The Snake

No, unfortunately I haven't been able to find anyone who has figured this out. I've tried just about every setting I can think of and the moment the bucket goes on, it's echo-y and sounds muffled. Fine with it off. Wish I knew what to do.

Yup, a few years ago I received a "flag" on my account and I was effectively unable to use it. Calling customer service was no help as the service rep--bless her heart--clearly didn't understand English too well, and when I asked for an explanation, or when the account would be opened again, the only response I'd get would be a short pause followed by "...you have flag on account" "Yes, I understand that. I would like to know why there's a flag on my account." "...you have flag on account." So I just hung up and waited a few days. PayPal sucks but it's the option--something we need to brace ourselves for as competitors die out and the big guys become the only option (Comcast, Disney, etc.)

Thanks! I already know for sure we're good to go for this one since it's a "for-fun" event as the GCO says. I think I might just bite on it, since it's so low in price.

There is very large Star Wars event coming up in Joliet, Illinois, that I'm told is akin to something like a mini-Celebration. My wife's 181st TIE should be complete by then, and I thought it would be fun to troop with her wearing a black+red pauldron, kind of as a way to match. I found this one on eBay, which seems deceptively affordable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stormtrooper-Armour-Costume-Sandtrooper-nice-quality-Red-pauldron-/163564892166?oid=163470567488 The seller has a variety of trooper gear available and great feedback. How does the pauldron look? Obviously despite the fact that red pauldrons ARE canon (as of Rebels), I'm not dying for 100% accuracy since I rock an ANH kit. Thanks!

So, this is quite a bit different than I envisioned. Also, I know I missed some things, read on and I'll explain At first this was going to be a more dynamic, action-pose type of thing...it looked completely different. But I decided to pare it down a bit. Full disclosure: I'm not an expert on embroidery or patch design; my strength is in designing shirts as you can probably tell So I don't even know if this will work, but it's at least done 100% in vector format, so digitizing it shouldn't be too big an issue if it comes to it. It can be rearranged quite a bit, at any rate. I know, I totally missed the note about the shape. Sorry. And the date. That can be added later of course. Easily. So, even though this is my "entry," I'm now aware that it won't work. Well, it would make a cool shirt I think. Even though I don't love the banner at the top. Anyway, maybe it could be a starting point. Any ideas?

A tall TK in my garrison just heatgunned some ABS that sit under the canvas belt. You can't even tell and it looks great.

I need some advice on my voice setup. As of yet, I have never had a successful troop with my voice sounding correct. Right now, I'm using the TrooperTalk setup. That is, the iPhone app, with an Aker amp and headset mic connected with a splitter. Actually, I've perfected the setup: I found the perfect speaker & mic placement, app settings, etc. It sounds fantastic...until I put the bucket on. With the bucket on, I start getting loud squawking, and a bad mechanical-sounding echo. I've tried different placements, I've tried going directly into the amp (to see if the app had anything to do with it), but nothing works. As long as my bucket is on, the sound is terrible. I'm thinking maybe adding some kind of foam to the inside of the bucket will absorb the sound, but I'm not sure what kind of foam would work best. Does anyone have any suggestions, or referral for what they use to prevent this from happening? Greatly appreciated troopers

The best thing I did was stuff the fear of failure, take the plunge, and get building. Congrats on that first step! Looking forward to this build; I've always been curious about Phasma's outfit.

This one beats the other one I posted. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Details look a little "soft" and there are complaints in his feedback that the plastic is thin. This kit is super super cheap and I'm betting the lack of quality is the reason!

I wish it was real!

Happy trooping in 2019!

Every time I look at this I find something new to hate about it.

Seriously, what a crazy ride this has been. I was 65 lbs heavier when I started this. Last year, when I received my big brown box (in addition to another one due to some issues I won’t get into), I unfortunately, in the midst of cutting, gluing, measuring, realized that I wasn’t going to fit into this thing without some serious modification. Despite my armor (AM) being a choice for larger troopers, I was still having issues. The ab and kidney didn’t meet. I couldn’t close the thighs in the back. I was by no means morbidly obese or anything, but I was just too big. Sure, there are shims. ABS paste. Ways to make it work. But starting this build was eye-opening for me. If I was willing to put all of this time, money, and energy—the blood, the sweat, the tears—into building screen-accurate space soldier armor, what’s stopping me from losing weight? Getting healthy? I was happy to throw down 2 hours of build time a night, but not 30 minutes to take a walk? It was time to change. So I put my build on hold. If you look at my build topic, sparse as it is—the updates simply stopped. And during that time, I made some big changes. And the weight started coming off. If I was going to go to lengths to be a stormtrooper, to make 7-year-old me proud, I was going to do it right. And I did. A little over a month ago I attended a build party. I met some great people, laughed, had a great time. I made friends. I had a new surge of confidence. And so I continued the build. So here it is. Complete, approved, and already in a ton of pictures with people from Grand Rapids Comic Con. No shims, no ABS paste. I made it work. And now I’m finally thin, to boot. So, I want to thank everyone here, for the fantastic community, the resources, the help, the encouragement. It’s fantastic that despite how terrible things get, we still have people looking out for us. And I hope to meet all of you and troop with you some day. Special thanks to Eric Dyck, Steph Mortimer, Weylyn Kelley, Craig Hobbs, and my wife, for all their help and encouragement. Thanks everyone!

This looks awesome! Let me know if you need a poster

Requesting access! TK-87666 https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=29407

I could maybe understand the argument for a red blaster, but what is the argument about the boots? I should think they're red, but I'm curious to see what reason someone might have to doubt that.

A senior garrison member, who had a heat gun and the proper rivets for the ammo pack, came over and helped me finish that off. He suggested that I switch to the AM belt. I understand that this is a controversial belt, especially as it doesn't qualify for Centurion, but I'm going with his suggestion until I get a replacement Centurion-level belt (you'll recall my last one needed some ABS patching). Pictures turned out great, but I didn't realize my belt that holds my thighs was drooping on one side until I was out of the suit. D'oh! Should be ready to submit my photos tonight, and I'm meeting the GML in person this weekend

Managed to get okay-looking circles on my ab buttons but the paint is so runny, it all turned into blobs. If anybody has any cool tips on painting these as perfect circles, I'd love to hear them! Considering buying a template from Trooperbay.

Thanks so much! It's late now but I feel good about completing this build tomorrow Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Thanks, I was following his AM thread but I'll check this out My belt looks like this. Trying to decide on the corner radius. Think it will be okay to eyeball it? Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Got everything attached to the belt. Now I need to cut the knee belt; does anyone know the dimensions? Especially for the corner radius. I've looked everywhere! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

So, one thing I've done throughout this build is try everything on periodically. It's fun to try it on of course, but it's also good for seeing how everything is working. Tonight, I finally got to try on all the major pieces. The right thigh snap came undone though (my fault), but otherwise this is the general setup with some notes: - Still need to do the belt buttons, ab buttons, drop boxes, holster, thigh ammo. Didn't want you guys thinking I forgot or something - Still need to add more connections to the side of the butt; I hate how it rides up. - Boy I wish i could see [emoji14] Everything seems okay. I can go up and down stairs (only got a bite once) and I can hold my blaster properly. Only thing I really dislike is the sniper plate pressing against my knee. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Just for fun while I wait for inner strips to dry, here's the (budget) Doopy I've been working on. It's a pretty self explanatory build, but a tip I would give is the same I would give for my GunPla builds: Tamiya makes fantastic paint! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk