Zarlon

The right calf has been fixed:

Good catch on the right shin cover strip. I can't believe I did that. It's been fixed and the glue is drying. For the slot head screws on the TD, I actually found some at a friends house tonight so I'll be installing them tomorrow. I will also take a look at the trimming suggestions you both gave as well. Thanks for the feedback!

Well that's it! What do you guys think? Am I ready for my submission photos at least?

The bucket:

The Blaster and TD: ***Updated TD screw photo

The Body: ***Updated cod photo

The Legs and Boots: ***Updated right calf photo

The arms, shoulders, and gloves:

I got everything strapped up and put on this morning and went out for my first photo shoot. I think I'm almost ready to submit my approval photos but I want to get everyone's opinion first. I know I have a ways to go but I think I'm close to basic approval. Give your good and bad...I want to hear it all. Be prepared because there will be a lot of photos Up first are the full body shots:

The TD is complete! After cutting the 2" pipe I noticed that it was a bit thick for the end caps. To compensate for this I to the grinder to the ends of the pipe. With the end caps on, I located the TD clips and marked the holes for proper placement. Once everything was drilled it was time for a couple coats of paint and some sealant. Glued on the TD plate, screwed down the clips and... Finished!

Well the Leather strap has been fixed and now I guess you can add Leather working to the list of things learned during this build. The belt is officially complete.

That might be a last resort but something I'll keep in mind..I'd hate to make such a drastic change if I can prevent it.

At least I know it's not just me then. I might have to live with it for a while, then try to replace the back with a different maker or something. I don't know what else to do.

I'm 6'2" but I have a long torso and shorter legs. If I pull the back piece up further then it leaves a big gap between the back and the kidney. That's another struggle I've been having.

Well I'm getting close to the end game but I need some major help with fitting. I'm really worried the the ATA armor will never look decent on a bigger guy like me and in turn I won't be able to get to Centurion with it.Here are just some of the issues I'm facing: Problem #1 The chest piece is crooked (or at least it looks that way to me). I've tried adjusting the straps on the left side but that seems to make it worse. Don't mind the shoulder bells. I'm not going to strap them down until I get the shoulder strap/crooked chest problem straightened out. Problem #2 The back plate is way to narrow for my back. I have no clue how to even attempt to correct this. Problem #3 The back plate doesn't sit on my back. It bows out too much and leaves an ugly gap Problem #4 The blaster holster I bought from Trooperbay didn't come with a long enough strap. Unless I'm doing something wrong, It's about two inches short and won't wrap around the blaster handle and still fit in the back slot. I know I can go to Tandy Leather tomorrow and have the guys there help me out but it's frustrating. That's enough venting for one evening. I just really want to get this finished, I want it to look good, and I've spent a ton of money to make sure I can get Centurion approval. I guess I'm also freaking out a bit because this the first time getting a little down about the whole process. Thanks for letting me rant and please provide any suggestions you might have.

Probably when I get the DLT-19. If I'm going to get it for Centurion I might as well use it for EIB also. Right now I just want to get basic approval. I've been working on this thing way to long and I'm getting burned out. I still have to attach the holster to the belt, add the strap attaching the cod piece and butt piece, and make a few more fitting adjustments. I'll post pics on here before I submit to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Thanks Tony...I assume all the other requirements stay the same (i.e keep the E-11 holster) even though I'd be submitting my Centurion application with the DLT-19 instead of the E-11? I'm hoping to be ready for 501st approval this weekend and I've been building with Centurion in mind all along.

I'm still working but haven't had much time to post pictures. I do have a question regarding Centurion Status. I currently have a Hasbro Mod E-11 and I know that it won't work for Centurion level. My question is whether or no the Hyperfirm DLT-19 would work if I bought that instead of getting another E-11? Any insight would be appreciated.

Great job as always. I love the monthly news letters!

Hello all...Just popping in to say t hat I'm still here and working on the build. I should have more photos up tomorrow. In the meantime Here is a link to some photo's I took this past weekend down in Disney World.

Congratulations!!! That is so awesome!!!

We had a blast and I can't wait to go back and actually march in the parade next year. I'd highly recommend it as Long as you know what your signing up for when you go. It's hot, expensive, and crowded but if you plan ahead and expect those conditions you can still have an awesome time!

We just got back from Star Wars Weekends number 5 and I thought I'd share my parade photos...Enjoy!

Got some more work done tonight. I attached the ammo pack to the right thigh. You'll notice that i didn't use split rivets for the attachments points because I couldn't find any more locally. I ended up using cap rivets from Tandy that are the same diameter as the split rivets. The CRL states: For level two certification (if applicable): Thigh ammo belt is attached to thigh with a solid head rivet or fastener in the upper corner and fastened to the lower thigh ridge.The solid head rivet attachment is painted white. Standard pop rivets are not allowed The bottom corners of the thigh ammo belt are rounded off. Hopefully these cap rivets will work because if they don't I'm not sure what I'll do.

I got some more work done on the kidney shims this morning. I think it's time to kick this build into gear and get it finished. It seems like I've been working on it forever! The first step for today was to work on the return edges. I used the thread HERE to help with this. I'm still not very good at it but by the end I was getting better. Once I got the edges where I wanted them I give the seams another coat of Bondo. I'm still not sure about the bottom return edge. It's not really fitting nicely to the front chest plate when I mate them so I'm thinking about cutting off the bottom return edge. Any thoughts on this ?