pandatrooper

I'm there. I've been waiting something like 10 years for this

I think Macbook pro is rated at 7 hours (power on but processor doing nothing).

You can get anti-virus software for the Mac for sure. But almost no one I know (everyday users, designers, audio artists, video editors) most do not use any anti-virus. The community is much smaller compared to PC users.

What?!? She's totally there, dude!!! LOL *note: obviously, this is a joke. So don't send this picture out spreading rumors...

Being a Mac user since 1988, I'm a bit biased, but I'll lay it out for you. I've owned 3 macs since '88. I had an Ibook laptop that lasted 10 years with no problems. 10 years is pretty good performance / reliability for a laptop that went everywhere and was dropped twice! With that laptop finally dying, I bought a new Mac Mini / tablet this past summer for design work at home. Flawless so far (knock on wood). My wife (special needs school teacher) has been a "I'm a PC" user for years. What's been happening the last month? Every day I come home after work, and she's on my Mac because: - her desktop Dell PC is too slow (it's 3 years old and takes 10 minutes to start up), performance is dead slow - her HP lap top internet access is too slow - her work laptop is a junk So I got her an early christmas present and bought her a new Macbook pro. She's fully converted, happy, gets the performance she needs. Not to mention every 5 minutes she's like "I didn't know I could do this on a Mac! What a great idea! I have a that new OS snow leopard right? Can your Mac do this?". Some caveats for sure about Macs: - No viruses (none really that make any impact) - don't bother with Office on Mac, it sucks, it's a waste of money, and buggy - If you buy a Mac, get Iwork and use Pages and Numbers for word processing and Excel / spreadsheet work. You can export them into .doc and XL formats If you're going to get a Macbook pro, get the latest one possible. The better the processor / memory, the better. Make sure it has the latest OS as well. If it's an older model, consider the cost of a new one and compare.

I just took a look, I think it's the San Hill character Brian refers to and not Ventress. - The character standing at the landing platform doesn't have the Ventress outfit "chest and cleavage" design. The character has a solid colored torso, missing this key part. - The "loin cloth" that Ventress wears (hangs down in front of her belt with the artistic design) is not there - the shoulders seem wider than Ventress - the head seems a bit big (which makes me think it's San Hill)

Great photos! http://www.flickr.com/photos/40195501@N06/...57622598924063/

Looking awesome indeed! I think Corey mentioned he's going to be losing some weight when he's able to exercise more, so maybe he'll leave the sides for now, and see how they fit when he's a lean, mean trooping machine! Very nice, and very inspirational!! BTW: Corey, I didn't know you're the Imperial Arms saber guy! I just started getting into sabers too! (on TCSS forums).

Looks like an E-11, the image was recently updated I believe http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=7667 I agree with Vic, I'm not sure if there's something you could do to improve the thighs? The cuts are pretty severe / almost changing the shape. I'm sure the FISD admins would be able to provide final feedback, but I think it'd be good to eventually fix them. Great to see that everyone is pitching in with valuable feedback to help you head in the right direction!

I have a set of black / grey bubble lenses that I got off ebay. Horrendously overpriced but no one in our community was making bubble lenses at the time in black (personal choice), only in green. The ones off ebay are rather thick (3mm?), and almost impossible to see through. They say the area where you see through is flatter for less distortion, but that's really not the case. My plan is to use flat lenses for trooping and bubble lenses for photos, etc.. I find they are really hard to see through and the distortion can give me headaches.

Could you just rivet the inner loop (part that goes under the belt) to the belt. That way the loop part that is exposed doesn't have rivets visible, but you have the security of the inner part being riveted?

I don't think the shoulder bells matter that much with AP, considering that their shoulders, biceps and forearms are the same for left and right.

The Hengstler counter is the box on the left side, under the scope. You could cut this away with a Dremel and patch over the hole with some plastic piping / bondo, etc. and repaint it. Easy fix. For the rivets on the legs, I'm not sure why they need to be there on the ankles? The sides of the torso would look better with plastic shims ideally instead of fabric as Daetrin pointed out. Overall, you're heading in the right direction!

I think Joey might be referring to the area around the ankles / instep of the shin. Looks like there's rivets on the ankles and the middle strip? Also, I think for ESB - the blaster has no hengstler, correct?

