Artshot

I highly recommend a completion set from "T-Jay", then there's the new and improved Magazine from "Gazmosis", and the excellent power cylinders from "Playfulwolfcub". Before you know it you have more bits & pieces than you started with, but hopefully a stunning blaster at the end, I can say this with the complete confidence of somebody who has still not finished his blaster, even with all the bits & pieces mentioned above

Back again with the next instalment of my Doopy build, or as I am calling it "fixing my stupid mistake" So, after realising I had messed up by dremeling out the ejection port to make a sliding bolt, I decided to fix it, I glued a curved piece of plastic into place and tried to carve a new port from filler, however after misjudging the size and it starting to get bigger than it should be, I just filled the entire area. With the aid of my Deac Sterling I made a template and transferred the size onto the Doopy and re-carved the ejection port, got to say, so far this bit of work has taken nearly as much time to do than my actual build, anyway, here's a photo. Since I decided to make a new interior to the port I cut the side out of a small plastic bottle (using the previous template to get the size) and fashioned the inset out of a piece of plasticard, this I stuck to the underside, ofcourse this meant I needed to cut a new hole for the inset to fit into. I used a piece of plastic from an old model kit to form the interior. So, after gluing it in place all I need to do is fill a couple of areas and use a small file to create the illusion of it being a separate piece and add the thin raised band, which I will do after I fashion the other end of the bolt, then I can eventually move on.....sheesh.

I was 47 on the 25th of April this year, I still remember standing in line with my brother to go see Star Wars (saw it twice on the same day), talked about it all the next day in school, then ran around pretending to be a Stormtrooper at break times. 38 years later and I am about a month away from my first set of armor..........feel like a 9 year old again

I have not been long on this site and am still in the "Wow" phase, however in that short time I have come to realise that were all in this together, so even though I don't know you, may never meet you, Steve, Vern, please both accept my well wishes on swift recoveries.

Great Build, it's nice to see how the armor went together and what it looks like on the inside, the amount of Bondo was a surprise to see though, don't like using Bondo as I tend to leave fingerprints all over when I use it, still for a great set of armor I will have to be more careful...........cannot wait till I can order a set

Hey Daetrin, thanks for the explanation on the building of a CRL, it all make's sense now, especially when reading the origin of the CRL's. From everything I have read about Anovos and the photos of the TFA armor (looked at a lot of those), I expect there "base" set will be of a high standard, it really would be in there best interests to get it right from the start.

Interesting read. Since I am late into getting a set of armor (AM 2.0 on order, just awaiting the "box is in the post" email), it's fascinating to see what goes into a CRL, however here's a thought. I watched the video from Celebration, the one where two from Anovos are being interviewed, it was mentioned that there would be different tiers of sets to buy, hopefully the difference will only be in pricing, complete or kit ?, however if corners are cut and there are slight differences in the suits from them, the CRL should be adaptable to include whatever they provide (depending on there actual accuracy to the film), not sure if I am saying this correctly. Basically If there suit that is offered for sale falls short of the CRL, there's going to be a lot of disappointment out there.

Great thread, especially as I am waiting for Anovos to offer these, this thread is going to be invaluable to establish problems and solutions, before my order goes in.......whenever that is. Couple of quick questions, to those lucky enough to wear the armor. 1) Do you think a better gasket material will improve the ability to don and remove the helmet ? 2) For a larger trooper, will shimming be easier to apply than to a standard TK, I am think waist rather than other parts. Art

I agree with everything Derrek says, I have a Sterling, bought an M38 scope and counter from Felice, power cells from playfulwolfcub and have T-tracks to add. I am currently building a Doopy kit and using the Sterling as a template to improve accuracy as I build, there's no better reference than original reference.

Hey Brian The guards as mentioned above are definetly the same size, I put them at 2mm in thickness and are at a right angle to the barrel, no diffrence in the width between the edge and where it joins the barrel, I noticed the Doopy guards are slightly thicker, but this could be down to how they were made. I plan on making new ones for my Doopy from templates I hope to make from the sterling, masking tape and a craft knife should do it. Here's a few photos, hope there of some use, happy to provide any reference shots you need.

