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willeywonka

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
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Posts posted by willeywonka

  2. Hanahan Fire Department Open House

    in Field Training Exercises

    Posted

    Date: Friday, October 12

     

     

    Location: Hanahan, SC

     

     

    Description of Event: Open house for a local fire department. There were bounce houses and other fun activities. Also a dunk tank. The guy that was helping operate it called me out and asked if I could do it since “stormtroopers have such bad aim”. Proud to say I nailed it!

     

     

    Did this event support a charity? If yes, which charity?: No.

     

     

    Event Length (Hours): 5pm - 9pm

     

     

    Troopers in Attendance:

    1. Chris Gould (TB 11110)

    2. Jameson Willey (TK 87109)

     

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    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    • Like 1

  5. TK 87109 Troop Log

    in Field Training Exercises

    Posted · Edited by willeywonka
    Typo and added additional pictures

    Hello all! Just checking in after my first troop back on August 4. I have been dragging my feet with getting this posted, so shoutout to @Twosolitudes for the kick in the rear I needed.

     

    This troop was in Summervlle, SC and was a benefit/fundraiser for a 6 year old boy named Reece who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it to the event himself, but there was a solid turnout of friends and supporters, and it was a lot of fun! It was hosted at a local craft brewery and there were a lot of local vendors present. We also had a solid turnout of brothers (and a sister)-at-arms as you'll see below. All in all, it was a great first troop. Everybody was very friendly and I can't wait for more! My armor held up really well until the end when I bent down to pick something up and my snap system undid itself chain-reaction style haha. In the pictures below I am the taller of the two TKs.

     

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    • Like 2

  6. Actionsdower Requesting Pre Approval Review (RS)

    in Request TK Pre-Approval

    Posted

    Still relatively new to this, but I think your armor looks awesome! Only thing I see in addition to what everyone else has mentioned is that your shoulder bridges could be brought in a bit closer to your chest/back plate. Maybe by swapping out to some shorter connecting straps? Again, as pretty much everything else has been, this is a relatively minor and simple change that I doubt would affect your basic approval. You’re looking good!

  10. TK-87109 Reporting for Duty

    in Newly Approved Members - Sound Off!

    Posted

    Hello all! I received my TK ID a couple weeks ago but totally forgot to post here until now. Thanks for the reminder @Twosolitudes. 


    If Only You Knew:

    -        No matter how much you budget to spend, make sure you add some additional cushion. While there are ways to save money, this project adds up!

    -        Be patient. With everything. I started out rushing and made some sloppy/careless mistakes. Research EVERYTHING, multiple times. If in doubt, ask and wait for an answer.

     

    Oops!:

    -        I goofed up big time on my thighs (see above about being patient) and created far more work for myself than was necessary. However, I was able to salvage them through the help and feedback of others. See my build thread for details: 

     

    Shout Outs:

    -       Thank you to Frank75139, Neb Sgird, ABS80, lucnak, wook1138, TheSwede, gmrhodes13, justjoseph63, GilFran007, and Twosolitudes.


    I'm looking forward to many troops to come. My first official troop looks like it will be August 4th at a benefit for a little boy recently diagnosed with cancer. I'm stoked that it will be for such a great cause! My church is also having a Dave and Busters themed game night on August 3rd that I plan to make an appearance at. I figure it will be a good way to troubleshoot and feel out an event/working a crowd before I do anything official. 

    • Like 2

  15. Willeywonka Requesting Pre-Approval Review (AP)

    in Request TK Pre-Approval

    Posted

    38 minutes ago, menschie said:

    Awesome job! Congratulations and welcome to the 501st. 

