TheRascalKing

Alrighty time for a little update! Started disassembly on my helmet today! This isn't exactly rocket surgery, but I'll take you guys along for the ride if you've never seen it done before: Step one - start peeling off that bottom neck seal trim. There is a bit of adhesive on it, so work slow, especially around the ears. I'm not a huge fan of the Anovos neck seal trim, so I may replace it anyways, but one thing I always do is at least spin it around - I like the split to be in the front where it's hidden a little better by the black of the vocoder. It helps to leave the rubber trim outside in the sun for a bit to soften it up and make it more pliable before reinstallation. Always leave it a tiny bit longer than you think it needs to be if you're cutting it - the pressure will help it wedge into the tight corners and stay in place better, plus no visible gap. Next up, pop out that lens and peel off the frown mesh carefully - they're held on by double sided tape, sticky foam blocks, and a little velcro. Next up, mic tips! You can see where the helmet is a little deformed in the depression - be SUPER SUPER careful, as this is one of the weakest areas of the entire helmet, due in part to how far the ABS has to be stretched to make those deep depressions. Anovos just screws right into the resin tips... not my favorite system and should probably have a washer at minimum. I've seen the outer casing separate from the white insert too, so be mindful. Next up, remove the foam covering the ear screws... it's not bad to have, but I just chuck it. Carefully remove using some pliers to hold the nut and a small flat head screwdriver. Love those smooth cut lines, Anovos... *eye roll* Be careful - my ear was glued a little down at the very bottom from the neck seal trim, so gently pry until it separates. There should just be two more screws holding the back cap and front mask together - these must have had a little dab of CA on them as they were stubborn but eventually worked loose. Boom, now you can separate the two main parts of the helmet. Pull that brow trim off... And you're pretty much done! Here's everything all laid out. You may be asking why I bothered doing this, and there are several reasons. First up, I like to spray the insides of all my helmets black - it's not technically accurate but I like the look better and I feel like your features are less noticeable in a dark helmet. The inside will be getting several coats of Rustoleum truck bedliner spray - I'd like to think that it adds the tiniest extra bit of strength, and I like the look and texture. It will also be easier to rub all the painted on graphics off for replacement with ESB decals - just be careful, I forgot how thin these helmets are. If you hold this one up to the light, you can see almost see through the white, and in several spots, you could tell how scary thin it is... Another reason to pull it all apart is to replace the hardware and mic tips with more accurate ones for Centurion. The hardware is from @justjoseph63 - I painted the screws white and used nylock nuts and washers that I painted black already. The mic tips are from @ukswrath and I'll need to sand them a bit and paint the interiors white - he left em black for me but I ended up using another set for my R1 build. Here's a little comparison of the inaccurate, rusty stock Anovos screws on the left below (right above, oops) and Joseph's set on the right below if you haven't seen the difference before. Ironically, I want to say the incorrect Anovos helmet screws can actually be used as correct Thermal Detonator clip screws last I checked! Anyways, when I get a chance, I'll paint the interior of the helmet black, remove the painted details, then reassemble with more accurate odds and ends. More to come! Thanks for stopping by!

The eye shadow I used for weathering comes off really easily with a little polish! So no need to wait Thank you tho!

Donated $25! I'm admittedly a shameless sucker for forum badges - will there be an updated Supporter 2020 one?

Wooooooo! Thank you team! I appreciate the review and hope to make the Detachment proud.

