WhiteNight

Hi there, I'm asking for a friend who showed me his bucket today, so I would identify it/the manufacturer for him. I first thought Don Post, but then comparing it with adquate pics it did not match. Can anyone identify this bucket for my friend? It is a three part helmet, made from at least 2mm ABS. Faceplate, dome and backpart of the helmet are separate parts. It weighs comparably with the MR/eFX and is as sturdy. It comes with brown bubblelenses. The low ridge of the dome almost looks like it was meant to be covered by the backpart. Thanks for your help, troopers!

I direly hope so! I think the design is made to have two separated eyes and not a single visor and a eyedistance such as this would ruin not only the looks but also be totally unpractical to wear. My wife suggested maybe those are mere sensors and not lenses, so the operator sees his surroundings by incorporated displays, but from a costume point of view this would still be unpractical for the bearer. Also I doubt such big lenses were necessary at all with the display solution. Of course this is all mere speculation.

At first I quite liked the look of the new lid, but this new pic is not to my liking at all. The distance between the eyes seems to be much bigger than on the ANH lid. So you could only have a sideway glimpse of your surroundings. Also the face now has the look of a badger or Disney's Beagle Boys. When looking at the "evolution" of helmets this one brings us back to the Phase I Clone trooper design, resembling a bucket with no eyecatching features only that its top is flatted out like the ANH. The RMQ had much more features and greeblies on it, so I do not see much of a resemblance.

Wooden spatula like your dentist/physician may use them are the way to go when you do not want to claw at your armour with your fingers. They are soft enough not to leave any scratches on the plastic. Look out for them at your local hobby store, which will be much cheaper than get them from a medical facility.

I like your work quite alot. The rail modding is especially nice! Still there are a few things to adress: The sights above the muzzle really should have gotten a cut and be filed out. Also in the muzzle there is some white colour showing. Is this intentional? The silver bolt on the ejection port on the E11 has a diagonal shape on it. You could either add some bent plastic card or just paint it on. You could add some round transparent plastic (cut from a plastic bottle) to the scope to give it a glass effect. Sp, please keep up the good work! It's worth it.

Some people see Jesus on a toast, this seems very similar... only there is no Helmet at all in the picture. Maybe they forgot they didn't have a bucket in the first place?

I used E6000, but only to make a loop out of them. I simply put them on the shoulderparts of the backplate and behind the snapplates there, which hold them in place nicely. I suppose you could sew them as well into a loop.

On his page, he suggests Midnight Blue or Mediterranean Blue for the tubestripes and explicitly discards French Blue: http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/anhref.html

Nice built! Only thing is the coverstrip in the back of your right thigh extends the rest of the thigh and could be filed/sanded down a bit, so the seam has a smooth finish.

This is the thread with the list: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/22278-tubestripe-color/page__hl__tubestripe__fromsearch__1 It lists Midnight Blue for buttons but no Mediterranean Blue for tubestripes, hence the difference in the palette and probably the confusion. I for my part have not read about Mediterranean Blue before, while searching the forums. Which tells us to use the colours from the list above, right? Did all three confirm the French Blue as the colour of the tubestripes?

Exactly my thoughts! The colour on the tubestripes is regularly referred as French Blue, Midnight Blue and now even Mediterranean Blue? Almost the same with the buttons... And now even the Humbrol colours aren't the right ones? I bought me a can of Humbrol French Blue just a few days ago, but now I think I'll stay with the old perceived colours and make the tubestripes Midnight Blue, too.

I started with Loctite 454 which is a kind of Cyanacrylate but of a gel like consistency instead of fluid. I discovered it did not work very well on my ABS armour. My plastic straps come undone from the chestplate without too much pressure, so I had to reattach them with E6000. Luckily I did order a tube of E6000 as well just in case. Of course the Loctite did eat into my armour, but since these locations are covered by the straps, there is not much harm done. Also Patex clear should do the job, too. I haven't tried it though, as I was not willing to try another glue or buy another one.

