Dark CMF

All of the above. Get rid of it now, better for your comfort and for your gloves. Easier to build to Centurion now than upgrade later.

So there we have it... Thanks.

Hey there C, I can provide a bit of extra assistance here. For #3, yes... The thumb print (from armor sculptor Brian Muir) is on the left bicep on screen armors. It is on the left bicep of many of our armor makers, and on both biceps of many armor makers, because the biceps molds are sculpted symmetrically. You can remove the thumb print from the right bicep with a heat sealing iron, and some patience. I have removed the one from my right bicep. For #4, there is a lot more room in there than you think, but there still isn't much room - if that makes any sense at all. My helmet has military foam padding installed, and has fans, voice board and microphone, speakers in the Hovi-tips, and an external audio system so I can hear outside the helmet much better than without it. This photo was taken during the installation of the Hovi-Tip speakers, that's why you see the wiring across the helmet opening from the Hovi-Tip area.

You smell that? Do you smell that? Troopers Helping Troopers, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of Troopers Helping Troopers in the morning. -----------

Jim, these actually have nothing at all to do with accuracy and everything to do with quality/reliability/ease of installation. I used a lot of Dritz snaps in my initial build, and I had 20% waste during the installation because the posts didn't always hammer straight. They'd bend, or split, leaving me with a wasted or (in the case of a badly bent one) unusable snap that had to be drilled out and replaced. In many instances, they don't pull as tightly as would be ideal either, and after only a year and a half of trooping, there are a few of them that rattle a little bit because they've worn out and I've got one that is a little unreliable. Not horrible as a product goes, but not perfect. The Tandy's that I've used on three successive builds are much more user friendly in a number of ways. If you use the Tandy snap hammer and anvil with their Line 24 Snaps, they are far more likely to set properly. On those three successive builds, I've had a total of fewer than five snaps wasted, they always hammer into very nice installations - I have had to drill out/remove zero of them, and they don't appear to ever wear out or begin rattling because they are loose with wear. They're as close to perfect as I've seen in using snaps, and that is why you will see most of the experienced builders tell you to use the Tandy snaps over the Dritz or other options that sometimes get thrown around.

Beautiful work Greg! Congratulations!

Just wanted to share this with everyone. You can get a bag of 100 snaps (in your choice of colors - I choose black, myself) for just about $33 from Tandy Leather between now and the end of March, 2016. GREAT price on these, literally 50% off. Stock up on them quick!!!

Has everyone here been able to make their posts now, or are there still issued that need to be addressed?

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/41-howto-make-your-own-belt-rivet-covers/ This is the post you're looking for. You can use it if you'd like!

Ideally, Jay is correct, you'd replace them. If you need to use your armor in the meantime though, I'd take a piece of ABS, and place it as a "shim" underneath the break, between the bridge and the bottom of the chest and use some CA glue to do the repair on the top of the armor.

I'm at work, so unable to measure, but I'm fairly certain that mine (which are RT-Mod) are 1" squares. If someone knows otherwise for non RT armors, please chime in. Looking good Marc! Keep at it.

