SlyFox740

I purchased this Sterilite 40 Gal. / 151 L Industrial tote from Wal-Mart. Great quality at a great price! ======= These may or may not be in stock depending on where you live, check your local Wal-Mart locations for availability with the online the store locator. US Link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-40-Gallon-Wheeled-Industrial-Tote-Black/48194359 Canada Link: http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/sterilite-151-l-wheeled-industrial-tote/6000195957310

I just want to say thank you for sharing this deal you found on the storage tote. I looked it up online and raced to a local Wal-Mart that had them in stock. I'm in Canada so Wal-Mart charges a little more for it here due to the exchange rate, but even so it's still a steal! These things tend to be a bit expensive up here, this one however is not overpriced. I'm so glad I came across your thread, I actually have the AP kit too so it's really great to hear that your armor and your bucket all fit inside this bin! I also drive a Toyota Corolla so it fits in the back seat no problem. LOL what a crazy coincidence; AP Kit inside a Sterilite Tote in the back of a Toyota Corolla.

Thank you so much Scott, I really appreciate the kind words. That means a lot to me coming from you. I have seen many of your prop replicas on YouTube, some of the most beautiful DL-44s I have ever seen by far. But I have also seen the video of your E-11 Airsoft Conversion you did on commission for a customer. That video along with a few other airsoft conversions actually helped to inspire this build so thank you for posting that, I love how you compare it next to your real Sterling conversion it shows how accurate the overall scale is. You really do make some nice prop replicas Scott, so your comments/critiques are very encouraging. There are still some differences to correct but I'm doing everything possible to make this airsoft gun more accurate to a real Sterling before I even start converting it to an E-11. I hope you follow along!

I'm not sure how much it would help but you could also avoid using inner cover strips on the forearms to save a few millimetres of space inside. Or if it's just your hand not fitting through you could still use inner cover strips but don't extend them all the way to the inside edge of the wrist. Just cut them off by a few inches, inner cover strips are not even required so there's really no rules concerning length.

Hey Travis, yes my forearm cover strips are 15mm exactly, that is what is recommended for screen accuracy but you can vary from this slightly if required. My forearms are a little bit tight going on and off but I wouldn't say "difficult" by any means. It's only a bit tight when going over the hand but it fits just fine after that, not too snug. I find if you twist the forearm just a certain way as it goes over the hand it helps make it easier. I can definitely see why the return edge on the wrists were completely trimmed off in the film; the actors wouldn't have been able to get them on otherwise. That being said the actors that were cast as stormtroopers were all required to be fairly skinny. I'm fit in the arms but a slender guy so I don't really have any issues getting the forearms on, I have big hands but really just long with skinny wrists and also long arms. I know getting the forearms on is a common issue for bigger troopers and I believe if it's needed people usually just use wider cover strips but still try to keep them as close to the original as possible.

Thanks a lot John, I really appreciate that! Yes I did breifly mention the inaccurate bayonet lug in my chapter titles at the end of the introduction, but I may edit that post to make note of it a little earlier. I will be correcting the inaccuracies on the bayonet lug when I install the T-track in Episode V or possibly maybe even before that. There are also some other minor details here and there that I will be correcting along the way, some are noted in the introduction, and others just weren't really worth mentioning yet, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Does anyone have a valid coupon code they're willing to share with me? I'm looking to make an order.

Interesting, I think "Yet" may be the key word there. Once some more builds like this one get approved W.T.F. will eventually become a vetted vendor by definition, whether he will actually be listed remains to be seen I guess. It definitely looks to be good quality armor! And his customers seem to be very happy with the service he provides. I assume getting on that list is something that takes time and requires a history of quality product and service, any additions are probably taken very seriously. WTF is not the only one, there's a few other good quality vendors that haven't been listed yet either such as MTK or NE. Anyways I wouldn't put too much thought into it, the CRL is pretty generic about the actual armor requirements. No specific brands are required to meet approval, there are only specific brands that are Non-approved such as Rubies or FX.

Okay yes that part is uncomfortable, it jabs me in the arm a bit. I was just making all my cuts according to screen used armor from the FSID Photo Reference Gallery. I realize some of these details are personal preference and not required for approval, I will most likely end up cutting that little corner off as it already annoys me when wearing the forearms, let alone once everything is assembled. I noticed many other troopers trim this off too.

Walt's Trooper Factory armor looks really great! I've seen other W.T.F. Builds on here before but I'd never heard of it before that. Is Walt's Trooper Factory in the vetted vendors list?

What kind of glue are you using that allows you to finish an entire suit in one weekend?

Mark hasn't shipped your Armor yet, last time we spoke at the armor party you had your helmet already. But you're still waiting on the rest?

Hey man looking good so far! <br> Fellow recruit here from Cambridge Ontario. I'm just assembling my armor as well, though I have the AP kit. I would have ordered the Anovos if I was able to get in on the pre-order pricing. Also I recognize the characters in you comic on photos. I was also there, I went dressed as Wolverine.

uhm... Am I doing okay so far?, yes? no? Halt!? Move Along?...

