pandatrooper

I used a unibit to enlarge 1/8" pilot holes. If you try and use a big drill bit, it will tear the plastic and makes the holes misaligned.

No, but mine is teflon coated. Using the fabric boot will prevent the plastic from sticking unciated irons.

It depends on what you want to achieve and how much you want to spend. You could probably customize a Hasbro board by ugrading the LED and speaker on the cheap end of things. You could make your own using a higher power Luxeon or Seoul P4 LED (don't ever point it at someone's eyes) and a generic sound board you can buy off the internet, and download or record your own sounds. Erv from Plecter Labs makes a board only version, but you need to source the other parts and solder it yourself. The board has even more options than the Hyperdyne version, but it's not "cheap" by any means. TKdueno and other troopers have successfully integrated this system in their E-11's.

In the blaster builds forum. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=11017

Your heat was probably way too high.

You're lucky to be skinny enough that the rear shin ridges could be completely cut off!

There's lots of tutorials online / youtube. Just google "dry brush" for model making, etc. It involves getting some silver or whatever color on your brush, brush most of it away on a paper towel, etc. then just brush the high spots on whatever you're painting. The paint will come out very thin and random, making it look weathered.

Hi Michael. Not sure if you've already gone through the threads - but we just moved a good portion of our members blaster builds into a specific "blaster build" forum. There's lots of Hasbro threads there to look at and get info / inspiration! ----------- I used E6000, just make sure to sand both surfaces and follow the instructions for the glue. It's a contact adhesive (spread on both sides, let it tack up, then clamp) - not a "filler" type of glue. I used allen bolts on the end of one of my blasters. I'n not sure what size they were, I just brought the muzzle to Home Depot and found some in the hardware dept that were the same size as the cast resin ones. For the wires, you can use regular black wire, and coil it around a thin pencil or something similar to help them stay curled / keep their shape. You don't "need" to buy coiled wire. You can weather by the method you described (paint the colors underneath, and sand the black to reveal) or do some dry brushing on top. I like to use both methods so that you get a more textural look / feel. Good luck!

Garters that attach to a belt would be better, and take the weight off your torso. I believe the original suits had belts with elastic straps glued to the thighs. I made some "V" shaped garters, which attach via snap plates. I find they don't swing around this way, and they are adjustable left and right and in height. ----------

Thanks Lou! Darth Stewie got packed in a box, since I was laid off a few weeks ago. Fear not, he will "strike back".

Ideally, you would find some plastic that matches your armor to fill the gap created by the Ab and Kidney sections (depends on your body type). What you want to do is make the shim as flush as possible if you can. Meaning you ideally don't want: - AB armor / a black gap where velcro or undersuit is visible, white shim, another black gap, then the kidney armor A better solution would be to glue the shim on one side (eg: the kidney) and use velcro as a closure (for the AB). Seamless means there can be a seam there, but not major. The plastic should be butted up together so that you can't see anything underneath. Also, in terms of "flushness". I think that refers to when some troopers veclro a piece of plastic / shim under the AB and kidney. This means this shim is sitting "under" the level of your AB and kidney. You can easily fix this by making sure that your shim is built up in thickness to be flush. There's a little more info here: ---- These are all smaller / fine details in regards to shims. If you have a shim (and no black showing) you'll pass, but it will look better if it's seamless / flush. Does that make sense?

Heres a tutorial for how to post pictures. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=10747&pid=134852&st=0entry134852

- always hydrate before, during and after trooping (having a helmet on tends to make you forget about drinking water) - make a small pouch or case you can carry for keys, cash, etc (I've made a simple pouch that velcros inside the AB armor to carry my wallet) - wear your undersuit under your street clothes to a troop (saves you a few minutes from having to get changed) - bring a towel to wipe off condensation / sweat inside your lid if necessary - bring an extra pair of cheap black gloves (someone always forgets to bring their gloves!) - put insoles inside our boots for comfort (arch support and heel comfort from standing) - when walking with other troopers: walk in pairs side by side or in a row / 2 rows (looks cool, like in the films) - have your garrison / squad / outpost PR flyer on hand to give to people interested in joining / how to get more info Make a "trooper repair kit" with the following items: - always bring extra white and black industrial velcro to a troop - bring zip ties in case of emergencies - white gaffer tape (they used it in the films!) to make repairs - have extra batteries for your electronics - scissors - exacto knife - sandpaper - door insulation foam (black foam strips) for padding areas inside armor to prevent "armor bites"

I think he looks fabulous. Have you decided if he'll stay clean as a mini-HWT or have him go "dirty" and be a mini-TD?

