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Just wanted to send out a big thank you to this community! I finally got my TK approved for Centurion status and it has been a great learning process. I can say that I’m now a more knowledgeable Star Wars fan and have picked up several crafting skills from going through the build. For the newbies that will be starting a build, this community is awesome and you’ll get plenty of help here! I’m happy to be a part of this group and hope to be as helpful towards others in their builds.

It is official. I am going to build Captain Cardinal and will just go with solid red boots. Next week, I will begin work on the KB Props armor and post all progress on here as I promised JSIN. Below is the only "Official" reference picture. I just thought this picture was cool. It is not an official reference picture (below pic) Once complete, I will be getting the armor painted by an Automobile painter/detailer with a clearcoat. This will make it very shiney and protect it.

Yes Congrats! Now that you have made it this far, we hope that you will want to stick around on this forum to help out any newcomers. Instill your knowledge upon them and guide them.

Congratulations!

Congratulations trooper!

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks trooper

Congratulations trooper

Well done, D’Angelo. Welcome to Centurion! :-)

And the ultimate goal has been achieved thanks to everyone who followed me until now and supported me whenever I was in trouble! It feels really weird to know that now is the time where I can't really do more for my TK.. Apart from two smaller adjustments that still need to be done, and maybe one day I might get a DLT-19 if I ever get bored of my trusty E-11 (will probably never happen ). So for now, I am looking forward to lots of troops and I'll also save some money for now - but the next costume is already in sight Thanks for standing by and reading, Freddy

Gotcha! Still wrapping my head around the fixability and changeability of this kit. In other words, still, like Shasha, scared to death of doing anything that might even accidentally turn out to be unfixable. Yes!! *hurries to work on shins so she can sign up* Turns out I did get another picture last week, and it's a "look, everyone was right [again]" shot from trimming my neck. You know how everyone says not to just trim the same amount off of every side, but rather to preserve the original curves? Well this is what the neckline looks like traced and moved down. A far cry from taking the same amount off every edge! Imagine how wide the neck would have become.

Congrats and welcome to Centurion!

One of us :-)

Congratulations!

Congratulations D’Angelo, Very clean build you have there. Welcome to the ranks of Centurion!

Great progress and pics!

Great job in your L3 approval! Troop on!

Troopers helping Troopers

Congratulations D`angelo I know the hard work you put in to this during your build

Hi D'Angelo! Welcome back and thank you for your Centurion application and for adjusting those drop boxes... much better! I also appreciate that you lowered the brow trim, removed the extra tube stripes, switched the shoulder bells and I gotta say that you NAILED the ab button issues! (Excellent paint job on those, by the way). AWESOME work, brother! (And there was no need to cross your fingers, lol) CRL and Centurion Application Requirements: All required submission photos appear to be present. On behalf of the D.O. Staff I would like to welcome you to the rank of Centurion. Congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: The only thing I could recommend is that you tighten up the gap between the top of the thighs and the cod area a bit. Other than that, incredible job on this armor. Now get out there and make the Empire and Cloud City Garrison proud, Trooper! 

Thats totally fine! :-) Today I'll meet Dan and will compare my prototype with his Gentle Giant TLJ 1:1 helmet and will post comparison pictures :-)

Congratulations and welcome to the Centurion family. Good to see one more TKC added to the ranks!

Looks great! I've got the eye shadow on my workbench...just waiting on my blaster and pack to get started!

Using sterling parts kit as a guide for latex masking....

I would like to have some wording changed in the CRL, it was brought to my attention in the recent TKC L3 approval of Daphne that ROTJ armor will not allow the thigh ammo strip to sit on top of the lower ridge and cover the front of the ridge (as seen in screen images). Looking at other makes of armor it appears it won't allow the strip to sit there either. The V in the screen image I believe is a lot lower than most armor available, also the raised sections of the ammo strip stop after the screen image example, so it is impossible to replicate the screen images to position the strip to the V section of the thigh. Screen image An example of someone who tried but it sits on an angle when trying to cover the front of the ridge. Daphne's App I propose the following change to the CRL From The thigh ammo belt shall be positioned on top of the lower ridge as seen in official references and is not rounded off like ANH. To The thigh ammo belt may be positioned on or above the lower ridge as seen in official references and is not rounded off like ANH. @Daetrin @ukswrath @justjoseph63

Goodluck !! Clean build !!!

That may be my ultimate plan. This was mostly a proof of concept, with black PLA I had on hand. If it works out, great, if not, it should be pretty trivial to swap in PETG faceplates instead!

Nice! You seem to have very good mobility in this kit. It took me a while to learn to walk normally in my OTTK...

