troopermaster

Definately silk screened, but I thought they were paper not vinyl, or was that just ESB decals?

Where did you get the hand plates from?

Looks home made to me. It is ROTJ esque, definately not from any of the movies but closer to ROTJ.

Yeah I'd say silk was an assumption.

I think you might have problems with the stitching ripping the rubber. I have never really studied ESB gloves so I couldn't say if rubber gloves were used or not. Cotton lyrca or spandex would be a better choice to sew on IMO. The only hand plates that I have noticed that don't have the stitching on is the ROTJ style armour in the freezing chamber when the troopers are trying to cuff Chewie. Those hand plates would have been attached to the forearm and had a loop of elastic across the palm.

Vern, the AP is designed to be overlapped since it is essentially ROTJ armour. Most people choose to butt seam the arms and legs to resemble ANH or ESB, though they are designed to be overlapped originally (since that is how the original it was cast from was). I think you need to sit back and relax mate. Sounds like you have a bee in your bonnet about your AP kit. If you were unsure about any part of the assembly then you should have just asked on here. Everyone has different ways of assembling their kit. No-one to my knowledge has built their armour exactly like the original ANH so don't beat yourself up if you think some parts on your kit are not perfect. It sounds as though you have got the wrong end of the stick here with some info that is not correct from whoever. Just remember that the AP is not a 100% direct recast from an original armour, so don't expect to see the same lines on it as an original LFL suit because they just ain't there. The AP is someones interpritation of an ANH suit and by no means screen accurate, just a 4th gen screen cast derivative. Please take this as an FYI, not a bash Stukatroopers tutorial is fantastic and his armour is the best AP I have seen, so it seems strange to me that you would think otherwise Each to their own I guess. Show us some photos of your kit and tell us where you think you went wrong. Maybe it isn't as bad as you think?

But they didn't have the 'real thing'. They had 3rd generation modified recasts. The AP arms have the overlap because they are ROTJ, same as the rest of it, just some parts have been modified to look like ANH. I have comparison shots of an early TM vs SDS. Any particular piece of armour you'd like to see?

AP armour is NOT cast from an ESB suit. It was made by GF who recast a TE ROTJ and converted those moulds to what he thought at the time was accurate ANH. From what I know, AP made new moulds and made some slight changes further reducing it's original screen used lineage. The moulds are like 4th generation and the original shapes and sizes have been altered. I am sure AP who is a member here will/can confirm this. I am not knocking AP at all, just saying what I know about it's history. The forearms...again, no ANH armour to my knowledge has been recast and all replicas (except DL) have the same doubled right arm or incorrect tour suit parts. I agree with you that it would be great if there was a way that all major replica armour could be lined up together and compared against the LFL screen used ANH armour. I've been trying for years now to get my moulds as close as possible to the original armour and that's my goal at the end of the day. My hobby is sculpting and mould making, and also finding out everything there is to know about screen used ANH armour and helmets. I try and put all these things together to make armour as accurate as possible. When I read comments like yours I hold back and wait to see what evidence is put forward, but have yet to see anything that makes AP more screen accurate than TM.

The joining strip is not moulded into the armour. It's the white adhesive that makes it look that way. Want to compare that pic to your AP thigh? Screen grabs don't really show you what you need to see to make good comparisons. You say things about AP that are just not true. I know you think you see things from screen grabs that look like your AP and you make some pretty wild statements about it's accuracy, but if you had the reference material I have then you thik twice about what you are saying. Can you get the comparisons up to show where you think AP better matches LFL than TM? I really am interested to see where you are coming from Vern.

No problem Mark I'm just waiting to see the comparison pics with LFL/AP/TM armour. Unfortunately I don't have photoshop anymore so I can't do them myself, so waiting patiently for the ones from Vern or whoever else wants to do them.

You are wrong Vern. The tops of the thighs are assembled correctly and not mis matched. The original ANH left thigh has the peak as part of it's shape and has nothing to do with how it was trimmed. Here is a screen used left thigh top.

I'm not really sure what you mean by 'pinched' but the top of the wearers left thigh armour has a peak just as I have sculpted it. All of the original ANH and ESB armour have this and it has nothing to do with trimming, that's how they were formed. It seems that for ROTJ this peak was removed when the moulds were made resulting in one thigh notably shorter than the other. It would be great if you could make up a comparison between LFL/AP/TM to see the differences. I really can't see what your seeing in the AP when comapring it to the LFL suits.

A bit of E6000 on the drop box elastic and the canvas belt stops it from moving anywhere

WRONG! ATA is still using my knee cap and ab buttons plate. No arrangement has been, nor ever will be made. I have never even been contacted about it.

Looks like the legs and a few other parts are cast from the Don Post statue. I've never seen this kit before.

Hi Jim, The DH2 website is where I got my inspiration many moons ago. It has a lot of useful information on there to help you get started. I would start by making body casts using plaster bandage or old rags dipped in plaster, only casting seperat body parts at one time. I started with my forearms and made plaster casts from the body casts and sculpt onto those. Everything is on there that you need to know. For reference, I would check out starwarshelmets.com and only use screen used armour personally. If you want to make trooper armour then what better reference to use than what you have been watching on screen? It isn't any easier to sculpt FX than it is TE, so go for the real deal mate Good luck!

I think you'll find that it's the shine from the unpainted brass screw that you are seeing, not foam. I love these helmets with the three holes cut out. My favourites for sure

Apology accepted

Looks fantastic Caleb

LOL....it's no secret. Just a plastic tab with two snaps glued inside the top of the thigh behind the joining strip. I don't have any photos, sorry. It's very simple, just get some 2" wide elastic and loop it over at the top and sew it so the belt can slide through. Put a female snap on the bottom of the strap and your done

I'd love a signed copy please Brian.

Cool! Looking forward to seeing more of the original TE ROTJ from back in the day Any luck with your vinyl shoulder straps yet?

Thanks Geordie! Wye aye man Looks like Matt has deleted a lot of stuff on their including the info about how he aquired the ROTJ suit from CO <_< Too bad, there's not much I can do to back up my statements now, unless anyone with an old ROTJ TE with the odd hands and bells can chirp in?

The first pic I posted is quite possibly from Trap Joe which is a recast of the TE ROTJ. Reading that thread you linked to (which I have read before) a quote from TE posted by FON states that the sculpted hand plates are from him (TE) so why sculpt them if he had the originals from CO? Anyone got a link to Matts website with the ROTJ helmets?

They are similar to the MFX, but they are TE's.