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Learning the skills to build and repair your armor is one of the best parts of costuming, but I do wish you good luck, as finding someone to give guidance in person can be very helpful (though challenging in these COVID times...) - for that, I would still look to your local unit as gatherings and armor parties are finally starting to be planned again as conditions improve. Let us know if you need help finding their forum or often Facebook page/group. I would definitely look more into the threads Glen linked before hiring out... you'd be surprised what you can learn, and many of the frustrations or worries you have now may already be addressed and documented in one of those threads! Bondo is relatively straight forward, and as to paint - a $30USD mini-spray booth like this in the yard or garage can be a HUGE help, or finding a flexible autobody shop to do the final paint may also be a great option (Fiat 249 white?!)! I did most of the prep at my living room coffee table or on my patio (before building a garage workbench), and I rattle-canned my entire ROTK with Rust-Oleum 2X White and plan to do the same for my FOTK project. Where there's a will, there's a way and we're here to help if you have any specific questions! The Imperial Surplus kit is wonderful, so you're off to a good start, and most of the ABS FOTKs go together the same, so you can probably use any of the KB, 850, etc build threads for inspiration - just be thorough in your research and patient - accept that mistakes will be made, then overcome! We ALL started somewhere. :)

You can buy the mineral spirits from Lowes or home depot fairly cheap for big can of it.

In that case even better, we have a full section just on FOTK's, build threads, references and more https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/218-first-order-battle-group/

https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=33465&costumeID=124 Hope this is correct! Trying to "Sound Off" Thanks!

Thank you... I think I see where the issue is now... Glad to finally join the ranks!

Yep have had this problem. Actually on any of the posts with photo bucket, if you copy some of the links in then save, it kills any you haven't updated and leaves the link. happened to me twice and had to go back and delete the links.

Came out nice

I understand your frustration when I first started my build I really wanted in person guidance and help but covid made that nearly impossible now a days. So I just made sure I stayed patient and on the forums here posting pics of my progress and asking all questions here. FISD helped me get through the rough times where I felt like giving up. But nothing felt better then having done it yourself. You got this.

Finished product

I wasn't really happy with the speakers from Tony, so I disassembled my old overear headphones and put these into the helmet instead, to get the perfect SHA experience. The SHA itself and everything else I got from Tony works perfectly well, just the speakers aren't really great.

Hello if you have an Imperial Surplus Kit is that a Femtrooper? There are some great build threads here full of information and images which should give you some visual reference of what's involved A lot of local garrisons do have armor build days but I'm not sure about your particular garrison.

Hello troopers, Some more work done before the paint process. I decided to make the mag release a bit more realistic. So, rather than just sand the part down and glue it to the top surface of the mag well, I drilled out a suitable hole to mount the real ease button into; I fitted the magazine end can to the mag. For the little “release button” on the end, I decided to use the fat end of a rivet. This was just the right size and looks good in situ; A bit like this example below; Then moved on to adding the resin, but very detailed, hex bolts to the front muzzle. These don’t have the knurling pattern to them, so not 100% accurate, but still rather nice; I started drilling the relevant holes for the selector switch, free/lock screw (also resin) and the hex bolt underneath. I won’t fully affix these until the different paint types are done (gloss black for main grip, metallic finish for the other parts). And finally, here’s a look at the folding stock in action. :-)

A new E11 ordered from Hellhounds props! Can't wait to see it!

You are very close, Cory! For Basic they should pass, but we would ask that you tighten them up a bit since you are aiming for EI and then Centurion. Not sure if it's the photos, but there seems to be specks of something in many places on the button plates and other parts of the ab plate. To clean up the areas shown below, this is what I would suggest: Use some cotton swabs lightly dipped in mineral spirits (I use the odorless type) to carefully remove any residual paint. Once the paint is removed, use dry swabs to remove any spirits from the surfaces and dry them thoroughly with paper towels. Don't let the spirits dry on the ABS or keep them on too long or it may damage the surface As Glen mentioned, the paint looks really thick in some areas. It would be a pain in the butt-plate, but removing it all and starting from scratch using a template like this or making your own may be the way to go. If you do, here is a tip: After pressing the template(s) firmly down, them hit them with a VERY light coat of white paint. Let that dry and then hit them with a medium coat of the blue (not too heavy).. just enough to be opaque. Doing it that way, the white paint seals the edges so the blue won't bleed underneath, giving you clean, crisp lines. I have a tutorial here if it helps.

WOW.. excellent idea, Jonathan!! I have added this item to my "Supply List" thread. Thanks!!!

I used these tiny sponge tips from testors to paint my buttons on my Walt's ab buttons. If your still having trouble, might wanna give these a try. With these I kinda just drew them on. Also, I had the habit of not mixing my paints very well before use. Really mixing the paint for a few minutes really helps with getting a nice coat. Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

Here is the trooping set.

@gmrhodes13 Still some minor tweaks I found. Want to thank you very much for helping me reach end of this build brother.

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

For those newer folks, Matt = Matt Gauthier = trooperexpert. Trooperexpert engaged in many flame wars here on these boards and was banned for that as well as for selling his molds publicly to Tony Sagun (Guns) for a chunk of money, and then recasting his earlier work and selling all over again. Yes, Matt did a lot to bring to light a lot of what we know about the original suits, but the way he went about his business practices was unethical, and his conduct on these and other boards (yes, he was banned from MEPD and even non-501st forums) was well deserved.