Blix[TK] Posted December 17, 2025 Report Posted December 17, 2025 1. Christopher Jolley 2. New England Garrison 3. Armor: Walts Trooper Factory 4. Bucket: Walts Trooper Factory 5. Belt: Trooper Bay 6. Neckseal: Trooper Bay 7. Boots: Keeptrooping 9. Blaster: Working on it... 11: 5'10" 12: 155lbs 13: ANH Stunt 14: All of your forum posts :D Questions/Todo... I need to bend down the shoulder straps, not sure if the back should come in/down as well or just the straps should be bent. The Ab and back are not lining up, which is related to the shoulder straps... Thanks for the feedback Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted December 18, 2025 Report Posted December 18, 2025 Hey Chris looking good. I have a few suggestions, some mandatory, others optional. That said, I'd check with your garrison GML and get their feedback for repairs needed for approval. Once area that sticks out is the rear calf cover strip. It's supposed to be half on/half the armor. Here's a reference photo While in the area, the sniper knee ends need to be trimmed and secured. Here's a reference photo Moving upward. The backplate upper connection. I would suggest removing some of the return edge on the back plate, especially in the encircled area. Then giving that area, and the shoulder covers a hot water bath to shape them so they follow the curvature of your shoulders. Yours, and another reference photo. Lastly, return edge is optional in most areas. Though it's to give the illusion of armor thickness it's not always needed, and you'll find out soon enough that stuff will rub you raw during a troop. That said, an area that stood out to me more than anywhere else, around the eye sockets. I would clean those up just a smidge. There may be some other areas your fellow FISD members may want to point out, but that's all I have for now. Again, you're looking great. Keep up the good work Quote
TikiTechie[TK] Posted December 18, 2025 Report Posted December 18, 2025 Hi, looks good. I have a few items that are sticking out to me. I am not a GML, but I have worn this kit for awhile and I can see some spots that might be physically painful if not fixed. 0. I would trim the return edge more along the abs. That will get uncomfortable if it's jabbing you all the time. 1. I don't know this maker too well, but those calves look reversed to me. I may be wrong, the calves took me forever to figure out. 2. The top of the eye holes is a bit rough. I'm not sure if you can clean that up since the lenses are installed, but it might be nice to smooth that with a dremel or sanding. 3. Your forearms can be moved downward a bit to reduce the gap between it and your hand. 4. Personal preference by I am on the side of trimming off return edge where able. The hand plates need some trimming as it looks like they extend beyond the edge of the return edge. Curving the return edge will help it sit on the hand better. 5. You already know about the shoulder strap issue. 6. Right leg ammo belt seems like it could be adjusted to lay a little more parallel to the ground. 7. The TD brackets seem like they extend a little more than I'm used to seeing. The little ridgy part is angled up rather than out. Not sure how critical that is. Looks good. Good luck on your further approval process. 1 Quote
Blix[TK] Posted December 18, 2025 Author Report Posted December 18, 2025 Thanks for all the feed back and direction. So much I missed, focused on different things I guess... I cleaned up the eyes with some sandpaper, looking much better now. Seems like I have a lot more trimming to do. I did not want to take off too much, adding is much harder than removing. Is there any advice on how to do the hot water bath? I have a heat gun but I am afraid to use it on the armor and ruin something. Before I make any adjustments to the legs I would want to make sure I have the calves the right way around. Using other WTF builds as reference, I think they are correct but this is my first build so anything is possible. The TD does need to come down, i may have to remake the brackets but I will see what i can do with them... Will update again when I have made progress. Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted December 18, 2025 Report Posted December 18, 2025 You may also want to rotate the TD backwords, so the O detail can be seen No paint on gums, "Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area. " You may want to touch up some of your lines, some are touching the border, also some extra paint. Tooth picks are a good tool to rub off excess paint. Your ear is also sitting higher than the other side, normally these sit down under the ridge Join of your neck seal is on the side, should be under the front or back of the helmet Drop box elastic may be too tight, usually there is a gap between them and the belt Tighter strapping on sides so the tops align and your posterior as can see a tab behind 1 Quote
TikiTechie[TK] Posted December 19, 2025 Report Posted December 19, 2025 21 hours ago, Blix said: Thanks for all the feed back and direction. So much I missed, focused on different things I guess... I cleaned up the eyes with some sandpaper, looking much better now. Seems like I have a lot more trimming to do. I did not want to take off too much, adding is much harder than removing. Is there any advice on how to do the hot water bath? I have a heat gun but I am afraid to use it on the armor and ruin something. Before I make any adjustments to the legs I would want to make sure I have the calves the right way around. Using other WTF builds as reference, I think they are correct but this is my first build so anything is possible. The TD does need to come down, i may have to remake the brackets but I will see what i can do with them... Will update again when I have made progress. It's challenging to build in isolation, I did it post pandemic and it was thanks to this group that I got through it. :) We're all part of the same nutty but helpful family. I think it's very close with just a few details that may just be based on opinion and photo angles. I totally hear you about the trimming. I was terrified of the first few cuts and eventually got more comfortable with the idea. Measure thrice and cut once. You can always go back and trim the return edges later if you want to be conservative at first. I have not done a heat bath, but if the pieces seems strong enough, you may be able to bend them to your liking. Yes, please get consensus about the legs before you make a change based on my observation. I don't own this kit so someone else may have better knowledge of it. Same for the TD. It just seemed a little high to me, but your local garrison GML may say otherwise. Good luck. It's a process. Quote
