ZeroRoom

Post Edited By ZeroRoom - Photos fixed and thread moved---------

Hi everyone ZeroRoom (Lucas) here. I've been lurking around these forums making the odd post here and there for around 4 years now, but mostly reading. Reading, reading and more reading. Like most of you here I've dreamed of wearing white armor since I was 3 years old. (there's a story there but I'll tell it some other time ) However, while I've kept in contact with my local garrison, picked up and proudly displayed an MRCE and stuck to weekly research here at FISD, it was not until now (25 years later) that I was in a financial position to make the dream a reality. Most of this was getting my business/ financial stability off the ground and much was due to the traditionally terrible exchange rate between the Australian and US dollar. Now that both the Australian dollar and my personal finances have risen, I have finally had the chance to make the leap and drop the cash for my personal set of armor. After years of weighing I decided to go with AM. Knowing that a lot of you are in the same position as myself, carefully researching BEFORE committing to a maker/ build (which I encourage anyone to do) I thought I'd start a post explaining the ins and outs of my decision for those considering their own. So without further ado: Why I chose AM Lite for my first set of armor. 1: Fit I'm 6'2". I'm slender (160 pounds) but have long legs and arms and was very concerned about proportion. My research has taught me that you can be any size difference from an on screen TK but proportions make all the difference. This has to do with the gaps between the shins and thighs around the knees, the arm gaps at the elbows and the shoulder/ chest plate gaps. Looking at other armor this definitely meant for me that that the shins, thighs and forearms would be a crucial element in making my armor look it's best. Particularly in the shins and forearms 100% screen accurate scale armor would look weirdly short on me. AM armor has also been sized on the press to fit larger individuals both in height and girth. As I said I'm thin and this did concern me but that's what trimming is for! Weight aside - if you are taller AM is scaled slightly longer and that is important for the 6' plus wanna be trooper. 2: Ease of assembly Remember this is my first TK suit build. Not only is it widely reported that the AM kit is one of the easier assemblies (for example it comes pre trimmed) but having read nigh on every single build thread on FISD it was easy to a certain that an AM build would be the simplest starting point. (Go PandaTrooper!) I work as an artist/ designer and have a great deal of experience with sculpture and industrial design of various kinds, so I have confidence in my skills, but I also have enough experience to know that you should always start easy and never overestimate your skills when building something you have never built before. 3: Idealised trooper vision It's no secret that AM is far from the most screen accurate armor but there is more to it than that. Firstly (as discussed above) truly screen accurate wouldn't look screen accurate on me due to my body proportions. Secondly it is, and always has been, my intention to go idealized over screen accurate. As I mentioned this has been a SERIOUS dream since childhood (I even dreamed up the idea of vacuum forming armor on my high school's vacuum table before I'd even heard of the 501st) so it was natural that I started with the presumption that full blown screen accurate was the only way to go. Intensive research and hours upon hour on FISD however demonstrated clearly to me that the amount of mistakes/ variations/ quick fixes on screen used armor kits varied so much form trooper to trooper that to live the dream as I had always imagined it meant developing a coalescence of various trooper elements to create a stormtrooper as I had always imagined them to look. (ie: no gaffer tape!) AM fits this bill with a bit of work and I have no doubt in my anal retentive attention to detail in making my own decisions as to which inaccuracies to fix and which to keep for the sake of idealism. 4: Fan Sculpt Since discovering the 501st and the FISD I have developed a real respect and affection for the "garage" work of the committed fans who use any and every method available to make this stuff for themselves. The idea of some screen lineage is obviously important for some troopers and I totally understand this but I really began to focus on RT, TM and AM as my love for the idea that this was original fan work, blood, sweat and tears that had sculpted this stuff. I suppose I am biased as a designer myself but I love the idea of a sculpt from scratch and this kind of dedication is the kind I'd rather reward with my money. 5: Customer Service Obviously I wasn't in a position to discover this until I actually placed my order but I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to praise the friendliness, professionalism and pleasure of dealing with Mighty Tank. A great communicator, he provided me with unbelievably fast replies to my enquiries, shipped like lightning, gave me tracking details and generally made the experience a pleasure. I could not recommend his services more. So that sums up the decision making process behind my choice of armor. It is not a recommendation - we all have our own specifics wants and needs when choosing our armor. I just wanted to provide a post that might add some "why" to the what's and how's so graciously provided on the FISD. Regardless of your final choice I hope that if you are in th market for your first TK kit this post will help you weigh up your options. Stay tuned for the "what was it like when it got here?' review!

That ESB lid looks truly spectacular I must say dude.... Can't wait to see what you did with your armor.

