themaninthesuitcase

Delivery day (was Tuesday)! Same place but 2 things. First the main PCBs for my effects setup have come (top as the come all joined on 1 assembly, bottom with the daughter boards cut free) There is 1 small balls up, I somehow managed to delete the "mouse bites" before getting them made. These are a line of small holes that make snapping the 2 extra boards of simple, and tool free. I've added them back to the files now, just incase I need to make more. For now I just cut them of with some side cutters. I have the transistors, LEDS and most of the bit to build up a test board but I need to make a parts order for the resistors and a few spare bits. Seeing as January has approximately 8000 days I'll probably do that next month. For those who know a bit about electronics, I've opted to use SMD parts to keep things small as space is a premium. So here is a through hole version of the transistor, the kind I am used to and the SMD version. The exact same part, just a different "package" Small and fiddly is an understatement. At least SMD parts are a fair bit cheaper so I need not worry about parts costs. The other parts that came are the parts for the thigh bracket! These are 2 1mm Aluminium PCBs cut to match the printable ones. One change I have made is adding the 5mm holes to save having to drill for these. The spacing is 69m which should give a good fit in an R2Dan holster (once I get one). Again there was a small, irritating, balls up. The aluminium PCBs are single sided, so I assumed wrongly that if you ensure there is no copper on them you will get 2 clean aluminium sides. The reality is that the "copper" side has some kind of grey coating on it. Which on the rear most plate was the side I wanted on show. top to bottom : Grey PCB "top" side with poorly placed part number, Aluminium rear side with some text I added to say who made them, Aluminium face sanded with 240 and ruined, Aluminium face sanded with scotch bright probably close enough, Top plate with aluminium face side as expected. I also forgot to move the "part number" to a place it won't show once the fab house populates it. On my design it fit behind the front plate, on the final item it was longer so was on show. I have also fixed this and will probably order a new set at some point. No huge rush now as I will be able to prove the theory with these. To try make lemonade I tried to sand the printing off of the 1 aluminium side. I started with a 240 sand paper and this was FAR too aggressive. I then tried some scotchbrite. This mostly worked but has left some small and but visible scratches. Lastly I tried some 800 grit which seems to have worked, a couple of tiny scratches but you have to look to see them. Because I know they are there I will almost certainly order some more. I have already updated the production files to ensure they end up how I'd like them. As these come as 2 parts I need to assemble them. To do this, easily and get a good result I've made a jig. This is 3d printed to a close tolerance to help align everything. The bottom plate gets put in first, then apply a few keenly place dots of CA glue and pop the top on. Next is a compression plate and finally 2 5mm bolts go through the whole lot and ensure it's all aligned, and act as clamps while the glue dries. There are 2 nuts on the bottom side so it's all nice and robust. This will need to be done reasonably quickly, but I won't use accelerator so should be okay. With any luck I'll test this theory tomorrow but see how it goes.

I think I remember seeing these now, though as you say it’s not some one doing a regular run. As I am feeling a bit extra I might see what a run of say 10 scope rings would run to, maybe the support bar thing too. The simpler parts with less machining steps.

Those cuts look deliberate to me, it looks like it's designed to taper in to match the cod. Why they are one some but not others? Pass, might be down to something like replacement belts and was forgotten?

In the ongoing saga of me not finishing what I have already started, and making things harder than they need to be: I present my new handguards build thread. Why buy something when you can make it your self for multiple times more money! At my last troop I noticed my gloves are starting to perish, not surprising given they are almost 8 year old rubber gloves. I also thought I could use some new handguards. The ones I have are silicone due to a latex allergy in the house, and they never where really as nice a moulding as I would have liked. Problem is they are not made anymore, the chap who made them moved on and rather than ask around "it can't be that hard". Which is always a terrible thought. As mentioned I don't believe the ones I have are currently made, I believe the moulds where first made by Sonneschein. Though I thought that have an appealing shape that matches the armour well. So I have based mine on these, but will be starting from scratch, no recasting here. I took a photo of the better of my gloves as square on as I could get it. This was imported into Fusion 360, and I got to work. For the most part these are not overly complex items. The hard parts turned out to be the taper towards the thumb, and then getting all of the various round overs to interact nicely. Once I had a first draft I printed one on my Prusa Mk2.5S. This wasn't intended to be a final item, but a quick test to check size, shape that sort of thing. It needed a few minor tweaks to the length and a few heights and I think I have something that will work. The next step will first to change the year on the bottom to 2024, and then mirror the files to get a right version. Once that's done I plan on getting a clean pair printed in resin to start the road to mould masters.

