EOTK

May you have many more years in Lord Vader's service! Happy birthday, Daetrin!

Hope that you feel better soon, Jesse!

Intriguing...

WB Graham, and big grats on the iPhone! They are addictive little devices...

No problem, Joel. I am the king of saving bookmarks, and sometimes I can actually find them! I too had problems with that wire loom coming loose from the lens, so I went with a little different approach to mine too. Have fun on Friday, and take lots of pics!

Hey Joel, was this the lens thread you were looking for? http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=6464&st=0&p=82761entry82761 I look forward to following your build as I'm also working on an RT kit.

Great idea, Eric--thanks for sharing that, man! And Brian, I thought I was manhandling my green lens material since I've ended up with scratches on it, and I haven't even trooped with the bucket yet. I feel like they already look at me funny at the welding supply store where I bought the shields--I think I've bought 5 or 6 of them already. But that's very hardcore of you to replace it so often! Also, that black wire loom around the lens keeps falling off. Is there any way to secure it? I tried just removing it, but I don't really care for the rough edge of the welding shield on my face.

Pat, thanks for all the spam!

I had a tough time finding ABS in the States, at least at hardware stores. Seems like all the cool plastic comes from Canada, honestly. I was able to find smooth white ABS .040 and .060 with a haircell back. When I asked at hardware stores, they said ABS was a fire hazard. A lot of times if you can find smooth surface, it's black or gray. Shooter used to sell sheets, but looks like he's out. His thread says to PM him if you are interested: ----- EDIT: Sorry, didn't mean to assume that you are in the States, Wiggleplum. Also, you could maybe contact your armor maker for ABS for strips.

Wow, thanks Daetrin! Hey Eric--yeah, I agree they are far apart. Dunno, maybe I could lower the thighs some to split the difference.

Thanks for the tip, Eric! Will keep that in mind if things go poorly, but I'm planning on the Pandatrooper method (what can go wrong?!?): http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=8757 Dude, how on earth is 6' short? Man, I don't get that...

You rock, man! Thanks again for coming over and helping--it was very helpful to see this.

LOL! Well, the belt and battery pack need some bending before they can go on, but I have no excuse on the drop boxes though. I'm just under 6' 2", so maybe a little tall for a Stormtrooper.

After sitting on this project for far too long, I'm finally getting back into my RT-MOD build from last spring. Seemed like a name change was appropriate. Apologies for not posting box and parts photos--seems a bit anticlimactic now. So, my friend Ripcode came over today to help me with a tape fitting, and I'm really pleased with the results. (I'm especially happy that there is a 1.5" overlap on the sides!) I'm thinking that I don't really have to trim anything. The biceps are probably the part with the most room in them (maybe a fingers worth), but this seems like it's a good thing to prevent bites and allow for flexing. The forearms might need a small piece of foam to prevent turning, but my gloves will help with that too. Though my arms look skinny at the elbows, the meat part actually fills the armor. Wait, did I just call my arm meat? Sorry, looks like the right calf armor didn't survive the trip up the stairs. Oops! I would love to hear feedback or insights anyone might have. Thanks for looking! Front view: Back view: EDIT: Changed links.

I don't mean to hijack Rob's thread, but I'm planning on painting my details with Humbrol paint too. Does the paint stick okay to a shiny ABS surface, or does it need it need some sort of preparation like sanding or priming? I was going to attempt to mask my details rather than do it freehand. Also, do I have to use a clear coat or wet sand the paint after it's fully cured? Seems like I remember reading here that some troopers do that, but I haven't run across the info again.

Glad it helped, but I'm just passing on what was passed to me. I looked up the Chicago screws, just curious what you would use that for? EDIT: For attaching the holster?

Maybe someone else with more experience has a better tip, but I got snaps at Tandy Leather--not sure if they have stores in Florida, but they have heavy duty nickel or black snaps in 100 packs on their site: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/search/searchresults/1263-13.aspx I bought a bunch so that I could practice, since I don't have a special tool to assemble them. The anvil and mallet method took a little testing for me to get the hang of it.

Thanks so much for the comparisons and the tip on the rumor, Jim! I will watch for this new system.

It looks like the speaker hovis' mini jack could plug right in to the ROM/FX board. The ROM/FX Classic kit comes with a speaker too, so I think I'm going to end up with some redundancy, unless I were to buy individual parts. I think I'm more comfortable with having options rather than piecing it out. There are two reasons why I went with Airship's speaker hovis. One, I thought they looked really nice. Two, I'm concerned about how my chest will fit. I went with the RT-MOD armor, so it fits me really well. Not sure how putting a speaker will change that. (I'm working on reducing the mewb size, but that is some slow progress, heh.) I do want to get an Aker amp at some point. Looks like I'll have a bunch of options by the time I'm done. Freelance work has been a bit slow, as it always is for this time of year for me. I'm hoping to be a little more flush in the near future so I can play with a few different setups. Thanks so much for the help!

Thanks Sean. Yeah, I've heard that the Aker amps do the clicks pretty well too. I have Air-Ship's speaker hovis right now, but I wanted like to add an Aker amp at some point for the extra volume. I'm not an electronics guy, so I wanted to start simple. I should have been more specific in my original post. I meant that I'm interested in the whole TK voice effect / static burst, but not necessarily blaster effects or other extras for the time being. I have a feeling that I might want to do more in the future. The ROM/FX Classic is looking more and more like the right choice for me. It's a full kit including a mic, and I could always upgrade it later if I want chatter or blaster effects. Maybe I will email to see if I could get on a waiting list. I will post anything if I hear back from Hyperdyne Labs--I emailed them today to see if they had an estimate of when they might have boards again. I still would be interested in hearing from anybody that's had experience with them though.

Thanks Stephen--I think he offers and upgrade path from Classic to Pro too, so I'd open to that in the future. One thing I've noticed about ROM/FX owners is that they love their boards! Haven't really heard much from people who own the Hyperdyne, but maybe I haven't looked hard enough. I hope I didn't come across as impatient in my original post...

Hang in there, Ripcode! I have heard that line before, but I've never built a clone, so I can't comment. I've definitely put down my TK build when I've been frustrated though--it's partly why my project stalled. At least you had the nads to goof it up...

One of the last pieces I would like to get for my TK setup is an effects board (mainly for the static burst). I realize that this is a specialized piece of equipment--it's looking like there are a couple or few opportunities a year to pick a new one up. It seems like used boards sell quickly too. I've set a goal of May 1 to complete my armor, and would really like to get a board by then if at all possible. I saw that Hyperdyne had boards up last Fall, but it wasn't a good time financially for me to get one. Since then, they have been out of stock--I check the page religiously. And I even sent a message to join the forum, but got no response. Does anyone know if they are still producing their boards? The other thing that I'm sort of lacking is experience in the wild with the different boards. Both the Hyperdyne and ROM/FX board clips sound very impressive on their websites, but I've yet to run across TK's that are using either of them. If anyone has had experience with both, I'd be interested in hearing what your recommendation or evaluation is. I think either would be more than adequate for what I'm looking for. I'm looking to keep my setup as simple as possible, so I would go for the ROM/FX Classic. Looks like the Hyperdyne is Pro only now. Thanks so much! EO

Can't wait to see your new kit, Ripcode! Hope you have workspace for two, cause I'm getting itchy to reboot my build too...