Mandatory Information Name = Justin R. TK ID = 61490 Legion Profile = https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=26076 HWT EIB Thread Link = Base ANH-S Suit Centurion Thread Link = Garrison/Squad = Southern California Garrison, Orange County Squad Forum Name = TheRascalKing Armor = Anovos Helmet = Anovos V1 Blaster= Hyperfirm DLT-19 Optional Height = 6ft 0in, or 183cm Weight = 170lbs, or 77kg Neck Seal = Darman's Props Under Suit = Nike Pro 2-piece compression suit Pauldron = katarra8 on eBay Hand Plates = latex, justjoseph63 on FISD Gloves = latex, Double One chemical gloves Ammo Pouches = leather, 牛翠芬 on eBay Backpack = self built, some parts from CrookKnight on FISD Ammo Belt = Anovos Canvas Belt = Imperial Issue Boots = Imperial Boots Electronics = XIAOKOA 2.4G wireless microphone into TK Talkie V3 into Aker MR1506 amp (not shown), 5V helmet fan system, UKswrath on FISD Armor Photos Full Body Front Front (Helmet Off) Full Body Back Full Right Full Left Helmet Detail Photos Front Side Back Interior S-trim Detail Hovi Tip detail Lens color (Backlit if necessary) Accessory Photos Neckseal Pauldron Ammo Belt Backpack Boots Blaster Action Shot Optional Interior Strapping Abdomen Detail Cod Details Handguard Flex Sniper Knee Attachment (glue) Thigh Ammo Pack Attachment (rivets) Wrist Return Edge Detail (none present) Left Side (rivets) and Kidney Notch Detail Requested Changes from EIB Vocoder Paint Cleanup Ab Button Paint Cleanup Black Wire Added to Blaster Fill Left Thigh Armor Gap I'm trash at hand painting, but did my best! My scrap plastic trimmings are long gone so I couldn't make ABS slurry that would match, soooo... Just backed it. Shout outs to Tony/@ukswrath for his excellent backpack guide and to my wonderful girlfriend Lauren for having the patience and attention to detail to adjust me and take my photos! Thanks for looking @shashachu and @justjoseph63! I definitely appreciate you guys!

Surprise, delays. Decided to sand the inside of the shins where they overlap to try to get them to sit a bit more flush. Especially since I have that ultra thin Velcro, I'm hoping to minimize visible gaps. Some if the parts just didn't line up 100% right, but they were a little better after dremeling/sanding. I ended up exposing a bunch of low spots and pin holes, so I felt the need to fill those. I also noticed that the bottoms of the shins were a bit long as well, so I trimmed and sanded and bondoed those edges... then of course sprayed the whole thing white over again. Similar setback with the thighs - I had previously repaired a small crack at the top of the inner thigh with super glue and thought it was fixed, only to have it open back up again. I ground it out and filled it with two part epoxy and sanded again... and sprayed white... again... Same as the shins below. Bonded: Sanded: Almost disappears with paint: Fiddling with the last little imperfections on the helmet too, finally pretty happy with it. Found some pinholes I didn't notice before along the neck seal edge, so you guessed it, I filled and sanded those too. The interior unfortunately had some white overspray from some masking tape that failed, so I sprayed it with one more coat of bed liner. Masking makes it look like a luchador mask haha Also started prepping the vocoder, almost forgot about it! The ab section also developed a couple weird tiny cracks, probably from flexing it "open" too wide while sanding. My bad - it'll flex but don't go crazy. I just filled these with filler, I hope they'll be okay. Too hard to get shots of it. Sorry, didn't take too many photos. More little fixes this weekend then I swear I'll get to final paint soon... Rushing causes problems! Hopefully getting my HWT Centurion app in this weekend too. Did my first "virtual troop" this week and my first in a couple months! We got to crash an elementary school STEM class's Zoom call and in costume, then suit down and talk about the club's charity work, Galactic Academy, costume building techniques, and STEM skills. Was a blast!

Pro, HA! When I'm all done, I'll post how many cans of paint I went through getting mine right. I 100% regret not paying someone to paint this thing for me, but I'm not sure anyone else would have put the level of attention to detail in that I have... Definitely not for cheap anyways. Probably much more efficiently with the experience and right tools tho. You'll get there. Patience and positivity.

I used a tiny bit of filler on the pinholes - couldn't get em to go away with wet sanding alone. Wrinkles like that are often humidity related, so make sure it's fully dry. I would start at like 400, then 600, then 1000 or you'll just clog your 1000 grit paper up most likely. A heat gun or heat in general can help with runs, and even lighter coats. Paint has been extremely frustrating for me as well, so you're in good company haha

Multiple light coats and noting dry times is key - spray within an hour or wait a full 24 for this paint, I wanna say. Plus, if you're going for perfection, it's going to take several coats and several rounds of high-grit sanding. I think I'm on my 7th or 8th coat, including primer. Also, keep your nozzles super clear or use fresh ones. And keep an eye on temp/humidity. Lots of tiny factors can complicate paint... Occasionally you'll just get a bad can, but that paint shouldddd work fine...

