tkrestonva

Exactly - something like an ice pick. As I recall, I used a deactivated soldering iron to punch through. As for the strapping, I would try to mimic the screen-used suits as much as possible (but using snap plates instead of wire brackets). So in your example, you would need three snap locations on the butt, kidney bottom, kidney top, and upper back as I recall - as opposed to the two that your diagram shows. They would also be placed as close to the return edge as possible without being actually on it.

The answer to that is yes. You can drive the snaps themselves straight through the soft velcro. Like you said, since you have it anyway you may as well use it.

Can you bring the shoulder bells forward a bit more? Not much you can do about all the black at the shoulders since you have such a wide upper body, but if you can balance it out between the front and back that would be good. What I found is instead of mounting the shoulder snaps dead-center on the white straps that connect the chest to back (which is of course the intuitive thing to do), it works better to mount them somewhat forward of center. An alternative is to use the screen-accurate method of having a single long strap running across your traps, from one shoulder to another. Basically what you can do is draw a line bisecting the white webbing strap, then put the snap maybe a third of the way toward the front end of the strap (that's a first guess - it will actually take some trial and error to find the right position).

If your idea is to mirror the "scoop cut" that many troopers do on the backs of the upper calves - but doing it for the backs of the bottom thighs - yes, that will be fine. It's done for exactly the reason you suggest - to increase comfort and mobility. There are behind-the-scenes photos around here that show it done on screen-used armor. In particular, there is a photo of a group of dehelmeted troopers with Carrie Fisher and David Prowse (both in full costume) on the Tantive IV set discussing something, that clearly shows this modification. Found it (or at least one of them):

I don't have a backstory, but I like the the idea of creating one. Adds to the character impact and overall experience, I would think.

A balaclava would help with that problem. Plus, balaclavas are screen-accurate. Another potential solution is to use medical tape to literally tape your ear in place before your helmet goes on.

Then it sounds like you've got the fitting about right.

Still looks a little too big at the wrists, especially in that last photo. When fitted properly, you should just barely be able to get your ungloved hand in/out.

Found it - love it! Now to convince the Legion webmasters to do the same for the Legion board ... I Ddid a search using the term "stormtrooper", and it was the first thing that popped up.

You could still bring the shoulders up a bit more, but definitely looking better from yesterday. Shins are also looking good.

Forearms go on first, then you put the gloves on and get an assistant to stuff the excess into the forearm armor. So make the wrist openings as small as you can while still being able to get your ungloved hand through.

It would help reduce the amount of undersuit showing at the shoulders if you shorten the straps that connect the shoulder bells - almost to the point where the bells touch the shoulder bridges. I would also push the forearms up some, and use a 2 inch wide strap (need to confirm width) to connect the forearms to the biceps. Rick330 recently posted a thread on the proper way to do this.

Rivets - split rivets to be particular. If you don't have access to those, any solid-head rivet a better choice for accuracy, as opposed to a pop-rivet (which has a open head).

Use the archive photos as a reference:

Given that you're in Las Vegas, i almost don't want to think about where you may have "left" your blaster. What happens in Vegas ...

Absolutely 501st acceptable. Not only that, about the only people who will even know the difference are those who tend to hang out here.

Pioneering work, as one would expect. What brand of white glue are you using to attach the strapping?

No need, but I appreciate the sentiments. All I ask is that you take what you learn (along with any new techniques) and pass it on to the troopers coming up behind you. Also, when your future garrison mates ask about your soon-to-be-awesome kit, tell them you learned what you needed to know from the FISD. This is how we keep moving forward here. However, if you happen to be at C6 I'll may take you up on that.

Cut up a cheap FOR SALE sign for the inside reinforcing strips, and save the good stuff for the exterior.

It looks like you have the shins assembled correctly. Also, if you take a bit more off the return edge at the top of the left shin, you should be able to get it to close more fully.

Shaun actually looks pretty good, and good on you Julie for doing this for him. As for the overtrimmed chestplate, I think he could adjust for that by pulling it down some and as a result, pulling up the back plate. There is plenty of overlap between his back and kidney, and some simple strapping adjustments could help resolve two problems with one solution.

It looks like you have them paired up correctly, but best to get another opinion or two before doing any cutting/gluing.

Not bad at all - that goes for both you and Okole. Nice save on the old FX kit.

Position the belt so that it is just under the button box, and sits parallel to it. When aligned properly, the top of my utility belt (the plastic portion) touches and is aligned with the bottom of my ab button plate. I know it's a departure from screen-accuracy, but I actually like the fact that the ab button plate on the AM kit is thicker and sticks out more. It makes for a natural stopping point to keep the belt properly aligned and prevents it from rising up and scuffing the bottom ab buttons.

This is exactly what I did. Make sure the belt is in the right location height-wise and properly centered on the ab plate before putting any holes in it. That part can be a bit tricky, so it may help to temporarily attach the canvas belt to the plastic utility belt and lay them both on the ab plate so that you see how the final result will look, in order to get the right location. Putting the snaps in the high part of the ab plate seems like a good idea, but you run into the practicality problem of being able to get your snap tool in there to hammer it down. I tried that at first with a kit I was helping on and couldn't do it. I ended up having to redrill the holes (misplaced holes are covered up by the belt) further out towards the edges of the belt in order to be able to physically access the snaps with a hammer & setter tool.