ObiHahn

He wants to be taken seriously now. Nah, JK. No idea. Real life perhaps? Happens all the time.

I notched my TM ANH cover strips, then ever so slightly rounded the notched edges. Still looks like a sharp 45° corner.

I'm not even sure if I did lose weight on my thighs. TM just has no shrunken parts like some TE-derivatives have, like my old PT. That might be the case with me. And don't go shaving off muscle tissue, mate.

I did shim my PT armor in the back of the thighs and was never too happy with that - they had friggin' WEDGES in 'em to make them sit higher, and that really did not look too hot. Personally, I was more bothered by the big black gap in front though, so shimming was what I chose to do in the end. With my TM, I have no such problems. They fit accurately front and back. But I did lose some weight between PT and TM, probably in the thigh area as well, so...

I know your "pain", buddy. Big thighs... But I think your overall look is acceptable, better maintain the overall appearance than shim the heck out of all components. I had the same problem with my previous set of armor, my thigh pieces always sat too low. But dude, get rid of that green stuff on your shoulder! And lose 2 rivets on that hero belt. You should go for stunt all the way!

I have small gaps too. Doesn't bother me at all. Gotta love TM, right?

He seems to be talking about additional foam besides the starfish. I've never seen or heard about that though... Maybe explain a little better?

Always sounds like these extra encouragement programs should be obtainable effortlessly by everyone. Where's the point in that? The "good enough for me" guys will never shoot for EIB anyways, much less for Centurion or whatever else might be up your sleeves. That's why I don't get some of the tendencies to exclude some external, clear-as-day onscreen armor details from these kinda programs. IMHO it's not like this will make less people join the 501st or something, but will be more attractive for people who do not necessarily seperate "costuming club"/"prop repliaction". There is a substantial overlap between these two, I'm sure...

I do get that the goal for centurion is not prop replication. Those seeking that go to other places to do so. Body sizes, if humanly average and acceptable ( ) should be no reason to exclude people from striving for more accurate costumes, sure. Especially in the 501st context. Set for fun, if you will. It's only fair. But still...let's not set the bar for a new program like this too low like it always happens here after pages of discussions and opinions. Every visible detail should be in place, every brad/rivet - and only in the appropriate places as clearly seen in movies and publicity or even archive materials. And no shortcuts should be taken here - glued only on the movie costume? Glue it for Centurion then. At least on the outside, guys. Allow chipped helmets for stunt - for Pete's sake, that is how they were made. Even visibly so in the movie. For hero configuratin, that is another matter. Hero helmets could not have flaking paint, yeah. All replicas should accuratley reflect this, but so should HDPE stunt helmet replicas. Chipping should be optional at least. Wan't slightly lower standard? Guys, we already have those. They are called EIB. Lower standards even? Oh look, 501st base CRLs! Another 2 cents from yours truly.

Why thank you, Kevin!

I mean that my body type is far from what would be ideal for the on-screen stormtrooper look. I'm too tall and too braod in chest, shoulders, hips, thighs... Working on it still, but I won't come close to the 70's stunt guys/extras, only if I were to stop eating from now on - will never happen!

Then TM would definitely fit you. No need to wish for shortness, Paul.

You tellin' me the parcels have not yet arrived? Major screw-up from USPS, that's all I can think of... How tall are you? I'm 6″0 and the TM armor seems to fit me quite well, while in no way ideally.

All of my above statements are only valid for ANH stunt and most ESB helmets (minus the elusive ESB hero lids), of course. Forgot to specify, sorry.

That's why the sensible elitist armor snob chooses to go for a scuffed up helmet and a scuffed up suit. Tantive IV raid style all the way! Even throw in a couple strips of white gaffa. The nature of the original helmets (for ANH and ESB) being a darker, non-white plastic than the suits lends itself to the effect of "heavier" chipping on helmets than ever to be seen on the suits. So I don't really see a problem with slightly heavier weathering of a helmet than seen on the suit (HPDE chipping is the magic formula here). It's like in the movies!

I dunno... do you guys really think that weight should be mandatory? I think the look is more important. Weight can be simulated by posture and attitude. Don't get me wrong, I love me a nice metal E-11, but that might just be setting the bar too high. There are a lot of good looking plastic pipe blaster builds out there that should all be eligible for Centurion. Here's me aiming my metal E-11 with a weight of roundabout 1.5 kilos, where I'm sure some might think it would be a lot lighter by the way I'm holding it:

Here's one where some of the weathering shows up:

It's a good thing you pointed some of these details out to me, Paul. Centered the snaps on the canvas belt, removed the rivets from and added screws to the deto canister, added rivets instead of snaps for the holster/belt attachment. Always striving for improvements! I'm also really happy now with the chest strapping mod you suggested, not seen in the pics above - will take a photo of that soon as well.

Thanks, mate! The 1mm ABS is really, really sturdy and flexible. My previous PT suit was 1.5mm acrylic capped HIPS and was very, very prone to cracking unfortunately. Has to do with the hyper-glossy acrylic layer on top of the HIPS, I was told, and that seems like the problem indeed. While the PT was also kinda flexy, I had to reinforce all return edges for trooping in the end. I am sure I will never really hav to do such thing with this 1mm ABS TM, you can reeeaaally flex the hell out of this baby and don't have to worry about it cracking easily. While I still wouldn't risk any high falls or tumbling down a rocky mountain side in it, I think this is excellent for trooping - especially with the screen accurate strapping inside. You can see some of the subtle chest plate flex in the "hunchback aiming his gun" pose in the avove pics.

Use a tripod, Rolf! And set the timer. Always works when no one is around to take pics. BTW, nice TM sandtrooper! But yours always turn out nice, so no real shock here.

Thanks, guys! Here's a couple more pics after some light weathering. The helmet is not TM, it's a CAP-West with some serious paint chipping showing HDPE (colour) underneath.

I think the updates are good, and the open questions are up for vote? Like biceps overlap and such?

It's all shadows! Still not the clearest pics. I know the ones from SWHelmets. But yeah, some look dark-ish alright.

Got a picture? I know only of some where the mesh was painted black (allegedly on some hero helmets like Luke's). Some use a hazy screen pic of the "move along" sandtrooper helmet as proof for all black mic tips, but there are enough pics to show that his also were unpainted inside.

Agreed, a good blaster is a must! Accurate t-track and Hensgtlers and cylinders, or lack thereof, should follow strict screen references.