pandatrooper

I say ask him where he bought it from, that would be an interesting story. The helmets they used in the 90s for the Special edition scenes were refurbished ROTJ suits I believe. So it's highly unlikely this is one of those. In terms of promotion, I don't recall seeing LFL promo troopers in 1997 in theatres.

I used E6000. Sand and wash the parts first before assembly. Sanding both surfaces will provide more tooth for the glue to adhere to.

Yes, I believe they are. Some people choose to upgrade them to replica decals that look hand painted. Some people choose to hand paint the details. The decals that come with the kit are more than enough to meet 501st CRL guidelines.

I stand corrected! Great job.

Awesome, that's exactly what i was looking for. Thanks everyone! As an asides, what's with the "cheese grater" hand plates for Sandys? I don't recall seeing those in the films, are they canon?

That diagram is much better than mine! I never even knew it existed! That looks like the work of the great Stukatrooper no doubt.

Just out of curiosity, how is a TD sniper knee installed? All I see is the diamond itself, just wondering how it attaches to the shin. Thanks!

Just thought I’d write this up as a tip, a bunch of people have asked me for info on this. It’s not really a pet peeve of mine, I just think it looks better and it’s easy to do if you’re building your armor up for the first time. If you’re building up your shin armor “over lap” style” (one side of the shin overlaps the other, and attaches with Velcro). This applies whether the armor has built in ridges built in, or if you’re doing your build ANH style and using cover strips – and still utilizing Velcro to close the shins. The shins will look more seamless to someone looking at you (from the “outside”), if the open side of the overlap with Velcro faces to the “inside”. That way, the outside view is seamless, you just see the armor or cover strip glued to the back of the shin with no gaps. The inside will have the overlap and the Velcro slightly visible. This isn’t a big deal, but when you use Velcro – no matter how hard you press it down the hook and loop sides of the Velcro have a certain thickness to them, and increases the overlap of the armor. Positioning it to the inside makes it slightly hidden, that way you’re always facing your “best side” outwards. Enjoy. ----------

No problem. Size / width of those strips may vary depending on your build / body type, but those sizes are the most common. Leg strips are also sometimes 25mm. Really, you just cut them to suit your needs.

Do you mean A New hope style cover strips? The go on the front and back of the biceps, forearms, thighs and shins. Arms are usually 15mm wide, legs are 20mm.

Have a great time Brian! The fans are in for a special treat indeed.

No problem, always glad to help. Looks good so far! Make sure to post some bigger pics (host them on Photobucket or something) so that we can see the progress and provide feedback along the way. All these AM builds makes me want to get one!

Very true. I've got a smaller noggin, so on my other lid I trimmed the cap brow a little higher, so that the face sits up slightly more, so that the chin doesn't hit my chest as much. This makes it "smaller". I can see that if you did the higher brow look, and angled it out slightly, it would look and fit slightly bigger too.

They're very close for sizing. they are slightly narrower in fit / shape, so if you have wide feet it will be snug, or you may want to go a size up.

I believe Doopys makes them. You can contact them, they could probably sell you some separately from the pipe kit. They're pretty easy to scratch build in a pinch, you just need round tube styrene stock from a hobby store, a larger diameter to go over those or use plastic end caps from a hardware store, then bend a sheet of 2mm styrene for the bracket. Run some wires off the ends. There's some pretty good reference on the web. I think they were old vacuum tubes or fuses, the same ones on the mouse droid.

Stephen, I think you've actually got it pretty close. As Stuka said, there's not much need to cut more. The screws should pull it together with minimal gap.

The mismatch in contour between the front and back isn't a huge deal since the ears cover the transition. When you're cutting out the ears, do NOT follow the lines. 2mm is not enough room to leave for adjustments IMO. if done properly, you shouldn't need to heat gun anything. Here's what I did on mine (I have built 2 lids so far with the same process with good results): - take an ear piece and draw a circular pencil line around the round upper ear section. What I did was I drew the line around the “flat” part of the round, past the radius edge so that you have extra material. Yes, this will make the round part more thick / stick out more, but you’re leaving this as a safety margin. Cut along this guide line, you can slim it down later. - cut a section out where the cheek tubes are, but leave tons of room. Again, 2mm is not enough. - place the ear on the side of the lid, of course it’s not going to fit. But right away, you’ll know where to trim next. This is usually the transition from the ear stem to the “stork” section as you call it. Trim this a little at a time. - the next section is the end or bottom of the ear piece (near the opening of the helmet). Trim this down. - Now it’s closer to fitting, but still sticks out. This is when I start taking a pencil and begin marking sections that I need to trim off. At this point, I can trim the round section a bit more. I also make a “notch” in the round section, so that the edge of the back fits into the notch. - keep making marks, keep trimming. I use a combination of curved RC car body trimming scissors and a Dremel with a round sanding drum - keep trimming (this usually takes me a good hour to hour and a half per side. I prefer to leave no gaps if possible. - once it fits really good, I sand the edges to take out any rough marks left by scissors or the Dremel. - drill the holes in the ears first, then line up the ear piece on the lid. Then I drill the first (upper) hole in the lid. Using the ear piece and the hole you just made as a guide, drill through the helmet. - insert the top screw / bolt (this keeps the ear in place), then proceed to drilling the other holes on the lid. I try to press down on the ear so that it lines up where I want to when the screws are holding it together. This will minimize the gaps even further. Hope that helps. Maybe one day I’ll make a tutorial for this.

Here's some armor tips I wrote a while back, these might help in making your decision. ==================== Selecting armor: If I have any advice for people wanting to build a TK, I would really research what YOU want to DO with your TK based on a checklist, and evaluate which armorers supply what you need. *if this is helpful, maybe this can even be a checklist stickied somewhere? Eg: How screen accurate do you want your TK to be? How sharp do the details need to be? (100% screen accurate / EIB status, needs to look good, or needs to be recognizable as a “Stormtrooper”, needs to be acceptable in the 501st?) Do you plan to troop heavily in your TK? This may help you decide on what plastic would be suitable (constant use, mild trooping, display only) Do you intend on painting your TK? Are you prepared to sand, clean, prep, mask, primer, paint, etc.? Have you considered the cost of materials / having the right facility to paint your TK? (cost of paint, sandpaper, masking, respirator / fabric mask) Does the TK come trimmed? Will this save you time or cost you headaches? Is this worth the cost to you? Are you ready to do more detailed work like heating and bending plastic that doesn’t fit? (using a heat gun, heat sealing iron, Dremel, sanding, polishing?) Will you need to add shims to make the TK fit your body type? (you need extra plastic, and will need to cut, Dremel, heat, sand, etc..) Does the “Body” armor come with everything you need? (few come with everything you need – things like elastic, webbing, buckles, rivets, Velcro, glue, etc..) Does the helmet come with everything you need? (lenses, mic tips, stickers, rubber trim, etc..) What tools will you need? I found that having most of the tools already saved me a lot of headache. (Dremel, rivet gun, heat gun, heat sealing iron, glue, tape, clamps, etc..)

Nice work, clean lid!

You might want to compare the AP size specs to the holster template that's on FISD (you can search for it, I just bumped it a while ago). I think that one is more screen accurate in terms of size. Ideally, you want the side magazine to rest on the outside "edge" of the holster, and the barrel should extend to the bottom, but you shouldn't be able to see like several inches of the barrel sticking out.

I believe unstitched is more accurate. A Hasbro will fit just fine.

If you're comfortable wearing a balaclava, then I say rock the lid with no mesh. Looks like the movies and keeps the illusion up. I personally just think it looks odd if you look into the teeth holes and see "white" inside the helmet at certain angles, but if you're wearing a balaclava it should work. Plus I don't think there's any 501st CRL or EIB requirements regarding mesh.

You may get slightly more flow without mesh, (very minor, I didn't notice a difference as mine is removable) but that balaclava is going to reduce the airflow even more compared to mesh / no balaclava because its covering your mouth or mouth and nose. Personally, I find that wearing balaclavas inside helmets and costumes is more uncomfortable than without. I find there's more fogging which could be an issue with lenses.

Hope that helps

A super easy way to fix this (for your speedy application) is: - get the plastic you need. - cut it to the right size (say 5" wider than the gap you want to cover) - apply 2.5" of industrial hook velcro on the outside facing ends of the shim - apply loop velcro on the inside of your ab / kidney - press the pieces together and you're done This setup is still "troopable" in that it's sturdy enough and removable if necessary. The velcro allows for size adjustments easily. Take the pictures and apply for your EIB. When you have some more time, heat up the ab sections of velcro on the left side and remove, add on the rivets if you want that look. Or if you want something permanent, glue the shim onto the kidney and leave the velcro in the front for easy on / off. Sturdy and ready to rock!