tkrestonva

Nice start. Always tape the parts together and do a fit check before gluing anything. Also, *please* use E6000 as your adhesive. I have a prospective member of my garrison who assembled his AM thighs and shins incorrectly, and he used Plastic Weld. If he had used E6000, we could have pulled the pieces apart and reassembled it. But since he didn't, he will have to basically throw away those parts and start over. If you can pull up your thighs any more, definitely do so. If not, I see you having to do a 'scoop cut' to the backs of the thighs and calves at the knees in order to have any sort of mobility. Oh, and that assembly guide at your feet? You can toss that in the trash now.

Nice job on the shins so far, but you can trim the return edge (what you call a round-over) at the ankles even further. Ditto for the return edges at the wrists - trim it all the way off. You'll also want to taper the forearms such that they follow the natural shape of your forearm. The wrist opening should be just big enough for you to slide your hand in and out. Use the butt join and cover strip method of assembly for the arms and legs, it looks a lot better than the overlapping method you used in taping the forearms, and it actually makes the kit itself go together easier. There are quite a few AM build threads, spend some time perusing them and (if need be) asking the thread owners questions before you do anything permanent.

That is an excellent approach.

There is tons of information here - including quite a few build threads with detailed photos - regarding the AM kit. IMO the key takeaways are: The kit is better suited for a larger trooper. If you are smaller than, say, 5'11" and/or 190lbs, you're probably better off with a smaller kit (TM, ATA, AP, etc.). RT Mod also falls into this category of being better suited for the big/tall trooper. The helmet is grossly inaccurate. Better to get the lite kit and source a different helmet. The shins are flawed, and you will need to take extra care to ensure you assemble them correctly. There is an excellent tutorial posted that shows you precisely how to do so. Although the kit comes with a set of written instructions, they should be immediately discarded. DO NOT follow the written assembly guide, use this forum as your assembly guide. There may or may not be a waiting list depending on the status of the most current run, but like Greg said customer service is top-notch.

I agree with both A.C. and Mark. Make sure you go before you suit up, and be prepared to hold it. Usually I sweat so much (even at indoor troops) that I end up not having to go - or realizing I do have to go - until the event is over and I'm suiting down. Remember, what goes in must come out. It's all about fluid balance.

Now *this* is an interesting scenario. A Marco suit hasn't been seen in years - let alone approved. I think he'll need to have some discussions with your GML, and your GML then needs to talk to the LMO and show him some photos of him wearing the kit.

That's like choosing between bacon and barbeque. Can't really go wrong with either of them. Hell, throw in a Slave Leia and you have a trifecta of SW hotness.

We had a similar situation between my garrison and a neighboring not-to-be-named garrison. The member was I believe originally part of my garrison (all this happened before my time), but relocated to another state and didn't get along with the 'new' local garrison or agree with their way of doing things. So the two CO's at the time made a "gentlemen's agreement' to keep the member in question in my garrison, although his physical address would put him in the other garrison. All of this is documented in the Leadership-Only section of my garrison's forum. I think the member maintains a post office box in Virginia, or a cover address (i.e. uses the address of a friend who lives in VA), or something.

I think you're on the right track for EI, but best to send a PM to Mathias (screenname - Locitus) and ask for some feedback, as he will ultimately make the call. I'd also ensure you've tried everything you can think of (and maybe a few things you haven't thought of) before trimming off the top of the butt plate. You may end up doing it regardless, but once you cut the plastic off you can't put it back on. Where do you have your butt plate snap plates glued in, i.e. how far down from the top? If you put them as close to the top return edge as possible and adjust the strapping length, it may solve the problem. I still use the same system I built my kit with, and after some tuning following my first couple of troops in it (I had to reinforce the snap plates inside the front of the thighs with duct tape) it has worked reliably. Although I may try ditching the suspenders and going solely with the belt - wouldn't be hard since the suspenders are attached to the belt via alligator clips.

Nice job cutting down the "wings" on the backplate, more AM troopers should do that. Looks like you've got the area marked for cutting on the chest about right, as well.

If you can, pull up the thighs a bit. Also, the calf fitting should definitely be done with boots on, as the fit is different versus being (essentially) barefoot. You'll need to ensure the sniper plate won't get caught under the thigh armor, as that will not only inhibit your movement but the added stress will eventually cause it to pop off. It looks like you could pull the back plate up a bit, and that would help alleviate the overlap between the back and kidney. The other thing I see is the butt plate is riding up. Do you have the strap between the cod and butt in place? If so, it should be shortened a bit. Finally, you should slightly clip the corners of your belt at 45 degree angles, take a look at the archive photos to get an idea of how far to go (not too far), and it seems that you have had a slight malfunction with your left-side drop box. Getting there ...

