Rich330

My name is Richard and I am a plastic addict. It has been ten months since my last armour build ....

8th August 2011 Initial preparations are underway. I’m not going to be too obsessive about the screen accuracy of the insides of the suit. Instead, I’m looking for a strapping system which is comfortable and robust. As far as I can, I will be looking to make all the armour connections in roughly the right places but not necessarily with the correct materials. The idea is that the armour should look and “behave” in the right manner on the outside but be extra durable for extra trooping mileage. Above all I want this to be a good looking functional trooping suit. So I’ll be using sturdy camping type press studs (US = snaps) and sturdy 25mm (approx. 1 inch) elastic material. Today I used some scrap ABS material I had lying around from a previous build to make up a stack of press stud plates. These will be glued and welded into the armour. I find 25mm x 40mm a good size. The material is 1mm thick ABS. The flexibility should make it easier to weld into the armour but should still make for a firm connection.

Having put together two separate suits of troopermaster armour for ANH and ESB versions, when I started toying with the idea of a third set, the choice was obvious. I wanted to put together an ROTJ version. And, seeing as with TM I’m used to working with the best there is available, for ROTJ it was only ever going to be a Cast from Original in 1.5mm semi-gloss ABS. This will be a clean Death Star version of the suit, i.e. not a weathered Endor version. Aiming for something nice and shiny like this ... I will soon be receiving my full (CfO) kit and will be documenting my progress with lots of photos and information here as I go along. I will be aiming to meet all the requirements for Centurion status. I already hold the award for my ESB suit so ultimately I will only be submitting an application for a third EIB. I will be looking for feedback and advice along the way and hopefully the build thread will serve as a good tutorial for others when I’ve finished. The kit, still in London, ready for shipping … Wish me luck!

30 ft of the Bayliner stuff shipped internationally works out at $ 80.01. The shipping constitutes $ 50.31 of that which is really not bad at all. It seems like a lot when compared to the value of the goods but considering the sheer bulk of it, it's a decent deal. I don't think it's much more the net costs of what they pay at USPS. It looks good, gets the seal (no pun intended) of approval from Paul and Mason. It's an important detail and 57.52 euros or 50 quid is an OK price to pay in the scheme of things, so I ordered mine direct. Thanks for the link, Mason. I thought this was going to prove more of a headache than it did.

Looks just great as it is ...

I love how a set of nicely trimmed biceps are fully visible on the taller guys. Nice work on the suit so far.

I transport my stuff in a rigid plastic toolbox/trolley. It has safely transported my full stromtrooper outfit, including boots, helmet, soft parts, E-11 etc. on flights to and from the mainland. This one: -------- Full TM (2mm) and all other costume components ... ----------

I was going through the list of requirements. Many of the EIB requirements are met simply by having the CfO kit. So, you're off to the best of starts whatever!

OK, cool. As long as it was a mix-up and not a flaw in the kit, that's the main thing.

Mark, Is it possible that you got the shins/calves mixed up? Should the overlap not be made so that the gap faces inwards (towards the inside leg) rather than being visible from the sides? You can see what I mean on the right leg of this armour ...

I'm going to start claiming I did this on purpose and maybe people will think I'm cool!

Very nice indeed! That new 1mm ABS is very white and glossy. I love Kai's blasters too.

This looks very promising. The chaps at RS have already shown they're very capable with the helmets they're produced so there's no reason the armour shouldn't turn out really great. On a side note, here are a couple of observations from a TM-owner's point of view having now seen these test pulls ... - Put certain parts side-by-side in the same with a TM and I'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. Paul, you're a genius! - Because the limb pieces have been cast from an assembled suit, you're going to be faced with the same width restrictions as on the TE-type suits. Ironically, the parts you can buy from TM are probably closer to the original cast parts (before assembly), i.e. there is some allowance in the mould. Within a range of a few centimetres, you can trim to the appropriate girth. All the original suits seem to have been made up with slim-fitting limbs and, unless some allowance is added to the moulds, the bulkier trooper is going to need to increase the width of cover strips and add shims etc. like of ROTJ/TE lineage stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking this in any way. It's a fantastic historic development for all TK fans, I would love a suit from these guys and it would probably fit me like a glove as is. It's just that with any development like this, people start talking about it meaning "the end for maker X", "curtains for brand Y" etc. and, as a wearer of TM and an absolute endorser of TM armour, for me these photos demonstrate even more just how amazing Paul's work to date (without access to an original suit) has been. Just as the arrival of TE didn't spell the end for FX, I don't think any existign supplier needs to feel threatened by the arrival of anoother. The choice for those looking to buy armour just keeps getting better and teh hobby just keeps getting more fascinating. So, that's another for the list then ..... A CfO ... ... another TM ... and now one of these. Anyone want to buy a kidney?

