Hello fellow troopers,
I'm extremely new to the idea of the 501st and building my own set of TK armor. I definitely need advice about choosing what set is best for my size and budget. I've been reading through all the threads about getting started and what to buy and what not to buy, and I'm extremely overwhelmed. I've been browsing on all the recommended sites, and nearly everything is entirely out of my price range or it's out of stock. The replica boots, for example, are not being sold anymore. I have also been searching for a completely black dive suit, but have had no luck so far. I have 0 experience when it comes to crafty things like this. I don't know how to form plastic, rivet things properly, or anything of that sort. There's no way I can build this suit completely on my own, so I'm turning to you guys (and gals)!
The only thing that I've decided is that I'd definitely like to go ANH with my suit, and preferably have the hero helmet. I'd also prefer for it to be made of ABS. Looking through most of the different kit specs, I realized that all of the originals call for the person being over 5'10", which makes sense, but I don't fall into that category.
So here's my situation:
I'm a female who is 5'7", and I'm 16. I work a minimum wage job, so I'll probably be saving for 6 months to a year just to get started working on my suit. I hope to have it complete and ready to wear by my 18th birthday. What are my main options? What should kind of kit should I choose? It shouldn't be incredibly hard to modify a suit for my body type, however, as I'm not too short for a girl AND I have very broad shoulders. I'm not too curvy either, so that should make it a little bit easier.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you!