TrooperVenger

Hope you manage to get it done, if you do, post pics as I didn't even realise there was a difference between ROTJ and ANH armour. Curse my untrained eyes! I'll have to try and post pics of my bicep armour in the next day or so, as it appears I have ROTJ armour.

Congrats. You are indeed a valuable member of the community.

Wow that's a damn nice suit of armor. I love the detail, the sharp lines, just stunning.

He was one of the guys I almost bought my armor from before I opted for the one I did. Glad I didn't now.

I could do with one of those plastic razor things. I'm currently in the process of gluing my armour and I have some E-6000 spillage on the outside of my armor. I did try to wipe the stuff off whilst it was still wet, but some still remains. I'll just use my fingers.

I take a pic with my camera, upload to photobucket and I need to resize to 640x480. Which parts are you having trouble with working out where to cut? post a pic and we can tell you then. I use a stanley knife to cut my armour. Score the amour a few times and then bend and snap it off. If you have enough excess, you can then use it for shims.

Well nothings been cut or anything yet, so there's no panic. I'll try all methods suggested and see how things fit for the best. I'm finished tinkering with things for the night. Only managed to do the biceps. Now I'm having a sit down with a take-away and a bottle of beer. Do alot more tomorrow. Yay..Day off work. Plenty of time to tinker. Probably make some snap plates, do the forearms and if I can work out the 'other' shin issues I'll finish those off and if I have time, I'll do the thighs.

Shin looks alright to me. The circled area. Yeah you could sand/file that down a little if it bothers you. I'm not sure about clearence issues, someone else I'm sure will clarify that. The sniper plate looks to be in the right position, mine has slightly longer sides than yours appears to have.

Thanks for the replies. So it seems that there's no issue taking the arms in a bit at the wrists then. I would cut off the return edge....err but my armor doesn't have one. If I cut the back part of the armor at an angle, it'll come in nicely. I was just worried about clearence because I've seen alot of armor and it seems to be one size from elbow to wrist. I'll post some pics, probably tomorrow and you can see my progress. Fingers crossed I'll have this armor build done by next month...Time permitting of course.

Before I cut my forearms I'd like to know if it's ok to hape them taperted towards my wrists. I'm not blessed with huge, thick wrists so I'd like to taper the forearm armor so it's tighter at the wrist than it is at the top near my elbow. So is this an OK mod to do? More concerned with 501st eligability than anything. Cheers. Rick

I'm not a member of the 501st yet, but it'll happen soon.

That's a great looking set of armor. I love the crisp lines and detailing. Good luck with the build.

Might be a good idea if we know exactly who's bidding on it, so we don't end up bidding against ourselves. My ebay name is Venger247, but as it stands right now, I'll not be bidding on it, but I'll keep an eye on it to see how it's going.

Sounds like a good idea. So is it best for you guys stateside to bid on it? Hopefuly nobody'll bid on it and you can get it fairly cheaply. Be better to be in the hands of someone who'll apreciate it for it's actual relevence than just some random SW fan.

Just so there's no confusion, mine isn't an AP kit.

Dude, I have the EXACT same issue with my kit. No river/snap covers. I wish I could point you in the direction of a seller, but I'm also after 3 myself. Hopefuly someone can post info here.

I'm not plugged into the know, but would it be worth one of the members here buying it?

Awesome array of helmets you have there. My SW related collection is pitiful, but my horror latex mask and hock collection is frecking awesome! I know it's not the same thing but......err. Yeah.

Sweet looking suit.

Just a few pics and a slight update. As you can see, or hopefuly see from the new pics. The shin bottoms are about an inch shorter wide than the boots are wide. 4" for the armor and 5" for the boots. I guess this is why they wont fit over the boots. I'll have a try at heating them up and see if I can make them a little wider. The bottoms also look very uneven and don't mirror the opposite side when pieced together, but that can be sorted out with some trimming and sanding. Don't really think there's any more I can add to this topic for now. Thanks again to everyone who posted help and advice.

Ahh right. I had a feeling it was something like that after a few people mentioned it was a recasted SDS lid. If he does come back with some legal action BS, then he can shove it as there's photographic evidence that it's clearly not what it should be. I didn't see any mention in the ebay listing that it was recasted FX armour. If I'd have seen the word 'recast' in the listing I wouldn't have touched it with a 10 foot barge pole. He also didn't mention it in a reply to a question I asked prior to buying it. I still have the email and I've posted the reply below. If there's any problems mods. Feel free to edit the post. Don't want to get anyone into any trouble here. "The 501st don't like mass produced armour.. this is made in someone's garage down south.. certainly not mass produced!! I assemble the best kits I can find or that the customer specifies according to their needs.. " I'm very thankful for the help given and offered here on the FISD. Even if it takes me far longer than expected. I'll get this armour to fit me and look decent. At least then if/when I come to sell it, I wont feel any guilt for misleading someone.

Ah, say no more. From what I've pieced together from replies to previous posts about my armor, it's a recast helmet and recast armor (the BAD kind of recast). I believe the armor is from germany or something like that. Again, I can't say anything for sure as I have no real evidence. All I will say is buyer beware. I'll be sure to reply to anyone asking for recommendations on armor. Hopefuly with some mods and cutting etc I can make it look decent. Then I can think about getting some quality stuff from a good armourer.

Ok little follow up to answer a few questions. I bought the armor from CHIMERA BESPOKE. Not sure if anyone is familliar with that name. I registered over at the UK garisson website and posted in the 'mentors' thread. They've had a load of new people join so the ratio of exerienced metors to mentees is out of proportion. John Danter has offered help and I'd be more than happy for any assistance he could give, but I wanted to make a start on the armor so if he did indeed pop over he wouldn't have me just hand him a plastic box full of armor and say "Here you go, help me!" At least if I made a start it wouldn't be such a task. I'm still determined to do the upper body at the very least. I'm currently waiting on a canvas belt from firebladejedi. So for the time being I'll sort out the shoulders, biceps and forearms. Also I can make those snap plates to be glued on later. I'll post some pics later of the boots and half th shin piece so to better illustrate the problem. I'll also add measurments of the boot width and the gap width of the shin armour at the bottom. I really apreciate the help and advice.

Hmm. Well mine are UK size 9 so that's a US size 10. The elastic doesn't pull the tops in to my ankles. I'd say that the boots are rather loose at the tops of the ankles. I will try pulling them in a bit to see if that makes a difference. Ugh this build is turning from "Yeah you can wear it out of the box, no problem, mate. It'll all be trimmed, strapped and everything" to "Nothing fits properly. You didn't really finish anything. You didn't give me any spare ABS for shims and only 1 piece of extra velcro? Half the parts which SHOULD have snaps and velcro arn't there. The middle ab buttons are mirrored, the helmet ears were bumpless, despite me asking TWICE if the helmet would be a stunt. You used velcro instead of rivets. the ammo boxes and ABS belt were so poorly 'bent' I'll have to re-do it all."

Ah that's an idea. Will give that a go tomorrow. MAybe I can make some sort of strap with a locking system so they stay in place. I'll explore all avenues before doing anything permanent. I still have the whole upper body to sort out yet and that'll be enough to keep me going for a while. Nothing fits right, everything needs altering to some degree. And thanks to panatroopers awesome build guide, I'm sure I can have my armor sorted.