pandatrooper

Yes, good point on the sanding details. I just do enough to give some "tooth" to the resin as I find the Doopys parts a bit glossy in finish. You can use E6000 on resin, just sand and spread the E6000 on both parts, let it set a bit, then join the parts and clamp.

I pretty much do the same thing. I sand with 400 grit, then assemble using CA glue or E6000 and screws / pinning. Wash with dish detergent, rinse with water & hang to dry. Never use a towel as they can leave lint. 2 coats of primer, then 2 undercoats of silver or bronze / gold, then top coat with satin black, then weathering. Always go with light coats in multiple passes rather than 1 heavy coat.

Nice work, I'm building a pipe kit too! Your build turned out great. I'll probably reference this build on the academy site too!

Thanks guys! Your support and help contributes greatly as well. I learn new stuff every day from all the great troopers here. Troopers helping troopers!

Looking very nice! You're far more dedicated than I am in terms of masking those vents / traps. I just brush paint them for that "hurry these to the set" look. Are you going to use the AP hand plates or the flexible ones?

Shipping it as "paintball accessories" helps.

Ditto. I use TK6294's AKER amp, and it's mounted via industrial velcro on the inside of the chest plate. Mic cord runs from the ear mounted mic, through the neckseal, under the bib, and plugs into the amp.

Sounds awesome! I'll be glad to be your first customer! (assuming it can be shipped to Canada!)

Will the tubes be cut / pre-drilled? If so, sign me up! My PVC blaster will be a second trooping one, but I'd love to make an aluminum tube one later down the road. That was always the plan, to make an "all metal" one. Let me know if you have any updates!

That's a great site! Thanks the link. It's cool guys, I've already started cutting up my 1.25" ABS, looks like it will work. Stay tuned for a PVC pipe blaster kit tutorial!

Good idea, but I think they will be quite flimsy after all the barrel holes are drilled as they are really thin.

I checked Home Depot and Rona, (canadian home improvement stores) and no 1.25" PVC. I actually don't mind using ABS as it's a little more hefty. I've sanded the outside of the pipe and the end cap fits, I'll probably go this way. I guess it's time to start another blaster project!

Oh, I should have thought of that. I just got your hand plates! Thanks, but that seems like a lot of effort. Plus I'd like to build it in the next few days for an upcoming troop. I might try and take some of the 1.25" ABS pipe and sand the outer diameter so that the back cap fits. I don't even think we have 1.25" PVC in Canada.

Just wondering what size PVC pipe people use in north America for Doopydoos PVC pipe blaster kit? http://www.doopydoos.com/stormtrooper-e-11-pipe-blaster-base-detailing-kit-2068-p.asp They suggest using 40mm PVC pipe, but that size isn’t available here. The closest we have is 1.25” PVC which is slightly bigger. I tried using 1.25” ABS (same outer size as 1.25” PVC, just thicker inside) and the end cap for the back wouldn’t fit. Has anyone else built one? If so, what did you use?

Get some curved lexan scissors from a hobby shop they're used for cutting RC car bodies.

Wow, I hadn't noticed! Thanks guys, glad you find my contributions helpful. Here's to another 1000!

Very interesting thread, and great job troopers that are doing their best to not only lose weight for the looks / costume fit, but to improve quality of life and health as well! Just a small personal plug, I know Wii Fit is being talked about a lot. But the fact is, it's not as consistent and effective as it could be. I work on EA Sports Active and EA Sports Active More Workouts, as well as the new ones on the way. It's an interactive fitness product for the Wii. We did a lot of independent testing and even have a personal trainers on staff to help us evaluate the effectiveness of our workouts and ability to burn calories. You will sweat, you will burn calories. The results speak for themselves, check out the videos and testimonials here. http://www.easportsactive.com/home.action If you guys are serious about using an interactive fitness product in addition to regular exercise and changing your diet and lifestyle, you should really consider EA Sports Active. There's lots of testimonials out there. In fact, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. If there are 3 troopers on this thread that are actively trying to lose weight and get fit, (Tiffanie, I'd like to make you one of them as you've posted lots of great info to help people) I will personally send you a copy of EA Sports Active for you to try. Some catches: - you must commit to a 6 week challenge that has approx 3 workouts a week - must be in conjunction with diet / lifestyle changes (eg: eliminate sugar, fat, alcohol, etc.) - you must post your results here Whether you reach your goal with EA Sports Active or not isn't the goal. I've found that all it takes sometimes is something like this to show people the benefits, and hopefully other lifestyle changes happen. Hopefully, you will find it effective (I think you will!). *BTW: No I do not get games for free, I have to pay for them just like everyone else.