Hey guys, I've been away a while and thought I'd get back in action around here. Busybwtith work and a bit of traveling so Ive been away from "hobbying" for a bit... In the meantime Ive almost got my blaster scratch build done (pics soon) and am thinking of selling my (unbuilt) fx kit and changing up. Being taller 6'2" I'm keen on what I've heard and seen around here of the ATA kit for some more accuracy at an FX like price. Before I go plunging though can anyone around here with ATA kits give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down on these? My building skills are not genius level but are not too bad either, so some feedback on the skill level required would be great (I've heard varying reports on the ease of the build of ATA) Prettykeen to order straight away and get started (just got a bit of spare cash) but don't want to do anything rash withoutnchecking itnoutnwith anyone whonhas built one. No one here in western Australia has even ordered this kit so first hand feedback is non existent! Thanks in advance guys - I look forward tom getting back to regular posting. Cheers Lucas Ps: sorry for any weird typos here - still getting used to my new iPad keyboard...

That's freakin' genius!

I recently stumbled upon a handy tip that could be valuable for TK builders everywhere. Recently I had to cut up a fibreglass mannequin and reassemble her in order to reduce her height by about 20cm. I took a band around the legs and a band around the waist and put her back together with a bit of wood framing inside and a whole lot of bondo. But what I learnt was this - I couldn't use a hack saw to cut the legs up because of the width of the legs and the fiddly nooks in the inner thigh region. Also the smooth surface of the fibreglass made getting enough tooth for a smooth cut tricky. I discovered if you put a very small engraving point on a dremel, then score the cut line as you would if you were drawing it with a pen, one more go over the same score with the engraving bit and it will push right through the fibre glass and cut a perfect neat line like it was going through butter. Cutting it this way was as easy as drawing. I haven't yet tried it on the proverbial white plastic but given how much thicker the fibreglass was than ABS armour I'd wager this would be a very quick, smooth and easily controlled method for perfectionist trimming of armour. Much easier to use than a hot blade and doesn't require "snapping" like using a box cutter. Just thought it was worth sharing! Lucas

WOW! That's amazing! (I hope I never have to use it..)

I sat here for the longest time not knowing what to say. Wanting to write but wondering whether anything I could write would even be worth it. It can't be. But I'm writing anyway so that you know just how many people care. Be you.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK No two ways...

And hell- if it doesn't work for you inside your helmet you can always use it for your next bank robbery spree

Thanks guys. I have a public folder on my .mac account that acts like drop box. Is there a way though that I can set the link up so that you don't have to click, go to my folder and then download but rather just start the download straight out of the forum thread?

I've created a bunch of 501st desktop Icons and wanted to post them here for everyone. How do I post a link that will allow the user to just click it and begin downloading the file? Maybe a stoopid question but you gotta ask...

Re: The above edit. So sorry! Got carried away in my enthusiasm and didn't think...

FANTASTIC!

I just thought I should share this story with everyone here, as a salute to what a fantastic guy TE2 is. I had expressed my interest in the anniversary run of anniversary armor but unfortunately had to message **** and tell him that the accounts department (the wife) had declared the purchase economically unfeasable for at least two months. When I explained to **** that even my cries of "but then I won't get the anniversary Tee!" weren't even enough to sway her cold, hard, heart ( ) he said that he totally understood my situation and that if I told him my size he would save a tee-shirt for me and when I do place my order for real he will include the anniversary T-Shirt with when it shipped anyway! Now that's big hearted service and I just thought kindness like that should be posted here for everyone to know. What a guy!

Thanks for that Daetrin, much appreciated. I've been obsessively researching and researching because I want to know that hen I buy my kit it's the right one for me without doubts. (esp since living in Australia shoots the cost of a kit up just by postage alone) It does seem to me to be more about the builder and how carefully they put the kit together than it does about the specific maker of the kit...

That second ab plate you bought what make is it? The button plates look a lot smaller?...

Amen! Worse still it looks like they blew up that truly bobble headed first release hasbro 12" Stormtrooper figure (circa 96)... Maybe THAT'S what you wanna dress up as when you wear this suit...

I'm with you on the ears - especially if you're looking for accuracy, however the brow just isn't an issue for me - I've always like the straight brow and in the OT those wonky brows always bugged me as a mistake by a slack prop master..

Indeed it does. I ask as I am looking to go for elite and am currently making decisions on the appropriate kit for me. I must admit I am a fan of idealised but my biggest concern was that at 6'1" screen accurate armour might be a hard fit, but that I did not want to compromise my attempts at elite. So thanks for that.

Are the elite standards open to all makes of armor? (with the exception of the FX helmet I am aware). Must one have AP or TE2 or some screen accurate armor to apply for elite or are fan sculpts like RT-Mod acceptable provided the details listed in the standards doc are met?

BTW: Are those standard FX ab button plates or have you replaced them?

This is the second FX suit build with modded MRCE that I've seen now and I've gotta say they look really good. Maybe they can't be considered as "screen accurate" as is possible but the more I stare at these pics and some of Jgarretg's build he sent me the more I begin to wonder if this isn't just a damn good set to go for genuinely idealized armor.. Not that this will ever alter my loyalty to RT Mod...

Damn this is looking good! You should go into the vac table business!

Looking good due. Jam some of that oh so awesome black tubing in as per your helmet mod and it'll be looking sooo SW universe... It has been said many times but the inside of your lid looks just too cool..