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N8dog

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
  • Posts

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About N8dog

Member Title

  • Position
    Centurion

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Sacramento, CA

FISD Info

  • Centurion Granted Date
    20150223
  • EIB Awards
    1
  • EIB Cohorts
    ANH-S

Standard Info

  • Name
    Nathan
  • 501st ID
    27667
  • 501st Unit
    Central California Garrison

Recent Profile Visitors

506 profile views
  1. Wow! Thanks guys for all of the feedback and info! Very helpful (as usual)
  2. I completed a TK build in 2014. Now my 7 year old (4'-3") has caught the bug and wants to be a stormtrooper. Looking online, here on the forums, etc., it appears that Troopermaster and Walt's Trooper Factory make kid kits. Does anyone have any feedback on these? Is anyone aware of another kit available that I should look into? Just doing the research but when I find the right kit for my kid, I will buy and will enjoy the experience of building once again. I appreciate the info and direction - thank you -Nathan
  3. Thank you Steve and all the rest for the kind compliments. I was a bit nervous and anxious about the feedback I might receive, so believe me it was a nice surprise to hear so many good things. I give A LOT of credit to fellow troopers of my garrison for all of their support, and then of course to all of you and your exceptional examples and standards of excellence! It's great to be part of such an extinguished group of troopers! What else would one expect of the FISD?! Thank you!
  4. Hello! I’d like to request Centurion status for my ANH Stormtrooper Stunt. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your feedback. TK-27667 Armor = NE Helmet = ATA Blaster = HyperFirm EIB Request: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29302-tk-27667-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-ne423/ Height = 6’-4†Weight = 199 lbs Boots = TK Boots Canvas belt = NE Hand Plates = Trooperbay Neck Seal = Darman Holster = Darman I want to summarize the improvements I made since my EIB request last November: Drop boxes: Repositioned so that they are more lined up with the outer edges of the ammo belt. Belt position: Adjusted to be screen accurate so that the belt is right under the ab buttons. Shoulder bells: Have been sucked in so that they are closer to the armor. Sniper plate: Trimmed off excess plastic return As you can see, I now have rubber gloves and hand plates. Forearm returns at wrist: Trimmed return edges off end of forearms Shins: Trimmed plastic at top of back of calf closure to make more of a butt joint appearance.
  5. Thank you everyone for your feedback! I appreciate the opportunity to learn from the best (that’s all of you!). Ultimately, thank you Steve for the approval to EIB status. That is awesome and I am very excited. I didn’t even know such an amazing group (501st/FISD) even existed a year ago. It has been an amazing last several months and I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with such a fun group! In response to your feedback (and I welcome any additional feedback as well): Drop boxes: Yes, I will reposition those so that they are more lined up with the edges of the ammo belt. Thank you. Back of the shoulder straps: Ya, I purposefully left the excess plastic there. Because of my height and the fact that the NE shoulder straps are “shortâ€, I wanted to make sure that they reached back and over my back piece. However, I want it to be screen accurate, so I will trim a little more off of the back. It should be fine. Thanks! Belt set higher: Thank you for pointing that out. I will adjust to be screen accurate so that the belt is right under or slightly covering the ab buttons. Squaring off the ab button plate corners: Unfortunately I used CA Glue to attach this piece, so I may not be 100% screen accurate on this item. Oops! Belt end caps: Wow, I had not seen that reference before but I can make that adjustment. I may just trim/cut the ends of the belt back to the end caps which are already glued with CA glue. Frown extension: Thank you for the suggestion. Personally, I don’t like the look of the extra fifth tooth, so not sure I will be 100% accurate on that. Personally, I have seen a lot of variation between frowns in ANH. :-) Good catch on the shoulder bells! Yes, I can pull/suck those in a bit. Thank you. Thigh ammo pack: The one that came with the NE just wasn’t big enough. I agree, it looks fine from the outside (which is what most people will see) but the inside is short. Aside from getting a new ammo pack, I’m not sure what can be done. Sniper plate: Thanks for the tip. So far, because of my height and hence the distance between the thigh and shin, it hasn’t become hung up yet, but I will watch it. Centurion Level: Yes, I recognize the need for rubber gloves and different hand plates. Also, I will make the additional trimming at my forearm return edges. Also, I will look into the adjustment needed at the overlap at the top of my calf closure (as well as clean up the items mentioned above). Again, thank you everyone! You all have been very helpful. This hobby is certainly addicting and I look forward to my next costume build! Per my build post, I give A LOT of credit to my brother (http://td20290.com/) and TK/SL/TS 4902! Thank you guys. And ultimately, thank you to the FISD. With all of the great references, photos, and support, it's been a journey of a lifetime!
  6. What about the new "R2" unit? Interesting enough, but maybe not very practical. The whole outside of him would get all beat up if always rolling around on the ground like that? :-) Looking forward to more teaser trailers!
