bluehickey

On a side note... Does anyone else think this pic is funny? When I look at it I see 4 dogs all trying to devour the same bone!

Good for you for working on your sobriety... the armor can be a great distraction. Just don't forget to keep taking time to work on yourself at the same time. "One day at a time"!

Wow, that turned out great! Is it heavy having the wood in it?

Great job Matt, and well done with the acting... I know it's hard to convey any real emotions while wearing a helmet, but you emoted with your body as well... great job.

Yeah, I still have the paper point sliders they give you when you do the program, plus I don't have an iPhone... I'm too old school.

Matt is right, we are striving to look our best in our armor. Jim, you are more than welcome to also post your progress on getting to your ideal weight, even if you are approaching it from the opposite side. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no advice to give you as I've always had the opposite problem of needing to get rid of extra weight.

Well, I am currently at 190 and my goal weight is 175. I did weight watchers a number of years ago and got down to 160, but there was no muscle at all, I was trim but certainly not fit. I've been working out at the gym for a couple of years now and I don't think I'll ever go down to 160 again because of the muscle weight (which is a good thing). Right now I just need to lower my body fat percentage. So food wise, I am doing the weight watchers point program (every food has a point value... you stay within a certain point value each day) and my plan is to do heavy cardio Monday, Wednesday and Friday and do weight lifting on Tuesday and Thursday at the gym. So I'm looking at losing 15 pounds, and I think I can get it all off by August. The area I would like to see the biggest change in, is my mid section. As you can see from the photos, I have thick thighs, and I would love to lose enough weight so that my thigh pieces can come up higher and there is less black showing at the top. Would be good to be thinner in the butt and stomach areas too!

This is great to hear that so many of us have the same goal of looking better in our armor! And with that, I am proud to annouce the Trooper Fit Club thread! Come join in the fun - free TK window decal stickers for those who hit their goal weight!

Many of us have previously discussed how we would like to lose weight in order to feel better about ourselves and look better in our armor. This thread is simply a way for us to cheer each other on in our pursuits of reaching a healthy weight, and to also offer tips and words of encouragement. How this thread works: 1. post a picture(s) of yourself at your starting height and weight in your armor. (Pics in street clothes are welcome too.) 2. pick a goal weight 3. explain what things you are going to do to lose weight 4. Report back with your weight loss on either a weekly or monthly basis. 5. Post progress pics, to show how well the armor is fitting as the weight comes off. So let's get started, we can do this and we'll hold each other accountable and encourage each other, plus once you hit your goal weight, I will send you one of my stormtrooper decal window stickers for your car! This thread is for anyone who wants to improve how they look in their armor: for some it will be losing weight, for others it will be gaining mass/muscle to fill in their armor better. All are welcome to participate. Congrats to Christaan Von Martin (naatsirhc) who earned his Stormtrooper car sticker by working hard and hitting his goal weight!

I have nomex flight gloves as well... don't worry they are totally fine for 501st approval.

I agree, we should take the 'troopers helping troopers' to the next level and document our physical activity and weight loss. I think in general guys just don't talk about this stuff with each other even though it may constantly be on our minds. I think we should start a thread posting pics of ourselves in our armor at our current weight and then post progress pics as each month goes by. I am 5'9" and currently weigh 190. I'd like to get down to 175, and I think I can do it by August. When I see myself in armor pics I don't see a fat trooper, but more of a stocky trooper, and I'd love to look more screen accurate simply by changing my physical proportions. Here is a pic from an event from a couple weeks ago...

I hear ya Nathan, I had my appendix out around Christmas and was laid up recovering, so I put on some pounds. I noticed that being heavier made it so my thigh pieces couldn't come up as high as they should. I really didn't like how that looked. I'll tell you what has worked for me: I've given up sweets and candy altogether. I know that sounds a bit extreme, and it is, but I came to my senses and realized that I was eating candy, ice cream, brownies, cake etc. mainly as an emotional escape from stress, work, and whiny children. I did an experiment in December to see if I could go from Dec 1 to Dec 25th without eating any sweets at all. I was pretty sure I was going to shrivel up and die if I succeeded, but I did it and I was so proud of myself. I've continued to do this since January 1st until now. It has made dieting and choosing good foods much easier to do, and I've lost almost 10 pounds since March 15th. I agree that it is cardio that is going to help you lose the weight, not weight lifting. My wife bought a Jillian Michaels 30 day shred DVD, and she used it once and I've been using it off and on ever since. What I like about it is that there are no dance moves or choreography involved. It's just straight exercises: jumping jacks, push ups, butt kicks, sit ups... very manly stuff you don't feel silly doing.

Have you ever worn a TK helmet yet? If not, you'll be very surprised by how hard it is to see anything below your nose. Don't drop a guitar pick or a drum stick, you'll never find it wearing that helmet, or be able to bend over to the floor to pick it up! Keep your stage clear of any cables and wires too, as you won't be able to see those coming either! Great concept though, I'd love to see a video of you guys in armor rocking it!

Ozzy, so your band is called "The Unemployed Stormtrooopers" and you'll all be in armor? If so, that is very cool!

Hey Matthew, I'm sure you'll find putting together stormtrooper armor is a walk in the park compared to Bacara!

I'd take a little more out of the eyes, but that's just my preference. Other than that, it looks sweet! Nicely done.

The square dome in the side view on that black helmet reminds me of an FX helmet.

Going by your size, I'd suggest getting AM armor, it will fit much better.

Digging through ebay, I found that he also sold this one as well:

If you look at these pics you can see that the brow trim doesn't fit under the top piece like on an MRCE, but rather it is glued onto the front of the helmet....

This states that it is new and came out in March 2010. Super sharp pulls around the chin and teeth, but made of fiberglass? Anyone know any thing about this helmet? Seems pretty high quality: SMKTrooper helmet

Yeah, the pic is obviously the 'hero' helmet as well.

Dang dude, great minds think alike! I posted the same thing minutes after you did!

This looks pretty much like the Master Replicas Collector's Edition to me. Hopefully this one won't have that horrible seam by the frown. Looks like it will be available in July. ----------

Good job. I'm envious of your awesome AM armor.