Astyanax

I enjoyed it, except for Phasma's giving in about the shields too quickly. That is the only major plot hole that I see. The rest can pretty much be explained with varying degrees to loopholes. A friend of mine said it perfectly: That this is the OT's "greatest hits" movie, with bits and pieces of each of the OT films, perfect for catching up the new generation (my kids) and being a springboard for new material. It really could have been (and has been) a lot worse. Bill

I'm not too hung up on brands. As you say, some tupperware and trial and error is probably worth doing. Do you have a dollar store nearby? Many of the Rustoleums say they are paint plus primer, but I've never tried this with gloss. In my experience, any flat that says it's good for plastics will also serve as your primer. I also would not overthink the particular shade of white. Gloss is generally brighter than flat, and most will probably be fine.

From personal experience, I can say that weather conditions can matter the most. Humidity must be sufficiently low or the propellant won't evaporate quickly enough between coats and the paint will stay sticky. This creates the "difference from can to can" effect. I love Rustoleum paints, but I know when to use them. This time of year can be exceptionally difficult, so I watch humidity like a hawk. I never spray above 50% humidity and I try to shoot for 30% if I can. If you have to go higher, use much lighter coats and more drying time between them. Ideally, at 30% humidity or lower, you can go as little as 10 minutes between coats. In higher humidity, you may have to go as much as an hour, depending on temperature. More than an hour and you will need to wait 24-48 hours between light coats. Bill

Yeah, my wife found a set on eBay a few years back so I could relive my childhood. It all still works!

Yes, definitely. The prongs are stiff and hold their position. You can use them either to "grip" your gun, or to support them underneath. There is a small chance an unbalanced gun might want to tip over to the side, but even my heavy, lopsided, weighted Rubie's E-11 can easily be made not to tip over if I position the hooks just right. I tried a bunch of my kids' toy guns just to see how versatile they really are: They're even good for holding lightsabers in a vertical configuration: I'm still very impressed and highly recommend these hooks. Bill

Good question, I was thinking about that too. My guess is no, because Rogue One was already filming with stormtroopers way back in mid-September, and the ANOVOS kits haven't been confirmed to have hit U.S. shores yet, as far as I know. http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/rogue-one-star-wars-story-6451116 However, it's possible the ANOVOS folks got access to what armor is being used in Rogue One and that informed their design. I would hope so. If so, you would think ANOVOS would want everyone to know, because that would boost sales.

I like zombies, but not in my Star Wars. Unless they're Force ghosts. I'm weird like that.

Is that a common thing? To stay shiny until it gets so dirty you convert to sandy? Me, I would want to stay shiny until death. Daily polishes, the whole gamut.

That's all I could ever want.

Well that went downhill fast... Well this discussion has gone down the toilet...

Okay, devil's advocate here, so don't flame or ban me, but if the FO troopers are absorbed into FISD, wouldn't you want to consider renaming the detachment to FSD? The new troopers are most definitely not "Imperial"... ::ducking around the corner::

Yeah, in all my research on these boards, it's the same "good/fast/cheap" triangle you get with any project. You get the following options: 1. Good looking and high quality. 2. Low investment of time and labor. 3. Low price. Now, pick two. Bill

Thanks Eric for the reality check, and I apologize Caleb. No meanness was intended. Emotions are high because I suspect we're all nervous about how this is going to turn out as we come down to shipping. I have faith that our patience will be rewarded. We could be getting the first "proper" licensed TK, and that's an exciting prospect!

Totally agree here. Frankly, I'd rather they slowed down and not rush the assembly. I'd like mine done correctly, and not rushed. As Mathias said, anyone who can't wait is going to have a very frustrating time with this hobby.

You've never heard of "first come, first served"? You must be an only child.

Just curious about how this works. You can't just feed the whole model into a 3D printer, right? You'll have to break it up into printable "chunks" and then reassemble?

Amazing stuff!

