Chills

Good progress, Josh. For the connection between the ab and kidney on the right side, you can put a second strap below the first one; just use snap plates on both sides. Your belt may keep this section closed (that's all that was used for the TKs in ANH), but you might want a little extra holding the sides together. I like your idea of two snaps on the shoulder. I've got one, and while there's not weight on it (shoulder bells attach to each other) one of the snaps keeps popping during troops. I might make an adjustment here.

Great work on the belt, Josh. Looks MUCH better. Also, you did a lot of strapping in one day, excellent! Keep posting those pics; you're cruising along.

Thanks!! I have to say I'm pretty proud to see the red and blue ribbons under my name.

Gotcha! Sounds like you've got the right plan in mind. I also used Chicago screws for my holster; its great being able to take it off the belt for transport. Oh, one other thing I noticed about your belt (pleaaaaaaaase don't kill me): the 2 outer rivet covers should be much closer to the edge of the belt. I also originally thought they were centered between the edge and the first boxes, but they aren't. They're supposed to be just a few mm away from the edge, but centered top to bottom. You can kinda see it here. But check out the Centurion applications, you'll see it there. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/2265-stanh94/

Glad I could help out, Josh. You're really doing a bang-up job! It's funny you said that about the buttons. I was worried about them getting messed up, too. I glued them on and didn't paint them until the end; however if yours get a little knick here or there it's easily fixed with the Testors. Your idea for some tape over the buttons should protect them just fine. Hey, before you drill more holes, is it possible just to flip your belt 180 degrees? I know that means redoing your drop boxes, but that might be easier than messing with male snaps on the ab. I remember how hard it was to get those suckers installed.

Christopher Hills 51114 Centurion Letter Much appreciated!

Thanks guys!

Hey Josh, before you go further with the belt, I have to point out it's a bit low. It should be high enough where the top covers the bottom of the button plate on the ab just a little. I suggest that you add two male snaps higher up. Otherwise, the belt is looking great.

Wow!! This is awesome. Thanks, Steve, for your comments and write up. This trooper is on cloud 9 right now! I appreciate your guidance and assistance during the build. Thanks to the the members of FISD for their support. It feels pretty cool to be the first TM-wearing TK in the Midwest... and now a Centurion!

Great looking build, so far, Josh. One thing about your thigh ammo pack, it should be angled up so that the top of the pack touches the bottom of that coverstrip.

Congratulations Centurion!

Nice work! Congratulations, Kyle. Welcome to EIB.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Would you say the decals look like they are hand painted or are they too perfectly printed? My friends are hoping to eventually apply for Centurion, and this is a requirement. BTW, your helmet paint job looks really nice.

Very cool looking set of armor. Nicely done. That weathering must have taken forever; but it looks great. Good luck!

LOL@ Scott. Good eye, I had to go back to see the notecard on the floor. The things he mentioned are also what popped out at me, ab/kidney gap and shoulder bridges sticking up a bit. It also looks like the cloth portion of your belt is pretty long, there is a bit of extra beyond your TD. One question: did you paint the helmet or are they decals? I'm just curious because I have some friends who are building AP armor (husband/wife working on a set for each) and they said theirs came with the decals and I'd like to see how they look on a completed helmet. You did a real nice job on this armor. Good luck!

Interesting, one of the TKs had that problem at our last troop. And I get feedback if my amp is turned up a bit too high. Turning down the volume always gets rid of it for me. I have a tendency to want to turn up the Aker volume high, because it always sounds soft to me. I end up having it a little lower than I think is ideal, but I've asked other troopers when I'm out, and they say the volume sounds great. Try the volume and see if that helps.

Type mine on a calculator, turn it upside down and you have my last name (lower case letters).

Thanks guys! I fixed the three things gaz mentioned in the EIB (back/kidney overlap, rear thigh cover strips, and cod rivet paint) so I have my fingers crossed. Yep, my back/chest are not connected to the ab/kidney. I used suspenders for the latter. For the former I used the usual shoulder webbing and side elastic. Suiting up is pretty easy, so is packing. Plus I can rotate my upper body and bend a little more than if they were attached. For the arms I ran elastic from the biceps through bridges in the bells. This attaches to an identical clip from the other arm across my chest. This makes the bells free floating yet they always stay in place no matter how I move my arms. They also don't put any weight on the back/chest connection straps.

eBay is tempting... it is the quick and easy path, more seductive as Yoda would say. But there's a reason the vetted sellers are on this board; they make great armor. Also, the veterans here always warn against eBay armor for a reason; It just isn't worth if your goal is to have real movie-quality stormtrooper armor. Unwatch the item, the PM one of the sellers. Get on a list and start the countdown for your big brown box!

Name: Christopher Hills TK: 51114 Forum Name: Chills Garrison: Midwest Garrison Armor Maker: Troopermaster Helmet Maker: Troopermaster Blaster Type: Doopydoos with T-Jay upgrade kit Height: 5'8" Weight: 180 lb Boots Maker: TKboots Canvas Belt: gazmosis Hand Plates: sonnenschein Neckseal Type: Darman Electronics: Aker amp Holster Maker: gazmosis EIB application thread: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/32089-tk-51114-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-tm479/ Obligatory Death Star Room shot

Hi Mathias Christopher Hills 51114 EIB Letter

Interesting. I've been told it was 20mm for leg fronts and 25mm for leg rears. I've seen that in a few threads, too. I'll have to look around to find them. As far as the internal cover strips, I've done only 3 troops in my armor, and on one 5 hour troop one of my external cover strips came loose at the very top. I was glad to have the internal one as a backup. A week and a half ago we did a parade, marched just over 2 miles, and they all held up well. Is the internal necessary? Maybe not, but I like having redundancy and they sure to help with strength of the armor.

+1 for internal cover strips. They make the armor look better and give it a lot more strength. Your armor is looking good so far. Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to glue with e6000. You can pull the pieces off and remove the glue. I used it on all my exterior cover strips and nylon snap plates. I used super glue on the interior strips and ABS snap plates. Hey Tony, aren't the cover strips for the thigh backs also 25mm?

Wow, great looking set of armor. Best of luck!

Nice work, Todd. Good luck!