MaskedVengeance

Hello there Troopers! My name is Caleb, and I'm from Chickamauga, GA, right outside Chattanooga, TN. I've been a lifelong Star Wars fan and have wanted to build a stormtrooper outfit and join the 501st for over a decade. I am finally taking steps to become a TK, spending much of my free time on this FISD forum saving links and soaking up a wealth of information, and I thought I'd start my official build thread to begin getting feedback. The goal: ANH Stunt, likely from ATA, built to Centurion rank specs. My wife and I have a 7-month old little girl, so my build time and financial resources (I'm having to sell personal items to make this dream a reality!) will be limited, and I expect this project to take 6-9 months to complete. My hope is that I can be a TK for Halloween in 2020, and walk my little baby Princess Leia (not her real name) down the street. I can just picture her holding my black-gloved hand (with flex guard!) and taking tiny 1.5-year-old baby steps. Maybe her candy bucket will literally be a small TK bucket turned over with a handle added. Ok, enough fantasizing and mushy talk. In a perfect world I'd be done with my TK build and Legion-approved in time to participate in some May 4th events (if any exist in my area). INDEX OF PROGRESS (THREAD LINKS) All-In-One Index of Tips, Tutorials, and Build and Request Threads Photos of Tools, Supplies, and Parts: Dremel, E-6000, and sanding sponges E-11, TB flexible hand guards, TB helmet decals, Testors enamel paint Snap fastener kit and monocular for blaster lenses Build Your Own blaster bases for DLT build Jigsaw, heat gun, digital caliper, and Joseph's Centurion hardware Hasbro blasters (for backup) and scratch build DLT pvc pieces 3M chemical gloves and lexan scissors Darmon E-11 holster and neck seal and rare earth magnets 3M 6200 respirator and filters Pre-attached flexible hand guards and gloves from Joseph Cut-resistant gloves, hand rivet tool, and holster lubricant Mounting hardware that came with ATA armor Sandpaper, Dritz drop box elastic, heavy chemical gloves, black nylon strapping, and Novus polish Humbrol and Testors enamel paints, Model Master spray and acrylic paints, craft foam, TB masking templates, Sugru, acetone, mineral spirits, and screw thread covers Thermal Detonator (TD) clips from Ukswrath Fabric by the yard and pinking shears Kittell Belt (Imperial Issue), enamel paint, Milliput, white adhesive velcro, and Rust-Oleum Truck Bed Coating spray DIY dowel sanding tool E-11 Blaster Arrival E-11 Photo Review (separate thread) Flexible Hand Guards Comparison 421 Imperial Boots Unboxing HWT Build Thread Tangent (separate thread) Updated Build Component List Double Snap Strap System Arrival BBB Day and Unboxing Raw PRE-CUT ATA armor pieces: Forearms Biceps, Shoulder Bells, Thighs, and Calves Forearms, Biceps, and Shoulder Bells (additional) Torso pieces: Chest, Ab, Back, Kidney, and Posterior Sniper Plate, Shoulder Bridges, Drop Boxes, TD, and Ab Buttons Helmet Components: faceplate, top/back, ears, Hovi tips, hardware, TD end caps, extra ABS, Brow & S-Trim Belt and Knee Pack ABS hand guards First Armor Cut & Trimming: Return edge trimming: Forearms and Biceps + second round (separate post) Thighs, Calves, and Shoulder Bells All torso pieces Rough trimming: Sniper plate, shoulder bridges, drop boxes, TD, ab plates + additional sniper plate (separate post) ABS belt and knee pack Closer trimming: Thighs and calves Ab and Kidney seam connection Chest, Ab, and Backplate Posterior Sanding: Drop boxes and shoulder bridges + additional drop boxes (separate post) Holster Stretching/Forming + part two (separate post) Cover Strip Cutting Paint Colors Discussion Making Magnet Sachets I Dreamed A Dream COVID-19 Update Thermal Detonator Part 1 Thermal Detonator Part 2 (including MANY screen captures) Troopers Helping Troopers Helmet: Helmet Components: faceplate, top/back, ears, Hovi tips, hardware, TD end caps, extra ABS, Brow & S-Trim Helmet Work Begins Rough Helmet Trimming Imperial Dentistry (Teeth Trimming) Helmet resources, ear & brow Intro, side trap painting Vocoder test painting & teeth sanding question Teeth & eye sanding, Hovi tip reinforcement & painting, lens installation, interior painting, vocoder height adjustment Vocoder painting, frown painting, Hovi mesh installation, frown mesh installation Traps and Tears painting Helmet Repainting: traps, frown teeth, ears, interior hardware. Faceplate and cap alignment, neck opening Helmet Completion: Face-Cap attachement, Brow, Ears, Tube Stripes, Neck S-Trim, FINAL PHOTOS [NEW] The Empire Strikes Back Tribute to Terrell Reber, ATA Founder Personal Life Update Printable/downloadable PDF of my entire build thread to this point contained in [THIS SHARED FOLDER]. The PDF will typically be updated within a few hours of my own new posts and will note sequential version numbers and