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The thing here is comparing Disney Parks FOTKs to Screen accurate FOTKs, Even the Kylo at the parks isn’t fully Screen accurate. The parks make their costumes to be wearable by many individuals and they don’t claim Screen accuracy as the 501st does. They just provide a fun atmosphere. Yes it’s better for ease, I for sure understand the issues with the yoke being one piece, but the other thing to remember is most of the armor in movies recently is urethane for flexibility and mobility. This is why they can go no seam no problem. That being said, I say no modifications to CRL just because vendors don’t meet the CRL standard. The accuracy is set forth by screen references that have been heavily scrutinized and as for now they stand as they are. Maybe some time in the future we get a new movie or show with a different version or so that will allow amendments to this, but for now the only arguments for the seam allowance are from a cartoon completely different character, a theme park, and a vendor. None of which are screen accurate or are a completely different screen version. I wish the seam was on screen costumes, because that was the most crackable part of the armor and I hated the repairs, but knowing it wasn’t I knew that it was a requirement that I needed to maintain with my armor. Honestly it also gives me pride knowing the armor I had was higher quality in accuracy than even Disney’s. The last thing I would also say is I don’t really see a true purpose to a “Disney Parks CRL” other than accommodating a single vendor style. The 501st aims for Screen Accuracy, not theme park accuracy, or some other type of accuracy. We aim for the source and that’s what makes our costumes really stand out. Sure seeing a Stormtrooper in general is cool, but there truly is a difference when the detail is accurate. I know we are talking about a seam, but if you give a mouse a cookie… Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Slowly working my way to shaping the eyes and teeth. need to trim more away and round the top right corner of the right eye and i have plenty of material there still to remove and accomplish this. Also allowed extra material on the teeth to further refine those. Sunday afternoon sun shines in making the helmet look cream in colour.

Hello and welcome aboard, I sprayed my armor with automotive acrylic paint by rattle cans, I guess you could use an airbrush but it would take you some time to cover all the armor. I was lucky the base white from automotive shop was the same shade as helmets from Anovos. I prefer automotive acrylic as it dries quickly, you can finish with a few gloss coats to protect and if you have any runs you can sand and polish. Here is what others have used (thanks to @ukswrath) One of many threads on paint

I’m close to finishing my ESB stormtrooper armor, so I can re join the UKG, been reading and learning from this forum and watching many utube videos on how to do it. just a shame I didn’t do it before I bought my armour! Made many mistakes in changing it, but nearly ready to re-join and submit it. To the armourer?! it’s been great fun and learning still! I need to be happy with it before I submit it. I’m happy to join this group now, to ask advice to get me past the goal! thanks in advance Agewills67

Another good call, thank you. I'm terrible with a sewing machine, but doubled up elastic with (probably overkill) velcro on the ends to keep it from spinning on the snap made it solid, but still flexible. One of the best things on this build so far. Very happy. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Did lots of work today: Forearms, biceps, shoulders, shoulder straps, calves (inside and outside), thighs (inside and outside), back plate, kidney plate, and butt plate. All cut. Very little to trim so I can start resizing and glueing. Gained a little confidence today lol

Keep trooping is the new name for Imperial Boots, they changed it as it's not just boots anymore. I have had mine since wave 4? I think it was, I find them very comfortable, well as far as Chelsea boots are comfortable one me anyway.

Nice work, Luciana! If you follow the "guidelines" when trimming you will have a lot of return edges. On some parts that is fine (and expected) but in some other areas more can be taken off. Example: On your bicep tops, removing the excess return edge (as shown) will help prevent them from digging into your arms during a troop, which can get mighty uncomfortable. Reference image You don't have to remove all of it. Some folks like the thicker look, but as seen in the reference image it's actually screen accurate to cut it down. If you decide to reduce/remove it, it's VERY important to do it before final fitting/gluing. If you glue everything together and then find it cuts into you, after taking off any excess you will find that the opening will be too large. This applies to many other areas as well, and I have a thread here that can help. Keep up the great work, and be sure to post lots more photos!

