SolderMaster

YES! Thank you RogueTrooper!! You have been most helpful! Keep up the quality posts!

I'll pick some up this weekend and ship them to ya, how's that? Shoot me a PM and we can work out the details.

DROOLING!!!!

Here they are. I used an Exacto knife to shear off the rail. Then, I began removing the scope from the rail. Here's a pic of the bolt before doing something with it. Once I get the rail, I'll prolly glue the scope back on once I mod it. Should be easier to mod with it off the rail.

Sweet, a reply! lol Ya, I have since removed the scope and rail. If you look at the first pics of the HF, there was fill under the rail which looked kinda hokey. I also want to mod the scope with an optical lens of sorts. I'd also like to: Bore out the "holes" on the barrel and the barrel itself Remove the rubber hex head screws on the muzzle and replace with real ones MAYBE bore out the bolt slide area replace or modify the bolt...this one had an air bubble when it was formed and looks fake...I know it is...but ...you know. MAYBE add cooling wires Other than that...I'm up for ideas. I'm gonna check at work for a piece of steel to use for the rail. I have a piece of aluminum here but its real flimsy and prone to bending. I'll upload some pics in a few...

No replies? Does it look THAT bad?

Great find! I'll be visiting Lowes tomorrow. I'll get some extra for people who don't have any available nearby. Troopers helping troopers, I'm on it! Nothing found at the Lowe's by me. They only have steel drawer guides.

Look at all that white shiny shrapnel!! Congrats on getting your armor. I should have my RT-MOD armor in the next few weeks! Take you time and have fun!

Then I used a drill bit to drill into the end cap lug for my D-ring. I had to bend the D-ring to get it to fit. Then, bend it back to get the shape. This left some marks on the D-ring which looks kinda nice. Little used weathered look. I think I'll leave it. I may put a little clearcoat over it so it won't rust...or not. I'm pretty happy with the placement. What do you all think? I'm gonna pick up some more stuff tomorrow for it. Try to find some aluminum for the scope rail. I may mod the front cap hex screw heads, remove the rubber for real ones. Gonna need a variable Dremel for that. Grab some silver paint for the ejection port and other metal finishings. More pics coming tomorrow.

OK, I've began the modding process of the ANH HF E-11. I started by drilling a hole into the "fill" area. Then using a razor knife, I outlined where I wanted to remove the material and began "skinning". I didn't have a variable speed Dremel, mine is only one speed, super holy crap FAST, so instead of risking it, I went to the basement and used my Weller soldering iron. I turned on the iron to around 725 degrees F and began what I call melt-carving. No pics of that yet, tho... Once I got most of the material carved out, I stopped. I need to pick up a couple small files to complete the material removal.

I emailed Rob, He said he doesn't normally do bumps but he would for me! I emailed him back asking for 4 bumps. Thanks Rob!!

Thanks for the heads up JohnQPS122, your shadowing makes the flat look nice! I just emailed Rob about it. I have a few ideas on how to make them if indeed the lid comes without bumps.

Ya, when I ordered the armor, I wasn't aware of this. But, being glued to this forum for over a month, I've learned many things. Here is Rob's site www.rt-mod.com click on Enter Site, Projects, Stormtrooper, My Helmet. I wonder if I should have him ship the helmet without decals. Then I can add the bumps myself and paint the ears...depending on how that goes, I may paint the vents, tear drops too. I was going to paint the teeth also. Oh, if someone would give me some measurements of the bumps, rough estimates, I can figure out what materials I can use to make them. I grabbed some stuff from work to tinker with. I think the bumps will add some more accuracy to an already nice lid. I may intergrate a couple buttons in the bumps to work with my ROM/FX features...

Ok, my RT-MOD armor should be here next month. I found an RT build thread and noticed the ears being flat. I'm curious as to how troopers have modded their ears. I'll need 4 bumps for ANH stunt. Are there any other mods/drawbacks that I should be aware of? Just want to have all the materials for when the armor arrives. Or being making the bumps now.

