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Greetings Troopers! I have wanted to post something here in the Trooper Fit Club ever since finding this topic in the forums some time ago, but haven’t worked up the nerve to do so. I think this whole thing is a great idea for Troopers like me who don’t feel as comfortable in their armor as they would like to, and who want to make changes to improve their Trooping experience. I joined the 501st back in the Summer of 2019, back then I weighed about 230lbs and had my armor custom made to fit a slightly smaller version of myself. When I tried my armor on for the first time, I LOVED the way I looked in it, it was a snug fit, but I had good intentions to lose a few pounds at the time, so that didn’t bother me at all. I was eager to start Trooping! The pandemic began at the end of that year and unfortunately, in my area, that meant no events for the foreseeable future. I spent that time doing photo shoots, adding electronics and other modifications to my armor, and earning my EXPERT INFANTRY BATTALION award (#996) to become one of the first 1000. Regrettably, since then, I’ve put on another 25 pounds, making my armor more and more uncomfortable to wear. I was going through the photos of my most recent Troop this morning and couldn’t help but feel ashamed of myself for letting it get this bad. I realized that if I don’t make some changes now, I may not even fit in my armor soon, and then I’ll have robbed myself of some great Trooping experiences that I’ll be sure to miss out on as a result. So, here I am. The purpose of this post is to hold myself accountable, because no one can do anything about any of this but me. This way however, I’m amongst other, likeminded individuals who understand exactly where I’m coming from and exactly what I’m aiming for, so thank you in advance for any support you offer me along the way. This will not be a short journey, but it will be worth it in the end. Height: 6ft 0in Current Weight: 255lbs Goal Weight: 215lbs My plan to lose weight starting right now is to begin jogging a mile in my neighborhood every night, an easy enough exercise goal for a beginner, and to cut sugary beverages completely out of my diet, a big issue for me, and drink only water in stead. These are certainly not the most drastic of changes and I’ll certainly add other exercise and diet goals as time goes on, but this will be the foundation that I intend to build on, as I do so I’ll post updates here. Thank you fellow Troopers for your invaluable support. With luck, and hard work, I’ll have good results to report back here with a month from now.

This is a timely thread bump. I didn't realize we had something like this. So... I've got Crohn's disease. Currently I'm untreated with no meds. I've been diagnosed for over 14 years and have gone from a lot of drugs and immunosupressives to a few to none. Diet and obsessive exercise had me in complete remission. I've had maybe 3 flare ups in the 14 years and was never hospitalized beyond my original episode... wherein I almost died. COVID lock down has been extremely unkind. I *loved* going to the gym. I'm a social exerciser. I don't enjoy working out on my own and have a hard time motivating myself to do it. But if others are around, perhaps in a gym environment, I do well. If I'm in a class with others doing the daily workout board (WOD) I thrive. I haven't worked out much in the past 2.5 years since lockdown. I built a decent home gym in an unused room and have all the equipment I need... just no motivation to do it. How lame is that? A lovely home gym with a rack, plates, weights, and all I need yet it just sits. And because of Crohn's, I cannot exercise in a gym. At least currently while COVID is still rampant. I'm fully immunized, but it doesn't matter a whole lot in this condition. I started building my armor when I was working out all the time. I did the forearms and biceps back in 2019. They were TIGHT. And when I took my centurion photos in 2021, they were quite loose. Arguably, they needed (and still need) to be sized down. And I was still in "good shape" when I took these pix. Healthy without symptoms. I'm not in good shape now. Crohn's has been rearing it's ugly head and my health is quite poor. I likely need meds again, or I need to actually work out, or both. I've lost about 30 lbs of muscle. I can't eat much to help maintain my weight. I'm in danger of not being able to troop and being in the hospital again. So I need this Trooper Fit Club. Or something. Anything. A kick in the posterior armor. I've done small workouts the past 2 days. I just need to keep doing things. Keep moving. Keep lifting things. I need to do something today. It's so hard to find the motivation.

