TK bondservnt

it would kinda be cool to have someone in command staff work out the ranking system for fun.

I just would like to say thanks to everyone for putting up with my personality on this board. the people here are always a nice challenge to discuss everything trooper related. this day is a happy one for me, I have new CA boots. great self present, and trooper related! it is my hope that everyone has as nice of a day as I'm having! looks like someone's even interested in purchasing one of my leatherworks. nice present to me! to make another trooper happy on the same day... great feeling!

I have put mine in with only one snap at the bottom, with elastic, you don't even need to take it apart at the bottom. it just stretches into shape. I guess if I added the extra adjustment snap then I'd be closer to SA.

I would paint the entire bucket with rustoleum epoxy. there are lot's of plastic model puttys and fillers. make sure you get one that is compatiable with HIPS plastic. sandpaper is your friend! water and wetsanding is the best path to take. make sure you're dust free by washing it up with soap and water. dishwashing soap like "dawn" is a good choice. you don't want soaps with lotion, or any kind of mixture like that. just a plain degreaser.

www.doopydos.com look for the Pipe detailing kit. get some plastic PVC and you can make a proper blaster in a few days. you'll need to add some T Track from a maker here, or make your own from the garage door insulation available on a thread here.

look at it this way. I have the same suit as the ANH hero. but with a stunt helmet gloves, belt and blaster. my hero was the MRCE mod, and the only way I could troop episode 4 without wearing that, was to make a stunt. then I get to wear fully AP and my hengstler and scope.. see? that is the main reason I did this. after looking I will not accept the notion that I need to change any detail except as specified by the STUNT crl. my thighs and arms are modified because of my body type and my personal opinion about my armor. I have been EIB before with this SAME cut. peace my brothers. troop on!

thanks terrell for the input. ok on to the thighs first the rear of the part: the thighs dont have the points cut off because they are not contoured. I did that on purpose. I'll gladly show the details very soon in photos. they are no different than my other submissions. the photographer took these new photos from about 2 feet higher. close up's will be provided. I did not change them except to velcro them in a slightly different position, but that's only about 1/4 inch. glad to clarify that. on the issue of my arms: I have provided photos to show why my arms are trimmed that way, when I bend my arm there is NO room inside them here's a clear photo of my arm bent. when they are hanging to my sides they look big, but trust me, my muscles when in position to hold the blaster expand to completely fill the space- I have armor bites not because they are too loose, I have them because my arms bulge and press against the trim. and I trimmed them 20mm larger, with overlap uncut, and butt joined with that! none is cut off the arms and biceps because my arms don't fit inside smaller forms. when I bend my arm to hold a blaster, my arm expands a lot! it completely presses against the inside. take a look: I'm very happy to explain every detail of my build, and it probably won't change, even if I did the clamshell arms setup with velcro, they still would have to be the same size!!!!! dear sir, making them any smaller and I would not be able to hold a blaster! my frame is closer to popeye than let's say someone 6' I'm 5'11" tall details about the top of the thigh trim at the back: my thighs just have a square top. they are not cut off at the overlap, just like screen used suits. I did not cut off the corner to make them contoured, and that is my explanation of why they are that way. I took photos, of my thigh fronts and troopermaster paul looked at them, and he said my assembly in the front was fine. I am a little different in my trim on the thigh because this is my interpretation