Darth Aloha

I just purchased some small bottles of novus 1, 2 and 3. I am hoping that 3 will take out big scratches, 2 will buff out small scratches, and 1 will polish and clean it up. Anyone have experience with using all the novus numbers in sequence? I don't trust myself even with very very high grit wet kine sandpaper. You can get various buffing wheels for your dremel most of them are pretty small and don't cover much area. I once used a soft felt buffing wheel chucked in a drill to polish large expanses of ABS that worked pretty well. The drill I have is capable of limiting and locking in the speed which should be slow and constant. I bought mine at an auto supply store and it was maybe 3-4" in diameter? Be careful you don't get any sand or grit in the buffer or you'll scratch the crap out of your armor. Aloha, -Eric

Here are measurements from Rob of RT of the "max" circumfrence that will fit into his kit: Thigh - 27" Calve - 17" Bicep - 16.5" Forearm - 13.5" Abdomen - 42" I have a 38" waist and maybe 44ish to 46ish chest (its been so long since I've had to buy a suit jacket and formal aloha shirts aren't sized by chest) and fit into my RT nicely. It might be best to email Rob and ask him what he thinks. He may be able to ask you to send various measurements to see if RT-MOD is right for you. If not maybe shim up an ATA kit... or do the work needed to fit into AM and buy a chest and back from RT? I hope this helps more than it confuses. Aloha, -Eric

Agreed. Less work all around to make it fit no matter your body size. Outside of the AM chest wackyness it really is made for a very stout trooper which may cause you to trim the crap out of it creating more work for yourself than buying an untrimmed kit. Lang: What's your height and waist size if you don't mind me asking? Rob fixed the frown btw. They look like proper chicklets now... and I think he's doing stuff like green lenses etc. I don't regret my RT bucket... but I eventually do want a more screen accurate one. Aloha, -Eric

I own an RT helmet... and I wish I had a more screen accurate one with all the warts and bumps. I don't think the RT helmet is significantly bigger for fit... but it scaled a little larger for larger troopers. My guess is that the ATA is probably cheaper unless you can convince Rob to sell you an unassembled helmet. And yes... +1 on replacing the AM chest and back. Aloha, -Eric

I would be curious how long the batteries last. The aker may be bulky but it lasts a long long time and it's rechargeable. Plus... I already have enough yuppie landfill guilt in life to be tossing more batteries away. Also the aker sends power to an icomm, which I luff. I doubt this thing could. However this little guy looks like a cheap and easy way to put sound in another project. Maybe Vader breathing, imperial march tunes, or your ghostbusters proton pack? I have a hard time putting music or chatter through my aker and getting my ipod and voice sound levels right. Aloha, -Eric

Oops! Fixed -Eric

By how you paint the helmet and which is your favorite film (actually that's not true... ESB is my favorite film but I prefer the look of a ANH stunt trooper) Aloha, -Eric

Tyler, While the belt should sit above the cut around the kidney... it shouldn't be a problem for EIB if you cover the cut with your belt... as long as you show in your app photos a cut exists. For various reasons my belt goes across my butt/kidney cut too. Aloha, -Eric

What if you raised your back so your kidney went higher and butt wouldn't overlap? Aloha, -Eric

So many costuming websites to mess up.... So little time

Troopers, I apologize for today's website kerfuffle. I was testing the impending forum move to a new server and I ended up reverting the joint back a few days. Oopsie! Sorry all. The only posts that were lost were the new ones asking wtf Aloha and thanks for your patience, -Eric

I dig toting my hasbro around... it makes noise and people rarely expect it. Aloha, -Eric

Or your amp is up too high in your chest. I lowered mine quite a bit almost under the ab.... and feedback wasn't as bad. YMMV Aloha, -Eric

To set the record straight... it is the dye on the leather palms that gets all over my armor

After spending almost 5 hours in a Vader costume in Hawaii I'm here to tell you it's nut melting... But worth every second If he wants to part it out let me know... I am looking to buy rubies supreme stuff. Aloha, -Eric

You can use the same account for FISD as you do for SLD. Last I checked.... we share usernames and passwords There is a wealth of information on modifying the rubies on SLD. The shoulder armor and undersuit are about the only things salvageable. Even so the shoulder armor needs some modification and paint. Unless you're handy with bondo and fiberglass... and are unemployed with a family or kids... or you're Jesse and never sleep... just put the helmet on your shelf to display. I don't mean to be jerky but... if you're not willing to do the work to research it on SLD you may not be ready to embark on the journey that is making the rubies look right. It's a crapton of work. Aloha, -Eric

Oops. I mean to say that 3 days is money (so money you don't even know it) to wait to take the clamps off the knee plate. I took mine off prematurely and the very ends came off... which caused me to use CA glue to fix it before a troop. I applied a heat gun before putting it on the shin, but it didn't help much. I still had to wrastle it on. E-6000 will likely melt under a heat gun no matter what. Aloha, -Eric

Looking good! The sniper plate is a real slave Leia. Please don't rivet it. Use lots and lots of clamps and glue. If you need more photos of mine other than the ones in my build thread let me know. It takes some real force to get it to line up with the top of the shin, but it'll go. You may need to bend the living crap out of the sides of the sniper knee to make them lay flat. I hit it with a heat gun but not enough. Because I didn't let the E-11 dry long enough (3 days is money) I tossed some CA in right before a troop before the whole thing popped off. I'm a little jealous of your snap plates for your belt. I ended up riveting them on in an emergency repair last weekend (thanks to TK5707 for the tools and old AM rivet covers) You could glue the knee pack on and just use the spit rivets for show. Just drill a hole after the glue dries. With glue you won't need to bend the split rivets so far back. A healthy drop of hot glue or epoxy putty on the tines will help keep them in place. I didn't use glue on my knee pack. My splits in my knee arent bent back far enough, nor did I use a washer to back them up. Sounds Iike a test fitting is in order soon. Get out the blue tape and a mirror stat! Aloha, -Eric

I wish I still had my ROM toy. And really Mason... Teen Titans? If that helmet doesn't get donated... Two words: Death Trooper Aloha, -Eric

I would buy as much elastic as you can possibly get your hands on For velcro I use white velcro on my forearms and shins so its not so noticeable. But I have black velcro inside holding my iComm and other stuffs on. Aloha, -Eric

I may have an unassembled clear tube Jesse TD kit for sale very soon.

Not all of it! Just the extra stuffs -Eric

Oh man... bummer. It took me a year of saving every month to be able to afford my kit. And I also sold off a buch of scuba gear laying around for all the accessories. Don't give up... save your pennies... and keep the parental pressure on. Maybe if they see in 6 months that this is still important to you, maybe they'll have a change of heart. In the mean time... we'll be here. Aloha, -Eric

Whoa. Now that's what I call a first post. Damn... Gaz's holster came out pretty great. Nice detail all around. Should be an easy pass. Aloha, -Eric