DEVOLVER

Congrats, man! Have fun at your first troop!

My first troop was awesome! I have a troop thread going here: During the troop I got a crack in my kidney plate, but I CA glued it and covered it with ABS paste. I have since sanded it back down and polished it with Novus, and you honestly can't even tell anything has ever happened. I figure I'll be doing this a lot. In the meantime, I have received my pauldron from Trooperbay and magazine holders from an eBay seller, which I will weather soon. I'll just color the white threading on the pouches with a permanent marker and I should be good. The pauldron is great quality. Super thick and made with great materials. I also received my metal d-ring for my E-11, but it was welded in the center. I had quite a time prying it apart and accidentally got some bends in spots where I didn't want them. It's a bit beat up now, but I plan on sanding it a bit and hammering it back into shape. The paint should cover most of the damage, I would think. I'm actually going to cut sections of the middle from the ring so it will fit into the hole I have drilled in my blaster. Hopefully I can get it back into the proper shape. I don't want to have to order another.

May 19 2018 - Elizabethton, TN Johnson City Symphony Orchestra's Tribute to John Williams (My first troop!) A joint troop between myself in Garrison Tyranus, Phil, Tyler and John of Carolina Garrison and Bobby of the Mando Mercs. We also had an R2 unit there and a Vader. Near the end of the show, we came down the isle during the Imperial March and got photos with everyone after. An awesome experience and a great first troop.

My Hyperfirm ANH E-11 B-grade! It came in yesterday and I'm super happy with it. I also ordered an accurate d-ring from Trooperbay and will be installing that when it arrives. To my knowledge, that is all I had left to get before I can start my EIB application for ANH Stunt. My first troop is tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some pics. I'm nervous but excited, lol. It's really a trip to remember when my BBB arrived and feeling overwhelmed by what I'd gotten myself into, versus now wearing a finished suit and about to go out on a troop.

Man, seriously... These are gorgeous.

I can't wait, dude!

You have a point! I did end up ordering an ANH E-11 Hyperfirm for my standard TK trooping, but I plan on picking up a DLT when they do another run in a couple of months. Setting back the cash now.

TK-82214 reporting for duty! So, now my next journey begins: EIB/Centurion TK AND EIB/Centurion HWT. I will be getting a better blaster for higher levels, most likely a Hyperfirm. They are a little shorter on detail than some other makers, but the fact of how durable they are makes up for that in my eyes. I'd like to get a DLT-19, but I figure that is pretty heavy for trooping, especially after extended periods of time. If I'm not mistaken, an ANH E-11 is approvable for HWT. I'll be weighing my options over the next little bit. I have my leather MP40 magazine holders on order and still need to order secondary ABS and cloth belts. The orange shoulder pauldron, too. And of course I'll need to begin a backpack build for HWT this summer. But my first priority at the moment is to get that blaster and submit my EIB application ASAP.

Just got my TK ID yesterday and I can't wait to start trooping. Also shooting for EIB soon and hopefully Centurion! Thank you to all the friendly troopers who answered my questions during the build and have made this such a great experience. Hopefully I can repay the hospitality to upcoming troopers just as well!

TK-82214 requesting 501st access please! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=28016

I hope so and thank you! After approval, I will definitely be submitting for EIB. I have to get a better blaster than my Rubies conversion, though. Hopefully getting a Hyperfirm DLT-19. Thank you very much! Thank you very much, and I actually noticed that after the pictures were already taken and submitted. I guess I see a lot of EIB and Centurion reviews get the critique that the thighs are too low and I overcompensated, lol.

Submitted for approval last night. The GML is on vacation for two weeks, though. It's going to be a long two weeks! Here's some of the pics I sent.

Again, I fell off the face of the planet for three months... But I'm back! Pretty much everything is done at this point, I just have to fasten the shoulder bells to the shoulder straps and make some final fitment adjustments. And here I am standing awkwardly trying to keep the arms from falling off. I will be putting Velcro at the front of my boot and under the front of the calf to keep my shins straight. I also dressed myself here so the back of the calf is a little open, but not too bad for a first full dress. I feel like the thighs need to come down just a bit, but I don't know. Also, I might slightly reshape the edges of the butt plate for better contour to my body. Everything is double snapped strapping, which I found tedious. I don't know if I suck at installing snaps or what, but this took me forever. It's super secure, though. Here are some interior helmet shots. I used Sugru glue to stick the lenses in securely. It's basically a superglue that's in a Play-Doh type putty. It seems to work really well, but sticks under your nails forever. I also did around 5 or 6 coats of Plastidip and inserted military style pads that can be removed for cleaning. Lastly, I popped in some of UKSWRATH's fans in a Echo bracket system. I had to trim and modify the bracket to put the fans a little further away from my face as they were uncomfortably close to my Grizzly Adams beard . I will eventually install the self contained iComm system with speakers. too.

That's great! The first cut will be an awesome experience.

Thanks man! Even though I'm disappointed about the MTK helmet, the new RS is sooooo nice.