revision dates. Anyway, here are the components I will likely move forward with. If any of you Troopers have experiences (good and bad) with any of them, reach out to let me know if I'm heading in the right direction, or need to reassess. As of today (11/20/19) I have not pulled the trigger on any of these purchases, but I will be doing so in the next few days and weeks. For reference, I am 6' tall and my weight ranges from 175-190 lbs, depending on the time of the year (Thanksgiving and Christmas are blissfully dangerous). UPDATED COMPONENT LIST IN THIS LATER POST (link) Bucket: ATA Armor: ATA Undersuit: tbd. Likely two-piece. Boots: Imperial Boots 421 Gloves: Trooperbay (glove + flex guard combo) Strapping: tbd. Likely double-snap strap system Blaster: Trooperbay E-11 rubber, similar to Hyperfirm and Praetorian (gotta splurge somewhere) Holster: DarmansProps (Etsy) Neck seal: DarmansProps (Etsy) Belt: Imperial Issue (TKittell) TD hooks: tbd. Preferably something prefabricated, with Centurion screen-accurate screw hole locations Since I would like to build my ANH Stunt TK kit with Centurion rank in mind, any tips regarding those specific details would be most helpful. In following different build threads I've found various photos of the requirements listed on the CRL, but I'm sure there are more things to learn and see diagrammed or photographed. The TK, EIB, and Centurion approval request threats have already been very insightful, and shout out to @zv288bot who has been extremely helpful on my local Georgia Garrison forum! I've also read that @pandatrooper has a great ATA TK build thread, but I can't seem to locate anything other than the TD thread on MEPD. Can anybody help with the link? Perhaps I don't currently have the proper account permissions? Here are a few questions I currently have. I understand that darkening the inside of my bucket will NOT disqualify me from Centurion status, and based on reading and advice, I'm considering using thin neoprene to "black out" the inside. Any tips as far as that is concerned? What members/vendors can provide pre-made double-snap strapping systems? I know that @TheRascalKing makes some, but he is currently out of commission due to medical reasons (we should send him well-wishes and encouragement from the Detachment and Legion!) I'm planning on using the "hand painted look" Classic Trilogy decals from Trooperbay. The 501st ANH stunt TK CRL states "Tears/traps shall be hand painted or use decals that emulate hand painted (with correct ANH TK details)," which leads me to believe that the Trooperbay decals could work. Would this also apply to the tube stripes? I'm a perfectionist, and I'm just not confident that I'd be happy with an imperfect [hand] paint job, though perhaps I should simply convince myself that perfect screen accuracy would actually be an imperfect paint job. I do understand that I'll still need to paint the teeth and ear/rank area. Should I really order a full size up from my regular shoe size when ordering from Imperial Boots? I normally wear an 11/11.5 US, so perhaps I should go with a size 12? Any personal experience with this? Obviously I'd prefer to wear extra socks than have shoes that are too small. I've been told that helmet fans are very necessary, and I'm wondering how easy it is to put something together myself (purchase components), rather than purchase a pre-made system. Component recommendations? Helmet padding: What pre-made pads have you used? I envision using velcro for ease of adjustment and removal for cleaning. I like the idea of padding rather than a hard-hat liner, but I hear that helmet shift could be an issue. Would a chin strap disqualify me from Centurion (assuming it's OUT of view)? Strap recommendations? I've been eyeing the iComm and Aker systems for voice modulation/amplification, but they're not exactly pocket change. (I've sorta viewed my blaster as the splurge of this build, but I'm not gonna lie, a TK voice would be AWESOME!) I hear that Aker mic placement and overall cabling can be tricky; any recommendations on after-market mics? I may also just look for a USED iComm down the road. Now that this post is sufficiently too long, I'll try to wrap it up. The pinned posts in the "Getting Started" area have already been, and will continue to be super helpful, as I'm sure all your feedback will be as well. Here shortly I will make a post in the "New Member Introductions" forum, but I wanted to start this Build Thread first so I can link to it in my Introduction post. I will, of course, be adding a lot of images to this thread as my build progresses. I look forward to joining the Legion, GA Garrison, and Venator Squad in the not too distant future! Thanks in advance, Troopers, for all your help! This is going to be a long, but glorious ride! Now off to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters... Until next time - MV