vadersfist

I'll be honest... I went back and read his posts and publicly and personally I would like to apologize to Mike... It was late at night when I posted this (not to mention having a helluva bad day) and when I saw the post I did fail to do any further research such as seeing the support he has already provided. My post is unsubstantiated and founded on a minute reaction to something I did not fully research. Mike, please accept an apology from an ignorant poster who failed to research his "view" before posting a statement lacking any sense or justification. I'd like to ask if this topic can be locked or deleted based on my slanderous post....

I know I only show 19 posts, however I am very active on several forums besides this (501st main, Clonetroopers.net, clone-empire, etc...). And believe me when I say my beef is not with the 501st (which I am active in), nor the FISD (which has provided me countless information for which I am appreciative). Honestly this post is to try and direct noobs to do their research first before they succumb to manuals that are for sale. Yes I have seen manuals for sale both here and on other forums, and each time I do, it never ceases to infuriate me. Hopefully future noobs beware of this kind of cash gimmick.

I got to be honest... Everyone has their price right? But why take advantage of noobs? Yea no one holds a gun to your head to buy something, but what excuse is that to start charging for something as simple as manuals? Are you serious? People go through great lengths just to document their WIPs for FREE, but certain people have the gall to charge for it? Got to recuperate costs right?lol. Quite honestly, this practice disgusts me. Here, let me put it this way: "The Academy will teach you everything you need to know about white armor. Take care of your gear, and it will take care of you. You will learn what the various components of your kit are, how to assemble and maintain them."---- Should we insert any sort of disclaimer here? i.e.- We can show you AT A CHARGE Not to mention the home page of the 501st page: "To Contribute While our organization was founded to simply provide a collective identity for costuming fans with similar interests, the 501st is proud to put its resources to good use through fundraising, charity work, and volunteerism. Read more about our charity work here."---- And our price gauging for manuals will surely help you towards making the perfect armor! Great sense of brotherhood, when I'm going to charge you to show you how to do something you may need help with. Notice I have not called out names but am making a blanket statement. WORD TO THE WISE: I would like to openly state that any noob seeking help concerning the assembly of any armor or particular item should try seeking the help of a truly selfless contributing member rather then spend money on self serving member's so called "professional manuals."

did you have any issues with warping, bubbling or anything heat related distorting the ABS when the glue was setting in?

OSCS is ABS. A pretty thick gauge at that... I may explore my options as far as slow setting ABS cement. I used the same E6000 on my previous FX fit and i did like how rubbery it was and able to pretty much set in AND be able to over lap the glue over the piece a bit to increase the holding strength...

Ok so I'm working on my AM build (and lovin' it!) but the glue portion is tying me up. I'm no stranger to glues and epoxys and when I did my OSCS clone, Devcon Epoxy was my hero. Not so on the AM build. I've roughed the ABS up bloody hell, even as far as gouging the plastic with parallel lines to get a better hold. Failed. I know weather has had affects in the past especially with the current cold we have here in NYC but its a real crappy hold. I snapped the shim without even trying and left a finger print in the epoxy... Now we're talking 21hours of an epoxied and fully clamped ABS... Yes I've seen the E6000 and used it before but the Epoxy proved to be so much more stronger... I don't get it. (Pardon my venting here it's just I'm rather pissed and let down by the devcon epoxy right now when it served so well in the past. Not to mention there's always that part of a build where you gain momentum and something as stupid as glue gets in the way to hold you up). Cheerio

Below may be considered graphic but it is only hot sauce and a knife...

"cover strips"... I should've thought of that. Thanks bro!

I'm curious as to what the exact width of the vertical strip that runs the length of the shin and thigh armor. I recently purchased a brand spanking new set of FX armor for my wife and am in the process of building it. The new mould does not have the strip so its more user friendly for sizing/ trimming purposes but I want the armor to look uniform when it comes to the vertical strips. Should I just match the width to the same vertical strip the runs the shoulder bells and bicep? I haven't really posted an introduction or anything as I am currently 501st and had a TD before but it's sometimes hard to show my build-ups what with work and all so I limit myself to some questions and following every one's builds for tips and help... Thanks to all you who post your how tos and progress threads!

Unfortunately a lot of the links at the top of this page lead to dead ends or error messages... This thread needs to be updated