I received my Hyperfirm today! One word... AWESOME! I'll post pics after I get them uploaded to photobucket. Ok here is the "stock" Hyperfirm E-11 ANH... Top View Back w/o D-ring Front right Front left Cylinders and counter And one of it in Anrev's ANH holster I will be modding this a bit. Barrel, front sights, scope, cooling cylinder coils, D-ring, ejection port and maybe some more weathering.

Following the advice of my squad leader, I got one of these...---------- It fits perfect! He said his has lasted him 7 years!

Ok got it. Thanks tkrestonva!

You're lookin great, Rob. Congrats on your acceptance into the 501st! I commented on one of your pics in your build. Thanks for the quick reply. I should be building my RT-MOD soon! Post pics of your first troop! Can't wait to see all the fun you'll have!

Thanks guys! I got a few more things today. My inner drop boxes, non-latex hand plates with accurate rubber gloves, D-ring, and 2 fans. Gonna see if I can post pics on here like many of you do...not just a link... See if that works.... YUP! Ok How do you get the picks to actually show up in the thread without having to go to photobucket to view them?

Ok, I got the Menards equivilant to those from Tandy. I bought the kit and 2 packs of extras. 18 in total. I also picked up 4 tubes of E6000 and a pair of Rugged Wear mechanics gloves. They are black with white logo on the back of the hand. And white on the Velcro wrist. I will assume that the hand plate and forearm will cover these areas. If not, I can color it black. Great tip darthfoster, thanks. I'm sure that will get utilized during my build. It shouldn't be long now...ROM/FX is paid for, just waiting for TK256 to get it made and shipped. Armor should be here in a month or so, so that timing should be close. Also got my size 10 TKBoots. Still not sure what I'm gonna do with the size 11s... Wire loom came today. Ready to pimp that bucket...when it arrives, that is..lol I also got 2" x 5' of black industrial grade Velcro from Menards. That should be enough. $8 can't go wrong.

My 12 year old daughter uses: Epic = Totally awesome, great, etc.

Nice work, Stuka! Once I get all of my armor and eletronics, I was thinking of doing the same thing. Only, I may intergrate a 2-way radio into it as well. I think it would be great for large events where there are huge crowds. Could be used for comms between troopers, spotters, handlers, and photographers. Has this been attempted? When waiting for armor, you think of all types of crazy ideas. Now, if I can only think of a way to get my wife into a costume...

As Joe Dirt would say.." DAAAAAAAAAAANNNNGGG!" Your posts are much appreciated. Thanks!

