Squeaky

Steve Chiu 16180 EIB letter. very much appreciated

thanks everyone. very happy the comments are appreciated. I will work on the weathering and look at the thigh pack. then onto centurion...

feelin' the love. thanks for your comment guys. yes I am aiming for centurion. I can scuff the boots if requested. I am trooping now so they are getting scuffed anyways

first troop last week. hundreds of kids. 5 hours straight without sitting. no food, no armour bites, no dead battery, no issues, great inaugural event. a few hugs, a helmet kiss and a billion little smiles first TK on the left

Steve Chiu TK-16180 Canadian Garrison FISD name = WideAMG Armor Maker = RS Prop Masters (ANH Stunt) Helmet Maker = RS Prop Masters (ANH Stunt) Blaster Type = Doopy Doo’s full resin Height = 172 cm Weight = 77 kg Boots Maker = TKboots Canvas belt = RS Prop Masters Hand Plates Type = latex on rubber gloves (RS Prop Masters) Electronics = two helmet fans with 9v batteries and buttons Neck Seal Type = Darman Holster Maker = Darman (leather) Full Body ⃠Front – Arms at side ⃠Back – Arms at side ⃠Left – Arm raised ⃠Right – Arm raised ⃠Right Side Detail – Arm Raised ⃠Left Side Detail – Arm Raised Armor Details ⃠Abdomen Details ⃠Action Shot ⃠Cod and Butt Plate Attachment (split rivet and functional) ⃠Interior Strapping (original hook and loop) Helmet Details ⃠Front ⃠Side (3 screws per side on each ear, four ear bars, hand painted stripes, traps, tears and rank bar) ⃠Back (hand painted traps) ⃠Hovi Tip Detail (correct Hovi mic aerator tips, hand painted vocoder) ⃠Lens Color (green lens, original padding, S-Trim seal at back as in LFL archives) Blaster Details ⃠Blaster – Left (folding stock, replica ammo counter, D-ring mounted on rear, correct style scope, two power cylinders on magazine housing, 6 T-tracks) ⃠Blaster – Right Accessory Details ⃠Neck Seal (ribbed with zipper) ⃠Thermal Detonator – Back (belt clips positioned near the end caps with 3mm gap, black screws, 187mm overall length, 68mm diameter, clips are 25mm wide) ⃠Holster Attachment (Chicago screws, tan straps 20mm wide) Thanks for your consideration. detailed build thread here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25538-wideamgs-rs-props-pvc-anh-stunt-build/

very professional. we all know stormtroopers are left-handed but Vader is clearly left-handed here. did they bring back hayden for his shoot?

great news. my build has been accepted by the 501st. thanks to all that contributed with their comments I hope that my build helped out some people. so many great builds on this site, so much talent. once I complete my blaster and get better pics I will be applying for EIB and aiming for Centurion

requesting 501st access for TK-16180 Steve Chiu http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=16657 thank you

biceps reduced. TD added. ears thinned. mics angled.

OK here are the pics for critiquing my full kit. these are issues I already know about - hovi mics have been adjusted to not point up so much - ears have been trimmed down - biceps look oversized but side views show that they are snug - the lower legs are attached with original strapping but it doesn't close tightly, may need to supplement with Velcro - I forgot the TD for the pics - no blaster yet, just using a Hasbro - undersuit logo showing upper back feel free to comment for centurion approval. fire away.

Arm Strapping trying to keep the original look of the bicep to shoulder relationship. The shoulder strap is inline with the top inside edge of the bicep. this works for my fit so it will be my anchor point. placed a strip of Velcro between the shoulder strap and the bicep. for the bicep to forearm I used a strip of black strapping with Velcro on each end I kept in mind the rotation so that the edges lined up during assembly assembled Holster Attachement used this guide but the screen shots show the rivets further to the rear. Approx 40mm from the ammo belt edge. marked the rivet locations punched the holes for the Chicago screws with a leather hole punch as you can see the rivet locations are not the same as the locations supplied on the RS belt. here is the original belt that RS has. You can see that their original belt has the holster riveted in the middle. I don't know the origin of that belt but probably not ANH transfered the location to the holster and punched out with leather hole punch. attached the screws here it is installed. the canvas belt is a little high in the back in this pic but I think the holster location looks good.

indeed

Agreed. Even though the CRL says the crotch rivet is not required for basic approval or EIB and doesn't need to be functional for Centurion I believe it is necessary and very important.

