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camprandall

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Everything posted by camprandall

  1. 10 years. How awesome. I am certainly super grateful for the insane amount of knowledge and ideas shared around here. FISD is the reason why I started doing build threads and helping other troopers online because I was overwhelmed with the willingness to share info and help around here and wanted to contribute. Such a great asset to the Legion!
  2. So since I needed to make new knee gaskets for my Flametrooper, I decided to document a bit how I like to assemble Imperial Gaskets. It's working well for me so maybe it will work for others. STEP 1: Cut gaskets down to fit around legs. I usually cut it to be a tad snug, but not too much. It keeps them from folding too much while staying comfortable. STEP 2: Use the cut off as a backing glue strip, gluing to one edge at a time. This gives really good contact and keeps the seam nice and tight. Just using a flat piece of latex doesn't do that as well because there are far less contact points. I use Elmer's rubber cement for this and it works great. STEP 3: Create velcro tabs to attach to undersuit. I do this because it just hasn't worked out well to attach the gaskets to the armor. It pulls in weird ways and requires a bigger circumference in the gasket to stay properly anchored to the armor. This way the armor moves freely over the gasket and mobility is much better. For the tabs, I used to sew the velcro but then I found that the industrial sticky velcro sticks super well to the latex so no sewing required. I just use scrap latex as the tab and rubber cement it to the inside of the gasket. STEP 4: Plasti-dip the gasket and we're done! I initially started plasti-dipping these gaskets as a result of wear over time but found that I love the uniform darker sheen it gives the whole thing so now I periodically spray all my gaskets. I've been pretty happy with it!
  3. Part of the issue here is that paint won't match raw ABS perfectly. They don't reflect light the same, the plastic has a hint of translucency, etc. I think the injection molded is pretty dang close to the Rustoleum, but it's not perfect.
  4. That's basically how I saw it too. Thanks! That's helpful.
  5. Thanks for posting Jim! Looks clear to me.
  6. You're welcome guys. As a minor update, I received this from Peter after telling him that I was going to indicate it was re-casted. I still suspect he doesn't know where his stuff came from, but that's a different matter from the point of this investigation. I responded with a link to this thread so we'll see what he says.
  7. Thanks Tim. I legitimately didn't want it to be true as Peter was very courteous and I didn't know Kevin at all so the last thing I wanted to do was get in a messy situation. I'm grateful though that it's completely conclusive.
  8. I actually did compare several parts to ANOVOS and Jim's kits and it was immediately obvious they were different. The FN and KB parts were clear even just seeing them sitting next to each other. I didn't take hardly any photos of that, but I did show my buddy the ANOVOS chest inside the KB chest just to show how different sculpts have different angles, connection points, etc. On the flip side, you can also see the bottom edge on this one is very different. There weren't any suspicious parts at all outside of FN's.
  9. Re-casting of KB Armor by FNArmoury is confirmed. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38117-clints-fnarmour-analysis/#entry509944
  10. Ok folks, the results are in and they aren't good. There are many parts of this FNArmour kit that are for sure re-casts of KB Prop's kit. No doubt at all. I have on hand a b-grade mostly complete kit that Kevin sent to one of our DSG members prior to any of this and the kit Peter sent me directly last week so there's no confusion at all as to the source. I also don't believe for a moment these were 3D designed and CNC milled because there is not a hint of a 3D print line anywhere on the armor and all kinds of asymmetry and "wobbliness" to the details that are evidence of a sculpt. We didn't find any clear re-casting evidence of Jim's standard FO TK kit, but we don't have Jim's Phasma parts to compare with and those are the source of the accusations there so that's not really conclusive at all. I'll post a separate thread showing some comparisons of parts between ANOVOS alpha, KB and Jim just for the fun of armor comparison of legitimate sources, but this thread is about FNArmour. I don't know why Peter sent me a kit and asked for a fair assessment. I told him early this morning what the outcome was looking like and haven't heard back. He's either delusional in his deception or has legitimately been taken for a ride by his partners. I think he should have a chance to explain this himself without us drawing too many conclusions yet because a re-caster sending kits to 501st members for unbiased opinions about re-casting is an odd choice. All of my correspondence to him again felt very open and he again asked for no filtering or pre-approval of my feedback. I wonder if he truly thinks it's legitimate armor. Not sure. Here are the pics. They range from perfect fits inside each other, to partial fits, to pieces that look like copies that have been tweaked. In some cases the FN piece fits in the KB and in other cases it's the other way around. BACK Outside KB, Inside FN CHEST Outside KB, inside FN YOKE Outside KB, Inside FN HAND PLATES Outside KB, Inside FN TORSO This one is a bit tougher, but it looks in person to me like he likely re-casted it with a couple of boxes already attached and then lengthened it. To the naked eye, it looked to me and my buddy like it had that eerie similarity to it. It also doesn't make sense that someone would design this with two of the 7 boxes raised as part of the mold with the other requiring gluing to attach. That creates a very weird final result. KB on top, FN on bottom. KIDNEY KB outside, FN inside SPAT KB outside, FN inside KNEE PLATES KB outside, FN inside SHIN This one was hard to capture, but the curve of KB's shin fit very neatly inside FN's. If I had trimmed KB's part, it would be more obvious. KB inside, FN outside THIGH KB outside, FN inside BUTT PLATE A little hard to see in a pic, but a perfect fit. KB inside, FN outside FOREARM A little tough to see because of the untrimmed return on KB's, but the change in shape is perfectly in line with FNs.
