Dracos

Heh, I find that the bucket has a certain sense of understated class. It certainly is the best of the squad.

I so need dance lessons. I did my first public stint in the armor today and I cannot count how many people asked me to "bust a move" "dance" etc. It was at a camp and the energy was very high. We played a full body version of rock paper scissors, but it was man gorilla net. For me it wasn't so much acting as just fitting in with the routine that was already going on. We were working with kids so there was a lot of silliness and I played along as well as I could. I did have an awkward moment when a couple of preschool classes from a near-by day care came by. The little ones looked really scared. I kept my distance and started playing peek-a-boo. Some of them warmed up, but not enough that I felt confident approaching - so I stayed back and waved.

Aww - well so much for my logic . I'll try to do my part - just finished hand painting the helmet tonight. I have a great appreciation now for steadier hands.

OK - good to know it is well within the range of normality. I may try the moleskin though - interesting idea. Thank you all for responding - I don't know what is right yet and tend to think I've messed up somewhere along the line. Thanks for a little peace of mind - even if accompanied by clanking armor. . .

OK tried my suit on with the strapping today and gave it a spin around the house. I can maneuver up and down stairs with difficulty. And a whole lot of noise - even when just walking - is this normal? I know that range of motion is an issue, but how much limitation should I expect? And how much noise - I think that most of it is the drop boxes and the legs - whew not sneaking up on anyone in this costume!

Why not EIB. . . . Could it be that MEPD has a higher ratio of screen accurate costumes due to the fact that the troopers there may have older armor, or be members of the 501st for a longer period of time? I know it sounds a little odd, but follow my logic for a moment. I'm brand new to the whole trooping scene. I don't want a scratch in my shiny new armor right now. But it will happen, especially if I actively troop in it. At some point it will get beaten up enough and, since the 501st creeps in as a lifestyle for some folks, I may want to change things up and go sandy. It offers a way to keep trooping with a bonus that I get a cool shoulder pauldron and other new goodies to put some life back into the build. Could it be that MEPD has a higher number of "old timers" who have already proven that they are ready to go a little further on the detailing because they have already gone a little further in wearing their armor out? Maybe we need to see FISD as a feeder program for MEPD. One that may not have new recruits reaching for EIB or Centurion right away, but that grabs folks and eventually gets them there when they are ready to transfer to the Sandy side. Might put a different light on the issue and make it look less like a failure. -------------------------------------------------- I am trying to make my first build EIB - we'll see if I manage to do it.

Thanks - I'll do that. Heh, power tools are a new thing to play with here, can you tell?

Could someone tell me what size hole you drill for the ears? It's looking like 3/32 to me - but I really don't want to mess this up. . . . Thanks

OK I have to back track. I am having to shim both the thighs and the torso on my build. But I need to state that I am female and carry my extra weight lower than the average guy. That diet is looking like a reality at this point. From the build threads and EIB requests that I've seen from guys in the same height & weight ballpark - ATA looks pretty good.

LOL! I needed that smile tonight.

I am scheduled to help out as part of the welcome committee in a couple weeks at a local camp. They have a Star Wars derived theme and were ecstatic about having a TK on-site. I have a team put together to help me out, and we've gone over the basic safety considerations, visibility, mobility, crowd control etc. I have hydration breaks scheduled. My one major concern is the blaster. Given my prior experiences in the public school system, I lean towards keeping it holstered the entire time, since kids are present. I've heard mention on the boards that having it stealthily taken out of the holster and grow wings is at times an issue. I've been considering making a hole in the back of the leather holster to run a zip tie through - effectively peace bonding it and making it much harder to remove without my explicit notice. Has anyone else done this? Are there any suggestions in dealing with large crowds of kids? (400+ of them)? Would you even take your weapon with or leave it home? Has anyone ever had trouble with the general public getting nervous about the faux weaponry?

I don't know if this would apply, but Tandy leather sometimes sells oil tanned scrap by the pound. I just picked up a scrap big enough for probably 2 holsters for $12. It means you have to make your own, but if you've already set snaps for your kit you've done the hardest part. There are templates and instructions out there that only need a little modifying. Trace them out on paper first to make sure that they fit your e-11 and all works well. It's a pretty easy leather project - I found it a lot less intimidating than cutting into the plastic.Granted I've done leather work before - so familiarity probably helped some. So very budget conscious, but you have to invest a bit of time. P.S. - skip buying leather needles for a sewing machine and instead buy a thonging chisel - it runs between $6 - $9 and you use it to punch the holes needed to stitch the leather up. Lot less frustration and broken needles when you have the right tools.

I've been reading threads about concerns with the elastic band connecting the shoulder bells pulling to the back or the front. Has anyone thought about connecting them to the neck-seal proper? I'll be sewing the seal and my harness soon and I've been wondering about making it all into a single unit. Does anyone see a downside to this that I an not seeing?

Thanks - sounds like a great start. There are a lot of things in there that I wouldn't have thought of.

Someone mentioned and emergency repair kit. I will need to take one of those with I am sure. What do you all put in such a kit? Right now I'm thinking that some white duct tape and maybe plastic weld with magnets - there are more things I should consider. . . just not thinking of them yet.

These are great! Thank you so much for all of the input. I love the ideas and will be digging through the fabric bin for scraps of fleece and I will hit the storage are at Home Depo - now that I know what to look for!

Not sure that this is the correct forum to ask in, but how do you travel with your armor? A big bag? Do you wrap up the pieces in any particular way? Do you use some sort of hard sided case or a big box? Trying to wrap my head around this. Photos of your set-up would be appreciated. . . .

Thanks all! Kinda good to know that I'm still on track. There's this part of you that starts to really doubt your abilities - since you know they were pretty shaky to begin with. You sit with all these plastic shards around your work bench and start to think - man the prop house must've turned these out like nothing else for the movies. I absolutely know that there have to be quicker ways to do this out there. But I also know that a lot of the equipment and skill levels are far beyond me. The info might also help for those who want to have a suit done by a certain time. You would have to be fairly dedicated to get one done for Halloween if you start on October 1st. Though I imagine it might be feasible.

I've cut the flashing and sanded the edges, just started the glue. I am about 3 1/2 weeks in, though to be fair I only get a few hours here and a few hours there, with a half-day or two thrown into the mix on weekends. I find the process is very slow for me because I am constantly researching the pieces I am working on - probably spend as much time researching as I do actually working on the plastic. I am not familiar with most of the tools needed and while I am gaining experience slowly, I find that reading tool manuals and doing trial runs on scraps also take time. Maybe I'll make it up when I get to the sewing machine parts with the webbing and neckseal. I probably am not doing things the fastest way. I've found the concept of scoring and snapping to be far beyond the strength of my hands. Scoring turns into around 15-20 passes with an X-acto knife on a straight edge and I didn't even try with the curved surfaces - I just got out the dremel and cut it away that way though it means quite a bit of sanding afterwards. At first I wondered if I would be able to tell people that "Ã made" the outfit since technically I have not sculpted molds or vac-formed anything. Now I am realizing that there is still quite a bit of work inherent in this kit. And I will be pretty tickled when it all comes together. Kinda wondering what the average build times are out there - though I know that there is probably a lot of factors that go into it - from the type of armor to the experience of the builder. Still it might be useful information for those who are looking into building their own TK.

Some of this has to do with body build and shape too. I'm 5'11" about 180. ATA is perfect for my height. I am a little pear shaped though. This means that I am not having to shim arms or legs, but the jury is out on the torso pieces. It will be a tight fit once I get it put together on the webbing. Ah well, stormtrooper diet here I come. . . .

LOL - Mrs. Stormtrooper. Heh I can so see that happening to me - though oddly enough I'm the one who wants armor. My husband isn't dragging me into this - though I'm hoping that in a few years I might be able to drag him in. . . .

There's good information here. I'm surprised at how many folks don't use fans. Maybe I'll try my helmet out to see if they are needed before I make that particular purchase and modification. . . .

OK - probably none of the actual screen versions had computer fans or mini fans installed. After all - the screen versions were needed for short periods of time, unlike some of the costume events that the 501st holds which, in the case of parades, may demand that the armor be kept on for several hours at a crack. Do I'm wondering what modifications others out there have found the most useful? So far my list includes: fans voice (because it is nice to talk and sound like the movies) gloves - the rubber ones are a little uncomfortable and sweaty for longer troops ?? I wonder what other modifications have been made that keep the overall integrity of the gear, but help out in those little ways? Has anyone ever converted the thermal detonator to carry your wallet? Has anyone managed to conceal some type of rubber canteen bladder under the plates and run a drinking straw into the helmet? has any one designed their black underwear with a trapdoor to handle emergency washroom runs? (I'm not trying to be silly - one of the things that has crossed my mind recently has been just how hard a washroom break could be - I know you want to drink enough to keep hydrated, but I am also guessing that one doesn't want to drink too much. . . . ) So for those of you who have experience, what modifications would you always do again?

Well, after some research I decided to post back here just in case it is helpful for others in the future. The top two sound systems out there tend to be the iComm and the rom/fx. The iComm has a great static click and the plug and play is very attractive - options you can choose include point to talk or voice activated. It however doesn't alter your voice, though with the Aker system in place it can amplify it. The rom/fx has options to distort the voice a little and it can lower the pitch a bit, but in the end even with those alterations you will have to change your voice yourself in order to not sound female. Currently I'm not seeing much out there that is in a reasonable price range or that doesn't include wiring and circuitry skills that are beyond my ability. So that means that the whole voice issue comes down to my own ability to sound masculine. While it would've been a nice option, I can also understand why it isn't readily available. Stormtroopers are a niche market. Add to that the percentage of female troopers, and trim that down to those of us who really want anonymity. . . . hehe yup. I may end up sounding like myself simply because while I'd be willing to pay out an extra couple hundred dollars for a system that does what I want, I'm not sure that I'm willing to shout myself hoarse or continually attempt to mask my own voice by dropping it down. For me that's probably going to sound weird no matter what. Some folks have varying abilities to do vocals. My ability is on one side of that bell curve opposite of Robin Williams on the other. I do like the option of being able to plug an ipod into the system to play sound effects (and the Imperial March) so I will probably end up with the iComm, since none of the options have actual voice masking, other items on the checklist start coming into play and for the price point I figure the iComm is where I'll head.

Thanks for understanding! And for the sense of humor. I'm not totally sure that mine came through in the former post. Heh, and I'll take the cod advice to heart. I have no desire to experience armor bite in the southern regions.