DroidHunter

Regular. Like I said, I did not pre-order, but got lucky and grabbed a pair from their last shipment and they were/are pristine. They will let you know up front if they have any imperfect boots available.

Hey there 'boss' (Dave's my cadet advisor over in Garrison Carida). Looking great. Sitting around (im)patiently awaiting my kit is killing me!

A little more progress. I am stopping at 8 ribs as any larger would be too long for my neck. It is very stiff due to the parachute chord inside and the fact that multiple sections overlap so additional ribs would make it too hard to move around. I still have to attach a section in the back for the vlecro enclosure. I also need to make the bib. The extra section you see here will be trimmed and sewn down -- it is just part of the cotton lining. Not the best construction method, but its been a work in progress. Here are some updates shots:

Minor update. I have sewn the first 3 sections of my homemade neck seal together (not an easy task with an old machine and the parachute cord inside), and attached the cotton backing that will go against my neck. Once all 9 sections are sewn together, I will trim the cotton backing and secure the bottom into place along the seam where the bib will attach. Still only out about $4 for the Velcro and parachute cord I picked up at Michael's, and it is slowly coming together. The concept is a decent look for minimal price. If you can make it, why buy it, right? Here's a couple of captures from my old cell phone: I know you can't see much detail in these lousy pics, but I still wanted to post up my progress. Better pics later.

Incredible pics! Looks like a blast!

Wow. Not sure what the heck just happened to make the post come out that way.....

I don't even have my bucket in hand yet, but still trying to get everything lined up. I have to repeat what others have said and thank Pandatrooper for this. I know this post is old, but since its pinned, I thought it might be okay to still comment on it (no necroposting here). As with the others who have commented in the past, I'm trying to figure out exactly how to reproduce these files at the right size. Without a bucket, I cannot be sure. However, Panda notes that the stripes should be 13/16" high. So I messed around with pasting these into Word and came up with this: The picture is a bit off, but this was about as close to 13/16" as I could make it. I'm also attaching the word document with the scaled templates. If anyone has the opportunity, let me know if these come out to about the right size. Tube Stripes.pdf

I saw the Lexan scissors on the recommended tools page. Has anybody used the Fiscars version of the curved scissors? Just curious if they would do the job as well.

Well, I meant it when I said that all information that is passed along is greatly appreciated. And I must say that your threads have provided an enormous amount of great information. Echo, post up that bit that you use if you don't mind, or just shoot me a PM. I'll probably avoid my Dremel, but you never know.

I appreciate the feedback. I'll check out those vids on Trooperbay. I assumed there were some threads here that I was missing. Believe it or not, I really have been researching and reading threads non-stop, but somehow had not read anything on trimming preferences. And every now and then (as it did today) the search function acts wonky for me when I'm at work. So, my apologies if this was one of those annoying "why didn't the newb research before asking that question" threads. I still appreciate the responses.

Is there a 'preferred' method for trimming? I know it may depend on the part being trimmed. And I know some of the methods are score and snap, scissors, Dremel, etc. I see a lot of posts on helmet builds, but not a lot of discussion about the best method for trimming, especially the initial cuts to the front and back sections. Do the curved scissors work best? If this has been answered elsewhere, I apologize. But its one of those questions I have not stumbled across yet.

Trying to anyway. I'm going to give Terrell a shout next week and see about picking up the helmet early. I'm starting to feel ready to tackle that.

Not much progress, but I did manage to run into HobbyTown and grab some Testors 1138 grey, 2715 Model Masters french blue and the gloss black (plus some white to boot). Hope to get that neckseal completed this week though.

I finished off 10 sections of ribbing for my neckseal. I have not sewn them together yet, but only just finished making them. I read that the hero seals worn by Han and Luke had 11 sections -- including a couple of tapering sections as far as I can tell. But the stunt neckseal don't seem to have the added tapering sections along the jawline. Is that correct? I'm looking stunt here and was trying to decide between 8, 9 or 10 sections. The 10 together seems a little tall for me as it is quite stiff. Any good advice would be helpful. Here's a lousy cellphone pick of the sections sitting together. I hope to start sewing this weekend.

