AsBlondeAsLuke

Hi Joey- Thanks. I had a great time yesterday. It was a really fun troop. No worries about the shoulder bell. I'm amazed I held together as long as I did. I was hugged and squeezed so many times yesterday that finally my arm pieces came down and my shoulder bell popped off. Those people in Haight-Ashbury are a very affectionate bunch. I had issues last week at LakeShore Elementary where I couldn't see the point where I was pretty much mowing into Kyle, (fortunately he has been very patient with me. That trooper deserves a metal for putting up with this noob. Seriously.) This week I had much better look with the all the new padding I put in plus the combat padding, but it still isn't quite tight enough. I can certainly see well enough to troop and even managed crazy little steps they had going on all over the place, but I still had to reach a hand up and do a helmet adjust once in a while because of "slippage." Would love to get it so I don't have to do those little adjustments anymore. I hear you on the gloves. RS sent me two pairs of the screen accurate gloves but they are both so large on me I can't really manipulate my hands in them. I might try adding silk liners to see if I can size them down and make them stay on my hands better. Right now I am using Nomex gloves and I can move my hands so well I was able to slide someone's TD back on when it started popping halfway off their belt yesterday when they brushed up against the brickwall. I figure that is pretty advanced stuff with gloves on since those brackets are so tight.

Hi Ericia- Thanks for the pic! Love the way the child padding looks in there. I can see why you are getting a snug fit. I was commenting to my husband and son that I probably would have been better off getting a helmet from TrooperMaster who who actually makes the kits for younger troopers. But, using child-sized padding is a great idea. Did you order the padding online? Do you have a link?

Thank you, Germain. I've seen those and never knew what they were called. 6'1". Sigh.

Yes, thank you. I would love to see the pictures. That would be very helpful. My cousin, Walter, has motorcycle padding in his helmet and I remember when I tried it on, I loved the extra cushiony feel of it. Although, the padding he bought was a size extra large. So, you were to find smaller padding that still fit into the helmet? Or, you used larger padding and then filled in the rest with something else? This week, I tried using existing materials around the house to correct the helmet (because for some reason my engineer was opposed to the motorcycle padding idea. Although, I think he is just going to get overruled on this one. I'll simply give him the look.) I actually ended up using up the exact same "couch foam/military padding" approach that Derrek describes above. I still had plenty of foam leftover from when I'd padded out other areas of my armor. The helmet fits better, but I'm still not happy with it. Not confident I can do a Roxbury Europop nod, and I think that will have to be the gold standard. This is the same thick white foam that pads out other areas of my armor. I found it at the craft store. The dark grey pads are military padding. Everything is held in my velcro at the moment so it can be moved around. There is a velcro pad at the top because I wasn't sure if I needed more padding at the top, but like you, I discovered the top didn't need much extra padding. More padding and foam for trying different options, but like Goldilocks, I haven't found anything that is just right. Probably hard to see this detail, but I used my extra piece of brow trim to create a nose guard. Keeps it from cutting into my skin, and also makes it sit in the correct position on the bridge of my nose. How do I clean the lenses? They already have some smudges on them.

Aw, thanks for the compliment. The armor felt great, too. I was surprised how well I could move. Everything is really comfortable. Hmmm... did anyone notice I was a woman? If they did, they didn't say anything. I only had one person comment: "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" It was annoying, like I thought it would be. I politely laughed like they were actually funny. I'll get used to it, because I'm sure there will be plenty of funny people in the future. All part of trooping. Like not stepping on the kids. I don't even know what a D-ring is, so I will have to look that one up. Thank you for letting me know. I love noodling around with the armor, and I'm always happy when I have something to add to the To-Do list.

