Bulldog44

that is really cool. Man you have some great toys!

No worries, plan to build straight for centurion, much more trouble to upgrade your armor later on if you plan to apply. The more you get into this trooper thing the more accurate you will want your armor to be. And it looks great when its built to centurion spec. As MrSnrub said, lots of help here from the community when you need it! Go for it!

Looks great. Wish I was faster assembling armor like you. Super job!

Thanks Brian and Ted for your input. It is reassuring to hear your thoughts and helps me overcome my worries about making something sub par. Hopefully I will have solid sales news for you really soon! Cheers!

Yes, sorry I forgot to add that. Response confirmed! Thanks!

Thanks Darthcue. I will do my best to provide the best parts I can. Appreciate your flexibility with the quality on some of these parts. Air Pockets: Trapped air for these parts seems a bit unavoidable until I perfect a better way. At the moment I fill only the main exterior half of the mold with resin and dislodge any trapped bubbles with a toothpick and flexing the mold around. The outer edges on the M38 mounting plate are very delicate and hard to cast without any bubbles affecting the thin walls. After I release any bubbles I place the top half of the mold in place trying to persuade any trapped air to funnel out of the spouts. This sometimes works but often the air somehow gets stuck. I also pour some resin down one of the spouts to force out air but its not always effective. My main concern with these castings is how the buyer perceives them and their value according to what they paid. So I am hoping by putting it out there that some parts are not perfect that anyone who buys the kit won't be disappointed with what they get. And if the buyer is not happy with a particular part, I will replace it with something better to match their expectations if I can. Bump for the interest form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link#responses

Thanks Brian. I always worry a bit about making something that is going to be sold to others. Don't want to disappoint. Still having some air pockets present after casting on the inside of two or three parts. Sometimes they are near perfect but its hit and miss. If I sell only according to the near perfect parts I make, I will go broke eventually and would take significantly more time to cast more. Since the pockets are on the inner surfaces I hope everyone is okay with receiving some parts like that. All exterior surfaces are pretty crisp and clean. Any major defects on the exterior surfaces are set aside. I will post up some pics to show some examples. Got your form results super quick yesterday. Thanks for filling it out.

Best of luck! Centurion all the way! Not hard to achieve, just take your time and confirm as you go along. Looking forward to seeing progress pics when you get them up.

Interest form link fixed in original post but here it is again: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Thanks again!

Sorry I edited my post on my old ipad and it caused the link to break. I will fix my post tonight so the link opens correctly. Sorry for the trouble. And thanks for your interest in the scopes!

SCOPE KIT INTEREST FORM There isn't an official interest thread set up yet but thought to get things rolling by posting this here first for those who have been patiently waiting. Just click on the link and fill out the form if you are interested in these kits. Its just an interest list, not a commit to buy or anything of the sort. If you have any further questions please post here or PM me. I will create an official interest list shortly but for now feel free to sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Due to work and family life, I am still debating whether to offer the kits in short runs or open sales style. I find the packaging and shipping part of the process more time consuming. No worries though, if you want a kit I will do my very best to have them ready for you in some reasonable time frame.

That's a lot of brass ! Its cool to see so many of the same part laid out, a work of art! These M19s re going to sell like hot cakes!

Agree with you about the antenna cable. Nice research and referencing!

始めまして、Bulldog44です。Enlisted to serve as the FISD attaché for the Japanese Garrison. Ready to help with any members needing assistance in Japan with FISD matters. 日本語は完ぺきではありませんけど頑張ります！これからよろしくお願いします！

Best of luck with your application! Looking sharp!

Sorry , I always assume people are building ANH style blasters.

Looking good. Will you be adding the counter too? Good luck with the paint job. Check out the blaster reference guide in the weapons section under ANH blasters. Lots of useful info!

