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Hi everyone! I took another pass at the ears. Thanks for the feedback! They definitely look better now. You can't argue with Mark the armour master himself, after all! There is a bit more of a gap under the ears now, but as I understand it that is canon and fine. The overall look is a huge step forward from how I had it before. Before putting the ears on, I drilled the holes on the back ear bump for the hearing assist, and installed the microphones under the ears using Sugru. You'll notice I had a little repair work to do from trimming and repositioning the ears; my new drill hole was rather close to an edge, so I used PlasticWeld to toughen it up (as seen in the photo above). Additionally, the bottom screw hole on the right ear fell right on top of the rivet that fastens the mask and cap, so I had to drill a new one in the ear. Not the ideal situation, but worth it for the new ears I think. I filled in the old hole with PlasticWeld and, when it dried, sanded and painted it gloss white (still have another coat to do). I'm hoping it's a tolerable blemish. Speaking of painting, I got to work on the remainder of the helmet. This included the stripes on the traps/tears, the ear bumps/rank stripe (outline for starters), the ear screws, fixing the vocoder and the tube stripes. Woohoo! I used the TrooperBay stencils for the tear, trap and tube stripes. I still have another coat to do on the tubes. Some of the ear bump lines are a little messy, but I'll tidy them up with a toothpick once they dry. I also started messing around with electronics inside, but I'll wait until the paint is dry before finishing that up and posting photos. Happy New Year everyone!!

My opinion on the brow and CRL change. For basic - as before Expert Infantry - maybe Centurion - Definetly

Nice work, Brendan. The paint work looks great. :-) As Mark suggested, there’s quite a bit more of the ears to come off. I’ve highlighted the cut lines in the below; Here’s a nice ANH reference pic Keep up the good work. :-)

Hi folks, Some major progress on upgrading my doopydoos power cylinders... After only upgrading the end caps...wasn't satisfied...went on to upgrade the outer cylinders. Scavenged and old VCR to get my resisters....only came away with one so made three more. Planned out position of holes on backplate...hand dremeled with caution...had to mend one by reinforcing it with aluminum strip. Test fit of major components good with room for resisters. Next up is getting my central capacitors good then resisters and insulation sleeve, cheers mates!!! Sent from my SM-G390W using Tapatalk

Okay, folks. Maybe not radio silence, but it's been video silence (visual silence? visual blindness? I'm trying here) long enough. PICTURES! And then questions. Down below. But first, a progress check-in! Last night I brought all my limb armor into the living room, piled it in front of the couch, and put on movie after movie to keep my brain occupied (quite a task at the best of times) while I cleaned every. last. cover strip seam. Four (4) hours later, the travesties on the left looked like the beauties on the right. Yes, I still have to trim the cover strip ends. I took A.J.'s recommendation of using white E6000 for applying outer cover strips, 'cause if you cut the excess cleanly enough it fills any small gaps and unevennesses nicely. My big trick for clearing the E6000 was my HDad's tip to use these blades which may look like danger-claws but are in fact commonly known as roofer's blades and fit in any normal utility knife. They let you cut materials by pulling more than pressing down through the material (and consequently scoring whatever's behind). They're downright magical. Invest, y'all. I still had to clear the glue off of the upper bit of the strip and get the seam really clean which took for-ever but hey, it's done now. My ab closures are now almost ready, too! Tab on one side. Han snap is purely decorative. Half of the closure is also my kidney splice reinforcement. Still have to make elastics, put back the part of the bottom edge that snapped when making kidney notches, and bend the tab inwards some. I admire those of you that chose flexible tabs. Brains, foresight, etc. Other side is looking half happy too. Hinge is a la @A.J. Hamler (again). However after gluing the elastic behind the ABS strips vertically, I discovered my woven elastic wouldn't stretch at all, so while it was still a hinge, it had no stretch. Stretch was a priority for me due to fear for the safety of the rivet holes. So I yanked and tugged and peeled it off and glued three pieces horizontally instead and now it does stretch a tiny bit! Yay. I also glued thin pieces of pre-vac-formed ABS behind each hole before mounting the hinge with only rivets and washers. Side note: my rivets were too short and @ukswrath swooped in to the rescue. Woo! Thanks, Tony! My belt is looking rather belt-like. Got the Velcro installed now that I could size it. Made the Velcro narrow enough to fit between the TD/O2 canister brackets as it gets rather thick otherwise. The belt is reinforced with "plastic canvas" throughout (minus ends), and the plastic belt is riveted on in the center only pending snap attachment of the canvas to ab. Drop boxes are looking drop boxy Magnetic shin closures are in and rocking assembled according to Cricket's instructions. Highly recommend. Arm armor snaps are in Cool. Good talk. Now the queries. Q1. My forearms are stupid. How would y'all recommend I treat that height difference up top? Angle the cover strip, taper the whole thing? Q2. In some places, my cover strips do not lie perfectly flat. How noticeable is this actually while oot and aboot trooping, and do I need to deal with it? The sniper knee stinks to install as much as everybody says it does. I wrestled with it for so stupid long. One side lines up great! The other, not so much. I did trim down the sides rather significantly already. THEN I found the reference album. Sigh. So: Q3. Am I correct in drawing the apparent trim line on the trooper on the right? The inside of the knee is hard to find pictures of. Q4. Do you think, if I just trimmed the ends vertically, I could leave the knee where it is? No worries if not. Thanks in advance, everybody!

