camprandall

I'm starting to think Tony is expecting to actually go to battle in this thing! Awesome.

Thanks guys!

I second what Tim is saying. It's not even just simply about a handful of measurements. Heck, for me and the TFA armor my right arm is much tougher to get into the gasket than the left because my right bicep/shoulder is a touch bigger than my left. I don't think there are a lot of areas with this kit that make a huge difference, but the gaskets are definitely one of them and you'll want to know that they're tailored to you pretty accurately so that you're comfortable and can move.

Here is another shot.

Thanks! Appreciate it. We'll see how long I end up keeping it after hauling it around in armor.

And... she's done! (well, mostly) I have some minor touch up in a few spots, but she's basically there. I figured it would be lame to post step by step pics all the way to the end so there's nothing to reveal, so here you go!

Thanks buddy! Yes, this thing has been fun, but terrible due to such poor sources. I'm super happy with how it's coming out though! Here is some more progress. It's so cool to see this thing start to pop and come together! At this point anytime I spend on it finishes off a section completely minus some very minor finishing work so it's quite exciting. It's certainly not perfect or completely accurate, but this is going to be a joy to tote around at a comic con or something along those lines (you know, now that guns are not banned forever) Mounted the scope, though I still have detail finishing work to do on this section yet. Looks pretty cool! It rotates too. Painted the stock and the end of the supporting wood (that is inside the barrel). Man, it really feels amazing to see this start to look like something other than a craft project!

In!

Ok, made great progress today. I'm about an hour or two away from the insanely fun part of attaching all the pieces and then taping/painting! Just some imperfections to glaze and a tiny bit of clean up and I'm there!

And here's the side-by-side. It's not perfect, but the width is much more proportional to the other parts. You'll see it better when I attach the top box and the greeblie box. At this point, I just need to sand down these pieces, put the back plate on and the little black vent plates and then start assembling all the separate pieces. So close!

Down to the home stretch now. So I figured this might happen, but as I got to putting together all those weird pieces around the trigger, I realized my "T box" piece was just too big. I was tempted to stick with it, but the proportion would just be too frustrating and I don't wand to finish and paint and have to redo it. The dead giveaway was that those little black vent holes were a good 50% too wide. So I did was every crazed prop-builder does... pulled out the hacksaw! I'm actually quite pleased with the results considering this was kinda stupid to attempt at this point. Before: During: After:

Hello Eli! It's also worth noting that the FO TFA trooper is a lot of work. In addition to trimming, there is a lot of seam hiding and bondo work and modifications needed and the gaskets are quite difficult as well. It might be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the various build threads that are posted here to get a feel of what you'll be looking at both in terms of cost and time. Then you can more easily assess what kind of help you need and either look for local "armor parties" in your garrison or even host them yourself. It's a good way to get to know people and also get some assistance with your build. Good luck!

FYI - this thread should be in the member's only section. Discussing the quality of the product or replacement processes is most certainly covered by the NDA. Just trying to keep us in good shape.

A few more details. The extension that goes between the T shaped box and the top white box is proving to be tricky so I took a break and finished off a few other pieces. Scope. Just need to cut some plastic discs to give it more of a scope feel. Barrel sight. I nearly forgot about this! Yet another little half hour of detail work that I expect will keep popping up.

I think I'd describe it as stubborn and tired.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the encouragement. I'm getting a little weary, but the end is in sight. Here are some pics with a more satin sheen.

Alright, the moment of truth. I picked up my 3D printed pieces from one of my sources. They came out great! The next step was to assemble a box for them and see how the scale is and I'm pretty happy with that too! So relieved after many hours of design and two attempts at printing. Onto the build! Acquired... Built... Primered... Painted... (it will end up flat when it dries)

I fully expect the Heavy Gunner cannon pic to pop up the day after I finish the stupid thing.

Making progress! I'm getting pretty sick of measuring, re-measuring, bondo, sanding, etc so I decided to paint a few things that are about finished anyways just to see some positive results. Can't wait to carry this thing!

Best of luck! It's a serious build. Lot's of good people on here to help.

Looking great man!

Thanks Ben! Here's another update. I was actually quite excited to get this piece framed out because it was pretty tough to figure out. The remaining parts to it should go pretty fast now that I have it framed out and the majority of the pieces built. In other exciting news, I received pics of one of the two 3D printing sources I'm trying and the parts look fantastic! Very little cleanup. Let's just hope now that the scale is right because I really have no idea until I put it on the gun.

Looks great! Just make sure not to make any sizing decisions without the gaskets on. They make a huge difference.

And just a note - I actually glued 1/8" abs to make 1/4" parts because that seemed to be about the thickness from the pics. This whole thing sure would be easier if I had proper tools and supplies.

Ok, got some work done on the last piece that I was hesitant to start. It's the weird pop out vertical box thing behind the trigger. After getting the stock and trigger and top box done, it was a little easier to figure out the proportions since once you start building one of these, you really have to follow proportions of your own gun vs the pics. Anyways, here's the first part of it. I also have two guys working on the 3D prints for my greeblies so hopefully one of those comes out. It's been tricky and required re-working and re-slicing to get it more printable, but I think maybe I have it figured out now.