pandatrooper

I think Joey might be referring to the area around the ankles / instep of the shin. Looks like there's rivets on the ankles and the middle strip? Also, I think for ESB - the blaster has no hengstler, correct?

Nomex is no more waterproof than cotton / fabric gloves. In fact, the leather palm will get soaked too! I would just get some cheap black rubber chemical gloves (which is what they used in the movies) and wear your thin cotton gloves or liners underneath for warmth. They will be 100% waterproof, better than any fabric could hope to be. I sometimes use some jogging glove liners that I got from one of those outdoor / camping / hiking high tech stores. They wick moisture, act a thin insulating layer and can be used under other gloves or alone. They're used for joggers, etc..

Personally, I like the hand plates to look like they have a little thickness. Here's mine

Just so everyone knows, I have asked VT to remove the photos of me in his auction and the reference to FISD. To further clarify, I am NOT VT. I do not make armor, nor do I sell armor, nor did I make the ebay listing or approve the use of my photos or the use of FISD / EIB in the ebay listing. Terry

Could it also be that the distance from the lenses to the wearers eyes was further apart on TK's than on Vader?

He's probably referring to me or Oiftanker, I believe he has a set as well. I have a set of his armor and I made EIB status after much work on the kit. I purchased from him directly, not on Ebay. Yes, you could build it to a high level of quality, but it will need a lot of extra work. You can review my build thread on FISD. I checked the Ebay listing and there's no mention of FISD EIB status on there, so it looks like that's removed. He does refer to it as being acceptable for 501st use. I did notice he used my personal photos, I think it would have been at least fair to ask my permission to use them? **BTW: this should be be in the Ebay armor forum

I think a Lite kit and a MRCE lid would go great together. Even if you did end up getting a lid like the one above, the colors of the lid won't match the Lite armor (as I described above).

I believe this is the same one. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=9087

2 links for you Attaching hand plates ----- Garters -----

You might also want to look into RT Mod. He designed his armor for bigger troopers ---------

I think it’s a decent kit cost wise, but you do have to plan and do A LOT more work if you want it to look really good / screen accurate. I could have slapped mine together but I chose to take my time with every piece. Without a heat sealing iron and a heat gun, and Dremeling and sanding, things are NOT going to fit right – so be prepared for a big job if you’re picky like me. Just about every part needed significant modification, and I’m not talking about just Dremeling a corner or something. There’s parts that just don’t line up (one side of something will be inches off from the other) and they will require some serious surgery to fit. AP is probably like that too based on my research and understanding. The color is a cream almost beige color, it’s not white. So if you want “pure white” you’re not going to get that. The surface of the ABS is also not very shiny, you’d need to polish it a lot more. Durability wise, it’s good but there are some thin spots throughout. The lid is good, but the aerator sockets are very thin. The face and ear details are softer than other helmets I’ve seen. Parts of the kit come pre-trimmed, some parts don’t. I think in the end I would prefer to trim it myself. Where someone else makes cuts isn’t always where I would choose to make cuts. I would have left some extra material for safety and to allow for more manipulation with the heat iron / gun. The arm pieces are just like AP (you get the same shoulder bell, bicep and forearm for both sides). The left shin / ankle opening is MUCH smaller than the right side, you’ll need to compensate for that. The kit comes with 15mm shims for arms and 20mm for the legs. It really depends on how picky you are with screen accuracy, look, etc.. Quality wise, I’d say it’s better than FX for sure in terms of accuracy, but I think AP is still better in terms of color, shinyness, etc. Personally, I think it ranks slightly above ATA since it doesn’t need painting (and I’m personally not keen on the ATA helmet dome part and sharpness, but that’s just my opinion). I think there’s more choices available now that the new FX kits and other armorers like Tupperware TK are making kits more user friendly (eg: extending the plastic so that you don’t need shims, you just cut where you need to) and the parts look really good too. Even though I researched for quite some time, lurking on FISD for almost a year, etc. I think I rushed my decision a bit. I don't regret buying it at all, but with so many choices now I think you have lots of options. I also think it was good to build a kit and learn from the experience. In the future, I would like to get something different to suit my needs. I’m not trying to sway anyone in their decision, it’s up to you to decide what armor is right for you and your use. Do the research and pick what works for you. Don't get a "Brand X" kit just because someone says "It's awesome!". If I have any advice for people wanting to build a TK, I would really research what YOU want to DO with your TK based on a checklist, and evaluate which armorers supply what you need. *if this is helpful, maybe this can even be a checklist stickied somewhere? Eg: How screen accurate do you want your TK to be? How sharp do the details need to be? (100% screen accurate / EIB status, needs to look good, or needs to be recognizable as a “Stormtrooper”, needs to be acceptable in the 501st?) Do you plan to troop heavily in your TK? This may help you decide on what plastic would be suitable (constant use, mild trooping, display only) Do you intend on painting your TK? Are you prepared to sand, clean, prep, mask, primer, paint, etc.? Have you considered the cost of materials / having the right facility to paint your TK? (cost of paint, sandpaper, masking, respirator / fabric mask) Does the TK come trimmed? Will this save you time or cost you headaches? Is this worth the cost to you? Are you ready to do more detailed work like heating and bending plastic that doesn’t fit? (using a heat gun, heat sealing iron, Dremel, sanding, polishing?) Will you need to add shims to make the TK fit your body type? (you need extra plastic, and will need to cut, Dremel, heat, sand, etc..) Does the “Body” armor come with everything you need? (few come with everything you need – things like elastic, webbing, buckles, rivets, Velcro, glue, etc..) Does the helmet come with everything you need? (lenses, mic tips, stickers, rubber trim, etc..) What tools will you need? I found that having most of the tools already saved me a lot of headache. (Dremel, rivet gun, heat gun, heat sealing iron, glue, tape, clamps, etc..)