Great news! I have been approved. Now to tackle the side shims...

Odds 'n' Ends -- Part II Now that I'm nearing the end of the main build, I'm finding lots of smallish things I also need to do, so I'm peppering them in as I think of them and need a break from the main build. (Truth? The next part of the main build would have involved spending the day running around my workshop in my undersuit, but I forgot to turn on the heat in my basement workshop. Yeah, time for some odds 'n' ends instead...) One of the things I wanted to do with my armor is to arrange an alignment method for the right side where the Ab and Kidney meet. No issue with the left side, since that's riveted with a rigid ABS/webbing hinge, but the right side will be closed with straps. To keep the alignment correct and prevent one side or the other from sliding up or down, I decided to use a "tab-and-slot" arrangement that many of you have used. I made the slot plate with a length of white ABS scrap (the 3-1/4" length allowed it to fit nicely between snap plates), raised at each end with smaller squares of ABS glued in place. The opening of the slot matches the thickness of the tab that would go into it. For the tab plate, I used some black ABS (scavenged from the black plastic case one of my DeWalt drills came in),and cut it into the tab shape with a long gluing surface matching the length of the slot plate. I made this with black so it'd blend in with the undersuit, rendering it invisible through the seam where the Ab and Kidney meet. Not how I scored the gluing surface on the back of the tab plate. I then closed up the armor and put both pieces in place on the right-side closure between Ab and Kidney and traced where they needed to go. Starting with the slot plate on the kidney side, I glued it in with E6000 and clamped it up. While that was drying, I did the same thing with the tab plate on the opposite Ab side. You have to be careful when gluing these in, and make sure they stay on your traced lines when you apply clamping pressure. Parts glued with E6000 are notorious for sliding all over hell and back until the glue sets. I let both sides set up for several hours, then removed the clamps to test the fit. Perfecto! Up next, heat the damn basement and pick up where I left off with the main build.

Ongoing CRL To Be Updated: ROTJ text updates TKC detonator photos to be added also wording changed for thigh ammo strip here ESB no bicep hooks L3, info here

Slight rework to see if I need to get that new knee in the mail. This thing was HARD to pry off! Go E6000!! Not a perfect vertical, but not the slope it was, and not so far from the shin corner either. I don't love how it ends up on a slight diagonal but that seems to be screen accurate, so... Obviously there's more trimming of the sides to be done and sanding etc but here's the concept.

Its never gonna be screen accurate and probably wouldn't clear but Ears redone and got traps outlined in black

Just under 5h to go and happy new years to you and your family too

Submitted my application and sent my photos in for approvals. Only took me two years but feels good to get to this stage in the process. Really looking forward to my first troop! Also submitted to photos on the Request TK Pre-Approval in the hopes that I may go for higher levels of approval. - Garry

OK. Try it now. - Garry

You don’t have to but that’s what I would do. At the very least I would make that vertikal cut and see how it looks

The build is looking buildy... and near completion. For the cover strips, you are fine. No one will notice them usless they use a teloscope, microscope, or some other kind of scope. Can't wait to see it done!

Congratulations and welcome to the Legion Trooper

Update 10: - review 2018 It is the last day of the year, so I just wanted to post a few nice pictures from troops during 2018. Yes, have been pretty active in 2018. But there is still enough space left on the Stanley box... Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2019!

Hello. Not sure what's going on. Those are the Direct Links to my photos. Let me see what I can do and edit the post. Stay tuned... -Garry

Looking absolutely fabulous Lorelei! Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk

Outstanding job, Jesse. A beautyful pair of power cylinders. Don't forget the wing stubs and to put a soldering dot on top of the two main cylinders.

But personal taste aside I agree with what you're putting out there on this aspect. Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk

Interesting question. I like them a bit higher on the stunt and lower for the hero personally. Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk

good to go

I’ve got AM and love it. Email I was using when I was in contact (October 2018) was [email protected] Hope that helps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not only is it the nicest armor out there (IMHO), but the maker has the best communication I've seen anywhere, not just armor vendors. He's wonderful to work with.

