JoeR

So who will finish the build up first? Rolf?

Forget where this pic came from but I think it is what was used...

Not sure if this has been answered already but how did the thumb print on the bicep come about (obviously made by a thumb! lol) but was it left on intentionally or just not noticed? Also did Liz Moore sculpt the ears? I always suspected that AA had created these...? As until formed pieces were made, it might not have been obvious that something was needed to bridge the gap between cap and face. Joe

There seems to be at least one original hand guard in the pictures... This is really going to shake up the trooper world! Joe

Awesome news! £225 is good value considering they are cast from an original ANH helmet and have not been messed with at all. Considering how much his helmet and suit is worth that is a steal. Joe

Thanks guys! Would be amazing if this could raise over £2,000!

Thanks goes to Gary Hailes. He has done all the hard work. I will organise shipping with a winner if a non UK winner gets it. Joe

Now open to all online: http://www.justgiving.com/UKGarrison Joe

I have some stuff I would love done mate, pm incoming.

Don't agree with that at all John, that attitiude encourages people to buy recast 4th or 5th gen suits and will hardly encourage people to offer original stuff. Real trooper fans will appreciate this... Joe

Amazing helmet and totally unaltered like the GINO/TE line. What we all finally wanted, tear detail, tube kinks, bumps warts and all and a super sharp cap and face! Love it. Joe

Awesome build up buddy. I love what you guys in the US have been doing with these AM kits, really bringing the best out of them with assembly and the movie accurate helmets. Joe

I would go with the same ANH grey Humbrol colour. Courtesy of Jez SW Helmets.com

The whole point of T cut is that is is abrasive, think you have missed the point, it is not a polish at all. Well here's what Keith did with his method. From a matt hips kit-----

Keith posted a tutorial on here somewhere. He managed to paint a HIPS helmet and get it so shiny it looked like ABS and felt like ABS to the touch. Edit here it is: Here is my painting method again for any newer memebers who might have missed it years ago.... Mask off the inside of the helmet parts if you are fussy and want it to look like an unpainted helmet. Prime the parts with white primer. The best primer to use is Tamiya fine surface white primer in an aerosol. You can use normal automotive white primer, but you will probably have to wet sand it when it is dry, which means unmasking and remasking the inside of the parts again and this takes a while. You don't have to wet sand the Tamiya stuff. Stand the can of primer in hot water for a few minutes before spraying it on the parts. When the primer is dry, check for any dust particles that may be on the helmet and remove them. For the gloss white, i use Halfords automotive spray paints. This paint is fantastic, but i don't think it will be available outisde the UK. A really nice white is Mercedes polar white. Its very white, but a sort of brown white and not a blue white if you know what i mean. This paint is in 300ml cans and you will need three of them for one stormtrooper helmet. Again, stand the gloss white paint can in hot water for a few minutes. If you are not very good at spray painting and always seem to get paint runs, you might want to skip the standing the paint in hot water part. Spray the helmet fast to keep the paint wet and avoid overspray as much as possible. Thats the hardest part of the job. You want to find a sort of spraying path around the parts that keeps the paint as wet and glossy with as little overspray as possible. Make sure you get paint all around the eyes and inside the mic tip wells. As soon as you are done with each coat, get a hairdryer set on warm on the part quick. The paint can get conensation on it otherwise and it will leave little dimples in the paint. You also want to avoid paint runs. If you do see the paint start to run, stop spraying and get the hairdryer on the part, holding it at an angle so the run won't get any worse. You should be able to sand away the paint run later, so just keep coating the part with paint trying to avoid anymore runs. Do not sand the paint between coats. If you have any dust particles in the paint, dry the area a bit more with the hairdryer (don't over heat the plastic though) and sand it out with very fine wet and dry paper. Take great care doing this, as the paint will be far from set. For the final two coats, i always change the aerosol for a new one, as they spray the paint better when full. You want to avoid overspray on the hard to sand areas on the final coats. So get the paint nice and glossy inside the tears, traps, mic tip wells, frown, around the eyes, around the vocoder and so on and have the overspray on the open, less detailed areas of the part you are painting. Let the paint set for a week or so and then, using very fine wet and dry paper, wet sand the paint smooth. Take care sanding where there are high spots or edges, you don't want to sand all the way through the paint, as you will have to start again. Sand an area, give it a quick wipe with a towel to dry it and you will see lots of glossy dots. This is the texture of the paint. The high spots of the texture have been sanded and the lower spots have still not been touched by the wet and dry paper. You need to keep going until there are no glossy dots and the surface is flat and smooth. Try and sand the parts until you only just get rid of the texture/glossy dots. Sanding more than this will just make the coat thinner and you will be at more risk of sanding through to the plastic. Now you have sanded away the top layers of paint, you will probably find that the paint is soft again in these lower layers, so take care how you hold the part, or you will leave fingerprints in the paint. It will take weeks to fully harden, so just watch how you handle it for a while. Use a cutting compound like T-Cut on a soft cloth to polish the paint to the finish you want. You can get a mirror finish if you want. Do not use polish or car wax of any kind, as this will slow down or even stop the paint from fully setting. Thats it! Keith.

Awesome! I have never seen AM armour look that good before, kudos! Joe

Looking awesome Rob. Joe

Thanks buddy, wondered who he was! Thanks everyone for their kind words. Sounded like an awesome event. I will be at the next one. Joe

@ Dash - ask Gary! @ John, gutted I couldn't make it, but will meet you next time! Joe

Here are some pictures that Mark took today. Stukatrooper and Sskunky CfO ROTJ.... Working on the CfO charity suit...not sure who everyone is on this picture, if you want it removed let me know...I see Aaron and Billy!

Sorry fellas I believe that you have to be there in person to enter. As it's for charity we thought it was worth mentioning here. Joe

Mark and I have donated a set of CfO ROTJ Stormtrooper Armour which the talented folks of the UK Garrison will be assembling and giving away in a charity raffle this weekend at the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK. Entry to the raffle is just £2! May the Fourth be with you! Thanks to Gary Hailes for organising this. Have a great weekend folks... Joe, Mark and Rob CfO Ps: Thanks to Paul aka TM for altering our logo and using it as a signature without telling us on the MEPD! You can see Paul's handy work below!

Keith Will be some armour coming your way once we get sorted, we need some Keith assembly to add to the mix!

Karin I have family who live in Ottawa who would help if you needed a hand in Canada. If not I'm sure there are Canadian members here. If we at CfO can help at all please let us know... Joe