pandatrooper

BTW: you can use a heat gun to resize the shoulder bells if you want them a little more accurately sized. The AM ones are very wide. Just heat on either side of the outer seam, and squeeze the bell together. It helps quite a bit.

I have merged your 2 threads and added your latest post here.

Here's a tip on how to prevent the shins from riding up. --------

Are you clamping the parts properly? Normally theres not that glue oozing out. You might be using too much glue too. My E6000 is clear, not yellow like your pictures. You should squeeze 2 long beads of E6000 along one surface, then the same on the other. Spread it flat (don't spread it to the edge, leave about 1/8" before the edge.). Once you spread with a popsicle stick on both surfaces, let it tack up a few mins, then use spring clamps. This will press both parts together with little or no gap and only a few drops of glue will ooze out. You can simply rub these off after they have cured. If your biceps need to be that size and the return is getting in the way, just trim it down. You can remove cured cover strips by forcing a flat chisel between the armor and cover strip.

I think both the AM kits come with elastic / velcro for use as suspenders. These will work until you need to upgrade.

Nice work trooper! Looking forward to your application for EIB!

Trim the backs to the proper size. Glue the cover strip on the outer half, then after it has cured heat the shin along its length on either side of the front cover strip and press the gap closed.

Most hobby shops carry flat sheets of styrene for model making

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I spoke to a Humbrol distributor last year. They had to change their formulations due to regulations. He mentioned that some of the previous chemicals / additives used were considered hazardous, and had to be changed. I remember back in the day they used to have lead in paint (for sign painting industry) to make it more opaque. You obviously can't have that anymore! They changed the content, and that has affected the consistency (runny-ness) opacity, and hue. The distributor said it changed "slightly" but the sales rep says it's changed quite a bit and he's had customers come back and complain about it. I had bought some and tried to use it for my helmets, but I don't use it anymore. The grey took a week to dry, it was thin and runny and in my case was too light. I ended up switching to Testors 1138 grey. Might not be 100% accurate, but it's way more usable.

Heat gun will work, but keep it on low and moving the whole time. Don't use the oven, thats a disaster waiting happen.

I agree with Brian. ABS means AP, RT mod, AM, T/MC and TM. RT mod is for bigger troopers. TM is probably out of your price range unless you can find a used one for less. AM could be trimmed down (I did and I'm 5'8" and 145 lbs) but it's a lot of work. Which leaves AP and T/MC.

Gotcha. Looks good to me for your submission. Nice cover up job.

Should be fine. Do you have a clear photo of the patch job on the front of the chest?

Ah... which explains why the copies of copies get continually smaller and smaller. Great insight Paul!

Not really. If you recast a helmet "perfectly" from the inside, the resulting copy should be the same as the original. If you cast it from the outside, the resulting helmet will be bigger because of the added thickness of the plastic, and probably lack in detail (softer, rounder shapes)

I sort of base what I will wear based on the event. If it's fans that are familiar with SW, I'll go with my TD. They like the pack and the BFG, and all the weathering and details. If you set up your pack correctly, it's not too bad. I can wear mine for a long time and it doesn't really bother me. Carrying a somewhat heavier BFG is a little cumbersome, but since it has light and sound FX, people love it. You have to be careful with a big replica weapon though if you're in public. People that are less familiar with SW don't care so much for the details of the TD, so a TK works for them. If it's a general event where I know there will be lots of younger kids, and more interaction, I'll go with my TK. I can go "weaponless" at hospitals and such, and no one notices. If you go as a TD without a weapon, you look a little naked so to speak.

I think there's a few things. The forming bucks and whether or not they've been altered / modified, the characteristics of the cap and back, and assembly. Some cap n backs are pulled "deeper" in that they have a bigger undercut (the back part of the tube, that extends out, and comes back towards your neck). When you put this on a table, it can make the back of the helmet a 1/2" taller or so. This is a hard area to pull correctly, and some helmets are deeper than others. Some use thinner and more flexible plastic, some use thicker, some have different heating techniques. I noticed that my AP has a very deep undercut, but the plastic is ABS and thinner than other helmets I have had. My ATA has less of an undercut, and the plastic seems a little thicker than the face. Assembly has a lot to do with a helmet. If you're going for the "Move along" higher brow look, you can simply hinge or rotate the faceplate down to make the brow higher. But this in turn lowers the chin / cheek tubes, so when you put it on a table, now the helmet can be 3/4" taller in the front. Also, if you assemble the face away from the cap and back, this can also affect how it sits. I run into this a lot because I'm only 5' 8", and with bigger helmets my chin of the helmet / cheek tubes can rub the front of the chest armor when I look down. I've just come up with some simple tweaks to make it fit better (and probably appear a little smaller than other helmets)

Yes, you can trim that off. If you measure about 2" above the brow line, you can trim all of that stuff off. Take a look at the various build threads, pretty much all the ROTJ tour suit lineage helmets are trimmed / assembled the same way. This guide from TK4510 should be helpful for you. --------

You should trim more off the eyes. Take a look at starwarshelmets.com for stunt helmet reference. Teeth could be trimmed a hair more too.

I think it will pass just fine. But you can send it to me for closer inspection. Photos and blaster look great! If the stock really bugs you, you could always cut 1/4" from the stock just behind the folding butt and reassemble abd secure it by screwing through the bottom into the pipe. A little bondo and paint will hide the join.

The link above does show how to cut the canvas "belt" armor. Isn't that what you're asking for? The pics before it show the thigh "ammo packs".

Stukatrooper of course.

I would say any of the ROTJ tour suit screen lineage ones (AP, ATA, TE2, T/MC, etc.) would work. TM too, but it's higher end and I think it suits slightly taller troopers. I think Daetrin / Paul had a photo of a trooper that was really slim / short and they trimmed their kit down quite a bit to fit. RT mod, AM, FX, etc could be cut down to size, but they would be even more work. This thread has lots of info in terms of specific features. Getting Started

You can buy them from Jim TK6294 who sells the Aker amps in the for sale section. He sells the Memorex wireless mic kits.