Daetrin

Truly, I do suggest a good photographer, even freelance. It will cost some $$, but if you get some buddies to be part of the shoot you can decrease the cost. I'm really glad I had them taken when I did. The ones with the book though I didn't pay for. I was the "model" for that photo shoot and they were nice enough to give me copies of the test shots. So I have a bunch of me in different poses, but the one for the advertisement is me simply holding up that huge book, which was so heavy I could only keep it at that angle for a short while.

Yup, but for reference these are not TE2 shins which were even worse then the FX. They are RT-Mod that were painted to match the TE2.

Esp. in your area. I've been Seattle the whole time and have never had them installed.

No worries. I was partly referring to my armor as well. The first one in 2005 was FX armor I put together myself and these were my 501st submission pictures. The second set was a TE2 suit I helped pull while visiting Guns in Hawai'i and was built by Wyatt and painted by Mike Appling. I was trying to make a joke that how our armor starts is now how it may end up, e.g. "how it started" meme. As for photos, yes these were taken by a professional for a book promotion and it was just luck that the shoot was held here in Seattle and I was the only EI trooper in my garrison at the time

Yup, me again. See? You can do it too

Don't feel bad. How it was - 2005 Later, for a book photo shoot. This one has been used for FISD merch. Should look very familiar. So, it gets better

Well I'm not an expert, but at the least using velcro is an interim solution. Heck that is what we had for years before someone thought to use snaps instead.

Totally, don't worry about perfect. Get 'em good enough for 501st approval and then tweak as you have time. It is not uncommon to continually tweak your suit after approval. Whatever you do, don't give up! There are always ways to fix these.

Welcome to FISD

This is actually coming out really well - keep up the great work!

Great question - TBH I'm not sure who is current anymore, but I have a bunch of ammo pouches I can sell for a song.

I'm really happy for this too, as FISD stuff can be traded here easily and doesn't require a FB membership.

You should be fine. Basically "hand painting" could be re-worded as "no decals". Trooperbay used to sell decals that looked hand-painted which are fine for EI, but not Centurion.

It's really a personal preference. I use velcro all the way up, but also don't feel bound to have it close perfectly. In ANH they do not, so I don't sweat it either. Also at my height (6'0 and long legged), I could never get TE-derived shins to fit me so simply got a set from RT and later TM instead. I'm impressed by all the work you are putting in - way beyond the usual.

Welcome! Do create a build thread, we'd love to follow along and provide advice and enouragement.