Drage13
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Jason
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Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
I had not reached out to MTK; I didn't see them in the newbie article about armor providers, so completely glossed over him. Are there some review threads you'd recommend I look at for this armor (I'm looking over the links in your signature now)? That said, I'm probably a message or two from pulling the trigger with Troopermaster, so I'm not sure if I'm going to change course at this point. -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
Unfortunately, I received the same response, which was quite disappointing since it seemed that that was going to be my best bet for my body's build. I am now looking to move forward with different brand, but am a little anxious about shimming. -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
I've started leaning more toward RT-Mod, based on research I've done. However, I've sent a couple of messages over the past two weeks and I haven't heard anything from RT-Mod. I know he travels quite a bit for work from what I've read. Has anyone heard from him during that time? I sent a couple of emails from my personal email, then also a PM through these forums, in case a spam filter is at fault. -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
So it sounds like going with AP would make shimming, possibly quite a bit of shimming, guaranteed. It seems to me that if going with RS Props or Troopermaster would reduce the amount of shimming I'd have to do, or eliminate it altogether, that would be ideal. Would anyone with experience with those kits be able to help clarify that for me? -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
Just measured and it looks like my calves are about 17" around and my thighs are about 24"-25", if that helps. I wear a size 36 in jeans comfortably, but below the waist. -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
So far I have received recommendations for an AP kit, a RS props kit and Troopermaster. I haven't heard back from Troopermaster yet, but it's only been a few days, so I figure I'll give it a week before following up. I got a quote from AP right away, and of course RS has their prices on their website. I did get a chance to try to do a measurement today. I did this using my wife's cloth measuring tape without her assistance, so my best estimate is that, at my belly button, I have a circumference of around 44-46 inches or so. Would this be a problem with any of those three kits? Lastly, since I don't think I said this before, I figured I would say I'd like a kit that's accurate enough to get to Centurion without too much "ingenuity", but after that, I'd rather have a kit that looks great/"idealized" then one with a "better" lineage. Thanks again for all of the help so far! *EDIT* - Troopermaster replied as I was typing this message. This forum needs an embarrassed emote. -
Looking for assistance in choosing armor
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in Hard Armor (General Discussion)
Thank you for the response! I'm located in Iowa and also posted a request for help on their forum as well. -
Hello all, I am looking for some advice/feedback on picking out which set of armor I should purchase. I've reviewed this article, and while I find it very helpful, I'm also hoping that I can get some more useful information giving some more information specific to what I'm looking for. This will be my first Star Wars costume; I was a Civil War reenactor for a few years when I was in high school, but that was a long time ago, and frankly, it was much easier than what this endeavor looks like it will be. I just went a bought items that were for sale at the different reenactments, so no "fabrication" was required. That said, I do have some past experience wearing hot costumes in hot weather while hauling around a musket, so I figure that's a plus. In terms of my skills that are transferable to building a kit, I am sorely lacking. I have some experience in working with plastic miniatures (Warhammer 40K), but I'm not pretending that my experience in that hobby is going to be of much use here. I am generally not skilled in building things, or working with tools. On the plus side, I have a friend who has volunteered to help me. Also, my timeline for this build is likely a year or two; I have a family with a small child, work full time, have other hobbies and social commitments and again, I'm planning on this being a rocky road, hence the long timeframe. I have decided that I'm going to do ANH Stunt build, with the plan to build upon it to make it a HWT costume. I also have aspirations of pursuing Centurion "out-of-the-box". Concerning my budget, I'm always open to saving money, or not wasting money, but if I spent $2,500 or so over the course of the time it takes to build this project, I'd be OK with that. I would appreciate a kit that was easier to work with, very reliable/solid, and wears well over time. Obviously, going for Centurion, it needs to look great as well; this is probably the top consideration, while easy to work with, while desired, is the least important. I can always plod along for a year or two on a more difficult kit, if need be. For body type considerations, I am 5' 10" tall and weight around 215-220 lbs. I am actually the heaviest that I have ever been; normally I'm floating around the 200 lbs. mark, though I should really be around 180 lbs. That said, I'm self-aware enough (barely) to know that I'm probably not going to start working toward changing my weight anytime soon, so unless something forces me to lose weight, I'm not likely to drop lots of weight. It's possible that I may gain some more weight, or my wife might put me on a diet, so having a costume that could potentially adjust a bit would be helpful. My gut overhangs the belt by 3 inches. I have a little bit smaller frame, I believe, than "normal", though I have a larger head. For what it's worth, my dress shirts are 16.5" neck and 34"/35" arm length. From everything I've read so far, I'm rather leaning toward contacting Troopermaster and seeing about getting a kit (if that's how things are done). I guess I'm looking for some validation on my thinking of that before contacting him, or alternatively, reasons to consider going another route. Apologies if this thread is better suited for a different sub-forum; if need be, please feel free to move it as needed. Thanks for reading! Looking forward to trooping in the future!
