batninja

Alright, I think I've got all the left vs. right pieces figured out, so this weekend I'm going to tackle the helmet and the forearms. I had a question on the helmet. For those of you on the latest run of AM 2.0, did your helmet nose have a crease like mine?

I took a camera picture of the TV, but would still love to get a cleaner shot: --------------- To me, this says everything about what we do.

I found that one, too. The one I'm thinking of has a parading 501st (blue-striped) clone trooper on the left, reaching down to shake hands with a kid (in 501st clone trooper costume of his own) on the right. The kid's face is jaw-dropped in awe.

So the rule-of-thumb is that the forearms are NOT Velcro-closed, like the shins?

Does anyone have the picture (or a still) from the parade, with the 501st clone trooper shaking hangs with the young boy, also dressed as a 501st clone? It's shown a couple times on the BluRay doc, 'Star Warriors', too. It's an awesome pic, and the kid's ermagerd face is priceless, and I wanted to show it to a friend to explain to him 'why we do this.'

Looking good! I think I'm going to start cracking on my kit this weekend. That's a good approach, saving the cast-off pieces for finishing strips. Is there a difference in the outer pieces of the bicep, in regards to left/right? Or are they identical? Same question for shoulder bells and forearms..

Okay, I get the left/right confusion for the shins and forearms, and I've sorted out the bicep inner pieces (left is 'spooned'). But are there differences in the OUTER bicep pieces? And what about the shoulders? Are these interchangeable?

Is it time for a group hug yet?

Tim, that's a great story! That's the issue for me - the public (especially kids) sometimes get closer that 1 foot away. They like to touch the costume. They want to know if it's metal or plastic, they want to see if they can see your eyes through the visor, hold the weapon, etc. The more 'idealism' we can provide, the better...in some cases.

I thought I'd chime in as a new guy to TK. I'm a former military bandsman, so parades and inspections were my LIFE for several years. Uniforms ironed, boots polished, equipment in 'ready-to-deploy', working order, the whole shebang. I just want you to understand my background. When I made the decision to go Scout and of course more recently Stormtrooper, I knew I could only go straight-up, polished white armor. Period. End of discussion. My reasoning is simple: we are fashioned after a military organization. A uniformed military unit. I understand the look of dirtied Scouts and Sandies, and to a degree, a scuffed-up TK here or there, but when it comes to parades and high-exposure events, I'd rather see all that beautiful white armor polished back to the day you got it (or, in the real world military sense, the day it was issued to you). Sure, wear your pauldrons and packs, but polish the armor. Have some pride in your unit! If a piece of your issued armor is damaged, get it repaired to specs, or get it replaced! Imagine if Vader has requested a formal event/parade/ceremony on Tatooine. Those Sandies would probably have been required to clean up their act or they'd get themselves called on the carpet by the Big Helmet himself. When I saw the SW BluRay documentary, 'Star Warriors' (that's what got me back into trooping, by the way), I shed a tear to see so many troopers with dirty or unkempt armor. Not surprised, just...saddened. Even one of the parade bystanders commented, "Look at that one, he's all dirty!" His tone of voice indicated (to me) that he did not understand why the trooper was all dirty. it's possible that person never saw Star Wars, or only saw it once, or so long ago he didn't remember that there were dirty troopers onscreen. Regardless, I think he came away with the feeling that the the trooper in question seemed out of place. Having said all that, please understand, I like the weathered look in most cases. Just not for high profile events. My personal feelings. Sorry. /end rant As for screen-accurate vs. reality, I agree with those who've stated that we should represent what the public thinks they saw onscreen. Therefore, I will be wearing utility-style Nomex gloves with hard 'plastoid' armor plates, and my helmet will have non-painted decals applied. It's a personal preference, but it's what I thought I saw on screen in '77, and I'd like to think the general public would agree. That parade bystander included. I have nothing but respect for those that go the extra mile for the screen-accurate look; that takes more time, dedication and blood/sweat/tears than most hobbies out there. I have simply decided to go the route that makes this veteran happy. In shiny white armor!

