SethB6025

I had one, and will be getting one again. I'm planning on getting the Nostromos (unused prop from Alien) version also. It has a nice heft, and its really well done. Here is a pic of my old one: --------

Shawn Morgan makes one, solid resin. Its absolutely gorgeous and really the only option available for this blaster. Email is [email protected] Here is a link to a cool piece on him. He makes a lot of really cool stuff, all completely from scratch! ----------------

You'll spend at least $1000 to complete a TK. Likely more. If you took away all my sandtrooper stuff I'd be at about $1100. Thats not counting a blaster, which can run anywhere from $25 for scratch build supplies (and a lot of sweat equity) to $300+ dollars for a quality replica. As mentioned before, you will need to dump time into it as well.

I've never waited outside of anything for more than 15 minutes or so, and that was usually for a show. (ya know, like a concert?) As far as waiting for a video game system or even a certain movie franchise hells no! Just buy it in a week or two. I don't get it. Maybe it has something to do with the job, family, friends and hobby. Camping out to buy something, or buying it at 7 times the price on ebay just to have it a few days early? Sorry; can't relate.

Hooray! This is a long time coming, and will serve our new recruits & old troopers well! As for the naysayers; "If only this had been around when I did my stormtrooper" is what they'll say once they see the horde of info that has been collecting here! Yeah!

Very nice Matt!

If you're needing the E6000 ready quicker, glue the part, press it together with the thing you're glueing it to, then pull it apart and let it sit for five minutes. When you press it together again it holds nicely. I glued industrial velcro to my canvas belt this way and trooped in it (with pouches on the belt) about four hours later. (It still smelled though )

Cut until it looks right, I'd leave a little of the flashing. The more recent FX helmets like the one above have the eyes cut too much to the point there is no recess at all.

Nice work!

Hey Matt, try cutting about the top two inches off of your FX chestplate (and possibly some from the top of your backplate). It makes a big difference & try mounting your shoulder straps more straight than angled out. I did it on my old kit & it made the AP/FX combination look much better. If you're thinking of upgrading the whole kit, you could probably fund an AP kit with the sale of your completed armor. That's what I did with my TE last year, I had to sell my old AP/FX combo to buy it.

Yeah, it's not really a proper gauge (smaller=thicker), but instead in hundreths of inches, or in the more accurate mm.

Ah, good old trial and error. I sort-of remember putting my TE together earlier this year. I had just had "open" hernia surgery (that's the kind where you are laid up in bed for a bloody week) the day before the box showed up. After a few days of countless hours of TV, movies, and sketching in bed, I was able to get up and hobble about for a couple hours a day. I trimmed the whole suit over the course of two days, about half an hour at a time. Surprisingly, those two hours were best because I was high as a kite on pain pills and I didn't hurt at all. I'm amazed I didn't screw up (maybe more pills will help the next suit ). Assembly went smoothly for me, only a couple bumps in the road, mostly with the shins popping apart due to my stingy gluing. Great idea with the labels, I did the same. Makes it a lot easier to keep track of what's what. Everything will turn out fine, keep plugging away.

TE2 is .093 HIPS, AP is .080 ABS. Myth busted. ABS is more rigid and will take a little more punishment, but HIPS shows more detail. I know a few armor makers are looking into some different plastics that would give the best of both worlds.

I don't find it necessary, for the reason metioned. On the other hand, it looks better to have something there, either a TD or a grappling hook. Accuracy; No. Aesthetic preference; put something back there!

Same molds as TE, excellent quality. Pulled with a lot of care, likely due to "Mr. X's" low-volume nature.

Looks like you solved your prob, but I had the same thing happen with Krylon Fusion, even after waiting the full 7 days for cure. The solution is to go light on the spray, and also it helps to clean with rubbing alcohol prior to recoating.

Something else of interest you may already know; AP arms, consisting of the gauntlet, bicep, and shoulder bell are identical for left and right, as opposed to being "mirrored" or different like TE2 (current name for TE) or TM. Same story on the AP shins. Also, the cap & back on the helmet looks about the same on the AP as it did on the GF it came from, however the faceplate appears to have been re-done, as it doesn't have the "over-cleaned" soft look of the original GF helmets.

Yeah, that should be a given. I'm surprised how often people think they were black (along w/ ab buttons). That goes to show you how pop culture in the form of FX has distorted popular perceptions (misconceptions ) of an accurate suit.

Well, looks like I picked the wrong time to go on vacation! Model 99! That was driving me nuts as I had read it long ago, but the name was long forgotten. Uh, okay, this should be fairly easy; "How many different types of handbacks are used throughout the OT by stormtroopers & sandtroopers"? List them out yo! Hint- different materials count as a variant.

I think the decals should be part of the deal, they're easy enough to get. the tube stripe issue is probably forgivable, though should be just as easy to get with a backround vs. without. Although, in person the rub-on tube decals look better than a solid sticker.

Some troopers had a japanese pistol in a promo shot (i think it was ESB, got to dig it out). Also, in the same shot a TK sported the MG15 (unnamed in SW universe).

They dropped the hengstler entirely for ESB. Check out http://www.partsofsw.com there is detailed descriptions of all the blaster versions & variants.

I wouldn't require a sound system, since that is more of a peripheral item than a visible costume detail. Or, maybe require it to be "invisible" if present. ie; no big-arsed speaker hanging off of your belt.

LOL! At a recent con, someone asked our Garrison's XO, Jason "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper" seeing as that was probably about the 1000th time he heard that his priceless response was; "aren't you a little old for a virgin?" The crowd got a good chuckle out of that one!