Hello All- Promised to give an update on my first troop which was this past Sunday. Everything went smoothly and no major problems. Armor held together very well and no pieces fell off or pinched or anything. Here's a picture with a young Jango. (My sniper plate looks a bit twisted in this pic, which is funny because it is straight in the other pics, but I still like this picture because I look tall in this picture. Maybe we were standing on an upslope.) Since my approval pics, I repainted my ab buttons and worked on my cod strapping, although I am still playing with my cod. Uh, wait. I could have worded that better. (Those were the two things I was told to work on when I was approved. Apparently, I have a big cod. Who knew? I mean, I'm not bragging or anything.) My armor was flexible and comfortable, so much so that I played carnival games. I can't say I won, but the kids thought it was very funny. This peel my gloves up a bit, though, so I should have tugged 'em back down. My bad. My sightline looking down was not very good with my helmet. Actually, the whole helmet in general was sliding all over and driving me crazy, but I just dealt with it and figured I'd fix it for the next troop. I learned if I conked my head forward I could get it to sort of rest on my nose and I could kinda' sort of see enough to not run over children. My other favorite pic was this one with the SFFD. These guys were so much fun. Awesome photo op. Shiny firetruck. Good looking firemen. What's not to love? OK, things that went great with the troop: - I'd made a checklist the night before and double-checked everything was in my bin so no armor pieces were missing. (OK, actually I tripled checked it. And, then woke up early and checked it again in the morning.) - I carpooled with Kyle so I didn't have to worry about "trooping alone." Made it easy to have a second person to share the driving up to the city, navigate directions, etc. - I'd printed out the ops orders and had them with me so I knew who the point of contact was and we asked for her as soon as we arrived. (Since the theme was "SuperHero Saturday," she was the one dressed as "BatWoman.") We found her right away and easily followed the schedule of events for the day. Made for a very organized day. - I wore my Under Armor under my clothes so I could easily change once I got there. Stripped out of my jeans, and voila, I was in my undersuit and ready to don my armor. Somehow, this feels like it is going to turn into a cod discussion again. I'll move on. - As per Kyle's insistence, I didn't drink too much liquids. Do I need to explain this one? Probably not. Once you are in the armor, you're committed. It was funny, though, because on the way up, I started drinking a VitaminWater and eating an energy bar. He looked at me and said: "Don't drink too much." I started laughing and put the drink away. It was good advice. Cons: - I have a snap on my shoulder strapping that still needs replacing. I have replaced it once already and it still does not snap properly. The first snap popped off. (Held it too loosely.) The replacement snap holds it too tightly. Can't be removed without using a tiny screwdriver to pry it apart. So, I am waiting on a third replacement and then will need to redo the strapping again. Makes it hard to get in and out of my shoulders. I can suit up, but it is a bit of a struggle and when I put my armor away, I have to leave the bell attached on that side. Not a big deal. Just annoying since it's not perfect. My armor is new and I want it to be perfect. - My helmet slid around like a pumpkin on my head. Sorry, I'm from Sleepy Hollow and that's what the oversized thing felt like. Ugggh. These helmets are not designed with women in mind. (Not that men have big fat melonheads or anything.) So, I get out there and I can't see these little munchkins around out feet at all. I was trying to see out through the mesh of the mouthpiece so I didn't step on any kids. Is it bad when you step on them? I would assume so. I bumped into Kyle a few times, and thankfully he was patient enough not to get mad. (Or maybe he was and didn't say so.) But, then I noticed he kept adjusting his helmet. Turns out he was having helmet issues, too, which was a relief. I didn't want to say anything, but I was glad it wasn't just me. So, we both headed back to the staging room, and it gave me a chance to tug off my helmet and try again. I was able to get it on a little better the second time so I could see a little better. Plus, I learned the trick with conking the thing down my nose to get it at a better angle. Helmet padding has been my big project this week. I went to the motorcycle shop here in town, and while I discovered they were huge fans of the movies, they didn't have what I needed. I've been combining thick white foam with military padding to try to create what I need. It is not the spacing at the top that is the issue, but the extra space at the sides that is causing the sliding. - Audio. Uggh. Can I say how much I dislike my Aker system so far? Not impressed with at all. Maybe we will become better friends down the road, but so we far we are NOT getting along. I turn it up and I get feedback, and I turn it down and you can't hear me. "Can you hear me now?" No. I ended up being the silent TK for the most part on Sunday and not answering the kids' questions because I figured they couldn't hear me anyway. My audio wasn't loud enough. Conclusion: All in all, it was an easy day and a good first troop. Been working on my armor this week to try to improve things more. Kyle said that part of the process never ends. I believe it.