of finishing strip width, alignment is square at the top. at the back where they overlap I could cut them flush, but that's a detail we see on "interpreted" looks. I went for the screen used top on my trim on the thigh, but the bottom of the thigh, the finishing strip continues to the bottom, not like screen used, but idealized. if I were to trim off the bottom of the finishing strip on the thighs, then that would make their appearance closer to what you're usually used to seeing. I changed the upper shin, and the lower thigh just a little compared to the screen used trim. I have cerebral palsy, so I have back problems, posture problems and my lower legs are a little sensitive, so I guess that's why I take such unconscious attention to my legs. if you take a close look at my ESB thread, the fitting on the back of the thighs is exactly the same. as well the thread for my ANH hero thread. same suit, same thighs. never before was a comment made about my fitting, or trimming until these negative comments were issued. I could change the thigh tops in back. but I like the square top, and the point in the center. I think that makes the suit compare to the real thing. on my shims/sidegaps: they are not exactly the same as screen used in appearance. they "replicate" the "overall look" with my added girth, and size, I had no choice but to make them this way. the only other way I think a trooper with my frame could do sidegap shims is with flexible materials. I want the shims to be seamed because the original suits allowed for bending over. if I made my sidegap shims out of a solid panel, then I would not be able to bend over. nuff said. either allow flexible side gaps, or allow gaps. the original suits allowed for side gaps. why do we corset our troops? it's not screen accurate. and the issue of making stunt and hero more complete in the separation- to make it clear here are the differences I have: gloves and handplate latex hand made stunt version. ( I made them from latex and painted them myself) helmet and complete stickers and upgraded rubber trims. rank bar will be the second bump from the rear. (none is original AP except for the plastic itself.) blaster details: hengstler appears bent, and hot glued on. resin body, with real scope and hengstler. (just like real stunt blasters.) holster and belt fastener difference to reflect the stunt vs hero configuration. requiring an whole new holster and belt. new boots upcoming, new undersuit in route, new stunt ANH blaster under construction to replicate the stunt version as exactly as possible. all 2 part resin construction, just like a background blaster. this will change out the current stunt blaster configuration from a real scope, to a resin set of accessories. the real scope and hengstler will go on my hero blaster, and I'll probably upgrade the MRCE full mod, to a troopermaster hero lid. perhaps sometime in 2011... thank you very much terrell for the positive directions and clear statements. if there is anything I can do to show in photos why I've done it... I'll happily cover any request you may have. happy trooping! thanks for understanding... very soon I will have heavy weapons trooper with this stunt helmet. my pauldron, pack and pouches are almost done. the cannon and a few more details to come. I'll be wearing the same suit as the base, with the proper added details. the black hole trooper will be great fun. mirrored flat lenses, black keith hovie tips, different blaster silver details. the Trooper commander will also be very fun. most likely will have a sound system by then, along with a trooper comm system. after this comes the tie pilot, and stormtrooper commander cloth uniform. I strongly appreciate the positive direction you take this discussion terrell. I believe that I have done everything according to the fitting requirements and equipment standards in construction and materials is the best that this hobby can offer, and some of my equipment has been made by the best in this amazing hobby. thanks to all the troopers with positive and well balanced comments both positive, and negative.

