Trooperdad

Can you do a tutorial on the stand too?

I found that fans mounted on the inside of the vent cutouts in the rear of my helmet get stopped by my hair. However, I mount my headliner towards the back anyway because I wear glasses so if you tend to wear your helmet close to your face, it would probably be OK.

I fall in line with the "lived in" look too. However, before special occasions, I may buff the armor if the occasion warrants it. When I do clean it up, the Novus polish #2 and then #1 are what I use.

Joey: Looks great, man! I like all the mods you did to the FX armor (blue tube stripes, ab button size and colors, canvas belt). Very sharp. You'll do great! Congrats on a fine armor build and assembly. Fall in, and report for duty.

Great work! First attempt at these I've ever seen. You'll definitely stand out wearing that in the FISD lineup.

My son who is also a TK and I got to participate in a skit to start the fireworks show at the Marin County Fair this weekend. One of our garrison members' company runs the pyrotechnics for the fireworks display and this year incorporated a story where the Empire takes over the fair and then they have to start the fireworks show with a blaster shot. Not only was it cool to simulate through special effect lighting the blaster fire exploding the fireworks display, but when we came up onto this platform 8 feet in the air, I was surprised to see thousands of people right at our feet screaming "Stormtroopers!" A pair of troopers from our garrision took part each night of the 5 night performance. Opportunity of a lifetime--thanks Mike!!

I do the same thing Boozel does by cutting off the tip and adding a disk of flat plastic, but then I cut a new hole lower down and epoxy in using Plastiweld or Plastic Fusion plastic epoxy a short piece of 3/8" PVC pipe. Then I put in 3 small screws into the plastic disk at the 12 noon, 2, and 10 o'clock positions to simulate the screws in the actual scope. I need to post photos when I get a chance.

Whatever your attachment is in the back it doesn't matter. What matters is having the armor in the closed or assembled confirguration will help it shape itself when it is heated. Think about it, if the armor does not naturally want to be almost closed when at rest, it needs to be re-shaped (through heat) to be the desired shape. If I recall, I heated the inside of the thigh because my thinking was if I screw up, it won't be as noticeable. Good luck.

John: If I understand you correctly, you are trying to re-shape the opening (where your leg goes through) at the bottom of your thigh armor. I had this same problem with my second set of armor and here's what I did to re-shape it: I fastened the thigh armor in the closed position (I used velcro at the back of my thigh armor to keep it closed). Un-heated the opening is oblong and not round. I heated one side of the armor (lengthwise from kneecap to groin and I don't remember if it was the inside or outside) with a paint stripper gun moving the heat gun contstantly with the heat gun about 3-5" away from the armor to distribute the heat over a large area. It took at least 3 minutes for the plastic to soften to the point where the leg wanted to re-shape (must be very careful here to only heat enough for it to give with the natural pull of the armor when closed) to a more natural round opening. When it softened, I had a clean towel layed out on the workbench so I could roll the thigh armor on it to even out the bend since it bent only where I heated it (you must try to heat as large an area as possible (there are probably other ways such as an oven or a propane torch (yikes!!) but I've never tried that). Sorry this is so long and I only did this ONE TIME so there are probably other methods available and experts, but this is my experience. The end result was a much more comfortable and shapely thigh (for armor). Good luck and let us know becuase I know there are others out there with the same problem.

I don't know if it's possible, but make the lower back piece larger so that it wraps around the body more and meets up with front piece so there is less black on the sides (especially difficult on troopers who are larger in the gut area).

This was my first major con and it was spectacular for me and my sons. It was tiring and exhilirating at the same time. We usually retired around midnight every day. Long days volunteering and I didn't get to see some things I wanted to. Most of all I met a lot of fantastic people on this site and around the world including (Steve Carter, Scott M, the Costa Ricans, French troopers) I hope I didn't forget anyone. I'm sorry if I didn't see you there. Some of the highlights were the skits we did as troopers including the escort Leia skit 3 times (my son the rebel fleet trooper got choked by Vader too!), the Han chases troopers skit (TK's are not meant to run long distances since we had several items fall off, but we had my 11 year old as handler picking up the pieces). The laser tag was a LOT of fun doing it non-stop with the kids we looked great and had a lot of comments from kids and adults who thought this was the coolest thing EVER (Steve Carter was there almost everyday it seemed!). Here's a couple photos from our camera of our visit (note: most of these pics taken by one of my kids so appologies ): --------------- We look forward to doing it again next time too!

Sunday 11 AM sounds good for me (at the moment).

I've used on FX helmets, ABS glue and plastiweld epoxy which worked OK. On my 2nd FX helmet build I used E6000 (clear or white) which dries to a rubbery, tough finish. If any gets on the outside, you can easily remove it with some vigorus rubbing with your fingers and it holds very tightly but not permanent (it's also known as "Goo" I think too). I also used screws behind the brow piece to hold it together and then removed them when it was dry.

Even the on-screen versions had gaps. I wanted to try to get it with zero gaps, but noticed that even the screen used ones had gaps so I gave up on it and just try to get it as good a fit as possible.

Here's my bleached belt completed. Because it shrunk, I decided to add some canvas in the middle behind the ammo belt (see photo). You can clearly see the color difference between the bleached canvas and the natural color. In the second photo you can see on the right the 8" long plastic insert which I heated and curved. When I make the holster, I will install snaps to hold the holster straps and keep the plastic insert in place. I also decided to use industrial velcro to attach the canvas belt to the ab plate instead of snaps. I'm also going to remove the rivets I put in to hold the drop boxes and jus sew in the straps to the canvas that suspend the drop boxes. It was an easy mod and the sewing wasn't bad. Enjoy!