Greetings fellow Stormtroopers, We’ve got quite a year ahead of us! On so many levels, this is going to be a fun, fun year for the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment. I’m admittedly a bit surprised that I’m putting this post together, but I’m truly honored and humbled to do so. I take this responsibility very seriously, and I plan to make sure that each and every one of you that reads this will be able to see and feel the results of the plan that I’ve begun putting together with the Staff. Speaking of that plan and the Staff, it is time to get to work. Lifted directly from my opening statement, here is a brief selection of goals that I have laid out for the Detachment in 2016: · Develop a more welcoming environment for prospective and new members. · Develop a more inclusive outreach for the Detachment via Social Media. · Continue to grow the Detachment’s Attache program, no less than two Attaches per Garrison/at least one per Squad is the goal. · Finalize and publish the formal Attache materials that have been developed/in development during the last year. · Lead the Detachment Command Staff in a housekeeping/photo updating initiative of the OT CRLs - I do not believe that any standards changes are in order. · Develop new CRL standards for Level 2/EIB for the First Order Stormtrooper and begin the development of CRL standards for Level 3/Centurion for the First Order Stormtrooper. · Oversee the completion/cleanup/update of recently added costume CRLs (Captain Phasma, Legacy Trooper), and those currently underway (Battlefront Troopers), and coming our way soon (Rogue One). · Ensure that the 10th Anniversary of the FISD is celebrated and commemorated in meaningful and memorable ways – Swag, Newsletter Highlights, Contests, Social Media campaigns. In order to ensure that this happens and, equally as important, to make certain that I don’t do un-correctably dumb things, I have asked the following Detachment members to serve on staff and ensure that I am staying on target during the year ahead: Executive Officer - Daetrin: You’ll see his name again a bit later, but does Paul really need an introduction? He’s the man that started it all. The Detachment’s founder and principal caretaker for the last decade, he laid out the groundwork and guidelines for what this Detachment has become, and how it should operate. He has a wealth and depth of Legion leadership experience that I cannot compare to at this point in time, and based on all of that, I couldn’t think of anyone better to fill this seat and kick me square in the backside when it looks like I’m going to engage in something dumb. Hopefully, I don’t give his kicking leg much of a workout. Deployment Officers – UKSWRATH: If you spend any length of time at FISD these days, you’re going to be exposed to Tony’s knowledge, keen eye for detail, and giving spirit. He’s always willing to help, and he’s capable of delivering his observations in a way that makes people happy to hear it. This ability to wield that delicate touch is critical for this position, perhaps even more than the keen eye for detail. Sly11: In the same vein, Andrew was the man that rose to the top of the Staff Discussion last year when a second DO was suggested. He possesses the same knowledge, keen eye for detail, desire to help others, and delicate touch that Tony does, but with a cooler accent. When you have one guy that brings all of that knowledge and skill to the team, it is a good thing. When you can boast two of them, it is a big win for everyone. Provost Marshal - captsafe66: The PM is the essentially the law enforcement officer of the Detachment. Mark has served in this capacity for good reason; he has consistently demonstrated that he has his fingers on the pulse of the forums, which is no small task. He’s always up to it when an intervention is required, and manages to do so without causing situations to escalate. Deputy Provost Marshal - Tolo: Eric is always welcoming and helpful and based on my discussion with Mark, Eric will remain a vital member of the PM team, so you can expect to see him providing a good natured approach to the forum discussions on a regular basis, as he has always done. A year ago, Darth Aloha said “What we need is a handful of people monitoring the tone of FISD and counseling people as issues come up.” This remains as true and vital today as it was then, and we will be adding a few additional DPMs to Mark’s team over the coming months. Public Relations Officer - evan_loh: Evan has become the master of the Detachment’s Newletters and managing the team that produces it each month. Every edition somehow seems to raise the bar, and when you consider what we’re routinely doing here, I think that’s pretty impressive. I’m looking forward to seeing where we take the PR for the Detachment in the next year. Deputy Public Relations Officer - MechaPumpkin: Knowing that part of the year’s plan is to energize the Detachment’s social media presence, an additional PRO was a no-brainer. Danny came to the Staff as the new XO mid-tour last year, and brought with him an energy and enthusiasm that can only be described as positive, invigorating, and exciting. I believe that the PRO is a perfect fit for that energy and am thankful that Danny has agreed to come on board for it. FISD Ambassador – justjoseph63: The FISD Ambassador manages the Detachment Attaches. The Attaches are our “Troopers in the Garrisons.” They ensure that new TKs are built properly, considering EI submission, and take Detachment news and updates back to the Garrisons. Joseph has been a whirlwind of Troopers Helping Troopers since arriving, and stepped up his game when he was appointed as an Attache. He truly stood out to me as the right guy for this position. Membership Officer - NoVATie: A.C. has been one of the unsung heroes of the Detachment Staff for quite some time. His work is typically unseen by all but a few people, and truly touches everyone as they come on board here at the FISD. Merchandise Officer – cm325i: Seeing the overwhelming response to the FISD Racing Shirts last year, the on-going FISD patch run, and witnessing his graphics work in the Newsletters from month to month quietly put Clint on a lot of RADARs where merchandise is involved. He brings a high degree of excitement and many great ideas to the position Web Server Admins – svache, Locitus, and Darth Aloha – My own nerd abilities allow me to use bigger words than necessary most of the time, and moderately effectively manage forums. The server side of this would destroy me, and thus, there is no way that I would even pretend that I could do so. These three guys have kept the servers going and managed upgrades, coding, and crashes for quite some time now, and I’m very happy to retain their services in this capacity. FISD Founder - Daetrin: Paul is the man that started it all, and his constant presence and focus are a testament to Troopers Helping Troopers and his commitment to the vision that he typed out back in 2006. You've already read about him in the XO slot above though, so I'll just move along. So these are the Stormtroopers on our Command Staff. I used the word our in that sentence, because regardless of my status as the DL, this is your Detachment and this is your Staff. We are here to serve you and keep an eye on things for you both here and at the Legion level, to assure that the Legion’s Stormtroopers are taken care of properly. Some of you are very, very aware of this already, but I am always available to each and every one of you via PM and email. If you feel the need to contact me about something, don’t hesitate to do so. Thank you for your support this year! Let’s have some fun, and share some smiles with the public at large!