If you are thinking ATA (which is the way I am going as well), shoot him an email. He's got a waiting list that is in the ballpark of 7 months right now. I got on the list in January and the list at that time was 6 months. No action need be taken other than asking to be put on his wait list. So some of that time until you get home will go towards the armor wait.

A point raised by more than a few of the children in attendance.

I'm just getting started on this quest myself, so if I can pass along anything I've learned, I'll be happy to do so.

I asked a similar question a couple of months ago and got some good advice. Here's the thread: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/22616-armor-sizing-question/ And of course, the armor resource thread: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/11538-the-various-types-of-armor-and-where-to-find-them/ Hopefully this helps.

This is the first event I've personally been to. Granted I did not troop as I don't even have my armor yet, but I joined up with Garrison Carida and attended the troop as a squire. Didn't get to help much as the day was preceeded by car issues, but I got to meet some great people who troop regularly in my area. The event was full (about 25 kids plus family members) and the aim was to encourage reading for the kids. A great time was had by all who attended, and the members of Carida did an outstanding job. I'll try to post more shots later, but here are a few.

A little more progress on the neckseal. I have seix section tacked and folded over the cord. Now I nees to sew them together, but here you can see how its starting to come together. Mind you, I'm still just holding them in place, so pay no attention to the spacing.

Well, I'm still on the waiting list for my armor and will remain that way for a while, so starting a thread seemed a bit premature. But then I see that some other guys have started up anticipation threads and I figured, why not? I did manage to get myself on the list for ATA armor, and I'm in the procesf of scaping together the funds. I may go ahead and pick up the bucket first, but even so, I'm going to wait until after tax season ends. In the meantime, I have started working on little things here and there. I do have an old Hasbro E-11 that I converted about 10 years ago. It should be OK for trooping, but I will need a better option at some point in the future -- after building the armor. For this one, I will likely Dremel off the makeshift magazine I built, and then pick up the Doopydoos conversion kit. But again, I'll wait a little while. I'm just going to add some weathering for the short term. I'm presently trying out some ideas for a homemade neckseal. I have some materials laying around from previous costumes, so it doesn't cost anything which is key. Gotta save up for the armor and other things I can't make myself. Here I have some pleather which is wrapped around parachute cord. I'll stitch the individual sections for better definition and then sew them together. Here's a pic of me just holding 3 sections in place to get an idea of what it may eventually look like. I know the spacing is off but the slipped when I held them up. I anticipate about 10 section with perhaps a tapering section or 2. I also got lucky (as noted elsewhere), and was able to grab a pair of TK Boots as part of their final batch until they get a new supplier. They look great and fit perfectly. Only baby steps, but you have to start somewhere, right? I won't have any armor build posts for a few months, but I'll update as my neckseal progresses (I already had 1 epic fail, and have a third idea in mind in case this one doesn' pan out!) Until then, thanks for looking.

I agree. Try them a few times. Like I said, I did not pr-order. I emailed them with some inquiries a week or so before the problem was announced. They were very good about getting back to me. Low and behold, when the final shipment came in, they had a pair of 9's for me. They showed up on my doorstep today!

On some of the current builds I see guys using 1 solid piece of tinted material for both eyes, and it is attached to the ear screw assembly. How to you insert individual eye lenses like that?

There are so many buckets out there, and at the end of the day, we strive for a level ofuniformity from the outside looking in. And yet the inside of a Troopers helmet is left open for personal statement -- to a certain degree. I was wondering if people would be wiling to post up pics of the inside of their helmets just for comparison's sake. I've seen quite a few pics over time, but never in one central location. Post 'em if you got 'em!

Excellent build thread. The bucket looks great -- thanks for the pics!