17. BARREL JACKET BASE (part 2/3): BLOCK SHAPING I decided to break this up into three parts instead of two, as further shaping the block turned into a big job as well. I decided to try using some other tools besides sandpaper, so when all was said and done I had tried coping saw, dremel, hacksaw blade, chisel, and even a drum sander attachment for my drill. At the end of the day, I had the best success with good old fashioned sandpaper, and partially with the coping saw and dremel. And I learned that the chisel really loves Bondo! First, I drew a line on the block where I wanted to cut out a wedge, which will later be smoothed and made more concave: Then, I carefully used my coping saw to cut off the wedge, going straight down. This saved me over an hour of sanding, I'm sure. Next, I drew lines where the rest of the chunks will be cut out. Another wedge needs to be cut out from the bottom, this time horizontally. Feeling cocky off my success with the previous cut, I went at it with the coping saw, far too fast: Oh no! See that pencil line on the right side of the block? That's where I SHOULD have cut. I cut far too deep a chunk out of the block, completely destroying what I was trying to do on the upper parts and even cutting into the pipe. Repair time! I glued a two inch piece of balsa wood block onto the problem cut using E6000, and clamping it down tightly for a day. It of course doesn't line up perfectly, so I planned to add more wood as necessary. Turns out I didn't need to. Next, using ONLY a 220 grit sanding block, I gently began to sand the balsa, starting from the bottom-most edge until it was flush, and then the other edge. I also sanded the Bondo'ed "concave" slope, again using 220-grit sandpaper. The trick here was to take it slow and not over-sand. Not bad. I was able to start breathing again. I filled the remainder of the gap with more Bondo. Again with the 220-grit sandpaper, and I was back on track. That was a close one! Balsa really makes a good filler base. If I were to do this whole part over again, I might have started with a chunk of balsa, but that's behind me now. Next, I drew more lines to show the upper chunk I need to cut out. I then cut as deeply as I could using a cutting wheel attachment on my dremel. It doesn't go deep enough on any of the cuts, but it got me started. I finished by using a small chisel and hammer right into my previous cuts, and the chunk came right out. A quick word about the chiseling. I have NO experience with a chisel, but had one lying around. It turns out a sharp chisel can go right through Bondo like butter. Why didn't I try this before! Even scraping excess Bondo with the chisel works so easily and cleanly. Very, very satisfying to know I have another good tool for cutting Bondo. I did not worry about the over-cutting from the dremel; that's easy enough to fill with more Bondo. I opted for the spot putty this time, since it's a small area and sands more easily. Then, I took to the whole thing once more with 220 grit sandpaper, going slowly and gently until it was all nice and smooth. Switching to the other side, I began to work on the curvature of the block. The upper part has a gently concave slope, and the bottom part has a very harshly concave "chunk" cut out of it. For the upper part I wrapped a piece of 80-grit sandpaper around a 6" length of 1-1/4" diameter PVC, using the pipe as a round sanding block, sanding gently lengthwise until it was the right shape. I then smoothed it with the sandpaper and finished with 220 grit. For the bottom part I used the same technique, this time with the sandpaper wrapped around a piece of 1" diameter PVC and a lot more elbow grease, taking care not to let the bottom edge be rounded out where it intersects the horizontal surface. Once I cleaned it up and finished with 220 grit, my shaping of the block was done. I have opted not to cut out the little "notch" in the top-left of the block above the button release; it would have cut too much into pipe and come out looking weird. No, this basic shape should do the trick. Also, I've left off the "hump" on top that attaches to the rear sight. I will add one later when I do the sight. I can see tiny holes where there were air pockets from my Bondo application. I'm not worried about these as some of them can be filled and others will add to the final weathering effect. My next post will go into the little details (my favorite part), as well as the round collar at the front of the block. Bill

