wingnut65

Great looking armor, Brenden! Cutting the thighs is only really needed for comfort. I was about to cut mine after I had my suit on for the first time and thought they were uncomfortable. My Attaché suggested that if I wasn't in pain, wait a little see how it feels when I actually troop. I've had 12 troops wearing it and don't see a need to trim them. Others have recommended having the bucket neck trim ends meet under the neck, not in the back. It will never be seen at the neck where the back is always visible when you look down The only other comment on the pictures I see is that you have one cool looking driveway. Good Luck!

WoooHooo! Congrats, Chris! Welcome to EIB!

Looks great, Mike! I know our Attaché will give you proper guidance and take some great pix! Like, Ty said, I can't wait to have an Officer join the Troopers! I'd love to have you break it in with me tomorrow, but your plans will be much better for the Empire in the long run!

WoooHoooo! Congrats, Sean! Welcome to the rank of Expert Infantryman! I just wish it helped us shoot a little better...

Removing the return edge at the top of the thighs will help them to slide up more. Also try adding foam padding to the front of the shin and back of the thigh to force them apart. Good Luck, Chris!

Nice looking suit, Ryan. Besides what Allan suggested, they also may make a comment on the belt in the back not being aligned. Also, you may want to consider trimming the lens screws down a little, just as a precaution. But first, the DO's will want to know a little more about you. Please go back to your first post and add a few lines: Name: Legion ID: Forum Name: Garrison: and include a link to your 501st approval page.

Pix look great! Glad you have had a chance to break it in! Before they ask, they will be looking for a link to your 501st approval page. Good Luck, Sean!

Thighs are looking good, Mike! One additional thought on the belt is to put on the Kittle belt and get it where it needs to be and then attach the Velcro as you wrap the plastic ammo belt around your body. In other words, don't try to attach it while it is flat on the table...

Same here. I ended up getting them from ukswrath and had them in about 3 days. He has them ready to ship! BTW, Mike's fans are from 'eqdizzle'

+5 on the Magic Eraser with a little moisture! I store my blaster in my bin with my armor. I tuck all my arms, shins and thighs together and then slide my blaster inside the opening that remains. If anything rubs, it is on the inside edges and not noticeable.

Sounds like you are proceeding with the thighs, but if they were so hard to get in place, I was going to recommend the boiled water bath treatment. It is relatively thick plastic that will not curl up when dipped in hot water. I'd try it for 5-10 seconds to see how it reacts. Probably it would just be getting warm. On mine, it took about 30 seconds to get hot so I could persuade it into place. Glad to see the fans came in. I got mine this week as well and need to get them installed before Saturday's ball game troop. I like the helmet pads as well. Sure looks nicer than my random pieces of leftover foam. Is the top piece padded much?

Awesooooome! Congrats, Ricky! Your assignment is to go out an make smiles!

Guess I need to look into changing my counter to my TK number. If mine were misplaced and someone traced the TK ID, they would send it right back to justjoseph. Which wouldn't be a bad thing. Is there any image that has all the counter numbers that can be photoshopped? Or, how did you make your own TK ID for your counter?

You are right on track! I hear ya. At Eric's B-Day, I even had a Wookiee catch my back snaps!

Congrats on the run and Nice Work on the progress. Shoulder straps look right on! One note of something that caught me... On my EIB App, my back shot had too much gap between my shoulder bells and back plate. OK, it wasn't a gap, more like a ravine. When you get further along with the suit and you are not taking the picture, check to see that you have a reasonable gap on the front and back at your shoulders. Sorry I'm late to the party, but I'd like to cover thoughts on two previous topics... Snaps - When I started collecting tools and parts, I bought the Dritz snaps from Wally World. I know they say to avoid them, but being anxious to get started, I bought them. Turns out for that cheap price, they come with the setting tool and backing plate thingy. Those tools are what I used to pound all my snaps into place. As for the actual snaps, since they did not have anything written on the back plate, those are the ones I used for the three visible rivets on the Ab and Butt plates. The remainder of the snaps I used for my strapping were from lunchtime trips to Tandy. Here is my snap setting workspace: Yes, I also used the phillips screwdriver trick to start the snaps... Shoulder Straps - The CRL calls for `white fabric or preferably elastic strap' only for Centurion. As I worked on my build, I read where someone else started with 2" elastic across the shoulders until after a few troops, the elastic stretched so much that the chest and back plates were uncomfortably sagging. Since the CRL would allow it, I went with the 2" nylon strap across the shoulders to assure I wouldn't have that issue. The only shoulder strapping issue I had was my shoulder bell-to-shoulder strap snaps kept coming unsnapped. Multiple times in a troop I'd need a handler to fix me. I have since sewed white industrial strength Velcro over these snaps and have had no issues since. The Velcro also gives flexibility to adjust shoulder bell placement to eliminate gaps. I know this is a little late, but hopefully it can help someone along the way. Let me know if you need any help with the ANOVOS/Kittle surgery...