As mentioned, Michael, AM is a top quality set of armor. It can fit troopers of larger sizes, but can also be cut down as needed. I am 5'10-155 lbs and mine fits perfectly.

Way to go Dave! The next thing to do at this point is to apply for Legion access here at the FISD: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/16-501st-trooper-status-requests-include-link-to-your-501st-profile-in-your-request/?

My goal for realism and working with no deadline affords me plenty of time to dream up off-the-wall solutions ... cylinders square vent slits showcase 1/4 " OD tubes that act as ceramic tubes present in the real deal, though they are smaller on OD in real life. Always a pleasure to hear from you Dan!!

Blimey Jesse! You’re really coming up with some out-of-the-box ideas for this build. Very inspiring. :-)

Congratulations, David. Great news!! :-)

Looking good. Are you going to be going for 501st HWT approval? If so, I would not veer too far from the approved packs and what is shown in the CRL. Just want to make sure you get approved when you submit. Other then that, it is looking great and keep posting.

You have to trim alot more material around the ears, that raised lip all around shouldn't be visible at all. Mark (AP)

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks trooper. You can request higher access here

You can read more about them in the getting started section . 1st topic , various types of armor and where to find them

troopersupplies@hotmail .com is the e mail

Give me a bit, I'll have to look it up

I think you will find that AM is among the highest in quality. I have a kit, although I am not a big guy and had to trim alot to get it to fit me properly. Still love the kit . Heavy duty plastic and very durable. Not only thick plastic but a sharp looking kit as well. It will satisfy when you open the box

Lots of guys have AM armor and you'll find lots of AM build threads you can follow here in the builds section, I've not heard any issues with their quality of late, I don't use FB so can't help you there but you can find contact info in this thread

Lorelei, When you kicked off this build at Jonathan's house back on Labor Day weekend, I commented that he would finish quick ("blessed" with Joe Average TK build), but that your build had potential to be the stuff of legend. So far, both of those are playing true to forecast! You are doing awesome! When you are ready for The Show, please post (here or PM or Carida forums) where your first troop will be. I would love to be on hand when you go "live". Andrew

Ha, believe me, nearly everyone underestimated his first build :-)... Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

I will also be integrating a mini scope display, so the power will already be available. Therefore I expect the additional work to add the LED will be limited. But then again it wouldn't be the first time that I underestimate the amount of work required for a mod...

Hmm, I don't know dude. As the goal is to achieve centurion I don't think something like that would/should pass. Its a clear error that makes it screen inaccurate. I see this as being no different than had the manufacturer put on a singlepoint scope instead of a M38/32/19 scope, an omitted "D" ring or wrong screws being used on the TD. For basic it be ok, for expert maybe, although like you it would still bug me. But for centurion status I'd say a definitive no. Again this is purely my opinion so a *very* big YMMV on this. Hopefully a DO within the program will provide some guidance.

I have a few jackets but my favorite is this one:

Nice work on that side panel! I've been debating adding that to mine. I might do that, but it'll have to wait until after I hear back on approval, since it's already been submitted at this point.

Thanks very much! :-) I definitely will be asking plenty of questions. For now, though, I've gotten a little further. The PlasticWeld cured, and I was able to mount the lenses successfully! Next step was PlastiDip. This cool idea of using bits of plastic bags to mask the teeth and eyes came from Scimitar's build thread! I bought the spray can version of PlastiDip, which ... lacked some precision, shall we say. I definitely could/should have taped up the outside of the mask first. Not to worry, though—a quick google search revealed that a small amount of WD40 on a cloth erases PlastiDip overspray like magic. All tidy! After this I wanted to do the mesh that fits behind the teeth. I didn't realize that AP's kit would ship with it provided, so (several months ago) I bought a window screen to cut up. On top of that, Trooper Bay's helmet kit included one as well, so now I had three options. I ended up really liking the look of layering the thin, grey one I bought over the thicker black one that came with the AP kit. If this is undesirable for any level of acceptance, please let me know! I still have the extra, normal black mesh and can swap it out without trouble. I sewed the two layers of mesh to some pieces of soft Velcro. I like the idea of being able to remove or replace the internal helmet components like the frown and lenses, so Velcro was the answer! Here's the hook Velcro attached to the inside of the mask. And the assembled face, from the inside and out! Tomorrow I hope to get some painting done. More updates to come soon! Thanks all and goodnight. :-)

Gotta love a Horshack reference.

Rob is likely busy with work. He only makes a few suits a year. A few troopers in the tall enough to be wookie zone hete have am.

Be Patient Chris. Good things come to those who wait, and AP makes good stuff. Life happens to us all.