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There is an old saying (like over 10 years ago) about post counts. I saw it in someone's sig when I was in my first year in the Legion and got excited to see my title change on MEPD as I jumped from 24 to 25 posts. Man, did that seem a lot! Anyway, the sig was something like: You are not your TE armor You are not your hyperfirm blaster You are not your post count TE along with AP at the time was the most accurate armor you could get. Hyperfirm was light years ahead of the crappy resin blasters many of us started with. And even 100 posts seemed like a lot. It was a piece of excellent advice as some people did - and some continue to do - believe they are "better" because they have better kit, or have been in the Legion longer, or that having a huge post count somehow makes them superior. I've always kept coming back to this as a reminder that in the Legion - especially here on FISD - we are all troopers together and no one is above anyone else. I've seen some people run up their post counts with a lot of "me too" and "welcome" posts, e.g. they seemed to reply to everything, not with anything meaningful but merely to bump up their post count. I'm not saying post counts are bad. For most, a high post count means they've been active here a long time and contributed much to the community. Even 1000 posts is a lot. 1000 is a veteran for sure, right? How about 10,000? Can you count everyone with 10,000 posts on one hand? Likely, it's a decimal of the number of members through the years. Well, if no one has noticed Glen aka @gmrhodes13 has hit 15,000. That's...that's...incredible, and speaks to his passion, dedication, and contributions to this detachment. As only the second person EVER to hit his mark, I think a congratulations is in order. Cheers Glen!

Thank you for the kind words Paul, I'm just here trying to give back to this community that gave me so much when I started my journey. "troopers helping troopers" it's what we do. I see someone is about to hit 20,000 soon WOW.

No worries! I like the added security of two snaps, and on 2" elastic, the spacing kinda just makes more sense. Some guys run one, and if you're using good quality snaps and setters, you should be fine, but I prefer two. I based my strapping design largely on the Billhag diagrams, with some slight tweaks. No reason to reinvent the wheel. The integrated elastic I hadn't seen done before, but I think it makes a lot of sense and it works really well. I disconnect my straps at the front and leave the backs connected with the elastic staying at the top of the back panel. The only limiting factor is really the length of the shoulder bridges, I would say. You can run as long of an elastic strap as you need, as long as it looks natural - I'm not aware of any offical standard. When I very first made a strap kit, I based the measurements on the stock Anovos velcro strapping I had laying around, but fine tuned it over time. I usually intend for there to be about 2-3" of visible elastic. My kits are made to be "one-size-fits-most", but where you glue in the male tabs leaves a lot of room for adjustment. I have made custom straps for bigger dudes tho, no big deal. Three bumps is probably the minimum just to get good adhesion when you glue em on and the strap should touch and lay on the back panel - so that's about what you have to work with. You can trim the lengths of the tops of the chest and back armor itself to help fine tune as well. Again, happy to help! There's a ton of stuff that I've picked up over time from trial and error, other troopers, and the forums. Least I can do is share. Post up if you have any other questions and we'll try to help!

The trap decals can help you figure out the length to cut the brow at, and painter's tape can help with a nice straight line. Definitely trim more out of the corners of the eyes, but you're gettin there! Totally optional, but I also recommend painting the inside of the helmet matte black before assembly - it's much easier before.

Crazy. Even more crazy that all of those posts are actually useful.

Many thanks! Good to know that you haven't had any issues with the paint on your detonator. Once I receive my metal clips I'll be sure to position them as you say. The person who made my clips has some screen accurate TD screws. But just to be safe the centurion kit from JustJoseph I ordered comes with TD screws as well. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I’d like to echo Paul’s words. Glen is not one to simply just welcome someone to our boards, he almost always offers up immediate advice and supports that with links to the pertinent sections of our boards. He is an asset to the detachment and you can easily tell he does live by our mantra of “Troopers helping troopers” Congratulations on 15,000 posts and thank you for everything you do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was so much fun! Thanks for the invite!

One of the first to say hello to newbies and always there to answer questions. I'm honestly not surprised. Good on you, mate!

A milestone to be proud of, congrats Glen. Don’t know how you find the time!

I made my own helmet fans with a 4 AA battery pack attached to the helmet with industrial strength velcro so I can remove if needed, cords are clean and hidden. Where do most of you place the battery pack. I put it on the right side but now the helmet leans to that side, some additional padding may help. There isn't enough room in the back of the helmet for the battery pack.

