TheRascalKing

Now that I've finished my 4th OTTK Centurion approval... and my ROTK is nearing completion approved... if only I could find something... maybe a new build... to keep me busy during the holidays/continued lockdown... MORE TO COME SOON!

Okay gotta chime in here real quick - Anovos is an EXCELLENT kit (as long as you are "stormtrooper-sized"... they just have garbage business practices and won't be around much longer), and mine has been to Centurion and back 4 times now. If anything, it is actually a bit TOO NICE a quality of kit - it has been "cleaned up" slightly versus the actual screen used suits and I like to think it's more of how a Stormtrooper was MEANT to look, not exactly how they DID look. The suits in '77 were pretty bad. That being said, RS Props specifically strives to recreate the suits as close to screen-accurate as they can consistently get them... defects and all. If your wife thought the Anovos kit looked bad...? When she sees the lumps and warts on an RS helmet and the quality of their strapping, I'm sure she will be SHOCKED. RS is great for collectors, but far from my number one choice for actual troopers. Build yours with interior cover strips, reinforced shoulder bridges, and quality strapping and you won't have any more issues than any other maker. A commissioned RS suit will absolutely still take plenty of modification to fit your frame properly, to be comfortable for trooping, and even for basic approval much of the time. I'd have her put the money towards build supplies, or sending your Anovos out to be commission built for you instead of pursuing an RS kit, personally. Or have her get you a blaster or some HWT parts, I don't know! I'm not one to look a gift.... wife?... in the mouth, but if you do lots of research, I'm not sure you'll be as happy with a RS kit as you think you will. Building and getting to know your kit and how to rig and repair it is half the fun, and Tony's thread below is as close to a set of instructions that you'll get, maybe even better. /$0.02

@11b30b4 Please add Sheev's Emporium to the soft parts vendor list at your convenience. They have started consistently providing undersuit gaskets and they look excellent! https://www.facebook.com/sheevsemporium

I went looking at one point and I don't think it has... The one Jyn Erso uses has pretty good reference and has been replicated, but I don't believe the stormtrooper one has. When I went looking, I discovered that they were illegal to own in my US state, so I gave up haha

Thank you all so much!

Congrats and looking good, trooper! 23 SPOTS LEFT TO 500!

I ain't playin haha

Yea a couple of minor dressing issues in the photos, but armor itself looks EXCELLENT and I definitely hope you submit for higher levels! Great work!

Yea I'd stay away from hot glue and go E6000 - get the temp setting wrong and you can visibly warp your armor. I use a setup similar to the Billhag diagram above and have two different straps I can swap between for ANH or ESB, with the ESB being a couple inches longer to give that trademark ESB look, but still keeping them attached and less likely to rotate. I also do not use or particularly recommend using biceps hooks, as they are not allowed at L3 and not really necessary if your strapping is dialed in.

Yup, bingo - you're on the right path and that forum should unlock once they grant your well-earned access. Once you see that, this thread should be very helpful: And I actually justtt submitted my ESB suit for Centurion myself, and I'd like to think my formatting and photos are pretty up to standard, so feel free to check my thread and the others out for some inspiration!

Oh awesome! I was gonna link you, but I just noticed your thread over on the Access Requests page, so you're doing all the right things! Armor also looks fantastic! I don't see any major issues from the one photo, so I'm sure we'd love to see you over in Advanced Tactics for Expert Infantry! Congrats on your approval and welcome again!

Hey Lucas, welcome to the FISD and thank you for sharing your story! I'm sure we'd love to see your ESB suit so we can help get you on your way to approval! Have you reached out to your local Garrison as well?

It's grown on me significantly. I like it up there now, good call... don't take it away again

I've seen the cod shots but that twist is WILD. Yea Jim's won't do that hahaha :O I was lucky enough to be one of the background Stormtroopers in my own armor in S01E07 and E08, yes. Glen's thread below has a little more info about it. It was an amazing thing to be a part of, and pretty cool to be one of the few to truly be able to say that I AM a Stormtrooper. In Star Wars. I was just fortunate to receive an invite and showed up with my kit - Ardeshir works in the industry, so the people he knows are the actors hired because they fit in the studio suits (or do stunt work) - I brought my own armor and took it home, but the studio keeps the studio suits haha Jim's mix is "proprietary" and I'm far from an expert in composites, but it seems like a flexible gel coat and a thin hand-layup of fiberglass that he doesn't seal with too much additional resin so it stays flexible. I added an extra coat of resin to the interior of mine to give it some additional strength. It's a cool material, but just like ABS, if you push it too far, it does crack. I'd say you can get away with more drastic mods/repair with painted fiberglass and still make it blend in again, over making slurry or melting, sanding, and polishing ABS! Yup! Jim, and then 850 Armor Works and HeadShot Props in ABS, are the only reputable suppliers of Anthology style armor that I know of, though a few are inching closer to building pretty accurate 3D-printed suits!

Can'tstopwon'tstop. I'm technically immune compromised after cancer treatment this year so being on quarantine has sucked. Working on armor keeps me busy and honestly these silly awards give me an extra little sense of accomplishment. Maybe it'll help motivate some other people too. I mean, if I can do it 4 times with the same base armor... And my ROTK thread is up so not it's not a secret, but hopefully I'll be wrapping that up and you'll be seeing it soon! (#5?! We'll see if @equuspolo finishes his FOTK before me tho hahaha) I also picked up a STEAL on eBay that might also be of interest... Only $$$ but not enthusiasm holding me back from the rest! *spoilers* haha Thanks again Q! I know you love my TD Thanks so much Mario!

