gazmosis

Let us know how this works.

SEE THIS!!!!!! This is the way side rivets should look. Nice work!!! As for your garter, make sure the attachments you have coming off the belt don't show too much in the space between your thigh and the cod.

There are a lot of new troopers who go off one image and think it's how they all should be. It happens. You are better off staying with the "stunt" version seeing as your helmet would need to be completely re-build for the hero version. Eric and Matt were correct by mentioning the 4 rivet attachments. This needs to be changed to 2 placed in the lower third portion of the belt. Once your accessories arrive, you should be good for basic approval. I still would try to raise your belt a little for a more balanced look.

Thank you, Todd for following up. Everything meets the criteria for EIB and it has been passed!!! Through you efforts, you have taken a suit that has been frowned upon and made it something that is a pleasure to look at. Your hard work had earner you your 5th EIB award. Congratulations!!!!!

Happy new year back, young man! congratulations on your EIB and thank you for your efforts to update. You have incredible armor that I hope you will get Centurion approved. If you choose to apply however, there are a couple small adjustments that need to be made. First are the rivets on your left side. Although you have done some trimming, they are still well beyond the 10MM from the edge on the ab that they need to be. The rivets on the kidney look much closer so if you make them the same that should be fine. You look like you still have plenty of room to do that. Second are the belt straps of your holster. The straps are a little wide. They should be around 20MM (3/4inch). Scuff those pretty boots up a little and you should have no problem.

Since Paul brings up boots, make sure you have the boots on when sizing your shins.

Didn;t see that $40 shipping charge. But Vern is right, it looks like a doopys build. It would pass Centurion. You can even put a spring in it. It says the butt cap is removable. IT was brought to my attention the fact that I combined an upgrade idea with a Centurion requirement. IT IS NOT A REQUIREMENT TO HAVE A SPRING!! In some cases actually impossible to have a spring. I am sorry if I caused any confusion.

Well that is just the nature of that particular armor set. You are correct that most other armors are not overlapping, but that is because they were built that way. You could do some trimming but you would probably be better off ordering a different back plate as the more accurate armors have much smaller backs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/star-wars-storm-trooper-blaster-e-11-replica-prop-/231125076285?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item35d020c93d In case someone needs a decent blaster at a decent price.

Those boots need a little updating but not a bad job. Along with the other great suggestions, I would raise up your belt as well. It should be positioned right under your ab button plate You do plan on using something other than tape to hold the backs of your thighs and shins together, right? The elastic strap that is holding your back and chest should be moved up a few inches so it can't be seen. 501st approval is not far away!!! Keep it up!

You should be happy with that sniper! Every sniper plate is a battle. You won!

Just gorgeous.

A piece of information for you and working with black ABS. If you bend or cut the ABS(like your waist belt or power pack for the thigh), you will end up with a white edge or something considerably lighter than your ABS. You can get rid of this instantly and permanently by just waving a heat source over the area. I used a propane torch on the lowest possible flame.

Thank you very much, everyone!! The best looking Garrisons start here! Troopers helping troopers will always be the words to live by!

Apologies in regards to the timeframe of this response. Because of the nature of this armor, you can expect that this needed to be looked over with great care and interest. If I could, I would pass this based on your efforts alone, Todd. A well done transformation of a historically frowned upon set of armor. You are so close with this I want to get this this through quickly and with a minimal amount of adjustments this will happen. CRL Requirements: The outer edges of your frown are squared off. Please adjust these to look more rounded, I have reviewed over and over the bucket off shot to see if the 1/4" straps on the inside of your shoulder bells are present. If they are, could you provide a clearer picture and if not, this needs to be updated. Photo Requirements: I just need a shot of the inside of your armor. Other- Armor Fit / Assembly: Although EIB will not be affected by these, here are a few suggestions. Your forearms seem to fall a bit over your wrist. I know because of the pre-assembled diameter this is no fault of your own, but perhaps for more comfort you could install straps between the biceps and forearms to raise them slightly. The weathering on the Hyperfirm blasters has always been extreme to me. I would knock back the weathering on the grip. These were originally gloss black plastic.Gloss black paint has a hard time sticking to the rubber compound but again, this is just a suggestion. And lastly regarding your holster. Although nothing is noted regarding the requirements for the hardware that attaches the belt straps to to the main body, they have always been shown to have a rivet like appearance. I would reverse the Chicago screw so the "screw head" portion faces the rear. Thank you for your stellar efforts on this!

Woo hoo!!!

As for the mouth frown: keep in mind this is something that was invented by the 501st. What you keep it adhered with is a matter of convenience. You want it secured. Any Velcro adhesive over time will lose it's capability of attaching...especially if you troop a lot. The Velcro can only take so much pulling apart. E6000 is a good option for this. You might even look into the metal closure hooks. They are an easy install and you really won't need to concern yourself with Velcro issues on your calves again. Hot glue is an option for keeping helmet padding in place but be careful NOT to apply the hot glue directly to the helmet. It could melt it.

Stunning work one helmet!

You are a go getter! Great progress so far! Watch the fit of your thighs. No matter if you are a thin guy or a thicker trooper, , the human thigh is conic in shape. It is a smaller diameter the closer you get to the knee. From the one shot of the thigh test fit, it looks like there is a huge amount of room around the knee area. I would definitely refit this with someone's help so they look more proportionate to your legs. The shoulder straps should float freely on your back. I don't know if you put the Velcro on your back for the pic but it should be removed for your final armor.

That would probably explain why there are so few surviving helmets in existence.

When installing the rivets on your thigh pack, make sure you get an extra one for the crotch on the bottom of the cod cup. A male snap as you have it is not acceptable. The outside of the left grieve needs to overlap the inside. Case closed. I would not be surprised if you are asked to trim a little more out of the return edge on your forearm wrists. The return edge needs to be gone even in the raised area of the indent squares on top of the forearm. The side rivet placements are distracting. For consistency, we all know about 10mm in from the edge which it looks like you have. But as for top to bottom placement, if the rivet is 1 inch from the top in the ab, it should be 1 inch from the top on the kidney. Although not a requirement, photo references show this should be consistent.

There are factors regarding the ATA molds that we just have to deal with. It is just my $.02, but I believe there are far too many raised cover strip ridges that need to be removed from the molds. Biceps, forearm undersides, rear of both thighs and grieves. But until this happens it is what it is. The fact that there is extra material on the back for us larger troopers is a gift. In my opinion, the rear cover strips as you have them are far more distracting than the ridge that is molded into the armor. Since the cover strip in its final resting place sits higher than the surrounding armor, it becomes the prominent focus of the eye. If you make your cover strip the 25mm width it should be, the eye will focus on that.....not the molded ridge. You can't change the molded ridge, buy you CAN change the with of the strip.

I know these things can be a little bit of a pain, but I assure you it is just because we want you looking your best. Great work, Ray!!

We all get so wrapped up (including myself) it's just good to know where things came from. We will inevitably be asked at some point

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