Manzilla

Ok, so here is an update. I was having major issues with getting the hard hat liner to go into my helmet. I couldn't get the tabs to stay. So I went to my local Army surplus store (which was awesome by the way) and picked up some pads for my helmet. It was super simple to put in using velcro on the inside of the helmet and just placing the pads accordingly. It is very comfortable and fits well. Here is a pic:

I thought the yellow font looked familiar, that and the fact that one of the comments said it shipped from the Philippines and not NY. Best to avoid and wait for the many talented, reputable makers on here make it up. Also wait to get an actual confirmation that this is indeed the final sculpt. Ok, got you. Makes sense now. That would be stupid of them!

I guess it technically could be Rebels. After they defeated the Empire they could have also taken over the troopers. We don't know yet. Also the rumor is that one of the characters is a defecting stormtrooper. This could be what they are talking about as well. I guess we will not know until later. I do agree about the 501st and how they don't have a standard yet on this, so saying that it meets or exceeds standards is just plane premature.

Also, here is the gap on the left ear. Is this going to work. There really is no gap on the back side.

I went ahead and started to put the helmet together. Here are some pics: The left ear was a bear! I tried the method that Mighty Tank gave with the screwdriver and all that did was make me mad It actually started to spread the hole out. I finally got it together (I Guess) and have to use a bit of bond and paint to fix the gap by the screw. I am gluing down the part that is sticking up in the front on the bottom. One thing I noticed however, is the top part of the ear piece was warped a little. Not sure if it is really noticeable, but you all can let me know.

Finished painting the ears, vocoder, and the teeth last night. I have to clean up the teeth some on the ends though. I also removed the incorrect decals and will be replacing them with the NE ESB ones from Trooperbay.

They are. Thanks Steve. I am going to order a set right now.

Here, here Steve. Maybe we should place a 'possible spoiler' banner somewhere on here, lest anyone might accidentally see or hear something they don't want to.

I found some on his site that fit the NE Helmets. Would this be the same ones?

I will have to check with them to make sure the ESB decals fit the AM helmet. This is from the website. "These ESB stickers are accurate in shape and color. They will only fit ANH style helmets, specifically ATA, TE, TE2, AP, GF, SDS, VT, CAP, GINO, Oakley types. These will NOT fit FX, TM MRCE or KW’s ANH series."

Will do. I have gotten a lot of stuff from him already.

Looks like we may know what the boots look like too.

Thanks Mike. Your build has been an inspiration for me to get started. I am also grateful for all the good tips and what you have done so far. It will definitely help me on my own journey. After I get the helmet together, I am going to use Mighty Tanks suggestion of using a screwdriver to get the ear piece on. Hopefully, that will work and I won't have to do any extra trimming. This is me crossing my fingers.

OK, quick question. These are the only tube stripes I received in my kit. Which one should I use for this ESB? Stunt or Hero?

Oh here is a quick pic of my Doopy Doo: [/u RL] I will post more later

I decided to tackle painting my earpieces. What a pain! I ended up making a tape template, but I still have a little clean up to do: I will be doing the gray tomorrow

Next I taped up the front of my helmet and the inside teeth and eyes: And did this: I will be doing the back tomorrow

Like this:: The two other holes that are drilled out will be for the ear pieces to connect to. I tested it all together and it lined up pretty well.

After a test fit I realized how all the screws go. These are for the ears: and these are for connecting the helmet together:

I cut out the teeth, yes only 4 on each side, and got those all sanded down. It came out really nice, but you will have to take my word for it as I forgot to take pics Next I cut the rubber brow trim to size and affixed all the decals except for the tube stripes (more about that later). I also drilled out all the dimpled holes.

First after staring at my helmet for at least 2 hours I decided to just go for it. After lining everything up, I glued the top to the back. Yes, I used CA glue instead of E6000. Crazy I know.

Hey all. I thought I would go ahead and throw my hat into the ring for my AM 2.0 ESB build. I had already finished my Doopy Doo kit and after watching intently all of the new AM armor builds on this site, and getting great tips and info, I was motivated to start mine. FYI, I was one of the people that received the two left shins, but Mighty Tank, being the upstanding citizen that he is, already took care of it, so I am ready to go.

I knew that was the case with the fan art, but it does look like it matches up better with the 'live' pic that we now have. I personally think it would be pretty cool if the Hovi tip was only on the left side as rumored, although the fan art looks more like a transition from todays TK. The single Hovi would give it a different look that may just work. You are correct about the rumors on the flashbacks, which assumes that it will be a Vader we all know and love. All speculation as we know, but it is always fun to think and talk about it.

STIG from Top Gear...LOL Good one. I get your point. The 'birth' of armored Darth Vader and his death is 23 years apart, not quite 30, but still a good amount of time to make upgrades if need be. The trooper armor went thru many upgrades (if you want to call from episode 3 to 4 an upgrade) in the course of the first 4 films. But you are right in the fact that you could totally see the transitions going on. I personally like this new look. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

To be honest the pic above looks a lot more like the one in the live pic than the pre rendered one.