  11. I would agree on the quality of ABS. A few imperfections here and there, but good plastic.
  12. Ok, so I won't have Jim's or KB's kits until tomorrow night, but I can at least get a lot of photos taken and pics posted now. As a reminder, this has two purposes, both requested by Peter - give my opinion on the armor and also give my opinion on whether it is a recast. The latter is obviously the most important because if there is evidence of re-casting, the nature and significance of a review is a bit different. I'll see how tomorrow night goes and then decide from there. Anyways, here are the details pics of the parts.
  13. Thanks Wyatt! Hopefully this will be productive and offer some clarity. I am also excited to get the chance to look at various armor designs. And from what I'm hearing about ANOVOS version 2, that one is going to be quite a bit different than what we've seen as well.
  14. Jim, it might be a good idea for you to start a new thread for your findings since Q can't confirm that. It would be good information for people to see.
  15. Hello friends! So as many of you know, FNArmour has been accused of re-casting KB Prop's First Order TK kit and Jim's Phasma kit, at least in part. Peter (FNArmour) has sent me a full kit for my impartial analysis and has not asked for any restrictions on my feedback nor any prior access to my feedback. Since I'm not in a position to do a full build - with three kids under 3 and a flametrooper build already in progress - I'm going to focus on the re-casting element, as well as some review of the armor, and post the results here. Q has already started a great build thread and review of the armor quality and accuracy so I'll let him cover most of that area. His thread is here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38080-qs-fn-armor-build This analysis is going to be greatly helped because I've already been in touch with two of my Dune Sea Garrison mates, one of which has KB Prop's FOTK kit and one of which has Jim's. This will allow me to compare, in-hand, all three kits and see what I can find. I will say that I have no personal connection to any of these armor makers as I don't know any of them personally (although I will be receiving my order of KB Prop's flametrooper kit sometime next week), but am willing to help out to resolve a sticky situation. I don't want this thread to be for anything but analysis of armor and feedback on conclusions. I am not an officer with FISD or anything, just a dude who is working on his fifth armored suit and is willing to help out. I am setting up a meeting for this next week sometime and will hopefully be able to assess in an evening if I can find evidence of re-casting and will post shortly thereafter my best opinion on the matter. I'll try to take a lot of pictures to help the community as well. UPDATED 7/19 9:23 PM - FNArmour is confirmed to be mostly a re-cast of KB Props. See post at http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38117-clints-fnarmour-analysis/#entry509944.
  16. I think Michael that using the word "failed" over and over again doesn't equate to the severity of the situation. One guy accused another guy of re-casting and now somehow the entire detachment and Legion has failed in multiple aspects? That seems like a pretty dark lens to view all of this through. I think we should really acknowledge that this is something that takes time to be fully clear and is not something FISD is required to solve in some official way. This is not a corporation or government, it's a bunch of volunteers who do a crap-ton of work and this little diversion has probably doubled the amount of time investment for these people recently just to make some members of the community happy. In the end, either one guy is throwing out a false accusation or another guy isn't being up front about how he made his armor. In all cases, the vendors have their own best interests first and that's a natural thing, not an automatic indication of dishonesty. Unless of course you already don't believe one or the other in which case this review period doesn't mean anything.
  17. Let's not beat around the bush. Whose motivation are you questioning specifically? General accusations about "people" get tiring because it can't be confirmed or refuted. Who stood up, with selfish intentions, and said "I want free armor"? Q and I both are being sent parts by KB so you have to be speaking specifically about someone without saying it. Neither of us asked for anything from FN either. I certainly don't care about the armor. It would not make sense for people to be transparent about it if they just wanted to acquire easy armor somehow. I don't know who else is receiving it, there's either first hand knowledge of someone lying to get a kit out of FN or there isn't. If it's the latter, let's not throw out general un-targeted accusations of dishonesty.
  18. I'll add a bit to this because I really feel the level of conspiracy theory paranoia is getting out of hand. I was contacted by FN (Peter) recently saying he was sending me a kit and wanted my honest review and opinion if it was a recast. He gave me no disclaimers or warnings or conditions. I don't even know the guy so I have no reason to doubt the motivations of his apparent desire to get unbiased feedback from people. I even informed him that I'm not an armor forensics expert, but I will gladly give my unbiased opinion and review. I also was never contacted by FISD staff about any of this (although I told Tim as an FYI just yesterday). There really isn't anything shady as far as I'm concerned. In addition to that KB (Kevin) has offered to send me several pieces of armor he believes are "tells" to his recasting claim. He wants them back, but I don't care as the point here isn't "free armor", it's to get other people to add opinions who aren't personally invested in the brands. I don't plan on a build thread (because I have no time) and will ask Peter what he wants me to do with the kit when I'm done reviewing it. So all in all, I really think people need to stop the forum wars before anything even gets a chance to happen. Q is already reviewing the armor and has also been told by KB that he'll receive parts for comparison as I will. It sounds to me like this is a reasonable approach. For those who think it's a disaster or failure in purpose to review the armor - why? None of our vendors are required to submit props samples for investigation if someone pipes up and says "hey, I think he re-casted this." No one is bound to do any of this just because some people want some formal process to happen. Many people don't even care. At the end it's so easy to just not purchase something from someone you don't feel good about and move on. All that's really happened here is KB made a claim and FN is trying to refute it. You are not required to submit your work to outsiders to justify yourself because of a claim. So please have some patience and restraint and appreciate that two armor makers are spending money to ship stuff to people, for the sake of their personal brand, and several of us are spending some free time giving feedback for an armor kit we don't need, for the sake of the community. We have enough questioning of everyone's motives going on around here that it would be nice to not assume the worst about everyone all the time for a change.
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