So, it looks like this many people are raising their hands and ready to get this ordering thing underway. But the Commander in Charge says, only 15 more days...

I'm in for one!

Great stories, Troopers! It is great to hear others have been able to "spread fun in a charming way" and make people smile. Yes, by all means, there must be a balance between having fun and being serious. There are times for both. We can be very scary to little ones and doing something funny to help them comfortable with you may be just what it takes. And as for what would Vader say? The Vader I troop with has over 280 troops and he knows the balance. Many of the fun tricks that I do, I learned from Vader! I read somewhere an old timer put it all in perspective... "We're middle aged nerds wearing Tupperware. Keep it fun."

Congrats, Kris. Well done! Great looking TK!

Wow! Thanks Andrew and Tony for all your hard work in reviewing and scrutinizing these applications. The level of detail that you consider makes me realize that approved Centurion TK's are as close to screen accurate perfection as can be. I am thrilled to be included in this level! My approval is another examples of Troopers Helping Troopers. From all the surfing through build threads, the EIB and Centurion applications and all the suggestions, instructions and advice provided by other Troopers, it is possible to aim high and reach those goals. I want to say `Thanks' to those that have provided personal guidance along my path from a desert roaming Tusken to TK, EIB and now, Centurion - Thanks Ukswrath, Sly11, justjoseph63, PiettLives, Airborne Trooper, jr1203, Pencap510, Comfy Turtle, Khazid, 68Brick, mkjava, illusionz_09, jr1203, Bugman57. Ukswrath (Tony) and Sly11 (Andrew) were always ready to answer my PM questions. I've recently had a chance to work with mkjava on his path to TK and am willing to help anyone else I can! I also want to thank Ken (PiettLives) my squad's Imperial Attaché for the time spent critiquing my mostly-complete-but-not-quite-finish TK. I highly recommend using your Attaché as a resource of one who has been there and already built a TK and knows how they should look and fit. Thanks, Ken! And Thanks Joseph (jj63) for taking on the reigns of overseeing all the FISD Attachés so that everyone has this resource available! With this accomplishment, I can take a break and enjoy an Imperial beverage. After all, it is a "Star" bucks!