Another great build!

amazing nice job!

can you show red lines where you cut this? looks like I'm headed off to lowes!

and I really have to say I like Damian's build. he's a great friend to have, and his kit and such I helped in some small way to get to EIB. Troopers helping Troopers.

thanks for taking the time mark to comment on this thread.. you inspired me to submit this thread this way. I really appreciate it. cheers! have a great day. ( I really mean this, no sarcasm here. ) 3 days before my birthday my stunt photos are finally being discussed. it's a great joy to be part of this detachment, and your opinions mark and your help has been a great work for me.

more great details!

Thanks Brian for the positive words of encouragement! may the birthday be with you, always....

I'm all good buddy... no worries here... I think there are several people who could take your advice to heart... really! after reading your comments, and the comments of others, I probably will opt for a set of different arms and will have to make adjustments in paint color, and fitting to improve the overall look of my kit. while my arms didn't stop me from being EIB, they do most likely need the overlap and velcro type of fitting. I may consider glueing one side down, and having the other velcro. it will all depend upon the flexibility. (after looking at it all again, I cannot change the arms. my arms are just too large my friends!) after building ATA arms I must say that builder may well be the person I upgrade with. the AP arms sameness is very apparent to me after building an ATA kit recently. I have not made any negative comments here. what is all the fuss about? the belt is not too thin it was made by chazz in NY and he did a great job! the wrinkles are in there yep. terrell did not instruct me to make the types of corrections you mention. if he had made those distinctions, and at that time, a very long while now has passed since my dual EIB submission, I would have considered those mods at that point. but I personally feel that the shims, while they could very easy be made into a single part, and I could cut off the points at the back of my thighs, and I probably will fit a new set of arms differently. I might even consider taking one side of my AP arms apart and adding velcro to shape them up a bit. I'm just thinking out loud here. there is a new undersuit and neckseal in my future, and I really never will stop having fun with the accuracy of stormtrooper gear. I have learned a lot about armor, and more importantly how to communicate. it's all a learning process, and I'm very proud of the EIB program. many people are interested in all the details about a stormtrooper kit. it's got a lot of variety in it's sameness. here are a few shots I just took showing why my arms are trimmed the way they are. without this type of trimming it would not be custom tailored to my body. it's the same way with all troopers who have to adjust to fit. as you can see I have trooper bites from august 1st TEN days after the 1 hour of being suited up! my arm marks lasted a lot longer after a troop of 6 hours! as you can see my friends, I left on as much of the overlap material I could and I used the mm scale for all of my finishing strips. I really appreciate all the negative and positive opinions expressed, even if I don't accept them or agree with them. being able to freely express opinions and share ideas, both positive and negative can be really helpful to understand the difference between prop replication, perfectionism and the easy to reach EIB standard. I don't believe that the EIB standard excludes fitting mistakes in costume photos, especially since the mistakes are done to glorify and celebrate the wonkyness of this fitting type. it's like taking all the should have's must have's and "extra mile" details. and I did it for the fun of it. if I was a bit sarcastic, that's just a little part of the fun of the hobby's interactive spirit. we all have a sense of humor here... don't we? this is a very serious EIB submission, with my body type and my sense of humor intact. I think I'm going to get a different thermal detonator. I don't like mine anymore. some of the vendors here have excellent work, much better than mine. I just ordered TKboots. size 12. big big feet~

while Damian's build is considered by you to be near perfect and I completely agree. I offer these opinions to show the negative bias in comments made about my build. Damian's biceps and forearms have gaps next to his arms. (perfectly fine for me, but not for some) his biceps don't have the "han solo" strap in the correct location because his arms are longer. (what can you do?) the overlap between his butt plate and thighs at the rear needs to be trimmed (do we disallow his EIB because of that?) the overlap between his kidney and back plate are touching, they should not touch. ( do we make him trim off his kidney top return?) and finally. we can see inside the back of his helmet because his eye line is tilted too far forwards. all these details come from looking at his photos. none of them matter at all, not one bit. but someone could have a "negative opinion" and try to force him to cut his suit up to match that type of perfectionism. in short: his armor fits the qualifications of the EIB, even with small fitting variances.

comments removed. suit has been changed.

suits were changed during filming, cutouts on the back of thighs... little changes... fitting mods. luke's chestplate is a great example. as well, some of the actors have different sized arms, so the overlaps on the biceps change.

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edit: comments removed. photos to come- and suit changed.

suit has been changed. comments edited.

I created my shims to replicate the offset created by the join. also were made to allow me to bend over at the waist and pick somthing up off the ground.

my arms are twice your size. to get no gaps at all, which is not required for EIB. I would have to use the velcro method of assembly and I did not do that. if you commented like this on a trooper with huge thighs, which at the top would fit tight, but at the bottom would be loose, would you say that they were "improperly fitted"? heres a photo showing why I don't accept the notion of my arms being fitted wrong. people don't all have skinny trooper frames in this hobby. pablo, your comment is incorrect. this suit passed muster before. these negative comments in this thread are so completely against the rules I think I might have to take a few of you off of my friends list.

After much consideration I have changed the following elements of my kit: cut the back tip off the thighs, added snaps to the inside to keep them shut when climbing stairs. added new elastic to my chestplate to back plate connection, was getting worn out. moved my shin cover strips to the outside and re-did the velcro. changed my boots to TK boots... only will wear CA boots on long walking troops. opened my forearms, removed 1/2 of the overlap on one side and added velcro to close them up. should help the oversized look a bit. painted the single rank bar on the helmet. and finally I have my voice system. I should have photos of this new fitting up in a week or so.

this same suit, was passed completely and has gotten compliments from the detachment leader, and several others... but now, that it's in this wonky stunt "configuration" by putting on certain parts in a more "stunt" or ie sloppy manner replicated the inside joke you mentioned about certain things in the past. the shims in the torso are fitted that way to replicate the exact way they look in the photo screen capture provided. only problem is that I'm 30 LBS larger than harrison ford. and I"m 6 inches shorter, and I have "no neck"