themaninthesuitcase

I have a handful of spare pre made elastics and some shoulder loops, some white duct tape, super glue, a bit of white t-shirt, scissors, lexan scissors and some velcro. I also carry a small basic first aid kit (mostly plasters and a few basics), blister plasters, micropore tape, lanyards for if I need ID on me, spare glove liners, 2-3 small towels and 2 cups of just add hot water coffee.

So today I received some Troopermaster hand guards that Paul kindly sent me to compare against my Anovos kit as a test. I've used my bucket as a comparison as it's what was easiest to get to. I've polished the helmet a little when I re-painted the decals. The finish on the TM is very similar to the finish on the un-polished parts of my armour. Indoor shade lighting, no artificial lighting: Troopermaster ABS (Indoor shade light) by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Direct sun light: Troopermaster ABS (direct sun) by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr The colour on the two images is very different, these aren't colour corrected images. What we're looking at is the colours inside each image. I'll let you all make you're own minds up but I think the match is very good. There is a small difference but how much of that is me looking for a difference I don't know. I'll try grab a less polished item sometime tomorrow and re-do the test.

There's a company I know of in the UK who will make custom flags for quite reasonable money. I did mock up an FISD flag to see if it would look right but never went anywhere with it. Edit: Less reasonable than it was. Looks like Brexit strikes again. Also none of your silly American flag ratios, proper 2:1 flags.

Looks good trooper but I see a couple of things: The left (in the photo, so your right) leg is rotate a bit. The strip should be at the front. Looks like your ab plate is about to pop out. Looks like you're using wire brackets but I can't tell if you have the correct taller ones on the chest plate for the overlap. Good luck trooper!

This was part of the reason the CE2016 photo was so early, to help keep on lookers to a minimum and mean the space was more under 501st control.

I found those tricky to get accurate lengths. Also hard to cut with but that may be the pliers. I'd also recommend filing the end smooth after as most methods of cutting will leave sharp edges.

http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-TIE-helmet-costume-overview.htm "black vacu-formed plastic" and looking at the images I suspect ABS is pretty much a certainty. You can also see what the vac forum com-pads looked like as there's one stuck to the back of a helmet.

Seeing as it's soon going to be time for me to start trooping again I'm fixing some of the niggles from last year. This evening I finally trimmed down the helmet ear screws. I used M3.5 brass screws that only come in 25mm long, and when I put the bucket on would jab me in the head. To fix this I used a sharpie to mark all the screws after the nut and then 1 at a time removed them and trimmed them down with a hacksaw. Amount of screw removed by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr I didn't need to remove much but it's made a huge difference and I no longer catch on them when putting on the helmet. If I could have got them 20mm long would have been about perfect. Trimmed screws holding visor by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Looks much tidier too. The good thing about the brass screws is they cut and filed smooth easily and also leave a nice uniform finish.

No time like the present!

I have a scar on the tip of my finger that says this is good advice.

Congratulations trooper.

Welcome to the FISD! First Order options are a bit more limited than the original trilogy stuff but there's more than just Anovos. Have a read up in the getting started, and also have a look at the build threads section and see what others are building and where any sticking points are.

Speak to your local Garrison. I am sure they will have a program in place where you can source a troop and then pass it on a team inside the garrison to ensure everything's above board.

This is how I have mine: Gluing on the shin hooks. by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr In hindsight, I'd add a bigger gap from the hole to the edge of the shin and move the hooks over to match. The key bit though is I need to pull the elastics to fit them. The tension holds the hooks in well. Also I found it was important having the hook bend angle just right. Too closed and I couldn't get them in the hole, too open and they can pop out.

Not a costume but who doesn't love a droid? Today I picked up a sheet of 3mm and a sheet of 1.5mm HIPS. The 1.5 mm is more as it's handy to have, and this is the smallest sheet size they sell. Both are 1220x915mm. HIPS, lots of HIPS by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr I'm going to print the plans later and get started patching them back together. I'm sure that will be a horrible job... The plans call for 3 sheets about half the size of the one I got but sheet 3 is just the trench so I figured I'd work something else out. Worst case I buy more. I may have to anyway as I'm hoping to make the chassis out of the 3mm. Glue I'm going to order some Dichloromethane from eBay and some little LDPE bottles with needles to apply it. Though I plan on a dry build with masking tape first. I've also made a start on some CAD work to help design the design the drive train. MSE-6 CAD WIP by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Once the shell is built I will update the CAD dimensions to match reality which should make things easier. I've got a plan for a solid rear axel done, fairly basic but similar to what was using on screen. Going to aim for a 8:1 gearing from a 540 motor, which was recommended by Mike Senna in his build. Wheels I've designed my own from the reference. I don't claim them to be perfect but they look nice. After a couple iterations and some advice on the FB group I've ended up with a 2 piece design which means they print cleanly and quickly. They are designed to fit the foam tires available in the US. Test 2 piece wheel by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr The PCD is 20mm and it uses M3 screws to hold it to the hub which will also be 3D printed. Assembeled 2 Piece wheel by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr The photo shows PZ1 screws but they're far too long so once I know what I need I plan to order some button head hex drives to replace them.

I've got an Anovos kit and so far only one crack. Granted I don't troop as much as some but the crack is actually in one of the thicker areas of the kit. I suspect a lot of the issue is the Anovos trim lines leave a pretty wide return edge which leads to stress cracks as the armour can't flex. At the recommendation of my CO I reduced mine significantly and have yet to see any cracks. The ABS is quite flexible if allowed to be and so shouldn't crack as easy as a thicker part. How ever their blend can tear and I saw this when trying to use score and snap during my build.

The helmet is EFx and so shouldn't clear, but I'm sure some will. Boots have a seam at the front, fine for basic but you'll need something better for levels 2 and 3. The E-11 isn't right either. But the main armour looks okay for at least basic as far as I can tell but I'd want Evette images to be sure.

If some one has them send me a PM and I'll put together a gallery post of reasonable matches.

Any idea how close the colour match is Paul?

I've seen some reasonably good matches made, but you'll never get perfect. I wish I'd made notes now but I think RS PVC and RWA ABS was reasonably close. I'll go back and research. Though with some effort you can save some pretty serious mistakes, post up what happened.

Not an EIB issue but it looks like you're sniper wants to catch. If that happens a block of upholstery foam in the front of the shin and/or behind the thigh knee will help hold the pieces away from each other and stop it catching. For more accuracy you'll also want to swap out the tip mesh for something a bit less dense. But in all an excellent looking build, love the DLT. Good luck trooper.

I'v heard negative about RS but it was hard to figure out if it was an issue with the maker or the wearer. Though being unhappy upon opening is a clear issue with the maker, did RS not make it good after the fact?

I messaged one of them: They were injection moulded and came in a couple of stiffnesses. Some where rubbery (his words) some stiffer. It was all a bit mix and match when they did their shoot.

I know a couple of people who were in TFA as troopers, next time I speak to one I'll see if they can answer this or if there's some NDA still.

Just take care with the exact measurements. They are probably based on a TM kit knowing Bill and so may not map exactly to your anovos armour. Go with getting the proportions right rather than exact to the mm.