     

    Great eye for detail and nice job on that armour! A lot of great advice! I have a couple cents to put in, as you look to lvl 2 and 3 and, more importantly, just getting the most out of your armour:

     

    • I'd worry a lot less about the back neck line being a hair low, and butt plate being higher, and more about the back to kidney gap. Getting the gap to an absolute minimum improves the look exponentially. I'm 6 feet, so I have similar concerns to you, but it's not been a problem. Something that might help is getting some more flex in that butt plate, by removing all return edge completely, except at the top/kidney edge. I think you'll find that once suited up, with weight pulling on the whole thing and your cod to butt connected, it'll all be fine.
    • If it was me, with the thighs, I'd undo the back cover strip, extend to 25mm for the cover strip if not already, and create a gap between the two halves, to eek out as much more room as possible. Then, at the edged not covered by the cover strip, I'd fill it with some ABS gunk. If you're concerned about strength after that, you can glue internal strips too. You've done such a beautiful job on that armour, I know you won't feel 100% good about it unless you've addressed that.
    • Arms at your sides photo...a super easy fix is making the 2 arm gaps (bicep to forearm and forearm to hand plate) equidistant. You'll find it a LOT more comfortable too when you bend your arms.
    • Looks like you need to shorten the strap or elastic from your chest plate to your ab plate. When you raise your arms it's coming up too high. If you don't shorten, you'll have people coming and pulling your chest plate out from under your ab plate on troops.
    • Also, for sure Joseph or Tony will tell you to trim that edge off your ABS belt. ;)

    Hope this helps a bit. Clearly you've built with Centurion in mind, and it really shows!

     

    Great job!

    Thanks for the feedback! Just a few follow-up items:

    • I am going to keep working on closing the back gap. While the Inton snaps I got on Amazon serve their purpose I doubt they have the same integrity as the touted Tandy snaps. They tend to unsnap with too much tension. I plan to upgrade to Tandy soon for at least all of the high-stress areas, if not completely. Hopefully this will help me close that gap more. Good news is the Intons were super cheap so it's not much of a loss. :) I am sure this won't be the first or last time this is said, but LESSON FOR NEW BUILDERS READING THIS: just go with Tandy right off the bat.
    • Regarding those poor, poor thighs lol: sad thing is I already performed your suggestion on the rear of the thigh because they were even tighter than they are now :(. It was the first major lesson of my build: take your time and research until you're blue in the face before cutting! I will probably order some new thighs eventually. If you (or anyone else reading this) knows where to get thighs a la carte please let me know!
    • Yeah, I am still working out how best to position the arm pieces. I seem to be having trouble bending at the elbow still.
    • I can shorten the chest elastic when I replace my snaps with Tandy! Easy fix. :)
    • What do you mean when you say trim the edge off my ABS belt?

    I hope to go for Expert Infantryman soon!

  24. Willeywonka Requesting Pre-Approval Review (AP)

    in Request TK Pre-Approval

    Posted

    Updated pictures with the back/kidney gap minimized a bit more. In order to get it reduced I had to pull it down pretty tightly and also ratchet up the ab/cod piece. This, in turn, created more of a gap between my ab/cod and my thighs. Since I screwed my thighs up during my build I can't get them any higher. My legs are like sausages in them haha. Does anyone know of anybody that sells thighs a la carte?

     

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    Anyway, I hope this is better. I am sending these updated pictures to my GML as well since I haven't heard anything back yet regarding basic approval. Thanks for all the help!

     

     

    • Like 2

  25. Willeywonka's ANH Stunt Build (AP Armor)

    in ANH Build Threads

    Posted · Edited by willeywonka
    Typo

    Still waiting to hear back on basic approval, but I just submitted last Tuesday and I know it can take some time. Trying to be patient! :)

     

    Meanwhile, my E11 from QuestDesign arrived and it's amazing! I went ahead and added a spring to the action just to give it another level of realism. Still trying to decide on whether or not to weather it.

     

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    I also received my Aker amp and mic and have been testing out the Troopertalk app.

     

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    Last, I received my helmet padding. Still working on figuring out the best configuration.

     

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    I have been working on my back/kidney gap and plan to hopefully post updated pictures to my pre-approval review thread tonight!

    • Like 2
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