oneal

i like it, it looks like something that would have been developed after a few decades following the events of Episode VI without deviating too much from the basic design. i cant wait to see more detail.

when someone says to me "aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" i reply "aren't you a little tall for an ewok?"

Mike, thanks for posting this guide, excellent job! i just started work on my AP helmet. will post my progress this week.

starting work on the bucket

funny thing is that my smile is usually like that even when i'm wearing a helmet, you just cant help but smile when people ask to take photos with you in costume. next to the charity and hospital visits, the look on people's faces, especially the children, is priceless. thats what keeps me smiling

i have a size 32" waist, hopefully with some exercise i can get back down to 30" sometimes its hard to close the armor especially after meals. hehehe i've yet to trim the bucket, i'm a little bit scared to cut it since thats the first thing people will notice if your bucket doesn't look good. i'll probably have enough courage by this weekend

nice work on the helmet, i'm still building up the courage to cut my bucket, but the other armor parts are coming along nicely. may i ask if you used the decals that were included in the AP kit or did you get new ones?

test fitting chest armor test fitting front torso armor

finally!

after many hours of cutting plastic i got bored of the score & snap method and decided to try something different frustrating cutting armor is i cut out the excess plastic from the chest plate in one piece it took a lot longer but it was interesting to learn how to properly use the hot blade knife to slowly score till it goes through the plastic

imperial cat armoring trying out the armor

here is the first test of the abdominal & kidney armor

abdomen before cutting

my girlfriend TB-1870 trying to see what its like to be a Stormtrooper instead of a Biker Scout now she wants to know how much Femtrooper armor costs

the scariest part of cutting armor is slicing the crotch hehehe

the arm holes of the chest are hard to cut because the guide line is not very distinct

while the limbs can be fixed with shims and straps, the chest is your biggest problem might be the width, it could be too narrow, the original armor was designed for skinny people which was why they ended up using women in the armor for some shots in ANH.

hehehe yeah i get that a lot, i usually respond with "Princess! i'm luke skywalker, i'm here to rescue you!" most guys either laugh it off or walk away embarrassed. anyway, i was able to try on a set of AP armor of one of my Outpost and it fits relatively okay, but i might have to trim some parts a bit more for long term comfort especially during conventions and parades. in any case, my AP trial by fire will probably be Celebration Japan in July

i'm actually short for a Stormtrooper, i'm only 5'5" but here in the Philippines its not so bad since there are fewer tall people. we have a member of our Outpost who is 5'7" who wears the AP armor as well with no extra trimming, i was able to fit it before i ordered my own set. the AP armor is made for people who are thinner build, my brother is a personal trainer/dentist and tried wearing the chest armor and its way too narrow, if you're of a stouter build then the RT or FX are your only choices.

i realized i should have tried that after i was done cutting the limbs and torso parts. but i will have to do that with the belt and other accessories anyway, thanks for the advice

one of the hardest things to do is to make a nice even curved line with the hot blade since it tends to stick at certain points along the score line, you have to be careful if you want to make a clean cut my girlfriend's other cat Botchok keeping my helmet safe

one problem with the hot blade x-acto knife is when the blade sticks to the plastic and gets detached from the blade holder, you cant exactly pick it up with your fingers, i suggest keeping a small pair of pliers nearby to tighten the blade receptacle and to pick up stray hot blades that are stuck in the armor or fall on the floor

taking the time to cut the torso parts carefully, unlike the arms & legs, the kidney armor has nice long & relatively straight lines with deeper groove guide line, its easier to cut and less risk of mistakes

here are the torso pieces before trimming chest & back Abdomen & kidney

after a brief hiatus, i finally got back to working on my AP armor, i started cutting the torso pieces in the same way as i did with the limbs. using the now seemingly popular hot blade x-acto knife(available on ebay or amazon) i made quick work of the back/kidney armor.