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Grateful for the journey and to those in my local Imperial Sands Garrison TKs! 7 days later, conducted my first troop in my fresh TK and it was amazing!!!! Local library Free Comic Book day! Made some smiles and possibly recruited a few tiny recruits to the Empire!

Finally getting into this build after much procrastination. To fix the cracking issues I'm giving all the armour a good surface sand, then coating the armour with a mix of flexy and normal UV resin. Now to wait for some decent weather to continue the fun. Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

After five years of working on my Star Wars Fan Film (that prominently features an E-11 and a Trooper), I wanted to quickly reach out to say a big thank you to being so kind during my build time. This has been an awesome and helpful community when I got stuck, but mostly I was reading quietly. Also I wanted to share the result with you. Hope you enjoy:

Hi Georgia, thanks for your Centurion submission. Added to the processing line.

I have no return on the sides only on the top of the butt plate and top and bottom of the kidney, this image may show a little more detail Also note if you find once you have strapped and your kidney or but plate flares out you can add V tabs on the ends to hold them in alignment. With a heat gun you bend strips of ABS plastic into the shape of a V, only glue one side and the other remains free to allow movement when you bend. Just helps stop the butt plate from pushing back from the back plate. I do mine just like Joseph and like him prefer the double snap method, always great to have a spare snap if one lets go, nothing worse than not being able to troop because of a snap failure

Congrats! well deserved glad to see phase 3 getting the love it deserves

I got 2nd place in Azzatru's Top 5 mods of the week. I made sure in the comments to again remind people of the great guys here that provided the helmet.

