DBoz

Thanks everyone for all the compliments. Hopefully I won't screw this up too badly. This is my first build. As for the wonkiness of the ab plate, I believe it is accurate to the movie armor, but I am no expert. On the Velcro strapping subject, I really can't say, but personally I wouldn't want to chance it. I think the tried and true snaps will hold up better to trooping. The Velcro would probably be fine for display on a mannequin. For general questions about the kit, I would recommend this thread that ukswrath started. Lots of knowledgable people chiming in there. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?/topic/35142-ANOVOS-TK-%28discussion-forum%29

Small update today. I have decided not to use the ANOVOS canvas belt. The two biggest issues are, of course, the 4 holes for the holster mount and its lack of stiffness. I do want to reuse the plastic parts, however. So, I took a look at it and managed to pop off the square buttons covering the rivets. They appeared to be attached with CA glue. It was mostly easy to pry them away, however there were a couple spots on each were the glue bond was pretty strong. I used a pocket knife and slowly pried at them until they came off. You can hear the glue bond cracking as you go. Definitely be careful, though as you can damage the plastic ammo belt. I had the most trouble with the middle button, and did manage to tear a hole in the ammo belt. This should be covered once it is reassembled, however. Once the buttons are removed, it will be a simple matter of drilling out the rivets to completely remove the plastic from the belt.

I've had problems uploading to photobucket all week. It would stick at 90%. Eventually I would cancel the upload and close out the window, but then when I went back, my pictures would be there. It was weird. I eventually got my stuff uploaded, but it was a pain in the butt. Wonder if it's related.

When you say cleaned up, are you just talking paint, or actually reshaping? Cleaning up the paint doesn't seem like a big deal, but if you are talking reshaping, it almost seems like you would be better off using a different helmet.

On the eyes, I made a few passes with a dremel on a low speed with a 120 grit sanding drum, being careful to stay out of the tight corners (the dremel will open them up fast if you're not careful). Then I took the rest down with a flat needle file for the straight parts and a round needle file for the corners. Finally, I ran a 1200 grit sanding pad over it to smooth it all out. For the edges on the back of the helmet, I used the dremel and then the sanding pad.

Did a little work on the helmet today. First, I cleaned up the eye holes: Once that was done, I used some CA glue to put in T-Nuts by the eyes. Once I got them placed, I put E6000 over them to get them to really hold in place. Unfortunately, I can only do one at a time because the glue will run all over the inside of the helmet if it doesn't stay flat. If the E6000 ends up not working to my liking, I may switch to JB Weld to hold them in place. I plan to use these to screw in my lenses, as I don't really like the wrap around, velcroed on the side style. Once the T-nuts are secured, I will heat the lens up in boiling water to get it to conform to the nut placement. Then I'll drill it out and screw it in place. Once that is done, I'll trim off the excess so I have a smaller profile lens, and hopefully more space in the helmet. Once I put the face plate aside for the E6000 to cure, I did some clean up on the back/dome section. Truthfully, this was totally superfluous as no one will ever see it when the helmet is put back together, but I had the tools out, so what the heck. Plus it makes me feel better. Finally, I wanted to put the thermal detonator together, but when I got all the parts out and really looked at them, I noticed that one of my brackets was poorly bent. It'll work, but it's too wonky for my tastes, so I decided I will order a new set of brackets a little later and use those. Since actually assembling the TD was a bust, I had to settle for doing a little shaping to the ends of the tube. I found it difficult to get the end caps on, as they are extremely tight. Taking down the edge of the tube made it easier. Oh, did I mention the end caps were extremely tight? I would recommend not pushing them all the way in place unless you are ready to never take them off again. Found that out the hard way. At least I still have one end cap off in case I decide to use nuts and bolts instead of the screws provided with the kit. That's probably it for a while. Back to work tomorrow night, so no time for playing with my plastic spaceman suit.

Thanks. Trooperbay sells the brow trim. That's where I plan on getting a new piece. There's nothing wrong with the one the helmet comes with, it's just a little short for my liking. I measured it and it's about 13". The strip Trooperbay sells s 15", so I can fit it to my liking. Thanks! I just hope I don't screw OT up too bad.

The brow was pretty much pushed all the way up on the dome piece. If you want to raise it, you're probably going to have to take it apart and do some shaping on that part of the helmet.

Thanks. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to raise the brow. As for the strapping material, I have an old rifle sling that I am sacrificing for the 1" webbing. I will be picking up the elastic at a fabric store. I would imagine you can get the webbing there too.

Taking inventory. Nothing that most haven't already seen here, but I figured I'd throw up some pictures, just for documentation's sake. The lighting in my living room sucks and gave it all a yellowish tint, so don't take these pics as representative of the actual color of the ABS. Everything but the bucket (note the pre-trimmed cover strips): Kidney notches, right & Left Ab plate showing wonky gig line Thumbprint on left bicep Forearm indentations (11 for left arm, 12 for right arm) Shoulder bells (asymmetrical) OII detail on back Holster and belt - It's nice that this came assembled, but I think I would have preferred if it hadn't. Due to the (much talked about) hero style 4 point holster attachment coupled with the stunt helmet, this makes building for 501st acceptance problematic without getting a new belt or a new helmet. Obviously, a new belt is the easiest option. With that in mind, it would have been nice to be able to assemble the belt ourselves, thus giving us the option of 2 or 4 point attachment. Aside from that, the belt itself is of decent quality, but lacking in rigidity. Some kind of stiffener in the belt would have been nice. The holster; on the other hand, is very stiff and will require some breaking in to allow the blaster to be drawn and re-holstered easily. It is also attached with Chicago screws, so removal is easily accomplished. That said, removing the top two screws leaves two large holes in the canvas belt, that will be pretty much impossible to hide. Neck Seal - kind of shiny... very lightweight. Though it may look it in the picture, it's not pleather. Thermal Detonator (all parts come trimmed) Strapping system (I do not plan on using this setup)

I plan on painting the inside and making some modifications, such as mounting posts for the lenses. I figured it would be easier if I broke it down. Plus, I just wanted to see how they put it together. Only took about 10 minutes. Probably will only take about 10 minutes to put it back together.

