troopermaster

I think the problem is the shape of your clips. If you have bent them like Jesse's (which are wrong) then you should have the part that clips behind your belt flat, just like your belt. A bent clip will obviously push out your detonator and not lay flush against your armour.

Make your joining strips as wide as you need so your thighs fit loosely. Try and keep the front strip down to a minimum and have the wider strip on the back if possible.

I don't recommend adding the crack intentionally. As screen accurate as they are, let them happen naturally and deal with them as and when. For trimming, you might be better off using a knife and fork to get close to how they were on set. Seriously. The original armour is terrible. I wouldn't go for any set measurements on return edges. Just leave enough for the strapping screws and don't worry if the edges look thin. You can always screw them through the face of the armour rather than the return edge. Use a craft or exacto knife for a wonky cut. No place for clean lines on original armour.

This is going to be an awesome build Juan. I am really looking forward to seeing your progress on making what I believe to be the best looking troopers in ANH - The Tantive IV Raiders. I don't know how far you are going with this (i.e. cracks with gaffa tape etc...) but some serious weathering and maybe on-set repair jobs will look fantastic. Take your with your build and don't worry how long it takes. Do a good job and ask as many questions as you need. Remember to use original armour and screen caps for the ultimate references. Good luck

The helmet on ebay is definitely cast from an AP. SDS helmets are not cast from the same source as the AP and differs quite a bit in a few areas. Your T/MC is a recast of a GF which is the predecessor of the AP, so there is a similarity between them but AP has made a new back/cap (cast from a TE) and that's where the main difference is between the two. Note how the dome on the T/MC has a more pointed/tapered look to it compared the bulbous shape of the AP? A characteristic of a GF. I would say the bump on your AP is the same as your T/MC except it has been trimmed better. The bump is over exaggerated on both the T/MC and AP compared to an original ANH helmet.

Okay. I think if you reduce the gap between your chest and back plates over your shoulder, this will help a lot. You will probably have to trim the neck line deeper so it chest plate doesn't choke you and this should help bring the whole torso higher on your body. If you close the gap on your shoulders and you still want to bring the back up more, you can trim some of the top tabs on the back plate to reduce their length. This will pull your butt up higher. If you find you want your chest plate to overlap your ab plate more, you can do that by making longer chest brackets. I can supply those but I think you need to try the other things first. I know these tips will do the job for you and it's just a case of fine tuning your torso to sit higher and give you more room for your thigh armour to move better.

That is great to hear you say that. That is exactly the kind of responce I was hoping for. The entire suit is a scaled down version of a full sized original that has been painstakingly crafted to be a perfect replica. I will take some more photos with a full sized helmet for scale later. You're welcome. Luke had to go and spoil it by wearing the armour. He's good like that

Okay, more photos of the armour showing all the details.

Yeah, that's pretty normal. I have been thinking about your thigh problem and may have a solution if you answer these questions. 1. Can you walk reasonably well without the torso on - just wearing the leg armour? 2. Is there room to lift your lower torso up at the moment (forgetting about the chest or back choking you)?

I made one for Steve SW1 recently. The box is the same height as your ammo belt if you want to have a go at making one.

Mint photos Steve

Awesome

You can't really adjust the size of your forearm since you are forced to go with the moulded in joining strip. Don't worry if you think it looks too big. It will be fine once you have your whole suit on. Just strap it to your bicep to keep it in place and pad if you need to. Keep the forearm up close to your bicep to reduce the gap between them which will reduce the chance of pinching.

RS body armour - TE helmet.

Keep the return edge to a minimum. The acrylic capped ABS is not really flexible and large return edges can attrack cracks if you flex it too much. I would only have about a 5mm edge everywhere. No need for larger edges like the original armour had that was there for the strapping brackets to attach to. The back plate is a fairly static piece of the armour so you can probably leave it as it, but everywhere else will need less.

I'm not that tall. It's the two short ar$e troopers that make me look tall Just under 6' in my flat feet. This hobby for me is about creating the Stormtrooper. I have always been artistic from a very young age and many people have said to me over the years that I was wasting my talent as a builder. I love the other side of trooping. The sculpting, researching, finding, learning, all that kind of stuff is what I love to do. I am quite happy to look at my armour on my mannequin and wear it in the house every now and then. I also get very claustrophobic inisde the helmet after a few minutes so I would probably freak out if I had to wear the enitre suit for too long

Nice photos Steve. Thanks for sharing mate Here is one that Graeme just sent me. That's me and the two Lukes either side

That's why the Death Star had elevators Seriously, some of the original troopers must have had the same problems. You can see in this photo that some of them had the thighs touching or even inside the cod. Just how tall are you so members who are the same height as you might be able to tell you what they have done with their thighs?

I am sure it is perfect for approval and I meant no offence in regards to the looks of it. The GF was 'the' helmet to have back then and still a nice one today. I just instantly knew it wasn't a TE2 and wanted to point that out. I am not 100% sure it is a GF either. The face looks to be but the back is off slightly. I know the AP has changed somewhat over the years so it could be a very early AP (which is the predecessor of the GF)

That's no TE2. Looks more like an GF or RT to me. Definitely not a TE2 though. Looking forward to seeing you suited up with your RS PP crowning your TM

The armour is looking really nice on you Tony. Bicep hooks will do the job of keeping the biceps from sliding down your arm. Don't waste your time with snaps when you have gone to all this effort of keeping everything original. Here is an original arm that you might have already seen for reference. Not sure what to advise on the thigh issue. Mark Hamill was quite short and he didn't really have the thighs chopped down, though the tops did have a slight odd shape to them, at least his left thigh anyway. Hopefully some of the shorter troopers will chime in with some advice. Overall you have done a superb job

You can make the braces yourself. Go to your local fabric store or market haberdashery stall and buy some 1" black nylon or polypro webbing strapping. You will probably need about 5 metres at most and some quick release buckles. I don't have any photos to show you but they are pretty easy to make, especially if you get the buckles that have the slots in so you can adjust the lengths.

Well, I got it done. Don't ask me how but I did it somehow. What an awesome day it was too! All the hard work paid off and it was really so cool to see my Son and Steve SW1 trooping together. They both had a blast. It was also great to finally meet Steve and Karen, and to see some old faces from the UKG (FBJ, 89batman, and few others). As usual, I didn't take many photos, but I am sure there will be more coming soon. Here are a couple that I did take.

First of all, you need to have good, strong elastic straps inside your thighs and the ends that go through your inner belt need to be pulled to your side. This will help keep them in the right position. Secondly, I see is your thigh armour is shaped oddly. From the front they look wide and from the side they look narrow when it is usually the opposite way around. This could be why you are getting the armour bites. Finally, if your inner belt is being pulled down so much then you can add some braces to keep them up. Use webbing so it doesn't stretch and it will keep your belt in place.