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Barcoder's First Order TK build thread (TK-12175)


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Looks great..can't wait to do an official review for approval...

I can't wait either! :) 

 

Beautiful, beautiful result!!

 

Your effort shows brilliantly.  Thank you for sharing, we'll all benefit from this moving forward!

Thank you so much Tim. It was my honour to share this with everyone. :)

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Alright, my first troop in the armour was last night...and was a success. The Badlands Garrison surprised a young fellow who had won an award for Outstanding Youth Leadership. He is also a HUGE Star Wars fan, so it was extra-cool to have a TFA trooper there. (As far as I know, I am the first person finished the TFA armour in all of western Canada. He was shocked to learn that the Western Canadian debut of the armour was at an event in his honour)
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He was practically speechless while we escorted him to answer some Star Wars trivia before receiving his award.
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He specifically requested a picture with just the "new" trooper. :)
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My Garrison mate & I just had to pose for an EPIC picture - The past & the present.

 

-As expected, all the strapping held up very well. No incidents.

-The helmet fogged up instantly. I will probably need a fan set up...or de-fogger on the lenses. 

-The lip/hook on the TD dug into my back the entire time. I am thinking I might remove it entirely. As I have the straps to attach it, I may not actually need the lip/hook...

-My right spat suffered a malfunction... The little "tented" tab that I attached the Velcro to came loose on one side. Given the stress the spats endure while putting them on, I am not surprised. I used CA glue originally; I think it's time for PlasticWeld on that spot. (Will post a pic later.)

-Other than some discomfort and some serious squeaking from fresh paint, the first troop was awesome. Loved every minute of it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

My first official troop as an approved First Order Stormtrooper was a success! Our garrison was on hand to help provide smiles at our local Walk for Autism Speaks event. The day was filled with TONS of hugs & hand-holding. (Such a feel-good event!) Many of the fathers present knew exactly what I was...and were VERY excited.

After being in the armour for about 3 hours straight, I am impressed that it was actually kinda comfortable. I was most pleased with pretty much being able to walk like normal. I am slowly getting used to the slightly limited mobility in the arms....it's not that bad now.

That being said, the forearm boxes are a menace!!!! I still have a bruise from the box digging into my right hand. As much as I would like to move them up more, I'd rather avoid the equivalent of the "flood pants" look on my arms. hahaha

The inside of the biceps, and the sides of the chest are already showing scrapes from rubbing together. Thankfully you don't really see that area. Same goes form the top of the left thigh. The belt box can't help but rub against it. May have to look into that...

Try as I may, I cannot really look down. As soon as I try, the helmet smacks into the chest piece. Same issue with a regular TK but MUCH worse. As this was mostly a kids event, I did a lot of leaning over to actually see them.

Due to the bubble lenses, there is distortion of the vision...but mostly along the edges. I barely notice it now...

 

The little guy looks like he's using the force... Camera caught him mid-high five.

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A painful pose. At least I looked good.... (Forearm box was digging in real bad here...)

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With a kiss from our XO, the new guy gets the Seal of Approval!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Now that I have put many hours in the armour, I think it's time for an update! (Plus, I had to do some adjustments. Thankfully not many.)

 

I have re-done the attachment of the TD. I think the clip/lip that hangs over the ab section has been digging into my back, so I ripped it off.

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The whole TD now sits a little lower than it originally did. (I also moved the snap up on the inside of the ab section) The gap to the bottom of the ab section is almost nothing now. :)

 

The whole "one strap" for the shoulder bells just wasn't working.... They had a habit of rolling towards the back, I was constantly having to do a sexy shoulder move to get them back in place. Switched them out for two straps... Much better.

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I have discovered that the fabric I used to make my cloth gaskets stain the armour/paint... It's an awful combination of the paint being rubbed off due to friction & moisture build-up in the shoulder gaskets causing the colour to run. (Damn sweat!)

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Here's what it looks like on the edges of the chest and the back/yoke section. It's also happening a tiny bit on the inside edge of the biceps.

To be honest, the staining isn't that much of an issue, as you can't really see it often. (Might be a different story if I was raising my arms all the time. lol)

 

At the end of September, we had our local con (Over 50,000 attendees) & I debuted the First Order to the masses. It went VERY well, I literally felt like a rockstar.

Star Wars artist, Robert Bailey was very happy to have his picture taken with me!

I also ended up lending my helmet, gloves & soft pouches to a garrison mate of mine. He had finished his armour in time for our con...but couldn't wear it as Anovos hasn't shipped his helmet, gloves & soft parts yet. :( He deserved to feel like a rockstar as well, so we split time in the helmet. :)  (Funny, his name is also Peter. Our friends were very confused at times.) 

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As I have no plans on doing the chest detail upgrade (I can't bring myself to sand, Bondo & paint that friggin' chest plate again...) but LOVE the look of it, I have been playing around with making my own chest decal...

Here what Anovos supplied...

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It looks weird, rounded and just seems too thin along the bottom edge. From the side, it looks even thinner. As the chest detail is not crisp itself, rounding can happen. However, the Anovos decal is rounded

 

Taking into consideration that the opening on the upgrade detail looks thick/thin, depending on what angle you view it from, I am trying to enlarge the decal to achieve the look.

Here is what I have come up with...

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This definitely looks sharper/crisper, but maybe a tiny bit too thick on the bottom edge. But as I said, the upgrade can look different depending on the viewing angle. I think when all the armour is on & viewed as a whole, the exaggerated thickness will work. :) I have an event next weekend to test it out.

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Just did a few events with my new modifications... Very happy indeed!

 

-Removing the clip from the TD has made quite a difference. No more digging into my back & the the TD now sits lower & almost flush with the bottom of the ab section.

-The 2 straps on the shoulder bells hold them in place perfectly. No more sexy shoulder action needed!

-My new chest decal (Version #3) looks GREAT! So crisp and clean. Almost looks like the real thing!

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