I have been lurking on here for a while, basically just learning what I can. I have always been a Star Wars, fan, and have been in awe of what the 501st does. I finally decided to jump in and have some fun too! I am pretty mechanical, always tinkering with hot rods, and have done a lot of drag racing, but I just am not artistic at all.
Luckily, the AM build is pretty straight forward, and where an artistic touch is needed, I have been lucky enough to find the Pacific outpost.
I have an FX helmet already, but am looking to upgrade very soon. That will get me legal for now, and then I can try for expert.
I already had TKboots (AMAZING!), a cloth belt from here, mil-issue nomex gloves, and black under armor.
My AM lite kit showed up this week. I want it to look good, but the main goal is a aolid trooping set, and AM fit the bill.
The outpost guys were kind enough to invite me over to start helping me with my build. I mainly just watched in awe as plastic flew.
I also got to play with their HALO gear while we waited for the resident TK expert to show up.
We mainly trimmed up stuff to size it, and assembled the fronts of the forearms and thighs. The biceps are all together. This will be a simple overlap build, with a finish trim strip for looks.
I am a bigger guy (6'0", 195, so I also wanted the bigger AM kit for my frame. It looks like the chest and torso pieces will be almost a perfect fit out of the box.
I can not say enough kind words about the Pacific Outpost. They are true experts! The best advice I can give any newbie is find you local garrison!
I certainly found a group of TK Senseis!
There were even more people than these pics show, but everyone was all over the place!
Ed