Garry
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Posts posted by Garry
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I had used elastic straps to attach my shoulder bells to my shoulder straps. Over time (8 troops), the elastic lost is stretch and strated to fray:
I replaced the elastic strap with a stronger, sturdier strap. Seemed to fit well in the test fit, and we'll see how well it works on my next troop.
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Went ahead and removed a lot of return edge from my forearms, bi-ceps, and shoulder bells. Hoping to give myself a little more room to slip on these pieces.
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So, after another 6 troops, my shins 'blew out' again. It looked like the Velcro strips were just too thin to hold (not enough surface area contact). I added a strip on the inside portion of each shin, and added a new, wider, strip of Velcro to see if that will hold. Seems to work well but won't know for sure until my next troop in a few weeks.
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First troop of 2020:
Shoulder bells seem to be getting further and further away from my chest piece with each troop.
Nice turnout...
Trooper selfie...
Enough said...
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Next troop was my first movie-premier. And what an incredible experience... the movie patrons were amazing.
Another solid showing. The R2 was a huge hit...
Escorting Vader out was awesome.
The troop was a lot of fun but have too admit that I felt a bit awkward without my blaster.
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Did a troop back in July, first one with my new helmet fans. And they worked perfect! The lens didn't once fog up on me in the middle of a Houston summer. The USB rechargeable battery I had (for my iPhone) lasted the entire troop which was 4 hours long. A the troop itself was a blast!
Before the troop started group pic -
Fun day and the handlers offered a much need guide thru the venue!
Camp H-Town crew.
Solid crew.
For Camp H-Town!
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One more modification... I added the helmet fans, mostly to keep my lens from fogging up. I tried to get each fan to point at each eye piece. I have my first troop tomorrow with the new fans so we'll see how well they work.
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So I noticed a few things on my armor after only two troops that I wanted/needed to fix. The first was the shin blow out. The Velcro just wasn't sticking to my armor pieces so I needed to replace it. I bought some heavy duty Velcro strips and sanded (roughed up) the edge where I was going to lay down the new Velcro. I also took a heat gun (always scary) and made the pieces of the shins more rounded so they come together better and at the edges for the Velcro strips. While the blow out only happened on my right shin, I went ahead and fixed both shins to be consistent.
The second issue I noticed was that my shins were wearing on my boots:
I had some extra Velcro left over so I used that to 'pad' the inside of the bottoms of my shins to minimize the rubbing on the tops of my boots.
I used the wire bracket system to strap my torso together. I quickly noticed that the nuts very quickly backed off and I ended up losing one during my second troop. So I replaced all the of screws and nuts with longer screws and lock nuts. The longer screws also allowed me to add support pieces under each wire bracket. I only kept the original screws and nuts on the lower most set on the posterior piece.
Another small issue I had was that my white elastic straps kept rotating around and the knot would end up on the outside of my armor. So I glued a washer down and placed the knot inside the hole of the washer to keep the strap from rotating during trooping.
And finally, my biceps/forearms were not attached to my shoulder bells which caused them to slide down during troops. I did have the straps and bicep hooks but that didn't seem to work too well for me. So I added a strap and Velcro strip to keep my bicep/forearm more firmly attached and aligned with my shoulder bell.
I'm officially now part of the South Texas Squad after moving back to the Houston area from Corpus Christi. Really enjoyed my short time in the Texas Gulf Coast Squad and hope to have the opportunity to troop with them again. As for now, I'm looking for my first troop with my new squad!
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Had such a great time at my first troop, I quickly signed up for an event in Corpus Christi. I arrived early to be sure I had plenty of time to get my armor on but still needed help with some pieces. This was a longer troop than my first one but still had a great time:
The local Volunteers and a huge help.
These little girls (and future Star Wars fans) were an absolute blast.
The smile says it all...
Even the security guard wanted a picture with us.
Amazing (and satisfying) how many people just want a picture with us!
And then I had my first troop related TK Malfunction. The Velcro on the back of the right shin came loose resulting in a 'blow out.' Luckily it was toward the end of the troop:
Will be moving, repairing the shin soon, and getting ready for my next troop!!
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Just a quick update on where things have gone so far this year... I got my official 501st approval back in January (TK-14430). Actual approval only took a few days
. I was part of the Texas Gulf Coast Squad and quickly signed up for my first troop, which was a Children's Hospital in McAllen. I was more nervous about getting my armor on than I was about the actual troop. But the other members present helped me get geared up and I had a blast:
I'm the taller Stormtrooper on the right towards the back.
I'm the Stormtrooper on the far right.
In the elevator. I'm the Stormtrooper on the far right.
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Hello. Garry reporting in to the Star Garrison out of Houston/Corpus Christi, Texas. Looking forward to getting out for my first troop!
TK-14430
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TK-14430 reporting for duty, and requesting 501st status change.
https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=29698
Thanks!
