89Batman

I have to say that all the waiting and the work will be worth it as I agree this is probably the best armour available!! I certainly love mine and am forever complimented on it.

The Hamleys thing was probably 1978- the museum had the armour on display from when it opened ( My guess late 80's) until it closed about 10 years ago- I asked about the armour on one visit and was told it was donated to the museum by Lucasfilm, I have no idea what may have happened to it, I was always under the impression that the museum would re-open at a later date. I still have the museum tour guide somewhere I'll see if I can find it as I'm sure it has something in it about the armour.

I can't remember the first time- it may have been Hamleys (a large toy store in London) when David Prowse, in full Vader costume, made a public appearance. I remember being really shocked when he spoke and he didn't sound right!!! I also remember there being a set of armour on display in the Museum of the Moving image in London, sadly that is now closed and I have no idea what they would have done with the armour now, I do remember it had severely yellowed. I do remember my first trip to Dragon con a couple of years ago and being totally in awe as the 501st appeared in the parade and there was a sea of TK's and sandies etc wow, seeing one is cool, seeing an army is something else! Even writing about that now I have a wry smile on my face as I remember it!

Nice one Mark!!!! The UKG are slowly taking over lol!

Mark as you yourself say 'maybe it was.. ' My friend described his belt as similar to an old leather guards belt ( the white leather dress belts) I choose to believe him he was afterall there! I still maintain that the pic of Han's belt earlier in this thread is not the same as Luke's, which is clearly canvas. I fully believe both materials were used and I think it is a shame that this is such a stumbling block. As we know many of the original costumes are no longer with us so proving this is impossible if indeed you will only accept physical eveidence. I will continue my quest and hopefully bring something to the table that may alter your opinions.

Paul I don't 'blame' anyone. I am just a little confused as to why you seem to accept that there were or may have been leather belts but your argument seems to be that there weren't enough of them- I am pretty sure Han's belt was leather looking at it but this is open to opinion, it is certainly not the same material as Luke's I'm fairly sure of that. As for the 'Dead horse' Jibe- Ridicule is often the first reaction towards different ideas, continually questioning leads to discovery and sometimes change, if potential change would rock your world so much that you are frightened by it then I pity you.

Smitty- being that sure must be so re-assuring.

I wondered if there had been any other thoughts on this? I am still yet to be convinced that the belts were all canvas and am a little confused as to why there are exceptions made with regard to the gloves ( the screen used were clearly rubber with latex handpieces) and yet we are so rigid and certain when it comes to the belts. I intend on changing my holster so that it is correctly attatched behind the belt ( thanks for the advice on that Billy) but I prefere the look of my leather belt and no one , it seems, can conclusively prove that all the belts were canvas, and as I said I have been told otherwise.

I went into their store about a week ago- The guy is nice enough and a very enthusiastic Star Wars fan. The costumes he sells are generally not what I would advise people to get if they are serious about troooping. I believe the armour is, as previously stated, thevsame as that which appears on ebay every once in a while ( although I'm pretty sure he has nothing to do with it other than supplying it.) I'm not sure if this helps.

I like that- I think I may have to do this. I was thinking that instead of Plasti-dip it might be an idea to use the white shoe dye that I bought for dying boots- this willl presumably offer up a more protective finish. What do you think?

Wow that is amazing - congratulations!

Wow! I just found this and read it- what an inspiring diary of a build- the armour looks amazing! I look forward to trooping with you.

I trooped my Battle-spec before I got my TM- it is a great trooping helmet and I would say the difference in size is fairly noticable from a wearers point of view, I would think there are only a few that wouldn't be able to wear it. I had an AP and it was a much more snug fit and I had to have the neck trimmed to get it on. As far as TM vs SDS Battle spec - they are very similar- I could do some picture comparrisons if anyone would like?

I see what you mean but with a little mesh behind it would increase the downward vision, essential when doing stuntwork, and stop it being see-through.

That makes alot of sense- we know they had similar set up on the vader helmet albeit a little more complex, but if that tooth were cut it would help his vision a little.

Wow it is an exciting feeling facing your first build - enjoy it and make sure you keep us all up to speed with pics!

Good question!!!! Now what happened to you at the weekend ? Everyone was a little concerned when we didn't see you.

As above I am also lucky enough to own a set of TM and agree with Billy's analogie!! TM is just the most amazing armour and is one of the nicest people to do business with!

Could you please enable 501st status. http://www.501stlegion.org/members/display...php?userID=9462

A friend of mine supplys excellent ab buttons that are the correct size and colour- He does post on these boards every now and then his TK 2233 name of Chris-

I have to say I would have thought the EFX a little heavy for trooping, especially if you were to add fans or any other helmet mods. You would be better advised displaying the EFX and perhaps trying to source a more practical trooping helmet. Just my thoughts.

It was a great night and Sam has been embarrassed about that all day!!! I love those pics they are so cool- Sam took about 300 which will be on my flicker site in the next couple of days, I will of course post a link.

Well done mate- nice seeing you last night!

Ok- so Chris (TK2233) and Nik (TK3883)have been helping me this evening, and as it has turned out we haven't had to trim at all yet! We have adjusted the way the armour sits and removed some of the padding which has meant the armour sits much better and is much more comfortable! I may need to raise the height of the cut at the heel only a little, just to allow the foot a little more flexibility but it will be a mini tweek in comparrison to what I suspected we may have to do. It is a good lesson as really you cannot judge properly yourself what needs doing you really need another set(s) of eyes to see where the problems are. I'll let you know how it turns out as I'm trooping the next two days!