Ruthar

Another vote for simple sharpie here. Just go over the unwanted area a couple times and it will be nice and hidden.

Wow, that is a truly stunning build. Excellent work, indeed!

Excellent words of wisdom from Tim! I just finished my first build a little bit ago, and I was very fortunate to be given the same sort of advice. I would say that the most important advice is to use E6000 as Tim mentioned (I bolded it for just a touch of emphasis ). Though I went super slow and checked these forums hundreds of times, I still managed to put a couple things in the wrong place - thankfully, E6000 is rather forgiving in that you can remove it much more easily than ABS cement or intensive super glues. On another note, never be afraid to ask questions about anything - I'm sure I speak for more than just myself when I say that I've certainly felt very lost and intimidated at times, but the folks here are nothing but helpful and motivational to help guide you down the right path.

Congrats!

No worries at all, I certainly appreciate the feedback! I certainly wouldn't want them on the wrong legs either, so I just wanted to put out the thought process here to make sure I was thinking about it the right way.

Another member of the Northeast Remnant and I were discussing the shin armor as well as he thought the same thing. From what I understood, the "curvy" parts of the shins are on the inside to match the more prominent muscles there whereas the "straighter" sides go on the outside. For reference: Obviously my muscles are hardly as toned as this diagram, but that's the guideline I used to put them together. Here are some shots:

Reporting for duty and kindly requesting 501st access: TD-12110, Northeast Remnant http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=20039 Thanks so much!

Thanks, Tony! I've been ooing and ahhing at your electronics and bucket interior, so I had to at least include something for now. And on another note, I'm pleased to announce that I have been accepted into the 501st as TD-12110 this morning. Thanks to everyone here for all your help and advice - words cannot describe how floored I am over how helpful and friendly this community has been. Can't wait to put the bucket on and get out there in the name of the Emperor! Here are some of the approval shots:

I will investigate the silicone stuff down the road - for now, these newly stitched handplate straps should hold just fine. Some other things this evening - installed a bracket for my Aker voice amp in the chest piece. Waiting on the iComm to arrive this week and I will be making a bracket on the left for that as well. Also installed some better looking mesh and the Aker mic in the helmet. Here are some shots: The bracket behind the chest piece: With the Aker amp: Mesh (clamped down with magnets) and mic (clamped down with painter's tape):

I probably wouldn't even have to make a mold, to be honest. I could probably just use the underside of the handplate to cast it. That being said, I have literally no idea how to even go about that.

I was looking at these as well, but they seem to still not have my size available. Definitely another good option, however!

I used E6000 for nearly everything in the armor build, but for the handplates and their straps I went with a gel adhesive by Scotch. It's pretty much the same thing (and slightly more expensive than E6000), but it seems to set quicker than the E6000 does which was great here as the clamps tended to slip into the crevices of the cheese grater handplates. In hindsight, I should have just used two very thin pieces of wood to keep the straps pushed down against the plates and then clamped those instead, but you learn something new everyday I suppose.

Well if I change my mind, I will be certain to let you know if and when a run starts up! Tested the handplates this afternoon - they seem to hold up well. I originally had them just glued to the gloves, but that was certainly not going to last as they had already begun to pull off. They fit quite snuggly around the gloves and don't seem to move despite some wild arm flailing (for science!) so I think I will call these a success for the time being. At least until I manage to find latex or silicone cheese grater plates! If anyone knows anyone who makes those by the way, do let me know if you can - the folks on MEPD didn't seem to have answers and I'm sure the cheese graters are much rarer than the regular ANH latex handplates.

Those boots have a seam running down the front which, according to the CRL, wouldn't fly for expert infantryman, but you could probably use them for basic 501st approval if I'm not mistaken. I went with these boots on Amazon - not that expensive all things considered, and a little bit of leather and fabric paint did the job nicely to make them white.

I don't think it would be worth it for anyone to purchase, to be honest. In reality, it was far simpler to build than a set of armor, so anyone on here can do it with a little bit of time. Perhaps posting up a guide somewhere would be helpful? Though I don't want to take away from Starbuck's build over on MEPD which is what I based my build on - I made sure to send him a message thanking him for his guidance as I couldn't or wouldn't have done it without the pics.

