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Definitely! I’m trying to just think about it one step at a time. Looking at it as a whole is pretty over whelming lol. I have not talked to my local garrison. I will join them and see if they have any build nights coming up soon. Thanks for the help!

A couple of threads on the subject It can look daunting at first but if you've delve into RC or any plastic model kit building you will be just fine. There are plenty of great builds and people ready to lend a hand, we also have gallery areas full of references and sizing. Many have DDD (AM) armor and are very happy with it.

Awesome thanks guys! Been researching like a mad man and it looks like I’m narrowing things down!

Welcome Connor! As a 6'2" 275lb ANH TK, I can tell you that there is a lot to be said about finding the correct armor. I've built several kits, and all of them required a little something extra to fit me as the original actors (who most of these kit molds are based on) were all under 6' and about 170lbs. That said, just about all of them can be modified to fit anyone with a little bit of shimming and possible some abs paste. With that said, I will throw my suggestion out there to check out Dave's Darkside Depot on Facebook. Dave is the current maker of the AM kits, and these are designed for "bigger" troopers. He says he even built one for a 6'7" 300lb member. So there is some flexibility. I've used some of WTF's parts to improve my ATA kit, so I know that Walt makes some bigger parts as well. Anovos is IMHO best for someone closer to the original actors sizes. Best of luck to you on whatever you choose! We are here to provide as much assistance as we can. And I know that there are a lot of active members in SoCal, so be sure to get on their Garrison forums and FB pages. I'm sure they would be happy to provide additional assistance in a local manner! I look forward to seeing your build thread once you decide on the armor to buy!

Noted! I will definitely do that if I end up building the helmet. The helmet is the one thing I’m thinking I might not build. I was thinking I might have Dave build it and out the voice changer and fan in it and then I would paint it. Idk. The helmet does seem scary to build. But I really do like how nice the inside of the helmet looks when Dave puts all the electronics in it

Ok sounds good I am a machinest but when it comes to stuff I’m excited about like rc cars and now Star Wars costumes I am so excited to finish it and use it that I normally rush things and mess up. I just need to take this slow and just be patient

It's from the original 1977 Star Wars, the prefix for Stormtrooper call number. When Luke and Han are in disguise walking off the Falcaon, the commander in the control room asking why they are not responding to call "TK-421 why aren't you at your post?"

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I’ve been hard at work when time allowed. Bending the clips properly was indeed the next challenge for me. In one of my earliest posts, I had pre-drilled the screw holes in the strips before bending, and those points proved to be the weak points in the curve. You can see that the arc is sharper at those points: This strip, I screwed onto the sacrificial PVC pipe I used earlier, first with one screw at the end to hold it, then attempted to bend it by hand. This didn’t work great. Trying to keep it all square, plus having enough hand, or even clamp strength to get the bend, plus not knowing exactly how much arc to impose overall made all of the process awkward. The aluminum bar that I used was pretty stiff, maybe stiffer than typical for this? So after some noodling, I thought I’d make a jig that better imposed the required shape. I broke out the hole saw set and cut a semicircle in the edge of a 2x4. This would be the outer side of the arc. For the inner side, I cut off some of the PVC. Since the PVC is 2” inner diameter, 2.375” outer diameter, and the biggest hole saw in my set is 2.5,” this left 1/16” of radius for the strip - perfect! I had not initially seen @ukswrath's build thread. Looking through it, I was so impressed with the amount of detail and clear images. The approach to the TD build was easy for me to follow, so I decided to back up a bit and start over with the strips. Here is that post: I got the bars to length, drilled holes and rounded the corners on one end: Then worked each bar into the jig a little bit at a time until I got the angle I wanted: The curve is a bit smoother: Now to drill the holes in the tube. I marked everything as carefully as I could. The hole closest to the control panel, I drilled to 9/64”, which is what is recommended for #6 screws. For the other set of holes, I wanted to have a little bit of play just in case my marks were off, so I drilled those to 11/64”. The screws I got were not black. It was hard enough to find the right size to begin with. So I needed to hit the heads with black. After screwing them in, they will need a bit of touch-up where the screwdriver was in contact. Next was doing the rest of the bending on the clips. Tried to get a square bend on the first one. Then I flipped it over and increased the angle. A bit of bending by hand with spacer in place followed this, so I got to close to 180 degrees: Then on to a vice to take it the rest of the way: Fitting the clips and caps onto the tube was next: I think it turned out pretty well! Now, all I need to do is glue the cover on.

Here's the pics of the finished blaster rifle! from 3D print, sanding/bondo/primer/black basecoat/dark aluminum airbrush / black airbrush and scratching/weathering. The few metallic parts are graphite finished. Only M38 scope is brass finished as original part wear out coloring. I also took a picture with my current Sith trooper armor, while the other one is far from finished to give a feel of the size and handling. [url=https://ibb.co/yBNHrSn][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/yBNHrSn][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/d6RGjjk][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/KN4ccGK][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/VHpMqZ5][/url]

Awesome thanks so much! I appreciate all of the info. I’m definitely going to be doing a lot of research but I’m looking forward to finding what I think will be best for me and get to building

[55] Graeme's Run - Katy

I've had some parts drip, drip, drippin' over the last couple weeks... more to come soon.

