troopermaster

Excellent work there Mark! Better get myself down to Halfords for more paint

All the original fixings or fixing points are there Karin. Just as Billy says, this suit has been well used and repairs have been made. If you look closely, you can see the side snap is there in the left hand side top corner of the abdomen. This particular set of armour was featured in the 'Holiday Special'. Outstanding work Pete!

It wouldn't have been an ANH suit. If it was, it would most likely have been in a glass case so no-one could touch it. My guess it was an ROTJ tour suit or a cast from one of those that are used sometimes. If you have a photo of it I can tell you exactly what it was.

The real suits are very thin and flexible which makes the chest flex like it does. Strapping also plays a big part too. HDPE is extremely flexible but so is ABS too. This begs the question why AA needed to use the HDPE in the first place if he had his own blend of flexible ABS manufactured?

The pictue I posted shows elastic glued to the thighs which is exactly how the movie suits was. The elastic is looped over at the tops for the thin belt that goes under the torso armour. The only velcro used on the original armour was on the back of the canvas belt and nowhere else.

Put your money where your mouth is Vern and show us a pic of you bending your AP chest like this-

The movie accurate method is a thin black belt under your your armour, so you got it right in the end

Words I am all too familar with Karin. Keep your chin up and don't let one bad apple spoil it for you.

Come on shawn, you've only been waiting five months mate. Give the guy a break I would assemble the kit you have in the mean time. It could be a long wait

I'm glad you like them

CA glue worked well for me with Karins latex hand plates.

Just like this my friend

The 'accurate' place for the snaps is in the trash can. Screen used armour did not have snaps. If you want to know the 'best' place to put your snaps, I'd suggest about 1" from the inside top behind your joining strip. You can make a double snap tab to give you some adjustment.

Try asking the person your bought it off (or whoever painted it) what paint they used. SDS armour and helmets are made from 2mm acrylic capped ABS and do not come painted as standard.

He said "A recast of TE armour"

7.5" for the canister and 7/8" for the end caps.

I think the black elastic on the bottom of the shoulder bells should be a 'must have' for EIB. Every screen used armour had them and so should the replicas. Just my opinion, of course

Congratulations Stephen The armour looks fantastic on you mate. Well done!

What do you mean about rounding off the belt? The ends of the belts are cut diagonally, not rounded off. For rounding off the bottome edges of the knee ammo strap, I use the base of an aerosol can as a template.

WOW!

The TE ROTJ helmet moulds are made from casts of the outside, not the inside. The replicas he made (and still makes) are far too soft in appearance comparing them to original LFL helmets. Again, the eras are the main factor here. None of the screen used ROTJ helmets have the ANH/ESB ear caps, just the ESB Mk2's. I've never looked closely at Matt's original ROTJ helmet or your casting, so could you do a comparison of the decals to show where they differ?

I'd say it is cast from the same one Matt owned. It's the only helmet with a round frown with the ESB Mk2 ears, no other helmet that I have seen has these ears. I've always said that it was more like an ESB Mk2 but with a round frown and hard hat liner. True ROTJ helmet have the new sculpt left ear, your cast does not.

If you look at ObiHahn's signature photo, the scene in ROTJ with the ANH troopers is actually a continuation from that scene in the Death Star!

The new ones are slighty wider than the olds ones seen on the top. The measurements for the new plates came from the TE ROTJ kit. ------------

I agree. It's the size and shapes that matter. If you don't like the colour of either TM or AP ABS then just paint it. I think it would be great if you could get the AP/TM/LFL comparisons going. Maybe even throw in SDS too!