shashachu

AWESOME! It might just be that you have to shorten the strapping holding up the thighs, but the thigh/knee/shins all look a bit squished together. Otherwise a great start!

Hi James, Thanks for your patience! Great to see a fellow short trooper applying for higher levels! I know first hand how challenging it can be to fit an armor meant for someone 5' 10" onto a smaller frame. CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. Congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly; In this area we review observations made by your fellow troopers and the DO team. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor. Starting from the top, I understand that Anovos helmets come pre-assembled, but a few paint touch ups could really clean up the look. First, although there was a ton of variation in the frown paint, the teeth paint could be filled in a bit more. Additionally, it might be just the angle of the photo, but the shape of the vocoder looks a bit soft and couple be sharpened. Reference Images: hel Lastly on the helmet, from studying a lot of reference images, the DO team has realized recently that the ears on the stunt helmets tend to be aligned with the edge of the trap, rather than positioned vertically. Since the helmet was pre-assembled it may not be possible to reposition the ears, but for those troopers willing to go the extra mile, we do like to point it out as a suggestion. Reference Images: Moving down, I studied your shoulder/chest area for a while. Your shoulder bells have a tendency to ride up higher than your shoulders, so I'd check to see if maybe they're getting pushed up by the biceps somehow. But I believe that one bigger change you could make that would really improve the look of your upper armor is to shift your entire chest piece up. On my kit I had to trim back the neck area so I could move the chest high enough. Comparing your armor to screen reference, notice how the > < indents on the chest hit quite a bit lower, causing a noticeable black gap between the chest and shoulder bells, even though your shoulder bells are strapped very closely. Additionally, your neck line sits quite a bit lower compared to the reference images, where you can't actually see any black between the helmet and the chest. Finally, notice how the bottom corners of your chest are much lower than the bottoms of your biceps, while in the reference pics, they are roughly aligned. These are the problems of shorter troopers. Reference Image: In the same area, I'd watch the alignment of your bicep/forearms. Ideally, the cover strips should be aligned vertically. Could be a dressing issue, or might require a slight strapping adjustment. Just a small detail that really cleans up the look of the armor. Reference Image: On the back of your shoulder area, again watch your shoulder bells riding up higher than your shoulders. Finally, your shoulder bells may actually be a tad large, as they're overlapping your back piece. You could consider trimming them back just a touch, or it could just be a dressing issue. Reference Image: A tiny detail worth mentioning is that the corners of the TD clips where they meet the TD panel should be squared off, not rounded. Reference Image Finally, a few small details on your lower body. Your posterior armor seems a bit wide for your body. Some heat bending and/or trimming should make it fit you better. Additionally, I'm not 100% sure what those white squares I'm seeing are; maybe inner coverstrips? If so, that would be worth trimming back both for looks and for comfort. Reference Image: As pointed out by your fellow troopers, your sniper knee is tucked behind your thigh armor. Putting some foam on the front of the shin and/or the back of the thigh should prevent this from happening. Additionally, the gap between the two halves of your thigh armor is a tad wide; filling it with ABS paste or even gluing a small square of ABS behind it would hide the black. Reference Image: Finally, this is almost certainly a dressing issue, but your calf closures could be lined up better: Centurion Suggestions:In this section we prepare you for Centurion. More photos may be requested in the future that allow us to make better decisions on possible adjustment etc. If there are any areas of concern they will be discussed here. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all we can from what is seen but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. It's a bit hard to tell in the photos, but it looks like both your left and right ab/kidney connections might be overlapping when you're wearing the armor. While at Centurion we require no ab/kidney gap, they should not be overlapping. Additionally, it seems that your left side might get out of alignment while you're wearing it; this is especially obvious on the left side because you should see the rivets lined up, while I can see in the photos of the armor when you're not wearing it that they are indeed aligned. This might be a simple case of adding some foam padding to 'bulk' out your midsection to prevent the overlap. (Note that only fixing the left side overlap is required, but I'm recommending you try to fix the right side overlap as well.) Reference Images: And that's it! I want to commend you on a fantastic build, and we'll see you at Centurion!

Really lovely build, Shuan. As @giskard8 mentioned, please update your original post with the following information: Required: <Your Name> <Your TK ID> <Your Garrison / Squad> <Your 501st member profile> (i.e. your member page on 501st.com) (optional but helpful): Height: Weight: Armor Maker: Helmet Maker: Blaster: Boots: Canvas Belt: Neck Seal: Holster: When you've posted photos of the painted left side rivets, we can proceed.

Hi James! Thanks for your patience! One last thing - could you include a clear photo of your blaster D-ring?

Congrats!

My guess would also be clamps or maybe unintentional bending when you pulled up the pieces?