I did not insulate the metal part of my snap plates while working with E6000 and there is no warping or heating whatsoever on my 2mm ABS. Either this is just urban legend or inappropriate amounts of E6000 will chemically melt the plastic. There is no reason to believe the metal gets heated by the E6000 in any way. If it melts plastic, then this is a reaction involving the solvent in the E6000 and the plastic, but not actual heat. Maybe it reacts with HIPS?

Wow! I'm really impressed how accurate the proportions on the kidtrooper are. Well done Paul, amazing job.

What about the not yet approved 501 aspirants? Do you think they do not want to discuss the new AM/NE? Or at least see it? Could even be interesting for total newbies who are still looking for an armour. This thread could help them to decide, don't you think?

Be sure not to take the regular ones, but the 'heavy duty' camping + outdoor snaps.

Ok, for all US troopers: http://www.dritz.com/ This is the manufacturer of the snaps, so there shouldn't be a problem to get them in the US.

Thanks for the nice feedback! Usually the bits come in the same blister as the snaps: http://www.stoffe-he...ge_390198_2.jpg They also come as bits with variopliers and those are not too expensive either. All of the bits in one single blister: This is the metal bit with which the snaps are punched: Note how it is attached to the plastic bit that also comes with the blister: You can use this instead of the hollow punch, by simply punching the top of the plastic with a hammer.

So there are some howtos and tips for this already, still I wanted to offer a step by step howto: First of all the reason why one would need Snap Plates lying as flat as possible on the surface of the armour: More surface = More contact, more contact = stronger joint/less tension. You need of course some tools and materials: I do not use variopliers, as these make a dome of the lower part of the snap and does not produce a flat surface. I use a hollow punch without the tip and put the metal bit that comes with the snaps in it instead. You can also use the plastic bit that usually comes with the snaps to hold the metal bit. This is what we're heading for, a nice flat bottom on a snap plate: Put the lower part of the snap on a flat hard surface, preferably a vice or an anvil etc. Then put the lower part of the snap through the centered hole in the plastic plate. Now put on top the higher part of the snap (this is a male snap, but it also works with a female snap. Just use the same lower part to attach it). The sideview shows the plate does not lie flat on the vice. Put the metal bit that came with the snaps into the snap. Put the hollow punch with its open end over the bit. Or use the plastic bit that comes along the snaps to hold the metal bit. Give it three or four punches with a hammer. This is how the inside of the snap should look like now: As you can see the snap plate lies flat and flush on the vice. This is the result: I hope you find this howto useful. Also you can use this method to get your snaps through your plastic belt. I found the variopliers do not reach far enough to do the trick.

Well it's been a long time without update, but here are some modifications that took place on the lid in the meantime: The ears were trimmed and the screws inserted. The gap below the frown is filled up, sanded and repainted. New lense material cut and incorporated into the lid. As you can see even the frontal flash of the camera does not penetrate the lenses.

Are these the official required modifications? Or is there a current list out yet?

Good find! I'll immediately order me a pair in L. Thanks for posting the adress! (I would not recommend searching anyone in those, since they lack massively in protection against cut and thrust) But really they look very comfy. Edit: Ordered a pair in L (my regular glove size), but they are so tight, I cant even get my fingers in them! Will return them and try XL... Hopefully they will fit then. Edit II: Yup! XL was the way to go. Now they fit like a second skin. Can't wait to wear them along my armour, when it is finished that is.

What I don't see in the list are rivets and snaps. You seem to have gathered everything else, though. When I told this to my wife she would break out in laughter! (Somehow I think she can understand that perfectly...)

IIRC there was once a documentation about the Sterlings in SW having been cut down to 5 shots each. If only 5 shots were used per gun, or if the mags were really cut down to only 5 shots I can't remember, sorry.

There is almost everything together! The list lacks the minimum requirements/modifications for the MRCE to be up to 501st standards. Seems there is until now only this thread:---------- Maybe there could be a pinned thread for all those MRCE owners out there?