That's the OT list, they will need one for First Order. Neck seals are made by a number of vendors, just make sure the one you get complies with the CRL. I've just have a quick look and I can't find one for the first order. I remember people using "belts of the first order" for belts but looking at their Facebook there's not much going on so they may have closed. Which mat mean you're going to need to roll your own. I have a bunch of stuff in my eBay watch list but I haven't confirmed any of this yet, so pinch of salt and do your own research: Ribbed top layer https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402300779926?var=672255164758 Neoprene middle layer (I THINK 5mm thick but check I am working from memory) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373396396391?hash=item56f028d967:g:WqAAAOSwBKBg-ZC2&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4JcbkljUt29%2Fv2lMKOjTrJ%2BIskFH4TExSqqaG%2BlM0JQyXu2ohflZ6APAGUzE1Ed%2BiLorSGWbzr%2FkQHayJP5YcW3s0PSfmvP0Nf%2BS5lmVl%2BiG4gEPkttPK2%2FJp9nyXDZ7GYoFhM1mE62APcdAC6bOeMd0Q86l2i0hTkY49qSumDLevdt9nx%2FXzmFemvDtzmCdra7ogg4kjJBHNV57y4O%2FPhEwY41xUqlxdErtBnapULtwgCAMOW6gT094x8Hvoy6Qxx3CzGTuWKiiDAoGzq5zuWGHJ9LjMFvgwmMQiA%2FD%2F70m|tkp%3ABFBM-KPE2phj You will need a length of 50mm black Webbing such as https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402300779926?var=672255164758 50mm buckle (they should be the more squared off style) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133612946142?hash=item1f1bf3c2de:g:HI4AAOSwFqJWkt2X&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4Cdf6oDdN%2BpwTj%2B8BruXoiMO0reqD72Plo%2FkOq9xL6LDK%2BrX%2BnBix3Q62YRPILCFU8L8jzWZu%2BYa91x1odrPZVU8H6LZ1vs2%2Bm5yXXPl1ybGhMqSISe2Qpu8F7YW%2B15Xo2WC795sSlJPgAnjJlI7n8Nv5u7duAc5jnsVacOVtNOMbcEn3dhEt%2BFfA%2B1aBuyhp6j3UOsS0fowoutxDG1BaS4mZnEA0nXpNlSdFAlzWsquPxZCVBOPSgg2qV%2BaERWL4Rylu%2F9dphmjvaXrVSfmlIqvtvAIPDAsislZ1r9tukvU|tkp%3ABk9SR_yUsNqYYw Again I've not built one yet, this is just a collection of stuff I've collected over my time researching.

Most people just paint them as far as I am aware. If you look at the reference the more hero weapons appear to be metal, but are a sort of satin ish finish, maybe brushed?, rather than a real polish. The stunt weapons are just painted silver. I am not 100% on what I will do yet, I'll probably run off a few tests in the various metal finishes I have to have and pick the best. R2Dan does a machined aluminium plate for the pistol and F-11D iirc. I also have the 1st run of a F-11D plates arriving next week, but still very much a theory until I try them.

The problem with basing it on a single trooper is you would need to do so as they are on screen. If you base it on say that image above, how much of that was from 1976 and how much of that is it's 47 years old? The idea for them on screen is they were white and clean, though by the end of filming we know that wasn't the case anymore. If you wanted level 4 I'd be more going down the route of bra hook shins and the bent wire for the chest attachments. Though that's prop replication at a functional level which is never what we've been aiming for, though I believe MEPD do. FWIW a lot of us do have weathered armour, after a few troops you end up more like Tontine IV than the Death Star. Some people polish this off, others let it build up (like me)

I am planning on printing them on some printable adhesive vinyl. You can get it on eBay and Amazon. though probably work a light spray of clear coat to help prevent any runs if they get wet.

I can’t see where you are located, but based on your posts I am going to guess UK? If so please make sure you have signed up to the UK Garrison forum as well as we have a mandatory armourer program in place which will help you ensure there are no nasty surprises come clearance time. RWA is a solid pick I troop with many who wear it. A bit of DA history from what I can remember. It’s been a while so I won’t go into huge detail incase I get it wrong. Andy was based in the south of the UK but moved to France around 4 years ago. He did do TKs but TIE pilots and helmet was probably his most popular products from what I saw being talked about on “the shed of glittering delights”. The helmet had a tell of a bump on one cheek tear. DA was never huge inside the legion for reasons I never worked out. He was a solid mid pack pick at a time those were rare here. He was however a lot more common in Europe and with non legion groups in the UK.

How bright do these need to be? 5mm can be made pretty bright, and you can use multiples. the other option is 1W or higher LEDs mounted on aluminium heat sinks.

A bit of hot/boiling water gives a nice bit of flex with out too much risk. Very handy trick. I am a fan of the elastic and bra hooks for the shin closures. Gives a bit of flex and is very easy to do up.

Been a while since I've seen a new billgram dug up!

The traps on the RO helmets are cast in a light/medium grey material, the darker colour here will be down to weathering. The painted chest I would say is darker than 1138, but the weathering makes a start colour hard as it will have changed a lot applying the grot. Looking at the above reference some cracks look to be filled with grime not gold. Though given how dirty they are "both" might be what's going on. Looking at screen grabs less is more. It seems that they have roughly 1 grey component 2 at most. So just a chest, or just the helmet, a some have none. The ones with 2 seem to be a shoulder and something around the same size, like the dome of the helmet. It may be too loose if you go with "follow the reference" but if you set a hard limit of 2 then unless they do a chest and helmet you shouldn't end up too far away. A list of known gray parts or combos might be handy too. 1 Helmet bar tube and ears (https://imgur.com/cm7Y0Jd) 2 Partial (approx 75-80% coverage) of chest plate (above reference) 3 Partial (approx 75-80% coverage) helmet dome + one shoulder bell. (https://imgur.com/9ewDVqd) 4 One shoulder bell (https://imgur.com/9ewDVqd) Not a complete list I am sure but it's a start.

That's a really nice figure

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Welcome back. I believe you should be able to reuse your old TK number, not many 3 digit trooper around these days! Not the most up to date post but this might help post some images:

The memorial patch run for Dan had recently just finished:

I have merged a number of threads together into this one.

Congratulations, saw this at Celebration and it was amazing to see.

@Sly11

Congratulations, 10Km in a TK is no simple feat! Not sure I could do it

I do a similar repair with a bit of old white T-Shirt and some super glue This is a lot fancier!

What sort of prescription are we talking? Mine is around -1 ish so I just put up with rubbish vision. Really the best option, if you can, is contacts. I did try this but I didn't get on with getting them in and out. Last is what Glen is suggesting, get a spare frame with the correct prescription. Remove the arms and mount this inside the helmet. If you have a small head you might be able to get the helmet on with normal glasses but I can't do that.