TK-4935

It would be for me, the number of times I have to ask members to pick more numbers is on the increase. Still, nothing a phone call and five minutes of number juggling cant sort out.

Hey Paul, I found this picture (its a bit small, seems to have resized, I'll try and dig out the full size one) ====== Now to me, thats leather. Others may see it as canvas but as its so difficult to say how can we decide that leather is not acceptable. Do you remember the sandie shoulder pouch debate? It was always thought of as being leather but then someone said they thought it was canvas. Now canvas seems to be commonly accepted even though no screen used pouches have been handled and verified. Leather shoulder pouches are still acceptable (and even vinyl ones). So if vinyl is acceptable as a pouch option for the MEPD then why not leather as a belt option for the FISD? I'm not trying to stir up trouble fella, just asking

apart from TE's testimonial (and he has been known to make some not so accurate claims before) theres no evidence that says they were all canvas. You see, thats the thing. With the exception of the Luke belt pic, all the other screen caps I've seen indicate to me the belts were leather or at least I perceive them to be leather. TE was said to have held one of the screen used belts and stated it was canvass. That doesnt prove they were all canvas does it?. I'm not saying they werent I'm just saying its reasonable to assume that some were leather and to not allow leather on the shakey assumption that they were canvas from one persons word is bizzarre. Plastic no, canvas or leather yes. As GML for the UKG I'm always trying to push people to the higher levels of accuracy and fully support 'Elite' status but I do think some of the requirements are a little too far. Being MEPD deployed and the second ever Lancer the point isnt lost on me at all so I'm not bemoaning the FISD standards I just think there has to be a comprmise on details where doubt is present. If you were to apply the same strict rules on details to the sandies of the MEPD there would be no MEPD officers at all. Especially where doubt on what some details were are present. I think the MEPD got the balance right and the other 'elites' have taken it to the just too far level. This is why I dont have FISD elite. I dont think the canvas belts look right, I'm a stickler for accuracy and I think my leather belt looks more accurate so I 'm sticking with it and am happy. One mans canvas is another mans leather I guess.

Until a screen used belt lands in my/our lap its still just an assumption that they were all canvass. There are screen shots showing troopers with what could be leather or canvass. The shot of Luke's belt does look to be canvass but that doesnt mean that all belts were. Personally, I think both leather and canvass was used. Leather looks better IMHO, its more robust, holds the holster with blaster well and is still screen accurate (prove me wrong LOL) I think with that in mind it would be fair to allow both leather and canvass in as Elite. If someone can definitively prove to me that they were all canvass then I'll swap out my leather belt for a canvass one. Til then I'm sticking with leather

Gino might be a little full of himself and come across very arrogant but his threads do make for interesting reading. He brings out the worst in most of us because he touches nerves that kind of make you think that he may be right, even if you dont want him to be. This is what gets him so riled up and just makes him come across even more arrogant. The comments he made about the 501st, sick kids and all that crap, while probably not the best thing to do on a 501st forum might actually apply to many people. Me being one of them. Yes, being able to make a sick kid happy is part of what we do, for many its the be all and end all but for some it is a legitimate platform to 'play dress up' as he puts it, in stormtrooper armour and to take it further, I wear accurate armour for me, purely selfish reasons to boost my own ego becuase I know those kids dont know the difference so I say, fair play, fair comment, you got me bang to rights and I dont deny it. I know this doesnt apply to everyone and GINO has a knack of tarring us all with the same brush but there it is, he was right in my case. What does he contribute to the 501st? nothing at all. what does he contribute to the prop community? more than 90% of the people on this forum have I shouldnt wonder. Am I a Gino supporter? not really but I'm certainly not going to kid myself into thinking that a lot of his points arent valid regardless of how he puts it across. GINO, TE and all the other armour 'Gods' as they like to paint themselves may be too much personality and ego for some to handle but they have contributed a great deal to this hobby. He's banned now anyway so a fairly pointless thread really. And for the record GINO makes me mad as hell most of the time and I feel myself getting keyboard rage whenever i read threads started by him or involving him. He is unshakable. He never backs down. He doesnt mince his words .You've got to give him that at least.