Hi Ed, A lot of information has been provided, but a few things that are realities of being a stormtrooper are vision is poor, not a lot a fixing there, but there are ways to make it better. I usually have just learned to look out on eye or the other and not straight on. Some troopers have mentioned they can see through the teeth a bit. Mobility is tough, but the nice thing is you can make some adjustments for leg mobility in the back of the armor. As others have mentioned, so that helps a bit. Glove wise, as a GML I’d recommend whatever you use in submission make sure it’s Rubber or Leather like material as noted in the CRL, but knowing how terrible rubber is to troop in all the time, most GMLs won’t mind if you had something like NOMEX gloves for the standard troop. Also if you intend for higher levels of approval you’ll want to make sure you note what is required before modifying anything so you don’t accidentally make a change that impedes progress there. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I always like to have some reference available when working on a project. As you can see on the monitor, i used our FISD Gallery to peruse several Hero helmets and look for the details I liked the best. Personally I find it a great way to start, specially when looking to mark out pencil trim lines. Here the teeth have had single holes drilled so I can get in there with the tip of the scalpel and trim enough out to then use the files. I do also sand the back of these areas, which on the inside of the face plate are high points. Just enough to make the material thinner and it makes your first cuts easier. This is slow and careful work of course. The other material you see the below image is excess material trimmed off from the sides of the face plate. Helpful hint: Keep your scraps of ABS, it may come in hand to do minor repairs on your armour or helmet build if you intend to troop in them. It can be used as backing reinforcement or trimmed into small scraps to make ABS past to repair potential cracks in thin areas or even the minor mishap during your build. Moving on to the eye sockets, you can drill a series of holes around the inside of the socket, making sure to stay away from your pencil marks. The idea is to use those marks as your safe zone, stay inside of them and that also give you the room to then replicate a specific look if you decide to base your build on a helmet seen on screen that you really like. Take note of the scalpel cuts and how they are purposely angled inwards away from the pencil lines. This prevents you slipping into an area you don't wish to cut/damage so always cut away from those surfaces. You will only cut into the material you are removing and feel much more confident in doing so. Trimmed with plenty of material left for shaping. I used the scalpel to shave away excess, and filed any sharp bits to get to this point. Once i get closer to my pencil lines it will be time to sand with 120 and 200 grit. When close to finishing I'll change to a fine grade paper.

Event: #161 Event Name: Kings Park St. Patrick's Day Parade Location: William T. Rogers Middle School - Kings Park, NY Date: 3/4/23

Update on the wrist return edges (trim down).

I know you aren't quite at that point yet, but I wanted to give you a heads-up on something.. The ABS that Dave uses has a UV resistant layer on the outside, meaning that the chances of it yellowing are next to zero (I have a set that is going on 8 years with no discoloration). The reason I bring this up is because it can affect your cover strips. Note that one side will have a smooth, glossy finish and the other has a similar but ever-so slightly scuffed finish (hold it up next to a light to see the surface). The shiny side is the one with the UV protective layer and should face outward, so keep this in mind when sizing/gluing. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Dum dum dummmmmmmmmmmmm. It's here! every piece was lovingly wrapped with foam ! Lots of packaging peanuts! You can tell DDD is a professional and loves his craft.. Now I need to get the wife to being use to having her Kitchen table occupied! That, my friends is no small task!

Hi welcome to FISD. I am sure you could air brush it, but really you're going to want something bigger. Spray cans are a perfectly acceptable option and can give great results with some care. Before painting do make sure you prepare the surface, a couple of people in my garrison had issues with pin holes that needed to be filled.

Exciting times ahead

Snaps and straps today. Getting ready to strap the upper body. I've been using Tandy Leather Line Snaps (matte black line 20) and Line 20 Snap Setter. Learned quickly that I needed enough material between the two snap pieces so the center post wouldn't lean while I was setting it. Doubled the thickness of my nylon for that reason, and I'm using thinker scraps of armor when I use those. I also learned to be mindful of not applying J&B near the center of the snaps. If too much is used, it oozes up and interferes with the inside of the snap. After making the male and female snaps, I tested them all before applying them to the pieces of armor. I'll be working on the chest and back next. Need to get it test fitted and marked up, and then I'll be setting the snaps for the shoulder straps. The T shaped nylon (picture above) will attach the back and chest and the perpendicular strap will attach to the shoulder armor. I saw a few other builds like that and I'm going to do the same. Thank you to all those that did this before me.

We have never dumbed down a CRL to suit one manufacturer, so to dumb down a CRL now because of one. Lets look at the optics on that, it could look like a spit in the eye for the 400 that came before, and I can't help but feel, that is not a great path to take. Everyone has had to do some form of filling work on FOTK's and DN is for cos players in general, no where is it stated 501st approved. Our CRL is what sets us apart from other costuming clubs who have a lesser standard than the Legion, start taking those elements away and we look the same. That indeed would be a shame for everyone that is already approved, took the time to make their costume fantastic and more accurate than the average punter. For us to then give a hall pass on a maker for their less than accurate cos play costume just seems like a drop in standards at the basic level. Building any set of armour is a challenge, you go into it doing your research and there are no surprises. As I mentioned earlier, ou want a CRL for Disney parks version and animated version, then we can certainly discuss how those would look, but they should not interfere with a CRL built around as seen on screen in the movies. Those seems are only cannon to a cartoon and a Disney parks costume and in reality, should be separate to Saga based as we have done in the past.

