DarthBiscuit

I submitted to join the 501st through California's Golden Gate Garrison!! Wish me luck! Also, we all suited up and walked to my kids' school...one mile round trip! My armor did great, except for my left grave rotating. I'll stick some small velcro squares on my boots and hopefully solve that!

Some gloss white touch up to the thighs and butt plate. Then a lot of trimming some elastic and webbing and installing snaps. The elastic holding my biceps to the bells will now be double-snapped. I tried again to CA glue the edges of the large ammo boxes to the belt. And I started redoing my thigh hanging straps.

I took the last few days off, and spent it convincing myself to trim some more... I took an inch off from the top at the front of the thighs, then gradually curved it so the interior lowered a bit too, and blended into my old lines. I grinded and sanded them down. I think this will help raise them a little! I also trimmed a little from the V on the butt plate. Here's a before pic. Over the next few days I have some snaps to move and straps to adjust...

Thanks Andrew! I mostly went off the old CRL so I'll def mention/link it, but I added some from the new CRL (to make Lvl 2 and 3 easier )!

I submitted for Pre-Approval!! Will this work for an action shot? I already found a few fixes: - Adjust the back plate since it's slightly crooked in the pics - Adjust velcro to close greaves better - Raise bells so they're closer at the top - More glue to large ammo boxes, as their opposite sides are peeling up now - More snaps on bell/bicep elastic straps since one bicep popped off - Redo thigh straps since they loosen too easily - Elastic wraps to cover the thigh clips - Side plate foam so black doesn't transfer to the barrel So happy!!!

1. First/last name Dan Carrigan 2. Future Garrison/Squad/Outpost or local area Golden Gate Garrison 3. Armor maker Jimmiroquai 4. Helmet maker Jimmiroquai 5. Cloth belt maker N/A 6. Neck seal maker Jimmiroquai 7. Boot maker ImperialBoots 9. Blaster maker (if applicable N/A 10. Gasket maker (if applicable) Jimmiroquai 11. Height (optional) 5' 8" 12. Weight (optional) 150 13. TK type R1TK 14. Name(s) of any Trooper(s) who significantly helped with your build. gmrhodes13, TheRascalKing, ukswrath, 11b30b4 PHOTOS: 1. Front view (arms down) 2. Back view (arms down) 3. Left side (arms raised) 4. Right side (arms raised) 5. Ab plate close-up 6. Helmet close-up (front, left and right sides)

I used E6000 on both ends of the ammo belt to adhere it to the right thigh. I fitted the thighs first and the snaps seem to be in the correct place and they didn't seem to rotate much when I walked around! I used E6000 on the outer side for the sniper knee plate. Since the greaves are still 2 separate pieces, I didn't want to E6000 the whole thing on. Instead I used 2 pieces of velcro to hold the center and inner edge in place. Hopefully this works out! And that's everything! I had some more issues with my large outer ammo boxes peeling off the belt, so I used some CA glue and clamps to try again to hold them down. If that works, then I'm done! I'll probably give an extra day for curing and try on my FULL ARMOR on Sunday! If it's good, I'll get pics, and post for pre-approval!!!

I used E6000 to stick the snaps on thighs, along the side seam (per the CRL). When I try them on I'll decide if I need a "V" strap or a front strap. I also stuck snaps on the barrel and then prepped the straps and 1" clips. I gave in and E6000'd the TD to the belt. I wrapped tape around to hold it in place. Hopefully this works out, or I'll have to look into rivets...

I used E6000 to stick the coverstrips on the thighs yesterday. Clamps and magnets ftw! I peeled tape off the gray portions of the TD. The painting worked well, for the most part. Spots in the end caps peeled up a little, specifically in the left pictures below. I wrapped the thing in tape and sprayed in the end caps again. I know I should have sanded first, but the light at the end of the tunnel is too bright It looks pretty good now. I test fitted the thighs with its adjacent pieces. They're going to fit so much better since I trimmed them! I put squares of tape where I'll E6000 snaps inside. I'm going to try just a single strap on the outside first. If that doesn't hold properly (straight and centered), then I'll look into adding additional straps. I know gmrhodes13 pointed out a 2nd strap more forward on the side coming out at an angle (like a "V"). Are there other approvable strapping options? @TheRascalKing, Justin I think your pics showed a strap in the front (aligned with the coverstrip), is that in an acceptable spot?

