Kredal

Alright! Step 1 is done! I've fully built the Shadow armor, my picture taking was severely lacking compared to my Hero build... So go look over at that one and imagine all the plastic being black. (: Approval pictures sent to the GML: My GML also wanted a picture that clearly showed the tube stripes, so I sent him another one... Keep that in mind, the Anovos Shadow kits don't seem to be coming with tube stripes, so you'll either have to paint them or use decals. At least one GML knows to look for them specifically. (: Good job, Frank! So, I have the TX. I'll be trooping in it at least once or twice to get some good action shots, and submitting it for Specialist approval over at SpecOps. Yes, with my own helmet. Then, I'll start pulling apart things, painting silver, and installing lights! That's the part that I'll be heavily documenting here, don't worry. (:

Yes it is! You can find the Shadowtroopers at the Special Operations Detachment. The CRL for Shadowtroopers is here: http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TX_shadow_stormtrooper And their forum (which is much less busy than this one) is here: http://www.501stspecopsdet.net/ When you get the kit, I would recommend following build guides for regular Stormtroopers here, but just remember that anything that's white for us is black for them.

That's the right stuff. Glue a cover strip to just one side of the forearm(with half of it hanging off the edge) set it in place with clamps or magnets, and then in 12 hours or so, glue the hanging side to the other half of the forearm.

I have no idea how much was used, and neither does the guy who posted the pictures. He bought the armor "ready to wear" from someone else... That guy screwed him!

Somebody posted this on the WTF group on Facebook... I never expected Locktite to do this much damage!

I dunno. I thought it was the 3-part construction... they mention ears that drop straight down vs sweeping back, but my ears do have the sweep on them. And then you look at their "reference pictures" from the comics, and the ears in the comics do drop straight down. Actual reference picture:

Unleashed, and no... I'm building this kit as a plain black kit to get the TX designation first... before I start cutting holes in things, and potentially ruining it. (: I asked on Facebook about adding in things like the Centurion spec, the rivets and visible snaps and things, and that's when I discovered there was a Specialist rank that mirrors Centurion requirements, but everything in black. (: So I started looking into it, and saw the ix-nay on the AM2 helmets. Something something sour grapes didn't want to join your club anyway. (:

The TFU-TX CRL only has one person who has built a kit that could take pictures (Fivezero), and he's been fighting with his kit for years. The base TX CRL, on the other hand... I find it super amusing that the armor being shown off in the top pictures are either AM or NE, with the squared-off boobs and oversized back plate. But AM helmets aren't good enough for Specialist.

Fair enough. I just don't get why AM2 isn't good enough for Specialist when it's just fine for Centurion. There is a difference between the original AM/FX bucket and the AM2 bucket, but the powers that be over there don't see it that way.

As posted on Facebook: This kit, I'm doing all the inside strips as I go, and then I'll do cover strips on all the parts at once. The thighs and shins are done except for cover strips, ammo pack and sniper knee, and the core is completely done including button plates on the ab. The CRL says nothing about the cod to butt connection, so I dunno if I should have things showing (snap backs and rivets) or do everything with snap plates. Same with the left side connection and rivets. I already put the Han snap on the right side, so I'll probably just do the rest. Later, I found the "Specialist" rank on the Spec Ops forum, and realized that it's basically the Centurion requirements... Since that's where I'm building towards anyway, I'll be submitting. For some reason, they don't think the AM2 helmet (because it's a 3 part bucket?) is good enough for Specialist, so I'll probably end up borrowing a friend's WTF bucket to take pictures. Nevermind that I made Centurion over here no problem with an AM2 helmet... whatever. Of course, I don't "need" to make Specialist, but I want to anyway before I take the kit apart again for painting and installing lights and stuff. I know, it's a silly thing, but still... it's my thing. (: As far as armor making goes, I'm done with the legs with the exception of cover strips and velcro on the back of the shins. The core armor is done except for the plastic shoulder straps (and the black elastic holding them down in back, now that I see that's a thing). I just ordered the black belt last night, it will probably be here Wednesday, given my history of ordering belts from TKittell. Got arms to do between now and then, and a helmet to build (waiting on mirrored lenses for it, should be here "soon") Having another AM2 kit already done is making this go so much faster... drop the new parts outside the old kit, mark where they were cut (giving a little bit more room as needed), make the cut, and stick it together. (:

I'm not Tony, but I'll give you my two cents: The shims look better without a return edge, and they're WAY easier that way too. My recommendation would be to shave off the return edges of the ab and kidney plates so they taper down to nothing when they hit the shims, but are still there towards the middle.

Last night I got the thighs completely trimmed, and started gluing them together. I also finished gluing up all of the core snap plates, and made a couple straps to start holding together the ab and kidney so I can put that on, and line up where the chest needs to go. No pictures, because I was doing it all in my supersuit, and my phone wasn't around. (: I didn't do much, because it was entirely too hot in my garage.

