BDWC

Well, What can I say? I haven't been keeping up my WIP thread very well...but A LOT going on!!! A year and a half-ish after joining the 501st, I have now officially made it to Centurion!!! ...been busy trooping and trying to find the sweet spot for my TKtalkie/Aker set-up as it works great, but I just can't seem to get it loud enough under the "feedback threshold". Going to try some more iterations of setting and positioning and see what happens Well, got my Centurion just in time because my belt ammo end boxes and my chest plate neckline are starting to crack/tear-out ...on item #3, I also had some undersuit bleeding occurring, and not with an Anovos suit either. It's a 32degrees heat gear top and it has starting bleeding onto my kit a bit. Luckily, I just ordered some of the generic Amazon replacements and recommended by @justjoseph63. My armor had worn holes in my pants from the lower thigh sections. I did trim those areas a bit, sand all the edges smooth, and even add a couple of pieces of foam to not only save the undersuit, but to prevent any future "armor bites" in these problem areas. I must say though, the thigh garter belt has greatly improved this from my early days of trooping! My problem though, it=s that after ABS pasting backer pieces inside the neck area cracks, and even skimming some ABS paste over the front side, the bled-in black still appears even after sanding much of the filler back off. I now am guessing that I should have sanded it all out BEFORE doing the ABS paste. I am thinking that the ABS repair paste just liquefied the contaminated plastic and spread it out even more...ughhhhh!!! I'll add photos later, but for now I have sanded off all of my 'front-side' repair work and I'm mixing up more ABS paste to try to 'skim and fill' the discolored area. If this does not work, my plan is to just sand and polish out everything the best that I can and just paint over any badly discolored areas. The good news is that at least the crack are firmly repaired and no longer splitting

Hey Aaron! Your kit looks great, and looks like we're neighbor Garrisons! Yea! I also had the "joy" of adding shims, but I see you have a very cool system for aligning the ab and kidney plates. Can you give me a link to you build thread and allow me to copy this ingenious idea? Thank in advance!!

Your kit looks great, trooper! I didn't see your list of "who made what", but I absolutely love that blaster, can you tell me who made that or if it is a kit? Thanks so much!

Jesse, your kit looks great! ...Especially after trooping in it for 2 years! (I was in about 1.5 yrs of trooping before trying for Centurion myself, so I know the maintainence also required along the way in addition to the upgrades ) If I may add one note to Tony's comment about your shoulder bridges, I noticed that they look to me mounted very far forward (about 7 ridges; I believe 3-5 is recommended). R&R-ing them with the recommended hot water "bath'n' bend" should be an easy fix!!

Jim Summerlin 24233 Centurion Letter Tony Thanks for doing this!!! Thank YOU for going the extra mile, Jim! http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/24233-centurion.png

Thank you!! This was a long trip, but soooooooworth it !!!

Thanks so much!!! And great note too, as I am in the process of adding snaps to my chest connections (those and the shoulders/bicep connections are the last of the "velcro conversion" effort, LOL). I also noticed that my back-to-kidney gap seemed to 'grow' between EIB and the Centurion applications.... I'm thinking that with 15to20 troops per year that maybe it'd be a good idea to make some spares, as the elastic seems to have a one year shelf life before "relaxing" too much and causing gaps. Thanks again!!!

Congratulations! Great build fellow 242-er !! ...hold the door for me, hopefully I'm right behind you on this journey

Thanks for the kind words, Chris! And especially a big thanks for all the alignment help I've got my fingers crossed

Photos link codes corrected and additional photos added for lens color

Thanks Shane! (a lot of blood sweat, and yes, even tears went into this build)

Roger that...in work I messed up and posted the wrong links, currently trying to correct this ( I found the "preview" button a little too late, LOL) THANKS!!!

Tony and Andrew, I am respectfully requesting review for Centurion approval status. I have incorporated the adjustments as mentioned on my EIB application (and as noted on the attached picture submissions) Also, I settled on the Pheonix Props blaster to be the most accurate ANH E-11 for my tastes Name: Jim Summerlin 501st TK ID: 24233 FISD Name: BDWC Garrison: Alabama 501st Member Page: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=21870 EIB Application Page: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43497-tk-24233-requesting-anh-stunt-anovos-eib-status-781/ Build Thread: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/36180-bdwcs-anh-stunt-anovos-build-wip/ Mandatory Information Armor Maker: Anovos Helmet Maker: Anovos Blaster: Phoenix Props Optional Information Height: 5'11'' Weight: 220 lbs Boots: TK boots Canvas Belt: Rob Kittell Neck Seal: Anovos Holster: Anovos Hand Plates: JustJoseph63 Gloves: Anovos black rubber Electronics: Self-made dual fan system, Aker w/TrooperTalk modulator via old iphone Full body Front (Shoulder bell strapping was adjusted to reduce gaps, forearm strapping was adjusted to maintain cover strip alignment) Full body Back (Butt plate was very carefully heat formed to correct curvatures as much as possible without inducing cracks [insert pun here]) Full Right- Arms raised Full Left- Arms raised Action Pose Ab Button Detail Left Forearm Right Forearm Sniper Plate Outside Sniper Plate Inside Thigh Ammo Box Inside Thigh Ammo Box Outside Boots Helmet Front (Hovi Tip mesh replaced with UKSWRATH coarse mesh, tips painted white, vocoder detail repainted) Helmet Left Helmet Right Helmet Back Helmet Inside and Lens color "S" trim Blaster left side Blaster right side Blaster D-ring Ammo belt outside Ammo belt inside Neckseal Thermal detonator back Interior Strapping Arm Strapping Posterior Connections Cod Connection Outside Cod Connection Inside Left Side Connections Closeup Right Side Connections Closeup (functional) Hand Plates