WARNING: The following content may be controversial! DISCLAIMER: These are my opinions from years of experience, pure and simple. Over the years I have noticed many future Troopers doing an OT (Original Trilogy) TK ask about return edges before, during (and after) their build... If this is a subject that you are curious about, grab a cup of coffee or a tall glass of frosty blue milk (this is a long post, lol) and read on.... QUESTION: "What are they, what do they do, and should I leave them, trim them down some or remove them"? ANSWER: Return edges are part of the molding process and provide strength in certain areas on the edges of your armor. They also provide a heftier look to some pieces. To help you decide whether or not to keep them is why I started this thread. Here I will attempt to go into a few details about them. Know in advance that as mentioned I personally am NOT a fan of them in many areas for several reasons (listed below). Some people love them and some may disagree with my opinions... many of you may trooped for years with no problems which is AWESOME, but many folks have had issues and questions. 1. In most areas they are not screen accurate- In looking at the screen caps and film used armor photos below you will notice their scarcity. 2. They can (and in many cases will) get very uncomfortable- Many folks like the "thicker" look it gives their armor, but they can cut into you, especially in the area where your arm bends ("armor bite") and the groin area (chafing). As Troopers we do a lot of walking and arm bending carrying a weapon, so keep this in mind. 3. If aiming for higher levels they can cause fitting issues- Examples: A. If you leave them on your forearm openings and glue on the cover strips, they will need to be completely removed at the wrists for Centurion level, making the opening too wide. This can lead to you having to remove the cover strips, reduce the sides of the forearms and re-attach the strips. Quite a pain in the posterior plate to say the least. *** See EXAMPLE 1 below. B. If they are overly thick on the bottoms of your shoulder bells, they can prevent them from lying snug against the biceps. 4. They can cause splits/cracks- Especially on some armor areas. ABS is designed to flex, and in some cases a small amount of return edge is fine, but too much can cause stress on those areas. *** See EXAMPLE 2 below Over time that stress will take it's toll somewhere, and that is usually the return edge. Anovos armor is especially prone to this on the sides of the chest/back plates and neck openings. I suggest shimming these on the rear with ABS strips and E-6000 to prevent it. Let's start with the chest plate: Note how the ones below (including the back plate) have either no or minimal edges with no cracks or splits. Now here is a screen used one with a pretty prominent edge, Notice the stress crack. Now, onto the ab/kidney/back plate: To keep them in line and prevent them from overlapping, it is suggested that you LEAVE a fair amount of the edges on the top/bottoms of the kidney and bottom of the back plate, especially if using the "classic" strapping method. Yes, these can split/crack as well but not normally. Shoulder Bells Trimming off the entire edge on the bottoms is not only screen accurate (first two photos), it allows them to rest close to the bicep (bottom photo). Third photo shows "suggested" trim lines (red) of an untrimmed bicep. My recommendation is the blue line. Biceps/forearms For sheer comfort and a sleeker look, I recommend removing ALL of the top and bottom edges before fitting/gluing them. First, no one sees the tops (covered by the shoulder bell) and the bottoms can cut into your arms (armor bite). Suggested cut lines in red. Again, if you do get armor bite you will have to take them both completely apart, remove the edge and re-fit. Better to think ahead. Some (myself included) like to leave a bit of the return edge on the outside of the top of the forearm for a thicker look. However, I highly suggest removing all from the inside part (the "scoop") where your arm bends. Again, an armor bite issue. This should also be done BEFORE final fitting. Here are some screen used examples: For level 3 (Centurion) all of the return edge on the wrist opening must be removed, including the area inside the "hump" as seen below: Posterior (butt) plate: Again, it is suggested that you leave some of the return edge on the top (and bottom in most cases) to keep it from riding under/over the kidney. Now, the BOTTOM of the posterior plate is where we often find splitting issues. Should you leave some return edge? Sure! BUT(T), when trimming the corners, (see below) be SURE not to give it a sharp angle... this is where the trouble usually starts. Instead, give it a slightly rounded angle (as shown in green). Thigh tops The tops of the thighs are where we see a lot of questions. I recommend removing all the return edges from the entire upper parts, and here is why: As mentioned above, you will be doing a lot of walking. If you have the edges (or at least a large portion of them) intact, the friction and inside facing angles can really chafe the heck out of you, especially on the inside of the groin area. (Ouch). If there are sharp edges/points on the tops (below) these will poke into you. When trimming these, just follow the existing line. Also, if you do your final fitting, glue everything together and find this out afterward, you will have to take the entire thing apart, remove the return edges, trim down the sides and then re-build/glue them back together. The reason is that afterward the opening will be entirely too large and you will have a giant gap all the way around. Not a good look. Easier to do it beforehand, trust me. As seen below, there were no return edges (or at least minimal ones) used in the films. Sniper knee plate The bottom of this piece is an area often not trimmed enough. To allow it to sit flat (or very close to flat) against the top of the calf enough for the glue to adhere properly I suggest removing most if not all of the bottom edge. Note how in the first and third photos how the sniper knee is parallel to the front of the calf. Last up, a photo that best illustrates my point about return edges and how they were not really present in many places on ANH armor. *** Example 1. of what happens when you have to reduce the return edge(s) after attaching cover strips. NOTE: For the example below I am using an ATA bicep (first 3 photos). Be aware that ATA makes the "suggested" cut line on their return edges pretty slim (a GREAT thing in my opinion). As seen on the armor in the 4th photo, if followed, the "suggested" cut line makes the return edges much wider (red line). Top view Bottom view For the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume that the ATA has those wider suggested return edges. Okay, let's say you really like the thicker look the return edges give your armor, so you left them pretty wide during fitting and then glued on the cover strips. Enough to get your arm through with a little extra room. Should be good to go, correct? BUT, you find that after having your arm bent for a while they cut into you (armor bite), so you find you have to reduce or remove most or all of it. No biggie, right? Just break out the Lexan scissors or Dremel and cut away, leaving the cover strips attached. Easy! So you remove it and then you run into the fact that the opening is now enormous. This is not a good look, and can result in the piece(s) jangling around and not being approvable at higher levels (or even Basic depending on your GML). What I am getting at with the above info. is that if you decide to remove them, it's better to do it before final fitting/gluing. Side note: Many biceps have an unusual shape at the tops (in red, below) normally located on the inside. This can be completely removed. Doing this will not affect approval at any level, and is screen accurate. It sits under the shoulder bell so no one sees it anyway! Screen used bicep USELESS TRIVIA: Many have asked about the "thumbprint" that many armorers have on the left bicep (screen used example below). Some think it is so you can tell them apart, but I was speaking with Brian Muir a few years ago (he sculpted the original armor used in ANH) and asked him about it: "To be honest, I have no idea... it was not in my original sculpt, and must have been a mistake in casting". There you have it. *** EXAMPLE 2: What causes cracks/splits: ABS bends pretty well, just as it's designed to. BUT, when there are return edges involved that changes the game. For the below example I used a 2 inch wide strip of ABS with a 1/2 inch "return edge". Looks pretty solid, right? That's because the edge provides stability. Now I am bending it up/in to simulate use over time. (More than it normally gets bent in many cases, but only to prove a point). That stress has got to go somewhere, and it's the return edge that takes it all and gives way, again causing cracks/splits. The red arrow shows a weak area where the stress in concentrated and cracks can form. Even if trimmed off afterward that area will be prone to splitting, so a small shim behind it is suggested. To sum it up, return edges are not meant to bend a lot. I suggest inspecting your armor occasionally to spot any existing/potential cracks/splits so that you can catch them before they get worse. I hope this helps answer any basic questions you may have, and always feel free to ask more detailed ones here or offer differing opinions.

