rapstertee

er...I know. I did!

I was wondering about the value of an assembled finished suit - do you think a finished suit with blaster, undersuit, boots etc would be more expensive to buy than an unfinished one? I'd think so due to the labour and skills involved, but what do you think? For example, an AP like mine costs in the region of $$$ - $$$$$ without holster, lenses, blaster, boots, gloves and undersuit. What would it cost once all this is added ? How much is the value of the labour and time invested in a project like this?

For the most part, yes, it was. Still things to do - I need to try and stop the right shin from turning inwards, and also bring the shoulder bells closer in. apart from that everything's cool. I was wondering about the value of an assembled finished suit - I'll post this question elsewhere, but do you think a finished suit with blaster, undersuit, boots etc would be more expensixe to buy than an unfinished one? I'd think so due to the labour and skills involved, but what do you think? Cheers mate!

Some recent picS: That's not me, btw!

I saw the Force Unleashed Trooper figures ion a store todsy, and I like the guy withthe blue paint detail. IMHO, they are canon, as they're from a legitimate Lucasfilm product. Whether or not the 501st choose to acept them is their decision, but I didn't get my TK armour just to join the 501st - if they didn't clear me (for any reason) I'd still wear it with pride, and I'm sure as the game gathers popularity, we'll be seeing a lot of TK variants in the real world. I won't look down on anyone as long as they've put time, money and care into their costume. A painted TK would be appealing to me to do if I wanted a change from all white - at present, my choices are Sandy or ESB, ROTJ. I don't really wanna dirty mine up so a blue striping job would be nice.

Ah cool. Yup, they're connected to a separate belt. I'll move the straps further apart. Cheers man.

Hi Stuka, I'll see what I can do about the bells - i kinda thought they might be a bit 'far out' but I'm not entirely sure I can shortenthe connecting elastic any further.. the problem is that the bells are so pinched (much more so than an FX) that my shoulders just push them away. hmm, will try to fix that... You're right about the biceps - I left them too high up - pulling them down a bit will fix that. And yes, i do have a strap from butt to cod - the thing that might help is cutting and hinging the cod - at present it's still connected to the Ab section so that might need looking at. I still think I need to cut the thighs (where the red dotted line is on the photo) as they're hitting the cod and not providing me with very much movement. Anyway, I painted the TD today, will bend the strips as per Stukas tip tomorrow.

Cheers Stuka, I'll definitely bend the clips and add the velcro loops. Awesome tip man! Also, what strap adjustments would you suggest from my pics?

Cheers Lou, the UKG are looking out for me so I'm sure I'll be up and running (though not literally) soon. Here are some pics of recent things:: My TD Clips - they'll be squeezed a little tighter, to grip the belt more securely. Suit tests: (The red dotted line is where I'm thinking of trimming the thighs further...)

UPDATE: 6th September 08 The Event near me wasn't (as far as I'm aware) an induction event. Which was ok by me, as I couldn't make it for a number of reasons: Parental stuff, unfinished/uncleared suit etc. So I'm hoping that Memorabilia in Birmingham UK, will be my Induction event in November. Anyway, I've done the following: Side elastic straps, inside bucket black paint, under-cod strap thing, thigh trimming/straps/suspender things, and VADER - HOSEN! Or should they be called Laser-Hosen?? Anyway, the entire kit is wearable and not too uncomfortable, but I will be sticking some foam in the legs etc for added comfort. All that I need to do is assemble my Thermal Detonator and paint it. Which I hope to do in the next couple of days.....He says, optimistically. I'm a little snowed under with scripts and other creative projects! ...and my house pongs of caboots. I'm sure its getting worse!! Photos coming next week.

I've picked 5 choices for my application. Man, it's hard. My choices for now will remain secret because i don't wanna tempt fate, but their meanings are: Choice 1 - XXXX - Mother's date of birth - she passed away in 2005, so I'd like to remember her birthday. Choice 2 - XXXX - Years of birth of my 2 daughters Choice 3 - XXXX - Last 4 digits of my home phone number in 1977 Choice 4 - XXXX - Preceding number to a good friend's TK number Choice 5 - XXXX - Next number after the TK number of my new TK buddies/contacts I'll reveal the XXXX numbers when I get my number allocated. Hopefully it'l be in about a couple weeks.

Just quickly... VOICE CHANGER KIT - works ok but sadly too quiet to be of any real use. Caboots!!! Phew!!!