Very cool.

As promised the AP Helm is on the Left, Frankenhelm is on the right

'Nuff said.

Veel geluk met je centurion applicatie !!! Groetten uit België !!!

Alright friends, as my final trick I just submitted my Centurion application, and the day was also topped off by a birthday cake my girlfriend made me today. Thought I might share a picture of that as well as it's kinda forum-related.. (you can also tell she helped me with lots of my build by the details she managed to put into this cake ) Thanks for reading, thanks for following! Freddy

TK-39093 Requesting ESB EIB Status [TM] Trooper Info Name: Arthur Wong FISD Forum Name: giskard8 Legion ID: 39093 Garrison: Hong Kong Garrison Legion Profile: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=19986 Height: 5'10" Weight: 175 lbs Costume Information Armor Maker: TM (TrooperMaster) / ABS kit Helmet Maker: TM (TrooperMaster) / ABS kit Neck seal: East Asia Supply Belt: East Asia Supply Boots: Imperial Boots Holster: Imperial Boots (early version) Blaster: Blaster-Master E-11 (3D Printed kit) Electronics: 2x 12V helmet fans (self installed) / iComm (TK Products, LLC) + chest mounted speaker unit Known Issues Belt : Material is off white too much, thickness is also an issue. Reworked the Belt with an "old found" lighter white canvas belt (10/2). Helmet : Frown painted into the last teeth opening on both side. Attempted to fix (9/28). Helmet : Wrong Tube stripes decal. Replaced with “one-sheet” style (9/28). Hook on the Biceps need to be removed (pending). Belt button covers need to be trimmed (fixed 10/28 / photo pending). Ab buttons repaint (fixed). Helmet Right Ear reposition (fixed 10/28 / photo pending). Helmet Vocoder paint line (fixed 10/28 / photo pending).

Hi. I'm going to set my ANH Stunt Stormtrooper thread off with a list of the items i'm definitely sourcing and some which i'm still deciding between. 1. A pre-built ANH Stunt Stormtrooper, in 2mm acrylic capped ABS from TrooperMaster. A definite, and one of the easiest choices i have ever made 2. E-11 ANH blaster - RS PropMasters, Shear Tech V3. DoopyDoo. Until yesterday a HyperFirm Elite was an option. Issues with shipping outside of the US put paid to that unfortunately. 3. Stormtrooper Boots - Tk Boots, Imperial Boots, CaBoots. Owned a pair of CaBoots previously. Leaning towards Imperial Boots at the moment. 4. Voice Amplifier - TRamp. A definite. 5. Neck seal and Balaclava. Quality items. Source unknown. I have plenty of irons in the fire at the moment, so there's the possibility of new options joining the list. Looking forward to everything coming together soon and being able to upload images. Soo looking forward to this...

