Terry19D

I've not really thought about it that way before in a TK, although I do wear one as Vader for the same reason. Since I don't use a neck brace, the balaclava helps blend in the back of my neck with the lower portion of the dome. I may try this out at CVI.

I will definitely be present.

I had this issue, as well, on my old FX armor. I used some extra panels of ABS that color-matched fairly closely and just secured them across the gaps with Velcro. It looked quite clean, although I was not securing the ab/kidney plates movie-accurate so I didn't need to be concerned with the elastic straps showing across the shims.

Hello Tony. What about the helmet do you not care for? Would you rather find one that is fully assembled, or is there some detail or other you like better on another helmet? EIB stands for Expert Infantry Badge. It's a fully voluntary program here at FISD that represents another level of costuming accuracy. For example, the T/MC description talks about the resin-cast hovi mic tips being acceptable for EIB. What that means is that the overall look of those mic tips is accurate enough to what was seen on-screen in ANH to be used for EIB acceptance, if the person building the costume wants to go for it. You can find out more about EIB as well as the Centurion program here on the forums, under the "Advanced Tactics" header on the main forum page. Since this is ABS armor it does not require paint - just a good polish with Novus or another brand of polish for plastics. It can be painted if you want, but I think it looks good as is.

To the best of my knowledge, RT-Mod still has the longest thigh and shin armor pieces. However, they are also designed to accommodate larger troopers, as well. I'm 6'3" and 200 lbs and had to trim a fair amount off the girth of the thighs to have them fit properly. I didn't have to do any trimming from the shins, just had to add a little internal padding and they fit fine. I'm quite happy with both sets.

Correct. The shoulder bells are then attached to the white elastic and not to the shoulder bridges.

I received my EIBs with RT armor, and the ANH one with a slightly modified RT helmet. I had to change out the smoke-colored lenses for green ones and add the third screw underneath the tube on each side, but that's it as everything else was good to go. Although it is a little larger than a screen-accurate bucket, it's not so much larger as to be out of place, and the bit of extra room inside is nice. Agreed on the additional length of the ab/cod/kidney/butt sections. I'm 6'3" and they look proportional. Good stuff!

Congratulations, Tim! Nicely done. I'm impressed at the stenciling you used for your helmet's tears/traps. Now, back to work on converting my armor for Centurion status. All of these great suits are definitely motivating me to keep going.

I use Novus polish on my RT suit, helmet & AP helmet. Nice and pretty simple to use. It comes in three different kinds: #1 is a straight up polish; #2 is a light scratch remover; and #3 is for heavier scratches & blemishes. When I use either #2 or #3 I always go back over the area with the #1 polish to get the armor looking shiny once more. I am not sure if Novus will be good on the gunner's helmet or not. It's really made specifically for plastics, and if that helmet is fiberglass, I don't know that I would use it.

I may be off of my descriptions, but this is what I've taken the terms trimmed and untrimmed. First off, it depends on the kit's definition of trimmed. It could mean that all of the pieces are cut down to a certain size, but often what it means is that all of the extra plastic that is attached to the pieces when they come out of the molds has been removed, leaving the edges fairly clean and ready for measuring/assembly. That leads to the differences between trimmed and untrimmed. Trimmed armor can have flanges built into the pieces (often the arms & legs) so that all you have to do is match them up, glue/Velcro, and they are together. Untrimmed, in addition to usually needing some cleanup before assembly, needs to be cut to the builder's size. Some armor that comes untrimmed, such as AP, also has suggested cut lines molded into them to speed up trimming & assembly. Those lines are not accurate for all wearers, though, so a builder may need to ignore them. Other types of armor are untrimmed and require careful measuring in order to fit all the pieces together properly. AP, TE2, and TM for sure are also armor types that take advantage of using screen-accurate fitting strips on the arms & legs. Not all types may be able to do this, or at least not without some difficulty. Hopefully I came somewhat close to defining the terms for understanding.

I'll be there with my ESB trooper gear. No name badge for me - you'll just have to guess who I am.

That comment almost sounds like Terrell's ready for another Rubies EIB request... Nice job, Nasir! Awesome that you finally got this kit up and going. I do like how the AM suit looks, and the more builds I see the better I like it. Welcome to the ranks of the Empire's finest!

Using rare-earth magnets as tools for helping keep the joints together for E6000 drying is such a good idea. I realize this build isn't the first to utilize the method, but seeing you use them reminds me that I wish I had thought of it when I was putting together any of my TK armor. 2 years without an upgrade? Yep, I'd say it's past time. The AM kit looks nice, and yours is well on its way of looking great! Oh, for your triple EIB, what kind of helmet are you picking up for ESB, or do you already have one?

Very nice job, Stefan. The only bit that I can see that might need confirmation is showing the green tint of the lenses, even though you did state that they are in your description. But that's a little thing. Your TM suit looks awesome! And a little off-topic, but I know that your ROTS Vader is going to be awesome, too, considering the attention to detail you put into your TK suits.

Great job, Al. That AP suit looks fantastic. Did you affix the left ab shim more-or-less permanently to the armor with the rivets, or are the rivets for show? I'm thinking about adding them on, too, but I don't know if I want it to be permanent or not.