Hi Mathijs, thanks for your submission and your patience as we review your photos! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required submission photos have been posted, and I am very pleased to announce your armor displays all the necessary elements to qualify for ANH Stunt Expert Infantry. On behalf of Tony, Dan, Joseph and myself, congratulations!   Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: In this section we review observations made by your fellow troopers and ourselves. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor. Really beautiful job on your build! It's clear you have put a lot of time and effort into your kit, so I have what really amount to small nitpicks that make you and your armor look their best. Starting at your helmet, I know Anovos helmets come with their helmets pre-assembled, but the ear position could be improved. First, the Stunt helmets generally have their ears tilted a bit more so that the screws are roughly in line with the edge of the traps (the green line.) Additionally, you can see that the seam between the front and back pieces is exposed. It would not be an easy fix, but if you're up for the challenge, we're suggesting you reposition the ear. Reference Image: Additionally, the shape of the vocoder could be cleaned up a bit - yours looks a bit soft. The mesh in your hovi tips also looks pushed back just a bit too far. If it's possible, we're suggesting that you pull them forward so that they're closer to the edge of the hovi tips. Reference Image: Some of the paint and decals could be touched up as well - there is a bit of overspray on the teeth, and some of the decals aren't lined up well with the edges of the plastic. The decals you'd have to remove and completely replace, unfortunately, or change to hand-painted. Reference Image: Moving down, it looks like your biceps and possibly forearms could be pulled up just a bit (likely just a strapping adjustment). This should improve your arm mobility as well as improve the look, as the bottom of your bicep pieces look a bit large compared to the thinner part of your arm at your elbow, and your forearms are running into your handplates a bit. Reference Image: Continuing on the torso, your belt is a bit low. Ideally, it should touch or even slightly overlap the ab buttons. (I had to make the same adjustment during my own build.) Reference Image Moving along, your canvas belt has a lot of loose threads. Although the screen-used belts definitely had imperfections, we're suggesting you trim them a bit for a slightly cleaner look. Reference Image: Finally, a really small detail, but the corners of the TD clips should be squared off, not rounded. Certainly not a big deal, but worth mentioning. Reference Image: Moving to the lower limbs, this is definitely a small detail, but it looks like your right thigh hangs a bit lower than your left: The advantage of bringing it up is that it should also help prevent your belt drop box from getting caught in your thigh armor: Reference Image: And finally what is likely just a dressing issue but worth mentioning is that your right calf closure is overlapping and a bit misaligned. The left one looks great. Reference Image: And last but not least, very nice job with your E-11, especially smoothing out the print lines. If it's possible to move your Hengstler counter and maybe even your scope forward, that would make it match the screen-used blasters more. Additionally, really great paint job, but some areas are a bit over-weathered, so we're suggesting you cover up some of the weathering: the scope is indeed brass, but we're suggesting you take a bit of black paint to it so that not too much brass is showing. Additionally, the t-tracks and grip were black plastic, so they should not have any metallic weathering. Finally, it might just be the lighting, but we'd also suggest toning down the weathering on the end cap. Reference Images: Original plastic Sterling handle Sterling end cap Hengstler position Hengstler position Plastic T-tracks, no weathering Centurion Suggestions:In this section we prepare you for Centurion. More photos are requested that allow us to make better decisions on possible adjustment etc. If there are any areas of concern they will be discussed here. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all we can from what is seen but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. For the shoulder bells, the CRL states: There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. It's probably partly a dressing issue since the back gap looks good, but it does appear your shoulder bells can be brought in further. Tightening the strapping connecting the bells to the white elastic shoulder straps should hopefully do it. Reference Image: And that's it! I want to emphasize again that you've done a fantastic job on your build - these are just suggestions that will help you look your best when you're out there representing the Empire. Congratulations from all of us again, and we'll see you soon at Centurion!

@TK-23181 Apologies for the delay, Mathijs, but could you update your post with one more closeup photo of the vocoder area and the hovi tips? Just so I can see them more clearly. Something like this: Thanks for your patience.

Thanks for the screw repaint, Mathijs! I'll be with you soon.

Yup. I used to carry it every troop in the beginning, but my last several troops I've gone blasterless or had my blaster holstered at least part of the time. Leaves my hands free for high fives. And I tried stretching my holster with some soup cans for a really long time (I have the Darman 8oz) but I still can't easily get the blaster in and out myself.

Yup, just the adhesive, and so far it's held up just fine. Velcro industrial strength. I don't, however, often troop with my blaster in my holster (if I don't want to hold a blaster I'll usually just leave it in my bin) so not a ton of weight is on my belt typically.

Belt position looks great. I put a couple small strips of Velcro in addition to the snaps to keep it from sagging during troops.

Congrats!

Yup - these ones from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EL938E6/ You can see the final setup here: Actually on my last troop of the year my fans stopped working, and I realized one of the solder points on the switch had broken. But they lasted a dozen troops over the year until they had to be repaired, so I was reasonably happy with that. Re: fan on top of your head, that sounds delightful, but my helmet has to sit right on the top of my head, otherwise I can't see out of it, so I don't have any room for a fan on top. As I'm sure you're realizing, you'll be continuously tweaking your armor.

This is awesome. Electronics is a huge blind spot for me and I've always wanted to learn. I did manage to make the fans myself but that's about the extent of my abilities. How many fans are you planning on using? I use the standard 2 fan setup (mounted at the edge of the frown and pointing up at the eyes) and I haven't (yet) found myself wishing I had more. There are at least a few guys in my garrison who don't use fans at all, which seems like madness.