=Sv3=

Forget blasters, you could probably get rid of those pesky rebels with your bare hands!!! Nice job on your armor man

Congrats Tim and thank you for your eagerness to help wannabe troopers despite all you have on your plate!

And just like that : Looks like tomorrow should be a day long remembered!!!

I do have a tracking number. From what I can tell, they pooled international orders geographically and then sent them in batches. We have a bunch of kits coming to Montreal. They left the warehouse last Friday but since it's ground shipping, they hoped around all across the US. It was still in Ohio this morning which leads me to believe it should be at customs today or the next. We're supposed to get them tomorrow but it seems less and less likely IMO. To be fair, it's not the end of the world but it kinda feels like we got the short end of the stick [emoji12]

Wow... So it takes longer to ship to Canada than to Europe [emoji14] Go figure! Have fun man!!

Ok, so my with my Anovos kit on the way, I figured it might be time to work on this again!! One thing I put aside for too long is finishing the scope I drilled so long ago. (Did I mention this would probably be the longest build ever?) Previously, I drilled through the scope and made space for the prism. I have to be honest, it's a bit sloppy but as you may find out if you attempt this mod, it's not an easy task! [emoji14] I painted the interior(and a little bit of the exterior but I'll fix that later) and installed the prism : Like I said, it ain't pretty but it should do the trick! Next up, I needed to install the scope target decal I printed. I printed it on a laminating pouch, the kind you put a sheet of paper into and put in a machine like this : http://www.amazon.com/GBC-HeatSeal-QuickStart-Laminator-1703000/dp/B001B0BE6M I printed it small enough to fit the inside of the binoculars I took the lenses from. It proved to be quite a challenge as I had nothing to glue the decals onto. As usual, green stuff comes to the rescue!!! I made a kind of return edge to have some material on which to install the reticle on : Again, it's pretty fugly but it won't be seen! I should point out that used hot glue for that and to secure the lens housing inside the scope. With that done, I can finally put the scope back together!!! I sanded the joint a bit, put CA glue, held it down for a minute or two and applied a generous amount of green stuff to seal any gap. I'll probably sand most of it down tomorrow but at least I'll get it nice and smooth! Now, the big question is, will it blend? Probably but what you really want to know(as well as I) is does it work? I'll let you be the judge! I'm pretty happy with it!!! You can't really tell the scope was drilled by a monkey and the effect is pretty cool IMO. By mounting it behind the lens housing, you get a really neat 3D effect. I should point out though that the effect works best if you look from about 6 inches. Any closer than that and your eyes lose focus and you can't see the reticle. Overall, would I recommend doing this mod? Sure, why not! It's a cool little effect and it gives your blaster a little extra that makes it unique! Be aware though that if you're a noob like me, you may end up wanting to pull your hair out! That's normal, I assure you. Now with that out of the way, next up is the rear bolt but that's a story for another time!

That can be arranged Eric! Should be getting mine on Friday. I do intend to retrim the eyes and rework the frown though. But I'm in no hurry to do that as I have a lot of trimming to do on the armor itself... You are indeed right that it is different than screen derived fan-made kits but I hope that with a little tweaking, it will look right at home with other troopers.

Nice bucket you got there!!!

Double post

Someone on Fb just posted this picture of 5 minutes of work he did cleaning up the teeth... Looks pretty good now!!! Before: After:

Thanks Tim! In your experience, would you advise stripping it all off and completely repaint or is it possible to just clean the top and bottom a little?

Exactly my game plan! I think I've heard something about using mineral spirits but I've never tried anything like it...

I think a little bit of trimming between the teeth and repainting the frown would go a LONG way towards improving the look of it. I'm no expert but I'm sure someone on here can chime in. Can't wait to see someone try his hand at it. By the look of it, we will have plenty of reference by the time it reaches us in the Great White North...

I love your comment. I am one of those who got into FISD because of Anovos. To be honest, I was aware of vetted makers selling kits and the 501st before but I wasn't aware of how to buy. The idea of buying something unlicensed was frightening to me. When I saw the tier 1 offer, immediately jumped at the chance because I knew it was a steal and I had confidence in them due to their Trek products quality. I looked at things like Jedi Robe but after looking at a fan made kit, I could tell it wasn't worth it. But still, sending close to a thousand dollars through PayPal to a guy who makes armour in his garage felt very foreign and scary for me. Now, I know better! I bought a few items from the community and got to know what it's like to be part of this group and I can say that I would totally buy armour from AP or ATA without hesitation... In fact, judging by what I see here, I probably will at some point as it seems buying armour is some kind of infectious disease!!! Long story short, I'm part of the Facebook group also but I would never limit myself to only one of them. To me, they both serve a different purpose. Even though I've been browsing here for months, read build threads and watch TrooperBay and Mike Culp's videos countless times, I still don't feel prepared enough for my coming build. This is why I'll be making a build thread, to share my questions with this knowledgeable community and get advice from the best And I know with the help of the good people here, I'll do ok

Favorited your build. I'll be following with great interest! You should be close to done by the done I find courage to start

I've been trying all day with no luck... At this rate, we'll probably get our kits before a shipping notice [emoji14]

You beat me to it ;-) I was about to post them after I posted them on theRPF but my photobucket app kept crashing!!

The edges don't look as sharp as we feared... It looks good IMO

There you go... eFx on the right, Anovos on the left : Edit: sorry, misread your post but still nice to see

First Anovos TK kit has officially shipped!!! That was quick!!! We should have an unboxing soon! (that's not mine BTW [emoji14])

There you go buddy! [emoji12]

I didn't want to buy more paint(I've got quite a few useless cans here from previous projects [emoji14]) but at 4 bucks a pop, I think I'm gonna give it a try!!! Good find

Damn, it looks good! I kinda want it now :/

I pinned every parts, drilled holes in the barrel, filled them with green stuff, put CA glue and joined them together... The pins are stuck in there now that the green stuff has cured and the CA glue is the icing on the cake. Tough as nails!!!

One thing that works great IMO is hockey tape like this : ----------- It's cloth, so it protects the magnets from breaking but it's tape so it's quite easy to work with. You can leave some extra to make a sort of handle...