Very, very awesome!!

Thank you for sharing, Aaron! Definitely good advice.

I do think that using ABS paste/slurry is a better approach than gluing them together.

RT is a good sized bucket. I wear a fitted hat size 7 3/8 - 7 1/2, and I have no problem whatsoever getting my head in or out of the bucket (without electronics installed in it).

Tray nailed it. That will keep them together. If you want to take it to the next level and physically fuse them so they appear to be one seamless piece on the outside, then after the strip is glued in as Tray described, you can fill the remaining outside gap between the two with ABS paste.

Can't speak on the DLT from any experience, but most every Resin or Pipe build E-11 has a customized number in the Hengstler Counter, and all of those are pretty identifiable among the local TKs. I can guarantee that if my E-11 were separated from me somehow at an event, all of the other TKs would know it was mine as soon as they picked it up, if not sooner.

I'm far from a ROTJ expert, but FWIW, it looks good to me! Good work Mike, good luck!!

Tick-Tock... Tick-Tock... Let's play nice, guys.

Everyone, I have locked this particular thread. Not so that nobody can make any more posts, but in order to allow the thread to function more like the welcome threads. If each new member makes a new topic, it will allow others to reply to it more easily than trying to contain all of this in one thread. Apologies for not explaining the intent very clearly, early on.

Right?

Now... Now the REAL fun (before the real, REAL fun) begins!!

So now you’re a Stormtrooper! That wasn’t so tough, now was it? Was it? In this section we’d like to give recently approved troopers the opportunity to reflect on their road to the 501st. Suggestions for posts include (but should not be limited to) . . . If Only You Knew: - Advice to yourself, back when you first started out. - Maybe a top 5 list of things you learned that might not be so obvious to new recruits. Oops!: - Some setbacks or challenges you had to overcome. - Warnings you were given along the way that maybe saved your shiny white butt. (Never clean your armour with acetone!) A funny thing happened on my way to the Death Star: - An anecdote or funny story about your experience. - Something that happened along the way that was funny, embarrassing or noteworthy. - This could even be a heartwarming tale of brotherhood. We all love to hear “troopers helping troopers” stories! Shout Outs: - Acknowledgments and thanks to anyone who helped you out along the way. - This could include fellow FISD members, garrison mates, detachment or command staff, non-Stormtroopery people like significant others or family. Shout it out! Thanks to Danny (MechaPumpkin - TK-66668) for writing up this post. I'm merely the shiny, white, plastic guy that's clicking on "Post New Topic." Here's my part: Start a new topic in this section, similar to your introduction post, and be sure to include your newly assigned TKID in your subject title! When you first arrived, you introduced yourself to the Detachment membership as a hopeful Cadet. Now you can formally introduce yourself as a Stormtrooper!

Didn't ruin my boots. I removed it as a preemptive strike, so it wouldn't. To be honest, those boots take a bit of a beating because of the armor rubbing on them. Granted, my personal antics while wearing the armor probably make it worse than if I mostly stood around and waved at people, but where's the fun in that? Mobility cuts/half moons in the back of the shins won't have any impact at all on Centurion approval. If you'd feel better verifying that though, feel free to shoot Sly11 and UKSWRATH a PM and ask them before doing it. They're the guys who will be evaluating your armor. Go ahead and try your shins on when they've dried, and just walk around a bit in them. You may not have the issue that I did, but that area was going to draw blood if I left it. LoL Troopers Helping Troopers! - TK-51878