starsaber25

Congrats Ross! Welcome to EIB!

Congrats and welcome to EIB!!

Hi Jason and welcome to FISD! There are many helpful members in the Orlando Area. I believe you would be part of the Makaze Squad which serves your area. One of the best things I can tell you is to start a build thread. We would then be able to follow along with your on your build and offer advice when needed. Which armor did you go with and did you receive it yet? Good luck!

I've literally been staring at your armor for the past 5 minutes and all I want to do is reach through the computer screen and push your ab and kidney together with my hands. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out why you can't get it to close. I feel like you should be able to. Can you not shorten the elastic anymore? I feel like if you could that should get rid of your alignment issue and then also close the gap more. No matter what I think you will get it figured out. I think with some tinkering with your elastics then you will get it to where you want it to be.

Hey Robert. Randy gave you a good idea of some issues. I know a few guys who have Anovos TKs and the major downsides are it appears to be more prone to cracking then other armors and the lack of replacement parts. Otherwise the armor itself is a nice set of armor. I gotta be honest, it appears to me that more people have their nose turned up to Anovos the company as opposed to their actual product. Anovos has left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths so I think because of this it is also getting the stigma that the product is bad. I've only had one dealing with them and it was buying their Tie Helmet. I had no issues with the company nor the product at this point. So I have no ill will. But I would have no fear if I were you. Just take care of your TK and you should be fine.

So unfortunately I will have to echo my buddies Randy and Allan's posts. $550 is on the low end for you to get yourself a kit. I would look into MTK. You can find him on ebay as MTK Armory (the only armor you should ever buy on ebay) or you can email him at [email protected] I think his armor would be in your price range but it would just be in kit form. You would have to build it which would require you to buy some tools and accessories you will need to assemble the kit. Also don't forget you would need at belt, boots, undersuit, holster, and other things. Take a look at this thread: Also check out this thread: This hobby is not cheap. It is important to do as much research as you can before you jump in so you do not waste any money in the short run or even the long one. Ask us any questions you may have. Also yes I am moving this thread from the Ebay Armor section to the getting started section.

Very nice looking armor James! Looking sharp! Good luck with your application!

Hi Steve. You have done a very nice job with your armor. The only thing that sticks out to me is you may have an issue with your ab and kidney gap. For EIB, the CRL states no more then 1/2 Inch. From a few of the photos you have provided it looks like it may be more then that. But of course time will tell. The only other thing is you are probably going to need to scrape off the white paint on the snaps in your butt plate but that is an easy fix. Good luck with your application!

This is pretty cool Ross! Going the higher levels in your own armor eh? Pretty cool. Looking good! Good Luck!

Hi Zach and welcome to FISD! So Faraway Creations is MonCal. The armor is very nice armor and would not require any additional work except for it would need to be assembled correctly. Now just a warning: I'm not sure what MonCal is like with their Stormtrooper armor but with many other costumes there is an extremely long wait to get your items from them. Maybe reach out to Tray on this forum and check with him on his set of armor. If I'm not mistaken, Tray is another vendor for MonCal. If you haven't already, please check out this thread:

Very nice build! Good luck!

Yup just like Randy said. MTK is totally legit and so is his eBay store. That's a good price too!

Hi Gary. Yeah I would stay away from MOT. It's very cheap and thin styrene. Check out the vetted seller thread. Also I saw recently that MTK was doing a very nice deal on eBay. Probably the only armor being offered on eBay right now that's worth every penny.

Whoops!

Hi Bill. You need 4 posts in order to post. So just respond back to me with anything and then you should have no problem.

Congrats and welcome to Centurion!

Congrats James and welcome to EIB!

So I know that its an older post but I would like to comment that this was a brilliant idea Chris. The billograms were hosted on photobucket and it was great to get these on the forum before this whole disaster with them. Kudos to you for doing this before the disaster struck.

Congrats Jay! Welcome to Centurion! Well deserved!

BTW Joe I didn't realize this was you at first. I've spoken to Anthony about this as well. AM will be a great set of armor for you. It will work out very well. Don't hesitate.

Hi Olaf and welcome to FISD! Yes AM2.0 is a nice set of armor. You will be very happy with it. Have fun!

Hi Kjaskaar and welcome to FISD! So after reading your post I have one question to ask. Are you hoping to join the 501st or are you just looking for a costume to wear around the neighborhood? If you are looking to join the 501st then you need to stay away from the rubies armor. Major work would need to be done to it to have it 501st approvable. You will end up spending WAY more for a Rubies to have it 501st approved then you would to have most any other set of armor. I know this forum may seem overwhelming to a new comer but trust me when I say that research is key when it comes to purchasing armor. As you said your budget is going to be around $1000. You wouldn't want to flush that grand down a toilet would you? If anything I highly recommend you read through all 44 pages of this thread paying close attention to the first post (which is updated constantly). There is so much helpful information contained in these 44 pages that you would be able to make a reasonable purchase soon after. My last question for you is where are you located? DA Props AKA BFA AKA The Shed of Glittering Delights is based in the UK. If you are in the UK then you have that option along with RS Props, Troopermaster, and RWA. They are all top of the line choices and I know that RS and Troopermaster offer sets built completely. If you are based in the US you can look at them as well as some of the others listed such as ATA, WTF, MTK, AP, Anovos, etc. If you are interested head over to the New Member area and tell us a little more about yourself.

In my opinion I would say no you don't have to get approved again. All of the items you are talking about are solid for the basic requirements. I know of people who switch things out all of the time depending on various conditions. I've never heard of someone having an issue with this. However, there are some garrisons that have interesting rules...

Hi John. So there is one thing I can tell you about this hobby and that is do not always believe people's estimated ship times. Even people who are "vetted", have a proven track record, or anything of the sorts. There are many reasons why products get delayed. I have had numerous situations where I finally got my product many days after the quoted shipping times. After a while you just learn that you will get them when you get them. If they are vetted or a person who has a proven track record you can be certain that you WILL get your product. Having said all this, the one thing that has always bothered me is if something is going to be delayed then please just send me a quick message and let me know that. Of course after I did say this to one of our "vetted" vendors in the past the response I got was, "well you have to understand that my mailbox on here is always full. If I sat and always responded to everybody all of the time then I would never have time to actually make the product." And I guess I can understand that to a degree as well. So if anything, I would say it's unfortunate that you have not received your product in a timely manner and I understand the frustration of not having any response to your messages but you will certainly get your product. I just had one of the most frustrating times dealing with a vendor for Tie Armor that anything stormtrooper related that I have dealt with has been a walk in the park.

Hi Mike. So I'll give it a shot. 1. Yeah you are going to need to heat the butt plate in order to reshape it. You have two options, 1. Use a heat gun and reshape it. Be careful because you can melt the ABS with it. 2. You can get some twine or rope and tie it around the butt plate very tightly in the position you want it. Then get a large pail and put the butt plate in it. Boil up some water and pour it in the bucket. One it cools take the butt plate out and remove the twine. It should stay in that position. 2. I'm unsure of the issue going on here. I use the brackets as well and my chest sits out some but only because of the size of the return edge on my chest plate in order to put the brackets in. The elastic shouldn't be effecting it. I would need pictures for this one. 3. In my opinion I would rather have them closer together instead of having the back plate sag down. But you need to have some elastic showing between the two plates so you can connect the shoulder bells. You son sounds skinny but his height is spot on. I think you should be able to work on it and make it look right. I wouldn't try to reshape either peices. Anyway i hope this helps some. Of course I would love to see some pictures somehow. Just keep working and you guys will get it to where you like it. Good luck!