Blix[TK] Posted December 21, 2025 Author Report Posted December 21, 2025 So I looked around at different WTF builds and could not find a picture that I could definitively say the shins were one way or the other.. so I took them apart... As the risk of this turning into more of a build thread, what pair on which side make sense? I think the top two and bottom two go together, and the top is the right, bottom is left with the knee plate. If that is correct, i had them the wrong way around but in the correct pair. Thanks for the feedback... I will work on the paint some more in the mean time... Quote
TikiTechie[TK] Posted December 21, 2025 Report Posted December 21, 2025 I think that's the maddening part with the shins is that they don't seem to be right no matter which way they go. :) I hope I didn't lead you astray, that was just an observation. My gut instinct is saying that the bottom outer edge is slightly longer than inside. It's subtle but it seemed like one side was slightly more bulge-y to accommodate the calf muscle. The CRL for the ANH Stunt also looks a little off to me, but the Hero version looked more like what I'd expect. And it may be due to the maker or just a fitting thing. Best to check with your garrison GML. Nothing wrong with a build thread. :) Quote
Blix[TK] Posted December 21, 2025 Author Report Posted December 21, 2025 So I was pretty sure they were backwards and taking the knee plate off lead to taking the shins apart so here i am... just double checking everything is correct before putting it back together... Did some work on the paint and teeth look better and trimmed up the tears and traps so they are clean... Have to move the left ear down next. The shoulder straps are now curved over so they hook down. Once I have the shins rebuilt I will do another suit up and post more picks. 1 Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted December 21, 2025 Report Posted December 21, 2025 Conversation in this thread about which parts mate with which Sha Sha also has some information in her build thread Christine also mentions the WTF shins in her build thread 1 Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted December 21, 2025 Report Posted December 21, 2025 These images may also help, note the larger curve on the outsides 1 Quote
Blix[TK] Posted December 29, 2025 Author Report Posted December 29, 2025 So i looked through the threads above and anything else I could find for a WTF build but my shins do not seem to match up the same. Not sure why that is but i think I see what I should be looking for. The outer curve is longer and more gradual, while the inside is shorter and has a bit of a reverse curve above the ankle. 1 Quote
Blix[TK] Posted January 10 Author Report Posted January 10 On 12/20/2025 at 10:25 PM, TikiTechie said: I think that's the maddening part with the shins is that they don't seem to be right no matter which way they go. :) I hope I didn't lead you astray, that was just an observation. My gut instinct is saying that the bottom outer edge is slightly longer than inside. It's subtle but it seemed like one side was slightly more bulge-y to accommodate the calf muscle. The CRL for the ANH Stunt also looks a little off to me, but the Hero version looked more like what I'd expect. And it may be due to the maker or just a fitting thing. Best to check with your garrison GML. Nothing wrong with a build thread. :) I have been looking around various places, the 501 main page, the local garrison page, and here but I not see any way to contact my GML or if there is a general process for going so. Can someone give me some hint as to how to do this? Thanks Quote
Sly11[Admin] Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 Generally, most Garrisons have a staffing list and titles to help you find the right person. Your local forums should have a place for costume approvals which is monitored by your GML so that may be where you will find a post from them. Once you know their forum name, you should be able to DM them through your forums, hopefully. Alternatively, your garrison might have a member's only FB account or general FB group that you can ask in. Quote
TikiTechie[TK] Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 (edited) This is the NE Garrison Listing https://www.501neg.com/roster/ I haven't joined the forum there, but if you do, I would imagine there is a Topic on getting approvals. I think it's just trying to figure out that first contact is confusing as there are multiple sites, this is the 501st one for your garrison. https://www.501st.com/members/garrisonroster.php?garrisonId=16 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/501neg I'm not sure if that's helpful or not. Edited January 11 by TikiTechie Quote
Blix[TK] Posted January 17 Author Report Posted January 17 I was able to DM some of the GMLs on this forum. Hopefully i can get my account sorted out on the garrison forums soon. Thanks. 1 Quote
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