I noticed from my builds that the Doopy guards are very different from the guards on my Sterling. The Sterling guards are about 1.5 to 2mm thick, they look like two moon shaped pieces of flat metal that were just curved to shape then fixed in place, I imagine they were just stamped out the metal when produced. I can sort out a few photos when I get in from work if that helps ?

I expect that once something is known for definite, in black and white from an official source, then this site will be the place to get the latest news & information. Until then I am going to think about next years celebration in London, the weekend before 2016 San Diego Comic Con, two places I hope to troop

My main concern is now that Anovos have there fingers into the Stormtrooper market, it could begin a gradual reduction in the suits of regular TK armor being made by all the very talented builders out there (I mean those that produce the kits, not those who put them together), although there equally talented and provide me with inspiration every time I think about putting together my own set. I know that if I had just bought a licence to produce "screen accurate ?" TK Armor, I would try to maximise profit by trying to hit people with infringement of copyright notices and thus stopping the providers of armor, that unfortuaneatly is how business works. I do wonder if part of there licence agreement for supplying TK armor covered this and the gentlemans agreement will still be in place. With the new TFA TK armor, I can see a defensive approach to there licence being set from the start. In the words of Han Solo "I have a bad feeling about this"

I just felt a great disturbance in my wallet.

I do like how the good old sterling is still somewhere in his blaster, should make kits a lot easier to build, I wonder if the forearm is going to contain a blade of some description, like Assassins Creed ?

I think I have just seen the bar raised on resin E-11 builds, stunning work.

Will be watching this build with interest and taking notes.

AM 2.0 kit ?

Hey Tino Here's some sizes for you. Length across the ring is 42mm Width across the ring is 18mm Those are both for the outside edge of the ring. The width of the ring is 4mm Hope those help.

Hey Tino Yup, your right about the ejection port, mine is too wide, I really regret dremelling out the resin port, sorting it out is turning into a mammoth task of measuring, filling and filing, at this point I just want it finished Although I may just fill in the port completely and give it one more try.....for luck I will get the ring dimensions to you when I get in, if your updating your completion sets, the end hasp is a diffrent size on the doopy kit, so are the guards, or whatever they are called, going to fashion new ones from 1.5 mm plasticard as soon as I figure out a pattern.

Wow! I think I may be stealing...erm borrowing quite a big from your build for mine Stunning work.

Onwards & Upwards. In those moments when I wanted to test the aerodynamics of my build, I decided to switch to working on the folding stock, whilst it will never fold, I wanted to give the impression that it could. With my trusty Sterling beside me I started to carve into the resin and give the impression it's made of folded steel, it took a lot of work, but it was made easier by my homemade mini chisels, basically I bought a cheap set of micro screwdrivers and ground there tips to an edge, try it, they make working in tight resin spaces so much easier. I have also ground out the resin stock support as I am going to replace it with a wooden dowel, I know it's a lot of work on an area that will be mostly covered, but I would know I could have done better if I didnt. Oh, and to show that I can actually finish something, may I present my end cap.

After a stupid amount of real world work, I have eventually been able to get back to my Doopy build or as I am currently calling it "Beware the Dremel, it gives you stupid ideas" So, when I left you last, I had opened up the ejection port in readiness for creating and inserting a sliding bolt with attached cocking handle.....well, that failed, after initially getting over confident with my Dremel and clearing the area, it became apparent that it was going to be a lot of work thinning down the area and making it work, I did try, but I am the first to admit when things are not going right, so I gave up. Of course I then had to rebuild the area, which has taken more time than I can really spare, but it's nearly done, so all's well, just need to add the rest of the bolt into a newly thinned out spring area and add a few details, it won't slide but the thinned sides should look better. Of course, being a genious, I now realise that maybe I should have added the other part of the bolt, before I sealed the hole up.......Doh!

Okay, to explain this thread before it sounds all creepy. I have been reading & researching my way around this site for months, following builds (started a couple of my own E-11 threads), paying close attention to armor build threads and being continually amazed by the skills & determination of all to produce stunning results. But as I keep reading I wonder what armor everybody has, how has it lasted over the months or years of trooping, I have not started this thread to do any sort of bashing of providers, I am just curious. Incidentally, I don't currently own any armor but I am on waiting lists for AM 2.0 (will swap out the chest piece to go centurion later) & RT-Mod........I cannot wait to start building. Cheers Art

Congratulations on a great build with a well deserved Centurion Standard.