Now that I have a few troops under my TK belt, I have seen what our costumes can do to other people and can make them smile and laugh. Those smiles are what makes me want to do this more than ever. And there are some things that a Stormtrooper can do for fun to make people have a better time and laugh more. Here are some that I came up with. Try them yourselves! Things to Do While Trooping: Photobomb whenever possible! - If you see people lining up in front of you, look over their shoulders or around them and make sure you see their camera. Did I Smile?­ – After they take your picture, ask them, ‘Was I smiling?’, or, ‘Did I blink?’ Sometimes, they will actually go and view the photo and start to laugh when they realize the joke. Walk Funny! - When I’m called to join others in a group line for a photo, I may walk over like a penguin, waddling back and forth, or like Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops. However, when I’m with a group, it is a formal military walk! Ask for Blue Milk at food establishment order lines. When they don’t have it, say something like ‘What kind of a planet and I deployed on?’ Get Selfies with Mom/Dad! - After they take pictures of their kids with you, walk up to them and say “You need to be in a picture, too. Selfie time!” If they say 'No', ask when have you ever had a chance to get a selfie with a Stormtrooper? Works every time! Look for Droids! - Walk up with another Stormtrooper to middle-aged to teenaged people, look at their phone, hold it if they will let you, shake your heads and hand it back, saying “This is not the Droid we are looking for” and walk on. Works great, especially if it is an Apple iPhone. Join the Activities that are going on - playing Bingo, coloring pictures, reading books - anything that the kids are doing that can be done in costume, the kids are thrilled if you do it too. Quote the movies! – Most people from teens and older, know the movies well enough to recognize a line from them. Many times, they say lines first. Good ones I’ve used are: “I have a bad feeling about this!” “Move Along!” “Do I talk first or you talk first? I talk first?” “The Force is strong with this one!” “I find your lack of _____ disturbing!” (fill in the blank with something going on – cheer, decorations, refreshments, customers or use the original, faith) Although not spoken in any movie, a line that is understood and always gets a laugh is, “Don’t make me shoot in your general direction!" At a recent troop at a church, a lady thought we were members there and asked me “Who was I?” I couldn’t resist and replied “I’m no one”. She then asked, “What’s your name?” I just had to answer, in my male voice, “Rey!” She chuckled. Act Goofy behind the camera man - Try giving bunny ears to a photographer who’s taking a picture of other Troopers and family. Or play with their hair, or make any other funny gestures to make those getting the picture to smile, or laugh! Give Bunny Ears! - People are so excited to be standing next to such a celebrity from the movies that all they want is a picture. They start laughing when look at the picture of the two of you and they see bunny ears over their head. Works great in group shots, as well. What do you do to make people smile?

All I could think of was how many more new costumes we will have to choose from. I do see a number of changes to the TK, but the shot of her beating the TK is more proof that having the back of your shins unhooked, is still cannon! For the time period of when Rogue One takes place, maybe this can help. Not mine, just lifted it from FB.

No rush. Just taking advantage of down time between deployments. <br><br> I'll just go back to my quarters and take apart my blaster to see why it can't shoot straight.

Basic Information: Name: Jeff Salt Legion ID: 50297 Forum Name: wingnut65 Garrison: Florida Garrison / Tampa Bay Squad 501st Status TK-50297 EIB Status TK-50297 Requesting ANH Stunt EIB Status [ATA] Mandatory Information: Armor Maker: Affordable Trooper Armor (ATA) Helmet Maker: ATA Blaster Maker: DD resin kit with many upgrades. Built by justjoseph63 Optional, but still very important Information: Height: 5’-10’’ (178 cm) Weight: 170 lbs. (77 Kg) Boots: Bass Amsterdam Boots in Nu-Life ‘White’ shoe spray Canvas Belt: Trooperbay Hand Plates: Karin Sonnenschein Rivets: Echo Neck Seal: Darman’s Props Holster: Darman’s Props Helmet Details: Hand Painted by wingnut65 Mic Tips: ATA’s Standard Issue TD Clips: By wingnut65 S-Trim: ATA’s Standard Issue Inner Drop Boxes: ATA’s Standard Issue Finance Minister: Mrs. Wingnut65 Full Body Front Left Back - Updated photo here with TD centered! Note: Thermal Detonator was knocked by the blast door on the way out to take photos. Right - Updated photo here without Kidney/Ab overlap. Right Side Detail (Note: male snap is sneaking out from under the chest. It is visible in another image, below) Updated photo here without Kidney/Ab overlap. Left Side Detail Action Shot And another shot from a day in the life of a Stormtrooper. Armor Details Ab/Kidney Attachment and Kidney Plate Notch In case they are not clear in the pictures above, this close-up of Ab Button Orientation is from the build process Hand Plates Shoulder Bridge Back/Front and Back/Chest Connection Knee Plate and Thigh Pack Attachment Cod and Butt Plate Attachment Interior Strapping Butt to Kidney Wrist side of Forearms (Note: All arm and legs have butt joints with cover strips) - Updated photo here with additional returns removed. Helmet Details Front Sides Back Hovi Tip Detail Hand Painted Traps, Tears and Tube Stripes Lens Color S - Trim Blaster Details D-Ring Accessory Details Neck Seal Thermal Detonator Holster Attachment With Drop Box Back Thanks for your time and service to the First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment. Your dedication is outstanding and very much appreciated! Thank you in advance for your consideration!

Awesoooome! Thank you Gentlemen for your time to review and scrutinize my application. My Centurion app is forthcoming!