TikiTechie

Well, this is a patent for something that looks an awful lot like a stormtrooper audio system. The setup is kind of outlined there. The details are generic, so I don't know there is a "brand" since it's likely not off the shelf. Maybe Disney Imagineering brand? If you find out though, please let me know. I'd love to get those details. For now I am reverse engineering what I see there and in videos. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am working on producing for my own use a similarly triggered sound glove. This is for fun and not necessarily ever going to see the light of day, but I do have the components, and some of the skills, to produce it. Why not use a mic & amp, you ask? Good question. There are a few specific answers, mostly just that my voice _does not project_. It's a me thing. Trying to get it loud enough for me to be heard, and understood, has not worked: feedback, picking up breathing, etc. Until I actually build the sound system, I am just using the mic/amp though, since it's easy and I have all the parts. I always hope someone on the forums is a GE FOTK and will reach out to provide more info.

Yes, they were annoying me. Is there a recommended way? My OTTK has an elastic connecting to bicep but it seems like that might not work given the texture of the gasket material. I suppose I could velcro them up like the shins? Thank you! Yeah, my family can't wait to see me again. (I think.)

Getting ready to submit pre-approval pics. I did end up getting the boots from KeepTrooping. Impressive how fast they can these to my doorstep from China so fast. Printed out blasters from the files here. Just having fun now.

[There are no dumb questions here.] Since you have already narrowed your choices down to Original Trilogy, I'll just reiterate what is said already, it's personal preference. The audience that will know the difference between ANH and ESB is very small outside of this forum and your local garrison. (Personally, I would have to go to the CRL to even know. I've never really looked that hard.) 99% of people who see you outside the legion see white & shiny: must be stormtrooper. (Someone referred to a Jawa as an Ewok the last troop I was on.) But it's also fun because it's probably the most recognized costume, aside from Chewbacca. Everyone recognizes your costume and wants a pic which is where I have the most fun. I picked ANH Stunt trooper since that was what I wanted to be when I was like 8 and saw the movie. It was not an option. Lasly, picking any OT TK gives you access to a lot of existing tutorials and support that will help immensely if that makes any difference.

Glad you asked. I've been working on this subject for awhile. It's still a WIP but maybe you can get some ideas from the research I've done. I've been interested in creating a very flexible audio system that can play a very large number of audio clips via a glove controller (only 1 button) and a position sensor. This is what they use at Galaxy's Edge and is pretty cool and gives you a lot more choices for sounds, but also adds a lot more complexity. Do you want recorded sound clips, or to use your own voice? Recorded sounds have limitations, such as how many you can easily trigger to play by buttons. This works well for characters like Wookiees or Jawas who really only make a few unique sounds. If you don't want to be limited to a few canned phrases, you may want to go with mic headset and a simple audio amp. You can probably do that for pretty cheap < $50 on Amazon. Microphone + Amplifier I've been using the iComm & Aker amp setup that I see alot of people using. For me it hasn't worked well. Mounting in the chest has a very muffled sound (maybe it's my voice) but no one can understand me unless I repeat myself at least once. I get a lot of blank stares which is not super-impressive. I switched to JUST using the amplifier + mic system. It's a little better sound, but I mostly have the same problem. Namely, being able to turn it up to be understandable but also not cause feedback from your helmet. Chest mount amps seem to suffer from this. Another thing I've witnessed for folks who have an external amplifier located in a pouch (those Scouts!): you can understand them pretty well, but the audio in the helmet gives some sort of cross-talk that makes it sound non-stormtrooper like (to my ears). I just want to hear the audio from the speaker. Buy: So, long story even longer, if you want a simple sound board with 4 or 8 clips, visit Etsy and search for "sound glove" and you should get the standard ones I've seen. You can find them on Youtube for DIY. My Plans: I just put out an order on Fiverr for someone to professionally record sound clips. My voice just isn't stormtrooper-y. They do 100 words for $20 which was a decent starter to try this out with. Gotchas: I created what I thought was a easy to use button controller, but after I put it on with the glove it became clear I wouldn't have the dexterity due to the bulk of the gloves. This is even with a much larger button surface like below. Spacing the buttons farther might help but it makes the controller very wide, which it's already sticking out from the palm to be visible, which isn't what I want. Sorry for the length of this, but it's a WIP and probably going to become a separate thread.

Good tip. Thanks. Glad to know someone else has gone through the same. (I guess that's why we're here.