19th August 08 My Caboots arrived today! The smell isn't as bad as they say, its just a bit weird and fishy. But they're comfortable and shiny. BTW - Araldite 90second glue stinks far worse than CAboots - my lid pongs of it. Never again. So ...the circle is now complete. Well - my suit is pretty much. I guess I need a decent voice amp. - My £5 voice changer toy chopped up and extended DID work ok, but it just lacked volume - mounted in the chest, it was barely audible. What I've done recently: Trimmed tops of thighs - nothing major chopped off yet - i just want to see how they handle first. Painted all visible rivets humbrol enamel white. Stuck square caps over belt rivets. Re-stuck ab buttons (they fell off!) GOT FROWN MESH! - Courtesy of Scott (GHOST) - cheers mate - its perfect. My lid looks killer now! Re- positioned drop boxes - originally there was half an inch of white elastic showing betwixt belt and box, but Lizzeh, doing her best to drive me cuckoo (and succeeding) pointed out that the drop boxes should really be touching the belt with no elastic showing if poss. Pedant!! er...that's it. Left to do: thermal detonator assembly & painting strapping with webbing. side rivets trim and fit legs. inner padding where needed. get photographer over! get pics off to UK Garrison Prepare for Memorabilia in November! Woo! QUESTION: On that good ole pic of Han solo at the Detention block console, theres a visible popper stud at the top corner of his Ab section - should i add that too?? Hmm.. Pics tomorrow!

No problem man - good luck with it. White Milliput for the MR CE seam - can't beat it! And at least you won't be agonising over assembly problems withthe FX!

18th August 2008 Had a visit from Leigh and Andrina Lewis from the UKG today. (TK-4128 & TK-4127 respectively.) Leigh has an FX kit with RT-Mod chest & back, a ROM FX and GF helmet. Looks great too. He also has a Sandy somewhere. Andrina has a TK and a Tie pilot suit. They gave my suit the once-over and tell me its in fine shape. Also helped me assemble my belt,holster, knee boses and shin plate. Yay! looking good. They lined up my shoulder straps and advised me on clearance, strapping, snaps and all sorts of tips. Andrina's trying to get an event in early September to be an induction day, during which I'll get my induction. Woo! here are some pics of the progress...

Hi Smitty, I was curious to know why you suggested he trim his chest plate. Is there a certain way the FX needs to look, or is it a height thing? As you know I've got an AP kit - do I need to trim mine?

Thanks Pete, I'll consider it. I say 'consider' as both legs are firmly welded together and may never come apart again! This kind of info needs to go out to all troopers with AP kits so they don't make the same mistake as I have. Well - all the ones who are a bit dumb, that is.....

Oh, you're KIDDING ME!!... Really? Nothing's marked up at all, and I was of the impression all along that there were no actual rights and lefts, just two pairs of identical halves. But you may have a point there. At the end of the day, though, it changes very little - I could pull the shins apart and switch halves, but something tells me one leg will still be wonky. Now that I've pushed the dent out, a little padding inside will make it bearable and wearable, so I think I'm stuck with it now, and have to make the best of a wonky situation. Thanks for the info - had I known, I definitely would've put this in BIG BOLD LETTERS in my build thread. GAH!

Sat 17th August Ok I had a day to myself today, so i did whatever I could to prepare for my UKG guests tomorrow. SHINS The problem left shin had this huge indentation at the front, which was making it sit at a weird angle on my leg. So I heated it up a nd pushed it out from the inside. It's not perfect, looks a little bumpy, but the leg is a lot better to wear now. Added velcro to the rear of the shin plates, so they're effectively done. They might need a little more trimming at the bottom, to prevent the top angle edges digging into my knees. ARMS Finally got some snaps put together using the Vario Pliers. Quite easy really. Affixed snaps to top of shoulder bells, ab plate and biceps for now. Added black elastic loops on shoulder bells, to go around biceps. HELMET Painted bucket interior black, after fitting sponge pads to top, sides and back. Quite a sweet fit now. (Oh, I trimmed a tiny bit from the neck hole - at the front - to allow me to get my head in there without pain). THIGHS Let me go on record by saying that i HATE these things. It's relatively easy to clamp the 20mm strips, front and back, to the halves, but joining them together is almost impossible. Nothing lines up, varying curves mean that theres a lot of forcing to do, (and I don't mean The Force) and they're only just holding togther. I don't know how others have managed (better glue, i suspect), but i can't get anything to clamp it together at the middle, halfway down the strips. AARGH! This battle is nearly over but someone at AuthenticProps should REALLY do some work on the thigh moulds as they're awful. I'll still have to trim the thighs down from the top - I'm estimating nearly 3 inches are going to have to come off. Pics and info on my strap fitting to come, tomorrow evening.

Really? my goodness! And I thought it was the UK ! ripping us poor troopers off!

Talking of lids, I heard on the Starwars.Com site today that George plans to re-visit the original trilogy again and digitally insert FX lids onto all the troopers. Now we can throw away those old TE2, RTMOD, AP, SDS and TM lids and be screen accurate bobbleheads! alright. that's not strictly true.

My goodness! That's a LOT of money for a pair of gloves. Still, if you can afford it....why not? In most Army Surplus stores here in the UK, a good leather glove is £8 - £10 ($20) tops. If you go to a department store, they'll be around £25 - £30 Argh!

To be honest, i've not worn it for extended periods, but I'm sure it will be. I have a cotton one but the pvc (it's fake leather, not rubber or anything) just looks a lot better.

I haven't had a good look at an FX suit, but despite the 'innacuracies' they sound like a lot less hassle to put together than the AP. I'm still doing the thighs - and they're taking WEEKS to sort out! Grrr!

I checked too - there are one pair of green ones it seems....Keep watching though - I'm sure more are in the works.