Check out Katara8 for the pauldron, she's a little cheaper and excellent https://www.etsy.com/listing/150178963/classic-star-wars-stormtrooper-shoulder?ref=shop_home_feat_3&frs=1

Definitely interested in a set, especially if you can make ESB ones that fit an Anovos helmet properly. Complete decal sets usually run in the $20-25USD range, if that helps!

The rest of what I said, I can confirm as fact, but unsure about the spike helmets since I didn't see them in person. But that slanted last tube stripe is a dead giveaway for a Black Series if you ask me. No actors to my knowledge wore BSs on set, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't want to ruin the limited number of actual RO helmets they had and used them for the spike scene. I assume the same for Anovos - they're easy to get, so it's likely, but unconfirmed.

ALL armor worn by studio actors on the show was Rogue One/Anthology style armor. The majority wore R1/Anthology style helmets as well, but notably (and as pictured above), the TKs in service to "The Client" appear to be wearing ANH style helmets, possibly modified Anovos. Pike helmets appear to be modified Black Series. The other exception was 33 members of the Legion, who were mixed in with Moff Gideon's posse (not just the background ) and wore their own armor - mostly ANH but a few ESB, and in this scene only. Technically at this point in the continuity, any of those suits could be canon, as TKs are wearing whatever is leftover/available. I doubt strongly we'll ever see ROTJ or even true OT era suits in an LFL production again - Anthology suits are more comfortable and look better on film.

Can't stop, won't stop hahaha The question is how many I'll complete XD It's honestly my favorite sculpt by far, despite them being a garbage company. I know they're kinda "sanitized", but the proportions are solid and to me it's a perfect balance of accuracy and clean good looks. I don't want worts or a starfish liner lol

Thanks! Right?! And with the 40th, it's great timing! Would be awesome to see a bunch of ESB Stormtroopers at Celebration (even if it's next year...). Plus, this gives me my next project to work on and keep my mind busy without having to put money I don't have into a totally new kit I don't need haha I just reeeeeeeally didn't want to paint over my ANH helmet, so finding this one was amazing. They're getting up there in price for NIB Anovos (cheapest I found was $240!) so I'm stoked a Garrison mate (and fellow R1 builder!) hooked me up. Any suggestions on what to use to remove the stock paint? I only have acetone on hand (LOL!) so I was thinking... mineral spirits?

Hey party people, Justin "TheRascalKing" R. here. Decided to do another fun little side project with my Anovos ANH-S TK before retiring it and... convert to ESB! This was originally intended to be done in time for Celebration 2020 and the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, but it's looking that isn't going to happen now, so I guess no rush? But I recently started step #1, which was acquiring another Anovos helmet that I feel better about painting up. Not a huge deal, but my original ANH-S helmet is getting pretty beat up and I'd like to retire it without major changes before it's completely destroyed, seeing as it was technically screen-used and all. I was fortunate that a Garrison mate of mine had an Anovos helmet laying around that he sold to me for a great price! So, slowly but surely (wrapping up my Anthology build as well as my HWT Centurion push) I'll start modifying this helmet to convert it over to ESB, as well as my armor. My checklist is as below, but please feel free to comment if I've forgotten anything! It should be noted that this kit was previously approved at the Centurion level as ANH-S a couple years ago, and as HWT more recently, so I'll be focusing on the changes between ANH-S and ESB - the rest of the armor should already be up to snuff. This is also a screen-used kit, so no changes were made to the base suit - anything different for ESB is new parts. Helmet: - Remove all existing paint (except ears, no need) *reconsidering, as the decals are lighter grey... Apparently, this is appropriate. - Replace painted traps, tears, and tube stripes with decals from Trooperbay (unless there's something that fits Anovos helmets better?) - Repaint frown satin black, extending slightly further - Paint interior black (personal preference) and add padding/fans/audio - General Centurion upgrades (replace ear screws with proper countersunk flathead from @justjoseph63's accuracy kit, replace mic tips with @ukswrath ones with white lip/interior and proper mesh, open up the return around the eyes...) Armor: -Belt - new white canvas belt from Imperial Surplus to get rid of my 2 holster mounting holes - Holster - new holster from Darman's Props - black loops instead of brown leather straps and Chicago screws, worn on left side - Gloves - satin gloves from Amazon - Handguards - snowtrooper-style handguards (I sourced a set from AM that I'll trim down) Here are a few side by side photos of a fresh like V3 Anovos helmet (left) vs my Centurion-modified V1 after 3 years of trooping (right), for fun. The newer helmet (that has the LFL branding stickers) is noticeably thinner than my V1 and has a couple other changes from the factory, most noticeably the sharper ear bumps and thinner plastic. It is lighter tho... Thanks for stopping by, more updates in a bit!

