ryates

Has anyone heard any progress in AM and/or troopergear continuing production? Last I heard about it was in January of this year. -Rob

I think it's looking good. I just finally worked up the courage to drill my ATA bucket last week so I get what you mean about being nervous. Make sure you properly support the faceplate when drilling. Mine was clamped like yours and I thought I was holding the two pieces together appropriately, but the bit grabbed after getting through the first layer (cap and back) and my hole ended up being a bit misaligned. Good news is that you can drill another hole if you mess up and no one will know! Good luck! -Rob

Do you mean ABS versus Styrene (aka HIPS or High Impact Polystyrene)? Both are durable for most purposes. ABS has a finished, polished look to it out of the box where styrene is a bit flat and most people paint it. Both use similar glues (including ABS weld for ABS and WeldOn 3 styrene weld for Styrene).

Looks good so far, especially after you're done filing the teeth. I was also to be able to get my ATA bucket ahead of everything else. I just received my armor and trust me, you will love it. Well worth the wait. Good luck with your build. -Rob

Thanks for the comments! While taking a break from ear-carving-induced frustration, I decided to work on my thermal detonator. I cut a 2" nominal PVC pipe down to 7.5", tapered the ends a bit with a belt sander, then shot it with Valspart gray primer. I then took some 1" x 1/16" aluminum strip, followed TKLeper's amazing tutorials, and bent up some clips. The shape is a bit off, but I'm pretty happy for my first attempt: Now on to a dilema. I started trimming and fitting the left forearm and am now realizing just how narrow TE-derived armor can be. I trimmed the top part of the forearm to 5/8" so it looks correct, but that left me with 1 1/4" of strip at the back!!! I intentionally left a bit of a return since I'm still in cut-paranoia mode, but the amount of shimming seems extreme. Should I add a slightly larger strip on the top to balance it out? Thanks in advance for any tips or advice! -Rob

I have been maintaining a build log on my local garrison academy site, but I thought I'd start one here as well. I have been working on an aluminum, wood and resin R2D2 build for a bit over a year and figured I can never have enough projects, right? I just received my big ol' box of plastic so now is the time to get going. I know most people know what TK armor looks like, but here are some pics of my new ABS: I finally grew the pair of courage to take a drill to the bucket and drill the holes to assemble the face and cap and back. My eyes are trimmed, but I haven't yet cut the teeth since I plan to take it apart when everything is assembled and shoot the inside black. I have started trimming ears, but overdid it a bit with my initial trim on the left side. Good thing ATA ships with spares!!! While I waited for my armor to ship, I have been collecting a few extra pieces: TrooperBay Dave M decals, Hyperfirm E11, Holster from TK2392, canvas belt from TKitell, Boots from TKBoots: