TheRascalKing

Ah, got it! Makes sense on the mic tips. I added to my other post, but I'd ensure you reinforce your shoulder bridges with some extra ABS too - they're a very weak and crack-prone area, but easy to add strength to. I also like to add a little velcro to the tongue of my boots and front inside of my shins to help keep them from twisting or riding up. Again, none of this accuracy related, but should help on your upcoming troops and I'm here anyways, so why not haha Great work!

Pssst, email him if you haven't heard back - [email protected]

Looks awesome! Out of curiosity, did you replace the ears on your helmet? And if you're going for extreme accuracy, belt box elastic should be 'woven', not 'ribbed'... and I can see you replaced the mic tips, but would recommend a pair from @ukswrath or similar that have the correct inner details. Also, absolutely not accuracy-related, but I would strongly suggest adding a bit of fuzzy velcro to the back of your holster and belt to cover the metal rivets - otherwise when you wear your armor enough, they'll eventually scuff and scratch that pretty armor! OHOHOH and reinforce your shoulder bridges with some extra strips of ABS!!!

Older photo, but it definitely helps when your soon-to-be wife is also a Jawa, so she understands hoarding treasures......

Yeabuddy. It absolutely is, but buying more accessories is still cheaper than buying more armor! I like to try to get every approval I can out of my suits to keep me out of trouble and make the cost feel 'worth it' (I also have 3 'approvals' for my Imperator-level Staff Officer with the same base!). The HWT DOES require light weathering, but only at the higher levels of approval. I used black mascara and a blush brush and kept it light - it was easy to remove it with some cleaning wipes and Novus polish when I wanted to go back to shiny - just watch out for any cracks/crevices, or white soft goods like shoulder straps and canvas belts. The holster and fixing is required for all three costumes (not the HWT tho, so use your ESB belt with no holes). The ANH-S and ANH-H CRL's list the DLT as an optional weapon, so you can carry it for your action photo and use it for your blaster approval INSTEAD of an E-11 for those two (and HWT). ESB requires an ESB blaster. Glenn is a legend and will VERY likely stay ahead of me overall, but I'll admit that I do like the look of the gold frame on that EIB award........

Hey brother... A quick look at my Centurion awards will tell you the answer is ABSOLUTELY yes! And add HWT on there too! I achieved all of them with the same Anovos base armor. As you said, it does take some switching out of accessories - especially the helmets and belts, but it can be done with some attention to detail. One tip is to have your plastic belt be detachable - mine uses Line24 snaps instead of rivets under the belt covers, so I only had to purchase separate canvas belts and 2 holsters. The holster is still required for all three, but you could carry the DLT instead of the E-11 on your L2/L3 action photos, sure. Let me know if you have any questions and I'm happy to help. Don't be surprised if you see my FOTK go from TFA to TLJ, then TLJ-E too!

Oh you like that Imperial Cog stamp, dontcha? hahaha ;P I tried to put care into each package and hope they all continue to arrive safely and expediently. I know merch can be tricky and it TRULY does take a lot of time and care to ensure things go out smoothly, efficiently, and with good communication and documentation, but I was happy to give back to this community that has given me so much - ESPECIALLY to those of you that have gone above and beyond by EARNING those Centurion awards. I've done it (several times now!) and know how much work is involved, so I am proud of each and every one of you and hope you wear the pins with that same amount of pride!

Hey cool, thanks! Happy to help the Detachment when I can. @justjoseph63, @Sly11, and @Redforce also deserve shoutouts for all of their help.

Warmachine is DOPE but not ideal for trooping. Word on the street is Hellhounds might FINALLY have some ANH ready to ship, so that's a great option too.

DIBS! Message me lol Sounds like yes for EIB, no for Centurion for ANH. The S&T (with proper accessories) should be approvable at all levels for RO.

Received EIB 6/28/21

Looks proper now, and I love the colored links - reminds me of someone else I've seen

Thanks so very much, I appreciate it! (it's probably my same eye for detail, but FYI - in your signature it says "Enhanced" Infantry instead of "Expert" and Centurion is spelled "Centurian"... just in case you hadn't noticed!)

