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Hmm your a bit off unless I wasnt sold what I thought I bought The one on the left is a T/MC ANH helm. Its almost identical to my AP. The one on the right is a signed TE RotJ. They are very different. My camera angle maybe is not the best to show a comparison. Rob

Ok Ill send Tray a request. Hopefully he can get me something. Thanks for checking Terry.

Form the backs to fit closer at the velcro lap. (Which I did perfectly) Unfortunately I didn't notice the heat hitting other areas

Heres the disaster! Its not too too bad. Probably not noticable by the average onlooker. But I know its there Inside cover strip warped bad when I tried to reheat to fix the two bubbles.

Thanks Terry. Ill post up a pic or two tonight after work.

Well I managed to get the backs formed up nice and tight. But in doing so I did not notice the front of the shins melting My left shin now has a couple bad craters in it. Ive tried reheating it to push them back down but it just seems to make things worse. Anyone want a job? lol Ive either got to ship this shin to someone who knows how to fix it (Id gladly pay) Or Im going to have to order up a replacement. Any takers? I can post up a picture of the damage if needed.

Thanks Ok I started assembling the shins today by trimming the lap on the front down for butt joining. Going with 20mm wide cover strips in back and front. First thing I did was reduce the size of the laps down to 11mm/11mm then glued and clamped the back piece in first. I left it long on the inside so I could trim it exact after its together. Then I secured the other half to the backer butt to butt leaving a 24mm flat +/- a mm or 2. I let that set for a few minutes before putting the outer cover strip on which was measured to fit perfect and had the corners nipped on a 45 degree already. Heres a pic with them on and sniper plate riveted on. They fit perfectly and will need minimal padding just to keep them from rotating I think. I lapped the back and used velcro to secure. Its not a perfect closure but Im not sure how to make it close better. Anyone have a better method for closing the backs? Should I try heating up the shins to better round the back to fit more snug?

ya I just bought a 2 piece black sport underarmor. The two piece is nice for making washroom breaks that much more easier.

Ya thats awesome!

Cool Idea! I opted to velcro it in there along with some padding tonight: I also glued on the ab button plates and painted the buttons. The Kit came with stencils for this and they worked great. So here is the completed T/MC helmet beside my RotJ TE just for comparison. I cant believe how different they are when you see them side by side. The ANH style is so wide compared to the RotJ. Hoping to get a good amount of time on sanding everything this week. Then Ill start trimming the armor laps down for butt joining.

Quick question. Is Mesh behind the frown EIB Acceptable?

Thanks Tom! Ya I raised it once already lol. Had the RotJ furrowed brow going on I wil definetely trim another 1/4 inch off the cap and raise it up. Appreciate the comments and help.

For the hovi mesh do I friction fit them in the ends or secure them with some glue or something? Update: Ok I jammed them in and then used some CA glue to secure them. I was able to finish up alot of the Helmet. Just have the ear bumps and some extra coats and touch ups left to do I think. Oh and some padding on the inside. Let me know what you guys think. Im hoping to go ANH EIB Stunt with this. I followed TK4510s helmet assembly tutorial pretty much 100% so I didnt think archiving my progress would help anyone Thank you Mike.

Ya just had a dinged up one laying around so I figured why not? lol It is handy for the light thats for sure. But Its nice to keep fumes pulled out as well. Its winter time here so I cant have the doors open.

Thanks Tom. I actually have some JB weld around here somewhere. Ill get on that!

Ok so Ive attacked the trimming full force! Heres the set laid out pre trimmage: Heres the pile of plastic I buried my feet in!! I didnt stop for anything and finished all the trimming last night. Ive got a couple blisters to show for it from using my snips non stop lol One thing I will say is that I started out by doing the score and bend method and quickly gave up. It would have taken me a week to do it that way and probably several pints of blood and armor gouges as well. So I went with my aviation snips (Reds and greens) Which is how I trimmed my Animated Series Clone and it worked great. When I cut I leave the pencil line. Just to allow some room for sanding. I also cut up from the outside to the line every inch or so on the radius cuts. This makes it easier for the snips to carry on. Today I tackled the Helmet. Its almost done and Ill post some pics tommorow on that. I do have a couple questions though. 1. Im planning on butt joining all the pieces and using cover strips. Butting both halves of any piece together makes the flat about 2 inches! Im assuming the armor was designed to be lap fitted. So do I have to cut half the lap from both sides of each piece in order to get down to a cover strip of about 1 inch? 2. my Hovi mic tip aerators came with a couple screws and nuts. But they are not affixed to the Hovis. How do you attach the screws to the hovis? Im gonna guess that I have to drill a hole inside the hovi and then paint or cover the head after on the inside under the mesh?

I will keep that in mind Terry. Im going EIB ANH with this. Stunt.

Well my T/MC kit arrived today! (Thank you Tray) So far Ive started sorting through the box of goodies and everything looks great! I was especially pleased to see it very well protected and packaged. Another great thing I see is that the maker or Tray has written on various pieces some really helpfull hints on trimming and assembly. That is a great surprise and much appreciated. I will keep a running thread here for the archives and for help and feedback. Cant wait to get started. Hopefully will find some time this weekend to dive in. Forgot to mention this originally but the kit also contained a dvd with pictures on assembly tips as well as a complete list of misc parts and tools you would need that are not in the kit. elastic, snaps,paint.rivets,sandpaper, glue, clamps etc etc etc etc etc etc. Which is a really really great resource especially if this is your first build.

Thats the post! Thanks Allen.

There is another thread around here somewhere posted by one of the prop guys who actually works on the TK armor that Disney has at Hollywood studios. I cant find it at the moment but he certainly tries very hard to make the Disney stuff as authentic as possible within the constraints and budget he has from Disney. The cast members have to be able to dance and move very vigorously as you probably know. The suits have to withstand alot of constant use etc. So some detail and authenticity has to be missed. If I can locate that post Ill link it to you.

Mos tif not all of us have experienced the anxiety of waiting for something you already payed for in this hobby. But Ive always gotten the product eventually. Its the nature of the beast. Im sure AP will deliver. Hes got more than just 1 order riding on his reputation. But I might suggest that the list of armor makers and their availability times gets updated in the "Where to buy armor" thread. Hang in there bud.

one of the best Newsletters yet! Great work team. Thank you

I know I know! Its so weird to think Im closer to Central Garrison events where I live than Iam to events which are in the same province as me here in Ontario lol. We are already planning on Fan Expo so Ill definetely see all my fellow canadian troopers then. Maybe earlier time permitting.

Thanks Steve. You should see if you can register on the Central Garrison Forums. They have an area there for the Dakotas which is how I learn about events in the midwest USA.