tkrestonva

And here is an example of the shoddy product you might end up with in exchange for your hard-earned cash - for the same amount of money you would pay for something from one of the reputable sellers here at FISD: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=16669 BTW - please post an introduction thread in the New Member Introductions section, and take some time to review the massive amount of information here before spending your money. You'll be glad you did. If you still have questions, feel free to PM myself or A.C. (NoVATie) over at Garrison Tyranus.

The answer is yes. Although you apply for the two levels separately (typically EI first), if you are Centurion-qualified then you have already done what it takes to qualify for EI.

Hmmn, interesting. And I think I actually have bottles of both flat and gloss in the garage. I'll give that a go - thanks!

Great photos, and it looks like you all had a good time.

I need to touch up the vocoder on my TM ESB. Definitely going with satin black, but is there a specific brand you all use? I couldn't find any reference to "satin black" on the Testors website, and I'm hesistant about using Rustoleum spray (since I'm not doing a total repaint, merely a touch-up). I'm thinking Humbrol at this point since TM assembled it and that's probably what he used, only problem is I'm leery of buying a can of paint over the web from a UK-based manufacturer and having to "import" a potentially hazardous chemical. I already checked on Mike's website (Trooperbay), it looks like he dosen't carry Humbrol satin black. Any ideas?

I'm sure he meant AM/FX. As far as the RT Mod helmets go, the problem with them (at least the older helmets) is that the ear bumps are actually flat, when they should be, well, bumpy. I believe more recent RT Mod helmets have corrected this.

I'm about your size and I'm an ESB TK. I concur with Mathias. By the way, exactly which garrison is your "local garrison"?

Doesn't sound workable in a helmet, but I imagine it can be made to work (although it might be heavy and expensive) for the body armor. Something like the one-piece garmet with cooling tubes embedded in it that is worn by space-suited astronauts.

FX/AM and ANHv2 aside, it really depends on how the helmet is built. The amount of tilt on the faceplate (which affects the size of the opening your head goes into), how much padding and electronics you try to stuff into the helmet, etc. all affect the fit. In theory, the screen-accurate helmets are supposed to be one-size-fits-all, but there are variations. I wear a 7 3/4 hat size, and generally find it impossible to get my head into an AP helmet. Also haven't had much luck trying to squeeze into an MRCE. On the other hand, I am able to get into and troop my electronics-equipped RT Mod with a slight bit of struggle. I also own two TMs both of which were constructed by TM himself, and while I can troop with either of them, I find they each fit differently.

If you trim off the return edges at the wrists, you create more room to get your hands through the openings and as a result can get the forearms skinnier. Plus, no wrist returns = screen accurate.

Gentlemen, if you wish to continue this line of discussion, please do so via PM.

Same here.

I live on the East Coast, about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. For my region, the hurricane is past and I'm looking at clear blue sky out my window. I actually found Irene somewhat disappointing, but maybe that's because I'm too far inland out to have really felt the effects. 24 hours of light to moderate rain, some wind (with some gusts strong enough to displace some already-loose leaves and small branches), and a lot of light tree debris laying around, but that was it. Basically, no worse than a rainy spring weekend. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the area damage was minimal and that there were no injuries. I sincerely hope that others in the hurricane's path will fare as well. But honestly I was also hoping for more of a nature show than what it turned out to be, especially given all the hoopla. The earthquake last Tuesday lasted only 20 seconds, but was a lot more fun. So much for the big, scary hurricane.

Conventional wisdom is to start with the smaller parts (forearms and biceps) first, that way you build confidence to tackle the larger pieces.

I found it useful to use both the snap pliers (which you can get online or at JoAnn Fabrics) and the setter tool. The pliers are great for initially installing the snaps in the plastic tabs, but unless I reinforced it with the setter tool (and a good hammer), the snap held only weakly. For the scrap trimmings, I used them for both the snap plates and the interior joining strips.

Wanted to give a public kudos to everyone who helped put together the new forum structure and the new white skin. Ditto for the new mobile theme. I love it! There were some significant hurdles to overcome (and perhaps more tweaking still needs to be done), but the results as of today are great! Given the improvements I hardly miss the old 2010 skin anymore. Change can be both tough and messy but the end result has been a great improvement, including the return of functions I have personally asked for (Today's active topics, for example). Gratis, gentlemen.

How cold does it get in your attic?

Start with this: -----------

Rounds of drinks for the entire garrison at the next big event. :pint1: :pint1:

You all are really doing an excellent job with this build.

FWIW, I did mine the exact same way that Tom did, that is I cut the raised ridge completely off. I did so for both the biceps and forearms. Not only is it closer to ANH/ESB, but I found doing so makes the two halves line up a lot more cleanly. As for the sizing, I think the key is you need to be able to fully flex your bicep - and of course be able to get it on and in place. If you can do that without the bicep being overly loose, you've gotten it right.

Awesome!

I'm a bit late to this thread . . . The AM biceps were initially a tough nut to crack, since if you use the overlappling assembly method as per the instruction booklet (which by the way makes for great kindling material ) it's about impossible to get them to line up cleanly. I assembled my biceps (and forearms) by completely cutting off the built-in overlap strip. So the takeaway is you can do it either way (mine or Terry's) and still have great results. Dan, since you live just down the road from me (which given the maddening nature of metro D.C. traffic could mean minutes to hours), anytime you want to stop by and take a look at my kit - or would like some hands-on assistance with your kit - let me know and we'll work something out.

I was wondering how well an AM w ATA chest & back combo would work, in theory it should work as well as my AM/RT combo. Happy to see that it looks great! It's personally gratifying to see what folks are doing with the AM kits.

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out on the occasion of Matt Sparling's 1000th post. As many of us know, it's considered a milestone. Thanks for your contributions to our white armor community.