shashachu

Congrats Justin!

Welcome, Crystal! I'm 5' 3" and an approved Stormtrooper so it can definitely be done. Glen already linked to my build thread above, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions. There's also a Facebook group called A Little Short for a Trooper for Legion and aspiring Legion members who are vertically challenged.

CONGRATS Chemi!!!! I'm so happy to see you on the DO team. What a wonderful addition.

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for your Centurion application. It's so clear you've really done your research and have kept these L2 and L3 requirements in mind throughout your build. CRL and Centurion Application Requirements All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Centurion! On behalf of the DO team and myself, many congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly In this area we discuss areas that could benefit from additional improvement. Note that we consider both text (CRL) and pictures (screen caps/reference images) when reviewing submissions Nothing more to add here other than what other troopers have pointed out. Again, an incredibly impressive application; you should be proud of your hard work. Finally, I want to point out that *not only* are you Centurion #501, but you were approved on TK Day: 4/21. On behalf of the DO team and myself, please accept our hearty congratulations on reaching the rank of Centurion!

Wow, +1 to that gap-filling job. It's like it was never there. I'll be taking a look at your submission today. Thanks for your patience!

Congratulations, Trina!! So excited to see us make Centurion #500 and echoing others that I'm also personally very excited to have another woman reach this milestone.

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for your application and the quick fix with the hovi tips. CRL and EIB Application Requirements All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. On behalf of the DO team and myself, many 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. Note that we consider both text (CRL) and pictures (screen caps/reference images) when reviewing submissions Starting from the top, your right shoulder strap is floating a bit high compared to the left, which is sitting nice and flat. You might be able to correct it by shifting the white elastic closer to the ends of your shoulder straps, or a quick heat bath to increase the curve could help as well. A tiny detail for sure, but these little details really improve the look of your armor. Reference Images: As was already pointed out, the look of your blaster could be improved. First, the Hengslter counter on your blaster is a bit far back and low compared to screen-used examples (the green box indicates the ideal position). You mentioned that the entire blaster is a resin cast so it wouldn't be easy to correct, but we felt it was worth mentioning. Next, it might be partly reflections, but it looks like the grip of your blaster has some metal weathering on it. As the real grips were black plastic, they should not have any weathering. This should be a very quick fix with some black spray paint. Reference Images: Centurion Requirements 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 adjustments. If there are any areas of concern they will be discussed here. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items to pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all that we can from what is seen, but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. The L3 CRL states: There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. Your shoulder bells actually look quite good, but we still think the positioning could be improved to reduce the gap to a minimum. I also noticed that your shoulder bells are floating a bit high above your actual shoulders, as indicated by the arrow in the front photo. You should make sure that you have trimmed off all of the lower return edge on the shoulder bells, and you might also need to adjust the strapping holding the bells on. It could even simply be the way you're holding your arms and shoulders in the photos. This isn't an area we're extremely picky about, but we do think there's room for improvement. Reference Images: Finally, the gaps at the bottom of the rear thigh armor should be filled with ABS paste or backed with a square of ABS so that the black doesn't show through. This isn't specifically called out in the CRL text, but this is shown in reference images. Reference Image: And that's it! Just a couple small fixes and you should be on your way to Centurion. In the meantime, on behalf of myself and the rest of the DO team, please accept our congratulations on reaching the rank of EIB!

Hi Jonathan, Great to see your Centurion application! There are still some issues to take care of before we can proceed. Starting from the top, the L3 CRL states: There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. Your shoulder bells look *much* better than in your EIB application, but we'd still like to see you bring them in further, especially at the top. Reference: Next, the L3 CRL states: The top of the ABS ammo belt should sit at or just above the bottom of the central and vertical abdomen button panels. Your belt is sitting just a hair too low. Reference Images: Moving on, the L3 CRL states: No return edge on the inside of the front of the forearm is allowed. Your forearms still have some return edge. I've indicated all the areas I can see, but you should take a close look and ensure there's nowhere where the forearm is bending in at all. Reference Image: Next, this was an oversight on my part in your EIB review as I should have asked for an interior belt photo, but it's actually a Basic requirement to have the dropboxes connected with white straps: The drop boxes dangle from the sides of the front plastic belt (ammo belt) via white straps and are aligned under the plastic tabs of the ammo belt. Many of us connect them with pop rivets, but you can also simply glue the white elastic to the back of the drop boxes, or use velcro as you are now. Note that when you're replacing the strapping, you should keep in mind the Centurion requirements as well: Drop boxes are vertically aligned with the end of the ammo belt with minimal gap between belt and box. Reference Images: Continuing on with your belt, as was pointed out in your EIB review, the corners of the plastic belt should come as close as possible to the edges of the canvas belt. I believe you can get close enough by carefully trimming off the end of the ABS belt. The corners of the plastic ammo belt shall be trimmed at a 45 degree angle that that meets the outer edge of the cloth belt. Reference Images: Finally, after a lot of discussion, the DO team has concluded that your blaster won't pass Centurion as-is. I love that more troopers are using 3D-printed blasters and I'm sure your blaster looks great at troops, but Centurion is our highest level of approval so our requirements are quite stringent. The CRL states: 3-D printed blasters can not contain visible print lines, and must be sanded smooth for a more realistic appearance. Your blaster has prominent print lines all over which will need to be sanded smooth. Additionally, your grip is missing the grip texture which is clearly seen in reference photos, so the grip will need to be replaced/reprinted. Your Hengstler counter also appears to have been printed in two separate pieces which is okay, but they should look more connected. In the photo there appears to be a pretty visible gap between the two halves. Some other non-blocking issues are that your Hengstler counter is positioned quite far back compared to reference photos, and there are a couple of indicated areas where you're using philips head screws where there should be none. Reference Images: So there's a few items to take care of, but we have a lot of faith that you can get there. Please reach out to us if you have any questions as we're here to help you. Also, when you post your corrections, it would be really helpful to post larger versions so that we can see details more easily. Thanks, Sha Sha

Awesome work! I also have a WTF kit and had to procure different mesh for my hovi tips. A couple final items when you have a chance - could you post photos of your sniper knee plate from the front, as well as a photo of your thigh ammo pack rivet from the inside?

