tkrestonva

Those should do nicely. Also, unless you plan on assembling only one piece a day, you're going to need a lot more than 10. Personally, I'd go for the 50-pack.

I've found that with enough pressure, you can simply rub off the residue with your finger. If you want to accelerate the process, a bit of "Goo Gone" (you can get it at Home Depot) works well, and it does no damage to the armor.

On to the last few items before suiting up: Helmet is an ESB-style TM. Let me tell you, this thing is AWESOME! It has a pretty severe undercut in the face so it can be tough to get on and off - I use the screen-accurate twist-on method - but once inside it's roomy, lightweight, and well-balanced so that it sits perfectly on my head. The color match with my kit is good, and of course the accuracy speaks for itself. The eyes are at exactly the right height and the bucket itself sits at the exact angle on my head to maximize my vision, without having to resort to tricks like putting ballast weight in certain parts of the helmet to get it to sit right. If TM decides to offer up a preassembled ANH stunt - it's mine!! ESB holster from Anrev - great quality, fits my hyperfirm perfectly, and it even has that wonderful new leather smell! Hyperfirm ESB E11 with one of Sonnerschein's D-rings - and as soon as TANGO'D FETT is ready I'll be ordering a set of ESB-style greeblies to add the finishing touches. Boots from TKBoots (they're SO much nicer than the CABoots I use in my current kit), and a set of stylized TK binders from ajax407 (these should be fun to use at C5 and DragonCon ) My personal sound system - on the left is an MR1506 voice amp w mic from TK6294, on the right is my now rarely-used iPod Classic. Turns out the amp has two input jacks, one for the mic headset and an auxiliary line-in port. Meaning I can both talk and have something cool playing in the background. I'll be using TD-2243's "TK Loop" that mimics stormtrooper radio chatter as background noise - should make for a neat background sound effect while standing guard. I'm also going to experiment with mounting an FRS radio in the backplate and a hands-free headset - the wire will run up my shoulder and neck into the bucket. The other radio I'll give to either my personal handler or to the event coordinator for garrison-level events. Everything all together: Next up - donning the armor.

Cool - thanks!

On to the strapping system: The core of my internal strapping system will be one of pandatrooper's thigh garter belts (thanks Terry!) mated with a set of suspenders I bought from a local men's clothing store. Dang, I really need to clean my bathroom mirror. Next, contrary to my initial belief, I was actually able to use most of the strapping that came with the AM kit. Although it's made for a velcro strapping system (versus the snaps most of us use), I corrected that by driving snaps through the velcro. The velco has the added benefit of providing structural reinforcement to the area around the snaps. Everything in place:

So that begs the question - how did the screen stormtroopers keep their thigh armor from falling?

Unfortunately the type of rare-earth magnets folks have used (myself included) are very specialized items and generally unavailable at your local hardware, hobby, or craft store. The magnets they do sell locally are not nearly strong enough. Here's where I got mine:----- They're relatively inexpensive, ship ultra-fast (chances are if you order today your product will ship tomorrow - and you can choose expedited shipping), and very effective. I highly recommend them.

As long as they look like plain old drop boxes from the front and any wiring is properly concealed, it should be OK.

Looks great! I love seeing the new builds, each one gets better and better. If you could bring the shoulders forward a bit to even out the amount of undersuit showing from the front and back, that would make it even better. Excellent work.

http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=8638

Send a PM to troopermaster (the owner of this thread).

Quick update - got the handplates (provided by TM) attached last night: Over the next few days I'll build the internal strapping system. Hopefully by this weekend everything will be ready for a trial fit with the complete kit, including the blaster and all the soft parts (boots, undersuit, etc.). Moving along.

I used French blue, but like Terry said either is acceptable. As far as the 4-button plate goes, the standard FX/AM method is to attach them directly to the ab piece by drilling holes and securing them via the nuts that come with the buttons. Not as accurate, but perfectly acceptable. If you want to go the extra mile as both Terry and I did, cut out a piece of ABS from the extra strips that came with the kit - let's call it a "spacer plate" - just slightly larger than the raised area where you would install the buttons directly if you were using the standard assembly method. Drill four evenly spaced holes in the spacer plate, then glue it on top of the raised area on the ab plate. Once the glue dries, drill holes in the ab plate using the holes you drilled in the spacer plate as a guide, then install your painted ab buttons. Like Terry said, definitely reference the build threads as you go, and not just the AM build threads. As I'm building my kit I find myself referencing the TM build threads more than anything else. Different kit, but always turns out superb, and many of the techniques can be applied to AM. Chances are they will be able to answer many of the questions you haven't even thought of yet. I've also compiled a comprehensive photo library illustrating the best practices from the many builds, along with just about every available high-res image of stormtroopers from ANH and ESB. It took time, but the source material is available for free right here at the FISD. I actually add new photos to it on a weekly basis as I find them here at the FISD. Troopers Helping Troopers.