Really, that Plastic Bonding System worked amazingly. I spent a long while lining up the silicone on my glove where I wanted it, making fists and vulcan salutes and all sorts of things till I was sure it was in both a correct and natural fitting spot. I marked the edges of the white plate with a pencil on the gloves. And then I roughed up the back of the glove very slightly with some fine sandpaper. Probably around 400 grit. I made sure the silicone was very very clean as it had picked up some junk and crap over the many fittings. I also cleaned extra sanded rubber off the back of the glove. Then I followed the directions with the plastic bonder. I did most of the center area with the activator on both pieces of material, let it dry, and then applied the glue. Then I applied a paper towel to the top and a heavy book on top of that and let it sit a day. The next day I inspected and saw what stuck and what didn't. I rolled the glove to the next position, lifted, primered, and re-glued. Then another day of pressure. I think it took about 4 days of gluing to get every piece glued down. But they're VERY glued down. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I use my centurion gloves to protect my hands when boiling armor... and I've boiled quite a few pieces since installing those silicone plates with the plastic bonder. Nothing has come loose, even with repeated contact with boiling water and steam.

Definitely. The fitness requirement is one of the many reasons I chose to become a Stormtrooper. If I’m going to wear the armor of the Emperor’s finest, then I need to train like the Emperor’s finest.

Ok so I think ive completed all forms, Im looking to get some feedback on each indiviual part before I start smoothing them and adding cover strips as when I do that I wont be able to go back and fix things. Happy to send the files off to some people who are keen, as a thanks youll recieve the finished files free as well as some extra stuff. Anyway, here is what it currently looks like: Hope detail is visible enough, was difficult finding a colour and ligting preset that would show off the details well enough. Very keen to get some feedback on this, if youre interested to look over the files, shoot me a PM here or on FB.

Some of those threads I posted previously should give you a lot of clues were to trim, research is the key to this hobby

Hey all I want to document my 850 Armorworks build since I don't see alot of those yet. My goal is to complete it in about 30 days since my neighbors son has a birthday party. Last year I went as Boba Fett repaint. I was offered to go again as Boba again but I offered a TK. So .... Armor - 850 AW. Helmet- 850 AW resin cast - still waiting for it to arrive Undersuit - generic Underarmor until I find a proper one. I believe I can use the generic non- textured for basic approval Boots - Imerpialboots Gloves - nomex flight gloves

I'm sorry to read your health situation Adam, I like to do some Gym exercise too and find so difficult tp do it at home. This Covid thing has been a real mess . The worse thing we can do is to leave the physical activity it's depressing and the body need it. Hope you can continue with your Home Gym, day by day . I have a saying that I read somewhere, when things turns challenging. "Retreat Hell, we just got here! " keep on posting your advances brother !

Thanks Dan! I will check out the trim and see about flipping it. M

Definitely, one of being an Stormtrooper advantage/disadvantage is that you must be in shape wont be easy but we are sure you're going to achieve this new "Badge" . Good luck and keep us updated.

Yes. The locktite is CA glue. I followed Just Joseph’s thread on attaching the hand guards by placing them onto the glove while wearing it and tracing it with a pencil. Then lightly sanded the glove on the area it would be attached. Then you can see exactly where to place it when the glove is off your hand.

Hi Matt, Congratulations on achieving EIB. In addition to what the DOs have mentioned, I’d also note that your neck trim appears to be applied the wrong way around. Currently, you have the thick side out, whereas the thin side should be on display. Hopefully, just removing it and flipping it should still fit okay. Here’s RS talking about it: https://youtu.be/Aiv6G9fa6Ak Hope that helps. Best wishes Dan

Mine has lasted to this day as I recharge it frequently because Lithium ion batteries can die of neglect. They tend to love a frequent charge as a good rule of thumb. I also use a good digital charger and only recommend protected batteries.