Cut the entire barrel off about 1 inch before the "trigger" angled piece. Hopefully you can find a plastic pipe that's a similar diameter, this should be the length of your replacement barrel. Then use a smaller diameter pipe that will act as the "connector" about 2-3 inches long and glue it inside the blaster with the other half sticking out. Then glue your pipe to this connector. Drill the holes, etc.. and cut off things like the sight and other small bits from the original blaster and glue them on the pipe. Then paint it. Keep in mind this is just an idea, I haven't tried this myself, but I don't see why you couldn't do it. You just need to find piping of the right diameter.

Neat. You'll definitely need the "island wind blown hair" plastic cap mod to go with it.

Here's what you "should" do. Lay out the holes you want (draw straight pencil lines, then make center marks for the holes based on whether your copying the Hasbro holes or the real Sterling holes). I think Sterling holes were spaced slightly further apart Use a center punch, nail, etc. and mark the center of the holes. Use a small 1/8" bit to start and drill a pilot hole. Before you enlarge the holes, look on the inside, and you'll see various plastic mounts sticking up where the holes may need to go. Dremel these down, as they can end up pushing your drill off center. You can enlarge the hole with bigger bits but you do need to be careful (as you found out) as the plastic is thin and will tear. You could Dremel the holes bigger (use the small sanding tip and slowly enlarge the hole) but if you do Dremel the holes, you should draw circles of the maximum sized holes you want, also making sure they are aligned. The best way to enlarge the holes is with a "unibit" like this: --------------- This bit will enlarge the holes once size at a time, until you get the size you need. It also keeps the holes centered as you enlarge them, that way the row of holes won't get wonky. To be honest, i don't think the bondo is going to work. One thing I always thought of trying was cutting off the barrel altogether, and replacing it with a section of PVC piping. This way, you can make it longer / more realistic, and you don't need to grind off any T-rack, etc.. You just have a smooth cylinder to work with. If you can find a similar diameter to the Hasbro, you could easily mount the PVC pipe via a smaller shim section to join to the pipe to the Hasbro (just before the holes start). I don't think there's much you can do in terms of repairing the damage, I would just replace the barrel section altogether.

I've done some vac forming (not TK related) and a good amount of sculpting / casting techniques. I think a special forum would be good for anything casting related, not just vac forming so long as we keep things. I know I'd be posting there lots, but I'm not sure how many other people would use it?

Nice fix, good idea!

I think the Hyperdyne voice amp also has a static burst at the end. I think there might be a couple others that might too. Technically, the movies didn't have a static burst at the end to my knowledge. I think it's just that the voice kind of "clicks" as it's a radio communication. You could also easily fake it by blowing into the mic gently before or after a phrase in any voice amp, and you'll get a similar to sound effect if you want it (without needing to buy an expensive amp that does the static burst). BTW: Not to sway your judgement (buy whatever you like) but I have this amp from TK 6294, and it simply rocks. No static burst but very clear and very loud, and easy to tune feedback down. -----------

In the subtitles for A New Hope, it says "TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" *Factoid: In the earlier scripts from Lucas, it was actually listed at "TX", not TK

Looks like you've made some good progress! A couple things I see that you could tweak: - you'll need some proper boots, the ones you have won't meet the CRL requirements - the holster is on the correct side, but it looks rather big. Not sure how picky you are about the details, but I think you could make / get a more accurate one - I can't quite make out the blaster, but you might need some T-rack / greeblies to finish it off (the doopydoos kit doesn't come with them for ESB)

Welcome back Steve, hope you're doing OK!

Your link doesn't work?