Mostly 'cause it's fun, and for the love of the Star Wars franchise. But in doing so, I've been able to serve the community in ways I hadn't thought possible, meet people (famous and not) I would've never met otherwise, and be a part of a global organization populated with some of the best people I've ever had the honor to associate with.

You could go either way - I used both methods. For my inner joining strip (which is not required but adds strength to the joint) I glued half the strip on one side of the shin armor, let it dry, then glued the other half. For the external joining strip, I did it all at once. Personally I'd go with E6000 for any external parts, but especially the shins. Reason being is that it dries clear, the bond is more flexible than ABS cement, and if you make a mistake and/or get overspill (which you can avoid by taping off the areas that are not to be glued) it's much easier to pull it apart, remove the residue, clean up the part, and start over. You actually want a flexible bond on the front of the shims, since unless you have tiny legs and even smaller feet, you'll have to open the shins up like a clamshell - the "hinge" being the front - to get them on and off. ABS cement works by literally melting together the two pieces of plastic that will be joined. The resulting bond is stronger and dries a lot faster, but if you get any on your armor where you didn't intend to, it will damage the finish. Once it's dry, pulling it apart without damage is near-impossible. As a result, it's a lot less forgiving than E6000.

You certainly could use the thermal detonator kit that comes with it, but the pipe is sturdier and more accurate. In addition, the thermal detonator that comes with the AM kit can be a real pain to assemble - the two halves may not line up correctly, you'll have a gap/seam between the halves you'll have to find a way to hide, etc. Buying the PVC pipe section, metal clips, and end caps all from TK4702 made it quick work.

I'm curious as to why it was recommended that you make the angled cut. Can you find out? You don't necessarily have to replace the ab piece. Like Terry said, it is fixable, especially if you still have the pieces you cut off. But if you choose not to, it looks like you may be able to cover it up with the chest piece in place. Put the cut piece back in place and use patch it from behind with a strip of plastic - you can cut a strip from one of the four ABS strips that came with the kit. Once it dries, fill the front seam with ABS dust/shavings, and dribble some Plastic Weld on the seam. The Plastic Weld will melt the ABS shavings into the seam. Afterward, maybe some light sanding and polish. The side rivets are not required for EIB, they're more of a nice-to-have.

Like Mike said, it doesn't look too bad. Like you said, you risk doing more harm than good at this point. It shouldn't affect 501st acceptance or even EIB. I'd leave as is.

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the triple blows. Sometimes life has a way of piling on - and it sucks every time. Still, even when things seem at their worst, eventually the better emerges. Key word - eventually. Take care of the personal crises, the white plastic can wait. Come back when you're ready - we'll be here.

Arms (forearms/biceps): 15mm Legs (thighs/shins): 20mm Even so, the strips are not a requirement. Like you said, you have to be able to fit in your kit. I would think you'd be fine with the "close enough to screen accurate but still fits well" approach you plan to take. Photo?

Getting the inner drop boxes in place was a very tight squeeze, so given the extra bulk Velcro adds I don't see how it would have been possible. What I'll probably end up doing is storing bulkier items like car keys inside my thermal detonator, and for something like credit cards and hotel keys I'll just tape it to the back of the drop box so that it's not visible from the front.

Nice custom build - the storage compartment and circle lights are cool!

Ab armor is now fully assembled: I only got the ESB belt done - building the belt turned out to be a lot more challenging than I expected. I think I'll save the ANH belt for a later time, once I finish the ESB features and get EIB-certified. Besides, I'll need a couple of smaller projects for the winter. Inner drop boxes by kwdesigns, canvas belt by firebladejedi: I assembled the belt so that the drop boxes would be easily removable for HWT purposes. Also, I initially tried to put the inner drop boxes in place without permanently gluing them, but they wouldn't stay put. I'll have to come up with an alternate means to store hotel keys and other credit card sized items. Last step before building the straps and doing the final fitting - attaching the TM handplates to my gloves. More later.

Not sure what you mean, other than that the light blue is a "French blue" - think the color of painter's tape, and the dark blue is a "Navy blue" - think the color of the U.S. Navy's 'Blue Angels' aerial demonstration team. Both are acceptable, although the french blue is considered slightly more screen-accurate. As far as painting perfect circles, I'd suggest cutting out a template and overlaying it on top of the area to be painted - that way, each button will be as perfect as the template itself.

Testors is a good alternative to Humbrol - and you can find it at just about any hobby shop that deals in model cars, airplanes, etc.