Alay

The website said they had them at my local Walmart but no luck That's a steal for that price!

Two hi-res pictures I saw today. Spotted a few differences, hopefully it helps... ------------------ ------------------ Noted differences I spotted: Helmets not have notches for the blue lines around the side. Teeth look a bit narrower than ANH TK. Hands have ANH style guards. They might be solid as all the pictures seem to have them in roughly the same shape. E-11 has something new to the right side of it... flashlight? Thermal Detonator covers are gray on the inside. Cover strips are a triangular shape (not looking forward to making those...) Codpiece looks detached now. First Order style gasket under the knee? Ab detail is different... notch at the top now. Ab/Kidney connection seems to be raised and at an angle. Forearms have square notches

It's not uncomfortable in my opinion... but I don't really mind a slight tightness around my neck area/wear turtlenecks all winter, so I might be more tolerant of it than others. I'll post a video of it with/without the iComm tomorrow if you'd like so you can get an idea of the sound quality. The one I received is different than the photo link, as mine is adjustable... I'm fairly certain it's just a newer model of the same one pictured. It is also wired, so while there's no chance of crossover, you might have feedback issues if you run an aker too loud/high up. I just like it because it sits nicely and won't move under the neckseal. Here's a link to purchase it: http://www.ixradio.com/shop/transdermal-throat-microphone-xvtm26m35.html Be warned, it took a very long time for it to ship out and the company didn't really communicate much. But the product is pretty quality in my opinion. Will do. I'll probably remove the return edges though either way just for that extra movement. I'm terrified of heating it too much, so I think we'll be starting with lukewarm water and moving it up degree by degree haha.

Thanks Mark! Good to know the extra is on the ab plate; I'll start there =) Loving the kit so far!

On the topic of electronics... I decided to give the iComm/Aker/Throatmic a run with the new helmet to test the sound. Installed the iComm on the inside of the breastpiece. Fits nicely and out of the way with velcro. I put the snazzy throat mic under my headwrap and above the center of my throat. Seems to work best there It fits nicely and unnoticeable under the neck seal. Push to talk ran down to my glove and I'm good to go! The throat mic muffles my voice a little and drops it a fair bit giving me a more radio-esque sound. The iComm adds that nice static burst. Final result is a mostly sound like a male stormtrooper might sound! It also doubles as a fantastic way to terrify the cats... As I learned from them clawing over my feet in fear.

Part two of the helmet upgrade and fitting! Now that the E6000 plates are glued in nice and snug, I cut the visor bit by bit to size, drilled where needed, and added the visor bit in. I was going to sand it down and give it a nice clean shape but the material is kind of easily scuffed and I'm still not 100% sure I won't replace it with something else yet. Either way, I can easily change it out now. Teeth mesh and visor done. Next job... Padding! I velcro up a bunch of the interior of the helmet. The padding I bought earlier (first page picture) sticks nicely to the velcro hooks. I applied two bits over the ear screws, a big pad at the top center of the head. I also "double padded" the forehead so it sits nicely. I still have a bit of space between the ears, so I might get larger pads. Overall it fits pretty nicely now, not super snug, and not super loose. I can get in and out of it while wearing glasses still. Post man also gave me a surprise today.... Big thanks to ukswrath's helmet fans. I added velcro just past the frown and added padding to the back of the two fans The fans sit nicely in place, and the wiring is ran into the front bit and out of the way I looped up some of the wires in velcro, and also installed a spot for this tube USB power stick I bought on a whim at an airport last year. Fits the purpose pretty good! All together helmet picture

Left Shin is completed... Right shin is still drying. Might need to heat warp it a little as it's a little weird... I've heard the AP shins needs a bit of massaging though. Just from trying it on there's a bit of mobility restriction. Obviously that's just how armor is, but I'd like to minimize it. I'm thinking of sanding down the return edge on the top of the shin here: Wondering if I should also cut out a bit of the material from the back for more movement. If I did, would that affect certification status?

Seven grand? Jeez, why so much? Market exclusivity? I'm probably around 2K with my build so far, but only because I didn't have many of the tools beforehand.

Ok so I went to home depot and found 1/8th inch length pop rivets. I also got some washers. They didn't want to sell me a washer without a dryer too, so I had to get both. My clothes are clean, but it didn't help much with the belt. Joking aside, 1/8th inch length 3/16th inch diameter pop rivets worked perfectly. The belt is joined and the covers are clamped and drying e6000. Today was make my helmet improvement day. First, I uninstalled the ears and pulled the helmet apart. Pulled out the foam and cellophane for the eyes. Sanded the inside of the helmets to help the Plasti dip adhere. Then we taped up the sides so there wasn't too much to worry about. Shake the can really good and go outside! This stuff reeks when it's dry! I gave it three or four light coats to give it a nice deep coloring. You can remove any extra that gets outside where you want with a bit of paper towel and a soft rub down. Comes off super easily so not fret too much. Just be careful when you're spraying it. After about two hours of drying I can barely smell it. Husband turned his nose up, but he's got a prissy sensitive nose First thing is the mesh for the frown. I use my advanced knowledge of maths and measure to eyeball it. I add some velcro in the rough shape to the inside of the helmet. We'll be using this to attach the mesh. Using more advanced calculations involving tons of trigonometry I again eyeball out an ABS shape and apply some velcro to it. The mesh wire will sit on top of the velcro (it sort of sticks to it) and can be replaced if need be. After I added some padding stuff to the opposite side. This way it will won't cut up my face if I rub against it or anything. Apply the velcro on the inside. Try five or size times to get it centered like I did... And boom, velcro interchangable mesh plates with a snazzy padded inside. Next on the list is installing a bit of cut visor for the eyes. I created a few ABS plates. I'm going to put Tandy chicago screws through them so I can swap out the visor when it gets dirty/I want to make it neon pink or something in the future. The screws I used are 1/4" and 3/8". They both have a diameter of 13/64". I install the bottom screw bits and put four 1/4" posts around the eyes. I add a final 3/8" bit to the center. E6000 and clamp down. The visor idea is from TKZombie, who did a much cleaner job of it than I did. You can see pictures of TKZombie's installation here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/36129-helmet-visor-installation/ After the glue is dry I'll be installing the actual visors, then adding velcro and padding to the inside of the helmet to fit my head. Stay tuned!

Your kit fits you beautifully! Great work!

A washer... I feel silly now for that not occurring to me. Thanks;

Ok I managed to fix this rivet gun, and did another on a folded piece of ABS to show what I mean about it rolling out. The backside Front looks fine Maybe the bit I'm using is too long... Maybe I need 1/8th inch post length? Didn't see anything small than 1/4" at home depot but I'll check another hardware store tomorrow.

Home Depot. Got kind of a cheap gun which might be the reason it got gummed up. Not sure I can actually get the half-existing stud out of there... but it's not a huge loss if I can't. I didn't take any pictures, but it seemed like the pop rivets didn't "roll" out on the backside correctly. They just kind of mushed vertically. I think it's probably my lack of talent with tools

Pop rivets were a bust... they set like crap and managed to gum up the rivet gun too. I bought some Tandy 1/4" cap rivets and 5/16" cap rivets.. we'll see which works better. I'm just glad I managed to get the pop rivets out of the plastic belt face without scuffing it too awful. Maybe I'm just not good with them...

What type of rivets should I be using on the belt/belt-plastic attachment? 8mm pop rivets? Or 8mm cap rivets? Or whatever works best?

Haha never been called petite before... usually just "super skinny" or "holy crap you're tall!" I'll be posting a play by play of the adjustment so people can save me from colossal screw ups help me get it just perfect. Hopefully it helps other people! Haven't really found much on here in the way of reducing waist size. On a side note, I managed to get an order in for S-Trim, got chicago screws for mounting the visor, and grabbed some fans from ukswrath. We'll be starting tricking out the helmet this weekend

Thanks! I've been following yours closely; looking great so far, no doubt you'll have Centurion status soon because you look awesome

How could I forget... I also removed the return edge from my wrists. I've decided I'm going to try to take it Centurion

Quick update for today. Shins are both gluing in the front coverstrip. I'm going to reinforce the inside with another ABS strip. That won't affect approval levels at all, right? They just seem too fragile with the one on the outside. I also started putting the 25mm strips for the velcro on the back. (clamp city right here) I also set on the strap covers for the chest-> back connection. For anyone looking to do their own and following along (god bless you if you're looking to me for advice...) you'll want to tape them down to get a good measurement beforehand. Usually you'll want the big block, and three to four of the little ones glued down. You can bend the ABS into shape by hand little by little, or you can heat it up. I just used muscle power and patience. They're glued on mine about 3.5 over, and at a slight angle to conform to the body. You'll want to clamp tightly on both corners so it curves with the chestplate. You can also pre-curve the covers a bit on the short length to make them sit better. I did this just a little to help along. As a final aside, I got a bit of face shield that is nice and thick, dark green, and cuts pretty easy. I'll be removing the padding on the AP helmet and giving it a spray on of Plasti-dip to give it a black interior and a bit of thickness. Then I'll be replacing the eyes with a removable bit of that face shield, as well as installing mesh over the teeth and padding to fit my head more comfortable. One more note; I got in contact with ukswrath via PM about the kidney/abs. He suggested I trim a bit of both sides rather than only the kidney. Can't thank him enough for the help I'll be working on fitting the kidney/abs/butt this weekend as well.

Alay was a name suggested to me when I was coming up with a pen & paper Star Wars RPG character way back when. Did some cool backstory with her. I later re-created the character for the Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG. There I did a lot more fleshing out of the character as a Stormtrooper and met a few other super nerds in the process. After the game shut down, I decided to get into costuming

Will do, thanks! In the mean time, starting the gluing of the shins coverstrips! I forgot how tough the gluing wait is!

Moved them down and added in strap catches with ABS They're closer but it looks like the shoulder is rolling forward slightly. Going to see what I can do about that/what's causing that. For the overlay on the kidney, should I trim the kidney/butt to about the red line, then reshape the butt a bit so it follows? Doing it little by little as to not overcut of course.

I had a few issues with the aker headset just not picking up volume consistently. I bought a relatively inexpensive throat mic (was around ~$50) that fits nicely under the neckseal and doesn't move at all. Picks up even a whisper and adds a little more thematic distortion too.

That visual is a huge help! Thanks so much!

Drop the biceps further from the shoulder bells if I understand that right? Or the whole shoulder construct further from the chest? like the one on the right side here? Thanks again for all your help and feedback