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Dear fellow Staff members, Troopers and future Troopers, As Sarah mentioned in a previous post, it is with a heavy heart that I am stepping down in my role of Executive Officer of the FISD. Over the last few months life has thrown me more than a few curve balls, including personal issues, 2 deaths and a hurricane to boot, which in my opinion have precluded me from having the time to effectively perform my duties, and for that I add my sincere apologies to you all. Those of you who have known me over the years know that this Detachment and the people here have honestly meant the world to me, and it has been both an honor and a pleasure being a part of such an incredible group of folks. Although the dust is finally beginning to settle (at last), it will be several weeks before life allows me to get back into the swing of things here 100% as in recent years, but I promise I will get there. After speaking with Sarah, she has graciously offered that I step back into my previous role as Deployment Officer. This will allow me the chance to serve the FISD in the area that I know best, and I look forward not only to returning to assisting future Troopers, but helping those aiming for EI and Centurion attain their goals as well. A big THANK YOU to all of you for bearing with me. Your kind thoughts/comments and personal PMs have helped get me through the recent months more than you will ever know, and an extra big thank you to Sarah for her understanding and keeping me on as part of the Staff. Also, I'm sure that you will all join me in welcoming Brien as our new XO. He is a true treasure here, and I am sure he will continue to go above and beyond to make sure that this Detachment continues to be the best one in the 501st! My very best to you all, and I will see you on the boards a LOT more. Troop on, Joseph

While there are a number of ways to attach the lenses inside your bucket, I found the easiest and fastest is to use a product called SUGRU. It is a kneadable glue, sort of like play-doh (plasticine) that is super easy to work with, and will hold forever. It does keep somewhat of a pliable consistency after drying, can be removed if you ever need to and does not emit heat during the curing process like CA or Epoxy glue. It is available online (like here on Amazon) and in many craft shops, usually in packets of 3. It comes in a variety of colors, but I suggest using the black. HINT: This can be done if you have already built your helmet, but it is easier if the face plate has not been attached. This whole process will take you less than 10 minutes to attach both lenses. Here is a photo of one of the individual packets, and the contents rolled into a ball. In this instance I am using 1 packet per lens. You will need a craft (popsicle) stick, sharpened at one end: Here is the trimmed eye opening from the inside: The next step is to roll the SUGRU into a small "snake" shape about 7 inches in length. (No longer). After that, you simply press it into the outside edges of the eye opening. Note that I left an open spot at the top. I recommend this for ventilation purposes. (Helps keep your lenses from fogging up). Place the lens evenly over the opening. Using a craft (popsicle) stick, push the glue firmly into place around the outside, making contact with both lens and helmet surface. Don't worry if it seeps through to the front. Hint: This glue is strong stuff. You don't need a crazy amount of contact surface. It will not come off unless you take it off. Turn the faceplate over, and any glue that has seeped through (see red circle) can be easily removed with the sharpened end of the craft stick. Allow 24 hours for it to dry, and you are DONE!

Due to changing time commitments, our former detachment executive officer @justjoseph63 has asked to step down from his position. He has graciously offered to continue helping the Deployment Officer team with the Expert Infantry / Centurion programs. Please accompany me in extending the deepest FISD thanks for all of his amazing efforts throughout the year as executive officer. Without his help many of our programs, updates, and merchandise would not have been able to launch! Joseph, you're an absolute gem to work with and FISD is lucky to have you. You're the embodiment of troopers helping troopers I am pleased to announce that the vacancy position will be filled by our very own Brien, aka @Harbinger. Brien has been doing a knock out job as our Merchandise and Branding Officer and has shown quite the knack for organizational skills. Please join me in giving him a big FISD welcome as our new detachment executive officer

