Leaderboard

@RINZLERz, you seem to keep going back to the ROTK style helmet; this is what 850 and Jim Tripon make. But let me address a few of your comments: I'm not going to put them on blast, but I have concerns with the 850 helmet. Additionally, a few customer experiences have left a lot to be desired. For an example, please see David's build thread here: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/52357-davids-rotk-850-aw-build/ The 850 helmet is resin, which is great, but if David's is any indication of their quality control, I'd pass. You're right in saying "the picture doesn't look so great," and there's a few reasons why. There's a line in our CRL for basic approval that says "The helmet is accurate in detail and proportion to official references. Many commercially available helmets or those considered disproportionate in size or shape are ineligible." Again, I don't want to blast them, because we've seen several successful builds come from 850 kits, but their helmet is off... considerably. The first and most obvious to me is the overall narrow appearance of everything as well as the flat ears. Here's the picture you were likely referencing side-by side with the original render pic from @gmrhodes13's R1TK reference album: Jim's name has become synonymous with ROTK on this forum for good reason. First, he's the CRL model. Next, other than Nico Henderson's 3D ROTK helmet, his stuff is the most accurate currently available. There's a few more makers out there putting out great TK helmets, but they're all 3D print files. I believe Jim's is a recast of the black series helmet, but he did all the work we've been referencing before recasting. Now, regarding it being a kit, that's debatable. This "kit" consists of only 3 pieces, technically four if you consider that there's two hovi mic tips. Also, don't worry about being a "first time builder." Jim's fiberglass is incredibly easy to work with. Here's a picture of mine that I spot checked with an $8 bottle of bondo spot and glaze putty, sanded lightly, then sprayed with <$20 in filler primer and primer sealer. It's now perfectly smooth and ready for paint. I did make a few adjustments to the eyes for centurion requirements and cut out the teeth (frown) and tubes, but other than those alterations (the tubes are totally optional), it was essentially ready for paint out of the box. Also, keep in mind that even considering shipping from the Philippines, Jim's bucket costs almost half what the finished 850 helmet costs. Paint, and prep materials will set you back another $40-$150 depending on what you buy. I'd stay away from both of these. They are both 3D printed helmets from Geoffro's free files on Thingiverse which are found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:391664 It's funny also, the first listing is definitely from these files, but the second listing shows a different helmet in the listing than the one that's being sent out. If you look at the buyer photos, they're pictures of the Geoffro helmet. Additionally, in most of their listings, they name the maker of the files, but don't for this listing. I'd ask before buying. Also, both makers say in the listing that they're using PLA to make the helmets. PLA is great for printing small dense objects or things that'll sit on a shelf, but it warps badly in any kind of heat. The Geoffro files are fan made .stl files meant to emulate the Original Trilogy Stormtrooper, but they're horribly inaccurate. It's a fun little project for those of us who enjoy the 3D printing hobby, but if you're looking for a future TK build, these helmets would pretty much be useless. Plus, if you do the simple math, they got the files for free, spent about $30 on filament, and are charging you another $200+ for finish. Also, neither vendor offers free shipping and the first one is coming from Spain. So, in the end, I'm obviously partial to the Jimmiroquai helmet, but like I said previously, you really need to gameplan what type of build you want to accomplish. If you're looking for a budget friendly point of entry, I would really consider finding someone who can 3D print a helmet for you, then later when you're ready for armor, possibly start looking into the 850 armor kit. Or, for a little more, you can grab Jim's armor kit which is a lot easier to work with and much more accurate. There's other vendors out there, but please post here before you invest in their armor; we're seeing recasters out there who have stolen Jim's design as well as several other inaccurate offerings. Also, start searching through the forum and other classified listings for armor. I just talked to someone last week who picked up an unused Shepperton Design Studios kit for <$800. We'll see this a lot where someone buys a kit, opens the box, realizes how much work is involved, puts everything back in the box and lets it sit for a few years. There's others who just decide that they need to move another direction and offer to sell their kits for unbelievable deals. Keep your eyes open. As always, please ask a lot of questions. Everyone here wants to help you get suited up, but we're going to make sure you go about it the right way.

Hello, I am 40 years old and live in Wiesbaden (Germany). Now its the time, that I can fulfill my long awaited dream of a stormtrooper armor and joining the 501st. I have read a lot in the past weeks and i want to buy a Stunt Armor Kit from RS. I think, it suits best with my height of 172cm and a small belly :-D Before Corona, i have started to build an Imperial Guard, with 3D printed helmet and self-sewn cape. But i don't had the time to finish it and so i want to build a stormtrooper armor first.

Justin, I put this together for a friend a few days ago and was just as surprised as you. I've spoken with 3 people over the last month about issues they've had with their helmets and each of them say "something looks off." But, team this up with the warped resin issue @TI25674 (David) had and I'm a little hesitant. Another issue I saw up close was a weird resin pull which left the helmet bumpy like my OT TE Trooper helmet. Since it's resin, it can be sanded out, but this was on a finished bucket.

As usual, Joseph nailed it and hopefully made this easy to watch out for! I've been noodling with an RS-commissioned suit to get it ready for EIB over here, and ran into those exact issues, as well as needing to: - replace the helmet lens material and liner (the acetate sheet and starfish are accurate, but not ideal for trooping) - add mesh behind the frown - modify the plastic belt as above and replace the frayed canvas belt with one from Imperial Issue (holy heck their rivets are hard to remove and they use CA glue everywhere) - remove all of the brackets in favor of snap-based strapping (return edges are thin and not reinforced) I also prefer to build my armor with inner coverstrip reinforcements everywhere, which is extra challenging to do after the fact. We always recommend building your own, but those mods aren't more than a couple hours work if you decide to pursue higher approvals. Most GMLs will approve them at Basic out of the box if it fits you well though. Once you have it in hand, let us know what you need help with!

