Leaderboard

Machining new charging handles

Also, don't worry about the space around the wrist - once your gloves are on, the gap is not nearly as noticeable. A little extra room is far better than too little.

I am 190 cm (so 6’3”) and have a Troopermaster kit with the XL shins. I have no gap in the back as you can see in my Centurion thread. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44243-tk-24269-requesting-anh-stund-centurion-status-tm-381/ I do have the cod pulled up as far as I can though and I straightened the top of the back slightly in hot water to allow it to slide down a bit further and still sit tight.

I think this is the thread Ray is referring to. The only way to get purple stains like this out of the armor is sanding sanding sanding, followed by polishing polishing polishing. I'm sorry this has happened to you! And keep all black soft gear away from your white plastic. I keep my black garments in their own white pillowcase in my bin to prevent dye-bleed. Good luck!

As Mario mentioned, you can trim away the return edge - that will give you extra room. Keep in mind that the coverstrip does not need to be 15mm You can make it a bit thicker if need be for the size of your arms. You are larger than the 5'10" 160lb actors used in the original movies - so wider coverstrips will easily look proportional on you. Good luck with the build!

You will kill it Don, there is nothing to worry about, we have all been down the same road and are here to help where we can. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You'll wonder what the worry was all about once your done, good luck and looking forward to the progress.

Four years after purchasing my TK Armor from the initial Anovos run, I am finally starting my build. This will be my first trooper build of any kind. After researching many threads here, I have tamed my OCD enough to begin. I created a physical binder of @ukswrath build/tutorial that I am following along with. Having been an RPF member for some years now, I am happy to see the community over here on FISD is just as good (if not better) and full of experienced members assisting each other and noobs like myself. I'm not shooting for the moon here, especially with this being my first armor build, so hoping for entry level approval at the minimum. Height - 6'-2" Weight - 200lb Build - Average/Square Any feedback and/or assistance from you awesome members is greatly appreciated! NOTE: I have test fit the forearm with my under armor on. Step 1 - Forearm fitment (trimmed to Anovos scored lines or slightly more. I still have to remove more material on the front to get closer to that 15mm width for the cover strip.) 1a - Is this TOO much room at my wrist? 1b - The Upper Front Side and Upper Back Side is tight/on the verge of pinching skin. Looks like I will be adding a small shim at the back... 1c - So I'll most likely be shimming the back, maybe bring wrist in some?, but as you can see there's a decent gap as-is already at my elbow when relaxed at my side... So far with the few test fits I've done, my body is kind of annoying me right now. It seems like my appendages are JUST over the standard trim/score lines on these pieces... https://photos.app.goo.gl/6ZCVjx3eaTvXLLqX8

Hello there. I have been an Active member of the 501st since November/December of 2016. I have done many troops and many costumes since joining, but finally got around to doing a TK. So, I am honored to finally be a Detachment member and look forward to getting to know you and trooping in my TK.

If you had seen the Legion TK profiles back in they day, it was not uncommon for older Legion members to have their official 501st profile photo with a pauldron. Thankfully FISD played a very big part in getting that changed.

Yeah, ignore me. I don’t know Anovos from my a$$.

Hey Justin and welcome to FISD As to the wrist end of the forearm my advise would be to make it as snug as possible, just barely getting your hand through. At the elbow I would start by removing all return on the inner half and then remove gradually from the outer if needs be

Hahahahaha! Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk

MY FM Hengstler and scope.

Thank you very much to all!!! I am very happy to belong to this select group. I promise to carry the EIB emblems with maximum pride. And I will not stay here. The next Centurion !! Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

Hi again Looking at your forearms it appears there´s some return edge left, I looked at your EIB and the lighting in that photo was different so that´s why I didn´t spot it there.

Hi, I should suggest to wear your inner suit when testing your armor parts. abuot the return edge, as you can see in the reference photo, theres no return edge in the forearms , this bring you a better fit . --------- --------

Update! New bucket arrived from Jimm yesterday! I’ll post pictures later. But it’s perfect. Jimm is a man of his word! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Justin, welcome to FISD. glad you're starting your tk build. As I could see you are using google Photos, maybe this tutorial can be usefull to post your photos, so the other troopers can give you some feedback. Cheers

Your Commander looks fantastic! Good luck on the approvals!

