Leaderboard

I'm happy to report that on September 12th I was approved!! I've posted this information on every platform I could and now I'm posting it here. When I first joined the FISD, I posted a before and after picture of myself and told the story of my weight loss journey and how joining the 501st was a goal of mine on my journey. I'm now happy to update that before and after picture. I would also like to take minute and thank a few that, l felt, were right along with me for my entire build. gmrhodes13, Coastertk, starsaber25, ukswrath. Thank you so much for your guidance and support. I truly couldn't have done it without you. Taking on a project of this magnitude is not for the faint of heart. I took it on because it's something I believe is worth it. If you are thinking of joining I suggest doing your homework first. Read, read, read...... Then read some more. There is a treasure trove of information and experience in this group and you would be a fool not to listen and utilize it. Thank you all so much for your warm welcome and guidance. I truly cherish every moment during this new journey. I can't wait to get out there and start trooping and meet some of you in person. "You've taken your first step into a larger world." Obi-Wan Kenobi Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Totally!!! I'm pretty much at EIB now, but my E-11 needs to be sorted out. The one I 3D printed is very rough and I really just printed it to see if I could, and to just HAVE something. I think I'm going to start from scratch and get the doopydoos kit with Tony's completion kit. Once I have that I'm definitely going to put in for EIB.

Nice list!

TK 35811 reporting for duty!!! I was approved! I was so excited I forgot to post it on my thread!!! I can't wait to go on my first troop! Thank you all so much for the help and guidance through all of this. I plan on keeping this thread going so stay tuned! Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Hi. I've recently purchased a bespoke set of armour from Troopermaster and since receiving it, I've been saving up to buy the rest of the bits I need. The final piece was the boots which arrive tomorrow, so I will be posting up pics for comments/tweaking in the next couple of days.

You're so much fun!!![emoji1787][emoji2957]thanks for everything!!! Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Pre build armor is fine, some find they need to tweak the strapping to get the right gaps but we can give you some feedback once you have some photos

And to round the hat trick off, Congratulations once again and welcome to the ranks trooper

An effective way to make something look more realistic is to use different colors. As this prop is essentially all black, using different shades of black works well. Adding different sheens with clear topcoats is another useful method to help draw the eye to different pieces and details. For the magazine and release button, using the same base of flat black would result in these parts simply becoming an extension of the gun body. A rub of graphite powder over these parts and then a thin topcoat of clear semi-gloss lacquer to "lock in" the graphite gives these some extra sheen and a metallic flair. This is a great subtle contrast to the gun body and these parts look like they are made of a different material.

+1 to Kalani's comment - do strapping and anything else on that side first. Keep the strapping simple, IMO. I did a whole elaborate "backpack-style" strap thing, thinking it would be more comfortable... it was just more complicated and got in the way of the armor. Simple 1" nylon all day. I sewed clips in at the ends tho so I can just clip in and tighten down, then clip out. The O II panel supports most of the weight. I'm gonna be picking up some thin craft foam to line the round hole in the oil pan to give it some padding soon, and recommend it to others. It sits almost perfectly on the panel, but still....

Hey all, just poppin in for a quick update. Haven't made a ton of progress lately - unfortunately I've been having some health issues and am waiting on some scans to know how worried to be, plus it's been difficult to coordinate with our build group and I've just been busy personally (and SUPER tired all the time). Got my 50th troop with the Legion (37th FTE) in this past Friday though, so that's cool! Been a member for almost 2 years, so I'm right on track for my original goal of 2 events a month. Forums are cool, high five-ing kids is better tho haha I did start doing some test fitting and am so far very pleased with the fit of the suit and how comfortable it is compared to ANH. I also worked out the bicep issue and found the matching one in another trooper from our group order's kit. I'm still researching how to reinforce the kit before paint or final strapping, but I think I'm making this too complicated in my own head and just need to commit! haha Hopefully some progress and pics this weekend! Also, our group order from Imperial Boots is ready, so my T7s should be arriving in the coming weeks. We saved like $30 a person working with Vince! Awesome.

Great job!! Welcome

Congratulations Erick! You made it! Any plans to go for level 2 and 3?

Congrats trooper and welcome aboard!

Thanks. I was looking at Tony's build and I wasn't sure if there were required lengths of strapping. I'll test fit the forearms, biceps, and bells tonight and use painters tap to mark distances. Single snaps this time for the arms!

Congratulations Trooper!! Welcome to the Legion and FISD. Enjoy being a Bad Guy Doing Good. Cheers

Hi Dave, assembling the arms was a headache for me too , but nothing imposible. About the gap , as ageneral rule more white is better, try to leave the less gap. Here are a couple of reference photos you can see and a straping diagram. Hope this can helpe you.

Hey everyone! I have been hard at work on my bucket, so prepare for a pretty lengthy update. First, I assembled the helmet using the screws supplied with the ATA helmet kit. Then I ran out to the store, and purchased Testors 1138 Gray, which was the color mentioned on the paint diagram. (1138...coincidence?) Then I also purchased this mineral spirits for removing the excess paint. It works very well and I highly recommend it. So I started painting on the frown as well as the traps. I think it turned out quite well, just a few touch ups needed. Question: the brow is very straight until it starts to angle down on this side. Should I trim it off? Although I am worried that it might not line up right with that back ridge. And that is pretty much it. Until next time P.S. Three pages YAY!

Thanks Glen for these pictures, I need to fix the eyes of my helmet a smidge.

