kiyotei

On the history channel here that featured that raid on one of their WWII shows. It was pretty neat.

Looks great. Kinda funny that the armor is all nice and dirty but your paldron is super clean and shiney

You have a very twisted sense of humor. I think I just had a heart attack after reading your post. Of course if I were to hand carry it to HI to turn over to you well that could be well worth it.

I came home today and found a box at my door... In case the creator wonders where I got this, I bought it off a guy who could not keep it. I hope to give it a fine home along with my AP armor. Now to either get the nerve to build it or perhaps TK4105 will start building helmets again (please please please).

I found white rubber sheets at a hardware in Seattle. I added velcro to it and use that for my side gaps. Its great because it is so flexible. I originally used some vinyl but that quickly cracked and broke.

Truely impressive and its your first armor project. way to go. nice touch with the magnets. I did my thighs alternating between abs glue and super glue. I would put down an inch or so of abs glue and then a half inch of super glue. I would hold it in place until the super glue set which was a matter of seconds. Then i would wait a bit and glue another inch or so with abs glue and then a bit more super glue, let it sit and so on. The super glue would act like clamps for me while the slower abs glue set.

Very sorry to hear this. I will keep you both in my prayers.

As Daetrin says, any armor can be made to fit you. That said. AP was designed for people around 5' 11", 150lbs (original actors were all about this size). AP is the easiest to fit for small guys like us. I'm 5'7". don't let it scare you if no one in your garrison has built an AP. Most of the suits are ABS or hips (another form of abs but softer), so plastic is plastic. If they've cut an FX suit they can cut an AP suit. the only additional work in building an AP kit is trimming. Use a dremel and it goes fast. Get some troopers to help and it goes even faster. IMO the AP helmet is easier to build than FX. Its a two piece helmet vs three piece for FX.

I have AP and I use a mix of snaps and velcro. I've found that the industrial velcro holds really well and allows easier adjusting for fit. To make my straps I take the elastic straps and add fabric glue. Then I place the industrial velcro (with sticky backing) onto the glue and let dry. You can sew it but I don't know how to sow. Fabric glue dries real fast as well. I have some of my snaps pull off or break and I've replaced them with velcro. But to each his own.

Paint you can remove using various chemicals...try goo be gone or a paint thinner. I personally use paint thinner to remove paint drops. I then clean the area with Novus abs polish. For shoe marks, I use the heavy duty Novus abs polish. It takes a bit of elbow grease but it eventually comes off.

what armor did you buy? Instructions depend on the brand. They are not all the same design.

I have AP and reduced a number of the RE's to make it fit better and more comfortable. I found the other big edge to reduce is the chest plate where it overlaps the ab plate. I reduced the upper shin edges as well. Most people will never notice the RE so its a big deal. Only other 501st folks will look and not even most of them will notice it (excluding Daetrin who might pull out a pair of calipers and measure them LOL).

Its not theory its fact! Right after they escape from the Death Star they cut to Vader and Tarkin having a conversation. Tarkin tells Vader he hopes his plan of LETTING them escape will work and they will be able to track them back to the rebel base. Now what's really odd is that Fischer tells Han Solo that they are most likely being tracked cause there is no way they could have escaped that easily. So why do they fly right to the rebel base??? I think George was running out of budget and time and needed to bring it to an end.

I bought a throat mic from Fire Fox. Its designed to use with radios for paint ball warriors and motorcycles and bicyclists so they can chat with out wind noise or having to talk very loud. You can whisper if you want (paint ball warriors need to be very quiet). It comes with a push to talk switch that goes on your finger tip. I have not gotten it to work yet with my radio shack amp. It requires power which the amp will not provide enough of (even with mods). I've tested it with my PC and it works well. I'm hoping that once I sort out the power issue I will get rid of all feedback since it does not pick up sound from the air like other mics but uses your throat vibrations. I mention all this cause it comes with a push to talk switch.

that is damn funny.

Looks good. The one thing I notice is that the chest plate covers the buttons a bit. If you can you might try and either raise the chest plate up a touch or lower the ab plate some. I'm only 5'7" and had to work a bit at it to make sure the buttons on my AP were showing.

hmmm not sure which one I'll go with... AMD-8151™ HyperTransport™ AGP3.0 Graphics Tunnel or ISO 8151:1987 Dried milk -- Determination of nitrate content -- Method by cadmium reduction and spectrometry (Screening method)

my face generates a lot of sweat so I have major fog problems. I found that I need a combo of stuff: 1. Anti fog paste (I use cat crap, no joke that's the name). Apply before each trooping. 2. Fan. the fan really helps me a lot, I've had the batteries die and I fogged up even with the anti fogging stuff. 3. I installed some foam and neoprene around the top of the mouth area to help channel my hot steamy breath out the mouth holes and prevent it from floating up and fogging the lens. 4. yep watch your breathing, try to blow breath downward.

RETCH!!!!! GAG GAG....I just made the mistake of clicking the link to look at the Rubies helmet. Someone please remove the link to save others from a similar fate as mine.

PPal sent for 100.

I bought one just for collecting purposes. i have no plans to mod it. I wear AP so why wear a helmet of lesser quality???

Yes I know, I said I would post pics as soon as a I finish installing it all. The wiring done now I just have to rig a harness to hold the battery pack.

I run a fan and a sound system in my helmet (radio shack mini amp). The fan batteries (I use two 9 volts) die in about an two hours. It gets really frustrating and I have to carry a lot of batteries with me. I also use a 9 volt for the amp. Enough is enough. My fans died while trooping PAX in Seattle this past weekend and I had serious heating issues. So I looked online and ended up going to Radio Shack and buying a large Remote Control Car battery. It puts out 9.6 volts rated at 1600 mAh (milli-amp hours). A typical 9 volt battery is about 120 mAh. The fan I use is the 12 volt 120 mAh fan most people buy at Radio Shack. So in theory running the fan and amp off of this new rechargable battery pack means I'll get about 12 hours of fan use (1600/120 == 13 hours). I know you can buy ultra life 9 volts with 1200 mAh but they cost $13 apiece and you will always have to have a spare set with ya cause you never know when they will die. The RC car battery pack and charger were not very expensive. After about 3 troops it will be paid for in battery savings. I'll post photos once I finish mounting it in my helmet. I had to add a diode in line between the battery pack and the amp to drop the voltage to about 9 volts because the amp is rated at 9 volts. I couldn't find any documentation on the amp so I didn't know what max allowed voltage for it is. Now that I have lots of power I may add my second fan back into the helmet. I cut slots in the back of my helmet some time ago for better venting and so I mount the fan over the vent holes to draw air in. I find that works better because my head really blocks the air flow its sucking out (exhaust vs fresh air.). Plus having the fan pointed in helps circulate air in the helmet.

great job, great thread, great pics. A PVC neck seal? Is that not really hot?

I saw it today. My boss took us to see it. I hate to admit this but I was falling asleep about 3/4 way thru it. I was really tired though so it was not the movie. I think it is better than the other animated star wars movies.