Just ordered my RS Prop Masters ESB armor. I found Whitearmor.net when researching where to purchase armor from. Tons of great advice here which led me to RS Prop Masters. It will be a few weeks before I receive my armor. From there I hope to get accepted in the 501st and start some trooping.

I guess I kind of already did this on my pre approval thread but figured I would post in the proper section as well. I was approved last week and really could not have done it without the help of many people here at the FISD. It was a long road (and not completely over) with some bumps, but in the end it was way worth it to build my own armor. I have learned a lot and competed something I dreamed of as a kid, so thank you all very much for the help! Can't wait to get out and start trooping. TK66007 ready for duty! Thanks, M

I have made progress on the torso strapping! Unfortunately I didn't have anyone around to get a pic when I had it on, but I'll get one soon! The kidney plate wanted to really push out on the side compared to the ab. For the right side, instead of using pieces of scrap ABS to make the slip joint (not sure what to call it), I designed and 3d printed two pieces in white ABS that slip together nicely (not an exact color match, but not too bad). This worked really well. The left side isn't too bad as I tried to keep the strapping close to the edges. Putting the belt on helps tighten it up, but I'll deal with that later. I'm working on the posterior now. I have some trooper butt, so I'm making some v tabs to take care of that. The posterior is still uncomfortable as it digs in, so I need to address that too. Once that is all taken care of, I'll add the snaps and split rivet to the cod. Then onto the belt!

Congratulations once again trooper, looking forward to seeing many more trooping photos

Thank you Glen! Your help has been invaluable. Thanks, M

Looking fantastic! Good luck Georgia!

Good luck Georgia! Fingers crossed [emoji1696]

thanks, even better photos. That's the type that was included in my big brown box.

Pretty much has all the info you would need As for ABS well.color may be an issue, I have found RD a little off whiye compared to other makers, you may need to check around with ant local ABS plastic suppliers, I found a few here but they were very white.

Loving your Pink Floyd shirt. Seems we also share the same taste in music... Oh and great job done on the helmet of course.

There's never too many questions This is S trim, goes around the bottom of the helmet This is U trim, goes under the brow on the helmet

Hi Luca, I took your advice today And after some more test fitting i removed about 4mm of the return edge at the neck line and it's made a difference, Thank you

I saw this a couple days ago on youtube. LOVED it!!! Best unboxing video of all time.

Thanks for sharing the progress on your armour build, i'm also starting a build with RS armour. Finding myself spending hours reading the wealth of information on this forum in fear of making any mistakes. Good luck with your build!

Render. I hope these new posts aren't spammy.

I updated the belly plate and added v2 belt+boxes in separated plus pre-attached versions https://www.thingiverse.com/jaztermareal/designs

Congratulations Trooper !!

Excellent news trooper, congratulations and welcome to the ranks

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