Expect an update to my FOTK thread in the near future! Not much of an update as far as progress, but an update haha I've been VERY busy and anticipate continuing to be busy all next month, then it's my wedding in August, so work probably won't begin again in earnest until September, but I'd love to have that submitted by the end of the year. Thanks tho!

It might free up a bit of extra mobility, and the reference shot your provided is excellent (thank you!) - so as long as I can do it without ruining the clear coat underneath, I'm sure I will!

WOOHOO!!! Thanks Mario! For the thigh pack - suggested or required? I'll probably do it either way, but it's the difference between me heading over to that Centurion forum sooner or later haha I appreciate it! This suit took FOREVER by comparison and was an incredible learning experience (working with fiberglass, doing full suit paint, researching... cancer treatment) with very little in the way of info or build threads/guides to follow. Hopefully my thread helps people as much as Jeff's helped me, and I'm coming for that second ROTK Centurion spot soon!

Yeaaaaa the ones you linked would probably be a no go, especially at Centurion... +1 for CrowProps in this case - I like the look of Imperial Boots better, but Gio can make custom boots for pretty much any size foot and is familiar with the 501st CRLs.

It will. My Anovos has been to L3 and back 4 times. Just takes time and attention to detail - the things you mentioned are all pretty standard for Anovos, prebuilt or not. It looks like you still have the return edge on the inside of your thighs, as well as full return edges at the backs of your knees - I would chop that out and save the shavings to make ABS slurry to fill the gaps! I would also consider peeling the interior liners back (or removing altogether) and adding underside cover strips from a sheet of ABS - that's a standard on my builds now and adds tons of strength without much weight (and makes assembly easier). Use E6000 and lots of clamps/neodymium magnets. As to the hot water bath, you might get away with filling your bath rub or a storage bin with the hottest water you can get out of your tap, then adding a pot or two of boiling water to that to soak the parts in. Or buy/borrow a tall stock pot - you can find them at restaurant supply stores or online. It's a slow process, so be patient and don't overdo it. Good luck!

I would advise VERY strongly against walking around in public with your blaster, outside of sanctioned events where your Star Wars costume has more context. Unfortunately in this day and age, we have had several occurrences of troopers being detained by law enforcement, or even SWAT, over having a 'gun' pointed at folks in public, and we don't need the bad press. Save it for the cons - otherwise, looking good.

Just to be crystal clear... the grip would be required to be changed on the S&T for approval as ANH Expert Infantry? At that point, I would pull the accessories off and just get a different blaster, if as James said, modifying the grip would ruin the functionality... I realize we're nitpicking, but I feel like if we set this precedent, it should be noted somewhere as well so others are aware!

Pin run, crazy busy with work, wedding planning, helping get a mentee to Centurion #499 and another to TX Specialist #23, a couple commission/blaster builds... it got bumped as a priority with no troops going on anyways but that's starting to change! Suited up to do a systems check before an in-person troop next weekend, so it seemed like a good time! Thanks though - Centurion #5, let's go!

Just to clarify a few things, James is going for ANH, not RO, which was why I was concerned that the S&T would not qualify, as it is not cast off of an actual Sterling SMG as it should be. It should be noted that the S&T is sold in two configurations - a base Sterling-esque replica AEG, and a "finished" E-11-style blaster. The base Sterling replica is absolutely accurate for Rogue One. The "finished" blaster however is woefully inadequate in its accessories. Production clearly used commonly available hobby-level parts from DoopyDoos and SDS on the base Sterling, not the finished models. As James swapped out the scope already and a wonderful thread detailing the differences is available, I'll assume that he knew that. The real question is - is the BASE S&T blaster with corrected ANH style accessories passable in lieu of the correct Sterling cast base for an ANH submission at L2/L3? I'm curious too.

I suppose I should finish this out, huh? Updated action photo with blaster added to the OP! I also cleaned the blaster up a little too - fixed the bent scope rail, cleaned up the paint on the bolt, and fixed a big crack on a the mag well. Hopefully that does it. Thank you, @TKSpartan!

Nice, congrats Jacob!

Added additional links to make it a little easier on you, but yup - RESEARCH is key to finding what will make you happiest with your purchase! OT also look cool with White Shadow liners, but I don't think I'd try to cut the tube vent stripes out of an ABS OT helmet is mostly what I meant. Hope that helped though!