Madmartigan

So sorry to hear about your loss, Walt. And your hand! That's a little more than any one of us should have to endure in such a short period of time. Stay strong, my friend, and we'll be here for you! I read back through a little of this and saw you say you used the piggy bank for size reference. Keep in mind I butchered the one I had and added a few inches to it to get it to be a workable size. And my 2.5 year old is already growing out of it! So, you might need to go a little bigger - though your vacuformed plastic will likely not have the thickness of the vinyl bank and, therefore, have a little more give to it. At any rate, if you ever want Aaron's helmet to play around with and take measurements off of or use for reference, let me know and I'll find a way to get it to you! Peace! Chris

See avatar - I'm all in! lol

Glad you made it!

Perfect! Thanks for the assist!

Maybe can get Paul or someone else to chime in: I think bicep hooks might help solve the problem of mine dropping down more than I'd like. But I take it there were not molded on the original armor. What were they made of, how were they attached, and does anyone have a reasonable feel for how to recreate them? Thanks! C

Just under 6'0" - between 185-190 pounds depending on what day it is. More pics will come soon! You'll love the helmet!

It's the PVC helmet with "chipping" effect. Looks amazing up close. Will post more pics later this week! Blows my mind how light all of it is!

Will take more detailed pics later, but here is my first test fit and submission for 501st approval with my new RS Props PVC suit. Built by Simon and Rob to my measurements, it is a pretty good fit right out of the box. Amazing detail and light as a feather! Will need to figure out a couple things, but here are preliminary pics with more to come: Things to fix: Had to remount handplates since they were too low on original gloves. And will remount again since I tore right glove the first attempt. Need to find a way to put on shins a little lower. They were too high in most of these pics and really uncomfortable that way. Might need to pad inside of thighs to prevent twist and get them to sit right. Sniper knee plate gets under thigh a lot. When I built my previous suits, I angled the knee plate outward a little with shims. Not sure what to do or if I just leave for accuracy Chest and back meeting point pinches the hell out of me on the permanently fixed side (left). Ouch. Need to figure something out there, since I think it's just the way it's trimmed. Biceps/forearms are not attached to shoulders, so need to figure out how to keep them up. You may see how they are sliding down in a couple pics. Not sure if I have shoulders reversed (and that may contribute to bicep-slide), now that I look at it. None of the arm parts are labeled, but biceps were intuitive -- only fit one way These were rushed to get approval for an event, but I will take detailed pics of the whole suit and the bucket for EIB/Centurion later on after all the necessary tweaks. Preliminary verdict: It's a great suit!! -Chris

Cool! Looking forward to the pics!

Thinking of putting together a foamtrooper Halloween costume for my 2 year old, who is obsessed with my RS helmet. But I don't feel like trying to craft the helmet out of foam and the masks out there are crap. Thinking this might be a pretty good alternative once chopped up a bit and altered: It's the Disney vinyl bank, and it measures about 10 inches tall by 8 inches wide. Seems like a fairly decent size. Cut out and replace eyes, frown, open up the neck, fill the coin slot, maybe add real Hovi's and repaint. If I really wanted to go nuts, you could probably even totally butcher one and add/touch up to make vacuforming bucks. Would be much easier than sculpting from scratch. Anyone have one of these and can comment on scale? C

Another tip: Soak a washrag or other rag in water and leave in the freezer for a bit until cold. Then put it against the opposite side when you drill -- holding it with pliers on the rivet or something else besides your hand. Will help keep the plastic from melting.

Paul's Heros are the best! Beautiful work!

A thing of beauty! Man...you guys are really tempting me to have two RS buckets...

Another hint - pieces of 2" foam (I used to use air conditioner foam) on the inside of thighs at the bottom outer edge will also position them more correctly.

Welcome aboard, Lee!