Pretzel

I was just about to say.. Coverstrips do look very thick. But, I am going to be happy to see them in a new movie again.

Appreciate the support Pyrates!

PRETTY !

I have always heard about the hot water method. I hear that works.. But the heat gun was more controlling.. In my opinion. But you need to decide what you are more comfortable with doing. Sentry is right.. In a very short amount of time.. Things can go from AWESOME to.. Well... Time to order another set of arms. Point is.. If you have experience using a heat gun.. Use that... If not.. Hot Water bath is the way to go. Just sharing how I did it

Hey Pew, I am 5'11 215lbs. So I am a bigger trooper. My arms are oddly skinny, but they were still tight on me The trick for me was to trim the front and leave the back alone. If the back of the forearms need to be larger, then so be it. The back of my cover strips are ~20mm. I had to make them larger in order for them to fit. The more important part of the cover strips are the front, so if the front is close to 15mm, you should be good. Even after I applied my inner and outer strips, the forearms was STILL tight. So I grabbed a piece of PVC pipe that was similar in circumference and applied some heat to bend and make the opening "rounder" I am going to look at your build thread after.. post pics on your thread if you have not yet. But if the opening of the forearms seem "oval" you can make them more circler with a heat gun, BUT BE WARNED! Use the heat gun on its lowest setting!!! AND GENTLY... GENTLY form the plastic to be more circular. You will be surprised how much the fit improves after you make it more round. I should also mention that the forearms are expected to be tight when you take them off and on. Do not be surprised if you need to squeeze the forearms to get in and out of them. But I STRESS that you try them on with your under suit on. It makes a difference. I hope that makes sense.. explaining something with words was never my strong suit lol

Most Impressive!

Thanks Sentry. I hope so Pew, They are all around the recommended widths. ~15mm for arms. ~20mm in the front of the legs and ~25mm on the back. Give or Take a mm or 2. And YES. I did remove most of the return edge from my wrists if that is what you mean by "top" I left some return edge near the elbow.

A good paint that I used for my thigh shims is RUST-O-LEUM Painter's Touch 2X. It matches my AP armor very well. IDK if you have armor and want to match it, but I would find paint that matches. Usually a hardware store like Home Depot will help you with matching of the paint.

Well everyone, I submitted my photos to my local advisor. I hope he signs off on my build and I can apply officially very soon. I had an amazing experience, and wanted to thank everyone involved with my build thread. White Armor and the 1st Stormtooper Detachment. This has been an amazing experience, and hopefully a dream will come true soon. Thank You everyone. I have an amazing amount of support with my local garrison and my beautiful girlfriend Laurette. I am lucky So very thankful. Happy Monday! Thighs I know I need to adjust: -Shoulder Bells -Thigh Garter System (Comfort) - Placing Foam in Thigh and Calf (For Sniper Plate and Comfort) Thank You again. Hopefully seeing you all out there soon!

"collector's edition quality." Well... It is for a very special collector. I don't think I am ready to take this away from someone who truly deserves it.

Congrats! And Good Luck. Now the fun begins!

This is all very impressive. I would be very nervous to dirty up my shiny tk. Ah... thankfully, that won't be anytime soon lol

Yup. Those edges. Disregard. Rubber edges... Interesting.

I wish I can help you a little more, but I created a stunt bucket from AP. I am unsure where you can find bubble lenses for the hero, but www.trooperbay.com should have the decals for your ATA helmet. Helmet liners are preference. I used CONDOR Padding, similar to these: www.amazon.com/CONDOR-221055-002-Helmet-Pads-BLACK/dp/B00P1G6XTA/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1466031953&sr=8-16&keywords=Helmet+Padding

What did you do to create the raised edges around the ab and chest armor...? Maybe I missed that.

You are going to town!

Chugging a long at a great pace. Well done.

Thanks again Hans

Good Luck on your build. You are in the right place. Everyone here is very helpful. I will be watching!

Had another question/concern for my COD to Thighs. I noticed some scratch marks on my COD after walking around a bit. Am I able to trim down the return edges on the inside of the thighs where they meet the COD to minimize the scratching/touching from cod to thigh? Or is their another method to reduce scuff marks in this particular location?

Thanks so much Lucnak! Very helpful, I will give that a try this weekend, and update on how it goes!

Big Brown Box Day! Good Luck again on your build!

I will be following this one closely. One day, I may be doing the same. Good Luck to you sir!

Another Update. I had a very busy, but productive weekend. I would also like to know that my thoughts are with the troopers in Orlando, FL that may have been affected by the recent shooting... This is a fun update, I get to try on the entire armor, and see what tweaks and kinks that I still need to work out. Specifically the Shoulder Bells. I have heated and bent as much as I could, I hope I get some insight from fellow troopers on how to bring the bells in closer together. ( Maybe I am just too big for them ) Picture time! Here is my strapping system. Nothing special. I will need some ideas on how to mount the audio. I have an iComm system, but would prefer not to put it inside the armor itself, but maybe have it draped around my neck via support system. Ideas ? There she be. Hanging on the glorious Black Plastic Hanger of the Preston household. Time to try it on. Everything Minus the Neckseal and booties. I could use suggestions on how to get dressed with little assistance. lol. You will take note that my Thermal Detonator is off. VERY off, and in the process of fixing how that is mounted. I need to place the cover strips on my thighs as well.. which will be displayed in a bit. You can't tell, but I am smiling underneath that frown. So after the test fit run, and figuring out what I needed to do yet, I went ahead and started gluing the cover strips for the thighs.. I love how they turned out. Always remember: Apoxie Paste, LOTS OF SANDING, PAINT. REPEAT. That is it for now. Almost finished. Maybe submitting photos to my GML this weekend. In the meantime, I am hoping to improve on anything that my eyes may have missed. Thanks!

Another update. Triple Post!? I guess I am boring. lol or doing something right? HOME STRETCH! Coated my thigh Fix, I am happy with this, all I need to do for my thighs is apply the cover strips and add the ammo pack. Adding Nylon Snap Plates ! My Gloves... A day goes by... added the female strapping.