Took the helmet apart today. Came apart easily; total of 5 screws on each side (three through each ear and two more under the ears holding the halves of the helmet together). The brow and neck trim were lightly glued in place, but easily removed. I've never built a helmet and the only one I have to compare it to is my fiberglass EFX, which is not comparable at all, but here are some overall impressions: - Plastic is very thin and a bit brittle at the edges. Measured at 1mm. - You can definitely tell these were mass produced. Trimming is pretty sloppy, but it's pretty much hidden. - The protective film was still present under the ears and dome. There are slight score lines from where they cut around the ears to remove it after the helmet was assembled. - Traps, tears and stripes appear to be water slide decals. If you look closely, you can see marks from evaporated water droplets. I was also able to scratch a small bit off the corner of one with my fingernail, so removing them shouldn't be a problem if you were so inclined. - The mic tips appear to be a 3 part construction (outer black housing, inner white cylinder, screen). The white resin inner part seems to be glued in place. I tried to remove it, but it wouldn't budge. The black housing is a very clean molding, but I don't really have anything to compare it to, so I can't vouch for it's accuracy. - One final observation. My brow trim appears to be too short on the right side. Although, this appears to be somewhat screen accurate for some helmets, I'm not really fond of it. Gives it an unfinished, sloppy look. I may replace it with one that is long enough to go to the end of the traps. A couple of shots of the stripped interior before I took it apart: Here you can see the hasty trimming and leftover protective film under the ears. Here's a picture showing one of the trap decal's overlap to the inside, where it tore on application. Finally, the Mic Tips: Brow Trim Right Side: Next up, I should start trimming, but I may start reworking the helmet instead. I may also throw the thermal detonator together because it seems to be pretty easy and then I can have at least one finished part.

Yes, it very much accentuates the difference between the painted white look and the bare plastic look.

They are not vinyl decals. I'm pretty sure they are water transfer decals. If you look closely, you can see marks on them where the water droplets dried. Also, I was able to scrape the corner of one with my fingernail, so removing them should not be too much of an issue.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely plan on following the EIB and Centurion guidelines as I build. How it all turns out will decide whether or not I apply for those. Heck, I'm not even a 501st member yet.

I figured I should start a build thread to track my progess on the ANOVOS kit. This will be my first build, so I've been reading build threads and watching videos to get an idea of what's involved. So far, it looks like something I can handle as long as I take it slow. Truthfully, the thing that has me most anxious is the trimming, as I've never been very good at cutting straight lines with an X-acto or utility knife. I plan on trying my hand with tin snips, so hopefully I won't mess it up too bad. Anyway, on to the pics: Stopped by Home Depot to pick up some supplies: Then promptly drew first blood. Quite embarrassing actually, as I wasn't even working on the armor. I was opening the damn plastic packaging on the tin snips and stuck the utility knife into my thumb. Next, some obligatory bucket comparison shots. On the left is the ANOVOS and the right is EFX fiberglass Hero Limited Edition. My plans for the helmet are as follows: - Completely strip it out (possibly disassemble too, haven't decided yet) - Clean up the eye holes - Paint the interior black - Install a fan system - Install pad system (hate the hard hat style headband) - Reattach the lenses and grill in a more durable fashion Plans for the armor build: - I do not plan on using the provided velcro strapping system. The webbing provided seems too flimsy for my tastes. I plan on using a heavier webbing for the straps and will attach them using snaps/rivets/glue where appropriate. - I plan on using strapping brackets on the torso pieces - I do not necessarily plan on going for EIB or Centurion level acceptance, but will keep the criteria in mind and attempt to build to the best standard I can. Finally, here's a glamour shot (ANOVOS bucket with TKBoots and HFx Hyperfirm E-11): Next up is sorting all the parts and starting to trim...

It is indeed a stunt helmet. (Flat lenses, 4 teeth per side, 4 bars on ear, 3 screws on each side)

Anovos stated a couple weeks back that the soft parts (under suit and gloves) would be shipping separately. No estimate as to when that would be, though.

Would probably be a safe assumption, but no way to know for sure since nobody seems to be getting shipping notifications. An update on mine, it has shipped and should be here Friday. One of the few times living in California has paid off. [emoji3]

Just logged on to FedEx and I have a tracking number. Label has been created, but not shipped yet. Expected delivery is Tuesday the 26th. We'll see if that sticks. I'm in California, so it should be pretty quick once FedEx gets the package. For reference, I ordered from Anovos on April 18. So, Celebration Tier.

Frequently eBayers will mark items as gift on the customs form in an attempt to avoid the added fees. When buying from a company, this is not the case. You can expect to have the full value marked on the customs form, therefore incurring full fees.

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