No expert but I have some thoughts haha The stock strapping is fine to use, especially when you first get the suit and are figuring out how to get it to hang so it's comfortable and looks right. But if you're going to be putting a lot of miles and troops on it, eventually snaps will be a better solution. The main issue with the Anovos stuff is that the Velcro and really the adhesive aren't great. Even replacing the loop side that sticks to the armor with 2" industrial does wonders. For the back of the shins, I just use regular 1" Velcro that I can buy by the foot at my local Ace hardware - you want it to be able to open and close, so industrial is too much. Haven't tried the ultra thin yet, but it might not be enough hold...

Here are some words about some things.

No worries! Normally I'd appreciate the plug haha Not quite as nice and complete as mine imo (sorry!), but Sarah sells sort of a similar kit if that helps! https://www.etsy.com/listing/609695611/stormtrooper-costume-strapping-kit

We chatted. I'm holding off making kits a little while longer as I'm recovering from my battle with cancer. Hopefully this summer!

Thank you! I have no idea what I'm doing, but sometimes I take pictures as I figure things out haha Progress has been slow, but I trying to get a little done each day... I started doing the truck bedliner with Anovos helmets because I'd like to think it gives helmets like 0.1% extra strength/impact resistance... Plus I just like the look/texture. Definitely two different products - PlastiDip sprays like a rubbery matte and can be peeled off, bedliner sprays like a textured satin and is abrasion resistant so really tough to remove. Some guys would layer cheesecloth and soak it in PlastiDip to build up a layer of strength in their helmet interior. Never been a fan, so I just mask the helmet off with a trash bag and tape and spray the bedliner. Velcro has no problem sticking to it. I've done both - I have an Ace Hardware nearby that has good selection, but I got my white cans in 6-packs off Amazon for a little cheaper. I think for individual cans it was more. I bet somewhere is doing curbside, but it probably depends what's local to you. I wore a mask and a keychain bottle of hand sanitizer when I went in haha Thank you!

I don't have permission to see it? The other big one that I noticed on set is that I don't believe that "Thigh armor must be closed in the back with Velcro." should be a requirement either. I know there's debate about the Celebration display suit having velcro at the back of the thighs, but I noticed that the studio suit thighs were overlapped but open in the back and kept together using elastic inside. You can see this noticeably in The Mando S01E08 when a TK kneels down at about 36:36 in and it opens up a bit. No velcro.

Great catch and I think the CRL is actually wrong, having been carried over from ANH. I don't plan on outlining my ear bars. Traps and tears tho, yes. Also, is the vocoder rubbery black or satin? Now I'm second-guessing based on this pic of a screen used helmet...

Cool. Updating my color pallet to the above unless someone objects before I get around to hanging the plastic I bought today and final sanding a few things. Trying to get every dang pinhole haha More paint soon. Been tired. Also, shout out to my wonderful girlfriend (and DZ-71490) Lauren, who will probably never see this post, for tolerating another build taking up the living room floor for months on end. It's been an amazing project for keeping my mind busy during tough times, but I've spent way too much energy on this thing. I want to get it done soon! Ah!