Hi Guillermo, Thanks for your application and for the quick fixes. I'm glad you figured out a better way to wear your armor that closes the ab/kidney gap and also lets your helmet sit lower. CRL and Centurion Application Requirements All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Centurion! On behalf of the DO team and myself, many congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly In this area we discuss areas that could benefit from additional improvement. Note that we consider both text (CRL) and pictures (screen caps/reference images) when reviewing submissions We have nothing more to add other than the items that were mentioned in your EIB review. Congratulations again on reaching the rank of Centurion!

Hi Jonathan! We appreciate your patience as we work through the review queue. You have a beautiful build and it's clear you've done your research. There's one correction necessary before we can continue, and that's replacing your hovi tip screen with a wider mesh, which is an EIB requirement: Correct Aerators/Hovi-MIX tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white. Reference Images: Let us know if you have any trouble locating the proper mesh. Otherwise, we'll be here when you're ready to continue with your review. Thanks!

Hi Guillermo! After a lengthy discussion among the D.O. staff we need one small favor before we can get that badge under your name, sir. In your EI submission, we suggested that you extend the paint on the second ribs, but that will now actually be a requirement. The reason being is that is does not match any ESB reference we can find, and it actually is closer in appearance to the ROTJ style as seen below in the reference images. This should take you all of 2 minutes (or less) to touch up, and as soon as that is done we can get that badge under your name, brother! Yours ESB ROTJ

Hola Guillermo! Good to see your application. There are a couple changes that will be needed before continuing with your approval. First, thanks for posting new photos. However, your shoulder bells are sitting too far away in the front (they look fine from the rear). It might be a dressing issue, or you might need to shorten the strapping that is holding the shoulder bells on in order to bring the tops in closer. There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. Reference Image: Next, I know you're struggling with the ab/kidney gap, but it's still larger than we'd like to see for Centurion, so we're asking you to try to reduce it furtaher. The gaps in the full-body photos look better than the closeups, so again it might be a dressing issue before you take your photos. Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor. Reference Images: Finally, I think you have corrected it, but can you post new close-up photos of the backs of your thigh armor to confirm that you've filled the gaps? Thanks!

Hola Guillermo, Thanks for your application and for the quick fix with the helmet tube stripes, as well as the adjustments to your shoulder straps, shoulder bells, and cover strip alignment. CRL and EIB Application Requirements All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. On behalf of the DO team and myself, many 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. Note that we consider both text (CRL) and pictures (screen caps/reference images) when reviewing submissions Starting from the top, the tear decals are quite a bit smaller than the molds of the AFP helmet. Not a big deal at all, but if you're able to find decals that are a bit larger, it would look cleaner: Reference Images: Next, the rank bars look better, but they could still be thicker. Additionally, the outline on the left one is a bit squareish, and could be repainted to be rounder. Reference Images: Additionally, the shape of the vocoder paint could be adjusted to better match the screen-used examples. The AFP molds may simply have a different vocoder shape, but you could consider extending the paint as shown. Reference Images: Next, your helmet is sitting quite high. This may be necessary for visibility, but if you could remove some of the padding at the top, there would be less of a gap between the bottom of your helmet and the top of the back armor and will make it less likely people are able to see into your helmet while trooping. Reference Images: Moving along, your belt is sitting a bit high in the rear. Of course everyone's body shape is different, but if you could move it down in the rear, that would better match screen-used examples. Note that the position of your belt in the front is perfect (barely overlapping the lower ab buttons) so moving the rear down would also change the position of the front of the belt, you shouldn't do it. Reference Images: (Edit: looks like you've already fixed this since I wrote this review!) Next, as was already pointed out, your butt plate isn't fitting you as well as it could. I think you might be able to add or tighten some strapping, but I'd also consider using a hot water bath to increase the curve of the piece so that it wraps around your body better. Especially viewed from behind, you can see the armor piece is wider than your waist. Reference Images: Next, we're suggesting you touch up the paint on your thigh ammo pack rivet. Reference Images: Finally, your blaster grip should not have any weathering on it, as they were black plastic. Reference Images: Centurion Requirements 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 adjustments. If there are any areas of concern they will be discussed here. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items to pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all that we can from what is seen, but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. Starting at the top, the L3 CRL states: Ear bars shall have only two to three bumps painted in black (rank stripes). Since your ear bars have only one painted black, you should paint one or two more. Reference Image: You've already posted updated photos for two issues that would have been Centurion blockers: the shoulder bell gap and the lack of the shoulder strap white elastic: There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates. The plastic shoulder straps need to be held down in the back via a white elastic band to the white fabric that connects/bridges the chest and back piece. However, please note that you should take new full-body photos with the corrections for your Centurion application. Next, for L3, the gaps at the bottom of your thighs should be filled or backed with a small square of ABS. This isn't something that's called out in the CRL text, but it's clear from reference images. Reference Images: And that's it! You're essentially already there, so we hope to see your Centurion application soon. In the meantime, please accept our congratulations for reaching the rank of EIB!

Yup! Glen is correct that on ESB helmets the tube stripes should be a single decal. I know Trooperbay sells ESB decal sets, but I'm unsure if there's a better supplier for Europe. There are a number of your fellow Spanish Garrison troopers who have ESB armor, so hopefully they can help you find a supplier.