Good luck with the weight loss, it's easy to put on but hard to get off so I don't envy you. I've had some illnesses and I have the opposite problem of loosing too much so I've had to add some padding in places, just can't win

Really depends on the handplates and the gloves, I've run into issues with three different combinations, last one I used a black industrial silicon and was the only think that held, super glue ripped the backing off the silicon handplates, E6000 just peeled when flexing hands. A bit of trial and error, try a test section first

I've had the same updated mod for 3 years and going strong, occasionally I remove the battery just to top up the charge

Others on the forums have recommended fasnap. https://fasteners.fasnap.com/viewitems/snap-fasteners---screw-studs/standard-snap-fasteners is what I have purchased and they seem to plenty strong from just creating and testing my snap plates. My kit's not done yet so I can't personally vouch for them while trooping though.

Updated

Many years later thread bump! Is the rechargable 3.6v battery still holding up @Sly11 ? I'm on my third iComm battery and am considering this mod very seriously. I have one more spare of the tiny one, but ugh. I'd love to fix it one final time and never crack that case again.

Excellent point, Brien! I have added this to my build thread: *** Please be aware that this product should only be used outdoors or in a well ventilated area. It is also highly suggested that you use a mask and gloves.

On one loos brow trim I just added a couple of pieces of scrap plastic and wedged between the brow trim and front face plate, added a little glue to those pieces once I was happy with appearance.

I've been using no name brands snaps purchased on Aliexpress, I thought they would be sub standard but have been working well. I think the Tandy 24 snaps have always been mentioned as they are normally easy enough to purchase.

Now THAT's the spirit, Matt! You can certainly enjoy your new status.. you earned it, brother, and starting a thread is an excellent idea! Your issues are nothing we haven't seen before and can be remedied of course, but I like your "can-do" frame of mind!

that is soo freaking cool

Enjoy your EIB badge sir. you earned it ! and your Centurion Badge is waiting for you .

Looks so much better. Thanks again, everyone here. This remaster also has texturing on the mic pieces and mouth mesh. A lot of stuff I learned the first time around I corrected with this.

Thank you very much Mario!! One step closer and looks like I've got some work to do. I will make a new thread about making the necessary adjustments and ask my questions there. For now I will enjoy my new EI status. Thanks, M

…and wear protection! Bondo especially, gloves and a mask IMO.

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Update: I wore the armor tonight and I had room to spare. The last time I wore it the Velcro barely fit and today I had almost two inches to spare. I am so happy that walking every day, cutting out a meal, and reducing my sugar intake has greatly helped me. Thank you!

So I was talking to our DL and he encouraged me to post my story here. 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and went through surgery and three months of chemo therapy. With that therapy came a long time of being pretty much inactive, while eating all sorts of crap just to be able to actually taste something (for instance a normal slice of bread with cheese would taste like mushy cardboard, it still makes me sick thinking about it). And unlike what you'd expect, my appetite was pretty strong! So obviously I gained quite a bit of weight. Being the lazy butt I was, I never felt motivated to get up and do something about it even after I was through with the chemo. In fact it got even worse with me picking up an office job and joining a team with a virtually endless supply of sweets and other treats. So instead of losing weight, I kept going up. The sad peak was just before (and during) our last trip to Disneyland at the end of February this year. I was at 89kg (196lbs) at 173cm (5'8"). Way too much... I still felt okay-ish, but seeing pics of our trip made me realise something needed to change. This was right around the time Corona got serious and counter measures were being taken. Which meant the bus I usually take to get to work was - and still is - not operating that early in the morning, forcing me to walk 3.5km each morning to catch my train. Instead of feeling sour about it, I used this as motivation to do even more. Now I've been doing 15,000 steps on average each day for roughly the past 2 months and simply stopped eating non-stop like a pig. And it shows! For the first time in 5 years, I am actually below 80kg (79.2 for the last couple of days, so around 174lbs), meaning I already lost a whopping 10kg! My goal is to lose a couple more kilos still, but it was an amazing moment kitting up in my classic TK (built to the original RS suit size) for the first time in such a long time and actually fitting into it again (although it was still a tight squeeze... but we're working on that :)) So yeah, this is my little story. Shows that all it takes is determination and a little self discipline and it is entirely possible to get back into TK shape!