Progress over the weekend. Using the advice everyone was kind as kind enough to post I got to work preparing the internal straps for the armor rigging. I had my missteps. My original measurements were too short, so I ended up with the butt and kidney mashed together. Regrouping, I remeasured and made a second set of straps. This is goes back to my rant on snaps. They have to be just right or they won’t work. Spit the post to far, it will jam in the snap rung, do t do it enough it won’t hold. I’m glad I got the 100 pack because it seems like I’ll use all of them before this is over. Needing to begin the shoulders I cut four 2” x 1” snap “plates” and set in the snaps. Measuring two seven inch 2” wide strips of white elastic, I folded the edge over by an inch, glued it down, soldered the holes with my jig, and set in the snaps. They’re ready to be measured once the rest of the rigging is done. I intentionally cut them long and left them unfinished. Once I do a painters tape dry fitting, I'll be able to get the distance correct, overlap the elastic on the chest snaps, punch a guide hole in the elastic into the snap, then burn the hole with a soldering iron, overlay the extra, cut, seal, and snap in the female aspects. Same process for the back straps. The result: There's a little more gap than I’d like, but I’ll see how it fits before I worry about re-strapping it. As discussed Friday, I decided that it made more sense to move the pec chest snaps up from the original position I placed them at. I made new snap plates for the new position, and I was over zealous with the hammer. As a result the snaps wouldn’t connect. It took me an hour to figure out why. I’d “over split” the snap posts on the male and female aspects. As a result, they wouldn't connect. I redid them and finally got everything to snap together. The chest: All in all, I’m happy with the progress. One thing that made life easier was to due the straps one end at a time; meaning I’d fold and snap set one end and leave the other long and unfinished. Snapping the finished end into the set snaps and letting the unfinished end drape over the bottom snaps. I’d mark the snap position with a silver sharpie and then used the soldering iron and my jig to burn the holes where I’d marked them. Then glue, set and snap. Another thing that helped, breaking in the snaps first. After setting the female snaps I set and unset the a half dozen times in one of the male snap plates I’d pulled off. Made a world of difference. Next step is to measure and set the shoulders. Hopefully, that shouldn’t be to rough given what I’ve learned to date. Once my split rivets arrive, I’ll tend to the ab and kidney shim. The next headache is the arm strapping. Are there required lengths for the straps or required gaps for the space between the armor? I’ve got 37” arms, so I want to be sure of how much of a gap I can have between the bottom of the bicep and the top of the forearm.

Congratulations Erick

Congrats Erick. You did a great job and made this GMLs job easy.

Congrats Trooper!!

Congratulations trooper once again, looking forward to seeing you at EIB

The Ingame-type panel was made based on the high resolutions photos and the photos posted for paint dimensions guide, which, for some reason, now they look blur, or, at least, on my computer, even going into the photo picture, they look blur...

My Shins have their front cover strips applied. This was my first experience trying to use E6000. I've learned that it's very slippery at first and getting pieces to stay put is like a mud wrestling match. I've definitely allowed quite a few gobs of glue to escape in the process and I need to clean that up. I managed to get that 10mm gap at the bottom down to 5mm which makes me happy but I also really want some input from the community. I still need to even up the sides so it'll be a very short distance from the bottom of the cover strip to the lower edge of the shin when that's through. That being said, should I do anything about it? And if so, what? Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks Don. Advice always welcome and appreciated. I do coat my molds with baby powder but maybe I am using it too sparingly so I will try and apply it as you mentioned. Cheers!

I managed to buy a pretty sweet blaster from another trooper (unfinished so got some help completing it). It's got a real hengstler counter that's now displaying my TK# on it. Hope it's good enough for a review and perhaps approval. Eager to get to making the necessary corrections in preparation for Centurion. Thank you everyone for the advice and tips!

And “welcome” Had to do it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Approval came down today! First field test this Saturday! Sent from my SM-T597P using Tapatalk

No I haven’t, was going to work on that tonight. Great advice, thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice progress! Have you figured out strapping yet? I'd work on that before you attach anything to the oil pan. Everything gets a lot more awkward once there are fragile things sticking out in multiple directions.

Ok @shashachu, I got to work today. Here is the frown, let me know if it is cleaned up enough please. HOVI Tips And Shoulder bells. And for future TK reference, nothing would touch the Umbrol Gray frown paint. I tired alcohol, mineral spirits and lacquer thinner and it didn't even take the shine off. I had to use an X-acto knife and dental pick to actually scrape the paint off.

Hi Brian, there are some more photos I'm almos sure the D.O. will would ask you to add.: 1. Right side of the sniper knee alignment. 2. Close up photo of your boots as per the CRL states: Level two certification (if applicable): There is no seam present on the front of the boot. Boots have a black sole 3- I would suggest to correct the biceps coverstrips alignement with your forearms. 4-Another small issue, that is common to Anovos Helmet (Mine is Anovos Too) is the from gray paint. you will probably be asked by the D.O.s to remove some of the paint on the teeth of your frown Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area 5- looking at your Hovi tips, it looks like you will need to paint in white the ring as per the CRL states for EIB Correct 'Hovi mic' aerator tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white. reference photo: There are a few other items , not exactly for EIB but especially for level 3 that the D.O. will give you detail about, but I 'm sure that you can go the distance. There's no way back Trooper, go ahead and get your EIB Badge. Cheers

Hi Brian, Glad to see another EIB application. for upload your photos here are two links for Google Photos and Imgur. (even though there are so many apps you can use) Cheers

Well I'm a bit biased but I love mine lol