firstceb

Thats what I figured, but you know "first cut" and all... I actually feel really good about working with the armor after using the dremel and trimming the inner forearms. RT seems sturdy. Had a good long day shopping. Suffered two malls with the wife in trade for Jo Ann's, Hobby Lobby, Hobby Town USA and lastly Liquor Barn. Tomorrow should be full of progress! Was happy to find a good under-suit. Still need the snaps, rivets, screen accurate strapping brackets... Anyone ever worked with one of these? I thought it might help with or take place of scoring.

The outer forearms seem long. In the third pic I have a line drawn in anticipation of scissor arrival... next week.

Still waiting for my lexan scissors and hoping for a successful visit to the hobby store on Saturday. However I am anxious to get started so I broke out the utility knife and dremel. I figured I would start start sizing the forearms and drop the return edges. You can see in the first couple pics there was a slight size difference with the inner halves. The smaller one seemed to fit better, so lets see if we cant make them uniform...

Hovi-mics. Will I need to paint the inside white; outside black? Ears look good, but I feel like I should trim a little off and seat them on the tubes. Thoughts? Do the lenses look dark enough? Should I replace? I was actually really impressed with the bucket, particularly the lenses and how Rob added the cover on the edge.

Question time...

A bit of my supplies and the extras that shipped with the armor. Top job by Rob @ RT-Mod! The decals look pretty good. But, for MEPD/SWAT... the decals got to go!

Hi all! Decided last Nov this would be the year to join the 501st. Deciding where I wanted to build first, TD, was easy. Deciding which armor to buy and begin the journey took a month of research. I finally contacted RT-Mod to get on the wait list. I'm just under 6'2" 220lbs, so I figured based on sizing I would have to get a set of 'big boy' armor. I expected shipment some time in the fall. Received my RT-Mod 'sandy' armor yesterday. Stoked! Last month Rob sends out an email regarding a sandtrooper quality set, so I threw my name in the hat. BOOM! Armor 10mo early! TKBoots arrived today. Double stoked! I still need to pick up a few things before I dive in completely, but I got pics and this will be a pic heavy build thread. So without further ado... Down to the armory! Everything packed up nice and tight. Bucket test.

I'm putting a T-21 together also. I would hold out on finishing mine for a set of resin cast parts.

Didn't expect armor till later this year and turned my eyes toward other projects. Till Rob at RT-Mod threw down the gauntlet with a 'Sandy' quality kit. It arrives next week. One of the projects was to start framing the back wall of the basement, which was done in two 9' x 13' sections. Still have the other side of the house to do... With a little motivation... I figured I'd get working on the BFG again. So, as a fan of the BFG, bigger is always better. I was doing some sanding on the stock. Cut the fitting end of the 3" pipe, +6" from the taper. Some of that will come off in the finishing process. I may do this completely custom for a Mando I am planning, we'll see. Current overall length from base of shroud to barrel tip 35"! Need to go to Lowes tomorrow for some weed'n'feed, so I'll be picking up some supplies. For the gun and my upcoming armor build!

Just BCC all the vendors on the list you want to recieve info from. Thats what I did. They all responded within a day or two and then I spent the next month making up my mind which armor will fit me best. Good luck!

Big fan of BMGs! So, while I wait for armor... Going to test galvanized steel for the exterior for weathering.

PM me and I can send you details I received this past weekend from the RT-Mod & AM guys. I'm a bit smaller 6'1"ish 220lbs. Emails were very infomative and helped me decide. Otherwise, you could just email them all, friendly and helpfull, and they will answer any questions. I also inquired to AP and ATA makers, but they are smaller armor kits.

I was orignally thinking AP/ATA for authenticity based on the details in the getting started thread. But before I decided I wanted to find what troopers my size were building. I sent an email to AP/ATA/AM for details and searched the forums till I found a build by someone my size. I received details back from all three armorers and have decided to go with AM mostly because of my size (6'1", 220lbs). Others said they could accomodate me but thats when price, kit and turn around time were added to the equation. My minimum goal is 501st approved by Oct 2016.

This is the post I've been looking for... 6'1 220lbs, still waiting on a reply from troopergear. Going to inquire to to RT-MOD today.

This post is invaluable! I am new here, hoping to join MidSouth: Blue Sun Squad soon, eventually 501st and MEPD: SWAT. I looked into the 501st and "trooping" a few years ago and didn't take the plunge for exactly the reason this post was writen. Lack of resources for people looking to get into this 'secret society'. Maybe that was the case back then, "first rule of trooping is you dont talk about trooping". TK409 was the best site that I can remember. I am now on the trail from a conversation I had with a guy I have hardly talked to in the five years we've been in the same division... for no reason than we had nothing in common... A resurgence of the franchise we love, him running into a 501st member while at a trunk-or-treat and then approaching me about it this week... here I am! We may become great friends in our journey together and we are both determined! We both have plans to participate in as much as we can with our local unit, and with full support from our wives! I reached out to the Blue Sun today with hope to start getting to know them and take any advice they have. I will ofcourse, be trolling here until my TK armor is complete. So, thank you!