Hey guys! My name is Connor. I’m k currently in SoCal. I’ve been looking into this the past couple days and I want to build a storm trooper, death trooper, or clone trooper costume. I have looked around a bit at storm trooper costumes and I’m just trying to figure out which one is right for me. (I’m 6 foot 4 inches 220pounds). I’m narrowing down my search a little to Anovos and WTF so far. But just trying to figure all of this out and see what is best for me. But looking forward to picking up a kit and start building.

Addressed page 2

Welcome to the FISD. Looks like you're off to a great start, good luck with your build.

Congratulations Seth

Would love to see Kanan in a TK! Can you get Ezra involved too?!

Thank you all for the quick response. I know it’s an unconventional request but you all have helped me a ton. I was hitting my head against a wall since everything I found was from like 2017.

I'm an IT guys, I don't do a lot of work with my hands. If you had told me 4 years ago that I would have built my own, plus 3 others and am currently working on 2 more, I would not have believed you. I still have issues with the Helmet, the ears are just something I can't seem to grasp. The first I had a lot of local garrison help, the next few only help with the helmets. The 2 I'm working on currently I'm taking all that I learned and trying to make them meet our EI levels. So don't be to worried about it. Lots of help here, and I'm sure your garrison will be able to help you as well. Biggest suggestion I can make is small cuts. If you have to cut it a couple of times, or sand it down some, it is a lot easier than adding it back on. You've got this! And we are all here to help.

Yeah I’m definitely going to build it man. I think I’m going to order my kit this week. I just need to start looking at a lot of build threads and watch alot of videos. I want it to come out as nice as it can. Thanks man!

The adage "one step at a time" applies here. Looking over a full kit can be overwhelming, especially if it is your first kit. Thinking about a kit in terms of its sections is helpful in giving you something smaller and seemingly more manageable to focus on. Conveniently, the Costume Reference Library (CRL; the document you will need to refer to when building to make sure you meet the 501st Legion's costuming requirements) for each stormtrooper is broken down into the different sections of each armor. As you bring more and more pieces to completion, you can then be a bit more confident when thinking how everything will come together. Have you reached out to your local garrison? In addition to the forum here, the folks in your local garrison can be super helpful in-person, and you may be able to join an armor party (a gathering to work on armor)! Southern California is split among two garrisons. The Imperial Sands Garrison covers San Diego County and Imperial County, while the Southern California Garrison covers the Los Angeles area and much of the rest of SoCal. Here are their websites: Imperial Sands Garrison: https://imperialsandsgarrison.com/our-garrison/ Southern California Garrison: https://southerncaliforniagarrison.com/home/

Hello Connor, welcome to the most fun and exciting hobby you will ever know. Imagine putting on your completed helmet for the first time, looking in the mirror and smiling from ear to ear, then grabbing your blaster and running through the house yelling pew pew pew. Great choice starting with the storm trooper. I also did my TK first and then did a death trooper. The death trooper was definitely a tougher and more technical build. Here at FISD, you have a great team of people that will help you to succeed. Never be shy to ask questions even if they seem silly. We all want you to succeed and look your best trooping for the 501st.

This is probably a stupid question but i see people using "TK" everywhere. What does TK stand for? Also i think i have narrowed my costume shopping down to daves dark side depot because im tall and i think his kit will be one of the few that will fit me. I have been watching some assembly videos and assembly seems over whelming as far as adjusting snap plates to the correct position and possibly shimming things. I really want to build one so i can get good at it and start other cool builds down the road but i just dont know if i am way in over my head trying to assemble one of these. i have done rc modeling quite a bit in my life but this just seems like next level. I dont know maybe i am over thinking this. I probably am lol.

@gmrhodes13 Sorry, my first time working to post images on a BB for a long time, there are an infinite numbers of ways to post. Now fixed!

Perhaps Alan Harris Alan Harris (born May 28, 1938 in Enfield, Middlesex, London, England; died January 25, 2020) was a British actor who played several roles in the Star Wars movies. Starting out as a model, Harris moved onto stage productions, and later motion pictures. For Star Wars, Harris' work was mainly behind the scenes; however, he has occasionally stepped in as an actor, notably portraying Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back. Harris has the rare distinction of appearing as different characters in all three films of the original Star Wars trilogy (as well as the first prequel, The Phantom Menace), as well as playing a Stormtrooper in all three films. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Alan_Harris

UPDATE: I will be updating this thread with the new imgur procedures on Saturday morning (if not before), so hang in there!

Hello! TK-41595 from the New England Garrison, requesting 501st access. Thank you! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=39869&costumeID=124

Congratulations!

Had an amazing time Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tomorrow, Sunday the 25th of February, at 15:00 GMT there'll be a meet-up in the Discord Video Chat. If you're interested in seeing a few familiar faces from the forums, chatting about Stormtroopers, Star Wars and FISD, and maybe even getting to know a few troopers, feel free to join! I'm looking forward to seeing you there! And don't worry if it doesn't work out this time, we're aiming to have this as a regular event with and will be having this at different times and dates in the future to allow everyone to join in.

Troop 20 - Chicago Wolves Star Wars Night (2/17/24)

Excited and happy to be part of this amazing Detachment.

Thank you!! I have never done a wet sand but keep reading that it’s the best! I’m also stoked to get my sand paper to last a little longer!! Thank you again and hopefully I’ll be able to post a meaningful update (and not just “I’m still sanding!”) in the near future!!

I have commented on threads that are MUCH older, lol. It never hurts to keep people aware of issues like this!