dougefresh

Those are awesome, John! Man-- again and again, I'm stupefied with the ingenuity of the people on this board... Can't you guys all get together and build a car that runs on banana peels, or something?

My boss took the whole company to see GWAR in concert a few months ago here in Denver. It was hilarious! Those guys are CRAZY! SO much fake blood! You gotta' love a band with a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex, spewing fake blood from it's newly severed head. Definitely one of the most unique concert-going experiences I've ever had.

I cannot believe no one has said anything about the fact that Paul's son is named LUKE! C'mon, people! Not one "power convertor" joke?!?!?!? I keed. I keed.

Paul, as I said before-- When I was a little kid, I would have sold my own mother to pirates to get my little mitts on this suit. That's the BEST! What a cool Dad you are!

I agree that the mini-trooper is cool.... but seriously, that's NOTHING. Ask TrooperMaster (Paul) to show you the suit he put together for his son. Everyone here is familiar with how brilliant Paul's work is-- and if you're not, do yourself a favor and look into the TM armor; it's amazing. So, picture all the good stuff about Paul's craftsmanship... at 1/4 scale. He was nice enough to show me some pictures a while back, and it's just ridiculously cute and cool. And his kid is AWESOME -- he does all the classic trooper poses and NAILS them. He's a total natural! I would have gladly sold my family into slavery for a suit like that when I was a kid. Paul-- share with the group?

I'm totally in, T! That would be awesome! And if any of us are considering going TD, I have the perfect weathering solution. It only takes about an hour... All we need is an ATV and a pineapple farm!

Best Christmas movie EVAH!!!!!!! "Scott Farkus had yellow eyes! So help me God, YELLOW eyes!" " I like the Wizard of Oz ... ... ... I like the Tin Man." "Don't bother me.... I'm... uh... I'm thinking." I could quote from that movie all day long... seriously... I have to admit, I'm a sucker for a good Perry Como Christmas tune. My Mom used to play him on 8-track around the holidays. It reminds me of being a little kid.

Okay-- I guess I'll be the board's token hipster doofus... Here's my favorite bands of all time... Soul Coughing Radiohead The Clash The Police The Beatles The Jam Elvis Costello Tom Waits English Beat Talking Heads Madness Buzzcocks Joy Division Blur Charles Mingus Thelonious Monk The Beastie Boys Public Enemy And my favorite bands du jour: The Fratellis Artic Monkeys Gomez Wilco Secret Machines Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Elbow The Arcade Fire Doves Eagles of Death Metal Editors Futureheads Tegan and Sara Lady Sovereign Interpol New Pornographers Phantom Planet Andrew Bird Lily Allen What Made Milwaukee Famous Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds The Flaming Lips LCD Soundsystem... The list goes on and on and on and on..... I'm a GIANT music geek.

The should give Paul his own CSI Show. Seriously-- you'd probably make a great forensic detective. You notice even the tiniest detail. I am going to ask TM before I do ANYTHING on my armor.

I haven't been back home in a while, but I thought it sounded wrong that you guys didn't have it. You need to hip Alain-- apparently, he is unitiated to the wonders of Craig and his list.

Even scarier -- one day, they might BREED.

Are you SERIOUS? That was their post? You need to switch departments... no more being a motorcop.... "GENE POLICE!" "OUT OF THE POOL!" Isn't it amazing what a person can do with a fourth-grade education and a liberal dose of alcohol?

Well said, my friend. Spot on.

I've already used a search on MySpace to rule out two graphic designers we were thinking of hiring at work. Note to potential job candidates: when interviewing with an Internet-based company, it *might* be a good idea to remove the twelve photos of you clearing an 8-foot "tobbacco" device. Just a tip.

I'm sorry -- I couldn't read anything past the bit about mortgage payments. The room started spinning, and I don't remember much after that. Totally off-topic, but what island do you live on, Guns? I was just in Maui -- Ka'anapaili -- this August and LOVED it. My second day there, I called my CEO and started reading from the "office space available" section of the classifieds. He wasn't havin' it. Anyway, I want to go back next summer-- maybe we could go get a beer or something.

Hey Paul-- I have a dumb question for you, if it's alright; what does GML stand for? I lose track of all the acronyms around here.

SO cool! I don't even own a TE2, and this has me completely fascinated. Thanks for taking the time to share all this with us! It's awesome!

Lookin' good, guys! I did the same thing over Thanksgiving weekend. I had all kinds of fun; goofed-up on post-turkey tryptophan, geeking out with my AP helmet. It was awesome! Can't wait to get started on the armor!

