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Well, I finally got it done! I was supposed to get this ink in march for my 50th, but the artist had to cancel. So we rebooked for May 4th, OF COURSE!

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Terrell was my older brother. He is surely missed. The weight of our grief is the love we still have for him that can’t be expressed. I’m so glad his legacy will live on in such a wonderful community.

Happy Star Wars Day...

Better shots of the holster released today. It looks like they aren't riveted, but rather are the loop-on holsters.

CountCunning, thank you for you comments and you question. gmrhodes13 suggestion is correct. If I recall back to 2018 when I did this build, all this was fairly new to me. As you may have found from my post as well as others, Jimms fiberglass material does have a lot of small voids. Pinholes that are very hard to locate and fill. For the les flexible parts such as the helmet, I found a product at home depot called DAP Plastic Wood X. I mix some of this stuff with water and spread it on the helmet by hand. Once dry, you can start sanding, and this should fill most of those pinholes. Its also great on 3d printed stuff. As for sanding, I start with 100 or 150 grit hand sanding and work through grits t 320 or 400. So the steps should be 100, 150, 180, 220, 320. for 400 and above, wet sand. It is not necessary to go all the way to 400, in fact 320 is probably the best grit to stop at and still ensure good adhesion for primer and paint. Pay close attention to the detail areas around the eyes, and panel lines. You can also use the DAP to enhance the eye bump if you desire. Good luck on your build.

So, after quite a few evenings spent reading various threads on here, I ordered a kit from RS Propmasters. It only took around 10 days to arrive, despite the horrendous problems we are having with supply lines and shipping at the moment. However, when the BBB arrived last weekend, it looked like it had been thrown out of the back of the plane onto the tarmac. So I took several photos, more than I will post here, then unpacked everything, thankfully no damage was found on the armour :-)

Thanks for your time, yes can see now. Definitely will do now. Best wishes. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I found with Jims helmets that there is the odd bump or lump or low area, an easy way to find this is give a light mist coat of black then when you sand you will see some black will be removed and some with still be there, this shows you high and low areas, you can then fill the lower spots and sand the higher spots. For base sanding of primer or spray putty I use a 240 grit wet and dry sandpaper and use soapy water as it helps the sandpaper from clogging as quickly.

Lookin' sharp, sir! While not a requirement for Expert Infantry, it is for Centurion (which I hope you will be aiming for) . Even if you don't want to submit for Level 3, countersinking those ear screws (yes, all 6) is one of those tiny things that not only looks better, but will give your bucket a more screen accurate look. As shown in the pics it's super easy to do, but be VERY careful not to drill out too much. Use a slow speed, and you probably only need one or two rotations with the bit to get the depth you want.

Thanks Chemi! Thank you for your help and advice. M

Super advice, thanks! I edited the title successfully. RS Props does give you a second set of ears... and the worst one on the helmet IS the second one. For some reason, I kept 'doing something wrong' and ending up with that large gap over the curve. The back is worse. I contemplated thinning the top of the ear to make the bottom match, and decided it was not a good plan as they're pretty thin already. I still have the other one (first one I trimmed) but I'm not sure it's usable since it has a similar gap across that curved area. The vocoder paint does need some touch-up... thanks for the detailed suggestions, I'll work on rounding those and cleaning it up. Ears need a little cleaning up as well.

added lower back plate: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5376050

The galaxy's a little quieter nowThe planets colors lost their hueThe porg's are singing softlyAnd the troops are missing youEach time we see a shooting starOr a tie fighter soaring byWe’ll think of you in honorand raise our buckets to the sky....