So, a lot of people jump in with both feet not really knowing the cost ramifications of going 100% complete on their TK. We look around at armor makers and get their pricing and think, "wow thats a lot, but ok." Then they realize there are accessories to add to the suit, and tools to build the suit and strapping, snaps, bolts and so on. So my goal here is to help people by laying out a general cost reference for the stuff they will ned to buy. This way you can make an educated decision about your finances how you will make a TK work so it does not break the bank and have you selling it a few months later. This will be a range type pricing. There are parts that are more expensive and some that are lower cost. At the very end, to help you with the accessories and armor, I have put links to the ongoing accessories listing and well as the approved armor vendors listing. These posts help compile ways to contact the sellers who have the required parts. One little tip as well, just because something is a different cost then another doesn't make it worse/better than the next item available. When you read through the sale thread for the individual items, you can also read the reviews to get a feel for the quality of an item. People with a bad history or a bad product aren't allowed to sell here. So do the research and make an educated decision. The FISD does not dictate pricing to sellers, so you are the only one who can decide what price is right for the item you want, thats why there are multiple sellers for most items. To start, the most important bit: The armor (with helmet) - The pricing ranges widely depending on accuracy, type of scupt (fan vs screencopy) and quality. Some of the lower end pricing does not include a helmet! Keep this in mind when you do the research on armor makers and make sure that you get a helmet with the suit as well. Price range: $550-$1500 Any set of armor that you can find here on the FISD through the approved sellers will look great if you build it right. The suits on the higher end of the spectrum are like luxury cars. Do you need them? Not really, but it's so nice to have them and the attention to the finer details really sets them apart. The Rest - This is the part that people sometimes forget about. These are pieces like the boots, the cloth belt, holster and so many other little things that help you to complete the suit. These parts I am detailing aren't optional (with the exception of the blaster) so in order to get approval from the Legion and join us, you will need every single item I am detailing. Many of these prices do not take into account shipping fees, since I can't detail them all and they vary wildly between sellers location and your location. Most are very fair here on shipping costs though. I will detail the expected pricing for these parts and then will recap everything at the end. Boots - There are several options for these. There are sellers who have white leather bots that are made especially for stormtroopers. These are the accurate style and the leather is dyed white so you never have to worry about chips to the paint. The other option is to go with black Jodphur boots, get some white leather paint, prep and paint the boots. This is how they did it in the films and is likely to be cheaper then the white leather route, but involves more work, up front and in the end. So you have to decide on if you're willing to trade ease of use for film replica style. Price range: $60-$100 Neck Seal - This part is generally custom made to order from a few different sellers to fit your neck size. Zippers, velcro and other closure types are available. Price range: $35-$80 Rubber Gloves/Hand Guards - This is one of those parts that isn't 100% required. The gloves yes! However they do not need to be rubber for basic approval, they can be black form fitting gloves, just check on the CRL for the specific requirements depending on the level of certification you are aiming for. Most armor vendors will include a set of ABS plastic hand guards with the armor, so unless you're going for a higher level of accuracy certification with the FISD, the ones with the armor will do. On the other hand, if you want to get centurion LV3 certification, you will need to get rubber gloves and latex/silicone handguards. Price range: $25-$50 depending on options Undersuit - Easily overlooked, this is one of the most important parts of the whole setup! You will want a plain black suit either 2 or 1 piece construction and it should be form fitting with no excess fabric hanging around. The best is any type of compression wear made for under sports clothes/suits to keep the wearer cooler/warmer based on the weather and construction. The best place to find these are at any general department store like WallMart (US) or a sporting goods store. If you decide on a 1piece suit, make sure there is a zipper to go pee. It's hard enough to get out of a 1 piece without having to worry about bathroom pressure. Price range: $30-$120 for the top and bottom. Holster - Most times these are made from leather, but can also be imitation leather. Price range: $30-$70 Cloth Belt - This is the belt that the ABS ammo belt attaches to and goes around your waist to connect at your back and you hang your TD on. Price range: $30-$70. E-11 Blaster (Optional) - The blaster is optional for Legion acceptance. Not all countries allow for even toy weapons so the legion does not require them. The price ranges widely here because you can get these as kits or fully built. Most kits are pretty easy to put together and paint yourself if you have the time. Price range $80-$800 Tools - Now this is a hard to peg hole. You will need curved scissors for cutting plastic, a drill/hole puncher, a rivet tool, tools for setting snaps. Price range: $20-$100 Strapping supplies - You can go with screen accurate brackets, or you can use straps and snaps to put your armor together and hold it in place. You will need some skinny black elastic, skinny white elastic, wide black elastic, wide white elastic. For details on how skinny/wide and so on check out the replica section. You will need snaps as well. Price range: $20-$100 Recap! Here is the pricing once again, in one place with no descriptions: Armor: $550 - $1500 Boots: $60 - $100 Neck Seal: $25 - $80 Gloves/handguards: $25 - $50 Undersuit: $30 - $120 Holster: $30 - $70 Cloth Belt: $30 - $70 Blaster: $80 - $800 Tools: $20 - $100 Strapping: $20 - $100 In total: $870 - $2990 For my knowledge, most people will be right in the middle, around the $1200-$1500 range for a fully complete wearable Stormtrooper costume. Now here are a couple of this that aren't included in this list... Time required to build. Time is money. Time building it time away from your friends, family, dog, work and so on. Unless you find a way to include them! But it's not like you're working, it's a hobby and you're having.. at least you should be! You can bank about 40-50 hours of build time for your first build. This does not include time spent researching on the computer, waiting for glue to dry and so on. This is purely time sitting on front of a armor piece working. There are people who offer a build service for a price. Average cost.. ??? Not cheap. Lets break down these costs a little. An experienced builder will take 20-30 hours to build your kit, and make sure it fits to your body as best as possible. This is a specialized skill, in a niche market which means there aren't so many people doing it. If they were being paid by the hour... say $20 a hour, which should be a good rate for a specialized job. $20 per hour for 20 hours is $400 bucks. However, a builder who gets a kit done with a high level of quality and workmanship in this time frame will ask for a bit more, more like $30. Now these are just estimated. If you have questions about a builder for your armor, post on the forums, or do some research you'll find people who do builds for you and they can answer your question directly. Links: Combined on-going accessories listing Various types of armors and where to find them Good luck with your build and have fun!