SithTrooper

I hope this is allowed, but can someone point me in the right direction?

I asked a long time ago about modding my FX chest and back plates, but never got the nerve to cut. So I want to ask some new questions. Which chest/back plates are smaller than the FX? I do not want anything that I have to paint. It must be white ABS and match the rest of my FX. Would this be acceptable if I were to begin to try and make it to elite status? btw, my suit is FX with an AP bucket (color matches perfectly) and I'm one of those "short" TKs. Thanks.

I use something very similar to this... -------- I got it at Wal-Mart a few years ago for less than $20, although mine is blue. I have since added steel cables on the hinge side and a lock on the lift side. It holds all my TK stuff with room to spare.

Here's one of your pics that I was interested in. --------------- You stated that you trimmed 1.5" off the neck line, right? I don't think I could successfully trim my entire neck line and have it look good. Also, I don't have a heat gun, so I'll have to rely on trimming only. Would a hair dryer work? My shoulder straps are riveted, but I have extras, so that would not be a problem to replace those rivets. My initial thoughts are to do this: 1) remove the shoulder straps from the chest and back plates. Drill new holes lower down on the chest plate for mounting the shoulder straps thus bringing the chest plate higher on my body. I may also have to cut the two high points on the chest plate a bit that underlap the shoulder straps. 2) maybe cut 3/4" from the bottom of the back plate (same as u did) as well as cutting some of the back plate underlap. Does that make sense?

I'm one of those "short" troopers and I'm having an issue where my chest plate is resting on the TK belt thus pushing the top of the chest plate into the bottom of my helmet. I've got FX armor with an AP bucket, so I'd like to get a smaller chest plate and back plate that matches up with the high gloss FX. Any suggestions?

There was a North American premiere in select cities in '07. It won't be long before we all have our R1 copies of the DVD. Hang tight!

I have an AP bucket on FX armor and mine matches perfectly. Although I have had mine for quite a while now, so I'm sure yours was pulled at a different time. I'm the TK on the left. ------------- I hope yours matches too! Good luck and let us know when you get it.

Gotcha. Thanks for keeping us straight.

Reqesting my upgrade. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymember...&userID=724 I'm a little slow.

This may not be the right place, but I'm gonna ask anyway. How come next to my ID it has [501st] and others have [TK]?

I don't understand the need to be secret amongst fellow 501st members. If I'm a known member, then they should feel comfortable in the fact that I'm not someone that's out to get them. I guess it is what it is.

Thanks, Hook. Are there any pics available of the new FX? Maybe they should call it FX2. Also, do you have any contact info for the new FX maker(s)? I'd be really interested in seeing they would offer parts instead of the whole kit. I plan on keeping my AP bucket, but it would be nice to replace the old FX parts with new ones as money would allow. I read elsewhere here on this board that it would be cool if there was a central location of all the current armor makers with pricing and I agree. It would be nice. Thanks.

I'm 5'8" and I wear the FX with an AP bucket. In this pic, I'm on the far left. http://www.carolina501st.com/albums/album76/aaa.jpg Other than the large chest plate, what else is there? I think it looks perfectly fine. You may notice that the Trooper on the far right is wearing the more "screen accurate" suit. I believe it's TE, but I'm not 100% sure. It looks really great, but I would never want to troop in something that I feel would break apart if someone bumped it. It feels like you're wearing crackers to me. The ABS is so much more durable. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped a piece of my ABS on the floor or been bumped by someone elses blaster. I just get out the polish and poof!, it's gone. If someone were to provide an ABS "screen accurate" suit at an affordable price, I'm sure that a lot of FX owners would upgrade, but until then, I'm satisfied with what I have and I hope that the rest of the Legion will be too.

Well, I have the FX armor and upgraded to an AP bucket as it's smaller and looks better on me. I kept my FX bucket, just in case. You never know, you just never know. To me, having a screen accurate suit is great, but it's for the owner/wearer. The general public just can't tell the difference. I surely hope that the FX suit continues to be acceptable within the Legion. I sometimes get the feeling that there are those that want to ban this armor from the 501st. If that happens, then off I go. Then again, maybe I'm just not reading everything completely or I'm assuming too much. I hope that this does not offend anyone as it is not meant to. This is merely my 2 cents worth.

Duh! Now why didn't I think of that! Wearing multiple shirts for warmth. Man, I feel stoopid. But hey, that's what this place is for, right? Thanks for the idea! And btw, do the Wal-Mart knock-offs have logos anywhere on them? Not that it matters much, but just curious. Thanks.

Unfortunately no. The next thing on my radar might be a holiday parade in Nov. I'll have to wait and see. Beyond that I got nothing. I was hoping that I'd be at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Dec, but it doesn't look like I'm gonna get the call. I did watch ROTS on Sunday though. That helps fill in the void for me.

There's someone in our garrison that has TE armor. I've only seen and touched his armor once and it seemed so fragile to me. I'm used to the ABS. It's durable and has been dropped, bumped and scratched many times and continues to hang in there. I just can't see having to "baby" something that gets that kind of punishment. Correct me if I'm wrong. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking TE. It does look great. Guess I'll stick with what I have. It's plenty good enough for me and most people outside the 501st.

Me too. I wish I could get the rest of the AP suit minus the helmet. Right now, I mostly use the AP bucket with the FX suit.

My wife purchased the TT voice amp for me for Christmas last year, but she didn't know any better. She just read that it had static burst and that's it. He didn't state that you have to create it yourself by blowing into the mic. This is misleading. Although I must admit he was nice about returning everything for a full refund. I then went to RadioShack and bought the same thing he had for much less. Also, I don't have to have the static burst either. I mean, if I had the $ I probably would, but most people in the general public don't miss it. The first time I used my RS voice amp, I got compliments on my voice without it. I guess I sounded like one of the OT Troopers to people that day.

Did anyone that went to DC get to see the Heart of an Empire preview? Comments?

You're welcome! And please navigate the site and find out more if you have not already. There's a really cool trailer you should see. Also, I'm not going to DragonCon, but HOAE is supposed to be there to show some preview footage. I don't have their schedule as it has been changed a couple of times already, but my suggestion is find out where/when they'll be and go see it.

Jay (Director/Producer) and Matt (Marketing) were gracious enough to have me at the studio on Saturday (8/26/06) for a preview of what they had so far. I have to honestly say that I was very moved and touched, sad, happy and very excited to see more. In my opinion, this film is really going to show the Heart of this Empire. I really think that everyone involved with the 501st will be pleased. I know that I am pleased and I've only seen bits and pieces. Hats off to Jay, Matt and all the crew involved in this project.

So your recommendation would be to cut the cod, but not the buttplate? I too have thought of doing this mod, but never got the nerve. I recently completed the velcro-to-snaps conversion.

I have FX suit and an AP bucket.

TK924 reporting in! Requesting access.