I have to ask why should the CRL be made easier, what's the argument to change, what is so difficult now that hadn't been for the past 8 years, we have over 400 FOTKs currently approved in the legion (not counting Phasma) who have met these standards. Is it because DN now makes their costumes this way, well actually NO it shouldn't be, we've always had a seam on the side of the ab and a seam on the yoke that had to be filled since the Alpha/Beta/Charlie's, albeit DN's is in a different place on the yoke compared to Anovos. So again why do we want to make the CRL easier now? The fact is, it is actually easier NOW to build a FOTK if you compare the new DN armor to the old Anovos there's far less work to do and you don't even have to paint "praise the maker", we had to fill extra seams, add extra pieces and fully paint the armor with Anovos kits, but now with DN you only have to add some ABS paste in a few seams, sand/polish and done "hallelujah" sign me up (oh wait no funds), we've also seen this quite successfully achieved on our forum. Not trying to be a douche but I just can't see a valid argument. What's next, it's too hot to troop, ok no more pants

Lets not confuse a cartoon TK with other CRL's. If someone wishes to build that costume then we can create a CRL for it like we did for the animated Rebels program. It looks vastly different in shape so elements from that design have no place in a as seen on screen live action costume. hence not the right comparison to make. Looking at the helmet alone, we see a few differences, no clips, different shape peaked chin, plus smooth under suit just to name a few. I'm sure someone can 3D design one that looks like the animated version so people can print it out and that should be a completely different discussion. Disney Parks armour is still not as seen on screen nor screen used or accurate to the movies of which Legion bases the bulk of their CRL's on. Again that could be a different CRL but would not fall under the main category of Saga like the movie based CRL's do.

Here is my opinion. And again this is just my opinion. I feel that the CRL should not be modified. As mentioned it is clear that the seams do not exist in the movies. There have been many approved FOTK troopers that have built their armor to current basic standards. We shouldn’t change things because this is how a vendor has decided to manufacture their costume. If someone wanted to build an animation version and a CRL is created using seams then that would be totally viable. I understand that many people are receiving this kit and it could bolster the FOTK ranks but they should still build it to current basic standards. There are many costumes in the legion that could have some basic standards changed to make them easier to get approved but I just don’t believe it means we should.

With my ANH Stunt build finally complete (though I still need to catch up on updating that thread) and approved to L3 I'm now turning my attention to the first of three conversions. First out of the gate will be the ESB variant since it will require the least amount of work, and my goal is to complete it to L3 standards. At this point I've acquired all the components needed and below is my conversion checklist. Helmet (using my raffle-won WTF bucket) Remedy brow trim height (lower) Strip all existing paint except on hovi tips Apply ESB decals from Trooperbay Re-sand and paint frown teeth black Touch up white hardware paint on ears, improve countersink holes Finesse ear fitment to face and cap (sanding) Sand hovi tips for clean white rim look (currently has black over-paint) Reinstall fallen-out hovi tip mesh (already proper wider variety) Armor/Other Convert ANH holster with tan straps to black looped ESB style New belt from Imperial Issue (Rob Kittell) to eliminate ANH holster screw holes New rubber gloves from Joseph (downsized to small from previous medium) Clamshell hand guards from Joseph (unsure of armor maker) ESB Hellhounds E-11 blaster (lacking hengstler counter and power cylinders) RESOURCES TK: ESB CRL Justin's Anovos ESB Conversion Luca's RS ESB Conversion ESB Expert Infantry Visual Checklist ESB Centurion Visual Checklist TheRascalKing's (Justin) Anovos Centurion submission CallMeMrTibbles (Richard) RWA Centurion submission Cleantrooper (Brett) TM Centurion submission giskard8 (Arthur) TM Centurion submission Table of Contents (links updated as posts completed) Introduction Post with Checklist and Resources Helmet Modifications Belt and Holster Conversion Clamshell Handguards Hellhounds E-11 Submission Photos

This won't end well, some may not understand why the costume may not be approved straight out of the box, although I'm sure a few will slip through with some GML's, I can just hear "but this guy got approved without making changes". Oh and yes I know this can happen with any makers armor. I'm still waiting to see the excerpts from their "professional Stormtrooper builders" and what experience those professionals have and to what standards do they build, costume, screen accuracy or club inclusion. "All together you should have enough to cover the essentials to start your build into the becoming a stormtrooper. In our next piece of this series, we are going to cover The Gotta Haves vs Nice to Haves - excerpts pulled from some professional Stormtrooper builders out there who have done and seen it all themselves!"