tkrestonva

... and Layla's story has just been picked up by CNN! http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/21/living/bullied-girl-star-wars-feat/index.html

Nice work! More First Order stormtroopers!!!

If it's E6000, then it's easy to do - no heat is required. Slip something like a flathead screwdriver or a razorblade (be careful not to accidently score the plastic) between the cover strip and the armor, and slowly and gently pry up the strip. Clean up any residue simply by rubbing it off with your thumb. This is one of the reasons why we recommend E6000 so highly. Unlike with CA glue or 2-part epoxy, mistakes are easy to undo.

And ... added to my "Force Friday" shopping list, as if I haven't dropped nearly enough cash on my TFA kit and other TFA stuff. I'm going to need a new credit card by the time the movie comes out.

I can do sort of a sit-lean combination, or I can sit at a barstool with my legs hanging down. The key is to either remove the buttplate or sit very gently on it so as not to crack it. As far as sitting like I'm working at my desk - no way.

My apologies for not being able to meet up with you. I'm pretty much booked during the week (including the evenings), and Saturday was the armor presentation for Layla / Galactic Academy induction / Weird Al troop down in Newport News, so I ended up getting on the road pretty early on Saturday morning. I'm glad you and A.C. were able to get together.

You own the kit, so technically speaking you can do whatever you want with it. Having said that, for personal safety reasons it's never a good idea to troop alone. You will find that both your mobility and your field of vision is quite limited in full kit, and people tend to forget there is an actual person inside the armor. Birthday parties can be especially hazardous - imagine dealing with a dozen or more sugared-up kids who are only interested in you in the 10 minutes or so it takes for them to whack the hell out of you with toy lightsabers. What's worse is that some parents actually encourage said behavior, not having any idea of the expense of your costume (in both time and money) and not realizing or caring (as if that should even matter) you are not being "paid" to do this. Not fun at all ...

Oh, and check out who made the front page of the Legion website: http://www.501st.com/ Also featured on the Legion Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The501stLegion

Copied from Jason Tuttle's thread on the Legion board ...

To my knowledge the majority of the Alpha group have completed their kits, and the Beta group builds are well underway. There is an entire section here dedicated to TFA armor. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/152-the-force-awakens-tfa/

I love seeing the new TFA kits come together.

I also use RainX anti-fog, and I concur. It gives me a bit of a chemical buzz if I put on my helmet immediately after applying it, but if you wait a few minutes before putting on your helmet there are no fumes.

Any chance of you staying over at least through to Sunday the 9th and bringing your kit with you? We've got an event coming up on the 8th, and could use all the shiny (or not-so-shiny) white bodies we can muster. Event Name: THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS National Symphony Orchestra Wolf Trap Venue: Filene Center Wolf Trap Venue address: 1635 Trap Rd, Vienna, VA 22182 Event Start: August 8 - 3:30 pm (Rehearsal Time) 6:00 PM Event End: August 8 - 11:00 PM Event Website: http://www.wolftrap.org/tickets/calendar/performance/15filene/0808show15.aspx Expected number of attendees: 5000 Requested number of characters: 40 Requested character types: Secure changing/staging area: Yes Comments: From a galaxy far, far away to the edge of Neverland, John Williams' iconic scores have accompanied you on epic adventures—journey now with the NSO as they perform entrancing and exhilarating music by the most Oscar-nominated man alive, with songs from beloved films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Hook, and more. Referred by: Previous Engagement For the final fanfare of music, have Storm Troopers come in House Right and Left, and line Left and Right of stage (about 1 min). At key music change, have secondary characters come out. At the final change, have Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Stay in place through the bows. Exit back into the house right before the encore. This would be a full 4 minutes on stage. As many people as you have, 40-50 storm troopers. We would need everyone for rehearsal, and most likely more blocking after rehearsal. And of course, before, during, and after the show. Rehearsal 3:30pm-6:00pm Seriously ... they asked for 40-50 stormtroopers ...

Great idea! Yes, I echo what has already been said - you have your volume up too high. Also, your amp will perform differently between simply hanging it around your neck while wearing street clothes versus being in full kit with it mounted under the chestplate - so you have to go with the latter when determining the correct volume setting. Based on personal experience, I've found that having it roughly halfway between off and max volume is the sweet spot.

Velcro.

I've used both helmet-mounted speakers embedded in the mic tips, and a chest-mounted speaker. Based on that experience, my current and future rigs will always have chest-mounted speakers - including my new TFA rig. Size indeed matters. I've found that the small (by necessity) hovi speakers simply cannot generate enough volume to be useful other than in a relatively quiet room or at extreme close range (literally face-to-faceplate). That, and you basically have a single volume setting. A chest-mounted solution offers plenty of adjustable volume - even in a crowded room you can make yourself heard - and from a normal speaking distance (3-6 feet) you can't tell that it's not coming from your helmet. From a physical space perspective, I have had no problems fitting an Aker MR1506, an iComm, an MP3 player (for those oh-so-cool trooper radio chatter loops), and all the needed cabling behind my chestplate. If you're looking for the "clicks and pops" static burst effect, either iComm or RomFX will deliver that. But if you are determined to have an in-helmet solution, given that the RomFX has a smaller physical footprint than the iComm, it will likely work better for you.

Nice!

Thanks for the tip! I have a crack in the exact same location, and so far nothing I've tried has worked to fix it and have it stay fixed.

RH = Right Hand.

Sent you a PM and posted on the boot thread, but I'll post here as well. I'm interested in a group buy of 5 sets of gloves - 4 pairs L, 1 pair XL.

You painted your latex gaskets? What did you use for paint?

I can guarantee you that ANOVOS will not be selling TFA kits for $900-$1000 apiece. More likely the kits will be in the neighborhood of $2k each, with a completed suit going for at least twice that. There are interviews from SWCA the ANOVOS principles that say as much - the links to those videos are posted in the TFA section of this forum.

I also lost track of the cost in just materials, especially since I had two builds going on at the same time and we pooled our resources.

A repaint isn't necessary. I took some Novus 2 to a small part of my helmet, just to see what would happen. Turns out it shines up quite nicely.

I agree with Serge - it really depends on how much you value your time, and what you choose to be your "hourly rate". You don't want to shortchange yourself, but at the same time you don't want to fleece someone. Personally, I have a good 150 hours of build time in my TFA suit. That doesn't count the hours my build team put in. If I did that, 200 hours would be a reasonable estimate. I guess a good base to go off of would be what RS or TM charges for a fully-built suit (minus the cost of the plastic), and go from there.