MaskedVengeance

I second Glen's comment on Humbrol enamel wrinkling when applied too thickly. Have brought that upon myself multiple times.

Haha! Although I’ll say that the DOs are always excellent about affirming the positives on all submissions, and providing encouragement, even if fixes need to be made. Love the team! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking forward to seeing your EI application! Looking over your troop log, I'm jealous of your sound of Hans Zimmer and John Williams concert; that would have been amazing to attend.

Congrats Bill! I’m excited about eventually getting my TK designation as well! We’d all love to see you post a build thread for your ANH if you’re up for it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Always fun to see a good blaster conversion. I enjoyed your resent Asahi airsoft thread too.

Looking good, Ben! Always nice to see a lineage RS suit, all bucket warts and all! Should be an easy pass with your GML! Here are some of my observations that the DOs might comment on (though not necessarily require) for higher levels of approvals. Your helmet is riding a bit on the higher end, likely due to the star padding that RS includes, though many troopers don't remove it for the sake of comfort. TKs on screen had buckets that sat pretty low on their necks and shoulders. Your brow trim is also sitting a bit low for a stunt build, but there does tend to be variance on this. It's possible you might get asked to ensure it's situated level all the way across the brow relative to your eyes, as it appears to be a bit higher on the wearer's left side. I think this is also simply a dressing issue with your under-suit, but it appears to be pulled out behind your chest piece on your right side and slightly obscuring the front of your right shoulder bell. Always fun to see the original bracket strapping system too, though I'm somewhat surprised at the angle/location that RS installed the hardware at the top of your kidney piece. I would have expected the heads to be situated squarely on the return edge, as opposed to seemingly in the corners/bends. I'm not terribly familiar with RS commissions, to perhaps somebody more experienced will be able to comment on this. LOVE the lack of return edge on the fronts of those forearms! And finally, regarding your detonator, the DOs might want to see an image at an angle between the two that you've taken which shows where the ends of the clips butt against the control panel. They may want to see if the screws line up with the outer edges of the panel, and also how close to the ends of the clips they are positioned. Like I said, you're looking great, and should pass easily! Just thought I'd throw in my two cents since you didn't have any responses yet. =) EDIT: Forgot to mention that for higher levels you'll probably need to trim the ends of your ABS belt so that the 45-degree cuts end with the outer edges of your canvas belt. Right now the ends of the ABS belt are narrower than your canvas belt. No worries about any trimming then throwing off the centering of your belt button covers, and they don't need to be centered horizontally within that flat area. I hope this all makes sense without a graphic to show what I'm talking about.

Hi Matt! Great work so far! To answer some of your questions, your left ear placement looks good to me. I can't see exactly where the screw hole dimples are located (when aligning mine I filled them in with a pencil, and then later just drilled them out, to have a good visual reference), but if you're following the rear trap line you should be good. Some of the gaps you're still seeing could be eliminated once you've screwed down the ear, but there is also something you could consider doing to help with the gaps towards the top--notching the very top of the ear. Gaszmosis documents this is his tutorial that Mario linked to, and below is one of his photos as reference: Because of the tightening once you screw the ear down, you could not only eliminate some gaps, but also expose new ones due to the plastic bending. You may find that some additional fine-tuning sanding will be in order after initially installing the screws.

Stumbled upon these while browsing the off-topic forum. Excellent work! Blessings to you during these troubling times.

I'm sure that the fine folks in the German Garrison will have many possible blaster solutions! As you continue to progress through you helmet trimming build, just remember that you can always re-trim, so be conservative with your cuts. This will be most relevant as you work on your ears!

Yup yup. I further messed up my ATA 2” one trying to pry the control panel off the tube (so much E-6000 used) anyway, so I’m all in on a 68mm one. Only two groups that supply them outside of the UK are AM and MonCal (Far Away Creations). And previously Anovos. Of course, paint-color matching and spraying might be in order to match the rest of armor. I definitely went overboard with those photos. Part #3 of my TD construction will feature detonators I have from five different makers (two 2-inch, and three 68mm that have in-hand now), and hopefully a sprayed and completed one to use for my armor build. I had an AM one that is possibly a perfect color match for my ATA armor, but the end caps came trimmed shorter than the standard, so I’m hoping Dave is able to send me a new kit when he finally gets more ABS. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very cool idea! I'm a little bit obsessed with thermal detonators (see here and here), and I may need to try this storage idea out someday.