After being asked a gazillion times about how I built my magnetic shin closures, I've finally compiled everything from my TK build and put it all in one post! Let me begin by stating that I followed the tutorial here for the most part when building these magnetic shins. However, I deviated from it in order to make the closures super strong by using a magnet-to-magnet closure rather than the magnet-to-steel method outlined in the tutorial. I have worn the magnetic shins I made for my RS Props TK out on over a dozen troops, and I have never had them come apart on me. I've only had to reglue magnets twice on these shins over a two-year period: a single magnet came off after being handled a lot (opened and closed dozens and dozens of times at an armor party by those who were trying to figure out how they work), and regluing a single magnet after trooping underwater for a few hours (well, not exactly underwater, but it was a parade where it rained for HOURS and I had to walk in the rain the entire time- for hours I tell you! My boots took days to dry out!). The small amount of maintenance I've had to do on these over 2 years of trooping is quite minimal. Once you get this mod on your kit, I swear you'll never go back to anything less than a magnetic closure on your shins. STEP 1: There are many steps necessary to build magnetic shins, so I begin with making a critical component for them: ABS buttons. The buttons are necessary to hold one half of the magnet assembly in place on the inside of the shin. I'm using 12mm x 3mm n50 magnets. You'll need a total of 20 magnets for the shins (10 on each shin). I strongly suggest buying more than 20, though. I've found that they can easily break, and you'll want backups on hand! You can find them in bulk- and cheap!- on eBay. First, I begin by making a template with a hole in it that is slightly larger than the magnets I will be using. I trace the magnet on a sheet of ABS. Here's what it looks like when done. Yeah, I know my hole isn't perfectly round. It's not terribly important for it to be perfect. I used two magnets to make each button. One on top to help me see where my hole template needed to go, and one underneath to form the button shape. Heat up one section of the ABS sheet using a heat gun on LOW until it gets slightly warpy. You can even leave the magnets attached to the ABS while you heat it up. Once the plastic is soft, quickly press it onto a flat surface, pressing the hole template around the exposed magnet. This is what it looks like on the top and underneath when you're done. And here's how it looks from the side so you can see how the magnets attach to the plastic. See how the bottom magnet sits flush in the new ABS button? I spent about forty minutes repeating the process until I ended up with 10 buttons. I will cut down and shape the buttons to fit each shin later. There will be five buttons installed on each shin. Still lots of work to do, but it's a pretty good start! STEP 2: Another step necessary for how I make my magnetic shin closures is to make sure that the backs of the shins meet up as perfectly as possible. This is to avoid any unnecessary strain on the magnets. This was acheived by some gentle shaping via a hot water bath. Before putting the shins in the water, since I don't have any cover strips installed on the outsides, I reinforce the closure with blue tape. The e6000 gets really soft when subjected to boiling water, and I don't want to weaken the join in the front. Blue tape holds up nicely for this application! Here's a before and after of my shins so you can see how the backs line up a bit better. I will be doing some further fine tuning on the lengths at the bottom later as I move along in my fitting. STEP 3: This stage involves making and securing the "holes" part of the closures for the magnets. I begin by cutting out two 3/4" x 12" strips of ABS. You should have this when you're done. Next make a lengthwise mark in the center of each strip to help keep your holes lined up in the middle. Then mark 3/4" in from each end. That will be the center point for the magnets on the end. I like using magnets with holes in the middle for this, so I can easily find the 'crosshairs'. Trace the magnet. I like to use extra magnets underneath to help keep it secure while I trace. Next, find and mark the center of the strip. It should be at the 6" point. From there, measure 2 5/8" from the center mark on either side. Mark and trace your magnets. When you're done, your plastic strips should look something like this: Next, I used my drill press and a step bit to drill out the holes. It went really quickly! When you're done, you should have two strips with holes in them that can easily fit the magnets. The next part is where people tend to get confused, so I took this photo to show what goes where. The "hole" strip will be glued to the inside half of the shin on the inside. It sounds kind of confusing, but it's not all that bad. Remember that the "hole" strip will be hidden! I begin with my left shin. I mark the center of each hole to assist when I line up the edge of the shin. Next, I test fit the strip on the shin to verify placement, clamping on both ends. Then I apply e6000 to the area of the strip that will be in contact with the shin, clamp and add magnets. This is what it looks like when glued together: Here's the right shin after gluing, but before I added the magnets. Here are both shins as the e6000 cures. I'll be allowing a few days for this to cure, which will give me ample time to get my ABS buttons ready for installation. STEP 4: Once the glue had cured on the hole strips inside the shins, I removed the magnets and clamps. With a light behind the shins, you can see how the hole strips are mounted, hidden inside. Using that light as my guide, I traced the approximate location of the holes with a pencil. This helps me to get a good idea of where my holes are going to be drilled. Yep. I'm going to make some Swiss cheese of my shins. Using a small Dremel sanding band, I carefully cut a notch out, just large enough for a magnet to fit through. Here's what it looks like at this stage when the shins are closed. I'm just focusing on drilling out the holes on the inside edge, following the holes of the hole strip that was glued in. I'm not ready to drill the outer half of the shins yet. Next to clean up my buttons that will hold my magnets. I rough trimmed them all to start. Then cleaned up the corners with a Dremel. I don't want anything poking at my legs! *Important!* If you want to make sure your magnets stay stuck on your shins, you must use e6000! CA glue will not keep the magnets stuck to the buttons; they will fail. I have heard this from several troopers when I have been contacted about their magnets not holding up. I repeat, use e6000 for this next step! I applied a liberal amount of e6000 to the inside of each button, then put the magnet inside to get all cozy. Make sure that you've got the polarity of all the magnets in the same orientation before gluing! Wipe away any excess glue from the top. To make sure that the magnets are firmly mounted in the buttons, I use the magnet intended on going on the opposite side of the shin to clamp it. In the pic below, you can see how I've got all the matched magnet buttons and magnets together as they cure. Back to the shins now. I like this ridge (where the pencil is pointing) to line up at the tops. For me, it makes the closure in the back look much cleaner if this is lined up. I tape it off there to make sure that the opposite side doesn't shift while I'm making my marks for completing the holes. I have an OttLite that fits nicely inside the shin to provide a clear light so I can make outlines for where I'm going to drill out the rest of the holes. Holes were already present on the left side in the photo below. I made sure that I drilled out the holes very conservatively as I went. I used an extra magnet to make sure that the hole was just the correct size for it to fit through. Now time to attach the outer cover strip! I use a 25mm cover strip on my shins for this. I taped off the edge of the inside half to keep any glue from transferring over. Then making sure that the cover strip was straight, I clamped the heck out of it. Praying to the TK gods that it doesn't shift!!!! Now time to wait for everything to cure really, really well. I am going to give these 3-4 days to fully cure just to be on the safe side! STEP 5: One shin is complete, with the outer rear 25mm cover strip glued into place. Woo! Here's a look from the inside, before magnets are installed. Be sure to clean up all excess glue from the inside edges in order to have a clean closure when you're done. If there's extra glue in there, it may not close correctly. I've tucked the outside cover strip to the inside so you can see how the magnets on the "cover strip" half are glued on. No magnets yet. I add a dab of e6000 to the magnet (be sure to check the polarization of the magnet before gluing!!!), and set it so that it fits inside the semi circle and on the outer cover strip. Like this: I wiped away the excess glue from the magnets and then positioned the inner "hole strip" over the magnets to ensure everything is lined up correctly as it dries. I tape the tops and bottoms of the shin to ensure it doesn't shift around during this stage. I'm not completely happy with how the inside cover strip is cooperating here. It sits flat on the top and bottom, but it pulls away in the middle a bit off to the right. I will have to heat bend this before installing the magnets onto the "hole strip". :/ Ideally, the inside cover strip should be sitting completely against the outside part of the shin, and it doesn't want to do that right now. This additional stress could cause the magnets to fail. It's annoying, but I'll need to address this before proceeding any further. Gah! Using the magnet buttons I created earlier, I clamp the magnets into place while the glue cures. Once the glue has fully cured, I'll reshape that inner strip to prepare it for the final magnet button installation. STEP 6: Now that the e6000 has had lots and lots of time to cure, it's time to attach the other halves of the magnets. Make sure that the halves are super clean and free of extra dried glue. It will prevent the shins from closing well. You can do this by touch. Rub all of it off where you feel it. Once everything is cleaned off, close the "hole" half over the "magnet" half. Your shin should be closing correctly at this point. The "holes" should lock around the magnets and prevent the shin from opening at all, even without the additional magnets at this point. If the "hole" strip is not fully engaged over the magnets, you won't have a very strong bond between the magnets to keep the shin locked. Easy part next! Apply e6000 around the prepared ABS button. No need to go crazy with the stuff. You don't want it oozing all around in there. And stick it on! This part goes really quickly. For additional strength, I add some extra magnets on top. Check those clean closures! Left shin. Right shin. I will open these up in a few hours just to make sure that there isn't any extra e6000 that has spilled out and might lock those shins closed where I don't want them locked. Now to allow several days to dry, and these shins will be good to go! Here's a short video so you can see them in action. Have you tried this on your own shins? Loved it? Hated it? Made a few mods of your own to improve this method? Comment below and let me know! Cheers- Cricket TK-10401

