Darth Hilarious

Counsellor Troi is missing- this is BETTER than a full crew.

There seems to be a relative lack of info on it here. Gimme a few hours, I gotta get some dinner first...

I stir the hell out of mine. Then again, I'm Furious, and quite impatient... I need to make up a batch in the very near future. Video tutorial??

I'm absolutely sure that the HWT is a 501st approvable costume, if you do it like this: http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TD_hwt You might also find this subforum here at FISD extremely useful: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showforum=45

Okay, I don't know I've been doing wrong, but when I make the stuff, it's good to go within about 5 minutes, and works a treat. Do you guys stir yours, or just leave it sitting there?

But I find it hard to ignore the red flags and alarm bells that go off in my head... If it said 'approvable', rather than 'approved' though, that would be a whole different story. I think the confusion over 'tells' was that it was implied you could tell that this was real, not recast. I would think a recast AM chestpiece would look an awful lot like a real one, except: Yeah.

Really??? Shame. AM should know better.

I'm not sure if there is any one 'ideal' kit for Death Troopers. The beauty of the Death Trooper is that it can be done (really well) with kits that would normally be considered unusable (damaged, miscast, missing parts, bad finish). FX kits (which are no longer made, but can be acquired secondhand) are a popular choice, because they are the least accurate acceptable kit. That might sound odd- go for the worst kit- but as a Death Trooper you can get away with murder!

Sorry for adding to your confusion! I was trying to give examples of how certain armour makes are better for certain TK types. I'll try and explain. There were some differences in the armour from ANH/ESB to RotJ. (starwarshelmets.com has some great info all in one place on this). So an armour cast from/based on ANH armour will make a better ANH suit, a suit cast from RotJ armour will make a better Commander (Commander detailing is based on RotJ). A fun way to learn some of the differences between TK types is to play 'spot the difference' with the CRLs.

Troopers helping Troopers. Except poor Jason here. Anyone want to actually say what the 'tell' is?

After I posted, I thought the same thing for a minute, so I looked at the listing again. In the item description, the term 'original' is used to distinguish original pieces from reproduction pieces. When the helmet was made back in the '70s, was it an original piece, or a reproduction?

Cleanability isn't a massive issue for the foam weed leaves. They're very cheap, so you just rip them out and replace them once they get stinky.

This is totally off topic, but I can tell you exactly what happened here (I'm doing this here in the thread rather than by PM so that this info is public for all). In recent years, lots of titanium products have become available, and a general advertising has built around it, to the point where companies will try to tell you that titanium is a magic metal that does everything better. This is bad for two reasons. 1) They're using crappy titanium. Like other metals (steel, aluminium, bronze), titanium comes in varying grades. MOST products on the market are made using the lowest grade of titanium. Here's a table of grades, with comparative strengths. 2) Even really good titanium makes crappy drill bits. Titanium is known for its strength. This means it is hard to bend or dent. This is not the required quality for good drill bits. What you want is hardness. Check out this table, comparing the hardness of various metals. Titanium (which grade, though? see the problem with grades?) rates a 6, while hardened steel ranges from 7-8 (depending on grade). So even hardened steel drill bits will stay sharper for longer. Tungsten is even better (I use tungsten bits) Diamond-tipped bits are even better still. Long story short, you got ripped off, dude.

Real or recast, this: Is genuine BS. I would be wary of this seller.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Storm-Trooper-Original-Helmet-Mask-Action-Costume-1977-78-Stormtrooper-/350595127775?_trksid=p4340.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D54%26meid%3D1872840366671051437%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1038%26rk%3D5%26 I've seen some false advertising in my time, but this wins hands down.

I think they're referring to vario pliers, used for setting snap buttons. (which, being 'Strayan, we call press-studs- damn language barriers)

Do we have a mentor program here at FISD? Many people start by working out which make of armour is best for them (based on body size and budget). Personally, Id recommend first figuring out what type of Stormie you want to be, as some makes of armour are more suited to certain Trooper types (eg.- CfO is best for Commanders, TM and RS are best for ANH TKs). This allows you to work out your 'ideal' suit, and compromise from there if you need to.

Are you using nice sharp drill bits? Rivets are quite soft, the drill should rip through them like butter...

One of my Facebook friends, the wonderful Mark Anthony Johnson Cristobal, has recently published a Star Wars fanfic. While it is not approved by LFL and thus N-canon, I thought it might be of interest to those of you with an appetite for reading. I've not yet sat down with it myself, but having seen some of his other works, I can say his writing quality is a step above a lot of the drivel that constitutes the EU, and in many cases, more consistant with higher-tier canon. I'm quite excited for my buddy, this book is a great acheivement for him. Here is the (free!) download link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159838 Enjoy!

Somewhat off-topic, but wasn't the crown of the original TB lids (same part used to make the Endor Rebel hats) originally metal?

Cushman make hollow vacformed blasters, but I hear they're not terribly reliable these days.

My amp measures 4" x 3.25" x 2" (including the clip). So prettty massive compared to those ones. It fits with room to spare. But it all depends how big/scrawny you are, and how much space you have in there. My lady tried my kit on (her and I are roughly the same size) and it squashed her boob. Basically, unless you talk to someone who is the exact same build as you, with the same kit, trimmed and fitted exactly the same, your mileage will always vary. FWIW, my $0.02 = it should be fine, provided you don't have boobs.

Well, I would NEVER throw my blaster in the rubbish in the first place, let alone leave it there...

I'm ESB, so mine is easily removeable. I left it on when I did the Run Melbourne 5km walk/run. Accuracy is ftw!

Ah, but it already does- special clauses abound for FX and AM! (yes, I knew what you actually meant, just an example of how wordage can be tricky) You are quite correct. As I said, you had the right approach- you didn't think of it as hard. (do or do not, there is no try!) You might find that your interpretation of 'fitting to the wearer's body' was much stricter than others'. Which is good. Nothing better than a well-tailored suit. Technically, that's not a kit issue- that could have happened in any make of armour!