darthanael

Beautiful thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey guys. Another question. I'm using the Trooper Bay stencils and on the left side of the helmet, I can't fit all 16 stripes. Is this okay? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey guys! Question for ya. Does the bottom edge of the ab plate need to align with the edge of the kidney notch cut out? The rivet side on mine lines up perfectly, but then the right side is a little off. Will this still pass for centurion? Left side (rivet side): Right side: You're help would be appreciated as always! Slowly working away at this thing. The finish line is getting in view and I'm pretty freakin stoked. Already picked out my TK number, hopefully it's still available when I apply lol! TD plate is drying! Oh and that Krylon smoke gray that Mark from AP recommended is gold. Shoulder bell straps are drying! Bucket screws, knee ammo rivets and ab-to-kidney rivets are drying! And I am officially on the hunt to replace these black holster straps with the more natural leather ones: I think I found a great source though on Amazon. Looks like the right color and already cut to the right width: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072F84GLK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2MCEFK9U0UY99&psc=1 Centurion here I come! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rad thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey guys, got a question. If this is the only marking on my undersuit top portion, is that acceptable? It'll be hidden under the chest armor. Or does it need to be completely free of any marking anywhere? Thanks in advance! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lens install!! In the AP kit, Mark includes what is the original lens style/color for the bucket eyes, but I wanted that darker look. I ordered the hard, darker green lens material from TrooperBay and went at it. I saw a lot of threads that left the lens material as one piece and curved it around the helmet face, but I really just wanted to have two separate lenses for mine, I just love the look of it. I bought the T-nuts from Home Depot as mentioned earlier with the matching screws. I tried gluing these over night in the below positions. I really experimented with the placement of the T-nuts because I wanted the lenses to be as flat as possible against the openings for a clean look. The T-nuts seemed to have glued fine, but as it turns out, the bottom corner location doesn't exactly have the flattest surface so the glue didn't get a very good hold. After attempting to install the left lens, that specific T-nut popped off. I removed the Plastidip from that area and re-glued this time with Zap-a-gap (I didn't want to wait another 24 hours, haha!). Re-installed the lens and everything went great! BUT, same thing happened with the other side! So I did the same thing. Cut off the Plastidip for a better hold and re-glued with Zap. But this time, it popped off again! So after that I tried sanding the back of the T-nut (this is where it was separating) so the glue could get a better hold and I used like three times as much Zap-a-gap. I waited for like 8 hours and boom, it worked. I think it also helped that I made that bottom corner hole bigger on the lens so that the screw could be angled out and not put so much pressure on the lens and itself. I think I might get some plastic washers to put between the screws and the lenses, but other than that, they turned out pretty great! Also just a side note, I was really scared of Zap-a-gap at first (as one should be!), but it really has some good uses. And if you know you'll have no reason to pry something off in the future, only having to wait 15sec for something to glue/dry is pretty amazing!! Thanks for reading!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright guys, been building like crazy, but wanted to stop to give an update or two. I promised a glimpse into my helmet construction so here it is. Last I left off, I had cut out the eyes. Since then I've cut out the frown, Plasti-dipped the inside, trimmed the ears and installed the lenses. First the Plastidip! I taped off the eyes with blue painters tape and stuffed the frown with whatever I could find. Should I have done Plastidip and THEN cut out these details? Most likely, but hey I'm learning! And then I blue taped a trash bag all around the edges of the face and cap-and-back to prevent overspray onto my beautiful bucket. And then I sprayed it on! Love the way it turned out! And all the taping and stuffing methods worked very well. Next up I wanted to try assembling it and trimming the ears. I was very nervous to drill into the helmet, but I finally took the plunge. It was especially easy with Mark's pre-marked drill holes. In the AP kit mark sent me, I got the full accessory package. He includes screws to assemble the bucket, but I was confused because I've seen so many people using open ended rivets. I emailed Mark about it and he assured me it's perfectly acceptable to use screws and nuts for constructing it, so on I went! The dome screws he includes are for the middle attachment that gets hidden under the ears, as pictured below. And then the flat screws go everywhere else. After trimming the brow to fit nicely (I lined up the end angle of the brow trim to match the angle of the brow traps), I began ear trimming. I used the notch method on the top to help them sit flush against both the face and cap-and-back pieces. I also found that, as tedious as this is, it really helps to fully screw the ear onto to the helmet after every single adjustment/trim. Otherwise, how will you know how well it's going to sit? This was very effective for me. Here's the final product for the right ear. Question: I haven't been able to find if people attach the brow trim in anyway? Is it glued on at all? E6000 maybe? Next up is lens install! Thanks for reading guys! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha thanks I'm flattered! I've been using your build thread a lot for reference, thanks for being so thorough!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perfect thank you Tony!

