tkrestonva

I'd also pick up some rare earth magnets to hold the long seams (thighs, calves, forearms) closed while the E6000 dries, and a metal ruler for neat score/snap lines. Other than that, it looks like you've got just about everything needed.

I see you got the collar right, that's basically what's holding mine up.

I think I'm finally done . . . ANH ESB Of course there will be tweaks here and there (for instance, I'm about convinced I should pull up the thighs by an inch or so), but everything seems to have come together - including the voice amp/sound effects/radio comms system. EIB application thread coming soon.

Great job on the paint! I'm definitely inspired to convert my FX kit now - a project for this winter.

That someone was me - obviously I misunderstood the pricing. Well, that and it was kind of late (by my standards, anyway) and I was wondering about the seemingly cut-rate cost. PP for £18 on its way. BTW, if this will be an ongoing run, better to start a new thread in the "Ongoing Sales & Project Orders" section with all the costs listed in the initial post.

I have Stomper's Hovis - which I don't believe he is selling right now so you can pretty much rule those out - in my old suit. They can be heard, but you have to be at conversation distance. If you have to talk over a crowd, forget it. Just not enough throughput. For my new suit, I have a Aker 1506 voice amp that I mounted in my chestplate. Nice and loud - even with the volume set at less than maximum.

Nice find.

Do you have your biceps properly strapped to your shoulder bells - something like this? (photo credit: Firebladejedi) This should keep your biceps in the same position relative to your shoulder bells. As for the shoulder bells themselves, I'm not sure what you mean by "not holding right." Photos?

PP sent for 1 set.

Look what arrived today . . . TM ESB - meet TM ANH. Will suit up tomorrow & take photos. C5 is getting closer ...

OK, made some mods to the pack per the XO's guidance to make it more in line with an ANH sandtrooper pack: I was planning on doing it anyway, so this actually helped accelerate my timeline. I'll continue to work on the pack, making small improvements a bit at a time, but hopefully now it's good to go.

Item description: for auction is a set of ANH Stormtrooper armor cast from the well known T*E suit of armor Seller: makerofthings Verdict: recast suit from a known recaster. Two things: 1. Please post an introduction in the New Member Introductions section 2. Please spend some time (actually, lots of time) researching this forum before making a purchase committment. We are all here to help, but you need to do your part as well. Moving this topic to the "Ebay Armor" section. Welcome.

Great find on the website! I may have to pick myself up an item or two - or at least add it to the wish list.

Yeah, I'm thinking you'll definitely be pulled over - for photos, that is. Definitely post pics of you on the bike.

Minor update: I made the required adjustments - all except raising the thighs. I think I'll leave them for now, at least until I get to troop a time or two, then I'll reassess. Didn't get to suit up last weekend - but hopefully this weekend. After that, more photos. I got bored one evening, so despite my initial intent to save this mini-project for a later time, I went ahead and built the ANH belt. The belt is one of TK4205's vintage cargo straps, the holster is from Supertrooper, the blaster is my original resin E-11 I've been carrying for the past 2 1/2 years, and the gloves I've had for some time now - long enough to have forgotten who in the U.K. I bought them from. As stated earlier, I'm experimenting with an FRS walkie-talkie setup inside my armor. This would be great for large, heavily attended events where we have widely dispersed troopers and not enough runners. I have an inexpensive Motorola walkie-talkie strapped inside the backplate, with a mic & earbud running up the back, under the shoulder strap, and into the helmet. I have one of LaunchPad's magnetic switches on order, I'll see if I can wire it in such that I can activate the mic simply by touching my helmet's earpiece or cheek tube (instead of actually having to press the talk button). If not, then I'll hide the mic under my chest plate near my right shoulder strap, and reach up and key it whenever I need to talk over the radio. Photo - earbud is on the left, mic is at center-right. Finally, everything packs down nicely into a padlock-able, airline-approved shipping container. All I'm missing is a helmet bag - and that's on order from TK4510.

Yep, parking lot turned dressing room. Been there, done that. You can also have a lot of fun even out of costume by volunteering as a handler/helper. I figure the best way to do that (if you're interested) is to let the Florida Garrison members know in advance that in the event you don't get approved in time, you'd at least like to help out.

If nothing else - bring a camera. One that's good enough to take decent digital photos, but not so good that you'll curl into a ball and cry if it gets wrecked or stolen.

I can personally attest to this one. I have a very good body fat percentage (usually stays between 8% - 10%), yet I typically weigh between 210 - 220 lbs. Good thing, except in the swimming pool - I tend to sink like a stone.

If one is going for strict screen-used accuracy, then yes. The screen-used suits were meant to be neither practical nor reusable for any length of time. Such is the nature of film props. However, most people also want some functionality. When trooping for hours in the summer heat - something that the folks who troop Star Wars Weekends in Florida or that will troop C5 and/or DragonCon are going to become quite familiar with - I would think any little bit helps. In the end, it's true that the extra cooling benefit may not outweigh the departure from screen accuracy and the time/money/effort expended - but there's no way to find that out (without doing some pretty complex computational thermal modeling & analysis) unless you actually try it and see how it works. However, creating a passive thermal control system (and that is what you'd be doing by painting the inside black) adds a certain 'cool' factor (no pun intended) in actually being able to claim that your suit has it's own built-in thermal control system.

In theory it should actually make the inside cooler. I won't get into the physics of heat transfer (ok, maybe I will), but black is a heat absorber/transmitter. White - especially the shiny TK-variety white - is a reflector. Painting it black on the inside should allow the armor to absorb your body heat, transfer it (via conduction) to the white side, and radiate it away. This is one of the techniques used in spacecraft thermal design. If you ever get to look at a satellite up close and/or see inside the guts, you'll notice the black boxes that contain the electronics are really that - black boxes. However, the exterior of the spacecraft is covered in a reflective material. The two are thermally connected via a heat transfer mechanism - which could be as simple as mounting the component onto a radiative surface. The heat from the electronics is transferred to the box, then via conduction or some other mechanism to the radiative surface. The other side of the radiative surface is exposed to cold space - and away goes the heat. - sorry for the momentary flash of "space geek engineer", but I thought it was relevant to the question.

I had the same experience. You really should have both setting tools on hand. The pliers make for quick work and less do-overs in terms of poorly-set snaps, but there are places (like where the belt attaches to the torso) that they cannot reach, in which case you'll have to use the old-fashioned hammer/pin/setter method.

There is a Tandy Leather store in Baltimore - it's where I got my snaps from. Of course they'll ship, but if you're going to be making a port call in Baltimore, you may as well pick them up yourself. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/ Tandy Leather #116 - BALTIMORE-116 Manager: Casey Lenker [email protected] 132 Eastern Blvd Essex , MD 21221 USA Phone: 410-780-9699 Fax: 410-780-5973 Toll Free: 866-663-1494 As for tools, the best tool for the job is a snap placement tool (aka vario pliers), I got mine from JoAnn Fabrics. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=11760

Time to close this one out.

First full test-fitting tonight - - and as always there are things that will need to be adjusted: Fix the shoulder strap on my right side - the snap wasn't seating properly and kept coming loose, which is why it's hanging like it is. Bring the shoulders forward and up a bit Secure the backs of the straps to the back plate with white elastic bands - I realize many like for these to float, but I don't think I'll go that route. Velcro the back of the shins. They largely stay closed, but I think I'd like them to close in a bit tighter. Bring up the thighs about 1 inch Bring up the backplate a bit so that there is a slight gap between the back and kidney All of these are relatively minor, and mostly involve adjusting a few straps. In particular, I'm going to redo the internal shoulder straps - total of 4 straps and 10 snaps. I have plenty of material on hand, so it shouldn't take long. The audio system worked well, and is nice and loud. No more "Huh, what did he say?" Anything else?

Me! And yes, I also have the 501st Legion name badge. Dorky it may be, but it also doubles as your pass to get into any 501st-only events.