bishopdonmiguel

The November 2019 edition of The Tatooinian is now available at Imperial Newsstands throughout the Galaxy...

Thank you and no apology is necessary. If it makes people smile (or gets blue milk spit through noses), that’s all I wanted to accomplish. How it got into the newsletter is secondary. Funny that someone else would have posted it. The Tuscan “kids” dressed as TKs are myself and another KC trooper. The Jawas and Tuscan parents are also from our KC group.

That was mine. I make those for our Kansas City team. I didn’t get any request for permission but that’s okay. I wouldn’t have posted it in my troop log unless it was fair game for the newsletter. Glad you guys enjoyed it. The November edition will be in my troop log soon. My image host is current down.

Yes. Not a huge fan of PLA. I find that the effort required is often similar to just making stuff. But for certain things, it’s amazing.

I removed the “bowl” for the Bicep pills. After I paint, I will back these with a small piece of ABS sheet. I think this will look much close to the production costumes vs. the deep depression.

THANK YOU! That’s excellent info. Soon as I get the ABS in hand, I’ll be making any necessary changes.

Left Side Pouch Cover: The pouches from Trooperbay arrived just as I finished with the box prep. The left side cover feels a tad small. The Velcro doesn’t fit flush against the inside, but rather, it bends around the corners. I don’t think this is a deal breaker. Once I find something to fill the pouch with, it might fit better. It’s a close fit. The photos below illustrate the length and width of the Velcro vs. the cover. Note, I have offset the cover so the Velcro height/width can be clearly seen.

Belt Box Prep: The depth of the belt boxes seem quite thick. I scoured through Ukswrath build and used whatever information I could find to bring some consistency to these. I think the two boxes for the front belt look pretty good and I have an idea on how I will approach their mounting to the belt. The one for the left side pouch also looks good but I’m concerned about it fitting over the pouch that I ordered from Trooperbay. We will see on that after the pouches arrives. The boxes for the right side don’t look “square” enough to my eyes. Additionally, the smaller box has no “inner box” for attaching to the belt white the larger one has no extra material provided to create the “lid” look as seen in the reference photos. I will probably reduce the depth of the larger box but didn’t want to make that decision just yet. I’ve ordered some ABS sheet to help modify these into what I hope will be more accurate representations of these items.

My goal for Centurion has hit the proverbial wall. I didn’t read the L3 requirements carefully enough and thought the gaskets just needed to “look” like rubber. But a more careful reading says “shall be made of rubber.” I’m in no way interested in ever wearing hot sweaty rubber, so I’ll downshift my goal to L2. BUT... I’m still going to try to make the armor look as L3 as I can. After all, reaching for the extra details is just a personal journey anyway so why not.

Thermal Detonator: These pulls looks pretty rough. I think I can make it work but it’s going to be a challenge. The plate for the TD is cut from the larger pull leaving the two side scraps for torso shims.

Yoke & Back: Pulls seem quite nice. The shape of the “rear neck vents” isn’t quite accurate from what I can see in screen caps. I’ll probably make a small change to that. The circle on back isn’t quite perfect. Probably try to fix that too. The back affixes to the yoke just behind the rear neck vents. Trimming is required get these to fit, although there is no obvious alignment point.

Congrats! I hope to follow soon. Did you have a build thread? Looking for any and all input.

Chest Plate: Nice pull. I left thick return edges but I think these will get adjusted later during fitting. I started cutting out the pill holes by eye but I could not see the edges very well. So I printed another vinyl stencil to help keep me on target. Question: For Centurion I need to show "clear separation" between the plates. I assume this means I need to cut the parts away and reconnect with a gap?

Posterior: It's a butt. Seems nice.

Torso: Main concern here is the softness of the boxes and lack of any detail on them. These will not fit without shims but will be material for that after trimming the Thermal Detonator. Question: I am considering building shells to sit over the boxes. Is this a bad idea?

Thighs: My least favorite parts so far. Trim lines are hard to see. No return edges to speak of. Seams don't match on one set. Rear halves the pull is thin near seams. I think I can make it work though.

Shins: These seem like clean pulls. Return edges clean up nicely. Will probably need to tweak the seams for a better fit. I won't bore you showing both sets.

Rough trimmed more parts today... Cod: Seems a bit long but I won't know until I do a test fit. Not planning on that until I get my undersuit and gaskets. I learned my lesson on my OTTK. Don't decide on fit without an undersuit.

Longest edges are about 7-1/2"

THANK YOU! Well I feel dumb. User error. I did look for a Gallery section in the forums but didn't see one. I did have that link to screencaps from another builder that I have been using. I didn’t understand that was in the gallery. After searching, I now see it is located under the “More” drop down menu.

Thanks for the references, guys. I think what I've been trying to say, and did so poorly, is the pills look like they have a "flat" bottom where apparently a decal is applied. If I leave the bicep pills unmodified, not sure how I'd get a decal to fit that nicely with a rounded bottom. So I think flattening the bottom of the pills is the mod that needs to be done. As an aside, was looking at the Blu-ray today. Didn't notice until now there are some sort of vent lines at the top of the back. Are there any good reference shots of the costume? I assume it has been on display at various venues over the years.

Screen caps hosted here. And I should note I’ve only briefly studied them. Really need some time on my computer with the Blu-ray. Here’s a link to an example. Dark scene but those Shoulder Bell pills look just like the chest pills which is why I assume they needed to be hollowed out. TFA009 Main thinking here is a “sticker” will not fit a curved hole very well. Paint would work better. Or... removing the curve and putting a flat black piece against back. Just thinking out loud. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Okay that’s great info to know. Thank you. From the screen caps I’ve seen, looks like a lot of these pills have a flat bottom. Was thinking of sanding the backside off and placing flat backing, perhaps black styrene or ABS. Cleaner look and avoid stickers where possible. Would doing something like that disqualify me from Centurion? If I miss the mark resulting from my inability to do so, I could live with that. But doing something accidentally that disqualifies me would be a regret.

Belt Boxes: The front and left side pouch cover look nice. I just ordered pouches so I will see later if it fits. The corners of the right side boxes don't look square enough for my taste. Also, the larger one will need additional modding for the top cover. Will need to address that. There is no inner box for the small one. No big deal but having one would have been convenient. That's all for today. More trimming tomorrow.

Knee Plates: Nice. Not sure how much return edge I'll leave here. Given they sit on knees and pinching probably not an issue, might leave enough to suggest a thick plate.