pandatrooper

I don't think a non-refundable deposit is unreasonable. Your stuff is always great and takes a lot of time and effort and materials, and you shouldn't be out of pocket for them. I say ask for a 30% non refundable deposit when ordering, and the balance when it's completed.

The face plate would be really easy to make from foamcore / pink insulating foam. For the cap, start with a large plastic "witches cauldron" for Halloween. http://www.displaycostume.com/Cauldron-p-54729.html Make a sloped edge using sheet plastic / styrene, then transition the join with bondo. Spray it black. "Your schwartz is almost as big as mine!"

Very nice progress, this is coming along nicely. I also agree about the chest and back, they're the only pieces I'm not 100% happy with in terms of shape and proportions. Not sure about you, but I find the AM belt armor rather big too (obviously to accommodate bigger troopers). The drop boxes end up on my sides almost!

Since it's styrene, you can also apply some Plastic Weld glue to the crack to seal it. Then patch it from behind as described above. Then sand the front with progressively smoother sandpaper, then wet sand, then polish it. You won't even know the crack was there. If you're going to paint it or the kit was already painted, just sand and top coat it.

Glad to hear Steve. Hope you can get your TK or TX done and troop with us!

Great job Tiffanie, glad its working out for you! You took the challenge and got great results, you should be very proud of your accomplishment!

This thread here describes the arms. ----- The shins should be more curvy on the insides (like a scoop in where your calves would be) and the outer shins are smoother. Might also help to know what kit you have.

This is a step by step guide for thighs, but the construction methods are exactly the same for other limbs. You can use this as a guide if you wish. -----

Great progress and nice comparison pics Brian! Very nice work. Is the RT mod ABS the same color as the AM? The AM still looks more "beige" or warm white than the RT, but it's hard to tell.

I discovered a bunch of different paints, so I sprayed sample "color chips" for each one. Stay tuned for an analysis / breakdown.

BTW: Stukatrooper has one of the best AP builds here There's lots of AP build threads in this forum as well--------- Hope that helps!

Yes, that's normal for the AP armor. The AP arms are the same for both sides. I think they took the TE / ROTJ tour suit style mold, and used the right arm on both sides. I think the notches on both biceps indicate this. The AP thighs halves are also misaligned. You either need to trim the top or bottom and potentially do some heating if you want them to match up. The inner left shin is also the same piece as the outer right shin.

Looking great Brian! Awesome progress. Nice to see another AM kit coming along nicely!

My biceps and forearms are glued front and back. Never really need to use Velcro for the forearms unless your hands are huge and you want slimmer looking forearms, and you need to open them to get your hands in. For the biceps, I bent my arm at the elbow and flexed my bicep, so that there was enough room inside for my “huge guns”. You just want them big enough that you have room to bend your arm / flex, but not overly big. I prefer to not have any padding in there if possible. The screen look is very “fitted”. For the forearms, I assembled them so that the front hand opening has little or no return edge (screen used didn’t have any if I recall) and leave enough room so that you can squeeze your hand through, and assemble the forearm at that size. The area near your elbow should again have enough room for flexing, but be snug. Since AM doesn’t have the ridges molded in, you can make them any size you want. Definitely check out the screen caps from the films for reference, but make them fitted to your body.

I noticed that when people sell cast stuff (even when I cast my own stuff) that the way the resin settles within the silicone – even if the original sculpture was sanded before molding – the “sand” marks cast into the resin do nothing for paint adhesion. In fact, sometimes they still end up with a slick finish for whatever reason. Some people use mold release depending on their mold material, you can even use baby powder as a release agent. Regardless, I would always do a light sanding then thoroughly wash it with detergent to remove any agents. Abrasion on the surface creates something for the paint to stick to.

Same here on the westcoast. Michael's has it, but none of the other stores do.

I noticed some armor makers include a large strip of plastic, that's intended to be glued under the belt armor for "more support". I didn't do this on my last 2 builds as they were ABS and I didn't think it was necessary. Is this flat piece of plastic supposed to be glued to the "belt armor" after it's curved, then you snap the whole thing on to your canvas belt, or is the intention to "sandwich" the canvas between the belt armor and this piece of plastic?

AP has some parts (such as the thigh halves and shins) which are misaligned and can be tricky. It's a nice kit though, ABS plastic and very "bright white". I have been recently been building an ATA kit and its really easy to cut and assemble since it's HIPS (styrene) and pretty much everything lines up nicely. I think AP, TE2, and ATA would be good choices. They fit smaller / slimmer builds well. AM can be resized, but its a lot of work. I sized an AM kit down considerably here ----------

For resin, I usually: - sand lightly (scuff the surface, but try not to remove detail. I use 400 grit or a scotchbrite pad - wash with detergent and dry. Its important to remove any residue / mold release, etc. - apply a couple light coats of primer (lacquer based), let it dry - apply your top coat (I use Krylon or Rustoleum or sometime Tamiya or Testors). I discovered that Humbrol changed their formulas and their paints have been thin, runny and more transparent than in the past.

I always check out Deviant art, concept art.org, Imagine FX, etc for inspiration. Maybe check out some of the vinyl toy concept sites, that's a more current style. I'm influenced a lot by the likes of Kidrobot, Tokidoki, etc I've done kids illustrations in the past, more recently it's been conceptual images, technical, patent drawings, blue prints and many other styles in my career. T.

I use E6000 and Plastic Weld. It's styrene, so plastic weld works great on it when bonding it to more styrene or ABS.

Just checking, you listed an online supplier "Shoes.com" for the boots. You know you need the correct boots to meet Legion CRL guidelines, right? Most people are using Caboots or TKboots.com

Thermal detonator should come with your armor. If not, people sell them separately.

You might want to look into the AM kit or RT mod kit. both are sized a bit bigger and can be customized to fit.

VT armor is recast from AP. The helmets are recast from AP / TE