Wayne, I would be very careful about your timing. Either apply your next layer in 10-15 minutes or wait 24-48 hours for it to cure fully. There is no middle ground. I set a 10 minute timer on my phone and use it for all coats, even when I switch paints. That way, the piece is fully done being painted in about an hour. Then, I wait for the piece to gas off for about 24 hours in the garage. The higher the humidity, the less glossy will be your final result. As for my suit, I'm still waiting for ANOVOS to ship. Hopefully this month. Bill

No one knows, because no one has seen the full armor yet. We are optimistic that with the proper modifications it can possibly qualify for Centurion (even Rubies has been modified as far as EIB), but nobody knows if there's a deal-breaker in the armor until it's properly examined. At worst, the consensus is that it should be a straightforward admission into the 501st with minimal modification, assuming it is properly fitted to you. Admission is as much about fitment as it is film accuracy.

Yes, the armor can be sticky if you apply the gloss or glaze in too high a humidity. It's like it never fully dries or something. But what I think is happening is that the propellant is not evaporating fast enough for the actual lacquer or enamel to set. And when you throw on another coat, it compounds the problem. The propellant must evaporate, and fast. On top of that, I found that the gloss white paint never fully dried regardless, but I was able to seal it in by selecting a clear glaze that is of a completely different chemical base. Like, covering oil base with water base or acetone. Or covering acetone with water base. Are you using my exact brands or are you approximating? That can make a difference. Regardless, go out and find a gloss clear coat that is a completely different base chemical than your latest layer, and try to only spray when humidity is in the 50% or lower range. That all said, this is a lot of work and one week is a tall order, but I really, really wish you well. Hope you took some time off. Be sure to budget time for the bucket. If you chose to follow what I did with that part, I recommend real Bondo body filler now instead of the spot putty. It doesn't crack but takes longer to sand. Hope that helps. I'm here if you have any other questions. Bill

I'm a big fan of the ASUS Transformer, also easy to separate from the keyboard to operate as a standalone tablet. Got one for my wife and she loves it. They're quite compact, relatively thin, and very low cost. Not super powerful, but it sounds like your teenager would use it for the exact same purposes my wife does. Streams video from everywhere perfectly fine. It comes with Windows. You can run Photoshop on it with no trouble, but I do recommend springing for more than the basic 32GB storage. Not really upgradeable, but if you're not a PC person, would you really upgrade it anyway? I would stay away from Chromebooks or Linux-based laptops, because they don't run much mainstream software. Frankly, if you're looking for non-Mac, Windows is still your best option.

My bad, sorry about that. Let see, back on track...we know the kits are on their way (if not already arrived) to the ANOVOS warehouse...they just need to be repackaged, soft parts included, instructions, helmet assembly...yeah, that's a lot. Who will be the first person to start a build thread with a brown box? I ordered in April myself...

Yeah, honestly, that's what I thought (and hoped). My eight-year-old is hopelessly addicted to the idea of Starkiller being canon, even though the origins of the Alliance are being rewritten right in front of us every week on Disney XD. I haven't played Battlefront yet (except for the beta) because I heard the single player mode wasn't so great. I was all prepared to accept Battlefront as canon until I saw footage of Luke Skywalker fighting Vader on Hoth with a green lightsaber. That raised my blood pressure a little. But I suppose that is part of some other "non-canon" game mode?

I don't think that was ever in question. The point was, Battlefront is full of scenarios that are clearly not canon as well, which by necessity must call into question some (not all) of its other choices, such as the existence of shock troopers and shadow troopers. All of which can (and might) be easily wiped out by movie canon, as Eric pointed out. The previous implication was "Battlefront is canon." Well no, not exactly. Battlefront is conflicted. But the 501st doesn't judge. Just me. But I'm not paying $1K-$2K for a costume that isn't clearly canon. I just don't fully get the shadow trooper interest, other than the fact that it is so very different from your typical white trooper and can draw some extra attention. That might go away when the Phasmas start popping up. So give me a traditional TK and I'll be giddy. But then again, smiling kids at your latest troop don't care what's canon, do they?