Use a hair dryer / heat gun on low to warm up the tape / adhesive to remove it. You can soften up the residue and use a fresh piece of tape to quickly "tap" the area, and the soft adhesive will stick to the tape. the rest can be wiped off. Personally, I would not use WD40. It's a solvent for grease, not plastic. I use alcohol or Goo Gone for adhesive residue.

Congrats Matt! Nice work! Another Canadian makes EIB!

Glad you like it guys, hope you find it helpful and inspirational in that you can do a lot of stuff on top of a basic build. The AM kit is a great "canvas" to start from, and just by adding in some details or customizing for a better fit will yield a great build that's a lot of fun too! I'll be posting a review of the AM kit after I'm done, I've already got a few things that I would suggest as improvements should Tupperware TK decide to refine the armor later on. Jason: Stukatrooper developed the "heat seal iron" return edge trick, he posted a great tutorial here: http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2313&view=findpost&p=28829 I think I only have one edge left that I might do a return on (I'll probably need to cut the armpit area of the chest piece as it's way too wide for me). If I do it and decide to make a video, I'll post one up for you.

The ab buttons have been primered Painted the buttons using Humbrol colors 5 (grey) and 15 (dark blue) I cut a small piece of leftover ABS to create the side buttons panel. Tupperware TK says to just install the buttons straight on the ab, but I will glue this panel down to the small vertical button panel before installing the painted buttons. The AM shoulders are HUGE! Here's a comparison of my current screen lineage shoulders on the left, and on the right is a straight out of the box AM shoulder. The middle one, I heated up the shoulder and re-shaped it to try and match the screen look. I know AM is fan sculpted, but during the build I try to do little things to match the kit a little closer to the film look, at least in terms of proportions. While I was at it, I decided to cut an inch off the bottom since the AM was too long for me. The AM shoulder on the left is heated and narrowed, has an inch removed from the bottom, and a return edge added and first pass sanding. The one on the right has had an inch cut off. Again, I leave about 3/8" plastic on the end for doing the return edge. The arms took a few hours, but I made all the snap plates and glued them in, and sewed new velcro / elastics for assembly. Completed arms (sorry about the flash / no flash). Pretty happy with the results, much more tailored fit for me!

Glue the shoulder straps to the chest if you want screen accuracy, and then bend the straps with a heat gun (gentle heat, keep it moving) to conform to your body shape.

I wear a US 8.5 and I got a pair of 8's, they fit fine. The toes are a little long, so they accommodate for that half size. I was int he same boat as you and actually bought a pair of 8 and 9 to be sure. keep in mind that TK boots are a slightly narrow fit, but they will stretch as they are leather.

The AM armor is actually taller in length than the previous FX. When I compared the FX pieces to my AP derived armor, each piece is a half inch to an inch longer. They are wider too, but can be trimmed. I'm 5 foot 8 inches, and just under 150lbs and I've been able to trim it to fit in height and width so far. If you're in the lower budget range, I say go for ATA, and AM. Mid budget, go for AP and TE2 Higher budget, go for TM. All of them can be made to fit you. The original troopers were 150 lbs and around 5 foot 10, so you're not far off from that at all. It depends on your budget and intended use, there's lots of threads discussing the merits of various armor types.

Thanks Mason for the offer! I already disassembled and soldered up the Aker amp for this blaster. I used your tips from that other post I made asking about how to wire it up and it works, and it's LOUD! Just the way I like it! I already bought another Aker amp from Jim for trooping use, so I don't mind using this one for the blaster. Thanks again!