  7. As I mentioned in the beginning, it took approximately 6 months from start to finish, but the length of time is mostly because let’s face it, life gets in the way and I’m not able to make costume building my No. 1 priority. :-) But what an amazing experience it has been! Because of this new hobby, I have had experiences doing the following: Going to Michael’s and JoAnn’s more times in 6 months than I had my entire life Visiting more hobby stores in Sacramento than I knew existed. Visiting a Military Surplus store Using a heat gun to melt and curve plastic Cutting a stiff piece of plastic supported on my leg with a very sharp blade is NOT a good idea. (I cut myself and had 4 stitches/staples. BE CAREFUL!) Learning how to use a sewing machine (my wife was kind enough to do some of the sewing for me, but then she showed me how to do it) Installing approximately 125 snaps, each snap consisting of 4 pieces. Having a friend with a snazzy snap tool is awesome when assembling 125 snaps! A Dremel is my dearest friend Cutting too much plastic off of a forearm is still fixable Industrial Velcro is really cool! E6000 glue is a novice costume builder’s dream CA glue is amazing for getting a job done quicker I will always need more spring clamps Rare earth magnets are a pain in the butt to separate! Using Testor paints again is fun (last time I used them it was to build airplane models when I was 10) My wife does one mean “dirty†paint job (she assisted with my son’s TD) It’s good to be detail oriented for building screen accurate costumes It’s hard to be detail oriented when building a costume when each piece of plastic is not symmetrical and does not necessarily match up perfectly. The costumes in the 1977 Star Wars movie are amazing! The costumes in the 1977 Star Wars movie were not perfect I looked at A LOT of images from the 1977 Star Wars movie!!! Building a movie screen accurate costume is A LOT of work! Building it with my son across the table from me while listening to Pandora are memories I will never forget. I’m now looking for my next costume! Which one should I choose?!
  8. Everyone will figure this out and what works best for them. But as I was building my first costume, I was curious about the following, so here it is. These are the steps that I use to suit up: Compression undersuit Neck seal Garter belt Thighs Boots Shins Body armor (ab, chest, back, kidney and butt) Belt Thermal detonator Arms (forearm, bicep, shoulder bell) Gloves Helmet
  9. Hello! I’d like to request EIB status for my ANH Stormtrooper Stunt. Thank you for your consideration. I welcome your feedback, TK-27667 Armor = NE Helmet = ATA Blaster = HyperFirm Height = 6’-4†Weight = 199 lbs Boots = TK Boots Canvas belt = NE Hand Plates = NE Neck Seal = Darman Holster = Darman Photos:
  10. Two other photos of the elastic straps in place: (NE armor) Yes, that's me sewing. My wife was helping me until she taught me "how to fish", now I can sew myself!
  11. And here are photos of my belt assembly: Note: the drop boxes should be moved out away from the center of the belt some to be completely screen accurate. It was good for 501 approval, but I did ultimately move them for Centurion level approval.
  12. Someday I may return and give more detail on assembling the belt and thermal detonator. For now, here are some photos. I followed TK_LEPER’s videos on creating the clips for the thermal detonator. I looked at many reference photos for building the belt, including Billhag.
  13. Billhag on FISD has created some excellent tutorials that I found useful. I have copied some images that he created again here, to demonstrate one potential layout for snap plates. Billhag, I hope it is ok that I use your images? In other words, these are NOT my creation and I do not take credit for them. The only changes I made from his suggestions are: Chest: I installed Velcro at snap plates 3 and 4 in order to provide some adjustment if necessary. Shoulder bells: I installed Velcro at snap plate 2 in order to provide some adjustment if necessary. Forearms: I installed Velcro instead of a snap plate in order to provide some adjustment as necessary.
  14. Snaps: I had never made a snap before or used a snap tool. Now, after building my son’s MTK and my NE, and creating over 125 snaps, I consider myself a pro. However, a real professional will have a Craftool Hand Press for attaching snaps (vs. the Line 24 snap tool). A friend of mine had one of these so that when he came over to help, we used that. Generally, there were two steps: Installing the male end of the snap onto the armor and installing the female end of the snap onto the elastic. Installing snaps onto the armor: I used 1â€x2†strips of plastic, or snap plates (I reused wasted strips of plastic that I cut off of my armor as much as possible. A good friend suggested, “NEVER throw away your wasted plastic!†Good advice!) Because I did not want to clamp down and hold in place each 1â€x2†strip of plastic and wait 12 hours for it to dry (which is what I would have had to do if using E6000), I installed all of these snap plates using CA glue (also known as Zap-A-Gap, see discussion above about glue) Showing above 2 completed elastic straps with snaps, as well as the snap tool. Attaching snaps to an elastic strap Showing above a 1"x2" snap plate at the butt fastened with CA Glue (Again, these are photos of my NE armor) The above is an elastic strap from the chest to the back (2" white) with a 1" black elastic strap that is sewn onto it that holds up the shoulder bell and arm assembly.
  15. I haven’t talked about glues: For me, I used 2 options: 1. E6000: This is a novice’s dream glue and I highly recommend it for a beginner. It provides a good seal, yet allows some flexibility. You apply a thin film on both pieces being joined, then press together and clamp (or use rare earth magnets). Once pressed together, you have time to adjust and move if needed. Once dry, if any “leftover†seeps out from the joint, you can remove it as it acts like rubber. Best thing about E6000, once it is dry, it will hold. But you can also use a little bit of force and pull the two pieces that are glued apart without damaging the two parts (typically). This came in handy LOTS of times! (again, being a beginner) Pro: lots of flexibility, strong hold once dry, can take joined pieces apart without damaging parts Con: takes 12 hours or longer to cure/dry 2. CA Glue: This is like superglue. (A brand name of this is Zap-A-Gap with it’s companion Zip Kicker, but the brand names are expensive, so just go to your local hobby store and buy CA glue and accelerator) This is what you use when you need to get the job done quickly. You apply to one surface, then carefully line it up to the attaching part and press together. Hold for 20 seconds, apply an accelerator if wanted, and it’s joined. Done. Not coming apart without breaking it! Pro: joins parts "instantly" Con: no flexibility. If you make a mistake, you cannot take it apart without damaging it. In any case, whichever glue you use, it is a good idea to roughen the surfaces of both parts being joined for maximum surface area.
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