The counters on ANH E-11 blasters had 6 digits, all white font on black rollers. The variant with the last two digits that are yellow or red is actually inaccurate and less expensive when buying the real thing.

Hey Jim there may be another armor party in the GTA next weekend, I'll keep you posted if it happens.

Just to be clear I know this thread is in the ANH Blastech E-11 section and is about the www.stormtrooperblaster.com website. I'm not trying to hijack this thread with stuff about Hovi mic tips, I was only trying to show an example of his plastic work in comparison to resin parts and the mic tips are the only thing I have two of to compare. His blaster parts are also extremely accurate, great stuff! Lightweight and strong.

Yes I have become aware of this site in recent months. I have actually spoken with Robert the guy who is doing the casting for all the replica parts, he makes them in hard black plastic, not resin. This is a good thing because plastic is light and strong, resin is heavy, soft, and damages much easier than plastic. Though it less expensive to fill molds with resin than plastic which explains why resin is more common. I was actually going to post a thread about the site but I didn't know if that was technically advertising or not. He is on eBay under the seller "swpropman" http://www.ebay.com/usr/swpropman?_trksid=p2047675.l2559 But he actually prefers private sales and is trying to get away from eBay so he can also be reached at [email protected]. I have bought some products from him and the casts are clean and super accurate, and made of good quality hard black plastic. Here is a side view of your average resin mic tips (left) and his black plastic mic tips (right). Notice the vent slits in the plastic mic tips are actually open just like the real thing, that's accurate! Notice the precise detail in the writing of the words (Hovi-Mix Pa2) just like the real thing, that's accurate! The walls on these plastic mic tips are also thinner exactly like the real thing, the resin versions have thick walls which is not accurate. The original real Hovi mic tips don't exist anymore but they were made of plastic, these too are made of genuine plastic. Only the original Hovi tips were white plastic painted black, instead these are cast in black plastic so no is paint is needed. However these are probably the absolute closest thing available to a set of real Hovi-Mix Pa2 tips. For more photos of these mic tips and the rest of the internal parts for them look at his eBay store.

This is a nice kit, I'm assembling an AP too. You did a very good job putting it together!

Everything is looking good so far, keep up the good work Michael!

Thank you very much Tino, that means a lot to me coming from you! Your latest build has been very inspiring.

Shoulder Bells There wasn't much to the shoulder bells. Other than the fact that I tried to trim as little off of these as possible. They are basically supposed to touch the shoulder straps that connect the chest and back so I trimmed as little as possible. Right up to the point before the Shoulder Bells start to "flare out" at the mold lines. Then I sanded all the edges using 180 grit sponge block. I also kept the small return edge at the bottom of the Shoulder Bells, some of the suits used on screen had these return edges and some did not. Here you can see the return edge inside the bottom of the shoulder bell.

Forearms After finishing the Biceps it was time to assemble the Forearms, I basically used the exact same procedure again except this time I used the Lexan Scissors to cut the center line instead of a ruler & razor blade due to the curves in the armor. First I held my 7.5mm marking strip flat against the inside ridges to draw the center lines, then cut using Lexan Scissors, then I cut more 15mm inner cover strips to size, sanded and glued them to inside again like so. Making sure to glue each one on opposite sides so the two halves will fit together after. To hold it in place while the glue dried I used clamps with pop-sicle sticks wrapped in painter tape to protect the surface, and some rare earth magnets. After the inner cover strips cured for 24 hours I joined the two halves together using tape, clamps and rare earth magnets. First along one side of the Forearm only as the opposite side will pull apart when joining this side together. This allows me to align the each seam line perfectly. As you can see below after joining one side the opposite side pulls apart much more on the forearms than they did on the biceps. When trimming this armor for the butt-joint assembly method the two forearm halves won't exactly "fit" together at first. By this I mean the edges of the armor along the seam lines don't really align very flat when you put the two halves together. That's right where the coverstrip goes on the ridge so it will need to be flat, both edges of each half must align flush in order for the covesrtrip to sit flat. Because of this large gap I actually wait 48 hours before attempting to close the other side. If you read the back of the E-6000 tube it says it may take up to 48 hours to fully harden so that's how long I wait, after that I remove the clamps and magnets but leave the tape and even add more tape to help hold it while I close the other side. I then use the same method I used on the biceps to close the other side; first painter's tape, then immediately apply clamps to the outer edges, and rare earth magnets along the inner cover strips. This will be enough to hold the armor in place perfectly while the E-6000 cures. Again for the forearms specifically I waited a full 48 hours before removing the tape, clamps, and magnets. 48 hours later; here are some photos of the forearms complete with inner cover strips but no outer cover strips yet. Just like the biceps I used painter's tape to mask and prep the area for sanding before gluing the outer cover strips. Then again I used painter's tape to hold the outer cover strips in place temporarily while I applied the clamps and magnets. Then I repeated these steps for the rest of the outer cover strips on both forearms. They turned out really good and they fit me perfect! Forearms complete with both inner and outer cover strips.

