Rich330

Getting close to completing the armour now. Strapping pretty much all in place. Here are a few photos of the strapping system and my initial test fitting. So far so good but I’m going to put my undersuit and boots on for a full fitting today.

Appreciate it too, mate. Looks like they only really attach to the back too, rather than cupping the pipe from underneath. I might try and recreate something from aluminium strip later.

OK, cheers, Paul. Phase 1 of the build is without a holster but it looks like most (all) of the troopers on the Death Star had them so I will eventually get one. I realise the clips are far from accurate. Had a set of Jesse's posh clips lying round and admit to cutting corners on that one

Another quick question ... Visible rivets (on the belt and sniper plate etc.) - paint them white or leave them plain? What's the consensus?

The CfO boxes are 126 mm x 65 mm. The inner drop boxes are these: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=8638&st=0. They are designed specifically for TE derived armour. The question is though, were the drop boxes on ROTJ suits the same size as the ANH suits? I don't know whether it's my eyes or what but they seem to vary in length in the screen caps.

Quick note ... You'll no doubt see that my inner drop boxes are quite a bit smaller than the outer drop boxes. The CfO kit does not include inner drop boxes so I bought a set of Kevin's. It looks like ROTJ drop boxes were a bit longer than ANH. I'm not entirely certain though. Maybe someone can chime in.

I put together a belt assembly this morning. Again, no claims for the accuracy of the fastening method. This is designed to be functional on the inside and look as accurate as possible on the outside. The visible rivets are in pretty much the right place; on the inside I went for a system of snaps so that I can easily replace the belt material if I wish.

I’m not quite sure what to do with the backs of the calves yet. I have quite thick ankles and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to close the backs without some extra material. I have cut them with a lot of allowance so far and might just try leaving them with the extra material. It looks a little weird so I may trim to the natural line and then insert some kind of shim to make it look neater. I’ll leave that until I’ve got my boots on though.

Yes, it's E6000 and scrapes right off when dried. Like this ... Some finished parts from yesterday:

Damn!

At the moment it looks like the biceps are going to be the only challenging parts! Seriously, I've found working with the 1.5mm gauge stuff really easy. It's a good thickness in general. Flexible but still thick and sturdy enough. The thighs matched up well anyway. I'm enjoying myself as ever.

Bit quiet on the work front today so I managed to make progress on my kit. I cut all the PVC trim to size. Just need to stock up on super glue before I glue it on. No mistakes as far as I can make out so far so I had plenty to spare. I also trimmed both sets of thigh armour and glued them both at the front. They’re still drying on the shelf. This stuff goes together very well indeed. This is the first kit I’ve put together with an overlap method so it’s going to be a breeze compared to all the cutting of cover strips. I discovered I still had a set of Jesse’s clips so I pressed on and assembled my thermal detonator. Even put a belt together.

Today I even found an hour or so to start trimming ... I took advantage of the fact that the kit comes with a protective film and marked the trim lines with marker pen, safe in the knowledge that I could just peel it all off when I was done ... I started with the larger torso parts, obviously leaving no return edge because all these parts ahve the PVC trim fitted to the edge ... A couple of trimmed parts ... Then I decided to try fitting a bit of PVC trim ...

Cheers, chaps. I'll go with 190mm / 7.5". Did look a bit long at 210mm.

Excellent, cheers.

Quick question: What would be the correct length of the pipe for the thermal detonator?

Happy Big Brown Box Day to me! My armour kit arrived this morning and it looks absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, the postal services had treated the box rather badly and the helmet face plate arrived cracked. But, if you were ever in any doubt as to whether CfO is a reputable maker, read on .... I dropped Mark an e-mail letting him know about the damage. Within 5 minutes, I had an e-mail reply confirming that I can have a free replacement part. Another 5 minutes later, my phone was ringing and it was Mark calling to make arrangements for delivery or collection. Customer service has been absolutely top class from day one from both Mark and Joe. I can’t praise them enough. Many thanks, chaps. It’s appreciated!

That's great news. Too late for me but good news nonetheless.

Not yet, mate. Stuff from the UK normally takes a full calender week. Judging by the online status of the delivery it'll be here tomorrow.

If any of the armour is painted, the paintwork might suffer more.

In my last place I had a full set of armour hanging from a coat hanger which was hangign from a hook on the ceiling.

I have owned three TMs, one AP and an ATA (HIPS). Of all those, the ATA was the tighest though the AP wasn't much larger. All the TMs are a little bit more roomy.

Nicely photographed.

Do a few searches and make up your own mind: "TM helmet" "CfO helmet" "ATA helmet" "AP helmet" "AM helmet" "TE2 helmet" "Si-Man helmet" / "RS Props helmet" Most (all?) armour suppliers make helmets too. I think when you say "most people buy the kits and get different helmets" you have seen a few cases of people with the AM kit who have opted to buy a more accurate helmet instead of the one included in the full kit. The AM (successor fo the FX) has been a round for some time and is not particlarly accurate but provides a great lower-priced kit which can be adapted to a lot of body sizes/shapes. The helmet is regarded by many as the most important part of the costume and the AM helmet is quite strikingly different to helmets which have been cast from original helmets. That's why many people who purchase an AM armour kit chose to combine it with a different, more accurate-looking helmet.

See 0:16 - 1:28 of this video for a demonstration ... http://youtu.be/Zdj4txqIgiI