Just to clarify chaps, we do have a back log and to top that we also have some technical issues which doesnt help. I'll sort through the clearence emails i have and see whats what. hang in there guys.

The latest is he's out of danger and has come round. hopefully he's on the road to recovery. with any luck he'll see this as a sign to ease up a wee bit.

when i came over to the states for C4 i declared at the check in desk in England that my luggage contained plastic armour and a toy gun and i asked if i could walk it through to the fragile luggage loading area. As i had declared there was a replica weapon the airport security put it through the x-ray machine (in a more private room) to check it and from there they were going to put it on the plane as fragile luggage. They told me that they only look for things like firing mechanisims and evidence of live rounds or munitions or any kind of suspicious mechanics and/or wiring. As it was plastic they had no problem with it. My helmet i carried on as hand luggage (my helmet bag was small enough to be allowed on and i filled the helmet with the things i would have had in a hand luggage bag such as phone, wallet, passport etc) As we went through the security area i declared what was in the bag and nobody batted an eyelid. At the other end i simply declared the same thing at every stage. ( i have to say i was a little concerned about the Stateside security as they are a little more business like ) The security at LAX did want to see in the helmet bag and once opened proceeded to show all the security staff my helmet. They also have some sort of testing swab they used to wipe down the helmet and electronics to check for evidence of explosives. so given the all clear i headed off unscathed. All in all it was a very smooth journey. no problems whatsoever. People were more curious about the armour and the helmet to be worried about the weapon. i wasnt going to push my luck on the way back mind you so as much as i wanted to buy half of Lewis and John sci-fire's armoury that they had stashed in the closet at the hotel i refrained. i think i would have had a hard time trying to smuggle an mg-34 and dc-15 long through customs at either end. Bottom line is, tell them everything. declare at every stage and be happy and smiley. good luck.

to me the armour in the picture looks sound. the helmet sucks though and as far as i know there aint too many ROTJ fan buckets about so to look like a good ROTJ tk your gonna be stumped at the second hurdle. I'll reserve judgement till a true picture of someone wearing it fresh out the box appears.

dont forget there are only two screws per ear for hero instead of three for stunt

very nice, if i didnt know any better i'd say that was not your first AP lid build and thus you've avoided the usual pitfalls. The brow placement is great, perfect in my eyes and the ears are as snug as can be. if it was your first, i salute you for your intelligent approach to the build

Never give up your weapon, maintain an heir of authority, interact with the kids by making their parents look like dorks "how long have you had these droids" works a treat.(the droids being the parents) Generally you can be pretty free as long as everything you do is geared towards being an imperial stormtrooper. The UKGarrison has a nice little thing going with different personality traits for different costumes. The TK's are pretty standard issue sarcastic police officer types. the Scouts are the suave lady magnets, a bit cheeky, a lot mischievious. The Sandies are a little more serious but you would be with that backpack on all day. they tend to be strong silent types. "why are you so dirty?" "because we do all the hard work Ma'am" It's great to see the inter costume banter and comradery. the public like to be involved, not intimidated but actively immersed into our act. You definately have to be more than just a guy in a costume which is why it's best to stay in character as much as possible. if a kid cries, i just walk away a little. i wait a bit. pretend i'm not watching, when they next look to see if i'm still there i give the thumbs up sign or wave and usually they then decide your okay and stop crying or get bored and move on. i get better with practice but once i realised that nobody knows who i am or what i look like i realised i could get away with a whole lot more

if you have a dremel with all the bits there should be a buffing wheel. get some plastic specific buffing soap and once you've removed the majority of the glue with sandpaper (very fine wet 'n' dry will do the job, add water and watch the miracle happen) and Novus, gently buff the area with the wheel and soap (dont press to hard as the friction can also melt the plastic). keep repeating the process till your happy. i took a massive chunk out of one of my early lids with the dremel chuck and i managed to make the offending area disappear. it took some time and a couple of repeat processes but it ended up looking good as new.

i thought throwing the instructions away (for everything) was a mans path to self discovery, a sign of inner strength, showing nothing but contempt for the unknown and allowing you, as a man, the right to shout "DONT PATRONISE ME WITH YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, I CAN FIGURE IT OUT ON MY OWN!!!" It also really annoys the women folk. or is it just me

i trimmed my ears exactly like you did on my first AP and much to my horror realised there was too much of a gap a bit too late. i've learnt to ignore the trim lines and hole dimples to get a nice ear fit and brow position on the AP lid. Unfortunately there isnt much you can do now (You could always try and get a new set of ears and try again) but as people have stated it aint no biggy.

i've been using tubs of acrylic paint called "citadel colours". they're for painting Warhammer figures. i'm sure you must be able to get it Stateside. This paint adheres really well to O.S.C.S. stuff. i'm sure it'll crack over time but for now it looks like it's holding it's own. Also the blue they have is a really good shade for the 501st. its called enchanted blue

yup. lined up my lid collection which consists of AP, TE2 and SDS and the AP and TE2 really puts the SDS to shame. (even though it's a battle spec the difference is shocking). The TE2 is by far the superior lid which made it easier to reproduce the Brian R. not just the paint job but the overall shape. i'm very pleased with the results

getting into this hobby made me fully appreciate how much effort went into making everything in the first three films look used and "real". i think this is a major contributing factor in the longevity of enjoyment that StarWars has for many people. Even though i've seen them all a hundred odd times there is still something new to be discovered and i still love how immersed i feel while watching. Every aspect of the costumes and sets are so rich in character and because of this i felt it would be a great diservice to the nuance of the standard TK to be all clean and sparkly it's also i lot more exciting when you see it slowly come together. contriving to make something new look old is actually very rewarding.

So with this lid i thought i'd emulate the Brian R helmet to a certain degree. Its not so beaten up looking as other screen used lids and thus looks more "used" than old. The HDPE colour was a bit of a nightmare to find as there are no two reference photos showing the same colour what with different cameras and flash/no flash etc so i settled for a mid green. using latex masking fluid i then copied the paint chips but held back a little and left some of the bigger ones out so as not to look too battered. Then the gloss white coat went on. this was an awesome spraying experience as i didnt want to go for perfection so just threw it on and out of all the helmets i've sprayed this one was the most fun. All details were hand painted using humbrol enamel paint (#5, #15 and #21) i used a two pence piece and went freehand on the tube stripes, nearly passed out a few times but luckily the automatic breathing reflex kicked in at the crucial moment ( steady hand+hold breath til brush leaves surface+morgans spiced rum=smooth paint strokes)as it goes i did leave some of the wobbly lines as i quite like the imperfect nature of the originals I then gave Keiths mic tips a quick sand and dry brush with white to make them appear "distressed" and rubbed the whole helmet with newspaper to add a touch of grime. i still need to sort out the final construction (faceplate and cap/back placement as it's not riveted yet) lenses, padding and chin strap is next and then it's finished. so here we go. Piccies could be better but you get the idea i just hope my GML likes it as he is a fan of the uber clean TK's but it does compliment my slightly grubby armour which i've never polished in the two years i've had it (show me a clean ANH stormtrooper, i dare ya) thanks for looking

dude, thats awesome. I'm just about to start handpainting my tube stripes and although i have a fairly steady hand i'm pretty sure there'll be some face going blue moments where i forget to breath. i'm trying to replicate the Brian R helmet including paint chips, muck and wobbly painted details so i dont have to be all that steady i guess just hope my GML likes it

Stop any old lady in the street and ask where the nearest haberdashery is. Does Bristol have a John Lewis Dept store? you'll find a fabric section there.

currently loving, Hot club de paris Minus the bear The cold war kids Mumm-ra grinderman Coheed and Cambria

My SDS was a nightmare to get right for trooping as i had to take it all apart and redo most of it cos it looked like it had been put together by monkeys wearing mittens (it probably was, i think they call them Art students these days )

oh my days that was laugh out loud funny. Boba, chewie the fonze and disco Lobot had me crying. i'm off to watch it again. better than Family Guy (only just)

oh go on then, stick me down as interested.