MichaelOmegatron

Thanks guys! Locitus: I had no idea the L & R were labelled! Sounds perfect, haha. Dark CMF: Thanks. And yeah, I guess I never mentioned it on the forum, but after Chills said it could be made Centurion right out of the box, I totally decided I'd aim for that. By the way, I've got a Doopydoos E-11 kit lying around. I wanted to try my hands on that first before getting into the armor; trying to give my inexperienced hands some confidence/practice. I'm going to be hugging that E-11 Reference Guide you helped out with. So, thank you for that! I'll probably display that one though, and try purchasing a hyperfirm for trooping. Man, I love these forums. You guys are the best

Hello again, Just wanted to let people know that i got in touch with Paul by starting another PM thread. It turns out he didn't respond right away when he saw my first one, and then it got lost amidst all of his other PMs. Ordered i about 2 weeks ago, and can't wait for it to arrive!

Hi there, It's been a while but I wanted to post an update. So despite what the topic of this thread was, I have decided to go with TM armor! It's a bit more pricey, but it fits within my budget and I just really like how it looks (not to mention it's flexibility). AP and ATA both look like really good sets of armor. But I think TM is for me. Question: Does it usually take Paul a long time to respond to PMs? He got back to my first PM very promptly, but now that I've decided to purchase his set of armor, it's been weeks with no response. Does anyone have any input on this?

Well Chills, you did it...now I'm still researching TM armor, haha! Thanks for the idea. I figure better to spend the extra time researching instead of rushing into a purchase. I'll need to PM Paul. From what I've been reading, it sounds like AP pieces don't line up easily. That worries me for my first build. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it a big deal? What about TM? Do the pieces fit easily? I also read TM is a "flexible" armor or something? What's that about? And TM uses thicker plastic, right? I guess it's more durable? Is it more difficult to trim? Personally, I don't find lineage to be much of a concern. I'm more concerned with practicality than accuracy.

You know, I had not considered TM. I was mainly looking into these two becasue I'de heard their size was closer to mine. But boy...TM looks really good! Even to my untrained eye (relatively speaking), it was really pretty. That helmet just struck me back into the movies! However, I think I'm still going to go with one of my first two options. For some reason my gut is just telling me I might be "over-buying" with TM, so to speak. Not sure how to explain it. Almost like I'd rather save it for a possible future build when I can appreciate it more? Does that make sense? Pragmatically though, it sounds like Paul doesn't make them that often, so I wonder how available replacement parts would be, or even how to get one (I guess I'd have to PM him). Since my last post. I contacted both sellers, and am leaning towards AP. I know I said wait time wasn't an issue, but the wait list for ATA was just going to be too long. I guess you could call it a tie breaker. Both armors look really good. Definately open to more comments here. I'm probably going AP and ordering soon, but any/all pieces of advice are really welcome. I read somewhere that one guy was going to buy a spare helmet kit as a practice run on his first build. I think I'll do the same P.S. Chills: Awesome Deathstar room

Bump

Wow, some great comments! I guess I'll be going EIB from the get go aliens8us: The eyelets sound like a good idea. Thanks. bearings: I might have done some homework, but I totally missed the requests forum, and didn't realize they put up their measurements. I'll need to look into that. Thanks for the help so far! It's really helpful to get some advice from the front lines!

Hi there! This is my first post here on the forums (post introduction). I'm so thankful for this site! I've been browsing the website and researching for a while now, and it's nice to see a community I can rely on for helpful information. I have a BUNCH of questions, and hope you guys can help me out. I'm looking to get ANH stunt TK armor, at 501st approval level. I might shoot for EIB, now or later (I don't know if I'll be bitten by that bug). I'm not very handy, and I'm new to this. The most building I've ever done is Legos as a kid, and a BBQ that one time... But it's really important to me that I assemble this from the ground up (trimming, etc). After all the research I've done, it's come down to AP or ATA (ABS either way). I was hoping for some opinions and advice to help decide. I've set aside a budget of $2,000 and wait time isn't really an issue. I'm in the U.S. So I know ATA is local. I'm 5' 7 1/2" and weigh ~140 pounds. My dimensions are: Calves: 17.5" Thighs: 18" Waist: 36" (I wear 30-32 waist jeans) Hips: 39" Forearm: 12.5" Bicep: 12.5" Helmet: 23" (7 3/8 hat size) Legs: 35.5" Torso: 20" I have long legs and a shorter torso, so I think the legs might assemble easier, but I may have to over-trim the ab & chest plate, etc. Which armor would you recommend based on these measurements? Would one (AP vs ATA) fit "better" (less trimming) than the other? Is the ATA bucket bigger than the AP? Which would be easier to fit fans/speakers? It's kind of silly, but I'm worried about my nose. I feel it has a high bridge, and length might be a concern? I'm not sure. Is the AP bucket noticeably smaller? I wonder if a slightly larger ATA may fit better. If ATA armor is bigger than AP, how so? In length? Girth? If the girth is too big, how do I solve that? Is it difficult for a beginner? I've read that AP pieces don't line up great, and take some work to connect properly. Does anyone know if ATA is any better? I think they're both of TE lineage? So I don't know if they'll be similar. Since I'm a noob, I'de rather have an easier build job. Looking into butt joints vs overlap, I like the butt joint method. I read AP seams overlap, but can be assembled with butt joints. How does that work? Would ATA be considerably easier to work with using the butt joining method? (Is AP easy enough to butt join?) I used to weigh 160 until recently. Is either kit more forgiving with weight gain/loss? (This is probably up to the builder) I thought I read about a Strapping rig that allowed for a little change. I'm also interested in the future, if I need parts replaced. Do both vendors sell pieces individually (and would wait times play a factor in this)? Are there any other major differences? I think ATA has a sharper shape and more detail? And what about different left/right arms/legs? ATA buckets seem to be "more" EIB eligible (aerators, bumpy cap); is that enough of a time-saver to be a "deal breaker" over an AP helmet? Just your personal opinion in look, which do you prefer? Bucket? Armor? I saw Pandatrooper's ABS ATA helmet build and thought it looked beautiful! That's a point for ATA for me. I know it's a lot of questions, but your guys' advice would be super helpful and very much appreciated. I can't wait to here back! Thanks!

This is one of my first posts here, but...I think it's in the right place. Just ordered a Doopydoos comeplete ANH resin kit. There were 5 left in stock, so now there's 4 This was as of 10:45 Pacific Standard Time here in the States. Just FYI