Thanks Justin. My initial thought was double snaps, but I started second guessing. I'm going to set the back plate snaps in place tonight (along with the integrated elastic loop). Looking at the photos you posted, I think I got the idea from one of your earlier posts on the forum. So thanks!! A question on the length of the strap. I've been referencing Tony's AM build for the shoulder strapping. He has the distance between the back and shoulder as set forth in the photo below: I wasn't sure if the 80mm gap was what I should be shooting for or if there's a limit to how far I can stretch the distance between back and chest. I know the Bridge needs to be able to reach the back and free float. The bridge here is the big bump plus two bumps before the edge of the chest. I understood three bumps to be the minimum. Obviously, that extra bump is a few extra millimeters I can work with and use (as a bigger trooper), and the impacts the length of the strapping underneath. As you've got pre set strapping kits, I want to know if you based that should gap on a set figure. Thanks for this suggestion also. I think I'm going to reset the pec snaps as you indicated. When I put them on I didn't understand the rational on the Billgrams and other examples for having them so high. Now I know. Again, really really appreciate your thoughts on all this. Additionally, shout outs to Mario, Dan, Q, AJ, Darren, Tony, and everyone else for their help. Y'all are amazing!

I too would like to congratulate and say a big thank you to Glen for all you do here. You have posted a ton on my build thread your encouragement, advice, and TK knowledge. I appreciate that greatly. So congrats on 15,000 posts, I hope to one day get even a fraction of what you have done.

And the even crazier thing is that I see Glen active on MULTIPLE forums... I see that dude all over the main Legion boards, the IOC boards, etc......... Glen, THANK YOU for your help and input across all of these forums. Congrats on a big milestone and keep up the good work!

THANK YOU! I sell strapping kits when the mood strikes me and they're not cheappp at $100, but if you really wanna set 60+ snaps by hand and sew in the shoulder snaps by hand, good luck and have fun I tell people! hahaha I do double snaps at any important body connections and single snaps on the arms, but that's just me. I integrated the little Centurion elastic hold down into the back of my elastic shoulder straps and it works great and they never shift or get lost. Only other suggestion would be to move the male snaps in the chest up a bit to the bottom of the "pec" and use a slightly longer set of straps than the rest of your body connections. The reason I do this is it allows the ab to slide up and under the chest more, which gives you more range of motion when bending forward. Food for thought. I like strapping haha

Great Job !!

Nice work! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great post, Paul. So true. Many thanks for your contributions, Glen. As others have said, your advice is always accurate, helpful, and welcomed by fellow troopers. Keep up the amazing work. :-)

Time for more swag, maybe a post count badge or patch LMAO

Congratulations trooper! Now get those suggestions modded and see you in the Centurion application thread.

Hey everyone! Thank you for your replies. I made some more progress over the past few days. First, I trimmed the belt and cut the corners to 45 degree angles. Next, I did a little bit on the helmet, mainly on the eyes. I learned from another thread, when cutting the eyes, use a blade and mark a few different depths on the eyes, like so, mostly so you do not trim too much off. I also have the cap and back marked at the brow as there is still a little return edge there. And that is pretty much it. Until next time

Sweet thank you Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congratulations and welcome to the EI ranks trooper

Congratulations Trooper !!! Welcome to EIB. You can make it to Centurion !!

Welcome. Let me just add on that what’s everyone is saying is true this can get expensive but when well maintained you’ll get years of use and kids smiles out of it. So look at it more as an investment. Save up and do it right, it doesn’t have to be done right away. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the First Order! It was a long wait with a short build time. I’m so excited to be an official 501st Stormtrooper! Thank you everyone for your support and build threads! In memory of FN-2199 (Nines) I received my TK# of 21999. I’ve also updated my user name from FirstOrderConcepts to NeoNines. Lets get trooping!

FYI, this looks amazing in person, too! The super tall FOTK is quite creepy and imposing (in a good way)! Pleasure to troop with you! Hope to see you again soon.

Looking great. A good tip is to fit your armour with your undersuit on, that way you'll get a better idea of how it will fit when trooping. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Hey Bloch I'd be happy to give you a discount coupon if that would earn your business.

Nothing is really unfixable. Read through some of the EIB and Centurion approval threads. It can help a lot. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Updated

Have you tried imgur? It is a free photo sharing site that most of use use since the Photobucket fiasco. Really easy to edit, post etc. Here is a link that may help: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/42381-howto-post-images-in-threads-using-imgur-easy/