Biceps I have been using the FSID Photo Reference Gallery to make all the cuts on my armor, I noticed some of the suits had return edges in certain places while others did not, so the consistency is not exact with the suits used on screen, I guess some of these small things are personal preference and/or cut to fit the individual trooper as the CRL does not specify requirements in most of these areas other than the wrist edge of the forearm which is a good thing. After rough trimming the biceps to the mold lines I made a 7.5mm wide marking strip using a scrap piece of ABS. This is exactly half the width of the 15mm cover strips that will hold the bicep halves together. I just held my marking strip flat against the inside of the ridges and marked my center cut lines. Center cut line 7.5mm from the edge of the ridge. After rough trimming, the bicep halves were plenty flat enough to use a ruler and a razor blade for the score and snap method. After cutting, I then repeated these steps for the other half of the bicep. Both halves line up really well with little to no gap whatsoever. After cutting both bicep halves to the center line it was time to make some 15mm wide cover strips for arm pieces. Using my steel ruler I measured carefully and was able to get three long 15mm strips from one of the included exrta ABS pieces. I'm really trying not to waste any extra material with this build as I will be doing both inner and outer cover strips, inner cover strips are not required but I like the extra durability. Then I used my adjustable square and clamped it to the table on top of the ABS cover strip aligned with the first cut line I drew, I should mention I have a 3' square table with 90 degree corners and edges. I then used a heavy duty utility knife with a fresh sharp blade and scored along the lines carefully. I read it's better to make several cuts with light pressure than it is to push really hard and make one deep cut so that is what I did. I used the score and snap method and It turned out pretty well, after scoring the cuts bend and snap fairly easily with nice clean straight edges thanks to the steel ruler and square. Then I cut two 15mm inner cover strips to size, one for each side of the bicep. Then I sanded the edges of the cover strips with 180 grit sponge block. I sanded each surface with 220 grit sandpaper before gluing with clear E-6000. I used Popsicle sticks wrapped in painter's tape to prevent the clamps from marking up my armor. Then I repeated all these same steps on the bicep for the other arm. Making sure to glue the 2 inner cover strips on opposite sides of the bicep or else you could end up with two inner cover strips on the same side when you go to put the two halves together. After waiting 24 hours for the inner cover strips to cure it was time to join the two halves together, only one edge first because gluing both sides at once could be a pretty tricky balancing act. This way you can align it perfectly, tape, and clamp it without worrying about the other side as it wants to flex apart from the opposite side being joined. After the E-6000 cured on that side I removed the clamps, magnets, and tape. then cleaned off the excess glue. Here you can see how the opposite back side flexes apart once this front side is joined. This can be counteracted with a hot water bath or a heat gun but that's not really necessary here in my opinion. The tape, clamps and magnets hold just fine until the glue dries then the two halves will eventually conform over time. Then I glued and joined the other half using the same technique with tape, clamps, and magnets to hold it in place while it cured. I then repeated all these same steps on the bicep for the other arm and waited 24 hours to cure. This photo shows both biceps with completed inner cover strips but no outer cover strips yet. The next step was to mask the outside of the armor for sanding in order to prep for gluing. I placed one piece of painter's tape exactly 7.5mm on either side of the center cut line then sanded only the exposed area with 220 grit sandpaper. I repeated this technique with all other seams. After cutting 4 outer cover strips to size I sanded one side of each of them to prep for gluing. Then using the same method of applying tape to hold the cover strips in place first, then immediately clamping the outer edges and then putting magnets along the rest of the cover strips to hold while they cure. And after waiting 24 hours my biceps were finally done, complete with both inner and outer cover strips. Using the FSID Photo Reference Gallery I determined that the bottom of the armpit opening is not cut straight across but follows along the contour of the armor and in some cases even has no return edge at all! They turned out good in my opinion, they have perfect 15mm cover strips all around and they fit me perfect! They feel really sturdy and structurally solid with the added inner cover strips. Some people think their armor feels kinda flimsy and thin when they first get it in the box, I know assembling it obviously adds lots of rigidity but somehow assembling it actually makes it feel thicker too. I can't really explain that maybe its just the added cover strip in the butt joint area, I don't really know why but it just feels thicker and stronger now. UPDATE: Since completing and test fitting my armor I have added the optional bicep hooks, some armor in the film had this and some did not. Harrison Ford's suit had them if you look at Han-Solo in his Stormtrooper disguise. They are meant to hook onto the elastic strap inside the bottom of the shoulder bell. I believe these may have been meant for taller troopers to prevent the biceps from popping out under the shoulder bells. But I could be wrong, they also prevent the bottom of the biceps from swaying outwards if you're skinny. To make these I simply marked the bends I wanted to make on a 25mm strip of ABS, then using the edge of a heat sealing iron I heated the surface of the plastic along each line I drew until I could bend and shape it into a hook.

Great Build, and a very nice kit you have there! Can I ask where you managed to find that DLT-19 in Canada?