Name: Ivan B ID: TK 37512 FISD Forum Name: SirFalconian(TK-37512) Garrison: Bluegrass Garrison Blue Sun Squad Armor = AM 4 Helmet= AM Blaster= DoopyDoo Resin Cast, Scope Bulldog, T-Jay parts Plus folding stock and Mag+ Clip from StarWarsCostumeProps Height = 5'10" Boots = IB Boots Canvas belt = Trooper Bay Hand Plates = JustJoseph latex handguards on my Trooping Nomex Flight Second Set for Centurian are Gloves and handguards from Trooper Bay Electronics= UKSWRATH Sound TroopaCoola fans Neck Seal = DarmansProps Holster = DarmansProps May be way late but also if you want to find my Build Thread can be found here. Decided to Troop vs getting worried about status:) So here are my Photos. Front: Back: Left: Right: Left Detail: Right Detail: Abdomen Details: Action Shot: Cod and Butt strap: Strapping: Helmet Photos Front: Left Side: Right Side: ` Back: Hovi Tips UKSwrath: Lens Color: Inside Helmet: Blaster Photos Blaster Left: Blaster Right: Details Neck Seal: Gloves: Thermal Detonator: Holster Attachment I do have pictures of raised arms inside with green screen but after my daughter and I were done we found that I had forgotten a Snap. So i used another shot. If needed I can add the others. I look forward to the review and thank you. I leave you with one more photo taken from a troop. That is it. Thank you

