Merugear

Hey there troops! Yesterday I went to a camping store to get myself some webbing, man was I in for a surprise! I am planning to make a Heavy Weapons Trooper, so eventually I will have to make myself a backpack and perhaps some other sandy accessories. Now I was strolling around the camping stuffs and found some items that made me think of that screen-used macrobinocular, used by a Sandtrooper. Now with some scrounging through the piles of items I found some items that could prove useful to me. Now a rundown of what I used to make this little accesory: A cheap tupperwear-wannabe container, conveniently shaped like the rangefinder/electrobinocs. A doorhandle 2 round push-knobs for caravan doors. 1 thingy to stick into tentpoles to make them have an iron hook on it. 1 tube with attachmentring (the most expensive part as they didn't sell seperately lol) Several wooden shish-kebob sticks So I bondoed the attachmentring to the end of the container, added the casing of the caravandoorknobs upside-down on the lid of the container to use as eyeholes and bondoed them as well. Put a knob upside-down next to the attachmentring for the left greeblie. Then I drilled a hole in the place where the right greeblie should be, and cut the plastic cap to the 'cross' (so that it appears as the greeblie seen on the movie) of the tentpolethingy. Secured that with bondo and added the doorhandle as a sunscreen above the eyeholes. Added advantage were the holes in the handle to attach it. I can now put a piece of string or such through them! Well here's my budget-binoc. Enjoy! -------- The white stuff in the background is my ATA armor being made . Mom 'n Dad are on a holiday for a week or so so the livingroom has become my personal armor shop . Vincent

Well just going to wait till the gf brings the dremel here tomorrow and then we'll just sand stuffs off. I kinda like the look on the forearms now so that's a good thing. Bad thing is, is that my back and wrists are acting up, making me quite annoyed with the armor so far . I guess I wanna rush too much and I know a lot of you'd tell me to slow down cos in the end it pays off. It's just that I have 3 more free days to spend on the armor and thought it would be cool to like zing it together and have it done with but heck did I misjudge that! Anyways we're going to try the dremel sanding bit for trimming the curves and the larger areas will be trimmed with a scissor. Still need to find some webbing, underarmor and stuff so might do that tomorrow or next monday. Either way sorry that I come off so frustrated. I just wanna play with my new toys (especially since the E11 isn't on the list of to-haves anymore cos of the Weapons Law ).

Well I cut it to make it look a bit more tapered. Like a _/ \_ kinda ending looks pretty ok right now but so much for accuracy. I've had it. Either I am plainly too fat for this armor and don't know jack about cutting plastic, or... I dunno. I'm going to get some shut-eye I reckon.

Well I'll see what I can do. Man I defenitely need a belt sander :S. Thanks for the tips!

I kinda made a big booboo and cut out too much of the armor on the forearms. I admit, I suck at crafts . I hate myself... I spent ages cutting and scoring the armor with a darned x-acto knife and it just wouldn't budge (thankfully cos the plastic was too thick, something I was worrying about earlier ) or I would score in a messed up way OR I would bump my wrists so much the old injury from my scooter accident was acting up. So stupid me tried to force it a bit, wham big ol piece 'o V cut out right out of the forearms. I just don't have the patience nor the equipment for this thing... Blast it. Any tips on how to fix this "sounds-like: mock-up" would be very much welcome. Also, an idea how to connect those blasted seams would be a nice additive cos I dunno if it needs overlapping or just pasting the strips on top of it. Heard only FX had overlaps, the rest was just match and paste or whatever. Man I sure wish I had a bloody local garrisson supporting me now. Sorry for the rant but I am extremely ticked off. So I guess first thing to do is to chill and relax a bit. Any help would very much be appreciated. Vincent

Come on... SKY walker? Hi I am bob bladerunner, Sid Sidewalker, Pete Pitchjammer, Rudy Ridgeracer, Alf Bucketmeister, Garth Sauceskipper, Buddy Mudslinger... Princess Lara Synthetica, Poly Esther, Dora Androidica, Marion Mechanica June Aurora, Jade Borealis, Jessie Corona Darth Malicious, Dart Intrepid, Darth Cunning, Darth Linguist, Darth Board, Darth Miser, Darth Lawyer, Darth Raider, Darth... Sawyer! I mean not many of those names are VERY much inspired though . Calling an ice cold planet Hoth... I rest my case

Buying helmets on eBay leads to the dark side... mainly the side where you hit yourself in the face cos you bought a crappy helmet for too much money. Just stroll around the forums a bit to see what is acceptable or not.

