Darth Voorhees

LOL! I had that exact one as well for 2 yrs. It worked well and wasnt all that uncomfortable to me gernerally, but it did get a bit "sticky" when it was super hot. I now have one that oiftanker made with the zipper in the back and am VERY happy with that one. Wish he would make more, i wanted one for my Sandy

looks good to me! The more accurate line of helmets (AP, TE, TE2, ATA, VT, PT, Gino, [possibly TM,not sure] etc) all are "twist ons" You put your head in with the helmet turned to the left or right, and once on your head you turn it straight. thats just the way we do with the more accurate helmets.

When i first got my armor i was 5'8" at 220lbs. Mostly all the weight in the middle....my biggest problem was the ab popping out over the chest plate because of my gut. I resolved that problem by adding elastic straps with plastic clips that go from the chest to the ab plate. this kept everything in place. I had the butt/kidney separated and the ab/cod one piece. i feel separating it when you have "more in the middle" just shows it more as the cod would be further back then the ab plate and it would look silly. i also added a side gap plate,riveted onto the kidney plate and velcroed to the ab plate. This made it adjustable if il ose or gain weight. Eventually i lost about 20lbs and looked much better, but now im back up to 217, so it time to go on a diet again. I also have AParmor which i feel is actually a little slimming as the kidney plate has a nice curve to it to fit into the lumbar of your back,the FX/AM does not. I also feel if i weighed anymore the AP kit would just be too small. Heres a pic of me in my AP armor when i was at about 205-210lbs (PS i dont use the newton amp anymore:rolleyes:) -----------

Damn rebels!

Anyone else getting an error page when they try to sign onto the 501st forum?

Nothing wrong with all black bro, my TK's mic tips are all black. Or, you could just Paint the inside white. Dont think you need to get new ones, but if you really want too, the above suggestions are great. If you have no luck with getting in touch with those guys, I offer Mic-tips as well.

Thanks guys! Cant take credit for the hood and robe though. A member of the Krayt Clan made those for her. I agree though,the hood looks very good, i think she got a good deal.She'll be my lil Jawa in no time! hehe

haha awesome!

here is my progress so far making my fiance Candace's Jawa mask. I will likely be cleaning this up and offering castings of these in the future if anyone is interested. I may also put them on my website (www.PadlokStudios.com) which should be up soon! But for now, here is the original, which she will be using. Its a modded F13 hockey mask.Obviously there will be fabric over this..just wanted to show what i did with the mask. I left it rough cuz, well, it will be covered. :jawa: Here it is with the fabric... and with the rest of the costume...less the boots...

Assembly is very similar with the AP and TE2.I own an AP for my TK and a TE2 for my TD. Both can be a little tricky, but i wouldnt say it is difficult. They both recommend the "strip" method. Which is basically butting the 2 halves of the calf (or thigh or bicep or forearm) together and attaching them with a single strip of plastic down the center to cover the seam. What i do is leave 1/2" of the center strip thats molded into the pieces on each side. so when you butt them together its about 1" i then glue a plastic strip on the INSIDE of one side,leaving a bout a hlf inch "extension".Let that dry, add glue to the extension part and then butt he other half to join up and clampo it down while the glue dries. Then put the strip in the front. doubles the strength of the join. i do this like this for all the fronts of the thighs calves forearms and biceps. Then i do the fitting on the backs.i think this makes it simpler. i use some blue painters tape to test fit the size.And i usually test it a few times before commiting to the cut. then i mark it off and basically do the same to the backs of the thighs, forarms and biceps. the backs of the calves, are velcroed. these parts would be the most difficult,and ithink using this method, it makes it alot easier. the rest is very simple. ill try and find a link to my strapping system that i seem to get complimented on all the time. i know theres a thread somewhere here where i showed it lol also.....PM sent

Seriously! I was like that till i was in my mid- late 20s....not so much now lol. As for the fit...would do as ABS80 suggested, trim the kidney plate a bit and add some foam padding in the front, or a little in the front and back to fill the suit out a little bit. I think that would make it good to go!

im already EIB and MEPD deployed...so i cant help right now! dang! Love that pic of the Singapore garrison..love seeing a bunch of TK's with NO FX helmets...it looks so uniform..and thats the point of TKs!

I made my own belt for my sandtrooper and sewed the piece of plastic into the belt with vertical stitching to hold it from sliding around. Since its for an ammo pouch you don't see the vertical stitches. EDIT: wait do you mean the ammo blocks part of the belt armor? I thought the extra plain ABS strip was just in case you needed to make shims and such and not necessarily for the belt.I know when i had FX armor it came with3 or 4 ABS belt pieces, but i only needed 2 for the actual belt. Im thinking the new AM armor may come with the same type of thing.

Thanks! Congrats to you too!

Finders keepers!! LOL! Thanks! Thanks everyone!

why thank you Paul!

thanks everyone! Ask and you shall receive....

Well, for those of you that haven't seen it on the facebook... My girlfriend Candace and I are Officially Engaged i was waiting mostly because i couldn't afford a nice ring yet, and refused to get total crap, even if it just was a "place holder" ring...but we found a ridiculous deal on a ring she really liked, and decided to go for it. So now shes stuck with me and my costumes, props, and resin and fiberglass LOL

werd. Agreed!

Very well put Mike.

Yea pretty good stuff. I had an early VT helmet that was very thin,but he has since upgraded to a heavier gauge plastic. Good guy to work with, i traded him a Vader kit for a TK kit way back when. Stand up guy.

Looks nice,but i personally would never buy from someone who recast TE2. Your build is coming along very nice though, follow the tips already stated and your good to go. I am a GML, and i would not clear those boots. Tkboots.com is the way to go.

Sweet!!...id love to build a small basic little table for some small parts, but dont really have the cash ...or know how lol

The pictures is definitely a Rubies, what he actually sends...may not be.

Thanks for the pics guys! It does look good to me! Smitty, thanks for your input as well. Makes alot of sence. I've had my AP for 2 yrs and luckily, so far it doesnt show any signs of yellowing. Ive also painted alot of items white that have been kept outside alot and not yellowed in over 3yrs. Not sure if the HIPS would make any difference there though. The paint type may also factor in, as well as Location/climate. I guess its hard to say as an exact science. Also i have 2 (and will eventually have 4) other suits i use so the daylight contact would be less than if i only had a TK. All that being said,i appreciate that input and its something to be aware of. thanks bro.