You don't need to sandblast plastic, in fact if the surface is good, you don't even need to sand, a scotchbrite scrub over the surface will provide enough "tooth" for the primer. I watched my brother paint several bikes (Yamaha GSX-R's) in race schemes for several local riders over the years. The body panels are plastic too, but to do it right, he had to mix things differently so that the paint would flex and stick properly. My only fear is that I haven't ever painted HIPS or ABS TK armor with lacquer based paints before. I have painted styrene (airbrushed) scratch builds and models with enamels and on a few occasions, milder lacquers (I used milder reducers). But if the person painting doesn't know, and if mixed incorrectly and lays down too much paint / too heavy of a coat, strong lacquer will be too aggressive on the plastic surface. This could cause a poor finish, such as orange peel (dimpling), cracking, peeling, etc. Unless you "soak your lid in a bucket of lacquer thinner", it's not going to turn to goo. But too much / too heavy of a mix "may" alter the characteristics of the surface of the plastic. This may give you a less than desirable finish. One area I'd be really concerned about is shins. If the paint has no flex agent in it, and you have to open up the back of your shin armor so wide to get our leg in - wouldn't you want to be sure that the paint job can handle it? I'd hate to have the paint get "spider web cracks" all over, or even worse - completely crack and flake off due to no flex agent, or poor adhesion. Keep in mind that even Krylon is a lacquer base, but automotive paints are a whole different mix. The painter is supposed to mix the appropriate portions of paint base and reducers to get the proper consistency, adhesion and color / pigmentation for "car" use. On plastic, it's different. I've never painted a TK with auto paints before, so I'm just being cautious. I'm not trying to alarm anyone. I just want to share what knowledge I do have and make sure that people get the results they want. I think it helps to educate yourself before doing something that might not turn out how you want.

Glad I could help, let us know how it goes! By the way, if it does work, you can get a KILLER finish afterwards by wet sanding the paint job (not too much, as there's a lot more contours and sharp edges on armor than there is on a car) and polish it with a mild cut polish, then a swirl remover. Then wax it with a high end carnuba wax. The finish will be crazy shiny!

Thats great that he's helping you. I'd maybe suggest these 2 tests: Paint test: Bring him a scrap of material, (spare ABS, styrene, just some bigger trimmed piece from your armor you don't need - make sure you know what plastic it is) and use a scotch brite pad to roughen it up, and clean it with alcohol. Get him to just spray it with whatever is in his gun at the time of an autobody repair. Doesn't matter what color. Just get him to spray it with primer and paint when he's repainting a car. Let it sit for a month, then bend it and see if it cracks. If the paint is "wavy" you know that the reducer was too strong for the plastic. If it cracks, you'll know it's not flexible enough for plastic. That will give you some info for the next test you can do at the same time. Reducer test: Have him scotch bright the plastic to roughen the surface, then clean it with the mildest reducer he has (you can get milder reducer for motorcycle plastic parts like fairings, etc..), and see if if the plastic deteriorates. If the cloth soaked with reducer starts to "pull" on the plastic (basically, it's melting it), it's too strong. If it's OK, then you can use that to reduce the paint. If this is OK, then do a 3rd test. get another scrap, roughen it up, clean it with reducer, and see if he can mix up some primer and some colored paint (not white) with the reducer to thin the paint, and add a flex agent to it to allow the paint to flex, and paint the scrap. Let this cure up for a month, and then stress test it again by flexing it, and seeing if it cracks. The reason I suggest another color is that if you use white, you won't be able to see if the paint reacted badly. If it's good to go (doesn't crack unless you bend the thing more than 90 degrees, doesn't flake off, doesn't affect the plastic surface), then you can paint the armor with automotive finishes. *This is just my personal opinion based on experience, and probably a little paranoia. Even with my brother, I wouldn't just hand him my new lid and say "Hey, go at it" with whatever is in his gun at work. I'd do the tests, just to make sure you don't mess up your whole suit!

An airbrush will give you lots of control, but the spray pattern will be really small compared to a spray can. You're going to need at least a mini spray gun or a full on autobody style sprayer to give the even coats and coverage you need. You also need a good compressor (preferably not a small diaphragm one that will "pulse" the paint) to give high enough and even enough pressure. You also should be very careful of what paints you use. Most automotive paints are lacquer based, which will EAT certain plastics. I have never tried autobody paint on ABS but on styrene, lacquer thinner will dissolve it. You need to use weaker reducers in order to make it safe to use on plastic. Sure, certain body trims are plastic, but they're not styrene. They're also not meant to flex everyday (no one cares if the paint cracks off AFTER and accident, right?) You may also need to add a flex agent to the paint to make it flexible enough for things like torsos, butt plates and shins that need to flex when you put them on. The most important thing is prepping the surface before painting (sanding, cleaning with agents, etc.), some kind of primer that will bite into the plastic, and allow the paint to adhere properly, and primer and paint that's durable and flexible. Make sure you also allow ample time for the paint to cure before stressing it too much. You could do clear coats too, but also make sure there's flex agent in it (otherwise, the clear coat will crack / spiderweb) Not saying that armor can't be done with automotive paints, you just need to do your research and test it before you paint it. *ps: my brother was an autobody technician for about 15 years painting cars, motorbikes, etc., and he also did a lot of painting for industry, displays, etc.. so he's told me all about this stuff, plus I've airbrushed a lot before for illustration and model making and prop work.