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ehinote2187

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
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Everything posted by ehinote2187

  1. Oh, no worries, Jamie. I do appreciate the feedback. I did actually have the clip things, but I removed them. This thread was mainly started to address the chest and back pieces. I do have a build thread in the ESB section, there are more detailed pics there.
  2. Yeah, these were spur of the moment pics. I just got excited. Thighs are actually snug all around on me. My legs are beefy up top to the knee. Is the elastic around the bicep something they will ding you on? I've heard otherwise that it doesn't matter. Sadly, that is the way the chest and back came (to my knowledge. Had a "friend" trim them before he disappeared). The only things trimmed on them, that I recall, were the lower sides to reflect what is in the movies, as well as the shoulders. The curves at the arms are the way I received them. I did get this kit over 2 years ago when it was still AM v1. I'm really thinking now on just getting a new set of 2.0 chest and back pieces if they are larger than the v1s.
  3. Joseph, thank you for the points. Yes, I do need to address those issues. And thank you for the praise! 1. I have a small bit of elastic holding them on, I guess I could shorten them up or switch to webbing. I'll play around with it. 2. I have not yet secured the belt to the ab plate. I will do this either with snaps or velcro. 3. Are you talking about the part where it droops down? I can definitely do that. Addendums: Yeah, I need to paint those. I hadn't yet because I simply forgot. Yay, something to do while waiting for my final pieces! lol Daniel, that would truly be awesome. Please, by all means, let me know about the chest/back pieces. Seeing my complete* build on me is just... yeah, I want to look closer to the part. *nearly
  4. Hello, everyone. I'm near the end of my build and did a test fit. Here's a few pics. My chest, and back, pieces have me a bit worried. I keep reading that AM is the largest armor for bigger troopers, yet I had to add shims to the ab and kidney armor. I think that part looks great now. But the size of my chest and back armor seems to be small for me. You can see on the pictures that there's a considerable gap between the chest and shoulder bells. It's the same way in the back, possibly even bigger. I guess my question is would this pass inspection for approval, or would I need to find better fitting pieces/possibly shim the ones I have now? I'm not looking for EIB or Centurion.
  5. Build is nearing completion! Here's a few things from last week. Armor on the floor. Jeez, I'm gonna be a big TK... Belt assembly! Did a heat bend on the belt so that it won't look too wonky on me. Canvas Belt! Thanks to TKittell and his amazing work, I'm one step closer. It's very nice, I highly recommend it! Added male snaps to the plastic part. Female snaps on the canvas belt. Put 'em together and, baby, you got yourself a TK belt! The Big Test! Look, a thing! All I'm missing are my dropboxes (waiting on the inner dropboxes from kwdesigns) and holster (getting from a friend). Let me know what you think!
  6. Update: Strapping is done! All I'm waiting on now is my belt and holster.
  7. Getting close! Added the side straps to the kidney/ab plates. There's just a bit of overlap, about 1/4". If I should go crazy, I can take off that 1/4", but for now I'll keep it. All that's left: Thigh garter system, TK belt (ordered), holster (getting from a friend, will have to mod it with loops), pics to submit. I can't freaking wait!
  8. I'm getting closer! Got a new bottle of glue in (used up one already on this build!) and started to add more snaps/straps. Arm pieces are now strapped to the upper torso, started work on the garter system, and am now close to adding the straps to the kidney/ab plates. Anyone who is still watching this thread, I have a question about the gap between the kidney/ab plate. Is it better to have no gap at all/have the pieces overlap each other? I'm talking about 1/4" of overlap. Or is it better to have a little gap, like about 1/4-1/2"? Just want to make sure before I cut some more. I'll also be asking my squad recruit page about this.
  9. Some progress pictures to follow my last post! We'll start here: Attaching the shims to the kidneys. Ab armor shims done. I closed the seam between the shims and the armor with some good ol' slurry. I then took them outside for a coat of paint as the shim plastic was a few shades of blue rather than white. Came out pretty well. Strapping has begun! The snap "plates" and straps on the kidney plate. Plates on the posterior, and the two male snaps on the taint. Snaps and straps on the ab armor. I was very happy to find that one of the straps that came with my kit was just the right size for the crotch strap. From here I'll need to find a happy medium between the shims on the ab and kidney plates to trim and then attach the straps for the sides. Back plate with snaps and straps. Front plate with snap "plates". It stays on without having to hold anything! YEAH! That's all I got for now. When I get more glue in, It'll be on to getting the sides trimmed and strapped, then arm strapping.
  10. Thanks, Dave! I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting progress pics and updates. I need to do that. But here's an update. What is done: - All arm armor (not strapped) - All leg armor (may need trimming) - Helmet (needs inside padding and electronics) What WAS left: Torso shimming and strapping. Well, I finally got off my @$$ and shimmed my kidney and ab plates so that they'll fit all the way round my spare tire, lol. It's actually way too extended now. But, that just means some trimming to make right. All that is really left to get the armor on me is to start strapping it all together. Three days ago, when the final trailer for TFA came out, I got inspired to do more work. I strapped my front and back torso pieces together, independent of each other. Yesterday, I got the chest and back pieces together, and wore it all for the first time. It felt great. Next up is crotch strap (gigity), side straps (between kidney and ab plates), arm straps, and then garter system for thighs. Then the TK belt, then the thermal detonator. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I'll post some pics later on.
