Omaha Joe

Kool-Aid Days Grand Parade, Hastings, NE; 8/19/2023

10th Annual Superhero Heart Run; Papillion, NE 9/18/2022

ooops, I just realized my Troop Log post’s title might make it seem like it was my first troop ever not my first troop ever, but the first troop in my TK and yes, the first of many more TK troops..!

Trooping the Old Market, Imaginarium; Omaha, NE 9/4/2022

Hey all!! Just checking in for the first time as an official TK, having been approved late last evening!! My name is Joe, from the Imperial 80th Squad of the 501st Legion’s Central Garrison, and I’m very excited to now be a part of the FISD..! Like some, I decided to make becoming a member of the 501st Legion part of a silver lining to the year that was 2020… I’ve been very fortunate to have built and assembled together with a ton of help from family, friends, and forum members, a handful of approved costumes, the latest and very recent of which has been an original A New Hope Stormtrooper…!

TK-92576 (newly approved) kindly requesting full FISD Stormtrooper Access..! Thank you!! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=32945

Thank you very much for the kind words @justjoseph63!! And thank you for the suggestion with the ab button plate..! I will definitely give that a try to make it as close to the originals as I can… only issue I know is that I used CA glue for the ab button plates, but if there’s a way to replicate the screen used version with what I have, I will absolutely make that happen Again, thank you (and everyone else who has provided input) with this build, I appreciate every bit of feedback, and I love the attention to detail from everyone in the FISD..!! Once I get the 501st approval and FISD TK access, I will most definitely be submitting for Expert Infantry, and later down the road, Centurion..!!!

Thank you very much, Gentlemen..!! I very much appreciate your feedback and suggestions! And to both @gmrhodes13 and @AradunFF, thank you for the tips on the butt plate issue, both great techniques to remedy that problem… I’m hoping to be able to get back to it this weekend, make these minor adjustments and with any luck, suit up and submit for 501st approval in the coming week!!

…had the first preliminary suit up, wasn’t aiming for any sort of submission-style photos at all, just wanted to get in it and see how it fit. Overall I’m happy with the direction it’s headed, but still a few minor tweaks… wasn’t wearing the detonator, and the elastics that hold down the backs of the plastic shoulder bridges are not yet installed… I was able to see the dressing issue with my right shoulder that was causing the shoulder bell to come away from the bridge and chest armor; basically the right bicep was not properly aligned, causing the interior elastic connecting the bicep to the shoulder to pull the bell outward… gotta add some velcro to the belt and ab plate to hold that directly at the bottom of the ab buttons, and still need to add support to keep the butt plate from pushing outward… Like I said, the first of many suit-ups, but glad I was able to identify a handful of issues that I’ll be able to work on between now and the next time..!

Thank you @TKSpartan..! …got the bridges trimmed and glued; gonna give ‘em a solid 24 hours for the E-6000 to cure and hoping for a preliminary full suit-up very soon

…long time, no post; been busy with work but I’m nearing the end of the build itself, just about ready to suit-up… had a question regarding the plastic shoulder bridges…. are the larger detail ribs on the front of the bridges trimmed lengthwise right up to the raised portion..? or is there a little bit of flash at the end..? this is what I have right now, and I want to make sure of any trimming that needs to be done (either length or width-wise) prior to glueing them to the shoulder area of the chest plate.

…been a busy week, but hoping to take advantage of a mid-week weekend and finally get suited up for the most preliminary of full-on fittings to see how it looks and what alterations I’ll need to make… For now though, just touching up the armor rivets with a little paint…

@CableGuy, the main reason for the current size of the gap between my forearm and biceps is the length of my arms… I learned from building (and trooping while wearing) my Sandtrooper, that its biceps have a tendency to slip out from under my shoulder bells from time to time; something I’m experimenting with correcting as much as I can with this new TK build… The majority of my strapping with this current build is elastic fastened with snaps glued into the individual armor pieces, making them less permanent - more adjustable… I knew going into this build that there would be adjustments I’d need to make even up through fitting everything together including the torso, which I’ll be completing/fitting next…. I definitely agree, especially viewing the photos you’ve provided, that my gaps are a little excessive at the moment..! That’s something I’ll be correcting with both the bicep and the forearm strap lengths when I can get into the arms complete with the torso in front of a mirror… Thank you again for the photos and the video link, I very much appreciate the advice and input!! (especially that second behind the scenes pic) - doesn’t make me feel so bad about my biceps occasionally slipping out from under my shoulder bells..!!

…forearms’ snaps and elastics attached, ab buttons painted… who knew it’d be more difficult to paint circles on an ab plate than trapezoids, tears and tubes on a helmet…. this is my third try with all of them, fourth try with a few…

Thank you!!

knee plate came out pretty decent, finishing up the accessories to the legs… now just to add closure fasteners to the back…. spent the morning fitting the shoulders and biceps with snaps and elastic strapping…

Got my shins just about finished, with the exception of the fasteners in the back… got the cover strips on - gotta trim and even up the bottoms yet, took care of the knee ammo belt on the right thigh; just need to hit the rivets with white paint… I was also able to get the sniper knee plate attached to the left shin…. You’re not kidding @TKSpartan, clamps, clamps, and MORE clamps..!! That knee plate has some serious torque on it!! Gonna give it a solid 48 hours, if not more, to let the E-6000 cure

Thank you @TKSpartan!!! …for both the advice and the photos!!! It’s also a huge relief that you’ve done this with an RWA kit so I know it can be done..! Much appreciated!!

I have a question about the ‘sniper knee plate’… How much of a gap between the knee plate and the front of the shin is allowable/acceptable..? When I get the sides of the knee plate to match up with the upper ridge of the shin, it causes quite a noticeable gap between the two, in the area where the raised bump details run along the bottom of the knee plate and the surface of the shin itself… If I close that gap, I’m left with an angle that doesn’t match the ridge at the top of the shin… There is a ‘happy-medium’ sweet spot I can find wherein the gap is minimized, but that leaves the angle of the knee plate/ridge slightly off kilter… Looking for suggestions… I realize the right of the knee plate is not yet trimmed vertically to match the corner of the top of the shin, but even holding it in place as is doesn’t affect how it lays against the ridge on the shin What’s fighting it the most, and keeping it from eliminating the gap while matching the top ridge of the shin, is the crest of the top front of the shin where the back of the plate rests… Here’s one tiny detail where the Sandtrooper wins over the Stormtrooper..! Their’s is just a flat hexagonal plate, without the ‘curved surround’, glued to the top of the shin!!

straps, straps, and more straps... starting on the torso assembly... I have an RS Sandtrooper with the brackets and screws used to connect the elastic torso pieces, but I thought I’d go a little more practical route for this RWA TK... I did have a question tough, as I haven’t yet come across this in the FISD... Do the TKs have the white painted screws on the return edges of the torso armor pieces as well..? They wouldn’t be difficult to add later as they wouldn’t be functional anyway, but the CRL doesn’t make any mention of them (at least that I’ve found), and does that have any bearing on EIB or Centurion Level requirements..?

Thank you very much, @justjoseph63!! Expert Infantry, hopefully followed by Centurion level later on, is definitely the goal..! I very much appreciate the feedback and I’ll be sure to hit those wrists as well as the other pieces with some finishing cleanup!!

fitting, taping, assembling, and cover stripping the biceps and forearms... ...still have some finishing touches left, but just about ready to strap these together with the shoulder bells

before (left) and after (right)...

I was able to trim back the excess on the existing right ear leaving a bit more of a gap around the tube, but comparing it to an original made me feel a little bit better about it...