DroidHunter

Germain, did you use washers for the pop rivets? Doesn't look like it from the picture. I'm definitely going to use this method for the holster and the belt itself so it can be separated from the plastic and washed.

Do you have a picture of that setup that you can post?

Done. As of now you're tied for fist place!

I don't think I was being clear. The distance from the ridge of the flat area to the pencil line is 7/16 inch. from the line then to the edge is about another 1/4 inch. Ideally, I'd cut the rest of the 1/4 inch off leaving 7/16 on each piece = 7/8 inch or 22mm. But by leaving the area from the pencil line to the cut edge in place for a bigger thigh, it ends up around 1 1/4 inches total.

At your height, a number of guys go with RT-Mod out of Canada, but check out this Centurion build. He's 6'1 and 190 and he made the ATA work. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25603-tk-31198-requesting-anh-stunt-centurion-status-ata108/

Good info. Thanks Germain.

Working on the thighs and trying to decide how much to trim down the cover strip in the back. I always thought I had skinny legs, but its starting to feel like I should leave the back at 1 1/4 inches. That will at least visually keep them almost consistent with the backs of the shins, while leaving me a little more wiggle room. You can barely see the pencil lines on the backs which would be the 7/8 inch cover strip marks.

That's why I left the back a bit larger just in case, and it turns out I may need it. Its more a question of how the thigh pieces should fit. Are they supposed to fit snug? Should there be a lot of room? I know its comfort more than anything else, but just asking to see if there is a general rule of thumb.

How tight/loose should the thigh armor fit? I'm 5'10" and weight about 170. I have pretty skinny legs. But even so, I trimmed my AT A thighs down keeping the front at the recommended 7/8 inch 20mm width. But the back feels tight at the top if I use the same. Right now I am trimmed down to about 1 1/4 in the back. Seems comfortable but I know the thighs will round out more after they are glued so they might loosen up. Is there a good rule of thumb on sizing?

Very normal. Like noted, look at some of our helmet builds and you'll see we all had the same issues and same moments of panic.

Just about done with the shins. Like I said....slow. The sniper plate gave me some fits. I studied, reviewed builds, look at the gallery pics, etc. Here you can see that they aligned with the ridge quite well. BUT, even though the center is attached as well, to get the sides to align meant having a gap on the underside. Looking at the pic of Han sitting with his feet up I think this is normal. Am I correct? Most build/reference pics don't show that angle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OFL1J8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2XNAOBSW0CZDL Would these fit the bill?

Got it. Dump the netbook fan and wait. Will do. Thanks Guys.

Good luck! Let's see, We are the same height, same weight, same kit, same blaster, same belt, same neck seal. Hope my build comes out as nice as yours!

I have to admit, I don't know squat about electronics, so I'm hoping somebody can walk me through this, if it is a viable option in the first place. I'm a bit tapped out right now, so I don't have the funds to order a fan set up at present. That being said, I had an old Acer Aspire One netbook lying around that was little more than a paperweight. So I gutted it, and founf this inside: --------- Its a 40 mm x 40 mm x 8 mm fan that I believe is still functional. I considered cutting off the extra material and closing the side, and then checking to see if this would work in my bucket. Based on what is printed here, can anybody tell me if this is a viable option. And if so, does anyone have a simple schematic as to how to wire this to a battery box with a toggle switch. I know I can grab a battery box and on/off switch for cheap at Radio Shack. Thanks in advance.

Its all up to you. Some guys buy fancy padding. Some use the padding set available in the ongoing sales thread. I've seen a few guys use the inside of cheap batting helmets. Base you decision on the helmet size, head size, comfort and/or screen accuracy. Screen accuracy troopers just use yellow foam and the clover pattern you can find listed here. I just grabbed some cheap foam from Michael's with a 50% off coupon, and taped pieces in until it fit well. Then used velcro and glue. Gives me the option to wash or simply toss out the old pieces for new ones. With the ATA lid, I had to use 1/2 inch on top and in the back, and 1 inch on the sides and forehead area. Nothing fancy.

Thanks my friends. I cleaned up the shins last night and I'm ready to start gluing the inner shims. Question: I know a lot of guys are using the hooks to secure the backs of the shins, but is white Velcro still acceptable, provided the outer calf piece cover strip closes over the inner piece?

Time to get this project running. As some of you know, my kit actually arrived back in the fall and I started up what turned out to be a lengthy, picture laden thread about my helmet build. I then had to take some time away for a variety of personal reasons. But its now time to pick up with my armor build. This will be slow, but I plan to finish during the calendar year. Wish I could crank it out like many of you have, but I just can't right now. Anyway, the obligatory brown box kickoff: Here's a couple shot of my finished bucket, inside and out: I've also accumulated quite a few of the necessary extras: TK boots compression gear black rubber gloves neck seal (ordered) canvas belt (ordered) holster (ordered) microphone and speaker (modified the cheap Radio Shack unit to go with headset I had) Hasbro modified E-11 (needs to be fixed up a bit) And now... on to the armor. I started doing some basic trimming of the chest, then attacked the shins. The ATA recommended cover strip sizes of 7/8 inch in the front and 1 inch in the back worked for me. Measured it about 8 times before I finally cut them down. I still need to clean them up with my Dremel, but they are cut to size. The darned left shin is tight going over the boot (as so many others have said is true of the ATA kit.) Feels good to be underway again. After I clean up the shins, I'll move on to the thighs. I was going to ask about the non-alignment of the front of the right shin (left side above) but after looking at quite a few EIB and Centurion builds, that seems common as well. Am I correct?

Building my ATA right now and very happy with it. Only drawback is the wait time. Good luck on the helmet build. Lots of threads on ATA helmet builds.

No glue here with my ATA lid. Just follow the advice above and hopefully it will work out for you.

Maybe they will re-release the e-11 that they periodically repackage and sell so we don't have to resort to ridiculous ebay sales in order to grab one. I don't understand why you can by the Hasbro e-11 in every Disney Park store, but you can't get it online.

Thanks to you guys for again trying to piece all of this together. I find these historical threads to be incredibly fascinating. Its too bad that every time we have a new thread on armor history, it eventually devolves into accusations and vitriol. I understand why this happens, but its still too bad. My question is this (and please understand I am not trying to take a side or stir up any more controversy -- this is just an honest question that comes to mind having reviewed all of this): If there really was ever a question about the status of Troopermaster's armor, how is it that we get this commentary in the vetted armor list: "Country: UK Contact: Please see info contained in for sale threads when posted. Availability: Limited. Kit: ABS, untrimmed, fan sculpt. Reputedly the most accurate fan sculpt. Seams on legs and arms are butt-joins with capping strips. Availability: As slots become available, for sale threads will be posted. Kits are very limited and offered infrequently. Comments: This is really beautiful armour and extremely movie-accurate. It comes at the price of being pretty tricky to assemble though, with potentially a long wait for supply. TM now supplies all his armour in acrylic-capped ABS. His ABS suits are incredibly glossy and, if assembled with care, look fabulous. Not for very tall troopers. Armour is more generous than SDS or AP, but not as large as RT-mod."

Going though some of my old supplies I found some pristine pieces of white styrene that I was considering for making my inner drop boxes when the time comes. The problem is, they are pure white while my ATA armor has a creamier shade. Is it ok to have a color mismatch like that for the inner drop boxes, or would that be problematic? I'll post pics if that will help.

No doubt it is a smaller helmet, especially with glasses. I have to start with it almost sideways and twist it down into place. That is totally normal.

Yep. Dave M if you go the sticker route.