Daetrin

Man, I can't wait to see more updates. There is precious little KB armor out there...

So, at first I wasn't sure about this, as IMHO what people do in their own costumes as long as they are not representing the 501st is IMHO their own business. That said, I thought back to all my time in 10+ years of white armor and can't think of a single time I ever consumed alcohol in armor. I mean, why would you? Coffee at Starbucks? Several times. Having a coke/water during a con? Sure. But alcohol? I think this is very sage advice really. Even if at a private event, there is soooo much that can go wrong, and you can't really relax anyway in kit. Thanks Joseph for posting this - it's really good & solid advice.

Hey brother, if you look at this photo you can see there is a silver mating piece where the break occurred on the pack you made. My suggestion is to perhaps have a silver gasket or similar that can take some stress from a bend in the updated design.

OK, this is a start. We'll likely add Jim armor soon and flesh out the other two.

First and foremost... There is no one 'best' armor. There is a 'best' armor for *you* depending on a few factors: 1) Your budget 2) What your body size is (yes, different armors lend themselves for different body types) * 3) How experienced are you at building armor 4) It's not the kit, it's how it's fitted to the wearer that counts * While FISD does not endorse any particular armor maker, below are sellers who have proven themselves time and again in terms of customer service, honesty, and quality. All makes below can be made to be both 501st and FISD acceptable. MATERIALS Armor is made from either HIPS or ABS. HIPS --- Pros: generally less expensive, easier to trim. --- Cons: needs painting or serious polishing to look shiny. Most HIPS will not be as durable as ABS or take the stress of ABS --- Suitability: will hold up fine for regular trooping ABS --- Pros: no need to paint, high durability --- Cons: may lack the detail of HIPS, usually harder to trim --- Suitability: will hold up fine for regular trooping plus take a lot of abuse OTHER TERMS Untrimmed: means the kit comes untrimmed and you'll have to trim the parts before starting assembly. Trimmed: parts are pre-trimmed and you can start assembling right away * ON SIZING It's true that every kit has a certain ideal body type, so double check the notes. TFA armor in particular can be unforgiving, depending on make. Who to Avoid TBD - none yet. VETTED MAKERS While there are many other sources for armor, the list below only contains those who have proven track records of honest business dealings, quality craftsmanship, and that are free from recast debates. You are certainly free to buy where you will, but if you vary this list we strongly encourage that you at least do your due diligence inquiring about the seller's quality and reputation before parting with your money. === TFA ARMOR === Type: ANOVOS Country: USA Contact: www.anovos.com Kit: ABS, rough-trimmed, available with all the soft parts you need (except boots. Can also buy assembled. Availability: Later this year. Assembly: The marketing kits were notoriously hard to assemble and took over 200 hours easily. The new kits should be on par with an OT TK, but this is TBD until we get our hands on one. Comments: This is the only LFL licensed armor available, comes with instructions and all soft parts needed excluding boots. Price See ANOVOS site. === RALPH MCQUARRIE CONCEPT ARMOR === Type: KW Designs Country: USA Contact: TBD Kit: ABS, rough-trimmed Availability: TBD Assembly: TBD Comments: The only current maker of this type of armor. === JOKDER SQUAD / LEGACY ARMOR === Type: KW Designs Country: USA Contact: TBD Kit: ABS, rough-trimmed Availability: TBD Assembly: TBD Comments: The only current maker of this type of armor.

Well done Michael

Doh! Actually we do (thanks Mathias!). I'll create a separate page for non-OT armor today.

I thought about that, but am not sure how well the plastic will match with TM?

Does anyone have photos? I'm curious how they look to other makes. To date John Danter's have been the nicest I've seen - would be great to see other makes.

Sure, if that's easiest. The rest of it is safe/sound. Until I get a spare back plate, I can work on fixing it. Question: how well did the magnets hold up for you? Did you have any issues with it pulling stuff down? My other thought is to have just a single separate back that can still connect to my front like normal, but also have a harness to ensure it doesn't get pulled down.

Hmm...in the past I was always able to use a set of snap pliers and it worked fine for years. I must be doing something wrong with them, and will try using a mallet again and see if that works out better.

So...when I got the space pack in the mail, one of the parts broke. They don't seem to line up correctly anymore. Thoughts on how to fix? Also, the back plate came with magnets that I'm hoping are strong enough to mount. However, I don't want to damage my TM backplate so am hoping someone has a spare TM front/back/straps they can part with. Else I'll try to see if I can get TM to ship me out extras...

So, I was going to make new straps but the ones in the suit are a different brand and not working. Has anyone had this issue? The one on the suit has the word LEO stamped on it, and the posts seem to be shorter. Any thoughts on how I can get them to play together? I'm willing to admit that it's been so many years since I had to re-do strapping, there is probably something silly I'm missing.