Thanks, Katherine. I'm heading out on my first troop tomorrow, so I will be sure to take some pictures of my first attempts at "officially" suiting up and report on how it goes. I am also working on a list of "Top Ten Things I Learned from my Build." I first wanted to do clone armor, too, and when I went to purchase clone armor, I was advised: "Mmmm... maybe you might be better off doing a scout trooper. The costume is a bit more accommodating for different body types." I seriously considered it, too, because who doesn't love a scout? But, I kept researching and found I could just squeak into RS armor because it was more fitted. Granted, it still required a lot of work, but it was worth it. And, even now that I am approved, I still work on my armor everyday. It has just become habit. Looking forward to seeing your progress on your clone trooper.

OK, so when you come down for the DLT-19 unveiling party, a.k.a. the weekend that Sophia paints the RS bucket, we will add the wire. Woo hoo! Another fun project for us to tinker on! Jovani and I are building the RS bucket this week, since he is home. Over the weekend, we fixed a little detail on one of the thigh pieces that I was told I'd need to fix before I went for Centurion. Took some Dremeling and and careful replacing of a cover strip, but it was fixed. I am also redoing some of the strapping so it looks nice and neat for the Centurion pics.

Thank you, A.C. You're the best!

Really excited to see this thread. I was wondering when somebody would be inspired to build armor for women. It is a bit... ah... difficult to adapt the current stuff to the female form. You know, other than the fact that Jes gets blown up like the Death Star, it is awesome there is a female stormtrooper in canon. -----------

Looking forward to meeting you in person and doing a photo op. we could do an Imperial Recruitment poster.

TK 95020 requesting access. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=16932

Hah! Says the person who is too tall for a stormtrooper. Ah, shows there is no excuse for poorly fitting armor.

Thank you! The cod was one of the areas I wanted to work on. Although, we weren't sure yet how to fix it. The engineer and I were discussing it yesterday. I was wondering if the crotch strap itself could be shortened so it will cinch tighter when snapped. He was wondering about the purpose of that second snap under the butt. Just to make our bottoms look pretty?

Mmmm... yes. I have a few areas I want to work on again, because I think maybe I could get them just a little better. Then, I'm going to take the pics. My poor husband, though... whenever I look at myself in the mirror with the armor on he says: "Don't get that look. I know that look."

Thanks, Jonathan. The build thread was as much fun as the build itself.

Hope I didn't wake you up too early. I was a wee bit overexcited. Like getting married is an excuse to slack on the armor building? I guess we'll give you a while longer on this honeymoon business, and then get your beautiful new wife a proper pair of Lexan scissors.

Thanks, Francisco. Now that I'm done painting my helmet, I'm going to install those awesome fans. I'll think of you fondly as I keep my cool on all those troops to come.

I got inspired pretty quickly by the folks on here who were Centurion. At first, I thought just getting through basic approval would be enough. But, then everybody on FISD was so supportive they made me want to build better.

Thank you, Evan. We certainly did a lot of all three. When you see the sideview, you get an appreciate of how MUCH we sized everything down. Right up until the night before we took the pics, we still had the heat gun out and we were still bending and reshaping AGAIN. (In this case, we decided the sniper plate wasn't working with the thigh.) I think we've used the heat gun more than the stove and the oven over the past four months.

Thank you. Looking forward to getting to know everyone in the GGG.