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Questions about planning a Centurion build
Drage13 replied to Drage13's topic in FISD Centurion Requirements
Excellent! Thank you both so much for your help. Armed with this information, I'll start putting together a my strategy. Again, thank you and Happy Thanksgiving! -
Hello all, Apologies if this if not the correct forum to post this request in; I didn’t know if the ANH or HWT subforums were better suited for this post, but decided since it’s really geared toward planning a Centurion build that this forum would be good. I have decided that I want to build a Stormtrooper costume and am here for some guidance. This will be my first time building any kind of costume like this; really the only relevant experience I have is that I’m a 40K player, so working with (certain kinds of) plastic/resin isn’t completely new to me, but I am under no delusions that this will come naturally to me. I do plan on creating a different thread both here and on my local garrison’s forum, asking some more questions about advice on any special considerations for choosing armor (giving my measurements and goals of Centurion status, for example). However, my first goal is determining the feasibility of my plans below. I have also decided that I would like to build toward Centurion out of the box. So, I proceed to look over the 501st site to help determine which impression I’d like to do. In addition to being drawn to a “typical†Stormtrooper, I was also quite drawn to the HWT impression. Based on that, I went line by line through the HWT requirements (for Legion acceptance, EIB and Centurion), then also compared them, again line by line, to the RotJ, ESB and ANH (Stunt and Hero) requirements, to determine the best fit. I did this to determine the feasibility of having a single “base†costume, but able to do two different impressions. I feel like this information is probably out there somewhere and that I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, but oh well. I did see that in the EIB Program Overview thread started by Daetrin that the differences between the ANH builds and the HWT was that the HWT just had a couple of extras. However, on the 501st site, it seemed as though there were some minor differences that may be relevant, so I want to be thorough. That said, what I determined is that the ANH Stunt build appears to be by far the best match for going both impressions. I have some questions below about some of the differences. For almost all (if not all) of the armor pieces, the HWT build calls for everything to be “lightly scuffed, (battle worn), but not weathered like a Sandtrooper (TD)â€. This detail is not listed on any of the “standard†Stromtrooper costumes, including the ANH Stunt build. Would doing said “scuffing†make the costume ineligible for ANH Stunt Centurion status? For the shoulder straps, the different between the two is that the HWT calls for “securely mounted in front and may free float in back. They may be affixed with rivets, Velcro, or adhesive†while the ANH Stunt calls for the same, but also calls for “The plastic shoulder straps need to be held down in the back via a white elastic band to the white fabric that connects/bridges the chest and back pieceâ€. Is there any incompatibility here, or still can one way fit both criteria? For the belts, it would seem that I’ll need two belts, one with drop boxes (for the ANH Stunt build) and one without drop boxes (for the HWT build). Correct? For the thermal detonator, the ANH Stunt build calls for “metal or metallic-appearing clips, approximately 1" (25mm) wideâ€, while the HWT build doesn’t mention fasteners at all. Would following the ANH Stunt guidelines be appropriate? For the thigh armor, the ANH Stunt build indicates the “solid head rivet attachment is painted whiteâ€, while no mention on the HWT build. Will the ANH Stunt requirement be fine for both? Lastly, the ANH Stunt build calls for a holster while the HWT one doesn’t, but that seems self-explanatory to me. Again, thank you for your help and clarification on these points. I wanted to make sure I had a sound strategy in place before I started more in-depth planning.