Wow, Robert...what a story. First, you will always have a family here on the FISD. I'm sure I can speak for most when I say we're here for you. You and your loving wife. With that said... I understand how you feel about telling people what your new hobby is. I'm a husband of 11 years, father of 3, and work fulltime. I moved to a wonderful neighborhood a year and a half ago. My wife and I wanted to get out for the school district we had our kids in and into one with more...ummm...stability. My sister and her family live out here too which made it a pretty easy choice. The school's are great out here to say the least...sorry rambling... Anywho, I have loved Star Wars since I saw the first movie. ANH, prolly when I was 7 or so. I can remember in 2nd or 3rd grade, my mom went to pick up my Halloween costume for me to wear to school the following day. When I opened the package on the morning of school, I was horrified. She had purchased me a C-3PO suit but the mask was of Admiral Akbar! Needless to say, I wore the costume and paraded through the school when it was time and just took in all the rude comments. But, the love for SW continued... A few years ago, I wanted to be Darth Vader for Halloween. I searched the internet and came across the Rubies. I bought the costume and tried it on. The undersuit was extremely tight and I went online to look for the website I had purchased it from to ask for an exchange. In doing so, I came across the 501st. I don't remember exactly what about the 501st, but I saw some pics of their costumes, and I knew it was WAY better looking than the Rubies I had just tried on. I searched youtube for Darth Vader costumes, and with that, saw loads of Stormtroopers. In watching a few videos, I was hooked. What a great costume! Then, I went back to the 501st website and read about what it was all about. I found the WI Squad and emailed the site. Within a day, the leader emailed me back with info about what they are, what they do, and so on. He explained that armor is not cheap and neither is all the accessories to go with it. I understood but still had the itch. When the following tax refund time came and went, I was discouraged about not being able to afford armor. The idea of being a Stormtrooper and trooping with the 501st faded...Then, last summer, I got a phone call. It was the leader of the WI Squad! He asked if I was still interested and talked to me for about 30 minutes explaining the different types of events they attended that year and how everyone has so much fun. It was really awesome, to me, for him to call and care about if I was still interested and how I was doing. I thought to myself this guy really gives a hoot! I was estatic when I hung up the phone. WOW. I HAVE TO JOIN! Back in January of this year, I knew for certain I could afford a set of armor, it was just a matter of explaining everything to my wife. She's not a fan of SW like I am...watching the movies a few times a year...but she saw how passionate I was about wanting to join, she agreed to give me an "allowance"... Now, let's get back to "How do you tell someone you want to be a Stormtrooper?" The past few weeks I have been ordering parts. A holster here, a neck seal there. I waas telling a friend at work about what I was getting in the mail that day, the TKBoots, He says, "What do you need white boots for?" So, being excited about it, I say "They're my Stormtrooper boots!" The look on his face was like.. WHA!? WTF do you need those for. I explained and he still had the WHA!? look. My supervisor overheard us and wanted to know "Who bought white boots?" He thought I was nuts. I tried to explain what the 501st is and what they do, but both kinda shrugged me off as "What a freak". Then, try and tell my family about it...I think they think I'm going through a mid-life crisis or something. I know once they see me in my armor and attend a troop or two, they'll understand why I enjoy it so much. Not only is it fun BEING an action figure, but seeing the smiles on the kids' faces is the icing on the cake. I sound like I have trooped before, but I haven't. I have seen the WI Squad in person once. Taking pictures with people, kids included, smiling from ear to ear. I have prolly watched 99% of the trooping videos on youtube and I'm just stoked. (Geez, sorry for rambling again) Even though I DO have people around me that are in the 501st, feeling like an outcast is somewhat familiar to me. You see, on the side, I repair and modify gaming consoles. Electronics and computers come pretty naturally to me. And my friends and family all come to me with problems. My PC is slow, or my Wii won't read games, or can you take a look at this? Am I the only person out of all the people you know that know how to fix this stuff? I mean, I guess it's cool in some ways but I fell like I'm the only one. You, on the other hand, have a passion. The only thing I can tell you is you will be welcomed where ever you decide to go. I have never met a more willing to go out of their way to help bunch of people in my life, even if it has been only internet conversations thus far. The responces and advice I have been given to date is overwhelmingly kind. I invite you to live in my town. I would love to have a trooping buddy a few doors down. Maybe your wife can get my wife into a Biker costume! That would rock. PM me if you need anything, and I mean, ANYTHING!

I have received my neck seal from TK409. It's simply awesome. So, I have in my possession: ANH holster from Anrev, Neck Seal from TK409, Voice Amp/wireless mic from FamilyJim, Boots from TKBoots, and YES, they are Totally Killer! Sizes 10 and 11 Undersuit from 123scuba.com Nice suit, fits great. (may need a emergency zipper mod) Hyperfirm E-11 ANH Snaps with setter Wire loom for bucket pimpin Fans and battery boxes for bucket pimpin non-latex hand plates with rubber gloves, mechanics gloves (Rugged Wear) Hard hat liner for bucket 4 tubes of E6000 Industrial Velcro 2" x 6' black spring clamps, bar clamps, earth magnets Green flat lenses I am waiting for (purchased) TK Handcuffs from ajax407, shipped. RT-MOD armor from Rob. ( www.rt-mod.com ) Hopefully being formed now...ETA mid to late March. ROM/FX Shopping list items: (still need to get) Elastic - JoAnn Fabrics or similar store Snap tool/pliers Novus Polish - ebay or store Some type of garter for thigh armor suspenders for chest/back armor Black rubber paint Tote for carrying armor Bucket bag made from soft material Small switches Hard hat liner for bucket... soft padded material for liner Ok...what did I forget? Waiting sucks! lol