I used Trooperbay's dark green material, so I installed it using his method of using the existing helmet screws. Here's a link to the video on his website that explains the process. I really like the little ABS clips, though - wish I saw that before I finished up my bucket, though I guess it's never too late to tinker. That mesh install is really fantastic! I may have to adopt that at some point.

Hi there Brandon! According to this thread, that is not a reliable source for armor. If you are looking for a great place to start with your own, there is amazing information in the "Getting Started" section (including this thread which is all about trusted makers and armor suppliers). Unfortunately, there is nothing "quick" about getting your own suit. Even if you did manage to get one "ready to wear," you still need to size and trim it so it fits to your form. I'm still rather new at this myself, but I'm sure other members have more to say on the matter. Hope that helps shed a little light and good luck!

Thanks, glad you like it! Finished the final painting a little bit ago, so now that it's pretty dry it's time for some final shots of the electrobinoculars. I added a few detail pieces on the PVC parts as it didn't feel right to just have empty holes, it didn't feel totally 'functional' without them - a metal ring and some plastic innards from the flashlights I dissected for the build was all it seemed to take. I haven't decided what I will actually do with them yet - either figure out a way to attach them to the belt with a clip of some sort or just wait until I have a backpack and attach them there. I will have to think of some options, but without further ado, here are some shots.

Started on some of the final coats tonight - silver for a more metallic feel and black to simulate oil in a few places. Insides of the eye pieces and lenses are black as well to give a little more depth. Once this dries a bit I will do some passes of the burnt umber to match the armor - gotta get the sand in all the hard to reach places! A few more progress shots:

Thanks, I'm certainly glad! Got home from work this afternoon so decided to start the base coats of white. Once that's finished, I'll add silver accents so it has a metallic look and then weather it with the same techniques as my armor.

It's basically the same stuff as Crayola's Model Magic. So far it seems to be doing alright though it does tend to take a while to harden. The good news is that it's quite light, so it doesn't really add much to the overall weight of the build. It claims you can sand it as well, so I have a few sheets of high grit sandpaper to smooth it out before painting over everything.

I have a pair of them from my AM 2.0 kit that I didn't use if you would like to buy them. Shoot me a PM if interested!

Glad you guys like them so far! It's certainly been fun to try and recreate them from scratch. Installed the ABS pieces around the eyepieces and finished up putting the air dry clay around the edges of the container's lid to hide the fact that it's just a piece of Tupperware. Also took some scrap ABS with a return edge and formed it into ABS brackets to cover the straps and screws. Once the clay is dry enough, then it's onto some painting and finishing up!

Thanks, man! Did a bit more this evening, too. Made the faceplate with the two eye pieces and small detail stuff. I will glue pieces of spare ABS to the angle brackets, but first I need to wait for the epoxy to dry that is holding the faceplate to the main body. Faceplate: Waiting on epoxy to set:

Took that pile of stuff above and started making some things with it. I was awed by this thread over on MEPD, so I figured I would give it a try myself. First, I sanded down the plastic container so it has a nice rough surface to paint. Then, I installed the flashlight pieces on the end and the screws/straps assembly. Once all that was connected, I sealed up the container with E6000 along the edges of the lid which I then locked down. After that, super glue and balsa wood to give the electrobinocular ridged texture as seen in the movies. Then I trimmed down the PVC detail piece on top and set it within the balsa tracks and surrounded it with some sanded balsa pieces. Once all that was done, I used air drying clay to mold some thickness around pieces such as the flashlight tips. I've never worked with this stuff before, so I'm interested to see how (or if) it will work at all. It's all about experimenting after all I suppose! Anyhow, this is where we got after all that. Tomorrow I will affix the eye pieces, some detail pieces on that side, and the brow edge part. I think I'm going to heat and bend some leftover ABS for that, but I'll toy around with that more tomorrow.