^ this. It's a much better way of assembling AM kits, anyway. There are plenty of AM build threads that illustrate this.

I just checked - the CRL does not state anything about 'Hero-specific' shoulder bells, it merely suggests that if your bells have swoops (and not all kits do), that they be worn a particular way if you intend to do Hero. Even then, that's at Centurion level. http://www.501st.com...ing:TK_anh_hero Like Mathias said, the Stunt CRL is mute on this point.

It's a grappling hook & box, as worn by Luke. Presumably it would contain the wound cord attached to the grappling hook itself.

Personally, I would stay away from a Gino unless it's for display only. I've held one in my hands, they are very fragile. If you have the cash and don't mind the potential wait time (there is almost always a waiting list for *anything* TM), TM is the way to go if you must have a Hero.

It's not just about cons - athough those are always a blast. Different garrisons troop with varying frequency, and tend to emphasize different types of troops. Some garrisons have something happening every weekend, others maybe not - especially if it's a small and/or widely dispersed garrison. Some garrisons do a TON of charity work, others not so much. But if charity is your thing, once you're official most garrisons don't have a problem with you finding and organizing troops, as long as you coordinate it with the garrison. For example, how awesome would it be to represent at a Toys 4 Tots drive as a stormtrooper?!? Or visit hospitalized children who love Star Wars even more than you? Not to mention having a kick-butt costume you can wear at Halloween parties and other masquerade-type events, and fulfulling what is for many of us a life-long dream to be a 'real-life' stormtrooper. From the Legion website: The Central Garrison has about 100 members and covers Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. That's a lot of square miles to cover between maybe 100 members. So I can see why it seems you wouldn't get much wear out of if, especially if you are nowhere near a population center. Still, you can create your own trooping opportunties just like other isolated members do.

Needs to be in an area with plenty of available workspace and electricity, as you know how much work room even a single costume can take up. Outdoors for plastic work & painting, indoors for sewing and fitting work. I'd also plan for at least a four-hour time window, and expect that some will show up early and/or time, others will show up and/or want to stay late. It also helps tremendously to have 'experts' on hand for the particular costumes that you expect to see work done on. Otherwise you have a case of the blind leading the blind, or putting it more graphically, a group of virgins fumbling around in the dark - each expecting that the others know what they are doing. Also ensure you have plenty of the following as appropriate to the costume types you expect to see present: tools, supplies, food and drinks - non-alcoholic and otherwise.

@Peter - Yes, it can be done. The most recent (and relevant) example is here: http://www.whitearmo...showtopic=18965

A lot of people show up here asking the same thing, i.e. "I want armor that is already assembled and ready to wear." While finding preassembled armor is not terribly difficult, the "ready to wear" part is hardly ever the case. Even a preassembled kit built by one of our trusted vendors, using professionally-acquired measurements (i.e. from a professional tailor) you provide, will require some tweaking once you try it on before being truly "ready to wear" - exactly as if you were buying a made-to-order suit or tuxedo from a men's clothing shop. That's the best-case scenario. Worst case is that you'll get something that doesn't fit at all and/or looks like total crap, pay far more for it than you would have with a kit, and end up having to toss it in the trash and starting over. There is a recent thread where a member describes enduring this exact experience - and he included photographs to illustrate his story. Assembling a kit is not as hard as you think, especially if (1) you take advantage of the resources available to you here at the FISD, and (2) you reach out to your local garrison for hands-on assistance, as many garrisons will set up "armor parties" to help new members get their kits together.

Nice, clean job on trimming down the return edges. You have a very steady hand.

Nope. You're never done. It won't affect basic 501st (I don't know of any GML who demands to see photos of a new trooper's crotch) or even EI, but you could cut it further than that. What I mean is cut off the wedgie tab completely, all the way back to that indentation where it starts (if I had MS Paint or something I'd draw a red line) It means you'll have to redo the two snaps at the butt end of the crotch and perhaps make your strap a bit longer, but it comes closer to screen-accurate and will likely be more comfortable to wear.

You're going to want to cut off that "trooper wedgie" rectangular tab protruding from the butt plate at the crotch, basically for the same reason you cut off the one on the cod piece.

Free Comic Book Day troops all over the state tomorrow.

Get the size 12s. Better to go with the larger size and end up having to pad it with thick socks and/or gel insoles, than getting the smaller size and not being able to withstand being on your feet.

I use a flexible metal ruler of the appropriate length, clamp and/or tape it in place so that it can't move, and score several times along the edge.