Harness for thighs Again industrial strength Velcro, this time in black. Simple harness as included in the kit from RS. Adjustable for waist size (I’m a 33 waist pre-buffet, need to do laps around the death star after the holidays) Attached Velcro to the INSIDE of the harness near the front. I aligned them with the highest part of the thigh geometry. I used the hook section of the Velcro on my harness but I hindsight it’s better to use the loop (soft) section so as not to rub against the body suit. Attached a Velcro strip (loop) to the end of the black thigh strap. Cleaned and attached the matching Velcro strip to the inside of the thigh. The adhesive backing supplied on the Velcro is sufficient. Attached the strips to the thighs. You can adjust the length after. Put on the harness and pulled the thighs on. Simply tucked the strap underneath the harness and pressed down to secure. You can adjust the straps on the top or bottom to fit. Crotch tab rivet The two male snaps are already installed on the butt plate from RS. Just need to install the crotch split rivet (for centurion) and strap. This is the only reference pic I have found for the location of the crotch tab rivet. Visually pic the location for the rivet. Mark, pilot and drill hole for split rivet. A leather hole punch is perfect for making the hole in the strapping for the rivet. Applied a little heat to the strap hole to seal the new cut edges. Assembled rivet and strap. The length you will need will vary from person to person so I kind of guessed based on other RS builds similar to my size. Don’t cut the strap length until after fitting in case you need to lengthen. I am not going to paint the rivet since the original was not painted. Up to this point I was worried about the butt hanging down but the crotch strap fixed it right up

Thanks for the feedback. I just hope that my build, however basic, helps out some people. Almost complete so stay tuned. Attaching the drop boxes I didn’t want to glue or rivet the boxes together or to the belt. I wanted more adjustment and usable space for later. I decided to use Velcro. I have industrial strength Velcro from my thighs and arm attachments which I will use for the drop boxes, a little overkill since the boxes are light but I have extra so no harm done. Need several pairs of matching hook and loop pieces. Size is not critical as long as they fit within the straps. The Velcro has adhesive backing already attached. First attached a hook piece to the inside of the front drop box and a matching loop piece to the end of a strap. Remember to heat and seal the end of the strap to avoid fraying. Attached them together. Added another piece to the back of strap inside and matched the other strap end. I now have a velcro’d loop that can be detached from the box anytime. I wrapped the loop through the belt to check for length. When I put the back of the drop box on you can see that I sits high due to interference with the straps. Simply cut out an opening for the straps. Now the back sits flush and straps are cleanly inside. Drop boxes are to be positioned in line with the outer edge of the ammo belt as shown in this guide and screen shots On the RS belt the outer rivet interferes with the inside drop box strap so it needs to be notched to provide clearance Added another set of Velcro under the strap to belt to secure it in place. (just showing the pieces, not the final location) Finished location of the drop boxes Here is the original belt I haven’t determined a final method for attaching the box halves together. Just using magnets for now until I figure out their usefulness. Maybe lithium packs for fans can go inside?

excellent progress. the chest plate and back plate don't attach together directly. the chest is strapped to the ab plate and the back is strapped to the kidney. the kidney and ab are attached together.

using the same guide for the ab buttons I didn't have a template for the buttons and I couldn't find a punch the right size so I used the contour of the raised buttons to trace a painting border. Matched the diameter of the originals. glued the plates to the ab with E-6000 using the RS-supplied original-style straps for the lower leg closure. I matched up the hole locations from the reference pics drilled 5/32 holes for the hooks. ensure holes and hooks are concealed by rear cover strip when closed. straps as supplied by RS. test fitted into holes. halves are butt jointed for centurion (might not be necessary in the rear). straps lined up and glued inside. allow 1 inch unglued for tension. orientation of hooks is open-end towards the body.

not sure about the valuation but the autographs seem legit. and he has some pretty rare ones. a lot of work if these are real.

here is the RS helmet in CLEAR showing the fastener locations. this should be helpful for first-timers.