I think theres a step by step for biceps right at the beginning of this thread. Also, check the Imperial Reception Center for armor tutorials. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/79-tutorials-tips-and-howtos/

Put it in your E 11 or scope! "what time is it?" "set for stun and find out!".

Those will work. You can stack them for extra pull. Get 4 packs.

I agree with Paul and Tray's comments. Get the back correct first, then line up the rest. The back is too low, and you can trim the top prong / extensions. This posting from today also talks about a similar issue. -------- I did a photoshop mock up of what you could do. Raise the back and trim the back prongs (green lines). I would trim the chest ones too to raise it up. Only after you do these modifications, should you attempt to revise the sides or bottom edge (I'm not crazy about the bottom of the AM chest, so I did the FX chest mod, trimmed and reshaped it and added a return.) --------- Remove your ribbed shoulder strap / bridges and move them forward. Good reference for positioning here ---------- I hate to say it, but the AM chest will never look as "heroic" as other armor makes. AM made the pectoral area to flat and the overall shape is similar to the old FX chest. If you're a bigger trooper, the chest will "stick out" where it sits on the AB armor. I think AM tried to accommodate this with the extra long back and chest shoulder prongs (push the top of the chest out), but the real armor doesn't do that or look like that. It's just not quite the right shape. I know one that a few people have done is swap the chest plate with an RT mod one which is a lot more accurate in terms of shape. The plastic is very similar in color to AM, just polish it up to match.

Hey Jerome, this tutorial might help you with posting pictures directly in your posts. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=10747

You should be able to put the bicep on with glueing both sides. Fore forearms, try cutting off the front return on the wrist area. If you want to be uber accurate, the screen used suits had no return here. Make the wrist opening as small as possible to get your hand through. test it with tape closing the forearm first. If you can't get your hand through, then you might need to do the "glue the front edge, velcro the back edge" technique. In terms of pictures, you should host them on Imagebucket or Flickr or some other site, and link the images here.

Though I'd post an update here for the modification I did for the thigh tops (ANH style notches). Modification thread: http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=13513 Here's the original tutorial on how to make the ANH thigh tops http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=11836 Video tutorials on how to do a return edge http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=12972

Good luck Jerome! Don't be afraid to ask for help. It's better to be sure before make those big cuts! I hope the build threads are helpful for you. Make sure to check out the Imperial reception center too, there's great info and additional links in each topic to other build threads, discussions, tips and tricks. http://www.whitearmor.net/home/tutorials/armor-tutorials.html I always recommend doing a bicep or something simple first. It's easy to glue 2 parts together. If you mess it up slightly, it can be fixed and no one would really know (except us!).

Just saw this on the RPF. Probably the most uniquely detailed and electronically modified E-11 I have seen. Check out his Hengstler counter... http://www.therpf.com/f9/e-11-model-x-blastech-case-study-pics-intensive-101258/

I'm a slimmer build, and I usually heat the ab / kidney with a heat gun and make the torso narrower. For the AB, I heat it along the vertical lines and along the sides and then squeeze the sides to the shape I want. For the kidney, i heat it along the vertical box lines, and the sides and squeeze it to shape. be careful not to pinch the return edges if you have them. I do the same as Paul. My rivet / left side is elastic, and the right side has a plastic inner shim with velcro. It's a great closure method and is fast to get in and out of. I have helped other garrison mates with this same method. Here's a photo of my ATA and AM with the insides shown. ---- ----

Looking good, nice progress! 2 fixes: the tube stripes on your helmet are a bit too low to the sides. They should be about 1/2" or so from the "valley" of the cheek tube. Also, if you make some 45 degree cuts on the corners of the belt, it will look a bit more accurate.