TK bondservnt

if you look closely you can see a red dot. people have mentioned before and I've seen photos where the inside wire looks like it's got green insulation on it, and the outside wire has red insulation on it. the wires in this photo seem to be attached to the hengstler below the silver plug pins on the front of the hengstler body. they seem to be thin electronics part wires and I've seen 4 coils about the size of a pencil. actually it's just best to leave the wires off.

I make sight rails.

the only thing about this new kit is that it does not have the end holes where the T Track goes into the barrel. so a tube build can look a little more screen accurate... you can really see through a pipe build in many ways that you can't on this most excellent new build!

ok... PM me with the cost to make another one!

I've seen from 3-6 used on the gluedown on the front. make sure you're not gluing painted surfaces. the front gluedown varies depending upon your chest's dimensions. the larger you are, the less you'd use. between 3-and 4 the smaller you are, then the larger the number you'd use. I see that han's armor has 4-5 and luke has less glued down. part of getting them to lay flat is using heat to shape them a little. just a few seconds over a hot flame and the tips should bend nicely to contour better. just heat them up a little at a time and keep test fitting them. put in the freezer for a few minutes to set them. don't put too much clamping pressure when using metal clamps and e6000 it can generate heat and warp them.

the ATA and CAP-w have deep eye wells. the shallower eye well of the AP or TM lid can be left on, and cut unevenly to get that "quick and dirty" style cutout with a lip. on lids with deeper eye wells, you can't get the lipped look that you're looking for. best to just idealize that feature. the eyes you have cut out look just fine!

loooking forward to watching this! looks nice so far...

much easier than in 2009. we have come a long long way! kudos FISD and MEPD!

nice build! the helmet ears are a pain yeah! if you took more off the tubestripe area, you'd end up with a lower ear placement. as long as they're both basically the same, as long as you like it, then it's yours to be happy with! nice clean build...

take one of the end caps down to the store. you'll find black or grey pipe that will fit.

we all love you pat... come back home!

I just read what AA says, I read the court briefs... he won the case... the main reason why the armor does not look the same is explained by AA himself. the fire destroyed the moulds, but not the saved aside skins. the original helmet mould and the eye mould are all that is left of the original moulds. it has also been said that AA did work to try to clean up his work to make it more cleaned up for people to purchase. I'm sure that everyone agrees that brian and liz were the originators of the design that ralph started. AA is just the guy who modified those parts for forming, which is why he won the case... I personally believe that a derived work was created for the industrial purpose. and I don't really think that the full armor history is completely accurate... I don't believe a single word in the history that comes out of MATT G's part of the story. so in fact AA had to re-create his moulds. while I know for a fact that AA's armor and helmets look nice enough... I'd still rather have a set of the TM armor. it has the details that we all look for... and that's what I have learned. this is just my opinion.. and I don't really believe any of the early armor history. especially when I look at the cameron oakley stuff... there are armors out there that claim to be original but that fibreglass CO armor just looked so wrong 5 years ago... now the new stuff from mark and joe looks fine enough, but the whole thigh problem takes me back to 2009. to summerize my opinion. AA did the armor for the film, it was partially lost to fire and re-created from the skins he had. that's his story... and I believe that. thanks fireblade... you know I have read the history, I just don't believe some of it.

as if mason has not done enough! ok... more work! how about the lightsabre? can we have a fold out of that... I'm working on my TKC helmet, and I just need my armor...

the reason why I say it could be better is not because it has anything at all to do with me personally. all the details on the blasters look close to what they actually look like. the dimensions are just a tad off. in every sense on every part the reason why they don't look exactly right is because most people don't really stare enough at the real thing. I could painstakingly point out how they could be better, from the end cap to the clip and folding stock. they just don't have the right look. just like shawn points out, there are many subtle errors on every aspect of the toy. the only reason I have been making blasters at all is because the doopy do's kit is almost an exact copy of the real thing. only certain details on the clip, and folding stock could be better on the doopy do's pipe detailing kit. I personally would rather see troopers with a really accurate blaster... and that's why I make them. I'm sure that anyone would be happy with a cinemastery product, they look very well put together. it's just sad that they didn't use the sterling itself to make the patterns... sight rail curved back on itself with a hole for a screw? not accurate. folding stock too squared off and not shaped correctly? not accurate. end cap is made from a piece of pipe? not shaped right. front sight is wrong. T Track made of rubber and the holes are the incorrect diameter. spacing is wrong on barrel holes. deflectors wrong size and shape on the side of the barrel. scopes look wrong. clip is too long and does not have the correct shapes. rear end cap lock is not just a piece of U channel... I could go on, and on about all the details and show photos, but why do that? it probably costs more than it's worth. just look at the belts and holster... none of the details are correct. the FX lid might be a give away? I could be impolite about the look, but I figure that if someone wants something like this, then more power to em!

AA did the armor seen on screen. nuff said. blinkered view? nah... have another pint mate... what I'm trying to explain is that AA was part of a team of people, but he changed the design to create the armor we see. sure... since rotj it was changed... but AA, and the team which would include liz and brian... are all part of the creative process that brought AA to the point where he could make bucks for armor. and he formed them... and he solved a problem that the studio could not. the production team assembled the armor... but AA formed the plastic.

bollacks.

FX no! SA yes! hails Puerto Rico! you kick A$$ you guys make the big armor look good! SA= screen accurate.

you can support the back of the armor with fabric and glue. use it like a cast from the inside.

mike is a great addition to this hobby... and so are you! what kind of armor are you wearing? this is a great way to get out there and troop!

well done! blaster should not be so beat up... subtle is better! and by the way... I have heavy metal hair too... perhaps I'll have to take a metal style armor helmet off photo! glad to see that you've mounted the holster correctly, make sure that the screw part of the chicago screw is on the inside of the belt and that the "rivet" looking part is on the outside! let's hear it for our Puerto Rican brother's in white!! hear hear!

I think it's funny that MATT G would not answer 2 basic questions: 1. how old was he in 1976? 2. what gives him the right to make armor at all? T E never answered the questions. and acts like a 10 year old foul mouthed kid on a blog. look at the AA discussion board on facebook. I challenge him all along the way. and I support AA's work. people don't understand at all the bandwagon they are jumping on when they talk about things they don't understand. AA personally sculpted the bucks himself using the clay sculpts as a guide. the original armor moulds were destroyed in a fire, but the skins were saved aside. the skins were plastic sheets formed over the moulds and then saved. the original helmet mould, and the blister eye mould were the only bucks that survived the propane and plastic fire. if you look at the statements made during the court case... the position that AA puts forward is that while liz and brian made the original designs in clay. he then created another type of work, adding in his own expertise, to make forming bucks from the design. remember that the studio's prop department could not do the job on time in budget... so Andrew was tasked and performed by working 24 hour days to get the job done! I look forward to the sci man armor... that's for sure!

sad to hear Rolf, it looks like you're the top! hey john, if andrew made the mixture for the resin, and bucks, don't you think he's using the same glue that he reports? where do you get your basis for saying that AA is a liar? because his story "changed"? from looking at the way he assembles armor on his videos, I would not doubt at all that his solvent mixture, which dries in about 20 minutes, was used on some of the assembly. but when the production team started making armors, they MIGHT have used another type of glue. I personally believe that AA sculpted the bucks himself, just like he claims! using the clay sculpts as a visual guide. after all AA studied manufacturing in college, made car bodies, boats and many other devices in his career. he's not the same as a MATT G. I really don't llike how people think that AA had nothing to do with making armor... there actually are people who think he didn't even make them... just because we don't agree or understand some of the aspects of AA's work with lucasfilm... I'm sure that the agreements were "word of mouth" style... in the 70's a lot of people ran their buisiness on word of mouth alone! it's really sad that a fire, and the resulting loss of the original armor moulds clouds the involvement of a man who was part of a team of people...

not that bad... could be better.

black protocol droids rule! EHH CHU TA! "how rude"

wires are not correct... thinner must you be...