Daetrin

Marko! Hey - that was state of the art for the Legion. 15+ years ago.

Just from different angles is all.

Done! See Mathias - *usually* we do agree. In fact, I'd say we agree so much that when we don't it seems a big deal. ;-)

Yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. There are arguments to archive many older threads of the forum too, but fortunately wiser heads prevailed.

How do you reckon? I've seen these helmets being made, and both armor makers said getting the helmet off the mold is the hardest part of it. I think it was all about ease of de-molding really, and perhaps too that it's easier to pull. Getting clean pulls on the old vac table like they had back then was non-trivial.

Wow, these came out great! Well done

You shouldn't be - the Legion's stance is clear. However the Legion is one part of the costuming and prop building community (think of them in a Venn diagram). Thus each community may have different perspectives. And that's just Star Wars. Want a new opinion? Start talking to scale modelers, or train builders. Yeesh, you think we're bad. :-p

Wow - this is awesome! Any objections to pinning this for reference?

Looking good and will love to see more photos.

That's a better idea than the hot glue I used to use in the past. Man, we were so ghetto in 2005. :-p I haven't tried them in the shins, but have certainly used them in the forearms and at times biceps too. I've also used a little in my back & butt plates to get that flat look one should have.

True, but for some makes replacement parts are cheap. I remember the first time I had to cut in to my FX ab plate when I converted it to a TD and it scared me to death, then I figured that WTH - I could just order a new ab plate. Parts wear out too. I think you should tell yourself it's OK to make mistakes. It's how we learn after all. The reality is that time is the real arbiter. Some people have a lot of time, others not so much.

Congrats Vern. 5000 is more than some detachments have in total posts, and it's a true milestone.

Thanks Jeroen - how hard was this to do? I'm just wondering what the time investment may be estimated to be if one retrofited an existing set of armor. I'm very curious to see how this will hold up on ATA.

We don't archive old threads. There are many times it's beneficial to go back and see what was sold and the prices. It's not like we get reams of them a day where it's hard to keep up what is or is not active. Most people are good about changing the title to SOLD so it's easier to track. Picasso I'm sure was called many impolite things. Michaelangelo certainly was - he just didn't embody the pretty boy artiste that the elites wanted to hang with, like Raphael was. Yet seeing both their artworks in person, it's clear Michaelangelo was the superior artist (not taking anything away from Raphael - he's pretty amazing. But MA was a singular talent....).

+1. Hand painting is great for those who have the skillz or willz to see it through, but for the rest of us? Decals all the way!

It's great to hear from you Tom, and I'm glad to see you still having fun trooping!

Exactly what Tray says! For your first costume, yes absolutely do it yourself. You will 100% be guaranteed to make mistakes, but you will learn tons in the process. I built my first TK & TD, but have outsourced nearly all other work since, so have been on both sides of the equation. Still, at some point you will need to fix, tweak, etc. your kit, regardless of costume. And, having done it once yourself, you begin to learn what you like & don't like on the various assembly methods. Everyone has their own preference & style. After you build the first one yourself, then personally I have no trouble outsourcing.

I would say that if you want to do a great job, then doing numerous layers over a period of weeks is the way to go. Mike Appling painted 2 suits for me and the paint was very thick and was incredibly solid. You could even gouge it. Then again, he put down many thin layers and allowed ample curing/drying time. I had another suit that wasn't quite painted as well. The downside is that it needed frequent touch-ups, the upside was that I just took a rattle can and did fast/ghetto painting. Was it perfect & lasted? Nope, but it was sure easy to touch up and go!

Halloween parties. Cons are a big one too and sometimes parades are very acceptable. But no, not normal troops.

How clean do you really mean? I think it's great to have some light scuffing and wear as we can clearly see this while watching the movie, just like there are TK's that look perfectly clean too. On the other hand, I don't think our goal is prop replication. Props don't look the same sitting on a table as they do on screen, and our mission is to replicate what you see on screen, not what you can see on a blue-ray freeze frame. Thus while I dig the light scuffing, etc. I don't think the following should be acceptable: 1. Paint chips 2. Gloppy paint 3. Gaffer tab 4. Rough cut edges on the thighs/shins Things I think do look perfectly fine to me include visible screw heads on the back, etc. where the brackets were secured. There is a mistake to think that prop replication and screen accuracy are synonymous when they are truly not. It's more of a Venn diagram.

Same as ATA or other TE armor. It was sculpted for a skinny Brit actor in the 70's, e.g. 5'10" and 160lbs or so. I'm 6'0" and 180 lbs and fit my TE2 no problem at all, though I use RT shins instead (I have long legs). I've seen someone 6'4" 230 lbs make it fit, but honestly I think maybe once you get over 6', 6'1" or so or if you're a big guy, you're better of getting a different make.

Terrell is correct. There are two helmet sets that CAP recasted. The first which is TE derived is "open source". TE burned too many bridges and no one defends him or the work he's done, esp. as he recast himself multiple times and (continues) to lie about that. So, recast CAPv1 and life is good for all involved. CAPv2 as Terrell says is TE2 derived. As long as Tony asserts his ownership of these molds, we have to honor this. Terrell replaced the offending parts from the mold set that he acquired to get "clean". Scootch has not, which is why he can sell helmets here but not suits, as he - like Terrell did years past - has to get "clean" on the sniper plate and control pad for the detonator. This thread should only exist to ascertain 2 things: 1. From what suits are these molds derived. 2. Once #1 is done, ensure there are no objections to the parts being used.

Exactly!

Some minor adjustments and then do submit your photos to Todd & I so we can get you approved. That's a great looking suit!

Glen is right on target. Centurion is 100% worth going for out of the box. It's far easier to build it this way from the start. Also, it means you won't have to do any upgrades for a long, long time.