snoberg

Yeah man, go back and redo cover strips. If the only thing on them is e6000 it will come apart and it wont ruin your armor, just be careful as you go. Initially I did the same thing, I overlapped all my joints. Something just did not look/feel right with it, so I took the time to make them cover stripped, and it is the best change I have made to my suit. As mentioned before, it is totally a personal choice, but I really think TK armor looks much better with strips.

The what??? Where can I hear this loop?

The aker amps can get VERY loud. More than enough for a crowded convention or outdoors. Sadly I don't think I can be much help with the hovi speaker setups. Originally I really wanted to go with hovis+ROM/FX so all the electronics are self-contained in the helmet. I just heard so many people complain that the hovi speakers don't cut it for volume that it scared me away from that setup. I have heard many people who have been very satisfied mixing ROM/FX with their akers like you mentioned. I thought that it would suck having sound coming out of the chest plate, but every time I speak it baffles everyone as to where the sound is coming from, they say it sounds just like the movies.

Are you looking for a board just for the static burst? The aker amps sold in the commissary actually have a click at the start and end of speech when using push to talk. Not to steer you away from rom/fx or others, but I love my aker, and the burst is pretty close.

The biggest piece of advice I have for you is to TAKE YOUR TIMEEEEEE Measure 5435415143 times, cut once. I say this because I made a lot of mistakes on my build, all were fixable, but it really set me back a lot. Ask any of us for help, and if you are unsure of a cut or feature of your kit, study up on it. You will have a lot of fun, building my armor was the best part of this whole adventure for me. About your blaster question, do you already have one picked out??

In my personal opinion, I would never paint my AP armor. One of the major selling points of AP is the fact that is does not require painting. That said, I novus the hell out of my armor and it looks very shiny.

Another beautiful AP joins the ranks *high5*

Thanks a lot guys! I am just working some last minute belt/holster issues and I *should* be set. The end of the semester is brutal on me this time of year, no time to play with white plastic :/

Only two had them, and since its not a requirement, I opted out since they were so uncommon. There were so many variations a person can't possibly say that one is more SA than the other, at least in my opinion.

Very few ANH blasters actually had the wires, and its not a EIB requirement so I opted out. Good catch though

Thanks Terry. You should know, that I followed your pipe build every step of the way with this one I think I will just live with the stock, unless there is an issue with it passing, but I see nowhere in the requirements that state the exact length that it extends from the end of the barrel. I am just OCD with some things

Here are some shots of my recently completed blaster, let me know if it meets all the requirements. I think I covered all my bases, the only two minor things that I am not happy with are the fact that my folding stock (despite measuring 100 times) came out about 1/4" too far out, but its not a glaring issue. Also, I did not feel comfortable bending my T track into the holes, they are glued on top of the barrel. This is the photo set I intend to use for both my 501st application and EIB, if any other angles are needed let me know please.

Right on, thanks for all the really helpful tips guys.

Terry, thanks for the awesome diagram! My current belt is indeed velcroed on, so removing it will not be too big of an issue. I think you have a really good idea. Do you think having a snap on top of a snap will make the belt sit off the armor too far though?? What do you think about instead of having a snap on the belt, to instead have three holes for my existing snaps to go through? My only concern there would be fraying along the edges of the canvas, what are your thoughts? I am just scared that having that added layer of snaps will make my belt and torso snaps be off ever so slightly and not be able to connect, if ya follow me? Paul, do you have any experience with a fill size resin blaster? I only ask cause I am not sure how much it will actually pull down on the belt. Mine feels pretty hefty, do you suggest a canvas belt with plastic reinforcement?

As I said... it was my first piece. I didn't know any better.

I never said it would pass EIB, hence my request for advice. I would like a canvas belt but all the belts people make come with snaps already installed, and the way my belt attaches is not like anything anyone sells. My attachment system will not hinder EIB, it is the material of my current belt that will. I need a sturdy belt that will be able to take advantage of my current snap system (which at this point I cannot change)

So, I am just about ready to shoot my photos for acceptance and EIB, but I have one last hurdle to overcome, and it is my belt/holster. When I first started my build, the torso was one of the first pieces I made, so I didn't have a lot of experience, and went with my own kind of wonky way of attaching my belt to my torso. Here is what I did, As you can see I use three snaps to connect the belt to the torso, one in the middle and two at each end. The belt itself attaches with velcro, and it has a hole in each end so the snap can fit through. This has actually worked really well for me, but now that my pipe build is finished, I am afraid that the belt simply will not support the weight of the holster and blaster. My belt is not reinforced with plastic like I want it to be, but I am out of options. My limitations are that the belt has to be one solid piece to each end of the plastic belt. In addition there are going to be snaps in the way, so it has to allow for them to go through. Does anyone have any ideas for me?

I LOVE my doopydoo blaster, its by far one of my favorite parts of my armor. I enjoy the fact that its heavy, it feels real, and when I hand it to little kids I get this "WHOAH, is this REAL!?!?!" expression out of them. Some parts need a little fine sanding to be nice and smooth, but its worth the work. I am scared of breaking it though, I have heard of breaking, so everything has been pinned and glued very securely. *knocks on wood* Also, I gotta thank panda for his awesome build thread, it got me through my own build flawlessly.

Aker all the way, it is the single most complimented aspect of my gear, from random kids to star wars know it alls.

Haha, MY armor doesn't even have a rom/fx! I expect to see some father-son Halloween an impolite person kickin!

Right now my E11 is satin black, its solid black, and I think it looks really good especially considering my trooper is a little more idealized, and I intend to keep the armor polished and shiny. A little weathering on the blaster might still be good though, I have never done it though. Cant decide, plus I would need to sand the whole thing down, might be a chore to repaint.

When you put the plate on your hand, the smaller front edge goes where your thumb is (if that makes sense, I'm too lazy to take a pic sorry, haha.)

Do you have pics of that hammered metal finish on your build?

I would like to get a thread going of what you guys are using to paint your blasters, and what is doing the best for you all. I personally have used Krylon satin black with a satin clear finish coat for some extra protection. What about you guys?

On a side note, are ANH vocoders supposed to be gloss black?