Oh, by the way, there is a change I have been told that I could maybe do for a better looking helmet. The blue strip has been moved a little to be in the corner of the eye. Edited post for paint update Enviado desde mi SM-G955F mediante Tapatalk

Congratulations Trooper, Welcome to EIB, just minor adjustment for your next goal. Centurion. Don't stop your great job!! Felicitaciones Jesús, Bienvenido ! solo unos pocos ajustes y alcanza el siguiente nivel, Centurion. Recuerda, para Centurion solo 3 o 4 ajustes y lo demás lo puedes ir corrigiendo en el camino. Buen trabajo!!!

Hi Simon and thank you for your Centurion application - sorry for the slight delay, I´ll start workin on it

Congratulations Txutxi!!!

Thanks all. Working on the EI upgrades now.

Congratulations trooper, welcome to the EIB!

Congratulations trooper and welcome to the EI ranks

My advice is to make the joining strips as wide you need them. 20mm wide strips is not uncommon to see on the original armour. Make sure the armour fits you properly and as comfortable as possible and cut the strips accordingly. No point having the armour cutting into you just to have a 15mm strip. And I agree with Greg. Chances are that if you need wider strips on your arms, you will need wider strips on your legs, so go with 25mm wide or wider if you need to. I'm a firm believer of making the armour fit you a priority, rather than trying to confirm to the CRL guidelines if it means making the armour uncomfortable or hacking it to death. Obviously the guidelines are what you are aiming for but not everyone can achieve this and some modifications are necessary.

766. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/47639-tk-25280-requesting-esb-eib-status-afp/ Posted by TxuTxi 28//7-19 Hi Jesús! Thanks for your application and for the updated photos with the corrected side gaps. They look great now! CRL and EIB Application Requirements All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. On behalf of the DO team and myself, many congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly In this area we review observations made by your fellow troopers and the DO team. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor. Note that we consider both text (CRL) and pictures (screen caps/reference images) when reviewing submissions. Just a note for your review: I will do my best to use ESB armor as reference images, but occasionally I do use ANH armor since ESB was mostly re-used ANH armor, and there are a lot fewer ESB references available. Starting from the top, some of your helmet decals are a bit creased. It would really help you look your best if you were able to replace them with new smoothed-out decals. Reference Image: Next, your teeth gaps are quite a bit larger than the screen-used helmets. It would not be easy, but if you filled them in some with ABS paste, it would really help your helmet match the screen-used ones. Reference Images: Continuing on to the Thermal Detonator, ideally the screws sit closer to the end of the clips. This would involve replacing the clips and is not a big deal, but it's worth mentioning. Reference Image: Next, your thigh armor seems a bit low. Ideally we want to minimize the amount of black showing, but if there is black showing, it looks cleaner if the gaps are even. You have no gap at the knees but quite a large gap at the top of your thighs. If you are able to, we're recommending you raise your thighs a bit. That will also keep your sniper knee from getting caught behind the thigh armor. Reference Image: Finally, your butt place is popping out a bit. Ideally it should sit right under the kidney plate, so we're recommending that you try adjusting the strapping in that area to get it to sit properly. Reference Image: Centurion Requirements In this section we prepare you for Centurion. More photos may be requested in the future that allow us to make better decisions on possible adjustments. If there are any areas of concern they will be discussed here. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items to pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all that we can from what is seen, but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. Starting from the top, the paint on your ear bumps is quite thing, so we'd like you to make it wider to match the screen-used armor. Although this isn't specifically stated in the CRL, the references images are clear and it should be a simple fix. Reference Images: Moving on to the shoulder armor, the L3 CRL states: There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. Yours look quite good, but there is still some gap, especially at the top of the bells. You can tighten the strapping holding the bells on, and also be sure to trim all the return edge off the bottom of the bells to bring them as close to the chest and back as possible. Reference Image: It's not totally clear, but it appears your forearms still have a bit of return edge on the wrist side. Per the L3 CRL: No return edge on the inside of the front of the forearm is allowed. It should be a simple fix - just a few minutes with some scissors to clean up the edges. Reference Images: Next, a couple fixes will need to be made in the ab/kidney area. Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor. Abdominal and Kidney Plate align horizontally at top. Rivets are equally spaced along the depth of the armor and about 10mm from the edge. The heads are rounded or domed. Note: Paperclip brads are not considered to have a domed head. Rivets are painted white. This is almost certainly just a dressing issue, but the tops of the ab and kidney will need to be aligned, and the top pair of ab/kidney rivets will need to be painted white. Reference Images: And that's it! Congratulations on your EIB approval, and we'll see you at Centurion! Now get out there and make us proud!