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Thanks to all for the feedback!! And yes, I had Centurion in the back of my mind all the way thru my build. I'll be looking to move up so your suggestions will help me out for sure. And good news - took less than two days for approval! TK-14430 reporting for duty! Looking forward to my first troop and fine tuning my build. Thanks again.
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Submitted my application and sent my photos in for approvals. Only took me two years
but feels good to get to this stage in the process. Really looking forward to my first troop! Also submitted to photos on the Request TK Pre-Approval in the hopes that I may go for higher levels of approval. - Garry
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OK. Try it now. - Garry
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Hello. Not sure what's going on. Those are the Direct Links to my photos. Let me see what I can do and edit the post. Stay tuned...
-Garry
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Looking forward to your feedback. After two years, finally submitted for Basic approval.
1. Name: Garry Garfield
2. Future Garrison: Star Garrison
3. Armor Maker: Anovos
4. Helmet Maker: Anovos
5. Cloth Belt Maker: Anovos
6. Neck Seal Maker: Anovos
7. Boot Maker: Imperial Boots
9. Blaster Maker: Praetorian Blasters
11. Height: 6’2"
12. Weight: 190 lbs
13. TK type: ANH Stunt
Thanks!
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A few days before Christmas, my blaster arrived from Praetorian and it looks and feels fantastic!
Submission photos coming!!
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Good news - got all my money refunded thru PayPal for my Hyperfirm order. More good news - just ordered my E-11 thru Praetorian Blasters. Anyone have experiences with Praetorian blasters products and/or shipping?
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On 10/5/2018 at 9:28 AM, lucnak said:
Are your mic tips white inside? Ideally they should be. You could reshape some of the vocoder edges. Seeing how well you cleaned up the frown, this seems like it would be easy for you!
Hi! To answer your question, no, the inside of my mic tips are not white. But I will most certainly be looking into making them white. Thanks!
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On 10/5/2018 at 5:06 PM, gmrhodes13 said:
Here are some comparison shots, your teeth are a little wide and inside mic tips white.
You could also remove a little more around the eyes, especially in the inner corners
Thanks for the feedback!!
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On 10/4/2018 at 5:28 PM, Bud Spaklur said:
Gary,A few things. First, your helmet looks really nice- great work! I too read about fogging issues with lenses if no gaps were left for airflow. I read that AFTER I installed my lenses. I had used Sugru around the eye sockets, then installed the lenses flush to the material with acorn nuts leaving no gaps for the lenses whatsoever. I’ve done a couple troops thus far with helmet fans and have had zero issues with fogging for what it’s worth.
Now, regarding Hyperfirm. I think Glen (gmrhodes) was mentioning my note about opening a claim on PayPal. Someone else besides you was having an issue with Hyperfirm- not getting their shipment, getting zero response from them when contacted.... I had this experience too last year when I ordered. I believe the guys name was Lewis. I remember he was responsive when I was inquiring and ordering, but when it began to take a long time and I messaged him repeatedly, I got no response. I think I either opened a paypal claim or said I would (can’t recall) and then the blaster miraculously arrived. I would not order from them/him again because I felt like I was getting scammed. I also don’t care for poor communication.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yup. Had to fill a claim with PayPal.
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On 10/6/2018 at 1:24 PM, Switzer said:
Wow, Thanks Garry. Your build thread has been an eye-opener and impressive to say the least.
I am new to this as well. My family attends Comicpalooza in Houston every year. I think we missed a couple of the early ones but have made all of them since. I've seen the 501st there and the costumes are very impressive. My girls cosplay every year and so I was thinking of an Anovos kit to get in on the family tradition. So thanks for the build thread.
Like you I've wanted a Stormtrooper helmet and costume since I was 9 and saw ANH in 1977.
I live 1.5 - 2 hours east of Houston, so if you hear of any more build parties in SE Texas please PM me. I would be interested in attending.
Hello! Glad you've taken a look at my thread. I started almost two years ago and I'm getting so close to finishing up and doing my first troop. I've been to two armor parties and both were extremely helpful - one in Corpus Christi and one in Spring. I travel a lot between Tomball and Corpus Christi. Are you on the FISD Facebook page? There is a lot of good information posted, and there are updates on armor parties in your area.
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Ordered my blaster from Hyperfirm about a month ago. Still no word on when it will ship. Any experience with delivery times from Hyperfirm?
Garry's ANH Stunt Anovos Build
in ANH Build Threads
Posted
In my initial build, I used mostly the elastic straps and Velcro that came with the Anovos kit. I did use Trooperbay's Full Bracket Set (Stormtrooper Sandtrooper Full Bracket Set (trooperbay.com)) that I bought separately. I just recently purchased their EZ-Snap and Elastic Strap Set (Ligne (Line) 24-EZ-Snap Tabs and Elastic Straps Set (trooperbay.com)) since the original elastic I used is getting stretched out. I haven't installed the new straps and snaps yet but I'm looking forward to seeing how they work.