  11. Yeah. I just need to find a lathe. That thought has crossed my mind.
  12. Hello, everyone. I've hit a snag in my building. I have an old AM kit, and the thermal detonator is made up of 2 halves of molded plastic instead of a pipe, endcaps, faceplate. CRL no longer accepts the halves as one of them has 2 molded squares on it for clip attachment, and I've been trying like hell to find a replacement pipe for my detonator. Problem is, 2" pipe is too small for the endcaps to fit properly, and 2 1/2" pipe is the same exact diameter as the endcaps, so they don't slip over the pipe. Does anyone know a source for 2 1/4" pipe? Does anyone know a source for a new detonator assembly? I'm coming close to the completion of my armor and want to get this sorted out. Thank you!
  13. So I got these snaps in a while ago and used some on my kidney and posterior plates. They are pretty good, probably just as robust as Tandy's. $13 for 100 of these puppies is a pretty sweet deal!
  14. Thanks, Christopher! It was just something to do one night. Didn't want to get too involved with something, so it was to get the handplates to size and to show them off.
  15. Quick update: Not much to report, but I did get my hand guards done tonight. As they are AM hand guards, they were HUGE! I found somewhere that people trim about an inch off of them. I went with 25mm (slightly under). I think they came out pretty well!
  16. Little update: put the screen backing into the frown in my bucket. I used some "Instant Screen Repair" patches I got from Home Depot. Pretty cool little things I may need to get for my actual window screens. But I digress. I painted them the same black as the frown, layered two on top of each other for more protection, and glued them in using Loctite STIK'N SEAL. Pretty good stuff that I've used on other props (Proton Pack, some trek stuff). I really need to get on working on the torso parts. It's the only thing left, really. I'll be perusing build threads to see how to go about getting it together.
  17. Thanks, Steve! Right now, I just want to get it all assembled and approved. The traps, tears, and tubestripes are decals, it's the black "pinstripes" in the traps and tears that are painted. I did them according to the reference pics. I may get better decals down the road, but I like it just fine now. And I don't know about going for EIB or Centurion. I know I can't get centurion right now with my chest and backplate. They're the AM v1 pieces. If I do get the itch, I might upgrade. But thank you for letting me know!
  18. I don't think it would be too difficult with a small enough screwdriver. A screwdriver you get with a jeweler's kit or an eyeglasses kit would be sufficient enough, or precision screwdrivers, the ones that are like 1/4" in width and 3" long.
  19. I don't know if this has been done or not, but I think that this is a cool way to install lenses. Materials: - Face Shield (Shade 3 or 5, or both! Or you can get a smoke gray one) - Screw Mounts (or computer motherboard standoffs) - Screws and washers that will fit in the screw mounts. - Epoxy Putty or something that will hold the screw mounts in place I first mounted the screw mounts above the eyes, two on each side, with the putty. It should harden in 5-20 minutes. Next, I cut out squares of the face shield to cover the eyes with room to spare, making sure that there is a good portion above the eyes to screw in. I drilled holes that are lined up with the screw mounts and did a test fitting. After I was satisfied with how they looked (inside and out), I took them out and did a bit of cleanup. Mainly so that they wouldn't poke my nose, haha. I think they look pretty good! The main reason why I did this was so that I could swap between lighter and darker shade lenses, depending on what kind of troops I'll be doing. Outdoors: put in the darker shade. Indoor: pop in the lighter shade so I can see where the heck I'm going. I'm sure this could be modified to your liking or to replace lenses easily. Also, if the putty/screw mount pops out from stress, just glue it down with some CA glue or whatever adhesive of your choosing. I had one already pop out, but it went back in easily, and it is holding well. Also also, you wanna make sure that you get a face shield that is flexible enough to bend easily to the curvature of the eyes.
  20. Hello everyone! After a monumental break (and a summer class), I got back to building my stuff. Here is how I attached my lenses in my helmet. I first mounted some screw posts above the eyes: Next I cut out some lenses from a face shield, drilled holes in the correct spots, and made sure they fit right. I touched up the shape of the lenses, mainly so that they don't poke my nose, haha. Looks pretty good, huh?
  21. Not for armor, but what about 'starwarfans1138' and 'fenixprops' on ebay for helmet decals?
  22. Leg progress. I think the shins came out well! After a full test fitting, I may try and trim a bit to fit better down by the ankles, but right now it feels fine with the boots on. Shims for the thighs! Together and formed with a heat gun. I still need to sand down the seams where I had applied ABS slurry to bind it all together and paint. But it's coming along well!
  23. Helmet Detail progress. I cleaned up the stripes on the cheeks and back and redid a couple lines to get the symmetry a little better. And here is the lower mouth area. Installed the mic tips, tidied up the frown a bit better, and cleaned up the vocorder.
  24. I've been in a quandary about lenses. As I'm building my bucket, as well as a friend's bucket, I'm going back and forth about what to use for lenses. I don't want to use the bubble lenses that came with the kits, nor the stuff that's like lighting gels as I fear they would puncture easy. I got a face shield, but it is too dark (says it is Shade 5). Would Shade 3 be ok? What about a smoke colored lenses? Is there a good source for these?
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