First full kit-up today. Glad I did this before I was going to take submission pics. I have a little ways to go anyway. Things to note here: 1. My magnetic chest clasps are not in the right place. The downside of trying to do this without actually seeing it on my own body. Looks like wearing it, my torso stretches the yoke a little wide, especially with the gaskets on. So, they need to move in and maybe down a little. I've considered velcro as that might be easier to adjust. I've just had a bear of a time getting the sides of the chest fastened correctly to the yoke. Having an assistant today helped a lot, but was even still a challenge. 2. I know, my helmet is TFA and my kit/cod is TLJ. I have both helmets, but this one was closer to me. 3. Boots arrive this week!! The last piece of the puzzle. Using my first hand-painted chelsea boots for this. The spats at least hide the fact they don't go up high enough. My ankles sure know the secret though. Pinchy. 4. The helmet is a WIP. I removed the hardhat liner for now and substituted a piece of standard foam. Doesn't fit at all yet so it's a little bobbly. I am going to line it like the premium DN helmet (separate thread eventually). My fave pose

Spat Gaskets Smaller changes now that I am structurally complete. I don't love the gaps & movement on my spats so far. I would prefer the system DN uses to keep their spats in place, but alas I don't have that kit. I am sure this is not a new problem or solution, but I did pick up some insulated weather stripping from Lowe's for cheap, I think $7. I cut it down to a single row, but I suppose you could leave it if you didn't want to make a cut. I used scissors rather than a razor. (Yes, that's an official First Order ankle sock.) The gap is now filled and it seems like a tighter fit on the surrounding spat. You can keep the pill visible more easily We'll see how durable it is over time.

Good tips. Thank you. I wondered if I needed to cut the tops of "arm holes" back more, but it doesn't sound like that's really the problem. I can get it to set down lower, and I think your suggestion will help that.

I am calling the initial build complete. There is probably things I will discover as I try on, size & take submission photos that need to be addressed, but I am happy with it so far. WRT the gauntlets, there has been a lot of filling & sanding (and swearing) trying to get them joined smoothly and fixing up my blundered early cuts. One bit I'm not sure if is just a getting-used-to thing or if there is more sizing to be done, but the shoulder/yoke/chest seem like they ride a little high on my shoulders. My helmet seems to constantly be banging against the front. Normal? More shoulder trimming? I initially went easy on the trimming, so it may be time to start thinning it down. Try on is a lot more fun with all the decals in place and the pieces finished up. I'll be more excited to have better photos when they aren't all selfies in the basement. Probably not easy to tell, but I did forget my neck gasket in these photos. Still not used to a new kit. For the First Order! (Will Imgur take down my photos again?!?)

Just a note that the black area is not the belt, although it is webbing. I had built an "interface" between the snaps on the code and a velcro attachment to the inside of the ab-bottom-section. I've seen this elsewhere, maybe Captain's Drydock's videos. The webbing I've used doesn't hold it's shape well so I may end up changing to some other material. For now, I scooched up the belt as you can probably see in subsequent posts. Just rebuilding the strap with less flexiible materials will probably help. But that little bit did have a big affect, so kudos for catching that!

Same. I am looking forward to getting this done. Thanks for answering all the questions I've had. Makes it a lot easier to build with experts nearby.

Looks like they put them back up. I guess it wasn't the hotness of the pics their algorithms expected.

Just too steamy for the internet! It does seem difficult to work with. I'm not very patient, so that doesn't help. I have gotten bubbles, but I did glob on thick paste along the side seams. Is Novus #2 less course than the automative (headlight?) compounds? I have been going 400-600-1k-2k-3k route, sometimes starting at 150/220 if there is a real big mountain I can't tackle. I follow it up with #2 and Clean & Shine. Sometimes the results are better than others. One suspect of trouble is that I used E6000 to shim the gauntlets together. Where there is a slight gap due to my less-than-perfect cutting, I think the glue may be peeking through and not playing well with the acetone/abs mix. I think it's too far along to be able to pull apart pieces and re-fuse with another adhesive, so I am making the best of it. Or attempting to. I do intend to get this kit gloss-painted, but that's not in $cope right now.

Looks like some of my codpiece images are getting removed by imgur. Oops. I'm requesting them to reevaluate.

Day 29+ Adding an elastic connector between cod & butt plate seems to have worked better than expected. I'm not sure if it's totally solved the cod placement issue, but it's a lot better. It didn't take as much tension as I thought it might to strap front to back. Just enough to pull things together Seams & Joins The rest of the work left is mainly getting my crappy looking joins looking better. Choosing to use ABS paste has been challenging for sure. If I can make it work, I'll be happy but in either case I will likely end up painting the kit just to get a nice even color & that glossy shine. Troubles The gaps between the joined pieces really doesn't want to disappear so I get a lot of lines that don't seem to sand out, like this: Here are some of the worst offenders All 4 sides of the gauntlets are pretty rough The Kit-Kats look pretty decent on the sides: The top edge is hard to get to so sanding is proving tough, as is evident here: Ab sides have a much more noticable shadow in the gap on the one side. Right: Left: (The trench The surface is pretty smoothed out aside from some pits I can fill, but it has a shadow and doesn't really hide yet. Not sure it will even with additional layers of paste.

