SgtGarand

Yea it's overlap. Was mainly trying to align the top and bottom edges to show the vertical spacing and didn't worry as much about the center edge being overlapped, since it was temporary to take the photo. lol

Yea, the E6000 I purchased is from the US and is marked on the label as such And I actually had saved that image and used it when marking my drill points. The spacing between the lower two rivets came out to be 52-53mm.

I've had pretty good success with Goo Gone

So I decided to drill new holes for the side rivets. I measured 10mm from the edge and 20mm from the top for the top rivets, then I split the remaining distance from the top rivet to the bottom and then divided that into three equal sections to find the two locations for the remaining rivets. My question is if this is correct for centurion or does the bottom rivet need to be moved lower and then move the middle rivet to the new center? I already had to fill the old placement holes to get a better spacing, I just want to be sure this works for the higher levels. I've seen other armors with larger gaps and the bottom rivet much lower, so that's what had me second guessing myself.

In Naha, Okinawa the annual Tsunahiki Festival and Tug of War is taking place. First recorded as the world's largest tug of war by Guinness, with the rope weighing close to 40 metric tons. To kick off the festival, a parade is held the day prior. The Japanese Garrison was in attendance to gather publicity for the 501st as well as attempt to recruit potential new members. The day started with a carpool around 8:30am, many hours before the events started so that we could find parking. Once we were all gathered, trading cards were swapped, and we all marveled at the two mouse droids that had been home built. I think all of us wanted one, lol. Afterwards, we headed down to see where we would be starting, and then went to have lunch. The time soon approached and everyone suited up to start making our way down to the start. I began taking photos right away and by the end I had taken well over 100 shots. It was a long day for us all but everyone had a blast, and the crowd loved seeing everyone in character. Hopefully I will be attending our next event as a TK.

Ok awesome. Was starting to fear it had been trimmed wrong. I haven't been able to find E6000 locally yet, so I'm hoping my order will be here by Mon or Tues. Will be working almost non stop to get the armor into wearable condition since Okinawa Comic Con is next Sunday; will probably do what I can on the ab plate and temp install. I helped during a troop event at a parade yesterday as photographer, since I wasn't able to suit up, but had a lot of fun either way. Comic Con should be pretty big this year since Masako Nozawa is going to be there. Can't wait!

Thanks! I will definitely shoot them an email. My helmet is ATA so I can be pretty confident on the color matching my ab piece. And the screws were glued inside the sniper knee with a piece of plastic. Still trying to figure out how to glue on the knee. I get little to no contact on the sides that wrap around an only the front cover strip seems to touch the inside of the plate just enough for glue.

Anyone know where I could get a replacement AB plate. Tried cleaning mine us as much as I could but it's no longer a smooth shiny surface. Will try to sand and then polish but I'm afraid the detail of the buttons will look too soft afterwards.

Carefully and while holding my breath I made the cuts. Also, here are the rivets in the knee ammo pack

Thanks! I may cut off the excess when I get home from work, even though that may be between 3-5am here. lol I bought a rotary tool and a set of scissors that should work. Not sure if I can have everything done before the comic con next sunday but we'll see. As long as the shape looks more correct then I'm fine with it. I fit it pretty tight because there's quite a bit of return edge at the upper end that I can trim down and should make it more comfortable. On the right knee ammo pack, the new shape has tightened up its fit as well. It sits firmly on the lower edge and no longer droops on its own. Not sure if the rivet type matters for the knee pack. It's not a split and not a pop rivet either, but it feels secure so I'm not worried about it unless the rivet type was a Centurion level detail. Can take pics when I get home

Just some of what I've been working on so far with this armor. I've been able to disassemble parts without much trouble. The sight of the excess glue at the seams are driving me crazy. Removed button plates to clean all glue and reassemble for a cleaner look. Also working on repainting the buttons for a cleaner job as well Helmet was in rough shape. Lots of glue around the bottom edge under the rubber "S" seal, as well as inside the dome. Removed old padding and temp installed padding I used in my motorcycle helmet. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to remove the old glue. Two cracks were also very present. I removed the glue from them and super glued backing material, old white tshirt, then gave a light sanding and covered with ABS paste. Will do something better for the inside. AB/Kidney rivets removed and old holes filled with paste. All 3 rivets were visible above the belt and based off other builds and reference photos, they need to be spaced out more. As for the thigh fitting and knee plate. I removed the knee plate and will clean it up as well. In the meantime will try to figure out how to securely attach it to the shin since it doesn't seem to want to sit where it makes a lot of contact for glue. I also removed the rear cover strip from the thigh and fit it pretty tightly to my leg an taped in place. Marked a center on each overlapping end, where i'm assuming I should cut a straight line down so I can use the cover stip and glue back together. Question is, does the shape look correct now vs. my previous photos?

Thanks for some input. I purchased the armor already assembled from a fellow 501st member. It's a NE series set with an ATA helmet. It's built for a slightly larger trooper since I doubt I could fit in the size used in the movies. There are things that I noticed right away, thanks to reading up on the forums before it arrived. The knee plate is attached with screws. I will remove them when I take my vacation from work and fit it to be more correct and glued on instead of using hardware. The biceps, like you said, should be an easy fix. And I'm waiting on all the new snaps to arrive in the mail, along with a new belt, that isn't stained, so I can measure and place everything where it needs to be in order to comply with the EI and Centurion levels. Not sure what I can do about the thighs if they are too wide but will give them a second look and compare with references.

My armor finally came and I managed to suit up for the first time despite general disapproval with the current strapping system. I used temporary velcro fixes for the sides/kidney plate but once my new rivets and web strapping arrives I will be sure to close in the gap further. I noticed that the knee ammo pack can be brought further back on the left side, matching the right side and thus bringing it closer against the thigh armor. I will need to figure out a better method to secure the thighs and keep them pulled up as far as possible to prevent the overlap at the knee. The belt and suspenders that was provided allowed the front side of the belt to slide low, back slid high and the thighs dropped once again. Another concern of mine as far as fitting are the biceps, they seem too big to me when I put them on. Also, I'm unsure if I need to remove the knee plate and reposition. Hoping for some good feed back from some better trained eyes than my own. These are the pictures I submitted for my 501st application, but when I can get that approved I will soon hope to start tackling the ranks of EI and Centurion. Don't mind the snap. Just part of the old strapping that will be replaced. Just didn't realize it had fallen until after the fact lol

Home stretch and completion post! Starting with the fit of the electronic components Battery fit test Once everything fit, the trigger group was glued in place. I started gluing on the t-tracks that I painted with a rubberized undercoat paint. The pistol grip soon followed. I'm using a 2 part plastic epoxy for these parts since it will support the rest of the blaster and will need to hold up to the use. While i sat the body aside, I began to work on the counter and rail mounts. First attaching the mounts to the rail and then glued on the counter. After attaching the rail to the body, I began fitting the coils. Instead of using the supplied plastic coils, I had some wire from my chainmail project that was the same thickness and already coiled. Took a bit of time to bend the ends to shape but overall a secure enough fit that I decided not to use glue. Added on a few layers of paint and done. Glued the hex screws in place and weathered Finally I attached the stock and completed the build. (will add numbers when I can get a TK number)

That's actually pretty neat. Unfortunately I'd have to pull it off the rail and break my scope apart if I were to get one.

Thanks! I'm slowly getting closer to the end. Finished sanding the counter pieces and assembling the unit. Just need to paint remaining small parts and give it a clear coat. I tried to click the link but tells me the page is not available

Been busy with work and haven't been able to post any updates. Now in the painting and weathering stage for many of the parts. Hand brushed the harder to reach areas Had some mesh to add First coats Stock assembled Scope glued onto the rail

Progress has been slower during the week due to work, but I've still worked on it little by little each day. The d-ring assembly is easy and I didn't experience any problems with it. Filled in several gaps with the modeling putty, then installed the d-ring assembly Quick coat of primer My next set of parts was for the folding stock. I didn't think to take photos of them during the sanding and assembly of the stock pieces, but it only required some slight sanding to fit. Filled in gaps with putty, then primed and sanded smooth again. The parts got a wash and then painted the next day once they were dry. I gave several light coats, letting each coat dry before applying another. The list of remaining parts is getting smaller now. Sanding down the scope parts, trigger group, pistol grip, and power cells. The grip and scope parts didn't give me any issues. Printed out the scope reticles provided in the instructions, then laminated them. When sanding down the two halves of the trigger group, the two small plastic posts broke. The ones within the lettering for the selector switch. unable to find the pieces themselves, I made new ones using a toothpick of all things. sanding down the post to shape, cutting off a piece, then gluing in place. Once dry I sanded it down flush. I chose not to use primer so the lettering wouldn't be filled in and decided to go straight for paint after cleaning the parts to remove any remaining dust. I also opted to carve/sand out the recess for the selector switch. I will also paint that area silver, as per instructions and reference pics. Next up was the power cells. These are the last parts needed to be glued to the main body before I can paint it. These were trickier to sand smooth. I had to make use of the files to get into some of the tighter spaces, but didn't spend too much time on those areas since they won't be seen. For the caps, I had one of the posts break off, again, as soon as i used my exacto to trim off some excess plastic. The small piece was quickly lost in time and space; so I made a new one using the same toothpick as before. Once it was dry and sanded how I wanted it, it got a coat of primer and another light sanding. Removed any primer from the area on the magazine well and then glued on the power cells. The instructions are unclear to an exact location so I used difference reference pictures to put it in a general area. Not letting the 'support beam' edge hang over, keeping distance from the main body so it doesn't interfere with the scope rail, and still allow access to the magazine release pin/button. Assembly of the Hengstler counter Final parts added and hit with some paint before spraying

All the info can be found at the top. I purchased the kit from Raymond through his eBay store.

