stormtrooperguy

Yeah, I've been reading that. Interesting one indeed. AA is under attack from many fronts in Facebook. I'm surprised he doesn't delete the offending conversations!

I build the suit clean, but unless something major happens (parts break) i don't clean or maintain it. after a few events it's got scuffs and dirt that feels pretty much right to me for what a trooper would look like.

Was the textured paint the rustoleum hammer finish? If so, I love that stuff. I usually do textured silver with flat black over it. I like the surface the hammer finish silver leaves, but like the color/finish of flat black better.

Cool! At some point I want to do a chipped helmet. Weathering / flaking paint type stuff is my favorite type of build to do.

I did. Regardless of what his history is, there is some interesting stuff to see / read in there.

I don't know about ABS, but you can order Styrene in small quantities from Amazon. I needed a bunch of thin stuff... 0.040, and Amazon was cheaper at that quantity than my local supplier!

no issues. i'm sure they'd never come off, but why would i take them off? speed-painting is a hobby of mine. i once did a fully layered return of the jedi boba fett in 1 day. i cook the paint with high heat, paint in super thin coats every couple of minutes, mask the moment things are dry enough to handle it etc... patience is not a virtue i possess

I guess I'm the voice of bad judgement. I put my decals on about 2 hours after I painted (seriously, I really did)

Requesting update from 501st member to detachment member.

ANH TK (ATA armor) 5 clone troopers with helmets 1 extra clone helmet above those. Boba Fett (rotj) Pre Vizsla tusken raider rebel fleet trooper My wife's Cody and AT-AT driver Jango helmet, holiday special Boba helmet e11 boba fett ee3 original graflex luke light saber maul fx saber assorted clone weapons

I also did the TKID in the window. I'll take that variation from accuracy. It also helps people remember who it belongs to

Very nice! I was fine with the HIPS, but having the kit work unpainted is awesome. I spent about 2x as long on the painting stage as the assembly!

That I find that just being packed in the crate with my E11 and boots is weathering enough.

My take on HIPS vs. ABS. In raw strength, I don't find them any different. HIPS tears along cracks more readily than ABS though. So, if you get a small crack in the armor it will rip in half, where ABS will hold its own for longer. So, as long as you are good about caring for the armor, HIPS is fine. I've worn my HIPS clone suit about 35 times or so and have had no in the field breakages. My ATA stormy has only come out of the house 3 times now I think, so it's still in great shape.

there isn't a definitive answer to give. everyone does it differently. i use a variety of tin snips / shop shears, a dremel and a razor, depending on which cut i am doing at the time.

personally, i'm not a fan of the hardhat liner system. i like the way the originals were done, just a bit of foam.

i have a couple of dots of ca glue on mine to keep it in place.

definitely! troops that far north are rare. the only way we'll get more is to have people do them, so it's a strange chicken and egg problem. this event is a great opportunity to get more activity in maine!

Sure... I'll trade you my bumpy cap ATA for a smooth AP

Justice -- there is one very important thing you are forgetting. AP is NOT a company. It's a guy, making stuff for fun, to help out other fans. You cannot hold garage propmakers to the same standards as Walmart. 2 months wait is not abnormal at all for an armor kit. I've waited way longer than that for more expensive items. We (the people who make the stuff that folks assemble) do not get rich from it. We don't generally make a living off of it. We work full time, have families and lives, etc... When someone buys a kit from another fan, it is not a retail transaction, it's a custom commissioned piece of art. Things come up: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years... all of those are more important than getting armor out the door. If you (anyone, not just you specifically) aren't cool with that, I suggest learning to make your own armor. You'll find that the years and thousands of dollars are way worse than a couple of months waiting for a kit! My strategy of late has been that if folks bug me too much about updates / status / whatever... I just refund the money and don't deal with them anymore. Makes for way less headache.

now you just need to move closer to the rest of the NEG so we can troop with you!!!

The first kit is always fun! Congrats

i still need a ribbed neckseal for my eib pics.

I used plumbers epoxy putty to build up a surface to glue to, then hot glued my lenses in. My old helmet had a single piece of plastic that was taped in, but my new lenses are scraps from clone helmets, so they are 2 separate eye shaped pieces. The putty cures fast, so it was a pretty easy way to do it.

Interesting to see how he puts them together. For those that have his helmets... are they actually built with paper fasteners and hot glue, or is that just for demonstration purposes? I like his vacuum forming machine. And I need to get one of those hand held 1" belt sanders!