troopermaster

2mm HIPS is no thinner than 2mm ABS I think of them like this: HIPS = Glass ABS = Rubber HIPS is brittle but can be quite sturdy if thicker 3.5mm or 3mm is used, but ABS is much better. ABS pulls just as tight as HIPS, but it's easier to pull HIPS with a vacuum cleaner where ABS requires more effort. In the UK, HIPS is available is gloss and matt, as is ABS. So you can choose either plastic in either finish over here. Hope that helps

Oh, and nice to see you sniping again, Geordie.

Paul has had the hots for me for a while and continues to accuse me of recasting. I have been on this journey for 15 years now and there is no photographical evidence of me sculpting anything as all photos I did take were lost in my Yahoo account when they shut down. Not that they can prove I actually sculpted them anyway, and the sculpts looked nothing like they do today, so they didn't prove anything. Back then, I had no digital camera to take photos or even had much internet access, and never even heard of the word recasting, although I was quickly accused of it from TE when I shown my ROTJ armour on the RPB all those years ago. The fact is I cannot prove I haven't recast anything so I am not sure what I can do to rebut the claims.

Check out this side by side comparison to see the differences:--------------

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That belt is not low, it just isn't snapped to the abdomen as it should be. You can actually see the snap on the troopers right hand side where the belt has either come off or it wasn't fastened in the first place. This is a display dummy if I remember correctly.

Having the belt just below the button or touching them in not a flaw, though. They belt should be set one way and should not be altered because some one is taller or shorter. But there is no point in me arguing since just about all builds do not match the original armour because the standards are all wrong. The 501st version of stormtrooper armour is nowhere near how the original armour is, and that's a shame.

Oh dear. Who makes these 'standards' up?

Congratulations on EIB, Marc While I agree with your rivet choice being wrong, I would leave the trimming of your knee plate. We have grown accustomed to thin knee plates simply because that is how they have been made in the past. The screen used original knee plates are a different story. They can be seen trimmed thinly right up to being how you have yours. I have altered my knee mould recently to be more like the new EFX cast directly from an original, so you should be able to have the choice of how thick you want it to look and pay more attention to having it fitted correctly (as you have).

Sewing directly to the glove is better, but I have done them another way too. You glue the straps inside the hand plate as you want, then drill the holes for stitching and sew loops to mimic the look. That way, you get the look of them being sewn on without them actually being sewn on.

The ROTJ is a sweet blaster. Thanks for sharing the photos

I like this Sterling a lot and it would be great to be able to customise it into a full working E-11 blaster. If you could chop the mag down and somehow adapt it so the Hengstler held the bb's instead, that would be awesome

Because that's his sales pitch. 90% of his customers will be regular people who are either not in the hobby or don't know any different, and buy into his BS. It's pointless to argue over it any more.

They are definitely on the wrong sides.

The lines I have added are where the ridges are for the joining strips. We know the originals were not assembled as cleanly as we all make them today and the joining strips do not always cover the joining ridge. We can go back and forth saying it should be this or that, so you can cover every millimetre of the ridge or leave a little bit showing. What I would not suggest is leaving 20-30mm showing just because you have big thighs and your armour is too small for you to use a 20-25mm strip. Back in the day the actors wore the armour if it fit them. We are doing it the opposite way around by choosing armour that does not always fit our body and making it fit any way we can. Going back to your lines, the flaw I see looks like it was made by the adhesive on the thigh strap. I cannot see it here on the original RS thigh but I do see it on the one in the archives. You can see where the ridge is and it's not where you put it. Argue the toss if you like but it's there for all to see and make your own minds up

Vern has not highlighted the ridge very well and has picked up on a flaw on the thigh, not the ridge. This is where the real ridge is on the thigh- Only the movie suits had 20-25mm joining strips. In the replica costuming world where we have every different body shape known to man, the rules change. The joining strips should cover the ridge - period! Now, if you have thighs (or whatever limb part for that matter) that calls for the parts to be wider than the suits intended size, then you have make changes in order for the parts to fit you. The OP is going to need a 50mm wide strip for the front and whatever size strip needed for the back. It's that simple.

There are too many details to pick out right now, but one thing that immediately caught my attention was your snap on the back plate should be on the chest. It's just little things that are wrong but it's almost every detail is off in your videos. As I said earlier, they are good for an average build guide but so many small details are wrong to say it is an accurate build. Too many people use the word accurate without really knowing what is accurate.

There should be no use of the word "accurate" since it clearly is not. It's a good build general build guide but it's not accurate to the originals.

No offence, but I think you should change the title to "How to build Stormtrooper armour". By including the word "accurate" implies (to me) that is how the original movie suits were built and your demonstration is far from being accurate to the originals, showing lots of minor flaws in the assembly, strapping, and materials used.

Or you cold just change your request to latex hand plates instead of ABS

From my perspective the wide cover strip is fine. The idea is to cover the ridge no matter how wide it is. ATA has the moulded in ridges and there is nothing you can do about that. If I was building that kit I would use wide strips like you have. The gap on top of your calves is fine too. Again, there is nothing you can do about that since your legs are wider than the armour. The only thing I could suggest if the gap bothers you, is to trim the backs to a 'V' so the gap is cut away. This will make the gap at your knees look bigger but it will get rid of the gap on your calves. Personally I would leave it.

You're welcome. Just remember the ankles can only be as wide as your boots. The original boots had tall, slim ankles and the leather was soft, so if yours are none of these it will be harder to get that slim look.

You will need some kind of fixings on the back to keep them tight and closed so use either Velcro or hooks on elastic. Keep the ankles snug. Too tight and they will ride up over your boots and too loose will make them swivel around. Your boots will play a big part in how your shins will look too. If they are wide at the top then the shins will not stay down without some kind of stirrup straps inside them.

The widths of the joining strips are fine in my eyes. You should cover the flat area of the moulded-in strip with your cover strip. Having thinner strips on armour that needs to be wider than standard looks bad. I always make the cover strips as wide as needed for larger folks.

Your shoulder straps are glued on backwards