piklz36

NICE!!! I need to clean up two pairs of headlights, and I didn't want to spend extra $$$ on a "cleaning kit". Did you use a scrubber on the end of a drill bit, or just hand scrub them? Novus 2, or 3? Thanks for the post.

Hey Adam, I'm new to this too (and incidentally in Carrollwood, FL), but from my limited experience, your movement will be very limited from the waist down. You can't really bend at your waist too much, and you lose a lot of movement in your knees. Elbows also get restricted if you wear your armor as in ANH (b/c your bicep and forearm are very close together). You also won't be able to see very well. But, as Mathias stated, if it doesn't hurt (pinching, poking, pressing or pushing) and the armor looks the part, learn to live with it.

Alright. My wife has redone the tube stripes. While the paint is still uncured, I thought I'd get some feedback. Here are some pics. The stripes are now 3/4" long. What do you all think? Maybe the stripes are too thick now? Or, do you think they're good? I've got the belt disassembled. I'm trimming down the plastic part. I need to find a tailor to bring the belt width into 2 3/4" - 3". I don't have a sewing machine running, and I feel odd hand-stitching the belt together. Still contemplating the heat bending technique or snaps and straps for the butt plate. Thanks so much for all of the feedback so far.

@ Echo: I printed out the templates from Pandatrooper. If I remember right, I measured them at around 3/4", but curved more. Maybe that's part of the problem? Either way, I now know that the tube stripes are an issue. I measured the stripes on my lid at around 1", so they are certainly long. On to researching how to remove Testors enamel from ABS. Hahaha. Thanks for looking it over.

@ DarkTrooper: I hear you loud and clear. I was wondering what you all would think about the stripes. From the front, they look fine to me. But from the side, they look a little too straight. This is something that I would like more comments on for sure. Thanks so much for your attention to detail.

@ Funky: Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I had no idea to even look at the canvas belt width. Hahaha. Learn something new everyday. And now I see that it's part of the new CRL ammendments. This is something I'll definitely fix. I paid no attention to it because I was under the impression that the Trooperbay canvas belts were approvable (with all of the tour-derived kits) up to Centurion. I've read threads about this, but can't find them at the moment. I trimmed nothing from the width of ATA's plastic ammo portion, and just attached it to the canvas. Perhaps someone with more pull in the hobby should alert the folks at Trooperbay? As for the heat bending, does anyone know the temperature at which ABS is re-formable? I've done some trial and error with an infared thermometer, and the plastic seems to go soft around 145 - 155 degrees (in fahrenheit). Should I heat it more? Or less? Again, thanks for your help with this. @ Ravenwood: You're certainly giving me some confidence about the heat bending. I'm going to mess around with some scrap ABS, and see what I come up with. Thanks for the encouragement. @ SW1: I caught TM's discussion about the black screw heads just as I was assembling the TD. It was a lucky find. Thanks for noticing the detail. best, dave

Name = David Steinweg ID = TK 42311 Garrison = Florida Squad = Tampa Bay Squad FISD = piklz36 Armor = ATA Helmet = ATA, hand painted by my lovely wife, no templates or decals Blaster = Hyperfirm E-11 ANH, with minor mods (yep that's R2 in the sights, I've found the droid) Height = 5'11" Weight = 180lbs Boots = TKboots Canvas Belt = Trooperbay Hand Plates = Trooperbay white rubber Electronics = none . . . yet? Neck Seal = Trooperbay Holster = self-made (thanks to TM and Bilhag for the templates/diagrams) I've tried to build for Centurion, so any comments/critiques to help get me up to that level are very welcome. I figure I'll get some feedback on this EIB application. There are a few tweaks I intend to make once I see how the suit handles trooping. Things I know need work: I've got Trooperbay's rubber handguards on nomex gloves for this EIB application. I already have rubber chemical gloves and white rubber plates from Karin, so those will be used for Centurion. I've received a lot of advice to stick with nomex for the Florida heat, so I'm going to use those for outdoor trooping. For canon and indoor troops, I'll use the more accurate chemicals and Karin guards. The butt plate flares out. I'm a bit cautious of heat bending. I know there are some good tips and tricks (thanks PandaTrooper) out there. But I'm still apprehensive about the process. I'm currently using brads for the knee ammo box. I've already got 8mm cap rivets for this. I just need to switch them out. Alright, here's the pics: Thanks to all in advance for your comments/critiques. I really enjoy the Troopers helping Troopers aspect of this forum. TK 42311, piklz36, dave

Hello! TK 42311 requesting member status. Thanks in advance. Member page: http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=15571 dave