mikedwelle94

Been busy with work and school, so I haven't had much time to do anything with this. My next day off will be spent handling and photographing at a 501st/RL/Mercs troop in Portland this Sunday. I got a shiny new red ABS belt from Walt's Trooper Factory this morning that should fit the bill. Looks to be a good match to the red paint on the other plastic parts. Once I get home from class, I can cut it to size and give it a good blackwash and weathering job. A *little* bit of white enamel paint marker action and it should be good to go. The TM ROTJ helmet kit should arrive any day now.... I seem to be checking the front porch every day in 10 minute intervals looking for that brown box.

ATA ataworks@yahoo.com or WTF https://www.facebook.com/groups/waltstrooperfactory/ I have purchased individual parts from both of these guys.

The only thing that really jumped out at me was your white elastic connecting your drop boxes to your belt. There should be little to none of that elastic visible on the outside. Aside from that, great work, and good luck with approval! Should be an easy pass.

Found the trim you have and just placed my order with them. Thank you for sharing Here's the link for anyone who wants it: -------------

That looks great! Where did you get it? I need to replace the crappy Walmart-bought stuff on my armor.

I'd ask around the Spec Ops Detachment for this. Someone there should know where to source the lens you need. TK5492's idea sounds cool though.

There are also good vendors who are not on the list on the first post. CAP-W. Sells kits in HIPS. Requires painting, but is easier to cut and assemble compared to ABS. https://www.facebook.com/Scootchs-Custom-Fab-Shop-213924908786578/?fref=ts WTF, Walt's Trooper Factory. ABS plastic. Heard a lot of good things about them, and I've seen a few EIB and a Centurion WTF. He also sells in shiny black and red! https://www.facebook.com/groups/612005498911674/ MTK armor is done by the guy running Trooperbay I think. You could probably contact him through that site for more info on that. ABS, and very similar to ATA's kit.

There's several things you can do to modify any kit for a shorter individual. I would start by taking some material off the tops of the thigh armor, taking care to follow the contours. Perhaps you could take a bit off the bottoms of the shin armor as well, but not too much there. Mark Hamill had his chest plate trimmed in ANH to accommodate for his shorter height. Just use a heat sealing iron to create a new return edge.

So far I've had a good experience dealing with Troopermaster for my ROTJ needs. My plastic and belt material has yet to actually arrive, but he's been very good about answering all my questions promptly. He has everything you'd need for a ROTJ trooper.

I started and finished my TK while enrolled in college. It can be done! Just have to prioritize your time and money in the right things at the right time - it took me 2 and a half years to get approved from the day my kit arrived. To answer your question about boots, you can find a pair of Bass Amsterdam chelsea style boots on Amazon. I got mine for under $60. Biggest issue with them: the opening is a little large, so it was hard to get the shin armor to fit over the tops. That can be solved with a couple cuts of velcro, and "Velcro One-Wrap." 20160121_232437

I actually just got it this afternoon. Our LMO is quick! 12573142_10204204505592896_3700213437969154073_n TK-80494 is official!

I originally wanted to be a shiny Magma Trooper, so I got a nice red ABS plastic kit from ATA. I messed up a few of the parts during the build, but instead of replacing them, I coated everything in white and made it into a Death Trooper. Pretty much the LAST costume I'd ever want is a clean, plain white Stormtrooper. Stormtroopers are great, but I like to be the special snowflake that sticks out in that sea of white. My next one will be the new ROTJ-style Battlefront Shock Trooper with the red stripes. If I was going to build another Stormtrooper in a future, I would get a black TM ROTJ kit and try to make the Shadowtrooper from Battlefront - the one with the Imperial cog on the chest plate.

Following. This is gonna be fun to watch.

TK-80494 requesting 501st access. Thank you! http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=20552

Well it feels GREAT to finally step my foot in the door of the 501st, but I don't think my costume is done yet. My kidney and butt plates are still a bit large on me, and I'm thinking about adding some zombie flesh behind some of the holes. And maybe later on, I'll modify the suit for EIB. For now, I'm more than happy to have just made base approval. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

Welp, it finally happened. 2 and a half years later, this same set of red ABS ATA armor that I had so much trouble with, finally got approved. My top choices for my TK number have been sent in this morning. I picked TK-80494 first, as that's my birthday. How long can I expect it to take for the LMO to assign my ID? Am I cleared for trooping as of now? I am completely excited to get my feet wet with the whole trooping thing.

There are other great options that aren't on the forum's list of recommended armorers. A few good options are CAP-W, WTF, and MTK, which are comparable in price to ATA. Contact Scootch for CAP-W HIPS armor. https://www.facebook.com/Scootchs-Custom-Fab-Shop-213924908786578/?fref=ts Or Trooperbay for MTK ABS armor. ---------- Walt from Walt's Trooper Factory (WTF) https://www.facebook.com/groups/612005498911674/

Sent in my second set of pictures for my GML to review. Here's a few:

Thanks again for chiming in with that link. I'd probably still be scratching my head in confusion if it wasn't for that!

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Solved the boot/shin problem on both costumes and took out that ugly shim! Thank the maker for Velcro One-Wrap. 12625654_10204183647631460_1561067316_n 12625622_10204183647591459_395538777_n

Yeah, my first app got turned down. The shins didn't fit over the tops of my boots and the blood looked too fresh. I've made these changes and will be submitting a new set of pictures later today.

IT WORKED. Holy sh--...I can't post pictures until tomorrow, but wowww. I just needed to express how excited this makes me. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

I may learn to get along with the shinies eventually. I prefer to run with those who look like they've seen a little action. But seriously, what excites me above all is the inevitably large influx of new troopers thanks to these kits being put out. A TK is a TK, marked up or not. Good luck with your build man.

Hell yeah, I'd love to watch that happen! My eyes will be glued to your build thread.