ANH build: this is where the fun begins

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

You may have addressed this already, James, but I noticed in an earlier photo that you had rivets/snaps on the right side of the the kidney and ab plate (1st pic).  In the second one it looks as if you have replaced the snaps with rivets (red arrows) and removed the rivets on the kidney (red circles).  Unfortunately there should be no rivets (or holes) on the right side of either piece.  The ab plate should have one snap (the "Han" snap") on the top as seen by the green circle in the first photo and green arrow in the third one.

I'm doubtful that your GML will allow the holes or rivets for Basic approval, but fixing them is not impossible by any means!  The way to do this is to make up a small batch of ABS paste, just as Glen mentioned for your vocoder.  You can put some blue tape on the front (outside) of the holes, fill them just enough to cover and then sand down any excess inside.  Should take about 10-15 minutes!

 

                                                                                                                                 Screen used armor

            

[LoudDragon]

Ok, I'm giving the kidney plate one more chance, and adding shims to the ends. I've added two trips on each end, which will then slip into slots on the  abdomen plate, and will have it hold by adding straps on the kidney end which will snap onto the abdomen end, thus holding the plates in place.

 

 

I've started reworking my shins, and I removed the Velcro I had before since they didn't do a good job. Instead I added a spacer to the shim, and had one end slip into the other. I am considering doing this on each side of the shins, for ease of access when putting them on.

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to seeing some photos

[LoudDragon]

ok so here are some updates on what I've been planning:

 

 

so to try and mitigate the amount of shifting my armor pieces do when I'm trying to glue the shims, I'm now gluing tabs to the underside, to hold the ends together, then glue the shims on top, allowing me to get more precise shim positioning with less clamps.

 

with winter setting in, I'm now more pressed to actually do some work on this before the glue won't properly set in the cold.

[LoudDragon]

and NOW, time for the results!

 

 we start off with the abdomen and kidney plate, sharing the space beautifully, despite the cod and butt plate not agreeing with them.

this left seam can get closer together with a little help from the utility belt.

 

 

 

here's an inside view of one of the forearms, I still have some work to do with the shims on these, but they butt ends very well.

 

 

and here is the one half of the plastic "slips" for the left side, while the right side is just glued to the kidney plate.

 

once I get the shins glued again, I'll start making some abs paste for all the unsightly, nay, atrocities I've committed against my own armor. that will be the perfect time then to also address the mobility cuts which are too rectangular.

 

I know I didn't say anything about this then, but I did also make it to the local Fun Con in July, I knew there weren't going to be any garrisons there, I had checked their schedule ahead of time. I was hoping to see another trooper there though, which I did hear about from ONE person, yet I never did see them. 

 

you guys probably hear this from newcomers all the time, but my first experience there was, a little tiresome. almost every other person who talked with me, asked me if my eyesight was bad, or something of the like. I'm grateful for the one man though who made TK 427 joke.

 

I wish I had got some photos when I was there, granted, there were other people who got some photos of me. I really did enjoy talking with some of the vendors and guests appearances there.

Edited October 20, 2025 by LoudDragon

[Doggydoc[Staff]]

On 10/20/2025 at 10:43 AM, LoudDragon said:

you guys probably hear this from newcomers all the time, but my first experience there was, a little tiresome. almost every other person who talked with me, asked me if my eyesight was bad, or something of the like

Yep - that as well as aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper - I usually come back when they comment about our aim with " We were ordered to miss".

[LoudDragon]

So im looking into getting some other bits for my armor, the shoes and blaster.

 

Im looking at trooper colas blaster and i think those would be the best choice for me personally. I like the idea of a real metal cast blaster than say rubber or plastic.

 

Then i also found my boots on keep trooping. 

 

What have been your experience with these vendors?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

15 hours ago, LoudDragon said:

So im looking into getting some other bits for my armor, the shoes and blaster.

 

Im looking at trooper colas blaster and i think those would be the best choice for me personally. I like the idea of a real metal cast blaster than say rubber or plastic.

 

Then i also found my boots on keep trooping. 

 

What have been your experience with these vendors?

Marc's metal blasters are a thing of beauty, one thing to be aware of is the weight, a resin blaster is quite heavy to hold for a few hours, metal would be a little heavier, but many seem to manage.

 

Keep trooping are what most purchase these days, FYI the store is open now and closes on the 16th November. 

[Clonecollector[TK]]

I have a Fieldmarshall metal e11 blaster. I've never trooped with it... but it's heavy and it would be a pain for a long troop. 

[Doggydoc[Staff]]

I have the blaster factory metal E11. It I looks amazing and is quite heavy. I would not try putting it into the holster but even with the weight, I have no problem trooping for a couple of hours with it. The best is when you pass it to a handler or other members to hold and watch their reaction to how much it weighs. 
 

one caveat though is that some troops will not allow metal blasters. Tomorrow I am at galaxies edge in costume and can not bring it into the park. 

[LoudDragon]

" a soldier of the empire cannot fulfill his duty without all of his provided gear, nor win the battle without his squad." -Some drill sergeant in the empire.

 

I finally got my E 11, and have already assembled the SSMG, though im not very happy with how my sanding job turned out, not to mention I keep breaking pieces. But I do believe it will be passable once its complete. thanks to Marc/TroopaCoola for supplying the blaster.

 

Im also now getting started on my final touches, truly this time, i plan on being done in june. I would have started sooner on filling in unsightly cuts or gaps with the abs paste, but i was waiting on some replacement parts, and I couldnt aford it then. 

 

But since then i did finally get my french blue paint (no longer Mr no stripes) and my painting skill still suck. I replaced the rubber U trim with the S trim. Crazy enough, the old trim had started to cause the plastic to react and begin corroding, this wouldnt be so bad if the S trim was wide enough to cover it.

 

Once my parts get in (thanks again to Mark/ABS80) Ill start taking pictures of my entire kit. So until then theres nothing to talk about. :]

[LoudDragon]

Hey so, I actually got my stuff in begging of this week, just didnt get to this yet.

 

Im pressed for time, I have to leave home in a second. so sorry for not sharing any other pictures. are these ears acceptable?

 

there is still more sanding needed to be done

 

* ok, so the full situation is, I got some new ears, but i left them rather thick on the helmet and didnt try sanding them to the curve of the helmet. Thus there was a bothersome gap on the back side of the ear. I fully understand that having a gap is perfectly fine, and could have been fixed with the previously stated method, but i had decided to use some abs paste to fill in the gaps. I know this isnt screen accurate, but is this something some garrisons might reject?

 

On that note, I am thinking of getting a helmet thats made of the original plastic used in the film instead. I did see an old thread about DA props having them but checking their store page didnt see any. Does anyone know any vendors that supply these helmets?

Edited March 7 by LoudDragon

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

We don't normally fill the gap between the ears and helmet, you will need to check with your local GML if this is approvable. 

 

RS do a very nice helmet.

[LoudDragon]

 

right now, I have to rework the strapping with the kidney plate, and now I'm filling in the mobility cuts. these are older pictures as I have already filled them in, just working on sanding them right now. also need to work on repainting the tube stripes, didn't like how they turned out.

 

I'm closing this thread now, because everything I need to do has already been covered.

Edited March 9 by LoudDragon

[LoudDragon]

Special Thanks:

 

Marc ABS80: providing armor and time for me.

Mark TroopaCoola: providing blaster and helmet fans.

Glen GMrhodes13: for his support, truly I don't know if I'm worthy of this mans time. thank you for all the resources

Adam Revlimiter: for being the first :]

RS Prop masters for the new helmet.

 

and all the others for their input.