ObiHahn

Quite frankly, you are way off in quite a lot of details for a serious EIB application... Most were mentioned before, here's what I noticed (compared to the movie costumes and not necessarily EIB guidelines): - waaaaaay to large tube stripes, too few on each side as well (you need more like 13-16 on each side) - ear screws not whitened - too few detail stripes in the helmet tears (you have only 5 instead of 7) - the whole belt is trimmed and detailed entirely wrong, you should really check a couple references again, and more thoroughly (cloth part should not be wider than plastic front, 45° angled corner cut-offs are too big, too much plastic material left untrimmed next to the rivet cover plates left and right, drop boxes waaaaay too fat, etc.) - your detonator has a "control panel" on it that's too wide and thus not enough grey tube is showing, also your clips are in the wrong position and there should be no tape on them like you seem to have - the holster is quite inaccurate - your thighs look really off in the back, I do see the need to widen them due to your thighs but the cover strips should not be the shims to add material IMHO... I hate to be the one to say it, but this is not yet really EIB worthy. It feels a little too sloppy considering how easy FISD makes it for everyone to research in greater detail and check twice before grabbing x-acto blade and paint brush...

The mini helmet now has a mostly accurate interior as well, and I made a small helmet stand. I even simulated small snaps on the chin strap.

Thanks guys, the tube stripes almost gave me seizures. Since I made the pics, I installed neck trim and a foam starfish helmet liner - all I need now are small metallic thingies that'll pass as snaps for my mini-chinstraps...any ideas? @Paul: thanks for the paintwork praise, this was not an easy one considering how thick my Humbrol paints have become... not good in this scale I can tell you. @Mathias: love the pic, I'm afraid I might have to copy that sometime.

After having acquired a very very cool 3D scan of the original SFS stormtrooper helmet in 1:3 scale that stood on my shelf raw and unfinished for way too long, I finally spray- and hand-painted mymini helmet. I installed "real" lenses and made my own (slightly underscaled) mic tips with real mesh. I guess I will also add the paint chippings later, here are a couple of pics of the pristine helmet: And a nice angled shot: And another one with the mini SFS and a bigger brother: I gave the helmet real rubber neck trim and a chin strap but have yet to find something that looks like snaps in 3rd scale.

I'd go for a slightly lower brow for the more typical hero helmet look. Also, the lines inside the rear traps should be more squared off than rounded.

Perfect! So that means bye bye Danny's toy blaster? That's the spirit!

ATA doesn't offer inner drop boxes? I thought those were included.

Sorry to say, but doesn't that apply to your Hasbro blaster as well? IMHO carrying toy blaster conversions is just as much of a mistake as having a bad holster or Elvis boots.

Shame about the unnecessary filler, but painting it will of course hide the fact that someone was a little premature. I understand that original TE2 suits need a coat of paint anyways, so hey - don't sweat it.

What's with the filler on the ab button detail plate? So you're planning on painting everything? Keep in mind that, when wanting accuracy "as close as possible" to ANH/ESB armor, a certain amount of "controlled sloppiness" is the way to go. Don't fill/sand stuff like the edge where the ab button plates are glued on, that takes away the character IMHO.

Joakim, there's no such thing as "FISD" armor. Also, you will have to specify which version of stormtrooper armour you would like to have "as close to the real thing as possible", because that will tell you which "brand" to go for. Build it all, try your luck at becoming a member of the 501st Legion, get your gear approved, then join this detachment as a member. That's the way to go. And again, there is no such thing as "the bucket with the small speakers" since speakers can be installed in all helmets. Which, by the way, is not "prop accurate". I personally prefer mute stormtroopers anyways, because people tend to talk a lot of non-canon BS when on a troop.

I say lose weight first, then fit your armour. Seems like the most clever way to go, no? You can always build the helmet in case you get too impatient.

Sweet. That's really awesome of you guys. I tip my hat to you!

Cool find, congrats Mark. But as is, it's one ugly SOB. Talk about one bizarre misshapen step-brother from original lineage. The leg parts really look painfully short. And the helmet...oh, the helmet. Words fail me.

No, it's totally invisible under the torso clamshell. Also, it's black on black, so...

The belt itself is not "accurate" in the "screen accurate" kinda sense, mind you - the rest of my system is. To my knowledge, no clear images show exactly what kind of belts were used back in the day. I opted for webbing with that sturdy "backpack" style closure since it's cheap and does the job. Any black belt will do, if the buckle is not too big&fancy I guess. I reckon they used what belts they had back then in the costume department...

To be honest, with the design being as simple as it is clever, there's not much detail to be seen. Here's the best I can come up with: Inside view of the thigh pieces with elastic attached, the white stuff being the glue holding the material to the plastic as per the original suits: And a close up of the loop with the seam and the belt threaded through: Like I said, it's quite simple, really.

Sure can. What do you wanna see in particular?

I want that cake.

Snaps will be way sturdier than velcro, yup. I had a snap/webbing solution like yours in my second set of TK armor, and it kinda did the job: ---------- You can see the 2 male snaps nearest to the crotch plate where the female snaps from the thigh webbing would snap onto. But still, nothing compares to the belt/elastic loops system in my experience.

Or: use the screen accurate and more durable solution instead. This is how that works: glue broad black elastic (with a loop sewn on one side) to the inside top of your thigh armor pieces, like so: Then thread any matching black belt you have lying around (or make a simple one like on my next pic) through the loops and wear the whole shebang under your armor, around your waist: In doing so, you can work your way around the clear disadvantage of using webbing instead of elastic material. Elastic will just give and stay attached where rigid webbing will just tear off. Also, avoid velcro, which can always come undone very quick - this accurate system can't, and on top of that it's just like the movie suits were! To each his own of course, but I say don't fix anything that isn't broken.

That looks like a nice holster. How much would one like seen in Rich's pics set me back? Vern, do you also make ESB style holsters with loops?

These are superb, I got my 2 belts yesterday and couldn't be happier. Highly recommended stuff!

If you really want to get the most accurate set of ANH armor, get the direct first generation cast of original ANH armor that's out there. It's a no-brainer really, no? Do your research and you'll find out that neither ATA nor AP have much to do with true ANH troopers. Also, you might want to do your homework on a guy here called Troopermaster, he offers beautiful ANH armor as well.

You might have trouble finding good ANH Hero bubble lenses that'll fit ye olde FX bucket. Also, "honing skills" on a helmet that is almost 100% different in construction and design from any other more accurate stortmrooper helmets might not really work out like planned. Being able to assemble a FX will not prepare you for being able to construct a screen accurate helmet, but that's just my 2cts.