ShadyP

About a year ago I was in touch with Carlos Estrella and he sent me a ton of photo's of his kit and a few molds. After discussing with many of our esteemed FISD veterans it was pretty much unanimous that these molds were recasted from the original KW anovos parts. I've still got that conversation history and photo's should anyone want more details.

Who else is waiting on the BSP FOTK preorder? Has anyone heard from them since they last posted a need for a 5 axis CNC to make one of the molds?

Indeed Shawn, I've had a 'fun' experience getting this armor. Everything I've seen from Mimic these last couple weeks is flawless. As I stated previously, I should have kept my damn mouth shut and stayed on that run. I had a friendly discussion with Mimic recently and at least mended that burned bridge. I'm hopeful for BSP to stick to their stated 'all preorders will ship in June' declaration. BUT I'll be happy to just have this kit completed before Celebration Chicago.

After looking at mutiple photo's of Carlos' armor and conferring with a group of FISD admin/leaders/guru's it appears that Carlo's armor is an Anovos recast. I hope he can share some information/evidence to the contrary but that is what the images provided point to. That said, my Vermont group is now on the Backstage Props FOTK preorder. They say they are pulling them in June, but I believe noone when it comes to timelines anymore. I'll get it when I get it.

I just had an extended conversation with Carlos Estrella in Mexico City about the FOTK armor he makes. Does anyone have this kit and would you be willing to share some thoughts on it? Carlos makes it with 2mm styrene and either ships as a kit, as ready to wear armor, or as a full setup with boots/gloves/belt/helmet. His prices are lower than anyone else I've talked to but I don't want to jump on a subpar or possibly recast kit just because it costs less.

I just heard from BSP and my build group is transitioning to their FOTK pre-order with estimated shipping dates in June. Once my paypal claim from KB is settled, we'll route all the money to BSP in Taiwan.

yeah, I saw that update. I've been reading/following the whole dramatic soap opera between KB and the Sandbox and I'm not interested in keeping my business with either of them. I hope KB gets back up and running and restores the reputation he once had but I am afraid that is going to take some time. If Backstage Props would reply to my messaging, I think my build group is getting in on their preorder

There's no chance Mimic would sell to me at this point. I shouldn't laugh, but couldn't help it while typing that. Besides, there were 5 in our VT group build and we are down to 3. I can't leave the other two hanging, our goal is to build together and match. I'm thinking the whole fact that I'm still shopping for a kit is just Karma coming around to get me. I sent Mimic a PM, hopefully he has a good laugh at my expense.

I've been following your stuggles with those incomplete kits on facebook. The whole situation stinks. BUT I'm glad Mimic is rounding the corner on finishing those kits. In hindsite, I should have been more patient with him. In fact, I may peek in on that thread now...

Sure - thanks

One of my squad mates reached out to BSP this morning for details and either hasn't gotten info yet or hasn't had the chance to share it with the rest of our build group. I sent a message to Diversity props and he promptly asked me to give him a little bit of time before he could send me all the details. It seems like all established FOTK vendors are going to be hammered this week with the fallout from KB. According to Hal @the Sandbox, Kevin was behind 40+ kits of assorted trooper armor. It's a shame and a sad situation for such a trusted/established vendor to have gotten into. BUT, I guess it was predictable after his posts last week about recasting black series TK helmets making them Solo trooper variants. It's better for him to cut and run than get sued by the mouse/hasbro.

goddammit. KB has announced that he's out of the prop making business and that all outstanding orders should look to paypal for refunds. This was the 3rd Vendor I attempted to get FOTK armor from and I'm genuinely at a loss for what to do next. Paypal is giving Kevin until 5/17 to click the buttons to return my money before they close it out for him and send me money back. In these next 10 days, I need to decide whether to pursue another armorer or just cash out and put the money into a wookie (again). Deja vu sucks. Does anyone have more info on BSP? I can't do fiberglass do to an allergic reaction so Jim's kits aren't options for me.

lookin great Craig!

Craig, I think the PDF of instructions I sent you (written by @ukswrath) includes the details for EIB and Centurion builds. the only thing really holding the Anovos kit back from the upper levels is the belt and the two extra screws holding the holster in place. As Joe suggested, an upgrade to a Kittel belt will pretty much solve both problems while adding the problem of removing the plastic parts from the Anovos belt. I've been dragging my feet on putting my new belt into service, once you are ready perhaps we schedule a day and do them together.

no and I'm not going to push them to. This is a beautiful design and the proprietary nature of 3d modeling is, in my opinion, to be respected. If he's willing, I imagine he'll post publically. I realize now that my post would have been better suited as a PM.

Seeing the test pulls in petg has me pretty amped to get this kit finally however the prototype from Backstage Props posted over the weekend has me second guessing again. If they've really locked down a 1 piece yoke (more or less) and a 1 piece TD I might have to buy a second kit much sooner than I intended to.

thanks. The polystyrene being offered by KB Props now is way too thin for my taste. The pulls look sharp, great detail, but it bends and curls like construction paper. In my opinion, that's not armor. I've decided to go with their 0.118" clear pet-g. Kevin's new parter Hal posted a video of a FOTK thigh piece pulled with this plastic being painted. It looks amazing AND switching from ABS will get this kit to me much sooner.

I'm sure many of you have heard about the update from KB Props and his merger with another builder. I'm on the fence about switching to pet-g and not waiting for his abs to arrive. Kevin's new parter Hal told me all the positive characteristics about this new plastic, but I'm a creature of habit and I know how to work with ABS. Does anyone have any experience with armor pulled in pet-g? or in polystyrene, his 3rd option?

I'm also waiting on a FOTK kit from KB but I'm hesitant to switch to the pet-g as I've always dealth with ABS. Does anyone know anything about this material that I don't?

very nice to hear that Mimic is communicating regularly now. I'll continue to look forward to your images.

I'm sorry to see that you're still getting a bit of the run around on this. I look forward to seeing your photos once it arrives.

would you mind posting a link to that? I can't seem to locate any under $20.

back on track, somewhat. I placed the order for a TFA kit from KB props today. In 4-5 weeks, it'll be time to get busy.

If it was just a few dollars I wouldn't worry about it, but with it being a combined refund of all 5 of our kits, the difference is over $200 US. I messaged Mimic asking what they know about the exchange process with paypal however I doubt I'll get a response. Mimic most likely has be blocked at this point, and i'd have done the same if I were them. In hindsite, I was a dick. However, I don't think the truth of the run would be known had I not been a dick. I salute you and the others that opted to remain with him after the storm settled.

Our Vermont buid group received our refunds from Mimic last night ending that part of this never ending FOTK timeline. Paypal requires up to 7 days to actually move the money to our accounts. At that point we'll be putting in an order for new kits. I think our plan is to go with KB kits, but we are still discussing it. Is anyone familiar with how PayPal handles the difference in exchange rates when issueing refunds? Judging by the exchange rate when we paid, compared to the exchange rate when we were refunded, we could have actually profitted off of Mimic holding our funds for months. If that is the case, we may need to communicate with him and rectify that.