I'm trying to make my own canvas belt. Wanted to try whitening the natural color of the canvas duck cloth so I tried bleaching it--it worked sort of which lightened the color somewhat. Then I washed it and it shrunk ("duh" said my wife). It lost almost 8 inches when I washed it! I cut it the length of the standard cloth width of about 55" leaving it longer than I needed it. I'm currently re-assessing my plan and assembly steps for a planned sewing session this weekend. Does anyone else pre-wash their canvas belt before sewing? Thanks for your reply,

Thank you all for the comments. John: A stop bar is a great idea! I like it because that was a really hard part just using the vinyl sticker as a guide. I also have to say you have to control your strokes very carefully--you can see where I slipped and made a scratch. Also, I made this mod BEFORE helmet assembly so I only had to work with the dome and it was much easier. However, I am seriously thinking of doing this to my already assembled FX helmet. One of the key things to getting paint to stick evenly to the sidewalls of the vents you cut is to use fine sandpaper to smooth them out after filing and cutting (I mean 400 grit and finer). Sometimes all you can stick in the vent is a piece of folded up sandpaper, but it makes a difference. Good luck to all cool headed troopers!

Here's my finished rear vent photos. I think it turned out well for my first time doing this mod. Yuo can see in the close ups some of the scratches on the vinyl stickers and the fine details of the cuts. However, from a few feet away, most people are not going to even notice it. Another mod I made to the FX bucket was to cut 1/8" - 3/16" off the top of the front and rear helmet pieces to make it a little less tall. I also painted the inside black which I really like the effect contrast from the stark white exterior. Darth Nickel: I painted the inside of my vents by putting blue painters tape over the outside after I had smoothed out the vent sidewalls. I made sure the tape was as tight and smooth as possible and I didn't have any paint leakage. Afterward, there were some spots that didn't get paint that I took my smallest model paint brush and some black paint and did some touch up work--you can even see where some of the paint smeared on the outside of the sticker (I think painting by had was harder than the spray paint). And, my "10 foot rule" nobody will even know except my cool head! Enjoy! <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img

Of course this comes out the week AFTER I wire my mini aerator speakers.... Still, very nice tutorial with pics.

I think the pauldron is part of an ensemble of equipment meant to cover the dirt (backpack, pouches, pauldron). Bright, shinny, white armor is also used to blind--it's defensive (or so I'm told)

There is no greater calling than being a father or mother. Congraduations to you both.

I revisited my helmet venting tonight and got some good progress on it. Here's what I did: 1) tools I used are the following, dremel with fine cutting blade, thin miniature hacksaw blade, a thin file about 1/16" thick and tapering at the end, and a new blade on a hobby knife 2) this is definitely a "post assembly" mod since I cut right through the vinyl sticker and it was very helpful as a precise guide. First I drilled small holes at the end of each black line. Then I cut 1 pass with the dremel rotary blade (this takes a very steady hand but is doable). Then I used the small hacksaw blade to cut to the very ends where I drilled the holes. Next came the thin fine file (you could almost use your wife or girlfriend's emery board she uses on her fingernails). Finally, I trimmed the melted and filed overflash with the tip of the new hobby blade (must be very careful here or you will shave off too much). The above photos show half of the holes filed out and the other half after I've used the dremel and the hack saw blade. I used the black lines as a guide for how much to file off--when the black is gone you've filed enough. IMPORTANT--you must keep your other hand/fingers behind the vent while you file because it seems very brittle and could easily break (at least it felt that way). I still have to finish all me vent holes and then I want to paint the inside walls black and apply some black screen behind the holes. I like the idea of putting in an exhaust fan--very cool and I think I'll do that with one fan pulling in fresh air in the front. I can see myself modding my first FX helmet the same way. I'll post more photos as I keep going. ENJOY!

I'm in the process of doing this now. I'm currently building an FX suit and helmet for one of my sons. First, I made a copy of the rear decals and taped on the helmet and cut with my dremel on one of the rear stickers. However, when I put the sticker on, the lines didn't line up--doh! I haven't had time to revisit it yet to see how I can fix it. I put the rear sticker on the other side and am thinking of cutting through the sticker and making the vent holes. If the sticker gets messed up, then I'll mask off the area and paint it gray just like the frown and use my pin-stipe tape to outline it and it'll look fine. I will also put black mesh behind it. I've seen this done on another trooper's helmet in our garrison and it was done so well I couldn't tell they were cut out until I was actually right behind his helmet posing for a photo and he was in front of me! Either way, I think it's a great mod and I'm looking forward to doing it to the back stickers only--I'm not brave enough to do the front cheek vents too.

What....I can't hear you my fans are too loud (electric or adulating)! Mrs. Trooperdad says I don't hear so well when my bucket's off! Actually, I attended Wondercon in February and it was so crowded it was difficult to move down the aisles. I have 1 CPU fan run off of a 9 volt battery and I don't have any problems hearing. I think sometimes the helmet actually acts as an amplifier and I can hear conversations quite well (one plus of an FX helmet). My main concern with kids is not running into them when they get closer than 3 feet, then I can't see them at all.

I heat a 16d nail with a propane soldering torch and then it pushes through the nylon strap and makes a perfect hole and fuses any loose threads--it's a little hard to hold though with bare hands.