Cameron huh? You sound like the right guy for this type of armour!

Superb work on the reshaping of individual armour parts. Kind of digging the Buckethead trooper best though!

Google Chrome The theme "FISD2011" was the default theme and it was obviously having problems. Formatting all over the place, missing buttons etc. I switched to "IP.Board".

Not a problem I've encountered personally. Do a forum search though and you should be able to find something. I know it's been discussed before but I didn't pay a great deal of attention. There have definitely been a few different solutions though. Everything from an extended velcro strip connected to the loop on the boot to a stirrup type construction.

Good idea. I also notice that Mathias is using just two rows. The original system used three rows (of thicker elastic like you say, Mark). That's cool if it's what works for you. I had to loosen mine a bit so I obviously have the bigger hobbit feet/ankles!

Yeah, you can see that there's no tension on the elastic when the back is fully closed. Try moving the elastic further away by about 1cm. You do have some loose elastic though. When I said I'd glued mine down all the way, I mean all the way, right up to just behind the hook.

Maybe you could disconnect the elastic strips and glue them on again further away from the hole. Leave a little more loose elastic for some "give" but that would be one way to have them fit more snugly. You would have to unhook them to put them on each time though. And I know how nice it is to have a pair of lazy slip-on shins. On my 2mm suit, I have nothing connecting the backs. I cut the parts wider so there is a lot of overlap. And, because the material is stiffer and the joint at the front is very firm (reinforcing strip inside the seam in addition to the cover strip), they always go back into position pretty much. Here they are ... PS I'm going to leave this post on here but I'll open up a new thread because this a bit off-topic but the new discussion may be of more general interest in the advance building forum ... http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=16324

I'm opening this thread to redirect this conversation away from the original thread. It went a little off-topic and the new subject may be of general interest ... Original thread: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=15531 Maybe you could disconnect the elastic strips and glue them on again further away from the hole. Leave a little more loose elastic for some "give" but that would be one way to have them fit more snugly. You would have to unhook them to put them on each time though. And I know how nice it is to have a pair of lazy slip-on shins. On my 2mm suit, I have nothing connecting the backs. I cut the parts wider so there is a lot of overlap. And, because the material is stiffer and the joint at the front is very firm (reinforcing strip inside the seam in addition to the cover strip), they always go back into position pretty much. Here they are ...

Mathias, It's exactly the same in principle. The elastic strips are still positioned the same too. All I had done "wrong" was to glue the bottom elastic strip to the inside of the armour along its full length. Consequently the elastic was very rigid. Add to that the fact that I was a bit too nervous when hooking up the bottom strip - scared of ripping open the hole because the hook was clamped very tightly - and I tended to leave them open. All I did was separate a bit of the elastic strip from the armour in order to leave more stretch in the connection. As you can see, I can now close the backs and walk around, safe in the knowledge that the connection is a lot more flexible.

Always looking to improve and with a niggling doubt in my mind that I couldn't close my shin armour at the back properly and would have to replace them, I had another fiddle, readjusted the elastic and then of course, I had to go up on the roof to take some more photos. I flippin' love this armour! Jobs a good 'un, I reckon ...

I have built three sets of armour and I took time off work for each. In terms of net hours I probably only took between 2-3 workinh days for each. However, before I built the first and even afterwards, I spent hours and hours trawling the forums, downloading and studying reference material and generally preparing myself. In essence, once you more or less know what you're doing, the actual manual work you need to do is not a great deal. You're in the right place; keep reading, researching, preparing and you too will build a superb TK. Bonne chance!