Well after I posted I decided to switch over to the electronics. Took a few hours to do as I tried to follow along with the videos and make sure I didn't mess anything up. Thankfully everything worked as it was suppose to. Pew Set to stun Back to the build. I started today by cleaning up the holes in the barrel shroud. Some of them came out oddly shaped from the printing so unless I made them even larger it was impossible to get them perfectly round. I started sanding by hand but wrapping some sanding paper around a drill bit made quick work of what was turning into a tedious process. I installed the magazine well onto the side of the receiver then moved onto the magazine itself. The magazine latch assembled pretty easily. I made sure to reinforce the inside since you're bending the plastic when you install or remove it from the well. It snaps in quite securely which is nice. Moving onto the sights; I ran into a bit of a mishap when the front cover broke in two while removed the plastic filler. I sanded down all the parts before gluing them back together. The front sight post is an easy enough piece to glue on. The instructions mention using a dremel to cut a groove in the bottom sides to match the actual prop. Since I dont have a dremel i used my exacto and some files to get the same affect. I placed some sandpaper against the shroud and slowly sanded the sight cover to create the same curve for a smoother fit before gluing in place. The rear sight was also a rather easy assembly. Much of the time spent on each step is sanding and getting the plastic as smooth as possible. When removing the filler from the bottom its easy to mistake the small post as part of the plastic to remove. This is needed when gluing on top of the receiver. Having the file set really is coming in handy and made it nice and easy to clean up the grooves and make the edges look more crisp. The flip sight needed to be sanded down quite a bit in order to fit. I made sure to align the edges with the small circles on each side; normally where a pin or screw would be to allow you to flip between the two sight apertures. As I glued it into place i made sure to try and align it with the front sight before the glue set. Usually only giving me a few seconds at most before it wants to stay in place. Sanded down the two guards and the small post on the opposite side and installed those in place. For the guards I used the same technique to sand the mating surface to the same curve of the receiver/barrel before I glued in place. Gives a nice, flush finish. I gathered up the next handful of parts to begin sanding: end cap and ring, release clip, bolt, and muzzle tip. The end caps took quite a bit of work. The notch in the receiver end was much smaller than the one on the ring. My flat file was pretty close to a perfect match and made it easy to measure when the notch was the size it needed to be. It still took some fine tuning to get the ring to fit onto the end. I managed to get it to a snug fit before gluing in place. I also filed down some of the material in the "J" sections which are used to lock on the end cap. I wanted to give the tabs more plastic to catch on since it will be under heavier spring pressure when pulling the bolt back. Mostly when showing off how cool your blaster is. Once the glue had dried for the ring, I installed the clip on the small flat cut out, making sure it was straight before the glue set. The bolt was a bit tricky to fit in place as well. The two "rails" inside the receiver are a bit of a pain to reach once you glue the sections together. In hindsight I should have sanded it all down first. Oh well. I still managed to roll up some sand paper and get my fingers in the cut outs and sand along the inner areas. Sanding along the back side of the bolt was also needed. Once it could slide in place I dropped the spring in behind it. Gave the inside of the cap a quick sand to remove the small bits of excess plastic and smooth the surface. Slide on and then turn to install. The spring pushes it back into the hooked area. Since I already test fitted the LEDs, I next installed the muzzle tip. Using a round file to open the holes on the back side, until they matched the ones in the cover. This is to make it easier to install the two hex screws. (after paint)

I got my blaster kit today and thought I'd share it's progress during the build. Will try my best considering my work schedule, but I'm sure it won't take me too long since I'll need it to eventually go for Centurion. I'm not sure if he has a website for the kits, other than eBay. But you can check out his demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJbuJFXcrrM&t=14s The online instructions for the building of this kit is found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/snajmo4wxtklq9w/UBER BLASTER KIT INSTRUCTIONS.pdf?dl=0 For tools, I have pliers, exacto knife, metal needle files, gorilla brand super glue, and varying grits of sandpaper. I first looked over everything once I got it back home and out of the box. The receiver section isn't shown because i had already started the assembly before thinking of taking pictures. lol The two sections joined and the supports in the bolt channel removed and sanded down. While i waited for the glue time to dry, I spent some time on some parts in the next steps. Cleaned up the mag well and release button and set them aside for now. I then started to clean up the other barrel section, making sure i hit the inside areas the best i could. Since I am going to include the electronics I needed to sand out the inside of the barrel itself so the LED assembly can be installed inside as easily as possible. Testing with the LED holders until they slide through completely. Before attaching the barrel section, I noticed the tab had broken off during shipping. It was an easy fix to glue back in place before joining the two parts together. Sitting them to the side to let the glue dry before removing the tabs with pliers and an exacto knife. For me the pliers worked well enough on their own and the knife was used to scrape off any excess glue or plastic bits from the tabs and from the 3D printing. Give it a quick sanding to smooth out the edges from joining the sections together and to begin smoothing out the surface the best I can. I never worked with 3D printed items before but it definitely requires a lot of sanding for each part to get a somewhat smooth and uniform surface. I will most likely do the best I can and hit it with a coat of primer before paint to hopefully fill in some of the imperfections of the surface.

Great looking armor! Also good luck, though I doubt you need it at this point Looking through these posts only make me more excited for when I can request for my own EI