Sounds like you got a good start already Don. Good luck on the build and remember to ask questions if you have them.

I think I am going to redo the coverstrips, too much of the raised edge showing on the biceps and forearms something I overlooked originally. I plan to cut a few mm off of each of the raised edges, then cover with 15mm coverstrip. Should still allow plenty of room for it to fit. Agreed?

Hola Aizenoso, gracias por tu solicitud para el BEI. Parece que Joseph ya te ha dado buenos consejos. ¡Estaré contigo en breve!

Wow!

Cricket had a solution in this thread and I know there was a similar discussion not to long ago regarding undersuit bleeding.

Some pretty cool detail for a toy.

Pm sent!

The BFG is mine. I earned it, dammit. I *might* let him borrow it, though. Maybe.

Hi Ardeshir, you're a master builder now !!! Yuor Centurion Badge is waiting for you Sir.

Thanks for the encouragement, Sly! This weekend I drove down to Montgomery to get help from Jim Summerlin (TK 24233 / Centurion #385) on fine-tuning the fit lengthwise of my thighs and we also attached snaps to my Kittel belt. I'm a short dude with short legs and so a lot of additional trimming was necessary to get a good fit. Jim was really patient with me, I couldn't have done this part without help. I'll spare the world the in-progress pictures as they aren't flattering. Haha... Stupidly, I drove two hours down there and forgot my cover strips, but the main purpose of my going down there was the fit, so we're good. Next step is to glue the thighs. Then I think I'll go ahead and install the garter system. I also need to go ahead and put chicago screws in the E-11 holster.

Okay, so we took a few minutes today and took submission pics. We were all ready to submit the form, when Mr. Cricket suddenly realized that he needed to choose a TKID. Annnd now things grind to a halt until he has time to look over that huuuuge list. *sigh* So while I'm waiting, here are the pics! As I was taking the photos, we realized that we had attracted a small crowd of moms with small children on the street. The kids were thrilled to spot a stormtrooper in the neighborhood! Okay, so for self-criticism here... the shoulder bells are really giving me a headache. Well, that and hubby's undershirt is too big on him. The shirt issue can be easily fixed (thanks, Amazon!). I don't have a ton of experience building suits for normal-sized troopers. If I was evaluating this for EIB/Centurion, I would suggest shortening the elastic on the bells. There is still room for the bells to come in at the top. So I'm going to tackle that first. The other issue with the bells is that they are really 'pinchy' on him, which is adding to the bells wanting to shift out of place. I'll be getting them into a quick hot water bath to see if I can loosen them up somewhat. Honestly, I think I might have overtrimmed the bells a little too much at the top. I mean, it's not a submission deal-breaker by any means, but still... I know that there are many TKs in my own garrison that have much, much larger black space at the chest/bell area, but I think I could do better for sure. So technically, I'm done with this kit, but in reality, I've got more work to do.

Just got approved!!! TK-98695

As Hassan mentioned, priming is the key to paint adhesion. After masking off the hardware (use blue painter's tape), make sure it is super clean and free of dust, etc. Know in advance that it will take several cans of paint, and that it will take some time. Here are some tips: 1. After priming, let it dry for 3-6 hours. 2. Apply the paint in THIN coats. If you put it on too heavy, it will run and cause drips. 3. Although it may seem dry and ready for a second coat, enamel paint needs to "cure" after each coat for durability. Don't be in a hurry. 4. Before removing the painter's tape carefully cut around the edges with an Exacto or razor knife. Otherwise, you run the risk of peeling off the paint from the surrounding areas.

