pandatrooper

In my opinion, the VT hemet is a softer pull / less detail than other helmets, plus they are recast from an AP / TE. The color is also slightly different than other armor makes (more beige than white-ish). There are plenty of reviews in the Ebay armor section. Have you considered other helmets like AP or ATA, etc.? TM also looks very good for a sculpted from scratch version.

You can leave an inch and attach your snaps there or do the screen look and cut it off / bend it. You can see mine here -----

Be careful cutting the butt plate. The AM but does not curve under the butt as much as screen accurate armor, thats why the tab is there. If you cut it off where you indicated you will need to heat up and bend the butt plate under.

ATA and AM make TX armor. ATA will be cast from more accurate molds, where as AM is fan made and less accurate. Contact info in this thread http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=11538

Sorry to be a stickler for detail, but your side gaps are not plastic. They look like vinyl or fabric and the EIB guideline states it should be a similar material to the armor. Your TD clips also need to be 1" wide, they look a bit thin currently. I also think you should make the cut on the butt plate a couple inches lower than it is right now, it looks a little too high.

I don't think the white elastic would pass, that's just my guess. If you rig the black one a little higher, no one will notice. Or don't use one at all and use the "practical" strapping where there's an elastic that connects the chest to the ab, that will prevent the chest from hinging outwards.

Hi Tyler. Along with the tips mentioned above, here's a few fixes that can help make your FX build be a little more accurate. Not all of these are necessarily required from an EIB standpoint, but I think they are just good build tips in ensuring that the quality of the build is the best it can be with not too much effort. Torso: - can you adjust so that it sits an inch or so higher? You may need to bend / curve the shoulder bridges a bit more with a heat gun, but it will sit better and not cover the ab buttons. You could also modify the lower return edge on chest but trimming it to a slightly more accurate shape and adding a return edge. I have indicated this area with the solid red lines. - the black elastic you're using to connect the chest to the back on the side under your arms is OK to use, but it should not be visible. Can you place it higher so that it's black on black? - the torso will look a lot better if the shim you're using is not fabric. You can use scrap ABS or styrene plastic, or use the back of a plastic "for sale"sign. There are some tips in this tutorial re: shimming http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=12478 - I think the original FX belt armor had the rivet covers molded into the armor. As such, it looks like you have a visible rivet or bolt head visible. Can this be hidden (glue a snap plate to the underside of the belt armor, and bondo over the hole?) Also, the belt ends look like they have been trimmed a bit too much in length. Regardless, you should trim the belt armor corners are 45 degrees like these pics. Arms: - try and adjust the elastic so that the shoulder bells are evenly positioned. Your right bell is leaving a much bigger gap than the left. - I would raise your forearms a bit and lower the biceps a bit to reduce the black gap at the elbows Legs: - try and adjust the thighs (are they hanging on elastic or garters?) so that they hang evenly left and right. Your right one is twisted and hanging too low. - the battery pack on your right thigh seems to have been cut too short and it's sitting high. It should look like the reference picture above. There's a full leg assembly tutorial here in regards to how to assemble this piece http://www.whitearmor.net/home/tutorials/armor-tutorials/thighsshins.html - it's a little hard to tell in the pics, but you might want to double check that you have the correct shin halves assembled, or maybe they are swapped left for right? They might be fine, but just double check. Again, not to say you have to do everything. But these are some tips to help get you on your way. Good luck with your EIB app!

Cool idea!

What make of E-11 is that? Theres some interesting details on it.

I would let the paint cure at least a few days before applying decals.

AM calves go like this if you were looking at the back of your shins. Outer left (no ridge) Inner left (with ridge) Inner right (with ridge) Outer right (no ridge) They should have either put no ridges at all or had them on both halves. Its fan made and not as accurate as other makes.

Congrats to Kim if i didn't say that already and thats a good shot of the D ring for clarity.

Ahhh... so THAT'S what you've been telling the wife. Now I have some blackmail information should I ever need it... JK!!

Overlap the armor and tape it together to get an idea of sizing BEFORE you cut more off. It's better to have to "work your hand through" the wrist when putting in on than to have giant wrist openings (if possible).

Cut the return off the wrist and make them as small as you can while still allowing your hands to fit through.

Aren't we at least tied (you and Jim are EIB?) there must some others in GT? Regardless, I am proud to say that Kim is FISDs 150th Expert Infantry Stormtrooper!

The trick to making the neck trim stay is to start at the vocoder. As you start to work the trim around, make sure to push the trim down hard into every nook and space, especially under the ears / where the face and back meet. Work the trim all the way around and when you get to the vocoder, cut the trim about 1/4" longer than you need. Then push the end on to meet the other end. This will put extra pressure on the trim and keep it in place. The brow trim should stay in place if the cap and face was assembled properly. Thd tension will keep it in. But if the front part keeps slipping, I don't think anyone will notice 1 drop of glue under the brow to hold it up.

Very nice work there! I wish Sterling parts were accessible in Canada.

Eric: the shoulder bridges are free floating in the back. It took a couple tries but they were heated to curve over. I showed Kim how to do the cover strips on a bicep and he assembled the others. Nice build by the way, glad to see your EIB application! Pat: it's provincial law - all Asians must paint their walls red.

I usually do 2 light coats of everything. 1 thick coat of anything takes much longer to dry. I find Humbrol takes a really long time to fully dry since they changed the formulations. A few people say to make sure to stir the paint thoroughly (which I do) but it still takes a week for 1 coat to dry! I switched to Testors and they dry much faster and I find them a little more opaque.

Thanks for the additional insight guys. I for one actually prefer same sized arms, but that's just me. Mark, are there any plans to update the thighs or inner left shin piece? A lot of troopers have encountered issues with their builds and raised the point of the thigh halves not lining up (one side being quite a bit longer than the other) and the left inner shin being a replica of the right outer shin. There are workarounds to these issues of course, just wondering if you plan on refining the forming bucks to accommodate?

I would buy a specific hero. The shape of the eyes and ear bumps are different, as well as the teeth among other proportional changes (the dome seems a bit more tapered on the hero and the face looks wider or flatter to me). Plus it would be a shame to modify a TM stunt!

Yes, thats how AP armor is made. The original armor had unique left and right arm pieces but AP left arms are duplicates of the right arm. The left inner shin is also a duplicate of the right outer shin. This info is also posted here: --------- You will also encounter some alignment issues with the thighs and shins. We can help you when you get to trimming those.

Take some duct tape and rub it down over the residue to see if it pulls the boogers off. It also helps to heat up the velcro to warm up the adhesive, makes it easier to remove without leaving residue behind.

You can leave it or modify it. I think the AM ab button plate sticks out too much so I trimmed it thinner. I added the strip under the vertical buttons for detail, but neither are required for 501st or EIB, just depends on how picky you are.