Nomex is no more waterproof than cotton / fabric gloves. In fact, the leather palm will get soaked too! I would just get some cheap black rubber chemical gloves (which is what they used in the movies) and wear your thin cotton gloves or liners underneath for warmth. They will be 100% waterproof, better than any fabric could hope to be. I sometimes use some jogging glove liners that I got from one of those outdoor / camping / hiking high tech stores. They wick moisture, act a thin insulating layer and can be used under other gloves or alone. They're used for joggers, etc..

Personally, I like the hand plates to look like they have a little thickness. Here's mine

Just so everyone knows, I have asked VT to remove the photos of me in his auction and the reference to FISD. To further clarify, I am NOT VT. I do not make armor, nor do I sell armor, nor did I make the ebay listing or approve the use of my photos or the use of FISD / EIB in the ebay listing. Terry

Could it also be that the distance from the lenses to the wearers eyes was further apart on TK's than on Vader?

He's probably referring to me or Oiftanker, I believe he has a set as well. I have a set of his armor and I made EIB status after much work on the kit. I purchased from him directly, not on Ebay. Yes, you could build it to a high level of quality, but it will need a lot of extra work. You can review my build thread on FISD. I checked the Ebay listing and there's no mention of FISD EIB status on there, so it looks like that's removed. He does refer to it as being acceptable for 501st use. I did notice he used my personal photos, I think it would have been at least fair to ask my permission to use them? **BTW: this should be be in the Ebay armor forum

I think a Lite kit and a MRCE lid would go great together. Even if you did end up getting a lid like the one above, the colors of the lid won't match the Lite armor (as I described above).

I believe this is the same one. http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=9087

2 links for you Attaching hand plates ----- Garters -----

You might also want to look into RT Mod. He designed his armor for bigger troopers ---------

I think it’s a decent kit cost wise, but you do have to plan and do A LOT more work if you want it to look really good / screen accurate. I could have slapped mine together but I chose to take my time with every piece. Without a heat sealing iron and a heat gun, and Dremeling and sanding, things are NOT going to fit right – so be prepared for a big job if you’re picky like me. Just about every part needed significant modification, and I’m not talking about just Dremeling a corner or something. There’s parts that just don’t line up (one side of something will be inches off from the other) and they will require some serious surgery to fit. AP is probably like that too based on my research and understanding. The color is a cream almost beige color, it’s not white. So if you want “pure white” you’re not going to get that. The surface of the ABS is also not very shiny, you’d need to polish it a lot more. Durability wise, it’s good but there are some thin spots throughout. The lid is good, but the aerator sockets are very thin. The face and ear details are softer than other helmets I’ve seen. Parts of the kit come pre-trimmed, some parts don’t. I think in the end I would prefer to trim it myself. Where someone else makes cuts isn’t always where I would choose to make cuts. I would have left some extra material for safety and to allow for more manipulation with the heat iron / gun. The arm pieces are just like AP (you get the same shoulder bell, bicep and forearm for both sides). The left shin / ankle opening is MUCH smaller than the right side, you’ll need to compensate for that. The kit comes with 15mm shims for arms and 20mm for the legs. It really depends on how picky you are with screen accuracy, look, etc.. Quality wise, I’d say it’s better than FX for sure in terms of accuracy, but I think AP is still better in terms of color, shinyness, etc. Personally, I think it ranks slightly above ATA since it doesn’t need painting (and I’m personally not keen on the ATA helmet dome part and sharpness, but that’s just my opinion). I think there’s more choices available now that the new FX kits and other armorers like Tupperware TK are making kits more user friendly (eg: extending the plastic so that you don’t need shims, you just cut where you need to) and the parts look really good too. Even though I researched for quite some time, lurking on FISD for almost a year, etc. I think I rushed my decision a bit. I don't regret buying it at all, but with so many choices now I think you have lots of options. I also think it was good to build a kit and learn from the experience. In the future, I would like to get something different to suit my needs. I’m not trying to sway anyone in their decision, it’s up to you to decide what armor is right for you and your use. Do the research and pick what works for you. Don't get a "Brand X" kit just because someone says "It's awesome!". 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..)

Cut the entire barrel off about 1 inch before the "trigger" angled piece. Hopefully you can find a plastic pipe that's a similar diameter, this should be the length of your replacement barrel. Then use a smaller diameter pipe that will act as the "connector" about 2-3 inches long and glue it inside the blaster with the other half sticking out. Then glue your pipe to this connector. Drill the holes, etc.. and cut off things like the sight and other small bits from the original blaster and glue them on the pipe. Then paint it. Keep in mind this is just an idea, I haven't tried this myself, but I don't see why you couldn't do it. You just need to find piping of the right diameter.