Yesterday was BBB day! It was delivered at about 5:00, I had to go adult for an hour or so, and then I got to work on the kit. AM2 armor comes very well packed. There's a sheet of foam between every single plate, and more around packs of stuff (similarly shaped parts are packed together) Everything is pre-trimmed, usually with wide flat sections for larger folks, and big return edges to cut larger folks. (: Everything unpacked and placed in the armor bin I picked up at Target last week. You can see some of the huge flat parts especially on the thigh plates at the top of this image. Even the front sides have them, so they had to get cut down to ~13mm on either side. (I was really happy with the cover strip sizes used on my white kit, so I'll be copying them... basically 5mm wider than "standard" since I'm a little bit bigger than standard) Here are some parts that won't be used... Anyone making a black sandtrooper? (: The small 3-dot plate at the right side of the picture is a new part that comes with AM2 armor now, I didn't get those with my white kit. The ab button plate with the divots is there if you want to have metal buttons, which the kit comes with. It's not the "right" way to do it, but it comes with the kit still if you want to. Same with the older style belt with indents. It comes with both belts, just in case. Also ESB and cheese grater handplates. Still not sure what the flat shoulder straps are used for. Anyway... After ~3 hours of work, I had the fronts of all the limb parts cut down to size, and most of the snap plates installed in the core sections. I'm using nylon strapping for the snap plates, and after being held on with magnets for 3 hours when it's 85 degrees in the garage (with a little AC unit on!) they're solid enough to take the magnets off, to use on other parts. I don't know if I've said it here, but I plan on building this kit to get approval as a straight black Shadowtrooper, doing at least one or two troops with it, and then breaking it back down to paint silver and grey as needed, and turn it into the Force Unleashed trooper. I was really hoping that the CRL might have pictures by the time I started, but it still doesn't... I'll work with my GML to make sure everything I'm doing meets the spirit of the CRL as written, so it should be a pretty smooth approval process. (:

Don't get an AM2 or RT-Mod for anyone smaller than average (in any dimension).... You'll end up with enough leftover plastic to melt down and make a whole second suit! Walt's child armor is meant for kids, but there have been cases of people mixing and matching the kid suit and the adult suit to make a complete set that fits.

Acetone will soften the belt! Don't use it! Best bet, I think, is cutting the cloth belt around the rivets, and gluing or snapping a new belt to the plastic one. I'll be attempting that on Thurs and see how it goes. (:

Check the very last entry in the CRL: http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_hero And yes, RLH2515, turning an AM2 kit into a good Hero is a lot of work. Check my build thread if you want to read more about it. (:

Just your highlight. Otherwise it wouldn't be tapering, it would be removing!

If you taper down the return edge, it will fit around your torso much more smoothly. I would do it if I were you. (:

Other than the helmet, the only required difference is the number of rivets holding on the holster (2 for stunt, 4 for hero) Hero allows you to replace the TD with a comlink/grappling hook setup, carry a DLT-19 or a lightsaber, optionally.

You're being very picky on the return edge. The only people who will even see it are less that 2 feet tall, and who cares what they think?<br><br> Trim the front raised section so that the cover strip covers it as close to exactly as possible. So if you have a 25mm cover strip, you want about 12mm on either side.

E-6000 will withstand a hot water bath

I agree with you, and if I had my druthers, I'd put him on the approved list. I know he does make his own molds for other things, I don't see that it would take too much effort for him to recreate whichever molds he inherited so his whole kit would be *HIS* and he'd be eligible for the list. On the other hand, he stays busy enough without the FISD endorsement, so why change?

A post that you responded to on the last page actually answers that question, Kalani. "Walt's are approvable for any level of build, but because his armor is actually a blend of some of his own and some of makers that no longer produce theirs (he does have their permission and original bucks, from what I have found, after lengthy research and some speculation) he may never be on the "approved" maker list, but his armor is solid and of good quality."

Update the next: All of the acrylic I sent Walt ended up shattering after it was pulled and being cut. So, yeah. Major bummer. Also, I managed to order a black kit from AM 2.0, so I know it'll all fit me. Yay for big boy armor! It'll still have to be painted, but when it gets scratched, it'll turn black and not white, so good there. Also, it should resist being seen through like a thin pull of white armor would (thinking specifically of the helmet here. Fivezero is using EL tape for the areas around the shins and forearms, I may have to go that route. I really don't want to, since it doesn't match the glow of LEDs, but I may not have a choice in the matter. The CRL for that costume is still pictureless, so I may be able to get away with lights under the plates, shining out onto my gloves and boots from up under them. We'll see. That would also mean those particular pieces will be larger than normal so there's more gap for light to shine through. Another benefit of AM2 armor. (: Adafruit sells an Arduino dev board that has a bluetooth chip built on, and a companion iPhone app that has a color wheel and buttons you can push to send commands. Using that to choose colors or patterns may work out way better than being stuck with just 4 options as with the garage door opener-like thing I picked up before. Amazing how much technology can move while waiting for parts!

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/16-ongoing-sales-project-orders/is the ongoing sales forum.