dougefresh

Great bucket, Shiv! Thanks for sharing pics; we don't see very many GFs here... nice stuff!

I dig it, Mark! GREAT detail in the cap-n-back! Whoa!

GO, Nate, GO!!! It's looking AWESOME. Can't wait to see it all put together!

Vern... The "swoop" in the shoulders refers to the ornamental ridge sculpted into the original ANH mould, not that angle at which the armor is worn, nor the curve of how it's trimmed or any other superficial/assembly characteristic. It's IN the part. The original suits had one shoulder bell where the ridge "swoops" backwards. AP kits don't have it. Both shoulders are identical. As are the biceps. ---- You can very clearly see both shoulders are the same in the AP kit. ----- And in the screen grab of Han's suit in ANH, you can easily see that one shoulder has a pronounced, evident swoop in the ridge. (Thanks, Tony, for the image) ------ These aren't subtle intricacies, visible only to people who own AP armor. They're clearly visible in photos. They're fairly obvious physical characteristics. Which is why SO many people have noted them in threads like these. AP kits DO reuse one half of one shin on both legs. ---------- AP DOES have the ROTJ overlap moulded into ALL the arm and leg pieces. Trust me, dude-- no one here is trying to advance misinformation, or suppress the truth from coming out, or pick on you.. But unless AP has made some HUGE modifications to his kit we're all unaware of, the stuff you've asserted here simply isn't correct.

It's OBSCENE, what that guy charges.

I think these guys make really nice rubber-cast ones: ------------ And if you seek "ItchyNuts", he makes amazing hand-made ones. Don't let the name throw ya' off. They're works of art.

You'd have to adapt this one quite a bit-- removing the "U" track, replacing it with "T" track, altering the front nozzle, removing the D ring from the side... etc., etc. I honestly think you'd be better off leaving this one as it is, and getting a separate ANH blaster altogether. It's a fantastic gun-- it's just not for the right movie. Why not use this as a perfect excuse to get a new ANH blaster and have TWO awesome props?

Bruce -- sweet blaster! I'd agree with Alex: looks to be an ROTJ one.

Yankie-- played with a horrible American accent by a guy from Bavaria. Pretty sure the whole nation of Scotland would love to punch James Doohan in the gut for doing such a terrible brogue on those shows. Almost as good as Sean Connery's Russian Navy skipper. "Uh... doesh the shubmarine captain have to be from Leningrad? Can't we shay he'sh from just outshide Edinburgh?"

Vern -- the overlap is a strictly ROTJ feature, if I'm not mistaken. The AP kit has the overlap moulded into the parts, because the armor was cast from an ROTJ suit. To emulate the ANH/ESB suits, you should trim AWAY the overlap seams, leaving only enough edge to accommodate the finishing strips. I made the same mistake when I put together my first GF -- I went for an ANH look, but I used the overlap. To my knowledge, this was incorrect. It won't keep you out of the 501st, or preclude you from EIB status at present, but it's not esthetically consistent with the suits in the first two movies. As I learned more, I came to understand that if I wanted to duplicate the construction method in ANH, I should have ditched the overlap altogether. Also, every reference photo I've ever seen shows the ANH and ESB stunt helmets with flat green acetate lenses. Only the hero helmets had the bubble lenses. Not to be contentious, but it does seem as though you're confusing ESB details with ROTJ details.

I love those photos. The resemblance is absolutely uncanny.

Hey, Eric -- I'm not really too thrilled with the neckseal I have now, and would like to replace it... does the TK-409 seal's material extend below the cut-out in the back plate? My gripe with the one I have now is that it's too short, and I have to tuck the "dickie" material into my undersuit..... and that sounded way more filthy that I intended it to. Eeeechhhh.

Vern- I'm right there with ya'. I think TM, AP and TE2 are among the very best there is. I think the reason you see more TM and TE2 banners and siggies around here, is because TM and TE2 themselves are around here. While AP makes a fantastic set of armor, and is a solid, reliable producer, he doesn't have the same kind of hands-on, day to day presence in the hobby that Paul and Mr. X have. I think the signatures and such are shown to celebrate the character and generosity of these two people just as much, if not more, than the armor they make. That said-- I don't really look at all this like it's some sort of contest. I mean, Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors for a reason. Everyone likes somethin' different. Heck, I have three sets of armor and 5 helmets in my house at the moment, and they're all from different makers. They all have their own individual quirks and personalities, and that's what makes it fun! I know my way around Photoshop pretty well-- if you want to send me a ri-rez pic of your AP, I'd be happy to make a signature for you.

My TM has 'em too. Kev (OSCS) makes the backs for the suits that don't include 'em. There's a run here somewhere. I bought a set for the ATA, and they fit perfect. Reportedly, they'll work with any TE-based kit.

Noel-- thanks for posting this up... I'm gonna go ESB as well, so now I can sit on my duff and just take notes from your thread. Mike's tutotrial suggests the Rustoleum "Painter's Touch" white sandable primer. I used it on my ATA helmet, and was very happy with it. