TK8280

Yes, TE2 is awesome armor and is not much more than the AP kit, but, like I said if you have the means and can get a TM go for it

After all these months of building and studying ROTJ armor, there are a few more items I'd like to add to the list *The cod piece is triangular in shape not round like the FX cod *The belt plate is plain with no "buttons" such as found on the ANH belt plate *The corners of the belt plate are not clipped, they are left square *The Belt plate does not have much of a border to it, and is trimmed very close *The belt plate is fastened with 1 visible rivet on each side, this rivet is also affixed to the ab plate *The holster is worn on the right side, and is attached to the belt with 2 rivets just under the center of the belt, *The leather straps that are used to attach the holster to the belt are about 6" long and made of black dyed leather *The chest plate and back late are attached to eachother with plastic ribbed pieces, there is no existence of the smooth ends to them like the ANH ones, and they also do not have much of a border to them like their ANH counterparts *The drop boxes are attached to the belt with White material that ranges in length from 1/4" to 1 & 3/4" long depending on which trooper you are portraying *The Sniper plate could be attached to the shin with rivets *The Lower Thigh Plate can also be attached with rivets and does not have much of a border to it also it is trimmed smooth very similar to the ROTJ belt plate *The ab plate is one piece and is not cut *The ab buttons are Black with three "dark" midnight blue buttons *The Button boxes should be molded into the ab plate, but I don't know anyone who does this *Besides all the other differences that the ROTJ helmet has it also has a narrow look to it, that is really hard to simulate with a helmet made to look ANH This is all I can think of off the top of my head right now But I do hope that all of my trials/errors, frustrations, and knowledge that I have built from this build will inspire more people to take a crack at building 100% screen authentic ROTJ armor, I look at it as building armor and not just a cistume...its not that hard, it obviously was for me, because nobody had ever done this before with this kind of accuracy...Now it should be easier for the next Elite ROTJ to do their build

Yeah, that would be nice

What are the AP kits like? Are they fairly easy to put together? The AP kits are pretty easy to put together as long as you have help, and advice which is all around these boards Is there one bucket that stands out from the rest in accuracy and detail? There are conflicting opinions on this subject some say TE and some say Gino, the AP is a second or third generation TE style lid I think Which ones come complete with nice inside lining ready to go? The expensive $500.00 + ones

Yes, if you are in the US it is more economically sensible to get the AP...they have done wonders with it to make it more ANH friendly too

I rounded the top corners on my back plate properly...

I usually only use a dremel on my resen clone parts, I think its to powerful for abs as thin as an AP suit, and have seen some BIG mess up's in the past be very careful when using a dremel as you cannot put back what you take away <_<

Dremels can be dangerous in the wrong hands

I own an AP kit and some TM armor, and I have to say there is not much of a difference with size of each kit...my AP is ROTJ spec so I have side gaps as per originals, but I saw no problem fixin it to look ANH...there was about a 2 inch gap on each side before I trimed it to ROTJ...I am 190 and 5'11" very athletic and do 200 mile bike races...My only concern's with the AP kit when I got it was if my big calf muscles would fit into it,but they did....and I have pretty big thighs, and they fit also, But the choice between AP and TM for me would be "location" and "which movie you are doing"...Location means if you live on the continent of North or South America, it would be mre sensible to buy an AP kit, because it would cost about $300.00 to $400.00 more for the TM with UK shipping and all...I would recoment the AP for ROTJ and not for ANH because the AP just looks too ROTJ still because of the original castings...Now if you had planned on doing an ANH and have the means, I would go for a TM, but like I said thats just me and my knowledge that I have gained over time

A chain saw Na, I'd use a pair of tin snips, but thats just my weapon of choice

Got some much needed confirmation on the color of the AB buttons most were painted Black, but a few were painted dark blue, The Blue is darker than what was used in ANH...I do not yet know the configuration of the colors but am in the works of hopefully doing that

Troopmaster or TE-2 would be your best bet

Ian the CO of the GGG is the acting GML also

Yes, yes if anyone has them please put them up...I don't want something as small as the color of the ab buttons to hold up my build

No! I will NEVER be OK with this standard Paul! JK Like I said if its what the majority want then the FISD is not ready for it yet, and I'm good with that

I don't know if John is active very much on this forum since the Armor History Wars , I messeaged him about the atatchment of the shoulder straps but you answered that with velcro thanks! ...Yeah I don't know now you have me second guessing myself, the picture I have of the original armor, which I can't put up here, the four buttons that are painted "look" black...but they could also be a really really dark gray too, but I don't know I'm so confused

So, after reading Pauls statemnet about the ab buttons beinbg the same colar as the ANH, I am going to do my ab plate like the last set of armor I saw at LFL, and haw I did the ab plate on my FX here is a reminder pic of it...

Oh dear The buttons are the same as ANH Bernard, not black. Are they black, or are they a really dark gray? Just remember to turn the plate upside when sticking it to the ab plate and add the rubber trim. The trim is on order, and hopefully will get to me buy the end of this week Don't forget to round off the top corner of the kidney plate too Will do and use white velcro to attach the ribbed shoulder straps. I will do this also Paul Are you going to rivet the belt to the ab plate for uber accuracy? Yes I am Don't forget that the ROTJ belts only have two rivets, one at each end with the centre one left out. Thanks Paul!

Now, I know I am feeding the fire here, but I am passionate about accurracy... I know his toy blaster looks "good", but thats just it, it just looks "good"...not movie accurate, but is that a realistic bar to set for a Mark IV/Elite trooper? I know this is to help fellow 501st members with their TK's but as was said before, the elite ANH's should be uniform with the same blaster Now, I now that the majority of people on this forum are not going to get rid of their Toy blasters, but what I am saying is that they are fine for regular troops, everytime we explain our so called "Elite" requirements to new 501st hopefuls/forum members we say that you don't need to meet the elite standards to gain entrance into the 501st, which states it right there, that the "elite" standards are far beyond what the 501st requires, we have control over our elte standards, why do we have to cut corners with the toy blaster, if you all have spent X amount of $$$ and time bringing your armor up to par with the elite standards, why can't you spend X amount of $$$ and time buying or making a more correct blaster? This is what I don't understand, but like Paul said in a perfect world of TK's the FX set of armor wouldn't exist

I have no clue, but I have heard about this consperacy theory before... I don't think that the concept of the ear stripes indicating rank is valid...I have seen people with 1 stripe, and some with none, and some with all stripes painted, so its up to you brother

Painting my ab plate buttons... My thigh pieces drying... My trimmed shoulder straps...

This pic shows the difference between an ANH shoulder bell strap with the ROTJ Straps on the bottom

Great job on the conversion!

After reviewing ROTJ screen caps, on page's 1 & 2 of this thread, I have decided that the TD looks more rounder like the FX TD rather than my narrow AP TD, so, for my Elite Pics I'll be wearing my FX TD

I agree with you Justin , unfortunately it looks like we are a minority here