This is a huge help man thank you so much! I'm pretty much copying your strapping system haha! I love the nylon pull idea. Hope your mom and her house are doing okay after the storm. Very grateful it didn't hit us head on like it was supposed to! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Tony, question for Centurion approval. Does the top-right non-functional male snap on the ab piece need to be the "S" popper snap for Centurion approval or can it be a Line 24 male snap? And I suppose same question for the belt-to-ab snaps. Would appreciate your input, thank you!

Hey Jeff! Currently in the middle of my build and I've been soaking up your build thread and taking notes! Thanks for being so thorough! As it relates to your strapping system (Which I'm copying!), I wanted to know if you you glued the nylon pulls to the elastic pieces or did you just allow the snaps to connect them? Your help would be appreciated, thank you!

Hmm pro tip. Thank you!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha thanks! Honestly, I've realized it's 75% of the build process if you wanna get it right! And even then I still make mistakes, but hey, that's part of the process too. Plus I'm learning for when I do my next one [emoji12]

Ok update on the build. Sorry haven't posted much for a while. Kinda been in research/Q&A mode. First of all, it was my birthday today! And what did I do? You guessed it. Worked on my build of course! My wife helped me measure (again) the torso section and I trimmed that down to size. Forearms are officially done. Trimmed the thigh ammo using the TD pipe (Per trooper bay build video tips). Picked up my rolling case for trooping! I'm jumping the gun a little, but I've just been so stoked to buy it! I have some cool design mods in mind for it. I also got some great undersuit pants from Amazon. First ones I ordered weren't good. But I need to send back the undersuit top again. I think another size smaller will do. I've been really wrestling with the thigh pieces, is that normal? There were several boiling water baths that took place to get them right. I think it's the fact that when you trim them to your body, you're not just cutting straight lines off the back, they're diagonal. So then the ABS doesn't want to bend to connect. I think I finally got them to a good place now. 20mm backing strips are being E6000'd to those as I type this. Another post coming with bucket build details! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I think I'll just change them and not risk it!! Any idea where a good place to get them is? Maybe Joann's or Hobby Lobby? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Terry, thanks so much for this build and info! It's really helping me! Question: Does the brow trim attach in anyway to the cap and back edge? Or do you just snug it on there and call it a day? Thanks in advance! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah okay. So thigh front: 20mm. Thigh back: 20mm. Calves front 20mm. Calves back: 25mm. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh okay I see. I think both front cover strips for the thighs and calves needed to be 20mm? And then fro both backs I was gonna do 25mm. Is this correct?

Hey Tony! Just reading through your build thread and trying to learn haha. So you you said you measured the right thigh top and bottom and then cut the left side accordingly. Did you do this so that they would look the same? Did you also test fit the left side or did you just use the same measurements from the right side only? Thanks in advance!

Okay another question guys, sorry! I was looking through supernaut11's build thread and he was modifying the holster to be centurion approved. I was not aware my AP holster had to be modified for approval... ?? He was changing out the straps so that they weren't the black leather straps anymore. Do I need to do this? I know the CRL reference photo has a more natural look to the leather straps, but an old photo of the original RS suit shows them as black. What should I go with for centurion approval? Here's the CRL reference photo: Here's the RS suit:

Ok checked in with Tony (Ukswrath) about it and he said there's no return edge necessary in this location for any level of submission. Great news!!

This really helps Dan, thanks so much! I'm honestly not sure which one to go with. I like the gloss because it matches the "gloss-ness" of the overall helmet, but, like you said, the satin looks great too because of the worn look. I'm definitely torn on this one lol.

Hey guys, need some input on something. I had purchased gloss black Humbrol #21 and was going to use that for the vocoder per justjoseph63's supply list. But some commented on my build thread that the vocoder should technically be satin black. What have you guys done? I'm aiming for centurion status so I'll get whatever I need to get to achieve that status. The CRL doesn't specify which finish, but the CRL helmet picture does look as if the black is a satin finish.

Hey guys, So I read on the forum somewhere to try removing the inside return edge from the thigh piece because it can be pretty uncomfortable when trooping. So I did that, but then I accidentally trimmed the return edge on the other side as well. Will this effect my centurion status? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk