wingnut65

That is what is commonly accepted. Bar closest to the face is the first, or front bar. Bar closest to the back is the fourth, or back bar. CRL mentions ear bar rank stripes only for Centurion level, which calls for the ear bars to only have one bump painted black. Just to put rank image in this thread, here it is

For the holster location, I've been for an exact dimension as well, so hopefully we can get a determination. From photos I've seen, some troopers have the holster attached right next to the plastic belt boxes while others have it between 3/4" and 1" away from the plastic. This is the only tutorial image that I can find that gives an actual dimension. Is this correct?

Ditto! Use the #14 French Blue as Mark mentioned.

Put the TD in a plastic bag and blow some air from a compressor on low pressure into the hole. I didn't use a bag or low pressure and mine bounced around the garage.

Awesooome! Troopers Helping Troopers Help Troopers!

In our squad, we have a Fett and TK that use this one. I am planning on using it also, due to small trunk space.

Galactic Credits submitted!

And... The end of the belt should end up being 3" (76 mm), the same width as your belt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the belt is different than 3", the cuts will need to be adjusted slightly to match.

If you use something other than paint designed for plastic, it would be a good idea to use a coat of primer that is designed for plastic, just to get a good bond on the plastic.

I'm hoping my TK will be finished so I can wear it open the door for Trick-Or-Treaters. Still have strapping, calfs, boots and painting the bucket. My church had its Trunk Or Treat on Sunday and I was able to show off the progress of my TK, in sort of a trophy display. I know the bucket needs more paint!!! I had several people want to check the armor out and get more info on the 501st. So, this was a success. Next year, the Tusken will be the trophy on display!!!

I'm hitting the stripes this weekend. While searching for divine guidance on this task, I also found this link fro DIY stencils: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/33-howto-make-your-own-tube-stripe-masking-stencils/ If this doesn't turn out well for me, I hitting the link that Joseph posted.

All I would add is the holster. Even for a basic approval without a blaster, the holster is required. The real checklist to follow is the CRL. It has every piece that the Legion requires to be included. Here is the ANH Stunt as an example: http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_stunt

Wally World seems to be the cheapest around here. Gluing the armor used most of a tube, but putting on the snaps may use another tube. But that is just me.

Awesome idea! Thanks for documenting the process!

I'm hoping to have my TK complete to wear for Halloween, at least for a while to test it out. I think my Tusken will be a little scarier for opening the door and handing out candy. Or, I might just be a statue sitting on the front porch, until they get close enough to me... This Sunday will be my church's Trunk-Or-Treat and my TK won't be finished in time. It may be wearable, but not fitted or have any paint on the bucket. So, I plan to have all my TK pieces displayed in the trunk of my Land Speeder (SUV) and wear my Tusken costume, showing off the 'TK Prize' and the 'Trophy Bucket' from the highly successful Tusken ambush on some Stormtroopers visiting Tatooine.

Thanks, Ken, for sharing the story and for jumping in to make this happen. Like others, this is exactly why I am here! Awesome story!

Life sure has a habit of getting in the way of projects! A wedding up in Huntsville and then a neighborhood garage sale kept me off the project for a couple weeks, but progress has been slowly moving forward. I just have been a little slow in creating these updates! Here goes a little one… Still Going… I have now trimmed all the body armor and trimmed and glued all the arm and leg pieces, except for the shins which will be done when the boots arrive. I then moved on to smaller pieces and trimmed some more of the accessories, starting with both ammo belts. Each has a perfect inside corner to scribe and cut. I marked off the angles on the ends, but I’ve decided to hold off on cutting those until my belt arrives. Ab button plates were up next. I know the big plate should not have too much extra flash around the base, but it might be a little hard to cut like this. I flipped the piece over and cut along the inside edge of both button pieces, like I did on the ammo belts. Once it was removed, it was much easier to use a straight edge to trim off the excess. My local Hobby Town didn’t sell Humbrol paints and their Testors Model Master selection looked great, except for French Blue! I did buy Testors Gray (1138) and Gloss Black (1147), but had to buy the Humbrol French Blue from TrooperBay. I’ll wait to mount the buttons to the Ab plate until they are painted. I don’t like the idea of moving that big of a piece of armor around a wet paintbrush. As I was working on trimming these pieces, I grabbed a snack. I couldn’t help but try to figure out how close I need to trim the edges to get them approved. I couldn’t find anything in the CRL… Before starting the next big step, I created a bunch of double snap plates. Some people like the plastic snap plates and others use nylon strapping for plates. I decided to go with the plastic plates since I had the plastic and would have needed to buy additional strapping at that time. So, basically, I chose the plastic snap plates because they were free! (No purchase necessary!) Next up, BUCKET TIME!!!!!

Great idea, Ken. I agree with Vern on the Trooperbay tutorial videos. I don't know how many times I've gone through them during my build. I watched them a few times before making the first cuts, just to get a better comfort level on the build. Someone else mentioned the "Armor Building with TK1636" tutorial videos. These seem to fill in many answers to questions I still have. As far as build threads, I have shortcuts on my desktop for the FL Garrison build thread "ANH Armor Build Tutorial" by missingpieces. (Not sure if everyone has access, or not). On FISD: "AP Armour with ANH Centurion as Goal - Build Thread", by MechaPumpkin "HOW to: assembling ATA ABS helmet #1" by pandatrooper And all the many great threads in "Tutorials → HOWTOs → Armor Assembly" that focus on specific details. I do want to say 'Thanks' to all the Troopers that have taken the time to document in detail, all the steps to build a suit of White Armor. No, there are not any 'Assembly Manuals' to read, and each builder may start with different steps - Bucket vs. Biceps vs. body pieces - but reading a few threads will give all the steps needed to complete a build!

7 mm is right at 1/8", which seems like what I've seen on many troopers.

If the handrails are normal height - 30-36", those may be 48" figures. They look a little tall to be the normal 31" Stormtrooper.

Thanks, Steve for all your hard work, dedication and guidance you have given to the Detachment. As a noobie, I have a notebook sitting next to me as I surf to take notes. Most of them I have noted as coming from The Gospel According To Gaz! Those words of wisdom and expertise will be here for many more noobies to learn the path to a TK! Good luck and keep having fun! You will be missed!

Congrats Tony and Andrew! I look forward to working with you before too long and then hearing those magic words! I look forward to learning for knowledge from your expertise!

I got my Tusken approved in April and my TK is a couple weeks out. Last night, my daughter was complaining about her college classes and a big project she has to do this weeekend. She said that she doesn't like growing up. I agreed and said that this 'being an adult' thing, isn't what I expected. She snapped back, "You're not an adult! You're a big kid!". I hit the big 5-0 this year. Or is that Level 50?

This gives me some great ideas for when I do get to troop with mine. After thinking about this, I have come up with another one to use: "Sorry, Son, Imperial regulations require heavy training to handle a blaster. The last time I allowed unauthorized blaster holding, the Emperor had me cleaning out the trash compactor for a month!" It's my idea of telling a kid 'No', and making them smile about it!

Actually, I think it is more the aluminum strap dimensions he is looking for. Vern's tutorial has this and other helpful photos ------------