Shooter

The instructions included are for an overlap, so if you're going for ANH follow stuka's build that DarkTrooper posted. Also, they recommend velcro strapping system, but a snap system is much better, a tutorial can be found here The velcro included isn't very strong, go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some industrial strength, it also comes in white. Good luck!

I would recommend a snaps system instead of velcro, but if you are using velcro, buy the industrial strength stuff. Regular velcro doesn't stand up very well to the rigors of trooping and the industrial strength already has adhesive on it, no extra glue required, available at Home Depot and Lowes.

"Machine gun in a shopping bag" - Awesome Great job, looks fantastic.

Congrats on the 2k Brian and thanks for all of your hard work!

"I've had the most peculiar dream." (when R2 is pulling his head) - "This is such a drag."

"Do you hear that? That's the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way."

IMHO, If you can afford it, then there really is no comparison - AP. I've heard great things about AM, but I doubt anyone would argue the accuracy of AP v AM. I'm 5'11" 210 lbs and have large thighs as well (27" tree trunks) and with some shimming it was no problem to make the AP kit work.

IMHO, If you can afford it, then there really is no comparison - AP. I've heard great things about AM, but I doubt anyone would argue the accuracy of AP v AM. I'm 5'11" 210 lbs and have large thighs as well (27" tree trunks) and with some shimming it was no problem to make the AP kit work.

Great pics Pat! Thanks for sharing

Yeah, Peter's a great guy. I escorted him to one of his panels and I couldn't believe how tall he was, and tough to keep up with! Long strides and all

Ha, wow, that was weird. Our booth was in the lower level, but we had all sorts in costume trooping on the 2 main levels, there was over 80 of us there total. Sorry you missed us Steve, next year for sure.

Yep, it's also a good idea to look out for groups of teenages (stupid kids and their music They should be easy to spot tho, because they'll be in a group trying to get up the courage to do something stupid. We've had a few times where they try to grab thermal detonators. You may also want to wear a 501st shirt so you're easily identifiable. Saying that, 9 times out of 10 everything goes great, so have fun and enjoy watching the looks of excitement on kids and parents faces alike

I'll be there for the duration Steve, looking forward to meeting you.

Happy Bday Brian!

Here's a good tutorial: http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/snaps.html

Make sure you go to the bathroom before you suit up. You don't want to be squirming around when people are trying to take their pic with you I always pack a "fix-it" kit with lots of batteries, white duct tape, velcro, foam padding, scissors etc, etc. Also, if it's a multi-day con like C5 you may want to invest in some extra under armour (for obvious reasons Enjoy and post some pics when you get back!

Dennis is right, the correct number of ear bumps are mandatory for EIB. Correct number of teeth are also a requirement. There are a few threads of guys who have modded a Stunt to Hero so I would check those out. I believe Bondo works best.

I've found that after trooping (especially if I can't get my gear out of the bag quickly) that my armor does yellow around the peaks. It is a quick fix with Novus polish tho. Hope that helps.

With Testors it's really important to both shake and stir. They tend to settle (like most enamels) especially if they were sitting too long on the shelf of the store. I shake, stir then shake again. When shaking, do it at least 2-3 mins. It won't help your current situation, but might help in the future I too had trouble with the opening (my head is 7 5/8') I recommend trimming a little bit at a time until you get it right. Also, pick up some accurate neck trim. I got mine from Mike TK 4510, very pleased with it.

Looking good Trooper. You will need a pic of showing the green in the lenses. That is an awesome Sterling you have!

Hard to say for sure, but looks like an AP to me. Is it painted?

I highly recommend dealing with Slavefive directly. I went through the website and it turned into a disaster before he caught wind of it. He's a great guy.

IMHO it's a very dangerous game. I heated up my side-gap shims and ruined a piece before I got it right, and all I was doing was giving a flat piece of ABS a slight bend. I found when you give it too much heat it gets weird bumps and is a little unpredictable. My $0.02

Yep, I also used 20mm on the forearms. My recommendation is, if you have to shim, add it to the back only if you can and leave the front as canon as possible.

Thanks Guys, finished it up the other night, to my surprise all it took was adding two males to the canvas on either end to line up with my existing two females on the ABS Belt. I then added a female in the middle of the canvas to line up with the existing male in the middle of my ab. Worked great, no slippage at all. Flukestarbucker's belts come with that pre-inserted and moulded to wrap around the torso. Great belt. Thanks again to everyone for all of your help!