Dargas

Thanks Noel! I´ve been waiting for the chance to expose that thesis for years!

wow! nice shoes! are those 501s imperial accademy aproved for a commander?? LOL no man, seriously, the scuffing looks great except for a couple that look very home made in the upper leg. I would suggest that you remove a bit of the blue scuffing from the white stripes, other than that man... looks great! can{t wait to see the rest of it!

I can see the logic in that... hmmmm

the imperial army had millions of Stormtroopers around the galaxy. using designated numbers and letters logic the idea would be that the first stormtrooper,REGARDLESS of his role would be AA-001 then would be AA-002 and it goes on an on and on until AA-999, the next line of ids would be AB-001 until it gets to AB-999 and moving to AC-999.... and you can continue the idea until reaching ZZ-999. the TK designation seems to be just a random number for that poor guy in the death star. I, at least don´t remember any other trooper being called by his designation number. Even Han decided to shoot the microphone when asked his operating number. going a bit off topic but to support my vision of the operating number around the Imperial Army: you guys must remember that Vader´s assault on the Tantive 4 was led by the 501st imperial troopers in his charge and after he speaks to leia in the corridor a COMMANDER in oficial black uniform reports to Vader about the computer being empty and the escape pods and please pay attention to this line by Lord Vader: "She must have hidden the plans into the escape pods, send a detachment down to retrieve it, SEE TO IT PERSONALLY COMMANDER there´ll be no one to stop us this time" to which the uniformed Commander replies with a strict "Yes Sir!". according to this line that same blond commander went down with what we previously saw as Regular Stormtroopers to the Tattooine planet surface looking for the Escape Pods in what I´ve always thought to be their own stormtrooper armor but adjusted for desert terrain fashion and, according to the now accepted special edition, squads of Heavy Weapons Troopers. If this commander did not went down to Personally direct the search as Vader asked him he mist have left in the Star destroyer and i don{t really think a commander would disobey a direct order from Lord Vader. we may even assume that the Commander that's speaking the lines "someone was in the pods... the tracks go off in this direction" may be talking to the same blonde stormtrooper commander that was given the assignment of finding the pods by Lord Vader. so... in my own understanding of the Imperial Military all white armor like soldiers are infantry with, of course, different tasks within their units, these including the Regular Stormtroopers as Infantry, Heavy Weapons Troopers as Heavy Infantry, scouts as exactly that and Shadow Troopers, Dark Troopers, Imperial Commandos are special Operations while TIE Pilots are the air-force and the rest are Mechanized Cavalry. at least that´s how it plays in my head!

now ain´t this a bummer! has anyone other members had this kind of problem? Vincent, you should also very straightforwardly state that these "replicas have no actual working parts! the are Unnable whatsoever to shoot anything at all. perhaps that´ll help to get a permission.

Breaks my heart to see it like that... very interesting thing on the snaps!!! hmmm!

nahh... i´ll get it in a big locker like safe and when my grandchildren grow up i´ll show them the armor and say I was a stormtrooper in my primes! A wot!? they will surely say! LOL

that´s exactly why i´m going the HWT way. all the TK looks plus the goodies of the sandtroopers! I like the look of a well used battle armor but it must also look like the trooper actually cleans it a bit now or then, after all its like the weaponry, you need to take it apart and clean it, test it and repeat to be sure, the grease and the soot and stuff is obvious to start getting into the crevices and show but a well trained trooper wouldn´t let his armor to get all messy and soiled thus risking some systems to stop working due to bad maintenance and remember that the soldiers are the ones that maintain their own equipment while on mission on the field. apart from let my armor to get scuffed naturally i´ll add some soot and even less dirt here and there but going " the Less is More" way. if you like the scruffed TK look i would definitely advice you to go the HWT way.

sure thing bro!

as I understood it after reading something about boba fett´s armor if the armor detects a radical change in atmosphere the armor seals up immediately. perhaps the ribbed neckseal swollens to seal the helmet at the rubber liner?? or the helmet rubber liner is actually expandable to completely seal the helmet at the neckseal. if that is the case and the canister is indeed an oxygen tank then the oxygen is administered through the bodysuit, not the armor and the 2 hour extra oxygen would run through unseen ducts and come out the neckseal filling the helmet with fresh air for the helmet filters to run and keep the soldier alive breathing and not choking to death with poisoned air. damn... i should write those damned books again! LOL