Cod shots :O I'll ease into it with this reference photo in a comment here: I see a lot more space between the thigh & cod edges. This is generally how things hang, but it looks wrong. I see that I am either: * Hanging the abs too low. * Rotating the thighs out too much. * Or a combination * or maybe it's spot on and I shouldn't worry about it. My hands hang against the thigh at a similar spot to the CRL. Hard to tell where the abs rest at. Another view [This one seems slightly better]: This is probably a better version of placement. It still does rub plenty against the thighs when I walk. Butt plate Does this seem correct? I am used to my OTTK being snug there, but what I see here and at Galaxy's Edge is a very protruding version which overlaps with the back thighs. Seems odd again after coming from the OTTK. It seems like tightening things together with elastic is not really done (Captain's Drydock does snug it down front-to-back with elastic, but I don't see this elsewhere except loosely to keep things from totally flapping about. I see the reference photo showing some elastics, but that looks weird and I am not sure it's a total solution either.

Have you looked at KeepTrooping for TK boots? Those hug the calf really well. I tried the DIY route first and the boots I found on Amazon were too short and would not stay in the shin armor. Ended up spending plenty on paint and wasted time. KT boots did not have that problem.

Another update today. First full kit up. [Boots on Order from KT] Legs need some velcro somewhere. I'm not sure where that will go, but I'm going to do some research. The belt is better but there is a cavern between my butt plate and my actual butt. I am going to make an elastic to join those areas in the middle. Cod placement also with a gap. Top half [ I haven't gotten anything holding down the top of the chest yet. Either magnets or tried and true velcro.] It feels great to have gotten this far. It feels a lot more real now that I can get the whole thing to at least sit on my body. Fixed the chest side velcro mis-alignment and the chest sat down much better. Here are a couple of close ups of the fixup surgery I started on the gauntlet.

I fabricated a thicker belt with a 1/4" layer between the webbing and the ribbed sheet. It looks way better since it has a lot more support behind it. Front view (I have a way to go on the sides of the Abs)

Day 20 something or other. Missing a few days due to the site outage and just general exhaustion from a busy week. The TD for this Imperial Surplus kit really doesn't have any shape to it like I've seen in some other kits where it's curved into a back shape. I think the yoke + belt should hold it down, but it might require some additional shaping to get it flat. (It might eventually be replaced if it doesn't behave.) Added a longer clip at the top to hang better over the abs/back. The tiny one it came with did not stay on, which I assumed it wouldn't which is why I just held it on with a few drops of e6000 so I could replace it easily. I also am replacing the abs-butt strap/snaps with the center mounted strap which is velcroed on at the back side of the middle belt support. I may have to adjust it up a little for belt width. I found 3" elastic at Joann which seemed like the perfect width and will provide a little give & flex. Is this too much return edge to leave on? I am not sure how much to cut back, if any. Got a gasket kit from a local garrison member! Finally I can move on. The knee area was definitely made to be just enough to fill the gap and no more. I may not have the location of the up/lower legs correct yet. Already demonstrating the might of the First Order! The fit of the top. The bicep was definitely a squeeze, but that's not a huge surprise and it won't require straps to stay put from what I can tell now. Always hate to post cod-pix, but I think the vertical alignment of the pieces is getting better?

Since the Whitearmor site was down for a few days I didn't have a chance to log progress. I'll try and catch up but there is enough that I probably won't document it all unless it's unusual. Like... the shoulder tabs. The design is from @gmrhodes13 and I have changed it only to add velcro to it. Mainly I wasn't sure how well it would work and I like being able to take things apart easily. The following pics hopefully demonstrate the differences. So without making any cuts into plastic this is holding on the bells pretty well so far, but it's early on yet.

NoCo Down Syndrome Walk Beautiful cool day signaling the start of fall. I'm here for it! A great cause and a lot of smiles. One kid called the stormtroopers robots and like it when we waved to each other and high-fived. So we did that, a lot! Love this one. The only thing we're missing is a shore trooper! Go figure. :O

Day 18 - "Done" Well, the hardest part for me is over, cutting & shaping. There is still plenty of work getting edges even & smooth. But being able to put most of the kit on is very gratifying. The kit so far. The 2nd spent tube of E-6000. I say I'm going to take a day off but I know I'll be poking at it some more tomorrow.

Day 18 Pt. 2 Had a few more things come together later in the day I figured I'd share. Test fitting 2 Got a better try on with much of the thighs and above: Thighs I had reported difficulty with the thigh strapping system, but after looking at pics, they were up way too high on my legs. Lengthening the straps looks way better. [Sorry for the cod pic. We're all adults here right?] Magnets I finally got the rectangular magnets I ordered and have started putting them in the sides of the chest/back to make it a lot easier to attach. The velcro on the sides is a nightmare so far. This appears a lot easier after a test fit. The magnets https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CZGV3Z8