tkrestonva

Thanks Rick, I appreciate the kudos. So as of about a week ago, here's everything I've done to date: Hopefully I can resume the build later this week. No build progress this past week - been out of town on business. Next up: - final fitting of the thighs and gluing the backs shut - attach the sniper plate & thigh ammo belt - belt assembly (two belts, one ANH & one ESB) - attaching the ESB handplates to the gloves - build & attach the snap plates, figure about 2 dozen - install the ab buttons - adding the small details (6 white rivets on the left side, "Han Solo snap" on the right, etc.) Stay tuned, more to follow.

I also got the thermal detonator and ab buttons finished. For the thermal detonator, instead of using the FX-style TD that comes with the kit, I went with a 7.5" section of PVC pipe I bought from TK4702, along with a matching set of TD belt clips and end caps. The paint is Testors 1138. I also primed and painted the end caps a gloss white - not a perfect color match, but better than powder-white color that they were unpainted. The only part of the kit TD I used for this was the control plate. Ab buttons, painted with Testors 1138 gray and Testors ???? french blue (forgot the color # and I don't have the spray can in front of me):

For the calves and thighs, I took off enough of the overlapping edges on each side of each part so that it would leave 15mm on each side, the idea being when the edges were butt-joined, it would result in a 30mm wide area that would be covered with a 30mm finishing strip. Unmodified calves: Trimmed & joined: The thighs were assembled the same way as the calves:

Forearms & biceps - I used the same methods for assembling both the forearms & biceps, with clamps, painter's tape, and rare earth magnets holding everything together while the E6000 cures.

So I'm overdue for an update ... I've pretty much finished the arms and legs. Instead of using the overlapping seam assembly method that is standard for the AM kit, I went with the butt-join / cover strip method. It took some time to work up the nerve, but seeing Pandatrooper's outstanding example gave me the inspiration I needed to take the plunge. I used 20mm and 30mm cover strips for the exterior, cut from the extra plastic strips that come with the kit. I realize that 15mm and 20mm are more accurate - and I tried it that way at first - but the wider strips seemed more proportional to the kit's dimensions as it will be fitted to my measurements. For the interior strips, I used the scrap plastic resulting from trimming off the overlap strips - waste not, want not.

+ 1

I'm also building my AM kit this way. The only thing I'd add is to make sure the parts line up first. For the calves, line them up at the top and trim the bottom as necessary. For the thighs and biceps, line them up at the bottom and trim the top as necesary. For the forearms, line them up at the wrist and trim the edge near the elbow as necessary.

Great job! This is definitely the year of the ESB EIB.

DragonCon allows you to transfer con passes - for a fee, of course. Perhaps you could try to transfer them to someone.

An AP seconds kit is a good choice, occasionally Mark has them for sale. If you look in the For Sale section you should be able to find the most recent offering, along with the price he wanted. Other than that, just keep your eyes open for helmet sales. Most of the non-ebay helmets I've seen come up over the past months - including a VT that is right now up for sale DIRT CHEAP - will pass EIB muster.

The special ops / Blackhole stormtrooper (TX) is an Expanded Universe character.

Yup, still got 'em. If you're interested, send me a PM either here or on the garrison board.

Very cool. I'm so looking forward to seeing all the troopers at C5.

Perfect. Thanks, Paul.

So . . . The CRL says the following: * Hand plates may be sewn on to the gloves at five points equally spread out with 2 on the sides and 1 in the middle front Before I start drilling holes in my TM ESB hand plates, does anyone have any close-up photos on how ESB hand plates are supposed to be attached to the gloves? Screen shots or screen accurate builds, I'll take either.

+1 Although this is not a blatant "WTB armor" thread - if it was it would have already been edited and/or deleted - it's close enough to being one such that a reminder is in order: DO NOT POST WANT TO BUY armor/helmet threads. Violations will be deleted. Also, an self-introduction post in the New Member Introductions section would be good.

* Holster made of black leather or leather like material . . . As you can see, the CRL allows either leather or leather-like. Whether or not the straps that attach the holster to the belt are hidden behind the belt (ANH & ROTJ) or looped over the belt (ESB) depends on what style trooper you're building toward.

LMAO - I love psychology! There are just so many hilarious quotes from that piece: The guy is a full-on sociopath with serious issues. But every lunatic needs a good diagnosis. Darth Vader possessed six of the nine borderline personality disorder criteria as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. So George Lucas character of Anakin Skywalker, later known as Darth Vader, was really a subliminal commentary on the teenage struggle with identity and the end result of surrounding yourself with the wrong people.

For ANH, I'll be recycling my current RT Mod helmet (v4, I think) but I plan on making the following mods: (1) remove the vocoder sticker and hand paint, (2) remove the stickers on the raised portion of the ears and hand paint, and (3) add ear bumps to the raised portion, probably by gently heating that portion and using a popsicle stick to create depressions. For ESB, I plan on using a TM helmet that Paul himself finished - it was up for sale here in February and I was lucky enough to be on the board at the right time. I was able to make some progress this weekend on the biceps and forearms - due to my schedule, armor building has been generally limited to Saturday & Sunday evenings. Pics coming soon.

As described at Bodybuilding.com: What's in Optimum Serious Mass? View Specific Product Details: 12 Lbs. Chocolate Supplement Facts Serving Size 2 HeapingScoops(334g) Servings Per Container 16 Amount Per Serving In Water % Daily Value Calories 1250 Calories From Fat 40 Total Fat 4.5g 7%* Saturated Fat 1.5g 8%* Cholesterol 80mg 27% Total Carbohydrate 252g 84%* Dietary Fiber 4g 16%* Sugars 20g † Protein 50g 100% Tips: Mixing two scoops of Serious Mass with 24 fl. oz. of nonfat or low fat milk instead of water will give you a thicker, creamier, higher-calorie shake. New users may find if beneficial to begin with 1/2 of a serving daily for the first week and then gradually increase to 1 or more full servings several times a day. 334 grams = 0.736344 pounds Reading the stats, it's pretty obvious why your friend bulked so quickly, and why the love handles showed up. Even if you naturally have the metabolism of a race horse and spend most of your waking hours in the weight room, with that kind of consumption you're going to gain fat as fast (and probably faster) than you will muscle. One should always play close attention to the label when using a bodybuilding (or any other kind of) supplement. Know what you're putting into your body - unless your name happens to be Palpatine, it's the only one you're going to get. Plus, it's good to be wary of anything that comes packaged in a dog food bag.

All together now: 1, 2, 3 . . . HOOAAHH!

Agreed. It's a cleaner look, and no crunching velcro sound as you walk. In addition one of the many pluses of E6000 is that it's flexible and if it's absolutely necessary you could pull them apart, remove the glue residue, resize, and reglue. However, there's obviously less margin for error/change than with velcro. You'll definitely want to make sure they're properly sized and maybe even add a bit more room to accomodate an unexpected/unwanted case of thunder thighs.

I'm not knocking WiiFit or anyone who uses it - for some it's the ideal solution - but in general being outside is almost always better.

I see Paul labeled the ANH & ESB belts for you. Is there a difference in how the ANH and ESB belts should be trimmed out?

Excellent work so far. Keep up the good work and great photos/text. I'm definitely following your build for guidance on my kit - it's an AM kit, but I'm building it out ANH/ESB style via joining strips.