CableGuy

Velcro could be quite an expensive way to do it compared with EVA foam sheets. Have you considered those as an alternative? Here’s how the self adhesive EVA foam sheets (around 2mm thick, I think) look inside one of my lids. You can then adhere Velcro to different areas, as required. :-)

By the way, if you find that visibility is poor (or you just want to go that mile), you could consider removing a little more from the eye sockets (looks like 2-3mm perhaps). Possibly suggestion, below; As always, this is not compulsory. Just one of those optional little tweaks. :-)

Lovely work, Jakob. :-)

Hey trooper, We all started where you are at one point. Never built a kit before and a bit nervous on whether you’ll get it right or not... But, as long as you do your research and take your time, there is no reason why you can’t make a great set of armour. The RS build videos are an excellent start, plus the information and expertise you’ll find here. :-) Either way, the FISD has your back. [emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1303]

Oh yes - not ideal, but good practice. I’ve never used white paint first on mine so don’t really gave much advice on that part. I prefer just to paint the blue and then tidy any leakage with a toothpick. You could either consider applying the same templates and try again, or, perhaps consider going freehand. Either way, try to keep the stripes approximately a pencil width from the the cheek. Here’s how I did mine free hand, if you choose that route. Thigh ammo pack looking better. As Mario said, you could trim a tiny bit more if you can, however, what you have is probably fine for basic clearance (check with your GML if in doubt). :-)

Welcome aboard. Nice to have you with us. :-)

Sounds like an exciting project, Svante. Looking forward to following along. :-) As others said above, the brow height can be adjusted with the faceplate alignment. Hopefully it is how you want it when it arrives; however, if it’s not, it can still be adjusted a little. (We’ve got your back). Oh, and your English is EXCELLENT! No worries there, Trooper. Best wishes Dan

Hiya. It’s easily done. But it’s not too bad to correct it. If your templates are still in an okay state, you should be fine to reuse them. It’s likely that you can just amend the first 4 or so stripes each side. This saves you having to remove and reapply all of them.

Hey Jakob, Nice worn so far. Just a couple of tiny things that might be mentioned if you go for the higher levels of clearance. Firstly, it looks like you may have applied your tune stripe templates to the opposite sides. It’s hard to be positive from the photos you’ve posted, but, it looks like that’s the case. When applied on the opposite sides, the first few stripes point more up towards the eyes than leaning forward towards the frown. Here’s a full piece on the subject; https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44755-tube-stripes-anh-stunt-dave-m/ Secondly, you still have the flashing on the thigh ammo pack. Ideally, this would have been trimmed off. Keep yo the good work. :-)

Drop boxes look great. As do the shoulder bells. :-) Glad the video helped. [emoji1303]

Good stuff. Great to see Ross constantly improving his offering. :-)

Hey trooper, Just to mention the low-brow ESB trooper that you mentioned, this has come up before. It appears to be an old HERO helmet from ANH, reused. I brighten up the image and had a closer look. As you’ll see, the brow appears to have fallen as there is a gap above the brow trim. As per roughly 90% of stunt troopers throughout ANH/ESB, it is common that they have a distinguishable gap between the eye sockets and the brow trim.

Hi Jakob, Nice work so far. :-) I don’t remember a sewn on snap with my kit. As Andrew said, do you have a picture, please? We’ll see if we can figure it out. :-)

Hi trooper, The gaps at the moment are caused by the alignment of the faceplate. You’ll want to carefully remove the rivets and experiment with magnets first to get it aligned correctly. Notice below on an original helmet how the yellow line flows from back to faceplate. At the moment, yours is very offset. This is the primary cause of the gaps. Do you have photos from around 6 feet back (always the best distance to take photos from) from all angles? Like this? This is my own TM lid but it gives an idea of the ideal alignment. :-)

Hey trooper, Good work so far! [emoji1303] If your kit came with the usual two sets of ears, you could consider trimming to second set to around half the size you have now. This will be more in keeping with the originals and give your lid a slightly sleeker look :-)

Don’t be too hard on yourself, Chris. It looks good overall. [emoji1303] I’ve seen many a LOT worse cleared for basic and above. I can’t see you having many issues for basic clearance. Check with your local GML before you make too many changes, then look at the changes one by one for higher level approval (and a sleeker look overall). :-) Best wishes Dan

Happy to help. :-) Here’s a little more on the bicep / forearm attachment. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49857-anh-esb-accurate-bicep-and-forearm-alignment-and-a-look-at-shoulder-bells/

Hi Mark, A very well thought out build - kudos. :-) Regarding the strain on the shoulder bells - I wouldn’t worry too much. With well fitted parts, there’s not as much stress as you’d think. Especially as your arms are likely to be bent for a large proportion of your time as you’re likely to be holding a blaster. With your arms bent, the weight is reduced from the shoulders. Also, the arm parts are quite light so it’s really not that bad. I had nylon straps joining my chest to back on my old suit and it was fine. For my latest suit, I’m using white elastics like the originals and it’s also holding up perfectly. You’ll see the strapping here: Regarding the bicep to forearm, I like to follow the method used for the original suits - this allows the arms to align naturally, just like the original suits did. I wouldn’t recommend nylon as this will add MORE strain to the arms as nylon has no “give”. With elastic, all of the parts have a little wiggle room. Here a video I did on the subject of arm connections; There’s quite a few other handy TK videos on there so feel free to check them out. :-)

Hey trooper, I wouldn’t worry to much about that lower one as the belt will be covering it. The top ones might be a tad low compared with the originals, however, I can’t imagine it’ll be a game changer. [emoji1303]

Hi Mark, Shoulder bell looks ace. Great fit. The biceps: personally, I’d drop them down by at least one inch. At the moment, the bicep to forearm gap is pretty large, and, your forearm to the hand guard on the glove will be quite large too. The below pictures are excellent for showing the bicep to forearm gap (at the elbow). :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Troop #18 “Coffee with a Character” During these tough times for charities, (with many fundraising events cancelled due to Covid), it was great to see this event pop up. In usual times, Macmillan Cancer Support run a yearly Coffee Morning. This is where people have a bake sale of similar, at home or at their workplace, to raise money for cancer support. Obviously, this year is very different, so, they offered the chance for people to host a socially distanced or virtual coffee morning. As I have an okay-sized driveway, we went with the socially distanced option. We hosted the event on Saturday 26th September and offered cakes, cookies, teas and coffees for an optional donation. Thankfully, the social distancing was easy to maintain. Between 9:30 and 12noon we raised a wonderful total of £340 for Macmillan. :-) Here are a few pictures from the event. My very generous wife, making baked good and helping to serve teas and coffees outside. Here’s a little video troop log, too; Stormtroopers and cakes - Macmillan Coffee Morning (with added sprinkling of social distancing) [emoji1303]

Haha - yes, no doubt about that. That's why I love this helmet and really want to replicate all of its little quirks. :-)

Now you mention it, there is a definite slant from top right to left. I think the lighting makes it look “bent”. Here’s some better shots.

Hey troopers, So, my other suit of armour is now finished and 501st cleared, so I can now start on this helmet. I’m going to be using the photos of Simon’s original, screen used helmet and aiming to replicate it. After all, this helmet was cast from that original helmet - why not try to replicate it?! Right? :-) So, I’ve started off with the eyes. As ANH helmets were so unique, the eyes play a big part in the finished appearance. I originally used the reference photos and them eyeballed the approximate cut lines - I marked these with pencil; However, looking closely at the inside of the eye sockets, the original cut lines of this helmets eye sockets were pretty clear; Now with added pencil lines... To get the look I like (very sharp lines), I used a Stanley knife and gently started scoring along these original mould lines. Once I scored enough, I started to cut along the lines with the Stanley knife, very carefully, from the inside. The results are, in my opinion, pretty close, including the notable bump on the upper inner edge of the left eye (when worn). More updates to come. :-)

Hi Jakob, Nice progress. :-) I’ve built quite a few RWA helmets over the last few years and, personally, I’d be tempted to try angling the faceplate a little more - this will bring the eyes down a little from the brow. Here’s a little piece talking about this subject, and using an RWA helmet for the examples. :-) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/48293-anh-helmet-alignment/