Congrats on approval, I also have pouch attached to strap, gives you a lot more room under the helmet

Just trial and error, brother. Congrats on your HWT approval, and now that you have weathered that armor I hope to see you apply for Expert Infantry with your HWT! (Hint hint). BTW, if you see Gary, Gary jr, Randy or any of my old Makaze Squad mates on a troop be sure to tell em' Joseph says hello!

Thanks for the advice, Mario. I've added the pictures you suggested.

I'm curious how your helmet fits with the pouches there - I mounted mine as low as possible, otherwise I can't turn my head to the left. I also used Line 24 snaps to make it removable instead of rivets. Just some thoughts Weathering looks good! I used @justjoseph63's suggestion and picked up some cheap eye shadow - was amazed at how well it worked too.

So to attach this bad boy I would have normally used rivets, but for the Shock Trooper there are no visible rivets. Thanks to my mate Nic, for the "Hot" tip, a hot water bath is now in order to shape the ammo pack. E6000 is good, but not that good. Currently held on with clamps. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

I figured it out guys!!! I was geting ready to take a shower and I thought about scoring the styrene and then drilling a bunch of holes in a line. The scoring helps to prevent the bit from jumping around, and then I just clean the channels with an Exacto knife. I also worked on sanding down the nose area on the helmet to give it the proper shape.

-Sniper Knee re-clamping center Closing trim really not fun - -Core Strapping (Chest/Back) Adding chest cover strips Chest/ab interior connection Back interior connection Ab/kidney right side Posterior Core Painting Button Layout Tape trimmed Paint Blue applied Grey applied After Gluing buttons to ab -Wrist Return Edge Before/in progress After -Shins Trimming velcro - cover strip side

I am happy to provide all those photos. 1.Strap White elastic 2. Thigh Ammo Belt sniper Knee Boots E-11 Back U ring

+1 more. As others have said, Dave has taken over selling AM Armor. AM has a long history and is extremely high quality - few other makers have as sharp of details or similar bright white, thick ABS. Their tooling is impressive and you get a ton in the box for your money (ie, ANH and ESB harndguards, TK and TD sniper knees, etc.). I have built several and they are one of my main recommended makers, especially for bigger guys. The kit even comes rough trimmed out of the box. Absolutely a quality vendor, just a newer face taking the reins. Buy with confidence.

Love the historical context!

You wont have any issue with that. I'll also add that your belt sit across that gap so it would never be seen anyway.

Yes sir I have been measuring 3 times before any cutaneous just to make sure before cutting Ect. I will be readjusting my snap setup this weekend as there are some week spots and parts that don’t sit how I want them to Sit.

Just one reason for using makers from the vetted sellers list