SethB6025

You need to find smooth/smooth if you want to form it. You will also need to use a vacuum pump and pressure tank. Expect to spend $500-$1000 & a reasonable amount of time to get it together. Don't try to pull ABS with a shop vac, it won't turn out. Also, if you form with smooth/textured the texture will show through to the smooth side. You can pull HIPS on a shop vac, but don't go any thicker than .080. IF you want to read up on forming visit www.tk560.com, there is a nice board there dedicated to vac-forming.

I like the rubber gloves. They will make your hands sweat but the rest of you is sweating anyway so whatever. I like the dexterity they afford, and they wash up nice and easy. Plus, they are cheap enough to keep a few pair in the bin just in case.

Funny thing about the backward stripes, I had that same problem on my first helmet back in the day. The feeling of stupidity when I noticed it was overwhelming. Back to the topic at hand, look closely at the films; they were blue throughout. Even the continuity-ignoring SE add in troops have it right.

The economy kit never happened. I don't have the time to dig for the thread (on whichever forum it was on) but they sacked it. The idea was that it would be made from PVC, which is a total pain to form with. I couldn't tell you how that justifies a massive price drop but it was the rationale given. My guess is that AP found out how wretched PVC is for armor forming.

Thats mold damage for sure. I'd assume he has multiple sets, if not the straps will cover it.

I would wave it on, there is no reason to keep it in. If you have a larger head pick up the OSCS ANH helmet, if not pick any one of the three commonly available ANH helmets and rock n' roll.

That looks outstanding! I hope my next bucket turns out that nice!

Hawt! You've got my number, I might be able to help you out a little myself & put you in touch with a couple seasoned hi-vac experts.

They are "original", just not from the 1970's.

There's the new ones!

They re-engineered tour suits originally, but the current suits have been re-done since then. The gentleman who actually re-vamped and re-sculpted the suit a couple years ago is a member on the RPF and showed pictures. It has probably dropped off of there by now but would be worth searching for, pretty interesting stuff about how they idealized it & made it more wearer-friendly.

I would like to take a chance to agree with this, I've owned and/or handled TE, TE2, AP, GF2, and TM. I was there when Mike & I handled a TM alongside at TE, TE2, and AP. It is absolutely not a recast. The allegations are nothing more than sour grapes from a handful of nay-sayers (some of whom I like, sorry guys) who can't believe that anyone can do anything other than recast a screen-used Stormtrooper helmet to make a good replica. Anyone capable of proving me wrong on that point can have my armor. I'd also like to thank Matt, Gino, Dan, and some others for being (eventually) forthcoming with a lot of information. Its a shame the go-around has to happen every few years though.

"Eddie" graces the logo of the Old Line Garrison, for those who have never noticed.

Man-oh-man that is BEAUTIFUL!

! It's not supposed to do that!

I missed part one, but what is the problem? Can you see the gap from the outside? Any gap that happens on an FX helmet should be covered by the ear unless it is mounted too low. I had one of these straight from GF (the guy who sculpted them before they became known as FX and copied a dozen times over by others) and even on his the halves did not marry up perfectly. They were closer, but due to generational loss of detail they have clearly lost a fraction of an inch off of the mold depth causing the larger separation. Is it so big that is shows past the ears?

Best argument I've ever heard Curtis! Truth speaks volumes.

Andre, the tk1536 site has a great break-down of the different stormtrooper armors, which I think was a reply to the question in your first post. For the TIE armor, in addition to the different backplate keep in mind there is a raised flat area added to the chest behind the chestbox that is not there on a stormtrooper. There are several makers who do TIE specific parts, and you'll probably find them to be no more expensive than their stormtrooper equivalents and they'll already have the detail down, plus they will probably already be in black, saving you some painting.

Spray paint is best, find a white that you like & I would go with gloss. The ABS will take the paint just fine, although if you are worried about it a wet-sand with something like 600 grit would help the paint adhesion. I would recommend waiting until you have everything to do the painting, that way the color will be consistent and no worries about "dye lots" or having the paint go funky in the can.

Vacuum-formed plastic is imperfect by nature. The surface will tend to have some wavy-ness to it here and there, it will have a slightly inconsistent thickness as well, due to the way it is made. A gloss plastic will accentuate these things. ABS tends to have a color cast (can be blue, pink, grey, or "milky") you may want to paint it if you find it offensive.

Judging by the crooked long skinny part on the right it was copied from either AP or TE. Probably AP, it seems to have lost some detail.

The face is a dead give-away. The GF version was very sanitized and more soft of detail. The AP is closer to the original linage of the GF prior to the sanitization. Plus, if memory serves me GF never offered his ANH suits in kit form. He was signing AP kits for a little while a couple years back, so the sigs are probably legit.

I had several hairline splits in my old FX suit after about four years of light-medium trooping. I have a couple small hairline splits on my current TE suit after about two years and a lot more trooping, plus with the undercuts and lips there are more places prone to it than on the more flat FX parts. If you notice cracks beginning, just back the split up with some glue or plastic & glue to prevent it from getting worse. UV light is bad for all plastics so limiting the light exposure when not in use would be best.

After April 2008 I am willing to bet he will be restricted from sending orders anywhere. Sorry, couldn't help myself. No popcorn needed, move along, move along.

Love it! The backpack is pretty nice too