TikiTechie

I can attest. This looks amazing in person. A fine job! You are way more patient than I am!

My take is that taking photos for approval is different than taking them after actively trooping for awhile. I guess it's a GML call, but when I am in kit I tweak things periodically and things get out of place due to movement. I don't know of anyone who's kit looks perfect after moving around. Also, photos of the 2 said points would be helpful for feedback. ;) I can see that your knee plate from the back looks a little wide, do you have any front non-action photos that would show it?

You may have seen my post on Facebook asking the same thing. https://www.facebook.com/groups/www.whitearmor.net/posts/1920603061904644 The consensus was probably more around comfort and being able to swap out costumes amongst different size performers. They have unlimited resources and fewer constraints. Imagine if you had to wear someone else's kit every time you trooped! :O. They don't have to follow the same standards as we all strive to and I'm sure it's only us nerds who notice the oddness of the look after studying our CRLs that we know the details so well. As much as i am disappointed in the choice Disney has made to switch timelines, I am willing to cut their performers some slack on the challenges and wardrobe malfunctions that are probably inevitable. Must be weird switching to OT armor after however many years in FO armor.

What do you consider reasonably priced? The teekaworkshop boot seams look weird to me. They may be approvable, but they aren't standard afaik. Personally I would stick with KeepTrooping. I've only ordered from them twice, but both times they have been great boots, durable and they arrived within one month, which I don't know about crow props which I have heard varying opinions.

Oh, hey. I didn't realize you are in the Mountain Garrison. Maybe we'll see you at a troop soon. Good luck on your approval.

Can you provide any details about your armor? Stunt vs. Hero, Maker, etc. I'm not a GML so some of this is just my personal preferences, but I would suggest: 1. I would hit the hand plates with a dremel and cut the return edge back quite a bit. 2. I don't know if you have any snaps or velcro to hold your belt up higher, but I believe it should be even with or just overlapping the button of the button panel. 3. Is the codpiece separate from the abdomen? it seems like it's not aligned down the middle. It could just be the angle of the photo. 4. I'm not sure if it's a requirement but I think the shin coverstrips are supposed to open from the inside of the leg. They look like they extend quite a bit of overlap, noticeable mostly in the side images. 5. The holster looks too far back. Was it pre-installed on the belt? Seems like it needs to be adjusted based on your sizing. 6. I don't know about the thermal detonator, but it looks non-standard. It looks like a fabric loop and should be two metal straps.

I think you can do this without a multicolor printer if your slicer can do it. Once paused on specific layers you can swap out filament. As long as you have black/red/white you should be good to print. I've done a little bit of that. It does look cool.

This is the NE Garrison Listing https://www.501neg.com/roster/ I haven't joined the forum there, but if you do, I would imagine there is a Topic on getting approvals. I think it's just trying to figure out that first contact is confusing as there are multiple sites, this is the 501st one for your garrison. https://www.501st.com/members/garrisonroster.php?garrisonId=16 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/501neg I'm not sure if that's helpful or not.

Need to see a lot of pictures. I wouldn't buy anything without seeing it first. Unless you are the exact same size/build as this person, you will likely have to make adjustments. If they've super-glued it all together that could be a lot of work to redo, or require significant rebuilding. As far as I know it requires re-approval for a new buyer so it's not a shortcut (if that was the intent). 10 years is a long time whether in frequent use, or sitting in a bin.

Initially, if you want more comfortable gloves, you can look for Nomex flight gloves (Amazon link) They are a lot more comfortable than rubber. Rubber is necessary for higher level approvals though, so it doesn't hurt to have both. But wearing rubber gloves in the summertime is unpleasant imo. You should post photos of anything you have questions on, like the shoes. It's hard to make suggestions without seeing those first. I second the mention of KeepTrooping for their boots. I am going on 3 years with my first pair and they still look and fit great. I tried to use a generic pair of boots from Amazon at first and they didn't work as they were too low and popped out from underneath.

Makes sense. Shipping is crazy right now. I will be interested to see your progress on the shoes. Good luck with it!

I wasn't clear on the reason for not purchasing pre-finished ones from KeepTrooping (or some other maker). Were they not shipping to your location? I hate to see you go through the work of painting black shoes white for a bit less than the cost of the KT boots.

Yeah, for what it's worth, here is the link to the boots I bought years ago. they are not available any more. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QKNGSN8?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_0, Comparing them with the KT boots is pretty clear on how much taller they are. https://keeptrooping.com/product/421-classic-white/ The angle of the toe box seems to confirm they may be lower profile and would avoid that little pinch you are seeing. And, I am no shoe expert so it could just be that it worked for me.

Gotcha. I started with amazon chelsea boots too. Your finish looks better than mine did, but they didn't work for me because they were too short on top and would pop out from underneath the armor when I walked. I ended up ordering the KT boots and they worked perfectly. I'm not saying you should do the same, but that was my experience.

