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Hi FISD staff, members and friends. I’d like to thank all the FISD staff for working tirelessly over the last week on this nightmare. I know it’s not a decision you and the other staff members have taken lightly. Believe me the last thing I wanted was to bring down a trusted vendor who I respected and trusted. But in his own admission of guilt has done this to himself. I’d also like to thank all members I have known on this forum for many happy years and members I hope to get to know, a heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming support I’ve had through this whole debacle. It really has been a humbling experience in more ways than one. THANK YOU ALL. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just got the GML approval, Woo Hoo :) now to wait on the welcome package from the 501st

OP (MV) Post #20 So they don't get buried after all my photos, I'm starting out with some QUESTIONS I have: I never rinsed my armor pieces after receiving them, so would it be helpful for me to do that now, to remove any lingering release agents, or after all cutting and sanding is done but before gluing? Water with mild soap of some kind? Rinsing after rough-sanding, on cover strip adhesive surfaces for example, is probably a good idea too, correct? To remove ABS dust? I'm planning on reinforcing many, if not all, of the edges on my chest, ab, back, kidney, and butt pieces, since most of them won't have return edges. My concern is that such extensive reinforcement may completely restrict the flexibility of the ABS and actually result in stress creases and cracks. Are there certain areas which I should leave UN-reinforced in order to provide stress relief? Below are the pieces with edges numbered for identification; which areas should be: Reinforced with ABS strips? NOT reinforced, but instead left flat? Left with a return edge, but still L3 approvable? [Note: the piece below are all exterior facing down, but the perspective may give the illusion of being face up] Actually I do have another question. Yesterday I noticed that part of my ab piece appears to be warped, and I'm not sure if that's normal with the molding process, or if it was a defective pull. Notice that the button box angles downwards toward the top, and also isn't level with the other ab protrusions. Thoughts? Save your ABS trimmings I keep reading, so save them I have. These pieces shown thus far may come in handy if I need to make ABS paste, and I also intend to keep the excess from the butt-joint portions of the arm and leg pieces to hopefully use as inner cover strips. As long as I don't make too many outer cover strip cutting mistakes, I should also have extra ABS material from the two sheets I received with my ATA armor. So two days ago was arm day, and then yesterday I was on leg duty. Boy were my fingers hurting at 2:30am after hours wielding lexan scissors, and the tops of the shin pieces were definitely the most difficult due to the angles. As with the arm pieces, I trimmed the leg parts close (actually not really close, just closER) to where the final cuts will be, with the exception of where the butt-joints areas, where I left a lot of material. I will soon begin rough sizing and then determine exactly where return edges should be adjusted to and also cut the long edges down for the joints. The bells have a TON more material that needs to be removed. Everything is finally beginning to look like real armor components, rather than blobs of white plastic. Right Thighs Left Thighs Calves (duh) Bells (double duh) I suppose that's it for my photo dump. Hopefully future builders will find all this documentation helpful. =) Quote Responses: Joseph - I will definitely make sure to take off the edges of the humps either with my lexan scissors or while sanding. I wanted to initially play it safe and plan on sanding them rather than cutting too far, since there's not much material between the edge and the first dimple. I'll also plan on taking more off on both the forearms and bicep scoops. Ain't nobody got time for armor bite. lol.

Nice fix, I use a few pieces of foam behind as I'm quite thin, this only allows the armor to come together so far so doesn't overlap. Adding a couple of plastic strips can help. Some have come up with interlocking pieces for the sides. Even magnets At the end of the day what every works for you

Perhaps a warm water bath may help.

Hello and welcome, you will find some of the differences listed on this datasheet https://drive.google.com/file/d/10tEVteIreh6AHMogW010cuH_Bf8TBfU6/view

Apologies, not as bad as leaving the keys in my speeder bike over night (never proved)

Here you can see the requirements of each one... Regards https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_stunt https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_hero

Oh wow, thank you for some of these ideas! I guess as long as I am using only E6000 I can always change and experiment!