Well, the afternoon got away from me. The snaps I bought aren't working with the ones on the suit. I'll post a separate thread about it.

Are those original, or like someone else's? FWIW, IIRC TM makes ESB hand guards, so did TE2, and John Danter made what I think are the nicest ESB ones. 2/3 are in the UK

We don't have enough info on KBP actually and there is not a long enough track record. We don't list commercial vendors like ANOVOS either. WRT to Jimmi, I think we'd need to make a separate thread about it, to get some Q&A from folks as right now I don't have enough first hand info.

Hey Mike - I think it may be helpful to get a "What would you want changed in MTK armor" thread separate from this one. I think the ANOVOS team had all the right ideas, but between manufacturing in China as well as the Disney change management oversight and process, they got in a tough pickle. There are many things they are simply not allowed to do without a lot of red tape, which keeps them from being as agile as I'm sure even they want. The opinions in this thread are reflected in this detachment overall I think, however I'm not sure the rank and file trooper on the ground would know overly much about MTK and say how it is different from ATA or WTF. It may be worth a summary write up that an attache or GML can use a quick reference. For instance MTK lead times are much lower than other fan made kits, and to date I've not heard anything but positive about the quality of the kit. So far those have been reasons I hear for people going MTK.

Wow, this is a fantastic looking RT. I hope it encourages other RT's to follow in your footsteps!

OK, I think you are looking good and should be able to get approved at basic level. For tweaks, consider tapering the bottom of the thighs more, and also since you have some scuffing, find a way to use black wash or similar to get it a more even worn appearance as some of the scuffs are on otherwise clean areas. EI is not far away - I do hope you go for it!

Joseph, you are too awesome! Man, I'm tearing up, sniff. I'll post pix of my updated strapping this weekend for sure, as I plan on trooping too. Why not, it's Free Comic Book day and our garrison will be having events at 6+ locations in the Seattle area.

I'm still blown away by it all. Yes, I may be the founder, etc. but that doesn't take away from the joy and what a magical moment it is for *any* trooper who gets that big sigh of relief that they passed and then the elation of finally hitting it. For some people the journey is pretty fast between 501st approval, EI, and Centurion. For me it's been nearly 12 years in the making. Can you believe this was me in 2005? Finally in July 2007 I got my Expert Infantry, exactly on FISD's 1st anniversary coincidently. I was EI #2 as Scott M. beat me to being #1 (good on Scott) . Alas, those pictures I think have been lost http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/1220-tk8020-requesting-anh-deployment02te2/ And then the second EI actually took me 2 tries, as the first one there were too many fitting issues. Finally on January 2011, I got EI#2. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/14023-tk-8020-requesting-esb-eib-status-2ndte2/?hl=8020 FAIL! PASS! And then...years of just wistfully longing for Centurion once that program was launched. So, lest you think the DL gets an easy pass...ha! And, I'm not done yet. This weekend while the wife is out of town, down to the basement I'll go and re-do the straps and also re-glue on the hand guards. Think getting Centurion is the end? Nope! There is always room to improve and I'm not satisfied yet. To all those who are thinking of going EI/Centurion but feel it's out of reach, fear no more! You can do it! Even if you need help. Heck, I had a ton of help along the way: * Steve (Rotton) in my local garrison for helping me assemble my very first TK back in 2005 * Terry Chui for helping me dial in my suit to get EI#2 * Brian (tkrestonva), Vincent (from IPB), Andrew (Sly), Tony (ukswrath), Joseph & Aaron (Pyrates) for devoting time at their Celebration to help me dial in this suit and take it all the way. I'm highly indebted to these folk, as otherwise I'd still be mucking with strapping, rivets, and whatnot. You guys are all aces!

Thanks! I snorted coffee out my nose after seeing this.

OK, forgive me if I'm not as schooled on the various types of rivets as I should be, however it would seem to me that swapping out a rivet is a pretty minor issue. I'm not the greatest "wrench" and I've only ever had to deal with pop rivets (which we used to use frequently for the thigh ammo belt and, in the very early days, our shoulder straps) and also the flat type rivets used on the kidney plate, but even to me it would be a pretty fast and cheap fix to simply swap out the rivets, since everything is already drilled out and aligned. $5 and 5 minutes, right, or am I missing something? IIRC our FISD Ambassador Joseph and even Ebay UK sells cap rivets, so it's not like these are expensive/time consuming to swap. You know, I'm still unsure when we started to dis-allow pop rivets on the ammo belt as it was probably at one point a Centurion level requirement, but even still it seems like a pretty easy change. Did anyone reach out to RS to see why he made this choice?

OK, knock it off. The conversation is starting to rat hole, so if there is nothing new to add, save it for a different thread.

The DO's are running at record rates, I'm sure they'll chime in soon.