Are we looking for something like this? No, I don't have a source, I just pulled it off the internet. Just want to make sure I'm looking for the right thing.

Got it. Thanks, Andrew. I see what you mean:

Ah, okay, now that makes sense. So the painted bumps method is more accurate. I see that in the CRL now (for Centurion status): Abdomen armor buttons are integrated and painted directly on the armor. No separate buttons are allowed. So does anyone have a good reference picture of the belt for ANH Stunt? I'm still hesitant about the rivet covers.

Well, crap. Now I'm even more confused. If G is the screen-accurate ab plate, but must be trimmed to fit, wouldn't it make more sense to use the F plate with the metal bolts? (No trimming and, well, METAL!) And now that I look at it, I see where E goes. I guess the 'need-to trim' part caught me off guard, as EVERYTHING else in the kit is trimmed.

Yup. Me, too. I got my big brown box today! It was all I could do not to take the afternoon off to run home to open it! Ignore the cat...he ignores me. I was like a kid at Christmas, opening 20+ little packages of wrap and masking tape. I seriously don't have enough room to lay everything out! I will admit to being overwhelmed a bit. There are no instructions (a minor disappointment), so I'll be relying on WA.net and fuumantroop (dude, better clear out your inbox!) to assist me. For starters, I noticed there were LOTS of extra pieces. As I'm just getting into TK costuming, and have done a little research, I was able to lay aside the ESB handguards, Sandtrooper diamond sniper and cheese-grater plates, but there are a few pieces where I'm still scratching my head. A & B: Why two belt pieces? Are they movie-specific? C: Shoulder bars? Are they spares or do they go under the ribbed ones? D: Are these rivet covers for the belt? (See H & I) E, F, & G: I imagine these are for the abdomen, but why the different sizes? H & I: Are these rivet covers for the belt? Why the two different styles? (H - large dimples, I - smaller dimples) Anyway, I'm going to put everything away for right now. I'm already digging the helmet construction! ::edit - corrected the position of E/F/G in picture::

Yeah, the more I look at it, I like the cleaner look. Well, I'm off to order some more U-trim from TrooperBay!

I found, after cutting the U-trim to length, that someone had posted a 'cleaner' look to the brow trim by cutting an angle on the end of the trim to match the angle of the trap above it (see 'B' below). After seeing that, I thought, yes, that makes sense, and looks much better! ------------- Your thoughts? Would that small aesthetic go against any 501st EIB specs?

DVH, my man! Yeah, I got bit by the TK bug, so here I be. AM armor kit is on the UPS truck on its way to my house right now.

So as I'm playing around with the magnets and brow height adjustments, I came across a potential hurdle. The front and back pieces on the bottom of the left side of the helmet 'meet', which is what I expected: ---------- However, on the right side, there is a significant gap: ---------- Does anyone know if this is normal on the MTK Helmet? Am I correct in assuming the ear piece will cover this gap and allow me to add the S-trim successfully? Do I need to add a shim to this gap in order to screw the earpiece to the lower section of the helmet? Please note, I did NOT do any trimming on the back piece to create this gap - this is the way it arrived.

I suppose the hardest part of this entire project will be deciding on the brow height...I've been up for three nights trying different looks, but I think I like this o--------

So, for those of us in the US, what are some viable tall-ankled, black-to-white options (while we're waiting for TKBoots to ramp up production)? On a side note, when I read the title of this thread 'Which one is the right boot?', I thought, "well, it's the one that ain't the left boot."

Brad, I'm right behind you; my AM armor just shipped as well!

yeah, I'm kinda scared to death of the ears....I think I'll wait til the weekend before I get to them.

Just for clarification, what's the issue with spray-painting? I've always preferred it as it reduces the 'brush-stroke' look; it gives a smoother finish. What am I missing? And of course, what's wrong with the left ear?

'1138'? Seriously? That's awesome! Turns out they DO have a spray version, it's 1238: -----------