mjrose927

Congratz and Welcome!

Nice weapon! Did you construct that yourself?

I am not sure I understand what you are asking. Could you clarify please? Also, I don't want to bring ab plate any further. The top of it sits at bottom of rib cage. I do have the thighs hiked up a bit where I have been wearing them be cause i think feel like they are hanging down too low. I will get dressed and have my wife take some pictures later this week. Are there any picture angles you would like to see to help root cause?

I have A New Hope for this movie....

My armor is set up very similar to this picture with garter belt setup. I am using snaps instead of Velcro. My concern is if the thigh lines match the cod lines. The lines do not run parallel like I see in a lot of photos. How do I project the cod lines to the thighs? The cod overlaps thighs so there is clanking when walking. I agree that the shape of thighs are not perfect. They look more cylindrical from front. I need to shape them with hot water some. Also, I think the outsides should be rounded down instead of up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m looking for advice on best way to trim thigh to better match cod and ab. How do I project outline of cod to get thigh to match??? I’m on the right. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congratz to you!

EDITTED: Ears no longer available.

Impressive! VERY IMPRESSIVE!!! Wow! I wish I had the tools to do this. Holy carp, dude!

Welcome! What will be your first troop? Are you in the Windsor/Detroit area?

Nice! What was your previous costume?

Welcome and good luck with your mission! Long live the Empire!

I exchanged messages with him. Very sad. He did tell me that he would let me know when up and running again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello. I have been combing through the forums trying to find the least cost option for a blaster to get EIB approval. I just joined the 501st several weeks ago but built my armor pretty much to the EIB level requirements. I have 3 items I need to do before I can submit: AB to kidney gap, boots, and blaster. I do not have hundreds of dollars to spend on a blaster. I am looking to move to EIB to help get us to the 1000 mark. So, I need most cost effective option even if it means putting in maximum effort. I would like to take advantage of all the knowledge out there on best way to do this. As stated, I am having issues finding best option in forums, or I am horrible at search strings. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Best Regards, Michael Rose TK-12037

Just publicly announced on the book of faces.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The original post shows mainly Europe boot dealers. I went to amazon.com for US and found this boot. Would this one be acceptable as well? Has anyone bought this boot? Looking for feedback if it's out there. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00ND3I56M/?coliid=I32OQZB0TBNXTC&colid=23TE2J20LAAWU&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Looks great!!! Congratz!

Congratz! and welcome!!!

So, I started my journey back 2005. At the time my FX kit was considered one of the better kits. Everything was hush hush and very underground it seemed. I drove 3hrs to meet with Brendon TK-00191. He gave me a very in-depth history of group and different armors. A few month later I bought my kit and started to work on it. I was excited to get started, but there were little resources to go by as I stated earlier a lot of stuff was not to be published. Then life happened and then the economy tanked and it was put in a box not to see the light of day again for a very long time. Then in 2014, I was at an event somewhere and saw the 501st. I felt the bug hit me again and with encouragement from my wife, I pulled the parts out and started at it again. This time I had found the FISD website and Great Lakes garrison forum. There I made contact with Michael "Mayhem" May. He sent me a link to an event he was going to be at. There I talked to him after the event and even brought some of my armor pieces to discuss where I was struggling. He was patient and answered all my questions. So, did people on the forums. I made some progress, but quickly fizzled out. The biggest reason for fizzling out: I was afraid to mess something up. So, I fizzled out again. Then over Christmas 2018 like nearly every year, I made a resolution to get my armor done. This time I posted it on Facebook that I was going to do it. Then I told everyone I knew that I was going to do it by May 2017 for Motor City Comic con. This actually helped keep me motivated because someone was always asking me how it was going. So, I did not have the luxury to quietly fizzle out. I did not want to tell anyone the reason for quitting again. I quickly made a lot of progress, but then I plateaued. So, I watched how to videos and I read forum posts, and watched and read and watched and read and watched and read, telling myself i was working. I was procrastinating making that first irreparable cut to my armor. I had a lot of support from people here and on FISD facebook page. They showed me their armor and the mistakes they were able to hide and still have great looking armor. However, I think the biggest encouragement was from Al Tong TK-76239 who came over to a stranger's house to help him fit armor. He also brought his TK armor for me to review and see one up close and touch it and see what he did. He was also the one that gave me the verbal proverbial kick in the butt to just cut away. Al took time on a number of occasions to meet and review my armor with his. It sounds silly to type/say it now, but that cut to separate the butt from the kidney, was the second most stressful part of the whole thing. That first irreparable cut. The hardest one was drilling hole in the helmet for the ears. That I measured, marked, measure, verified, measured, verified, etc probably a dozen times or more before drilling the holes. Once I did that, everything else was cake. The belt took me like 30min to complete once I started. A funny story but not so much at the time, 1am the night before ComicCon I am putting the blue stripes on my helmet. I did the left side perfectly. So, I must have been feeling a little more confident for the other side. Well, I wasn't paying attention and put them on backwards. Now, I hadn't removed the backing for the sticker yet on the top side. I was about to have a panic attack, but resolved that I would have to redo it later. My wife took the helmet from me and emphatically told me that we are too close to being done. She said she thinks she can fix it. She slowly and carefully pulled at the backing and got the edge of the blue stripes exposed, then for the next 45 minuntes she took a fine needle from her sewing basket and carefully lifted every stripe back onto the backing perfectly. I was able to re-apply with no issue. There is a video on FISD facebook feed where she is gloating a little bit. So, my advice to anyone thinking about undertaking this process is: 1.) Get started now. Don't wait like I did. 2.) Don't be afraid to make a mistake. I came to realize that imperfections actually make things look better. I originally wanted perfection, but I put so many scratches and dings assembling my kit before I even wore it once. It still looks great. 3.) Do research to learn what you need to do. Just don't get stuck in the analysis. Don't get analysis paralysis like I did. I lost a lot of potential trooping time because of it. 4.) Nothing is truly irreparable. You may have to buy a new piece like I did with my TD, but there are ways to make it work. 5.) Ask for help when you need it. Just don't get stuck in having it to do it like someone else or a certain way. You may stumble on something better, easier, etc. Well, that is all I have for now. I am just excited to be a part of the group. Long live the Empire! Michael Rose

TK-12037 requesting 501st access https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=30578

I just got word late last night.... TK-12037 reporting for duty. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am not sure I can do rounded corner. The ammo pack from FX kit did/does not have the length of belt you are showing there. I can try to fix attachment, but how do I fix current hole then? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was looking at the CRL and the requirement for the snaps on the butt plate. It states there must be 2 of them. Are they required to be a certain color. I was reading through some of the forum entries and was not able to find any info about color requirement. For my kit, I used the black or dark colored ones to help camoflage them with the strapping. Will these be ok as well for the 2 snaps? Or do I have to paint them or buy a small pack of appropriate color. Thanks, Michael

Wow! It has been a while since I updated this build thread. I got into convention prep mode to get it completed by my target date. I did get it wearable by May 17 and did wear it to the Motor City Comic Con in Novi, MI. I am going to do my best to pick up the thread where I left off. I do not remember how good I was at taking pictures with all my ADHD hyperfocus on getting it done for convention. Here it goes....

Thanks for your comment. Someone on facebook made the same comment. I am most likely going to have to trim the tops of the shins in the back for more mobility anyway. So, this will probably disappear in that process. I appreciate your feedback.