Great progress man! Love seeing pics of your work! I'm glad you figured out Paul's shoulder brackets. I might need to switch out Jim's shoulder straps someday too... Do you really think your barrel is too high? The chest plate isn't covering too much of the front details. Maybe you just need to trim down the top of the barrel so the side plates cover it..? I'm about to strap my thighs on too! Are you using 2 (one in the front and one on the side)? Glad to hear about your tests. Fingers crossed your tests keep coming back negative!! Congrats on the engagement!

I pulled the clamps off the ammo boxes and taped them on, thanks @gmrhodes13! I put E6000 on the large boxes, laid the elastic down, spread some more, and clamped them on the belt. I cut some velcro and hung the drop boxes just under 1" (per the new CRL, but I can shift them if needed). I'm also very happy with how I cut the back belt since it comes up just short of the outer box, so it's hidden behind it! I sprayed satin inside and gloss outside of the thighs. My modified lower trim looks pretty good (they're both in this pic)!! I wish it were better, but it's the best I can get without filling the interior with something... I also sprayed gloss white on the coverstrips so the cut sides are painted. I'll probably flip them over and spray satin inside, so they're completely white.

I finally built up the courage to stuck E6000 on the ammo boxes and adhere them to the belt. I spaced them out while on the barrel, clamped the bottom, then removed the belt and clamped the top. I only have enough clamps to set 4 boxes today, so tomorrow I'll stick on the outer boxes with the drop elastic underneath. As they were curing, E6000 started seaping out the edges This happened before with the bicep halves and I made the mistake of wiping it up, peeling paint with it. Any suggestions for E6000 cleanup? I figured I'll wait until it cures and then try to cut it off, but I'd like to avoid damaging the paint. I took the Dremel sanding drum to the thighs to flatten out the bottom trim. I couldn't get it as flat as I'd want, since I sanded through the fiberglass into the resin, but I think it'll look fine once painted. I also had to putty since sanding the fiberglass opened up pinholes. I'll sand it tomorrow and then try spraying gloss white. I sprayed gloss white on the TD, which went alright. There are some runs, but it looks fine, for the most part. I'll sand a little in a few days and touchup some spots.

I peeled off the tape and taped off the gray parts. Then I wet sanded the overspray and it's ready for gloss white! Then, I gave in and cut up my thighs... There wasn't any point to waiting I guess. I pulled off the velcro, but it wasn't easy and I probably can't reuse it. I cut off the coverstrips and 1" from the other side. I had to trim the bottom a little and adjust the lower trim. Then I trimmed down the crotch so they might fit better with the cod. After I washed them I tried them on and they fit so much better! I might need to trim a bit more to fix the look of the underlapping side.

I test fitted the lower parts of my armor today! This was a first with the cod/butt and they felt great! I think the thighs might still be too tall I have the shins as low as they'll go on my boots. For the most part, walking seems good, but bending my knees to 90* bumps the greaves into the thighs. Bending my hips also pushes the thighs up into the cod. The width of the thighs might work out, but if I decide to cut down the height, then I'll probably cut off the cover strips and fix the width. Also, the spot I adhered the thigh snaps are too far back, so I'll move, or add new, snaps about where the tape is.

I got a lot done over the past few days! I figured I'd combine it into one post, since a lot was redoing stuff... I finished the trauma plate! Snapped it on the barrel elastic straps and stored it in my footlocker. I probably should've started the TD earlier in my process, since there's SO MUCH to it. I spread putty and then wet sanded it to 220. My buddy printed the painting pyramids for me! I wet sanded the ammo boxes since they had a lot of runs, some stuck cardboard (from resting them directly on boxes for painting), and a spot that wouldn't take paint. I sprayed them gloss white again and they're good! 2 more days and I'll E6000 (I think) them to the belt. Something I noticed (that I don't think anyone mentioned) is that the drop box elastic comes out from between the outermost ammo box and the belt. These pics show that the elastic is on top of the belt. So I'll probably E6000 the elastic to the box, and then E6000 it to the belt. The thighs have been a huge pain! I sanded the gray chunks of spray paint off and sprayed again. At one point the can started doing it again, but I stopped immediately so only 1 thighs got messed up. I wet sanded to 220 later and sprayed it again. I think they're finally done now! Tomorrow I'll stick velcro on the back and trim out some 1" webbing to hang (with a clip, wrapped in elastic, per the new CRL). Hopefully they fit alright, or I can add foam strips in some places, because I DON'T WANT TO cut off the cover strips! Today I somewhat taped off the white parts of the TD. I wasn't too worried with perfect taping, just with simplifying my future sanding. I then sprayed gloss gray and it went very well! In 2 days I'll tape the gray parts and then spray gloss white...