I know my TD drives you nuts, Glen We'll see if I can sneak through a couple more times without modifying or replacing it haha The sniper knee is a good catch and I might consider cleaning that up a bit! I appreciate your feedback and keen eye. Thanks! Yeabuddy! Thanks so much! Thank you! Ironically this was the first suit I built and arguably my worst, but it's been through enough iterations and fine tuning that I think it looks good. Shame to retire it, but it's time. Thanks so much Ardeshir! I appreciate your help in making this happen, brother. Ardeshir is a friend and great guy - he's kind of my FISD twin and I'd like to think we push each other to work hard and give back! But yea, I couldn't let him totally show me up ;P Thank you!

A little TK-arate for ya haha Honestly running out of poses

Ohhoho, I ain't done yet... One more submission! #4 let's gooooo! Mandatory Information Costume = Stormtrooper, Empire Strikes Back Costume CRL Link = https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_esb Name = Justin R. TK ID = 61490 Forum Name = TheRascalKing Legion Profile = https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=26076 Garrison/Squad = Southern California Garrison, Orange County Squad Armor = Anovos Helmet = Anovos V3 (modified with TrooperBay ESB decals, @justjoseph63 hardware, @ukswrath mic tips) Expert Infantry Thread Link = Base Suit Centurion Thread Link = Optional Height = 6ft 0in, or 183cm Weight = 175lbs, or 80kg Boots = TK Boots Ammo belt = Anovos Canvas belt = Imperial Issue Holster = Darman's Props Hand Plates = AM Snowtrooper-style Gloves = Double1 Rubber chemical gloves Neck Seal = Darman's Props Armor Photos Helmet Off (not adjusted) Full Body Front Full Body Back Full Right Full Left Action Shot Helmet Detail Photos Front Back Left Right S-trim Detail Vocoder and Hovi Mic Tip Detail Lens Color (Backlit if necessary) Accessory Photos Neckseal Thermal Detonator Ammo Belt Boots Blaster (ESB, no Hengstler, no power cells, D-ring) Optional Interior Strapping Abdomen Detail Cod Details Handguards and Gloves (Rubber Glove/Elastic Option) Sniper Knee Attachment (glue) Thigh Ammo Pack Attachment (single-cap rivets) Belt Box Back Detail (fully closed) Wrist Return Edge Detail (none present) Right Ab Snap Detail Left Side (rivets) and Kidney Notch Detail Shoulder Bridge Attachment (glue) Thanks for looking @shashachu, @justjoseph63, and @TKSpartan ! NUMBER 4, let's do it!

Mandatory Information Costume = Stormtrooper, ANH Hero Costume CRL Link = https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_hero Name = Justin R. TK ID = 61490 Forum Name = TheRascalKing Legion Profile = https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=26076 Garrison/Squad = Southern California Garrison, Orange County Squad Armor = Anovos Helmet = Troopermaster (TM Hero) Expert Infantry Thread Link = Base Suit Centurion Thread Link = Optional Height = 6ft 0in, or 183cm Weight = 175lbs, or 80kg Boots = TK Boots Ammo belt = TrooperMaster (TM Hero) Canvas belt = Imperial Issue Holster = Anovos Hand Plates = flexible latex from justjoseph63 Gloves = Double1 Rubber chemical gloves Neck Seal = Darman's Props Armor Photos Helmet Off (not adjusted) Full Body Front Full Body Back Full Right Full Left Action Shot Helmet Detail Photos Front Back Left Right S-trim Detail Vocoder and Hovi Mic Tip Detail Lens Color (Backlit if necessary) Accessory Photos Neckseal Thermal Detonator Ammo Belt Boots Blaster Optional Interior Strapping Abdomen Detail Cod Details Handguard Flex Sniper Knee Attachment (glue) Thigh Ammo Pack Attachment (single-cap rivets) Belt Box Back Detail (fully closed) Wrist Return Edge Detail (none present) Right Ab Snap Detail Left Side (rivets) and Kidney Notch Detail Shoulder Bridge Attachment (glue) @shashachu, @justjoseph63, and @TKSpartan - I appreciate you guys and your feedback! Thanks for looking!

Awesome to see you in here, KC, heck yea! Kit is looking great and I know Ardeshir will have set you up right!

Definitely not ABS (which is why you see the new ABS makers including parts that are 3D-printed or resin cast... you simply cannot pull the level of detail that is the hallmark of these suits in ABS), it's most likely a flexible injection-molded polyurethane as stated above. And for the record, many of the suits I saw on set were TRASHED and being held together by gaff tape. We saw guys sitting down in some of the extra feature materials? It was because every one of their posterior armor was cracked almost in half and taped over. But anyways, it's extremely unlikely that any hobby-level maker would be able to produce them using the screen accurate process and material, but Jim "Jimmiroquai" Tripon's proprietary flexible fiberglass is definitely the closest currently available and does a great job capturing the details. His sculpt isn't perfect and some details are off, but it's darn good and much better than the ABS, in my opinion.