I have to say I am jealous of your star wars room and hallway that looks like the Tantive IV. :) Looking good. The adjustments have made a huge difference. Quick questions: 1. Do you have an assistant for your photo shoots? If not, can you get someone to help with them, local garrison person maybe? I did photos myself at first and realized I would only see flaws in my pics after I got done, took all my gear off and discovered I had something misaligned and then had to re-kit to take them. I am just wondering if someone can help with the elastics and shoe wrinkles at least to get through the photos. 2. What is your shoe maker? Is that KeepTrooping or someone else. The top of the shoe looks a bit like it's angled up too sharply and I have not noticed that on mine from KT. My shin armor pushes down a lot but I do not get wrinkling/folds like that. Would thicker socks keep them shaped better up front and prevent it from sort of collapsing into a fold.

I think that's the maddening part with the shins is that they don't seem to be right no matter which way they go. :) I hope I didn't lead you astray, that was just an observation. My gut instinct is saying that the bottom outer edge is slightly longer than inside. It's subtle but it seemed like one side was slightly more bulge-y to accommodate the calf muscle. The CRL for the ANH Stunt also looks a little off to me, but the Hero version looked more like what I'd expect. And it may be due to the maker or just a fitting thing. Best to check with your garrison GML. Nothing wrong with a build thread. :)

I would 1000% second using E6000 for adhesive. I have never had any issues with anything failing and since I had issues with a too-narrow shin, I was able to separate and remake it twice(!). I am not as patient and had fine luck waiting < 24 hours for glue to cure. Usually doing it after inner and then unclamping pieces the next morning-ish. I am way to unskilled to glue something once forever. :).

It's challenging to build in isolation, I did it post pandemic and it was thanks to this group that I got through it. :) We're all part of the same nutty but helpful family. I think it's very close with just a few details that may just be based on opinion and photo angles. I totally hear you about the trimming. I was terrified of the first few cuts and eventually got more comfortable with the idea. Measure thrice and cut once. You can always go back and trim the return edges later if you want to be conservative at first. I have not done a heat bath, but if the pieces seems strong enough, you may be able to bend them to your liking. Yes, please get consensus about the legs before you make a change based on my observation. I don't own this kit so someone else may have better knowledge of it. Same for the TD. It just seemed a little high to me, but your local garrison GML may say otherwise. Good luck. It's a process.

Hi, looks good. I have a few items that are sticking out to me. I am not a GML, but I have worn this kit for awhile and I can see some spots that might be physically painful if not fixed. 0. I would trim the return edge more along the abs. That will get uncomfortable if it's jabbing you all the time. 1. I don't know this maker too well, but those calves look reversed to me. I may be wrong, the calves took me forever to figure out. 2. The top of the eye holes is a bit rough. I'm not sure if you can clean that up since the lenses are installed, but it might be nice to smooth that with a dremel or sanding. 3. Your forearms can be moved downward a bit to reduce the gap between it and your hand. 4. Personal preference by I am on the side of trimming off return edge where able. The hand plates need some trimming as it looks like they extend beyond the edge of the return edge. Curving the return edge will help it sit on the hand better. 5. You already know about the shoulder strap issue. 6. Right leg ammo belt seems like it could be adjusted to lay a little more parallel to the ground. 7. The TD brackets seem like they extend a little more than I'm used to seeing. The little ridgy part is angled up rather than out. Not sure how critical that is. Looks good. Good luck on your further approval process.

@DohF4 What email are you using to sign in? If you have a secondary one, maybe try that. Or email our webmaster. Email should be [email protected]

I will check with our website personnel and get back to you asap.

Thank you @justjoseph63! Yes, the sign up for is here @DohF4 https://www.mg501.com/forum/register

I was probably there in 2023! You can join the group and forum any time. No need to wait for approval, you can view & post on the armor questions and others. You look like you are just about there. If you had questions for the GML on approval, you can ask them in both places. Get to know your wacky band of misfits you will be joining.

Hi, @DohF4 If you are going for 501st approval for your kit and haven't already, please take a look and consider joining the Colorado Mountain Garrison. https://www.mg501.com/forum/ You can get involved here for troops and other fun local events. I am also a 40-years-later stormtrooper, so welcome to the club.

I am one of the oddballs that don't really collect merch per-se (I usually buy one of patch/coins just for FOMO). I thought it might be fun to have kill stripes or something on my trunk (most of us have trunks for our armor, I'm guessing). This is something that you could DIY print-on-demand for anyone who wants them. Maybe we can get one of the artists in the detachment to create something you can send to one of the many online services. Self-paying this would be low cost enough that it might satisfice between merch and our internal profile badges.