hey jonah! i can have the boots made in white leather here for about 50 bucks man! make a drawing of your feet on a sheet of paper and mail it to me when you have the cash and I´ll get them done for ye and in about a week or so i´ll ship them to you with the invoice for the shoemaker´s work! same goes for pauldrons and holsters man. just let me know when you´re ready mate! on to topic: my first armor was a FX that i was bought my my best friend and long term CO Crazas (Luis Diego Carazo). He bought three sets of FX armor so we could start our outpost a few years back and allowed me a full year until I could pay him the debdt and didn´t charged one dime in interests! now ain´t he the coolest guy ever??? I built it in about 6 hours for the body one day and about another 4 for the helmet in another once I got it and got accepted two days later in the legion. the armor looked like the most beautiful thing in the planet to me and it fit like a glove! about 600 hundred was the final price after shipping and taxes. I used it in TK config for about 4 months until I modded it into TD config and proceeded t use it for the rest of a year´s time since the day I got it. After a year and endless debates about the inaccuracy of the FX Lid and regaining my love for the TK config i decided to sell it to a friend of mine in the group for the same cost with the modding and the full set of soft parts (fully exorcised of course!) that has a similar body type (smaller in height) than me. all the while he paid up month after month anothe friend of mine in the group bought another fx kit, but hes smaller than a jawa and thinner than asaj ventress and he literally swam inside the armor! no matter how much you might try to fit it. so, instead of trimming it, he sold it in to another friend that wanted to join the legion and bouight a tie pilot set that looks like it was meant for him. This last guy, Randall never did reworked the armor to his body type and the armor was laid to rot in a black trash bag in his basement. Once I got paid, months later, I contacted Randall for his set and he sold it to me. I refitted the entire thing to my frame and bought a MRCE bucket form ebay and a SR Props E-11 replica. the scraped FX lid and hasbro blaster I gave, fully modded to a friend member in the outpost, my current XO (he inherited the charge After I resigned) because although he has one sweet Kir Kanos Crimson Empire Royal Guard suit he alway wanted to be a TK. hes got the boots done and I´m having a leather Right holster for my TK so the holster I have I´ll give to him also. he already did the bodysuit and is in the process of getting the neckseal. so basically he just needs the FX kit withuot the helmet to become a member! that way we all have armor and are happy as squirrels in a nut shop! and well that´s it! story of my armor!

Awesome man... just awesome! amazing and detailed thread, the accidents part is specially important as when it happens to other people they can know what to do!

I really want to mod mine but it scares the nerf out of me!

those are the most crisp pics of an out of the box AP set I've seen to date! I'm getting in love with this kit... damn! I guess I'll have to start saving!! I'm really looking forward on this build. If you can keep a WIP as detailed as these ics please do so, it'll help a lot of newbies on how to work a set like this! thanks for sharing mate!

Same thing here... i remember being in a full heat discussion about raising the bar on FX helmets and how in the near future those helmets would be left behind for better ones and I defended the FX very aggressively (cause that's the one I had at the time and had no cash for a new and better one) but after that discussion my mind started changing and I realy whent on to make full comparisons on all the helmets t that time (Thanks to starwarshelmets.com) and i started seeing the FX lid in a diffrent light. after a month I just couldn't stand it anymore and started saving for something better. Better came in the shape of a MRCE lid wich I think is the most beautiful thing ever!!

I'll be damned! Ainsworth is a recaster! I get me so happy when credits are given to whom they belong. exellent piece of history here!!! thanks!

exactly! and a beautiful job it was. not overdone.

I really don't know abut the difference in pricing. My two cents on both are: ATA: accurate. Needs trimming and painting, soldering and velcro positioning for use. if not painted correctly the wear of trooping will eventually chip the paint job in some places like inner arms and legs. HIPS plastic material Not as durable as ABS but durable enough for regular, non heavy trooping. FX: non accurate (accurate enough for legion standards). needs no trimming nor painting, only velcro positioning for use. good at fitting most body types except the smallest ones. very sturdy ABS plastic material ideal for heavy trooping. Can be ordered without helmet making the price excepcionally good for quality. having stated that what you need to take into account is, your body type, vs height, vs what you are ready to pay for the kit and just how much you are worried about accuracy. don't rush it! study all of these factors and be absolutely sure of what you want before you buy.

as a side question.... anyone knows what this marks stand for??

that has got to be the sweetest looking chewbacca I've ever seen!!! good going guys!!!

dude! your are a big guy!! and the cool thing is that the armor fits like a glove on you! great work!!

I just blow a bit of air in the mic.... for what it costs i think it's not worth it really.

Just be sure to mask anything you don't want prayed. the spay mist can be a pain and then you find yourself trying to get unwanted paint where there should only be white and thus ruining the glossy look.

Blue cow, Blue Cow!!! great job man! you should be proud! ... damn... i'll end my tk amor this weekend and apply next week!

Damned good job there Gary!! and just for the record I LOVE the UKG branding! looks extremely cool! amazing job. i Just need to get a canvas belt... it's the only thing at this point that I need to get the EIB app going! you guy are inspiring to say the least!