Hey Mike.... I'm a newbie when it comes to this stuff, so take what I say with an elephant-sized grain of salt, but here's my $.02.... Opinions about accuracy and quality of armor differ wildly, but this seems to be the general consensus... TE makes beautiful, incredibly authentic stuff, but he prices at a hefty premium. GINO makes amazing, highly authentic stuff as well, but it's incredibly scarce, and fabled to have a very sizeable price tag. TE2 and AP also have ties to the actual screen-used armor, but are in wider distribution and carry a mid-level price tag. Both makers/distributers seem like really solid, stand-up guys to boot. The four kits listed above do tend to be a little spendy though, and it should be noted that they were all originally built for extras and actors built between 150-160 lbs, 5'10" to 6'. The helmets are 1:1 scaled to the originals, so they're not as roomy as some of the other buckets. But such is the cost for accuracy. TM's armor is hands-down the best fan-made, all-original sculpt out there, but it's priced accordingly, and the exchange rate compounds it. (He's in England). The FX armor is widely reputed to be a good fit on larger builds, and is probably the cheapest in the bunch, but it has many inaccuracies, most notably a helmet that's oversized by about 15%. RT-Mod is another make that gets mentioned a lot as being a good fit for bigger guys. An option that seems to be growing in popularity with larger guys is purchasing a headless FX kit, and upgrading it with a more accurate bucket. If you have a smaller head, you can always pick up a TE, GINO. TE2, or AP to compliment your armor. You may have to paint everything to get it to match, however. Many people recommend an RT-Mod, or a ANH2 helmet if you have a bigger noggin', but still want something relatively accurate. All that said, if I've learned one thing, it's this: this hobby isn't cheap. Even the "bargain" FX is going to run you a few C-Notes. Prepare yourself to part with some significant cash, regardless of what armor you go with. And that's to say nothing of boots, holsters, blasters, et al. It's gonna add up. And it's addictive. The general consensus is that you can minimize costs somewhat by doing business with people through the board, and avoiding eBay. You're also 100x more likely to receive a quality product. Other than that -- you're entering the fray, my man. The merits of each set of armor make for a pretty lively debate around here. Some more civil than others. You're going to have to sift through quite a bit of salesmenship and hyperbole, unfortunately. But the bottom line is that it's all subjective. In the end, your own opinion and your own budget should be your only watermark. People will give you their opinion until your ears bleed, but ultimately, you're the one shelling out for the stuff, and you're going to be the one trooping in it. If you think it looks cool, and it makes you happy, and you can afford it, go for it. 99.99% of the guys on the board will support you, regardless.

Your armor looks AWESOME, Curtis! And your daughter's adorable. Gotta' love the mall cops. Armed with only slightly more authority than Mayor McCheese, and stuck dealing with snotty teenagers all day. What a craptacular gig that has to be.

Easy there, buddy. I may live in Denver, but I was born and raised a Canuck in Calgary, AB. Sure, you may think we Canadians seem all cute with our politeness and our exaggerated vowel sounds ("aboot"), but are we really that harmless? ... Consider the following: Almost the entire population lives within 2 hours of the US border. We're virtually indistinguishable from our US counterparts. We kick an impolite person at pond hockey. We've developed a seemingly imperturbable immunity to the French. The fact that we have legalized both medical marijuana and gay marriage without a catastrophic collapse in social sructure proves that we're indestructable. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Al -- Craigslist is one of the best/worst things ever to hit the internet in the US. It's basically a massive community-generated classified section. You can list anything -- from a house for sale, to help wanted ads, to dating personals. It's great because it's free, and is completely open. It's awful, because it's free, and completely open. It'll come to Canada soon enough, I'm sure.

Great tip, Tom! Thanks! I did the same thing when I was dremmeling out the eyes on my AP bucket. I ended up just sanding it out with some 1500 grit paper and it looks A-Okay, but I'll definitely keep your post in the back of my head when I start on the armor. God knows I'm bound to have one or two more slip-ups, as this is my first build. It never ceases to amaze me how inventive people on the board are... Seriously, if you guys channled all this creativity, you could be curing cancer, or something.

A girlfriend who not only tolerates a Star Wars obssesion, but one who *contributes* to it? She's a keeper, buddy! Good for you!

Oh, that's always a smart policy -- tease the guy with the badge and the loaded firearm. Sounds like you're dealing with a real genius there, Craig. Try to get their email address again, so I can be sure to send them their MENSA application.