ANH Mystery Kit

[misterhahn[501st]]

Hello all, I have been gifted an ANH kit from a fellow member who wanted to get rid of it. 

 

He acquired it in a trade about 8 years ago. It is a bit thin, at ~2mm on average and has this brown helmet. 

 

I was wondering if anyone knew what this kit is or where it came from, and then next steps for how to strengthen it? 

 

Happy to take more photos of it if there may be ID marks on it somewhere. Thank you!

 

 

Edited May 12, 2025 by misterhahn

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Can't say I recall a brown helmet in the past, looks like there are some air/vacum hoes in the lower ridge of the backplate, that's a little odd, doesn't look like a mainstream maker, may be something from etsy 

[misterhahn[501st]]

I've looked at all of this armor and there are no maker's marks to be found. I'm currently exploring how to strengthen it. 

 

I'm looking at Smooth-On's epoxy resin called Epoxamite to fiberglass the back. My research tells me that epoxy based resins work best for ABS plastic. I have not yet pulled the trigger so I'm interested in hearing thoughts. I want to fiberglass this whole thing before I begin trimming.. again though, if that's the wrong order of operations, happy to hear opinions. This will be my first set of armor in the Legion so I am in new territory. 

 

EDIT 5/12/25: Adding checklist

 

Armor: Mystery Kit ✅

Helmet: Mystery Kit  ✅

 

Soft parts

Undersuit - under armor ☐

Neck Seal - KeepTrooping ☐

Gloves - KeepTrooping ☐

Boots - KT or Crow ☐

 

Accessories 

Fans - TBD ☐

E-11 - TBD  ✅ (TK14082's kit)

Holster - TBD ☐

Audio System - UKswraths Specialty all in one helmet system ☐

Edited January 19 by misterhahn
updating list

[T-Jay[TK]]

Hello Nick. One thing to consider is the flexibility of ABS material.

When I started my research here many years ago, I thought 'the thicker, the better' but that was wrong.

Truth is: the thicker your material is, the easier it cracks. You mentioned a thickness of ~2 mm on average.

Most people here have suits of 1.5 to 2.0 mm ABS - before vacuum pulling. 
 

What I'm trying to say is, I'm not sure if there is a need at all to reinforce your kit for higher thickness...

[misterhahn[501st]]

48 minutes ago, T-Jay said:

Hello Nick. One thing to consider is the flexibility of ABS material.

When I started my research here many years ago, I thought 'the thicker, the better' but that was wrong.

Truth is: the thicker your material is, the easier it cracks. You mentioned a thickness of ~2 mm on average.

Most people here have suits of 1.5 to 2.0 mm ABS - before vacuum pulling. 
 

What I'm trying to say is, I'm not sure if there is a need at all to reinforce your kit for higher thickness...

That's interesting, thank you! 

 

I've handled other trooper's kits before and compared to my pull they seem so much more sturdy. I wonder if there is something I am not seeing in other people's processes? 

 

I definitely don't want to overcorrect and make it so thick it doesn't flex, I totally agree with you there. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Having a little bit of flex in the armor is a good thing, especially if moving about quite a lot and not just standing looking menacing 

 

Anything you would add behind the armor you would need to rough up the whole surface so it has something to grip too. Be careful with fiberglass resin, it can heat while drying.

 

RS props is very thin armor and apart from a few little cracks around the chest they do last a long time, I know a member who is pretty hard on his kit.

 

Check out Han's chest for flex

[misterhahn[501st]]

Update 1.19.26

I've actually begun working on this costume! With lots of research and comparing images.. I believe (strong emphasis here) that the kit is a TE kit .. probably the 2nd edition. It is definitely made of HIPS, as I've begun trimming it and it is TOUGH to get through. Early days but I'm excited to start! 

 

I also printed TK14082's e-11 kit and am very happy with the whole thing. An early win is important! 

 

I will keep updating as I work through trimming everything up. It was loosely trimmed before, but I will be working to get them closer to wearable in the coming days/weeks. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, looking forward to seeing more 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Good to see you getting going.

Make sure you sand that blaster, 3D print lines must not be visible.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

[misterhahn[501st]]

Slowly but surely we're cracking along. 

 

Everything is trimmed out but it looks like I am in need of some extra ABS sheets. Unsure what thickness etc. to buy. 

 

I will be grabbing the "421 boots" from KeepTrooping sooner or later. 

 

The biggest bit of update is I think I need to buy a new bucket. I've attempted to construct the brown helmet the kit came with, but it doesn't look right.. and I am honestly worried I will never match the paintjob to the rest of the armor. I was considering the RS Propmasters Stunt TK helmet. I'm hoping it'll match but no one in my garrison has that helmet for me to compare to. 

 

strapping comes soon, and assembling will start soon. 

[Tall_Trooper[Staff]]

It's rather unlikely that the RS color will be a 100% match for the Kit. It's worth a try. 

[TheSwede[TK]]

5 hours ago, misterhahn said:

right.. and I am honestly worried I will never match the paintjob to the rest of the armor.

Not to worry, all the screenused helmets were painted and the armor white plastic. A semi gloss RAL 9010 should get you close enough 

[Tall_Trooper[Staff]]

Exactly, 

It's even more accurate then.