CommanderZel

Yeah, I need to look at how to do the teeth again. I underestimated them and now I'm realizing my mistakes. I don't think I've done anything irreparable, but they're inconvenient to say the least.

Yeah, I'm scarring the plastic around the teeth pretty badly. I've tried doing it with an exacto knife, but I end up cutting off way more than I intend to. I think I'm going to manually file it down from now on rather than using the tool I'd used before. As for fixing the scarring, I might try to make an abs paste it if my waste abs and brush it over the scars and sand it down to fill in the scratches.

I think that what you're supposed t do is just trim the neck according to the opening size you need after it's been assembled. That's what I plan on doing, at any rate.

Alright, I got some tools for Christmas, so now I'm finally able to start really working on this. This shot isn't super in-focus, but it's a good way to show what I've done so far. I've got the eyes out and I have four teeth mostly done, although I expect there's still some work to be done on the eyes and the teeth alike. Closeup of the left eye. Again, not very well-focused, but hopefully good enough to help you guys help me. There's a better shot of the frown later, so ignore that for now. Here's the right eye. It's much more in-focus than the left. Again, ignore the frown. Here's a closer shot of the frown, although it isn't particularly great either. Here are the two front teeth. I'm a little worried about these because I'm not sure whether I should go with the natural slant of the frown or if I should have trimmed straight across the top like I did with the tooth on the right. I'll probably end up slanting both of them so that they match. Thanks for your help, everybody!

Yeah, I've been noticing that it might be difficult to get the pieces to fit together if I'm not careful.

No, I planned on doing the neck opening last. However, while I was penciling in some basic cut lines to get a feel for where I would eventually be cutting and laying neck trim, I noticed that the trim lines for the neck opening on the faceplate seem to be less clear than the rest of the cut lines on the helmet. The only reason that I drew in more permanent cut lines on the neck opening was that I want to know where I should cut before I get to the point where I'm ready to cut. I'm not worried about the neck trim line on the cap, because that line is very clear. That's why I haven't drawn in actual cut lines on the cap yet. I'd just rather be prepared to cut before I have to cut.

Yeah, I've read both of those. The first thead you posted is one that I'm trying to follow pet carefully with this build, but he seems to gloss over the process of actually drawing the cut lines. Really, my biggest difficult is with the cut line near the vocoder.

Well I think that I put this thread in the wrong section, but I'll keep updating it because I don't know how to move or delete threads. I started on my definitive cutting lines tonight, and I've gotten most of them done. I have a few questions, but I'll cover those later in the post. Here's what I have so far: For the ears- I included both pairs and the basic cut lines I drew for them so that you guys could tell me which ears you think are the best and most suited to building a quality bucket. For the mask- This is really the part of the mask that I'm most worried about at the moment: There seemed to be several lines on which to cut, and I'm not really sure how far up the neck the neck trim is supposed to go. I've looked through tutorials, but I haven't found what I'm looking for. It'd be really excellent if someone could point me in the right direction with this part. Especially with the little bubble and the lower potential line. I'm just not sure which to do. Most of what I've seen has pointed towards the top line, the one closest to the vocoder, but I'm hesitant to start cutting without knowing where is best to do so. I'm planning on saving the neck trimming for once I have my ears installed, but that doesn't make me any less nervous about this. As for the cap, this is what I've got- I haven't done the cut line for the trimming on the back of the cap because I'm saving that for the very last step so I can make sure it matches up with the mask. If any of the cut lines seem shaky, it's because I'm not an artist and have a fairly unsteady hand when it comes to things like this. I like working in pencil if I ever draw anything, but the ABS has been really hard for me to draw on in pencil. I drew very very light guide lines for myself with pencil, but I didn't post any pictures of the pencil work because the lines were so faint that they wouldn't show up in the pictures. I was nervous to use Sharpie, but it comes off pretty easily with rubbing alcohol. Any input is helpful!

Yeah, I'll definitely be spending a great deal of time on this.

Thanks, I'll have to check those out. The ears are the only part that I'm really worried about, and I was surprised to see how much thicker they are than the rest of the kit.

I got my smallish brown box tonight and I couldn't wait to open it! I've been waiting for this for a long time, so I'm going to be taking my time on it. I also don't have all the tools I need quite yet, so that will set me back a little while as well. I thought I'd start by drawing my cut lines based on the natural indentations and all of the builds I've followed in preparation for this. It's late here so I won't be posting my cut line pictures tonight, but I'll get them up tomorrow once I make sure that they're what I think are correct. Then I'll turn them over to all of you to see if I've missed anything. I have no idea what to do for cut lines on the ears, so I'm going to research those a little more before I move on the ears. Anything you guys want to tell me is more helpful than I can explain! I can't wait to get this all on its' feet so that I can finally join the 501st!

Ah, I wasn't aware that the TD is so easy to remove. My bad, and thank you for putting that thought to rest

But the TD is attached to your armor... Surely you'd be able to tell if someone was unclipping the TD?

Not sure how doable this is with your particular armor, but I've heard of people having removable caps on their thermal detonators, which allows them to store electronics or other things in there. You'd have to pack them with something so that the TD doesn't make a rattling sound when you walk, and I don't know how well your armor would handle the stress, but it might be something to check out.

There it is. It's clearer than the io9 screencap, too.

I've got some screencaps of the e-11 that I'll be posting in a minute. EDIT: I only have one screencap, but it's fairly clear.

An alternative idea might be to use the plasti-dip/cheesecloth method that I've seen some others use around here. I'm considering using it for my own bucket once I get the ball rolling. You can see it in action here: ---------- Though you'll have to do a bit of scrolling. From what I understand, this gives the inside a nice black matte finish and a little more density and weight to the bucket. It makes it feel more like a prop and less like a costume piece. I also haven't heard anything about moisture buildup with this method. Just an alternate suggestion to keep the black inside idea while saving yourself a sweat-bath every time you troop.

I'm glad you've got the times. I'd looked, but I hadn't been able to find any specifics. Thanks for letting us know!

I dunno about you guys, but the trailer is what I'm giving thanks for this year

Sorry man, that's a fan-made video. My friend showed it to me and I did some research on it. The real teaser won't be released till Friday, but then we'll have 80 new seconds of Star Wars to nerd out about!

Alright, thank you both.

With all that being said about there no longer being a scuffing requirement, would scuffed boots be denied 501st membership? I came into the ownership of a pair of accurate boots which had been scuffed in order for the previous owner to achieve centurion. If I were to use these boots, would they be accepted or would I have to remove the scuffs?

So do I! I had no idea the community would be so giving. I came into this looking for advice, but it's been a lot more than that. Everyone I've interacted with has been amazing and wonderfully helpful. I've been trying to figure out how to afford and build a suit to join the 501st for something like five years, and this community has brought me almost all the way with its openness and generosity. Every day I get more and more excited to join the 501st because I can't imagine a better group of people to get together with to love star wars and make people happy. Something special happens when a group of people share a love of something, and it isn't something that happens often enough. Thank you all for being more than I ever could have hoped for, both as individuals and as a community. Thank you.

Thank you so much

If you're willing to part with them for around that much, that's about the best deal I think I've heard. That 90$ price was with shipping and all that though, so depending on how much you're looking for I might still go with those. I'll PM you in a little while so we can talk it over.