runewolf

LOL, well if it wasn't for the other movies, my wife would just believe I was a nutzo Star Wars geek. But the filled in story line (yes even JaJa), has changed her mind. Now that it makes more sense to her, she likes them all and doesn't groan when I play ANH for the 15th time in a month

The helmet is a Rubies helmet, which is not 501st approved. No where in the SW universe were there stormtrooper helmets with holes drilled in the eyes for the person to see out of. Ugly as heck too if you put it side to side with a fan made helmet. Ok, my bad, I thought the link below the add was for the helmet that came with the kit, it is not it is a "related product" ... Need side picture, but to me it looks like an FX helmet with the frown painted badly.

With whips and chains and ....... Oh wrong thread nevermind .........

Ok, if it is not going to hurt my chances of getting elite, then I won't worry so much. I'm afraid to go much smaller than 1 inch on the front as it makes the front so pinched that I end up with a huge looking gap on the back. 1 inch makes the armor curve back enough that I feel comfortable that I'll be able to close it with velcro.

LOL i wish I could claim it was from being an athlete. I just skated most of my teen years (only place in our town to meet girls lol) and rode my bicycle everywhere including a few 150 mile MS rides. Ah, so it is not a problem to show the edge below? Especially if you are trying to go elite?

Hey gang, I've been working on my ATA suit and am desperately trying to finish the shins. My legs are kinda muscular and bulky from years of roller skating and cycling. I am trying to fit them together in the clamshell fashion with the strips for ANH. Is it going to be a problem if the strips are one inch or more in width? I see all these wonderful builds that have less than an inch strips front and back, but there is no way my calf muscle will fit if I make the front strip that small.

I too have a similar issue with my helmet. The place where you drill for the mic tips are so thin, I think the weight of the tips will deform or crack the area. So my plan was to use Bondo to build it up. Figure it would kill two birds with one stone, I would have a solid area to mount the mic tips and have a "flattened" area inside to mount a fan blowing up to my lenses.

It is HIPs plastic, so it is not glossy. I'll be painting my entire suit, but for the details on the helmet, I'll be getting the decals. I'm sure I can paint the vocoder and the frown, but the lines in the traps are going to be tough, so they get the decals

That is exactly what I am looking for! I am not allegic, but my wife is and I have found many kids in the area including my dear niece that is. I could not face my brother if I was responsible for her having a reaction!

Ah, I'm really not awake enough today! Didn't catch that. My poor brain just had the thought that the armor was complete except for a helmet and Alex was scratch building one (pretty interesting job of it too!). But yeah if you are wanting good armor in the less than $500 range there are options available that include the helmet. Do the research here before pulling the trigger, it will save you lots of heartache in the future!

Wonder if it is this trooper? ------ He is scratch building a helmet mold.

Now many troopers do you know that wear a size 13?

Wow those look great! Trooped in them yet? how is holding up to the armor rubbing? I appreciate the thought, but until next Friday, I cannot spend any money that is not going towards food for the family or the animals lol. So even if I do find a pair for $30.00 I can't touch them until payday I am going to keep an eye out for something local, maybe I can pick the boots up on my way to the party. They do not have to be white until the armor is assembled, painted and ready to troop!

Hey gang, I've gotten stuck with some bills that have to be paid, so instead of ordering my boots this week like I'd hoped, I'm not going to be able to. So my problem is this, I have an armor party coming up where we are going to try to get my ATA trimmed and ready to be painted. I'm worried about not getting the legs right without having the boots. Should I leave the trimming of the shins until I get them or should I wear a pair of boots (Vietnam jungle boots, or similar) to try to get it close? I know I'm just obsessing lol.

Bah, that's what I hate about some epoxies.... Even though it is dry and hard as a rock, the epoxy is still curing and offgassing. Some take months to fully cure. I had a model airplane that ended up being so rank, that I could smell the epoxy all throughout the house. I ended up using our spare bathroom and an electric heater to keep the room around 85 degrees for a week to speed up the curing process.

The more that I stare at the drawing, the more it makes sense to me. You can find the neatest stuff on this forum

Ok, I promise I will not try to make a coherent post while I'm on hold for tech support lol! Between the armor pieces, people use nylon webbing with either snaps or velcro to hold the pieces in position. Also the webbing is used from the belt to the drop boxes. I think the width on those is 1 inch white from the pictures I have seen. I would figure the rest of them are 1 inch black, but with the body suits I cannot see them. (edit: just found these pictures) Basically I'm looking for ideas on the straps that are shown in the picts.

Ok, next dumb question lol... What is preferred for the webbing width? 1 inch, 1.5? Does it matter?

I think HIPS is too dull without painting. Better to paint it all nice and then weather.

YEA! Smitty. I was hoping you'd be back to party. My E-11 is almost finished I just need a scope (going to try and scratch build it) and some t-track. Was about to give up and order off the bay <gasp!> Let me know if you can help me out soon

Hehe, welcome Jim. Take it from this noob, I spent 3 months researching here before I even applied for an account! Bunch of great guys here and plenty of help.

That is the kind of setup I was thinking about to begin with, but had not seen or heard of anyone using adjustable straps. My thoughts are this, if I use the velcro and troop a few times to get everything where it needs to be, I can then mark the straps and use them as templates for the snap system. I'd love to see picts of your adjustable system.

Ok, I'm wanting some opinions on a recommendation that was made to me. Instead of putting my armor together using snaps, I was told to try using velcro to begin with and wear the armor around (trooping and at home) to see how it all fits. That way it is easily adjusted so that between trimming for fit and adjusting the velcro, I will have a more perfect fitting armor that I will then be able to add snaps to if I feel it is necessary. I can see some wisdom to the idea as I would not have to keep cutting out straps and adding snaps to it to try and fit my armor. What do you think?

Congrats man! I remember a time when those jobs were secure. Unfortunately our area has seen several layoffs from the aerospace firms.

Well I see the change in the EIB requirements to be latex, so I guess my next step is to purchase a set and paint them. Then allow my wife to handle them after the paint is set and see if she has any reactions. (Hmmmm how many roses does it take to ask someone to be a test bunny?)