wook1138

Until you can size them, I would be conservative in my cutting. Obviously the return edge can go. If those bells are anything like my DT bells, they probably have a rough transition (some bumps, lack of definition of the ridge) from the return edge to where the surface is nice and smooth. I would keep some extra to make sure the bells are large enough when it comes time to size them - then you can shave away as much of the outer edge as you need to. So, I would trim less than what you have taped off - probably half of that for now.

Welcome to the FISD! LOL, yeah, welcome to the land of abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms. Which will henceforth be referred to as AAI-land. I'll shut up now.

Ok, I'll play. Wook (from wookiee) is a nickname from my university days. I had longer hair which I usually kept under a ball cap. When I took said ball cap off... well... I also had a decent wookiee howl. Years later I would meet old Alumni who still didn't know my real name, just "Wook". The 1138 part is because "wook" was already taken as a username.

I’ve built both his trimmed and untrimmed kits. He does a great job trimming but having the flexibility to size some pieces exactly how you want them is worth the extra work. Bucket looks great! I have a fairly detailed account of how I trimmed the armour in my sandtrooper build. I can send a link if you can’t find it. Good luck with the build.

Email sent

Welcome to the FISD. Don't worry about one costume being more complicated than another - go with what you want. We are here to help either way.

Welcome to the FISD!

Welcome to the FISD. Always nice to have a knowledgeable handler around, but a Phasma build would be pretty cool... .

Welcome aboard! Regardless of having anything to work on, be sure to check out the build party your Garrison is putting on. Seeing the armour first hand is a huge advantage. Good luck with your build - keep researching all you can!

Welcome to the FISD! Check out the links provided above. If you have questions, just ask. Do you know what kind of trooper you want?

Regarding the black/brown debate. I don't know much about this strapping but having worked a lot with photography, I can say it is very hard to determine dark colours. Black - and near black - are the hardest to determine IMO. Various materials will catch light differently and because of the very non-reflective nature of black (hence... black) the interaction of the material with various light sources can greatly alter how we (or the camera) perceive said black. That combined with the fact that some black material does fade to a brown colour with use (sweat and sun are awful) also doesn't help. So, unless these straps can be observed in person, I would say that black is our best bet right now - with brown being possible but less probable. My two cents.

Hi Jimmy and welcome to the FISD! Take some time to read through the links provided above and ask questions. We are here to help. The whole thing can seem a bit daunting at first, but it will make sense eventually.

Welcome to the FISD, Robert. What were you planning to build?

I don't think it was even the pilot - I think it is just test footage to gauge cost and technology. At least I hope that is all it was. It was... not great.

I'm loving this discussion. Great work.

Welcome to the FISD! Yeah, don't let the idea of building a kit scare you - most of us had no idea what to do when we started too (and some of us still don't ). Everything you need to know is on this forum - and once you decide on a kit/vendor, just start a build thread and we will help you out every step of the way. Additionally, your local Garrison may have build parties where you can meet other troopers and they will give you hands-on help. There is something very satisfying about building your own kit. The pre-built route is an option of course. Commission builds will add to the cost - plus they will commonly require adjustments and fixes anyways. The occasional set of armor goes up for sale from time to time in the "for sale" section - but these kits usually require even more adjusting to fit you properly.

Thanks Daniel! That's the pic I was thinking of.

Keep it subtle (more gradual than what I drew) and let it follow the curve of the chest piece and you should be fine. If it helps with the shoulder bells catching on the chest piece, it is a easier fix the adjusting the chest piece. A DO like @TheSwede or @justjoseph63 can chime in about upper level approval. But at the end of the day, if the shoulder bell nicely follows the edge of the chest with minimal gap, you should be golden. People usually remove the returns from the bottom of the bells to help "push" them in to close the gap between the bells and chest. You probably won't have to do that unless the return edges are uncomfortable for you. Yeah, your life will be a series of fittings for the next little while. LOL. But totally worth the effort.

Yeah, sort of like this... it curves away at the bottom. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Thomas, looking good so far! As far as the fit of the chest piece, I wouldn't go trimming things just yet. Check out the fit of the chest pieces on this pic and how the shoulder bells sit. There isn't much space between the shoulder bells and chest. If you want to trim anything, you could trim the shoulder bells a bit so they flare out at the bottom. Check out the trooper second from the left - his left shoulder bell appears to be trimmed more at the botton (away from the chest). Sorry I don't have a better picture - I am resource limited right now. You can also see that the forearms sit pretty close to the bicep. You want it to be comfortable to wear, but just remember it is easy to trim plastic off - it is tougher to put it back on. Keep up the great work.

Welcome aboard and congrats on the purchase! Now is a great time to research all you can. Comb through the build section and the Centurion approval threads. Feel free to ask questions - there is a lot of info here and it can be hard to find. Good luck with the build!

What? I missed that joke. See what I did there, anyhoo... Welcome to the FISD! Check out our "getting started" section. If you have any problems finding info, just ask.

Go punch a baby you diaper-wearing nerf-herder.

My initial wants were a sandtrooper or snowtrooper. I ended up building a stormtrooper first for three reasons; the opening scenes of ANH when we first see the troopers coming through that door, the fact that almost everyone knows what a stormtrooper is, and the abundant resources available for building an original trilogy stormtrooper (thanks to the awesome troopers here at FISD). Based on that, I decided that my introduction to this hobby should be a classic stormtrooper. There are a number of vendors out there with quality kits and there is a ton of info here at FISD to help you build it. Some of the newer costumes don't have the same resources available (vendor choices, quality, reference material). Also, I've grown to appreciate the wonky, asymmetrical look of the OT troopers - looks like true Star Wars. As mentioned above, RS and Troopermaster are great options. I went with AP mainly because he was geographically closer (Canada) and had quick shipping times. I'm very happy with the kit (I have two - one is a TK and the other is a TD). p.s. the snowtrooper is on order from Troopermaster.