Made a very limited run of these with my power cylinders.... A thru E

I wasn't satisfied that the bolt could not move in the main tube. This kit is near perfect, so why the bolt shouldn't move ? I decided to sold the part that connect the folding stock on the main tube. I used a bi-component glue for metal, not to wrap the main tube with soldering. I used the screws to maintain the parts during the process. Two days after, the result seems to be very strong. I trimmed the parts and I cut the screws so they don't stick in the tube (5mm less). I'm very happy with the result. I took the opportunity to fill the little hole near the "S" selector.

Thanks Some news about the Hengstler replica building. I thought the button wasn’t working with this kit when I saw that there was a spring behind it. After some trimming to remove the paint the button works perfectly. I also have to enlarge one of the sensor pin because it was to small. I decided not to add the wires inside the counter because we don’t see them. The holes to fix the rear part were missing. I used adhesive paper to dig exactly at the good place. I dig several diameters successively. I wasn’t satisfied with the numbers. I tried to repaint them but I wasn’t satisfied … I’ve disassemble a real Hengstler counter 260-634 (still have 3 if interested) and I’ve adapted the numbers to the replica (Hengstenstein counter !). The result is fantastic ! I havn't any TK number so I chose "1977" I made a big mistake when I tried to glue the clear lens with cynolite. The vapor have destroyed the lens. I’ve ordered another one to Chris. Looking for an idea to fix it.

I've received the screw. Many thanks Chris. But the thread wasn’t in a good shape and I must rebuilt it with a tap. I must be very carefull because the screw is in aluminum and very fragile. I seems that this particular screw has specific dimensions not very usual. An other bad news : I must order another hengtler lens. Cynolite vapors have damaging it Have to find something to fix the lens without damaging it. Any idea ?

Looking good. I like how you attached the power cylinders; I am working on a real sterling and want to keep it original as possible, but also dress it up as a E-11. I think I'll copy your trick.

This week-end I’ve worked on the sensor. I’ve chosen a “type A” sensor. I’ve dremeled some metal beards (laser cut I think) and I've assembled the two tubes to the main metal part (be careful, the notched end goes to the rear of the sensor) . They match perfectly. I’ve curved the tabs on the steel chassis and glued the tube with cyanolite to prevent them from moving. The three small holes weren't big enough so I’ve to enlarge them in order to pass the capacitor extremity. After that, I’ve cut and twist them with pliers. I’ve inserted the copper bars and fixed the sensors extremities. The main difficulty was to assemble the little capacitors. I’ve soldered some of them and glued with cyanolite the others (the paper tape was to prevent fingerprint on tubes with the glue ... ). I’ve cut the extremities of the sensors (diamond disk for Dremel). To fix the sensor to the magazine, I was looking for a way to do that with out drilling the aluminum receiver. I’ve disassembled an old hard disk drive : magnets are very strong and 2 mm thick (may be less). They are strong enough to interact with the real steel magazine under the aluminum receiver and the sensor don’t move (it’s 83gr with the magnet !). Et voilà ! I'm pretty happy with the result

Any ideas where this came from? I really like this look...(credit to whomever this is...can’t recall where I snagged this pic) (cross posted from FB)

We are in the process of updating the HWT CRLs and working on standardizing the packs, which are based on the ones seen Battlefront game. For continuity purposes they should be more or less the same for basic approval through Centurion. Some have elected to add various greeblies, lights, video monitors, etc. to their packs, which are fine to a point. But, when you have 2 or more HWTs at one troop, and they look totally different the public perception changes, so we need some consistency. If you look at a Sandie pack, they allow VERY little (if any) personalization in their CRL. I am not saying by any means that we have to be that strict, but we have to draw the line somewhere and set some standards.