the ab and kidney lined up together. This will give you a central shell to work up and down from. Example With these two parts lined up, you can then start looking at how to adapt the butt, back and chest plates to work around this central point. :-)

I make mine in a small (glass!) jar. Take scraps and cut them into ~1/4 x 1/4" squares, fill the jar with them, pour in acetone, put the cap on. Come back an hour later and stir, and I am usually good to go.

Jim, You might want to try replacing the white straps connecting the back and chest plate with something more sturdy. From the picture above it looks like the weight of your arm parts are pulling the strap out of shape, hence the uneven look (I think you have got your measurements right). If you can’t find a thicker material, maybe folding the strap into double layers would help.

Thanks so much for the info. I ended up just freehand painting it all for today. I updated my main post above with my progress!

Just a quick one today, Masked off the helmet and sprayed some plastidip.... Mark

Paul also makes ROTJ

Thank you so much for this thread that I have been following!!!!! I'm still waiting on my Armour to come in, but this thread I will also be referencing in the near future!!! Again so grateful for all this information for a short build and congratulations to her , that build is BEAUTIFUL on her 4'11", SALUTE!!!!! Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Great work

Hey Dan! I'll get that fixed soon Also, I've had my first (inofficial) troop yesterday, joined by my favourite Bridge Crew member out there We had a blast and tons of people wanted pictures already, sooooooooo cool! So one thing came to the other and after many GG members told me the costume was looking pretty good we decided to take the approval pictures and send them in: Really looking forward to their reply, and in the meantime I'll eliminate all the smaller things that i came across during the troop, so this will take up some more time, and once I'm approved I'll be working on the EIB and Centurion requirements and application. So I took another big step yesterday and today, but after basic approval, I would be very happy if you guys could keep on supporting me until the very finish which is Centurion Thanks for reading as always, Freddy

The shop on shapeways is Suitcase Props ie me