I will extend the frown and make it pointed. although I will not do the 'joker' smirk as seen on one of the originals agreed that the pinstripe is not a good idea unless you use the proper thickness. I will trim or hand paint. ears can be brought down a little more. I used the holes casted in by RS for the mics. although the hole location appears correct I need something to adjust the direction of the mics, I assume some bevelled washers can be used. I used TK-1650's reference diagram for the color selection.

had to move the build upstairs during the holidays to re-introduce myself to my wife and kids. onto painting... automotive pinstriping 1/8" for the border. applied after first coat of humbrol grey #5. corners are too tight to bend so the pinstripe needs to be cut. 1/8" is too thick so during the second coat I painted over the pinstripe to reduce the thickness and give the hand painted look. traps and tears. ears were harder to do but with a little trimming it will look better than this. Trooperbay templates for tube stripes and some extra masking. now this step is important. even if you think that the template has complete contact and no edges are lifted it is a good precaution to first apply a thin coat of white to seal the edges. let it dry. then apply humbrol Mediterranean Blue #48 Trooperbay templates for the traps and tears. used humbrol #85 Coal Black this is what happens when I don't do as I say and forget a base coat first. salvageable with more grey paint and a thin brush. not sure about the pinstriping idea because of the visible painted edge. I may remove it and hand paint it you need a round brush to properly paint the vocoder. #8 or #10 brush??? I had neither and all kits are a little different so I just took a close sized brush and cut a round shape with scissors to match the thickness of my particular vocoder stripes. finished painting... but may tweak more.

untrimmed ears. RS provided hand drawn cut marks. not sure if they are good for my assembly so I ignored them. no real way to explain this but just kept trimming a little at a time until the contour and thickness was correct. kept referencing pics of the originals. the ears have indentations for the rivets. they look a little off from my reference pics but I used them because I needed the countersink for the screws. installed the 'S' seal to determine the bottom trimming of the ears. screwed assembled. my eerie 'ghost trooper' test fit

good advice guys. back to the bucket. flashing on the rear half to trim. brow trimmed to length and installed to provide the offset from front face. some of the original brows did not extend to the back of the traps but I like it all the way back. forehead trimmed test fitted with magnets. gap between eyes and brow vary between "surprised" and "mean", I balanced it so I can lower it later if I want. lots of gaps on the lower tubes but to maintain symmetry this is how it is. one rivet for ears on each side rivet on bottom of ear. making sure its positioned where it will be hidden by the ear pieces. there is an indentation for the rivet on the front face provided by RS. I found this is too close to the tear and didn't use it. made sure that the ear piece will hide it. the gap on the right side tubes look way too big but the ear pieces will hide it.

elastic straps glued to shoulder bells. nothing fancy just sanded the contact surface, cleaned, glued and clamped.

the canvas belt from RS comes with the snaps to the ab plate already installed and the locations for the other rivets marked out. the location for the holster screws are also marked. front side of the canvas belt and where the snap heads line up/and hidden with the ammo blocks. indentation @ location for center rivet on ammo belt drilled hole for rivet and pierced canvas belt. set the rivets for all locations before attaching. would be interesting in hearing from others on the best way to pierce/drill a hole through the canvas for the rivets. I used a small drill but it didn't give great results. ammo to canvas belt riveted on. buttons glued on the hide the rivets. as shown on my page 1 a gap to the edge is set as per Han's suit.