Troops, a lot of these questions can be answered by combining the search function with the query: MRCE (Master Replicas Collectors Edition). Move along, Move along

Up the irons!

Ah well I personally prefer the TK- stuff. Why change a winning formula .

Though bangkok garrisson would be hard to abbreviate then: (I know bangkok is a city not a country, but heck I just wanted to point out a possible flaw) Krung-thep-maha-nakorn-boworn-ratana-kosin-mahintar-ayudhya-amaha-dilok-pop-nopa-ratana-rajthani-burirom-udom-rajniwes-mahasat-arn-amorn-pimarn-avatar-satit-sakattiya-visanukam KTMNBRKMAADPNRRBURMAAPASSV-421

Wow, that one looks awesome! Keep up the good work! Well gappy? Mine's need car body putty to get the ears to close. Didn't you get a brow trim with the helmet Aaron? Mine did.

Well either way, it's good to see you back in action . You take care now

Well couldn't it just be garrisson designation? Just a thought

Well, I got a reaction: So I sent another mail! (Cantbeatpie, I used your blaster before and after pics as a reference, if you don't mind) Will keep you people updated! There's got to be a way for us Dutchmen to be able to troop properly!

Well the thing is, posession of any sort of weapon at all is considered highly illegal. Owning a replica can be used for threatening people with, and since it happens a lot in the Netherlands, this law was instated.

Just as fate has it, I checked my german Star Wars board game (Krieg der Sterne) for unseen TK pics and they refer to them as either: Soldat or Sturmtruppen in it. Some people think it comes from Teräs Käsi meaning Iron Fist in Finnish (also the game: Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi) ------------ Maybe someone named the troops after a toner .

As my interest in the 501st and Star Wars increased, I came to an inevitable point where one is looking to make his own blaster. Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I first contacted the ministry of defence regarding the use of replicated star wars weapons in everyday life and check on the legality of walking around in white armor, carrying something that looks like a sci-fied Sterling SMG. This is the mail I got returned (translated): Now this is what I sent back: I also sent a mail to one of the larger historical re-enactment groups, and this is what I got back: So right now I want to know the standing on plastic retail-sold blasters with resin-cast accessories on it painted black! It's not a working replica or whatever... It's a piece of plastic with a soundboard and some resin on it. Anyways, I'll keep you guys and gals updated on the wonderful world of legalese.

Sooo not painting a HIPS armor is a good idea if you want an HWT? Just curious

You could always get a cheapo website at one.com and host your own . Vincent

Hey Bill, read up on this: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?show...33&hl=dirty A tip: the search option is your friend! Just don't fall in the trap Sandy Brothers have set up!

And we have cookies!

Well, she still is for her age. Looked great in Fanboys. She has this distinguishedly classy air about her no matter what.

I know! Heck I was so distracted watching the armors all the time it's not funny anymore!

The thing is they're warning you for commercially available armor. That means a shop will be selling those as 'movie accurate' or whatever because the armor has been given a license from LFL. Unfortunately, the licenced ones aren't really the most accurate ones out there. The most accurate armors are being made by amateurs such as those on our forum here. You might have read some abbrevations that indicate a specific armor make. Those are all amateurs who somehow got their hands on a cast from an original helmet and armor, or created the molds to make the armor all by themselves. Now to be frank there is a lot of controversy about who's the most accurate, who used original casts or not, who used what item from what other amateur crafter... It's a bit overwhelming but the information is out here in the boards. In short, it's up to you to decide if you want a Ferarri or a Vauxhall Every armor has its pros and cons, it's up to your personal preference what you'd get. I spent half a year just looking for the right armor, and I finally found it. It gives a sense of achievement when you spent so much time looking for the right thing and get it, so feel free to check these forums out further! The first few posts of this sub-forum explain a lot: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showforum=29 I suggest you read up some more on the boards (especially the so-called 'sticky' topics), and pop in the New Member Introduction area to get your 'official' entry to the FISD (First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment)! Best regards, Vincent Disclaimer: With amateurs I mean the proper meaning as in: People not doing this as their main profession or source of income.