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It feels soooooo good to have this wrapped up

This needed to be preserved for posterity. @Doggydoc and less notably... it was a long 6 weeks between troops.

Hopefully, this looks better.

Hey everyone! So a few years back I built an AP that ended up being a sandy because frankly Im a big guy. I ended up selling it because it just flat out hurt to wear it. I'm 6'1" and about 260lbs and it just dug in in 100 places. I ended up building an AT-ST driver to wear instead. SO fast forward to now, I regret selling it because I miss the smiles from the kids when they see a Stormtrooper. No one but us cares about the AT-ST driver costumes lol. The way I explained it to my wife was that this is a bit of an addiction and the only one of the drugs strong enough is a TK or TD. So I got the wife permission to spend some money! Okay so I contacted Darkside Dave to get an AM. I have sent both deposit and payment now. Took 5.5 months between the two but that is fine with me. It looks like I now am building an extra helmet on top of my own. I'll be including all building activities on this page so hopefully it will help someone else down the road. TK-73337s Building service is open for business lol Here's the list of parts I have ordered or am in the process of ordering. Armour: -AM 5.0 ANH Stunt (Payment sent, waiting for BBB day) Soft Parts: -Undersuit (Have Old Undersuit) -Neck Seal (Contacted Pinkys) -Canvas belt (Contacted Pinkys) -Harness (Contacted Pinkys) -Holster (Bought Darmans off etsy) -Boots (Bought random boots from guy in California lol) -Gloves (Provided by dave) -Handplates (Provided by dave) Weapon: -E-11 (Bought Quest Design Canada E-11 off etsy) -Stand (Bought Quest Design Canada E-11 stand off etsy) Electronics: -Fans (I build my own 5v setup) I'm Basically doing a list from memory so if you see anything missing let me know. Build threads for me to learn from:

New LFL Backdrop Images I'm not sure how many of you would have seen the backdrop thread over on the 501st forum, these have been available to legion approved members since 2012 https://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=67849 but images had been a little outdated. I had a conversation with Pete from LFL in 2020 as to any new images which may be available, he said he would talk to Disney Legal as to when we may see some new era images, well after pestering Pete again yesterday he sent me this info: Hi Glen -- yes, we do actually have some new imagery. I've attached the new list of thumbnails along with a request form. Fyi, Alex Vargas is the new Head of Fan Relations and will be handling these requests from now on (he's cc'd as [email protected]). Here are those images (click to enlarge) Any questions about purchasing or pricing of a backdrop please contact @Arcturus1020 via the legion forum https://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=67849 If you order from James he does not have the images, you must request these from Lucasfilm and also give information for which event and charity you will be supporting. Charity Image Request Form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xs2VQ56ed-usRVvJ49LB-Dd0IWycZSlV/view?usp=share_link and you can send the image request to: Alex Vargas Head of Fan Relations [email protected] FYI you can request images from LFL and have a backdrop made locally. Examples of what we had made by a local supplier, 2 fabric backdrop's with expanding frames, these are very light, easy to set up and a breeze to fold and pack, these are 4500mm wide x 3000mm high Frame Enjoy

@gmrhodes13 -- I was trying so hard to find the search. I didnt realize I needed to change the numbers in the link itself. I was trying to change them on the page and was very lost. THANK YOU!!! https://www.501st.com/members/searchresults.php?searchfield=21703&criteria=tkid

I was trying so hard to find the search. I didnt realize I needed to change the numbers in the link itself. I was trying to change them on the page and was very lost. THANK YOU!!! https://www.501st.com/members/searchresults.php?searchfield=21703&criteria=tkid

I am overjoyed that members are finally getting what they paid for all those years ago. Redemption at last and thank the maker.

I wish more GML's were like you Kyle. Detachments are ultimately here to help members get approved from the ground up, but it makes all the difference when a GML understand that and wants to work with us and their members to get the best result for everyone. Sadly, there are GCO's out there that don't care what the GML or any detachments say about a costume and or CRL they just override the GML ignore the CRL's, and approve anything. Yep, that is happening out there.

Just making sure, are you doing the TK-twist? (Putting it on sideways and then rotating it) If not that will most likely do the trick

And yes, I've been hiding my ears! Trimmed way too much off and have got another set coming. More on that later.

Lenses were pretty simple thanks to @justjoseph63 Tutorial It,s funny because I didn't have enough black to do both lenses but I'm not letting that slow me down! There's always black paint later. And the frown mesh attached with double sided gorilla tape.

Well mine is paid for - whenever the next wave comes, I will get mine. Till then, no boots for this girl

Oh man, I forgot about the most necessary costume build step, convincing the wife about the use of her spaces.

Yep, also led to some changes in how our new command team is working to make membership and costuming assistance more widely useful. I'm excited for some of the plans we've got going.

Nice work on the painting, vocoder looks fine to me, see if a dab of polish can just remove the small amount of excess remaining (lower corner)

As Daniel explained, for example you have the bicep two halves, the cover strip allow them to join. bellow an example photo.

OH, my new gloves and flexible hand guards from @justjoseph63 arrived yesterday. The gloves are a good fit, and no weird bodily reactions!

We decided on approving the costume with a condition that they’d work with myself and a local tk expert to shim and fix the strips in a couple of weeks, Thanks for the info. I agree on what was provided.

I know you aren't quite at that point yet, but I wanted to give you a heads-up on something.. The ABS that Dave uses has a UV resistant layer on the outside, meaning that the chances of it yellowing are next to zero (I have a set that is going on 8 years with no discoloration). The reason I bring this up is because it can affect your cover strips. Note that one side will have a smooth, glossy finish and the other has a similar but ever-so slightly scuffed finish (hold it up next to a light to see the surface). The shiny side is the one with the UV protective layer and should face outward, so keep this in mind when sizing/gluing. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Hopefully I have these sized down correctly. Let me know if you need any information on any of them.

Elastic on the straps - clever! May try this when I revisit strapping on my kit.