Wow! Brian that is one beautiful deactivate sterling! I am filled with trooper envy! Congrats on basic clearance. One you get that blaster up and ready, start blasting those Rebels! I am not sure if Andy still makes his power cells but they are really nice. Fieldmarshall makes them just a nice. He kindly sent me one of his fabricated capacitors and it looks awesome. You can't go wrong with either . As far as the style, just pick your favorite trooper scene from ANH check Andy's research chart to see which plate style was recorded for it. I know, its like being in a candy shop. Hope that helps with some decision making. Looking so forward to seeing your real Sterling complete! Super!

Trial 4 Complete. I tested my latest method for casting the bulbs and pleased to announce it was successful! All 6 mold produce very clean and almost very clear bulbs. A bit foggy compared to the real one and I can see mirco bubbles here are the but nothing major. Also the resin cured to stable solid state. Back in business on the M19! This was surely the back breaker for me and I hope I can continue making these with success. It just takes a lot of time and patience. Thank you all who chimed in for your advice and help both here and on the FISD. Its your interest and help that led me to keep trying. Thanks once again! <br><br> Now back to work on these kits. Big casting day ahead!

Thank you Silverdollar22 and Artshot for your comments. Hope to have these ready soon. Please keep in mind these are still in kit form and hope they are easy to piece together and mod to your liking. I have assembled a few of them and found there is still some minor work to do to get things to fit. Now that I am using black resin, this should make it easier to complete as is with some weathering. My dye mixing resin process was not consitent enough so parts varied in shades of gray and black. M19 Light Port Focal Bulb Casting- Test #3 this week! This was going to be my final try at making these if the bubble problem continued but to my surprise most of the bulbs casted extremely clear and free of bubbles. In my second trial I joined the two mold halves together roughly 30 minutes after pouring (this clear resin has a pot life of 100 minutes). Before joining the molds I removed the major bubbles with a toothpick. Everything seemed good. I then allowed the molds to be heated to speed up the curing process for about 6 hours but after two days of curing I found that there were still tons of bubbles. Trial 3 - I poured the resin and planned on joining the molds after an hour wait but I fell asleep on the floor and awoke 2 hours later! Luckily the resin was still gooey so I removed any noticeable bubbles then slowly joined the mold haves together. I did not heat dry the molds this time and let them sit for 3 days. The bulbs came out looking really nice but somehow I must have mixed the ratio of A:B resin incorrectly, so the bulbs have cured in a slightly flexible rubberlike state. I can live with that for now as long as they cast bubble free consistently. Going to try the same steps in trail 3 tonight but now I have a more accurate scale to ensure a better resin A:B ratio. Just a half a gram off and the results can change. Trail 4 here we go! Hope all this casting jargon is interesting enough to post. Its exciting when things start to point in a positive direction after so many disappointments. Thanks for stopping by!

Good start. Wish Mr. no stripes was allowed to be official in the CRL. Oh well, glad you are making one!

Congrats! Looking good trooper! Well done!

I display just the upper section of my armor cause I don't have space to store it with the original strapping as is. So its easier to keep it on the mannequin between troops. The only draw back is if I hang it too loosely the strapping starts to sag. If you keep the belt secure, the armor stays in place just like when you wear it. I don't let natural light into the room I store it in either to avoid discoloration.hope this helps.

Hi Brian,<br><br> I have RS armor with original strapping. I have been squeezing it into a regular suitcase but recently it started to get cracks being under too much stress. I bought a huge golf case from SKB for my TFA armor and planned on using that for my strapped armor but its far too big. I have ended up undoing the side elastics & left shoulder strap to separate the front and back for the time being. I have not found a great case for armor with the strapping as is as of yet. Going to buy a Japanese racing case made by Protex and hope that will fit. Unfortunately I don't have a great solution for you. Just thought to share my situation . Hope you find a good case to transport it safely.

Looks great Tom! The bolt looks cool. What did you use for that? Just paint? Scope looks amazing too. Looking forward to the finished product.