boomshakra

Aside from shortening the strap from the bell to the strap holding your chest/back, here's what I was advised to do: mount the bell strap slightly forward on the chest/back strap, not in the middle. If you're using snaps to attach the bell strap to the chest/back strap, put another one in front of the one that is there now. It works better if you can make a new strap, which is what I eventually did. Hope it helps!

Jeff managed to dig up the TK vs Halo pics on-line - we totally could've taken them out...if Lord Vader had been with us it would've been Force Choke city! But, while some of us were his escort others thought they had 'better things to do'...

Well, I couldn't find the Halo v TK picture, but I found a few more! Our Squad put on an Armor panel Sunday afternoon, discussing different characters/armor and how they all go together. We had our Sovereign Protector watching the door for Rebels and Clone Commander Fil started off the panel we had a couple of different costumes to share with our guests these are actually from the first day, but when we decided to take a lunch break, Jeff & I decided it was too much of a PITA to de-armor only to have to get back into it an hour later valuable skill learned at first troop: how to sit down! Even though we are in Austin, a couple of the patrons were...'surprised' to see us Getting back to the expo, we explored some of the various technology used to get around the convention center, although the primitive buttons were confusing at first and some of us didn't understand it at all he did finally find his way back down to the correct level...eventually but was already being teased mercilessly And in a more touching moment, or Garrison CO presided over a very special TK union good times...good times... (edit - photo credits to TK-9479 and TD-7974)

There are templates out there for a pvc/wood dlt-19. I have a build thread over on the DLT-19 page - not the best looking one ever made, but it was a fun project. From a distance it looks accurate enough . I will probably only use it for outdoor troops/parades as it is a bit cumbersome/easy to whack someone with due to the limited field of vision of the helmet (at least in my experience). A couple of people in my Squad have also been ripped off by Cushman, for what it's worth...

Actually that one was fine It was the guy who asked me to pose like I was punching him in the crotch that kind of made me go "...wait, what?". In the not so strange category, there was one with us vs the Halo guys, weapons drawn on each other...but either our photographer didn't get a picture or he hasn't posted it yet.

My first official troop with the Central Texas Squad of Star Garrison! After parading the halls outside of the Expo and getting our pictures with the attendees who were waiting patiently in the halls (the Expo sold out), we hit the floor, starting at our booth table:

Thanks - I should have some good pictures forthcoming from RTX Con this weekend - I'm only going on Saturday, but Philip (the TD above) is working the whole Con & is good about getting photos!

We had a very impromptu troop at a local bar & grill last night, giving DJ Boba Fett some protection from any potential unruly Rebel Scum

Ok, kind of went a happy medium between everyone's advice, but it did have its consequences, which can be easily corrected. I used a 3/32" punch to push out the head of the rivet - a couple of gentle taps with a hammer & they came through. Here's where I made a mistake: I used snips to cut off the flared in...which pinched the rivet where I cut. So, it was still firmly in place. I tried pushing the punch through again, but it wasn't working. I should have just gotten out the drill at this point, but I managed to get a bit of purchase on the rivet on the outside using needle-nose pliers. Slowly, I managed to twist it out...at the cost of gouging out my helmet a bit: But, it's nothing a bit of ABS filler, sanding and a touch of paint can't fix. I was hoping that my s-trim would cover some of the damage, but it doesn't. Speaking of s-trim, I will need to glue it in place - the inside nut is pushing it out from the ears making it come loose. Again, no big deal. So, once I do the cosmetic repairs, my helmet is some hand-painted decals away from Centurion grade

I'm guessing that a couple of clamps on either side would do the trick to keep it in place. Thanks everyone on the advice - I'll be giving it a go once I get the screws & nuts...might wait until after saturday's troop, just in case

Sorry for the crappy phone pic... I don't want to drill out the hole too much (using a larger bit) since I will be needing to put a screw there to replace the rivet.

What is the best way to drill out the rivets at the bottom of the helmet that connect the ears to the tubes? I'm planning ahead for when I go for Centurion and am deathly afraid of doing it wrong and damaging my lid. I picked up here & there from other threads that you just use a 1/8" bit and drill out the center, which sounds easy enough. One problem with doing that is one of the rivets didn't 'snap' properly, so part of the rivet is sticking out (an 'outie' not an 'innie'). It doesn't stick out very far, I can file it down, no problem. Thanks for any & all advice!

I took my first neighborhood stroll last night - got a few double takes, and one driver asking me where Princess Leia was...tried to answer, but I don't have an iComm yet, so I doubt she heard my reply. Now the fun part of the fitting begins - shoulder bells still rotating back and dialing in the thigh armor. I glued in some padding, and that helped with the 'bell thighs' but also facilitated the thighs sliding down. Will work on better padding placement - right now i have one vertical strip running down the front seam and two in back about 2 inches on both sides of the back seam. One problem is that I didn't have the garters quite lined up vertically with the connecting snap plate in the thigh - an oversight by me when getting armored up. I am also going to tighten up the white elastic at the shoulders to see if that helps keep the upper body sitting higher. If that doesn't work, I'll try a suspender system. I'll also bring the shoulder bells up more to see if they will behave that way. Oh, and the left shin rotated outwards - nothing a little velcro won't fix. I haven't installed my fans yet but that will also be done this week - was surprisingly comfortable with out them last night - no fogging and the temperature has cooled off a bit in the evenings after our 100* days last week. My s-trim slipped out when I took my helmet off, so that will need to be glued in. I am guessing E6000 will be acceptable for that? I kept my E-11 in my holster the whole time...I'm pretty sure all of my neighbors are all familiar with Star Wars, but no reason to get anyone concerned about "armored robot with weapon - has 2 female hostages - please send the SWAT team!"

http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=14610 I think that's the right one

Requesting 501st status. TK 4796 http://www.501st.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7886 Let me know if that's not the right link to send you... thanks!

TK-4796 - sweet! I chose this TKID because it spells "ISWM"...or as I refer it it "I Swim" - my wife is regional director for a swim school here in Austin, and we also do a lot of volunteering for a local non-profit whose mission is to raise water safety/accidental drowning awareness. Be on the look out for "SwimTrooper" pictures in the near future!

I guess I was lucky that Rob's armor pretty much fit me out of the box - I didn't have to trim much at all. That said, I'm sure I'll be doing more trimming as I troop to dial it in even better. The rest I owe to everyone on these boards - It has been almost 3 months to the day that I started reading about how to build armor & the knowledge gained from everyone else was invaluable in my build. My first official troop is next saturday @ RTX in Austin - looking forward to it!

APPROVED! So stoked! Just waiting for my TKID# now!

So...it is that one damn snap strap between my ab/cod that is keeping me away from 501st approval. I didn't catch it when I was having the photos taken - it was hard enough to see the pictures on the viewscreen of my photographer's digital camera, and I was looking at my shoulder bells & thighs anyways. So, suiting up again to night to take some 'fixed' pictures for my GML. I was thinking about going for a walk around the neighborhood afterwards, just for grins, but the 100* temperatures might not be fun to walk around in. My GML did have some other feedback: he thought my thighs are too long, my helmet sits forward/high, and my belt seemed a bit high. In the pics above I had my head tilted forward - still getting used to the limited frame of vision while wearing it. But, I could stand to take a bit of the padding out of the top to get it to sit lower. With the belt, it could come down a smidge - which would mean adjusting the snaps I have installed. Not the worst thing in the world, but it might almost be easier to just buy a new belt instead of ripping out/reinstalling new snaps. Hopefully my next post here will be good news & 4 digits!

Thanks, Keith. Sent my pictures below to my GML tonight... Of course after I sent my email, I saw little things that should have been corrected: a small gap in the middle of my cod below the belt, my shoulder straps not being straight on the back view picture, and my lovely right shoulder bell not behaving...which I found out was that the velcro I had put there to adjust it had separated from the webbing. But, I am only seeing minor armor adjustments...nothing structural - if anyone else sees something I need to correct, please let me know! I'll be paddiing the inside of my thighs a bit so that they don't move around, fix the shoulder & codpiece, and trimming the backs of the thighs a bit for comfort. I'm sure more little things will come up, but I feel cautiously optimisic that a TK# is in my future. I couldn't have done any of this without all the people who have assembled their TKs before me and shared their experience & knowledge that made mine go so well - Thank you everyone! edit: I have no idea why my pictures are sideways...they are in the correct orientation in photobucket!

I used snaps so I could separate the back/chest from each other to work on them and also because my fat melon won't fit through the opening if they were glued together. YMMV

RT-Mod - great kit, it has been a fun (and challenging) build. A few tweaks, a few photos and a-trooping I will go!

Thank you for the clarification. I respect your personal opinion and I am building my armor to the best of my ability; overlap construction is what I am comfortable with. It also leaves the option of rebuilding using butt-join/coverstrips to better fit me in the future (i.e. should I stop exercising and/or gain weight).