As Adam said, for a couple years now I've wondered why such a flexible silicone posterior had not ever been created, or at least documented. I suspect one major reason is color-matching and painting challenges, which seem to be the hurdle with flexible TK shoulder bridges. Mr Paul (and some others) have made flexible bridges for Shoretroopers, and I have seen some for TKs as well, but I think it always comes back to paint. There are so many shades of white TK ABS out there, so tinting the material wouldn't really be an option, and there are certainly challenges with applying paint to very flexible surfaces. I'm eagerly following along on this thread to see how you implement your ideas! As Mario posted, looking at shorter troopers' threads might provide insight. In addition to Sha Sha's, I believe Christine @Cricket may have also done some height modifications (though I don't recall if she actually split the ab/cod piece).

Yup yup, Joseph's return edge thread is a FANTASTIC resource! Heck, I loved it so much I created a PDF of it, noted on the resource compilation thread that Mario linked to. Haha. Looking forward to following along on your ESB build!

Either of those snaps/poppers are acceptable, and you’ll want ones that are sufficiently strong so as not to come disconnect mid-troop. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like this thinking, Mario! I may have to adopt the Chicago screw method for secure, yet removable attachment. Any particular size screws that worked best for you? It would seem they'd need to have a shallow head to to fit under the belt button covers, as well as a short post.

When you get back to your leg pieces, as somebody else mentioned, I think it'd be good for you to attach the sniper plate in order to present a more true relationship between the armor pieces on your leg. Great work thus far!

Thanks for this note, Joseph! I was just telling Justin the other day that I love learning about the history for various armors and makers; very interesting stuff! And I agree about Dave's communication--always very good with me. The OCD in me is looking for slightly wider TD end caps than the ones I got from you. =)

Hi JT, and welcome to FISD, the true home of shiny white armor! Whereabouts are you located? I’m in Nw GA myself, just outside Chattanooga, TN. What type of TK are you hoping to get? The GA Garrison is very active and a great one to be a part of, and I’m sure can be very helpful supporting you along the way (as will the fine Troopers on here)! Here’s a resource compilation thread I put together that might be of help to you, even if you’re purchasing a commissioned kit. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49412-all-in-one-tk-anh-stunt-index-of-resources-by-maskedvengeance/ Caleb Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those six weeks are going to be the highlight of my year, with the finale appropriately also landing on my birthday! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello hello, and welcome! Being in Louisiana, did you happen to work with Praetorian in the past? What type of guns or blasters have you worked on, and what are you hoping to do now? Always excited to see rubber props! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's certainly possible I don't fully understand Dave's operation, so I don't suppose I really know if he does the pulls himself. I do have an older assembled AM TD from Joseph that seems to match my ATA armor in color, but I suspect it pre-dates Dave's involvement, and I have no way to know if the ABS color has changed since then. I do also have a TD from MonCal/FAC that is properly sized, but way different in color; I've considered color-matching and spray painting it. Sorry to derail your original topic, Jacob. I'd certainly love to keep up with what you decide and perhaps see some action photos. In my opinion, paintball would be even more interesting to see, particularly if your armor becomes a white ABS canvas.

Besides what Justin said in terms of an expensive suit to be worn at airsoft outings and mobility issues, one of the first things I also thought of was eye protection. I’m not sure what airsoft goggle standards are, but you definitely want to take care of your eyes. But I do think the bbs would simply bounce off armor. Also, I’m curious if Dave has an armor kit ready for you, or is expecting to in the near future, as he recently told me he was out of ABS sheets. I’m currently looking for a non-assembled AM thermal detonator kit. (I’ll buy yours if you decide you don’t want it falling off your belt while playing airsoft. Lol). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You’re absolutely right about feedback, in the normal sense of the term. I guess what I was thinking was more the wearer’s spoken dialogue (if using a mic and Aker amp) being picked up by the live listen mic and being fed back to the wearer’s in-ear AirPods. Basically hearing yourself talk, possibly with a slight echo-like delay. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those are, in fact, Bryan's files that I was referencing! He's trooper96 on here, and he has some excellent threads about his files. You would certainly want to connect with him about selling any of your prints of his designs.

Kevin - 3D printed blasters are growing increasingly popular, especially with a previously popular resin kit no longer being offered. The key to remember is that print lines should not be visible on the finished product. Are you planning on modeling your own files, or printing from existing files? If the latter, be sure to understand any stipulations set by the creator of the ones you use. =) I'll add, too, that trooper96 has sort of set the standard for E-11 3D files and has them posted on here and thingiverse, so there may be more of a void on the DLT-19 front.