Hi team. I’m in! There are a few things I want to take care of to make it better. I’m adding white felt to the back of the belt boxes so they don’t rub off the paint on my right thigh. Same with the insides of my shoulder bells on my biceps. I also want to get a better spat set up. Also currently working on the heavy F11D, pistol and shield.

I'll chime in on my build (R0TK from 850 AW). Their amor kit is the right price, which is why I went with it. I purchased the helmet with it as well, without doing proper research. I built an OTTK (Walts kit) and it was my first full kit, it went together pretty well. I had experience with a OT tie pilot, and 2 Fetts. But it was a challenge, not too bad though. I learned a lot. That all said the 850 kit lacks the crisp details I've seen in other kits. I am having to fix some issues along the way: rear shoulder strap covers are 3D printed and require a fair bit of "custom" sanding to get them to sit correctly. Even then, still need filling. All the ab greeblees are cast from 3D prints and still have print lines in them. Lots of sanding. The angled line on the sides aren't the correct angle, a few degrees off. The pulls themselves have imperfections (tiny dents here an there, rounded edge, etc). All workable with patience. The 850 helmet. I can't stand behind it. When I got it the top was flat, I had to heat it up (hot car method) and pop it back out. The two sides of the face are very slightly off alignment on mine (see my build thread mentioned above). As mentioned above, other issues as well. I didn't like that it made it passed QC with these issues and I was expected to try to fix it first. Lucky for me, I was able to. I will be printing my own. I was able to get a Black Series but I don't want to mod it, just display it. Like @BigJasoni said, I don't want to blast 850 AW on this. I have two other kits from them and they are great so far. They are very quick to answer emails and have been nice and replaced a part or two pretty quick if it was missing. And there are ROTK kits here on the forums that turned out great. I am considering putting my kit up for trade for another OTTK ( i sold mine to fund this, and now I miss it). I'm 47 and have a soft spot for the OT. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.

850 is decent in my opinion. I don't think their armor looks quite accurate or quite as good as Jim's kit personally due to the sculpt and limits of the ABS pulls, but they are readily available at not a bad overall price point. I've seen guys with successful builds in here for sure. 850 makes a one-piece cast helmet that Jason addressed above and I wouldn't recommend. Despite being white ABS, keep in mind that the entire suit will still still need to be painted. Jim's fiberglass kit is solidly the most accurate out there in its proportions, and the details are captured nicely. Fiberglass is a unique material to work with and prepare for paint, but the armor comes mostly 'finished' and requires minimal trimming to fit before paint and strapping. His one-piece fiberglass helmet is excellent, if a bit thin, and is probably the nicest I've seen after Nico Henderson's 3D file (finished appropriately). Here's my Jimmi kit on top, with an 850 kit finished in house by a customer below for comparison. These are the only two makers of full ROTK armor that I'm aware of. Neither of these are Rogue One style, and neither look approvable under any CRL - Etsy and eBay are dangerous, so definitely tread cautiously there. The big giveaway to look for if you still want to go Rogue One are the straight, indented or cut out tube stripes on the "cheeks" of the helmet, as opposed to the Original Trilogy style that were curved and painted on (or often stickers these days). That said, you'll find that there are considerably less quality options for Rogue One as opposed to A New Hope, as the movie is newer and not many vendors are really making parts for it. ANH Stunt would definitely be easier as a first build for the amount of available resources alone, but we're here to support whichever direction you go! Just some additional thoughts to help you decide!

Congratulations Daniel !!!! Welcome to the Legion.

Thank you everyone, I have to say the help and comments offered has been amazing. I think my approach will be one step at a time - I will get all my stuff and if I meet the basic level with the order I receive then that is where I will begin my journey. I think some of the fun will also be always trying to improve to get to the next level. (I hope the DO's would be ok with that). Have a great day everyone.

As far as I am aware, RS doesn't delineate between different types (Basic/Centurion) of commission builds. While they certainly aim for Centurion level, we more often than not have issues of some sort for those aiming for Level 3. When approving armor at higher levels, we consider not only the CRLs for that costume, but we reference official screen caps and images as well. Some of the issues we see regularly are: Ab/kidney rivets not placed correctly- Too far from the edge and not spaced properly. They can be moved, but not an easy task, and this is a blocker for Centurion. Commission set RS set (screen used) Lucasfilm archives set They tend to put the ammo pack rivets WAY too close to the corner. Current RS placement Reference image The canvas belt. The square buttons are way too far toward the end, the canvas belt in this particular trooper's kit is not attached correctly, and is way too wide to meet the 45 degree angle requirement. Not to worry, though, Arvin. You should have no issues for Basic, but if you are (hopefully) aiming for higher levels we are here to help!

Thank you everyone. Sorry getting the hang of this forum from a technology perspective. The RS package is a prebuilt version that I purchased - they said they were building a centurion version (so from what I understand that is the one in red font) - is this everyone's recommendation? I did visit the requirements link (CRL) and actually sent it to RS to show what the requirements are supposed to be. I was thinking of asking RS to maybe send photos as things are made before they ship. So if we capture any issues prior to shipment we can have it fixed. Thoughts? Maybe there are areas that are common areas of concern that you have seen before that I can ask them to send photos of. *I will have a question eventually about the fan in the helmet - trying to decide whether to buy or build myself (my oldest daughter is in engineering robotics and also a Star Wars fan so maybe I will put her to work!). From the threads and local discussions I have seen that generally people have been quite happy with the RS package. Thank you everyone for your responses.

My gaskets, neck seal and harness arrive from Geeky Pinks!!