Hello! It's been quite a while since I last updated. Holiday season has been super busy and any free time I have gotten has gone into building rather than posting, but here's a quick update: The MTK helmet I was working on (and was nearly finished with) had a mishap. In the process of reshaping the ear to better fit the bottom of the tube and allow a flatter fit with the "S" trim, I over heated the bottom of the helmet with my heat gun and melted a section of the tube near the ear. Not only that, but where I had trimmed above the ear, a crack has formed. I know this must have happened because I cut at a sharp angle and didn't round out the cut. The stress of the ears being screwed in tightly must have been too much for the plastic. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed, and still am, but I did manage to purchase an RS commissioned helmet from another user on the forum. It looks great and I'm really happy with it. Down the line, I will go back and try to repair the damaged MTK helmet. It's just not something I want to deal with during the middle of my build with no guarantee I can even make it look passable. I could possibly build it into a sandy helmet at some point. We'll see how that goes. Here's the RS helmet: In other progress, I finally trimmed out the torso sections but haven't gotten around to fitting the kidney and ab plate. Here's the chest piece: I also started on the legs, and I'm nearly finished. The thighs got 10mm front cover strips and 25mm rear strips. Right and left, prior to trimming the top of the strips: Applying the sniper knee plate to the left shin, making sure it lines up with the upper section: As for the rear calf closure, I went with Toybiz's classic build method. Velcro with an inner piece of ABS to serve as a lip where it attaches. This keeps the velcro at a lower profile and allows a tight fit between the halves. I did a quick look just to get an idea of my progress. By the way, I highly recommend getting your footwear from Imperial Boots. The boots are very soft and comfortable as well as Centurion compliant. Just make sure to order up one full size!: And finally in this update, I received my flexible handguards from Joseph. I attached those to my chemical gloves with E6000. The duck cloth backing he uses make adhesion super easy and I highly recommend his product. Super fast shipping and solid dude!: As of this time, I'm finishing up the right calf and will be starting the torso soon. I have my neck seal and holster coming in from Darman soon, too. I am a bit nervous about measuring and trimming the ab plate as well as putting the snaps in. Hopefully all goes well. It's crazy to actually see tangible armor from what was just a clump of untrimmed ABS plastic so many months ago. Also, if you haven't tried it, there is a great app called Trello for keeping track of your build (or any other project for that matter). It allows you to create "to do" lists with step by step progress tracking and places to keep notes. As a naturally unorganized person, this has helped out a ton:

I LOVE it with the weathering. Just an incredible build all round.

That looks great!

Did you have to do any disassembly or just spray straight into the bucket? Looks great by the way.

Awesome, that is super helpful!

I have an RS helmet that is already assembled and I would like to Plasti Dip the interior. The problem is, the helmet is assembled with rivets which I can't and don't want to remove. It seems to me there is no way to spray the interior as I would be too close to the surface and cause the Plasti Dip to run. Am I better off just buying a brushable coating? Also, does Plasti Dip need a primer or is a rough sanding of the surface enough for proper adhesion?

You're doing a great job man! I'm still building my MTK kit at the moment and running into some similar issues that you've had. The asymmetrical-Ness (?) of the armor has driven me nuts at some points lol. Keep measuring until you are positive before you make a cut, I have definitely learned this myself. I'm enjoying watching this thread, keep up the good work man!

Hey man, congrats on receiving your first kit! I'm in the middle of a build myself so I'm definitely no expert, but my biggest piece of advice I can give you is to take your time and have fun. It gets somewhat cliche, but also measure twice and cut once. It never hurts to go to as many build threads as possible and research as much as you can before making that cut. My main take away so far is to always cut less than you think you need to take off and trim off more later if you have to. Many of the veteran troopers will tell you, and I can attest, you can't put that plastic back once it's gone. Use the galleries here for reference, and if you have questions, ask! This has been one of the most welcoming and helpful communities I've had the pleasure of being a part of in my short time here and I know everyone wants to see you succeed. Good luck man! It's an awesome journey!

Last week, I began my helmet build. At first, I was a bit apprehensive to do so after reading so much about the difficulty of this process. So far (knock on wood), I haven't experienced too much trouble. My biggest advice to other new builders would be to "measure twice, cut once" as so often repeated. The measurements here are not as set in stone as the limbs, so it's super important to trim little by little and check as you go. The only trouble I have run into so far is that the right side cut lines on the MTK helmet don't seem to give much leeway in terms of extra ABS. They just barely allow connection at the ears and my advice would be to cut at least half an inch outside the cut lines and trim as necessary. It didn't end up too short, but the area underneath the bottom section of the ear could bare to have a bit more ABS. About to make the first cut! I wish I hadn't had to remove the MTK logo. It looks cool. Initial trim complete! Getting everything where I want it. I opted for a high brow: Drilled the first holes and got the face and cap together for ear trimming. Note: I would suggest against using rivets straight out to attaching these pieces as you may want to adjust the halves a bit. I got the ear marked for trimming. I was super generous with this starting guideline. I wanted plenty of room for adjustment. Testing the fit of the ear as I go: And from the back: I had to try it on. So there we go! I am going for minimal gap, but a bit is fine. The screen used helmets are all over the place with ear gap, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it, lol. It seems to me I need to trim more off the ear. What do you guys think? I'd love your input. Thanks everybody! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

As it turns out, of course I was overthinking the tops of the biceps. With advice from a local trooper (thanks Phil), I removed the return edge from the top of the biceps and trimmed just enough to level out one side to the other. The shoulder bells are trimmed and ready and, essentially, all that's left to do on the arms is strapping! During the early parts of October, I finished my Rubies blaster conversion: I sanded the body and used Bondo to fill in all holes left by screws as well as any seams between the two halves of the blaster. I then inserted rivets the rear sight and into the front of the blaster at what I presume would be the joints for the fold out stock beneath the barrel. After that, I primed and repainted the body using Krylon flat black for the body and Krylon semi-gloss for the grip. All that was left was to apply weathering. For that, I used metallic paint markers I found at Walmart.