MaskedVengeance

GET. EXCITED!

Hi Ed! First of all, welcome to the forum! No need to worry as most will keep their thoughts on SDS away from personal build or introduction threads. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to hear that the three items you mentioned above are actually not unique to SDS armor. In general, stormtrooper helmets have terrible visibility, and the bubble lenses on ALL MAKES (brands) of Hero helmets are are worse than the flat Stunt-style lenses. Changing armorers will not help on this matter, but one thing you can try is to remove any padding that may be inside at the top of your helmet. This will enable your head to be higher up within the helmet, and thus the eye openings should be lower relative to your eyes, giving you better visibility of the ground. The vision distortion from bubble lenses on Hero builds is essentially non-avoidable. Mobility is limited in all types of stormtrooper armor, so this is once again not unique to SDS. If your armor is placed properly on your body then there are several modifications that can be made to increase mobility. First, if you're of shorter stature, you MAY be able to shorten your thigh or shin pieces to make some distance between them. But before even considering such reduction, I'd recommend starting a build thread and posting photos so that you can receive feedback. "Mobility cuts" can also be made at the rear of the thigh and shins/calves, as shown in this Gallery: Rubber gloves are only required for higher levels of approval, but many troopers wear NOMEX or other cloth gloves, particularly in warmer settings. Rubber gloves are notoriously hot and uncomfortable, but some users are insistent on them and wear thin cotton liners inside to achieve a little more comfort. Here are a couple links that you may find useful on your journey. The second one is an SDS build that I very much enjoyed following along on. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49412-all-in-one-tk-anh-stunt-index-of-resources-by-maskedvengeance/ https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/48167-legoeatpokemons-sds-hero-build/ As I just finish typing this I see that Andrew just now responded with essentially the same information. However, I'll go ahead and add my comment to "second" him. Good luck on your build!

Welcome Vinny! Those links that Glen shared will certainly be helpful to you, and I am especially fond of the Return Edges 101 thread. Joseph puts together some EXCELLENT building tips, many of which I've included in a resource compilation that I'll link to below. Below all the "tips" threads in the write-up you'll find links to some personal armor build threads of other troopers that I've found particularly helpful, including some with Anovos armor. I went ahead and also pasted them below. Tony's thread is particularly EPIC. ANH Stunt Build Threads (WIPs) ukswrath (Tony) - ANOVOS (Print PDF by harris.adp) Harbinger (Brien) - ANOVOS kman (Kalani) - ANOVOS Uxorious (Fredrik) - ANOVOS Rat (Jim) - ANOVOS We look forward to seeing you start a build thread where we can follow along on your progress!

Hey I like it, Bart! Makes me laugh (in a good way).

Hi Pascal! I've certainly seen a lot of Armour Factory kits from the Spanish Garrison, but they're less common elsewhere in the world. You may try checking out this list below, which includes some Europe-based makers such as RS Props, RWA, and CFO. I'll let more experienced troopers than I actually speak into their observations of Armour Factory kits. @Chemi?

Hello again Thomas! You're certainly in the right place to join the whiteout crew, and it's excellent to see that you already started your AP build thread! We look forward to following along once you finish up your mando!

+ GERALD too! I made this one several days ago.

Glen makes a valid point, Jay, but perhaps some troopers can show up with you. If you use the “Request an Appearance” links on either Garrison webpage some troopers may jump at the opportunity. Later this evening I’ll also try to get some more email addresses for you.

Hello again Jay, First up below is a link to the Bluegrass Garrison webpage, which is the Garrison in Kentucky, followed by some contact information. https://www.bluegrassgarrison.com/ [email protected] And here we have a link to the Ohio Garrison webpage. https://www.ohio501st.com

Hello Jay, and thanks for finding us here! Can you share with us your location so that we can assist you in connecting with a local 501st unit in your area? I’m sure there will be troopers who would be honored to serve your family and grandson in a special way. You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers. Caleb

The first post on my log just disappeared! Actually, this happened to me with the Attaché List, with the introductory post getting pushed to the very end of the thread. Almost seems as if a forum platform update changed some default settings, as this literally happened to me within minutes of Luca doing the same thing. And since then I've caught it from happening at least once or twice again.

Hi Sean! There are several products and techniques that troopers use, and below is a list of some of them. Armor Yellowing Yellowing Preventative Measures by Brandon Make Aged ABS White Again by dashrazor Reversing UV Damage on TK ABS (external) Trooperbay Whitening Gel (external) Additional Yellowing Discussion and Resources Combat holster staining thigh armor: suttontech post & Daetrin post I hope this helps!!

This happened on my troop log thread as well!

Honestly, Wesley, you'll get the most help for your actual build here on FISD. You can then utilize the Midsouth forum to connect with and meet local troopers, though there is very little activity on that front. Make sure that, whenever you navigate to the Midsouth forum, you go to the correct (newest on). In the past year they started fresh with a new forum platform, but the old one also still exists (or at least it did several weeks ago). The new server/system also appears to be a bit quirky. Unfortunately, the MSG facebook page isn't really much more active either.

Oh wow! 3D printing the armor! Are you using Chris' (the Prop Guy) files? His are likely the only ones that might pass the approval process. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/47493-christhepropguy-tk/ I'm sure other others will chime in on the topic of 3D printing. I would also recommend that you print Eric's backpack files, which are AWESOME. The CRL version that he makes is definitely approvable even through L2 and L3.

Cool! About three hours from me. Honestly the Midsouth forums aren't terribly populated (similar to most Garrisons), so you'll find much more assistance here on FISD. Start up a build thread when you get a chance, and I'm sure a contingent of us will follow along! Here's another link that you may find useful.

Welcome Wesley! You're in the right place to build a HWT! You probably already found it, but HERE is our forum section for that type of trooper. My own HWT build thread is incomplete, but I think you may find some helpful resources I noted at the beginning. Have you already connected with the Midsouth Garrison here in Tennessee? I say "here" because I live just outside Chattanooga, so I'm technically in the GA Garrison. Where specifically are you located? We look forward to hearing more about your armor and following along on your build!

Contrary to popular belief I can also be more generalized too. Can't speak for the rest of you.

You can do it, Scott! I’ll also add that you’ll most likely want/need to make armor adjustments (like for comfort) or repairs down the road, so this might be the opportunity to get comfortable on that front. Out of curiosity, do you know what kind of glue RS used for your knee assembly? I believe they prefer CA glue, which may be more difficult to work with than E-6000.

Alignment can actually be handled differently depending on which thigh you’re working on. Your right thigh, which features the ammo back does not have to be aligned because the ammo pack obscures the some (or all) of the bottom thigh ridge. Because of this, I recommend working on this thigh first, as alignment mistakes aren’t as obvious. Your left thigh may take a bit more attention since the bottom ridge will be fully exposed, and for higher levels of approval the seam between the thigh halves will need to be filled in. Below are links to two RS Props videos that you may find helpful.

EDIT: Added the 3rd and 4th images.

Once again to Alan for approval. And also to Jonatan for the meme!

I didn't say you HAD to print it. And you think that's long; I'm only halfway through the PDF conversion of my own build and it's around 200 pages already.

I cannot personaly speak to the quality of the IB neckseal, or that from Trooperbay, but I have been very pleased with the one I got from Darman. It is very commonly used by TKs, and can be found on Etsy or on Darman's website. Someday I'd also love to get one from Teresa @Soulart; here's her stuff.