Great job! Congrats! Sent from my Imperial TK communicator

okay, made my first walking parade today ( about a mile and a half) This accomplished two milestones: 1) longest walk in full armor, and 2) longest walk since having my hip replacement implant 11 months ago Additionally, I finally was able to control my Aker feedback issue and more than doubled my sound volume! This involved not only some minor burst/echo/static sliders adjustment but the major problem solver was mounting a thick strip pf memory foam above the Aker box just below the neckline on the chest plate. This really blocked out the sound from feeding back up into my helmet that was causing the feedback loop. Absolutely no squawks for about 3 hours of use, I'll call this a major win, and of course the magic volume mark has been "silver sharpied" Another added bonus is that with my birthday just passing , I'm going to apply some of the gift funds to a better and approvable blaster ....more to come

Thanks for the clarifications Tony! I honestly didn't have an answer for bartonajb on this as the CRL really doesn't define those items beyond rhe power cylinders and d-ring requirements at the EIB level. I fully understand, I just didn't have the technical answer for this. Ideally I'd want a sterling de-com to do it right and, as great as they are, I really don't like how the molded blasters are filled in under the scope rail and have obvious seam lines. I'll find the right one out there here for me whether it's a fully built or kit.... but then I am a patient man [emoji848] Thanks everyone for the concern, questions, and excellent discussion. I am always learning more and more each time I log on to FISD [emoji1303] Sent from my Imperial TK communicator

Honestly, I don't know, but I will ask Tony. In my EIB review it was simply mentioned that I would need to replace it with a more accurate one. PLEASE, if you find out, let me know as well, since I saw no restrictions per the CRL, but then I'm no expert on their interpretation either.

Been a while since I updated this: I tried several variations of mounting the amp in the chest plate : 1) using velcro facing forward 2) using velcro facing my chest 3) glued on an ABS mounting plate for "clip in mounting", and facing forward I like the ease of installation setup of #3 the best, but at times I am still getting feedback. Oddly enough, no feedback when doing suit-up checkouts, but only after I have my helmet on. I'm thinking that it may be the microphone placement or the microphone itself. Part of the problem may be that I opted for the louder 12w version. Still working out the bugs on this one, but so far I am fairly happy with the TrooperTalk app for the voice changer, using an old iPhone. In other news, it looks like I will not be making Centurion anytime soon. Right now I just can't afford laying out $160, or more, for a toy space gun just to get a badge. Personally, I know that my armor meets all the specs and I put 30+ hours into modifying a blaster, but right now I have more time than money. On that note, I have replaced my hovi tip screens, painted the hovi tip rims white, re-heat-formed the curvature of my butt plate, changed my shoulder bell strapping to bring them more inward and forward, and repainted my vocoder. All in all I'm happy to be a part of 501st, FISD, and a proud EIB TK Sent from my Imperial TK communicator

I am super impressed with how far you have come with this !!! You truly have set the bar for Rubies conversions. I also, am curious if this will pass for Centurion, as I was told "no" on mine during my EIB application, but then I have not done near as much as you have. {However, the CRL only points out the power cylinders and the d-rings as requirements for ANH blasters at the EIB level (which passed), but for Centurion the only remark is that Hasbro blasters are not allowed.....so who knows?} Personally I MUCH prefer your final product to any of the Hyperfirm or Protarian molded blasters. The filled in scope rails especially bother me, plus you have a real cut-out for your spring and charging handle!!! Again, GREAT JOB, and I will be following this thread for a while, not only to find out about the Centurion question, but because I have an extra Rubies that I am going to convert following you excellent example!! Thank you for this build thread!!

Now to convert from a "mime trooper" to a talking trooper: I scored some Cyber Monday deals on an Aker unit and a Startech splitter so I can set it all up with the TrooperTalk app. Once I got it all properly set-up, I started playing with the settings, and I must say that I was apprehensive getting a $15 app, but after actually trying it out, I must say that I am quite happy with the voice sound, static bursts, and the bonus of having background sound effects as well. My only problem now is figuring out how to mount it all inside my chest plate. I did quite a search of the build threads and, unfortunately, any photo reference have been lost by the photobucket debacle :-(( I'm going to try to look for phone pouches and such to see if I can just snap plate those on the chest plate, or perhaps just go nuts with industrial Velcro. I don't think it would matter much if I applied the velcro onver the amp speaker, just as long as it's facing outwards. Any tips? Pics? Bueller? Bueller?

Just received notice of a major milestone in my kit build.... I am officially EIB [781] !!!!! I want to give a major shout-out to Tony for answering my multitude of questions, Joseph for chiming in as well (plus the awesome handguards), all of the FISD liasons that are contantly helping, plus the entire, fantastic, online costuming community that we affectionately call the FISD ...now on to the minor touch-up and corrections (and a new blaster) for Centurian

Jim Summerlin 24233 EIB Letter Tony Thanks so much!!! http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/24233-eib.png

Thanks so much everyone!!! Thank you Tony for the review and for the tips on what needs improvement!! Much appreciated [emoji16][emoji1303] Those who’ve followed my build thread know that I’ve overcome some challenges to get this far, so I’m definitely driving on further to fix these items to make my kit even better!! ( and maybe Santa will bring me a Hyperfirm E-11 for Christmas [emoji319][emoji16][emoji320]) Sent from my Imperial TK communicator

No worries, I know it’s the Holiday Season, TLJ is coming out, and it’s the height of trooping season... so I fully understand plus I appreciate you making the time to still do these reviews amidst of all that is going on. Cheers! Sent from my Imperial TK communicator

Good job on the repositioning! You’ll be really glad later that you took the time to correct this early on [emoji1303] Sent from my Imperial TK communicator