Finally five years after I started I have finished my helmet build. Just testing new image hosting after the photobucket fiasco

Thanks, guys!! I'm going to start by gluing the frame parts together. Due to the size of my resin printer I had to print the frame in 4 pieces. So there's a left side A & B and a right side A & B. The seam on the right side will be hidden by a "plate" that the blaster has. The blaster was based on a very old Bergmann pistol from the late 1800's. In the actual "real world" weapon, this plate swings away and you would insert the ammo clip there. In this blaster it perfectly hides the seam on the right side. The left side is a different story, the seam goes right down the side of the blaster, so that will have to be hidden. I use regular CA glue to glue the parts together. Here are the left halves... And then the left and right parts glued together. It's hard to see the seam due to the semi-transparent resin, but that will change pretty quick.. Some of the glue came out of the crack on the top piece but I was able to sand it away leaving just a small seam visible between the parts. I use Rust-oleum Filler Primer on most of my 3D printed parts. You spray it on, give it 1/2 hour or an hour to dry, then sand with 400 grit and repeat. The tiny sanded particles fall into any cracks and begin to fill them. After 3 or 4 passes of spraying and sanding, it filled in the small gap between the parts. Then I went up to 600 grit. I think that's it for today. Mark

Here are some words about some things.

I can't wait to see the build thread! The main difference that I can note between stunt and hero for basic approval is the number of teeth on the helmet, and the number of rivets or the like on the holster to belt connection (hero's have 4; stunts have 2). Then as Mario said, there are more slight differences in higher levels. Good luck!

Hi, future Trooper. 1- for basic level the main difference would be the helmet eyes, but the CRL states they can be flat too as the ANH one. For higher levels there are a little more differences like ear bumps and the eyes must be bubble. 2- As per the CRL, the holster is not optional as the blaster is. , even though, you can ask to your Gml. Cheers.

Thanks! I modified the OT file and came up with this.

Well, we have all felt like this at some point ... But if I tell you the truth, when you put on your finished armor, all that is left behind... I think the work you are doing with the armor is amazing...

Very good job Garrett...I'm enjoying your build...

Amazing work with the armor, Jasper...How it Shines! Regards.

Looking smart trooper, good luck with approval, although I doubt you'll need it

Congrats. I'm striving to join the ranks in the near future. :-)

I’ve seen your videos Rich, and they are great! Very informative and really enjoyable to watch. Always fun to learn more about stormtroopers

Thank you! I have no idea what I'm doing, but sometimes I take pictures as I figure things out haha Progress has been slow, but I trying to get a little done each day... I started doing the truck bedliner with Anovos helmets because I'd like to think it gives helmets like 0.1% extra strength/impact resistance... Plus I just like the look/texture. Definitely two different products - PlastiDip sprays like a rubbery matte and can be peeled off, bedliner sprays like a textured satin and is abrasion resistant so really tough to remove. Some guys would layer cheesecloth and soak it in PlastiDip to build up a layer of strength in their helmet interior. Never been a fan, so I just mask the helmet off with a trash bag and tape and spray the bedliner. Velcro has no problem sticking to it. I've done both - I have an Ace Hardware nearby that has good selection, but I got my white cans in 6-packs off Amazon for a little cheaper. I think for individual cans it was more. I bet somewhere is doing curbside, but it probably depends what's local to you. I wore a mask and a keychain bottle of hand sanitizer when I went in haha Thank you!

Congrats on your completion! Fantastic job overall, and those suited-up photos are excellent! If I might ask, what kind of photo backdrop are you using?

Little update... While waiting for my armor to arrive I have started the process of gathering everything not arriving in the box. I started down the rabbit hole of getting a blaster. I toyed with the idea of 3D printing my own out of PLA filament. However, with my printer and the wonky nature of some of the shapes that was a LOT of hassle. I'm sure that I could have done it, but there would have been massive headaches to overcome. So, this made me look into shopping around for a kit or pre-made blaster. Again, I got in touch with RS Prop Masters. Turns out, RS prop masters will not sell me a blaster unless I purchase armor through them. As we have covered previously, they will not sell me armor because I'm too tall and too big. I found this practice odd, but, if they do not want to take my money that's cool. I finally found a thread on the forum for Imperial Factory. I could not ask for a better experience! So, blaster kit ordered and assembly will follow. I will make either a video of me assembling it or take a plethora of photos to document the build. Since I am missing streaming I am thinking it will be video time. Thanks for all the support!

Official Statement TM recast CFO JoeR helmet. Fellow troopers, Thankfully it is not often we need to deal with situations such as what has unfolded over the last week, with the subject of recasting one the Detachment has always taking a strong stance against. Our members are our priority, having you all feel comfortable with buying various products from reputable vendors and honest vendors falls into that mandate. We supply a trusted vendors list that brings that confidence to purchase and is governed by several factors some of which are, quality, reliability, accessibility, integrity, honesty and trust. This recast thread, the above factors and content within have all formed part of the tough decision making the staff has had to make. We feel the integrity and trust has been broken between members, FISD command staff and other vendors with one of our long serving armour suppliers. This is not a subject that the staff or I have taken lightly as we have poured over this since the initial post was made. We have looked at the very compelling evidence and we have seen the response from the accused sent only to the accuser. TM (Paul) has been given equal opportunity to respond directly and state his case here in this thread but he has chosen not to do so. The evidence has been viewed as irrefutable, and Paul's response to CFO (Mark) a full admission that this was done with ill intent. This has led the command staff no choice but to make some decisions and take actions in the best interests of our FISD membership. First decision was to have TM removed from our vetted sellers list. This does not prevent anyone from making purchases from him, we simply wont feature TM any longer. The second discussion was in regards to a possible forum ban. A poll was set up for staff to vote anonymously with four options: No ban, 6 month ban, 12 month ban and Indefinite ban. The top poll placed was the indefinite ban, so from this point forward an indefinite forum ban period will be put in place against Paul. Paul is not a 501st member so there is no maximum period a ban can be in place. An indefinite ban period also gives flexibility that if this or future command teams decide to lift the ban, that option exist. We are not sorry for taking this hard stance as I have stated our membership is our first priority and we believe they should be able to procure their costuming needs from vendors that uphold honesty and integrity. Thank you for your time

Taken the bait because stefan is quite literally making me pull my hair out over his stance. Lets see how this backfires on me I just don't think that someone who has the position of chief armourer in are garrison should see a well known maker recast another makers work and go. And? Like it's nothing. Because it's not.

Hiding behind the 501st charter imho is also just a cop out. To be fair I know that neither member we 501st but that’s not the point. how it does tie in with the legion is the recommendation of armour makers. I still can’t believe that the UKG removed the discussion thread.

And I have responded to this, also on the 501st boards with the below: https://www.501st.com/councilres.php Council Resolution 1: Legion's Stance on RecastingVote completed on 03/13/2006: 35 Yes; 10 No; 3 AbstainReference LinkResolution: The 501st Legion does not condone, support, or encourage re-casting. It is, however, outside of the scope of this club's mission, charter, authority, jurisdiction, and purview to consume our time and energies as a volunteer organization in efforts to prosecute those who, of their own volition, choose to engage in re-casting. As leaders in this hobby, we have an obligation to our membership to ensure that they are not taken advantage of with false claims and misleading sales practices.

Noticed this link is pointing back to the same page. love this new section! Going to be helpful as I try to build my first armor!

Paul will have until the end of the week, Friday my time to respond if he so wishes. After this I will make a statement which will be carried over to Legion boards, then I will be locking this thread. It will remain visible as part of FISD history for full transparency as per my promise to the FISD membership. Thank you all

Wasn’t quite happy with the fit of the shoulder bells, so decided to do a hot water bath and try to widen them a tiny bit more. Left went pretty well, but I ended up warping the back of the right bell a little bit! This was annoying, but after getting some good tips from troopers on the FISD Facebook page, especially from @Rat, I managed to smooth the warping out a little bit. It’s not perfect, but neither is any other part of the armor so I’m happy enough with the result! Been debating glove options for a while and I finally decided to go with the rubber glove/elastic strap combo for the hand guards, since it’s allowable in the CRL and I think it looks nicer. Got my chemical gloves from Amazon last week. and with those + some other fit adjustments popped the armor back on to see if the arms were looking better proportionally. Not happy with the gap at the wrists, but that’s partly because the hand plates kept slipping down. I’m thinking either Velcro or magnets to keep them in place on the back of the gloves...

I've been working on the side connection between ab and kidney. Not wanting to put any stress on the rivets I looked for a method not using them. I decided to try something different making a locking system with my 2mm abs strips. Difficult to cut and shown to others comments were surprise and concern over durability. I will likely add to the thickness and increase the holding section which should give enough strength. I even have design for a sliding locking pin to include a magnet for movement, so this is not the finished product.