Airborne Trooper

You could just cut the notches out the bottom rear of the thighs. Much easier than cutting the top and making a new return edge.

Fans are not a luxury to me, they are a necessity. Way too hot in the bucket so I can only imagine Summer outdoor troops.

No shame in getting someone else to build it for you but you'll never know the pain/joy of assembling it yourself.

For the arm strapping, I used ukswrath's build thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31920-ukswraths-am-10-ata-bucket-build/?p=418714 Try to keep the forearm and bicep front cover strips touching or as little gap as possible.

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I'm aiming for SWAT. Not sure if I'll ever achieve that but would like to at least come close. Been looking at a lot of "Look sir, droids" SWAT approvals and I see a lot of differences with the overall weathering. The only thing that is identical for the most part is the chest, pauldron, and helmet.

Do it! I got both shins, 1 thigh, and the entire left arm done yesterday. Back at it again tonight after work. Lessons I've learned, if you have scratches in your armor, the paint is going to go in those and aren't coming out without mineral spirits. You don't have to cover the entire piece like in Panda's tutorial because 98% gets rubbed off anyways. Will try to finish this base layer before Halloween but will still go back and add some darker oily features in places and have to replicate the "Look sir, droids!" distinct weathering patterns on his chest and helmet.

Maybe go a tad bit more like the helmet on the left but that may just be my preference. Look at some other helmets for reference and find what you like.

Tony, you're SWAT. Do you think I'm on the right track or should I bring some other colors into the mix?

Following Panda's awesome weathering tutorial I started my first piece and expect a lot of sleepless night ahead of me before Halloween. Been following some Davin Felth style SWAT submissions to see how they weathered and there's a lot of differences. I think that less is more for this particular character. I might end up removing some more and adding a little warm grey mixed with a bit of black in a few places. I'm not sure yet since some people have elected to only use burnt umber.

Thanks Germain, I saw that earlier. At this point, I don't have the time to fix it before this weekend If I want to wear it with my kids. I will fix it right after and before I take my submission pictures.

You want to bring the mouth paint down to a point at both ends instead of squared off like you have.

Picked up some 2" thick foam from JoAnn's tonight. I picked this kind because I know that I'm going to get sweaty when trooping. I'm hoping that my logic was correct and that someone else can chime in saying this will work or not. For Tony, here's a pic of my left thigh showing the contours next to the cod piece. Sorry about the mess. Doing last minute ABS pot hole repair and the only place to hang up my armor without my kids messing with it is in the closet. I have tomorrow off (great working 10 hours 4 days a week) and plan on getting last bits done to begin weathering. I'm also spray painting the nerf E-11 for my daughter's Captain Phasma costume.

EDIT: When I made the initial trim, I measured down 1 3/4" all along the edge of the thigh. I only did the front and did the rears while I was sizing them. Once I did the ANH notches I did it towards the top and a little bit of the swooping. I'll have to take a look at them tonight next to the cod. It is possible I may need to cut more of the inside thigh.

If I'm not mistaken, privately owned firearms other than hunting are banned in the UK. Maybe they are under the mindset that since they aren't allowed to own Glocks, they all must own awesome E-11s and Bapty blasters

I think foam is more screen accurate but I went with the hard hat liner. I used this to learn how to install the liner: I used E6000 and magnets to glue them in place.

I cut off 1 3/4" off the top of my AM2.0 thighs and did the ANH notches. Then used 1/4" to do a return edge. Sorry, I didn't get photos while doing it. Once I did this I had my wife help me size them. I took a lot in around the knee and not too much towards the top of my thigh. It was very tapered so I split it down the middle and cut off the remaining plastic. Butt joined with an inner strip and finished off with a finishing strip. I'll take some photos when I do the foam

Looks about right. You could bring the cut line more toward the tip on the ear on the bottom of the photo.

Congratulations and awesome you are the first WTF EIB! Should be the first Centurion too!

I'm going to JoAnn's after work today to see what they have. If they don't have anything I'll hit up one of those and grab pipe insulation. I only need foam for the bottom of my thighs and maybe on my shin to keep the diamond plate from rubbing. Trying so hard to get it done to wear on Halloween with my kids.

I think it looks great. Leave it alone now. The screen used helmets were all over the place with ear gap. I've seen much larger gaps get approved so don't stress.

Great work! Congrats on finishing. I'm sure you'll have your TK # soon!

Take your time and have fun!

I didn't get to finish my thighs and shins in time for a party last Saturday so I wore my Stormtrooper hoodie and helmet along with my gloves and blaster. Everyone loved it and asked where I bought my helmet.

What about the placement? If I put it in the rear, wont that push my thigh piece outwards and give more clearance for the diamond knee plate on the shin and the thigh ammo belt on the other thigh?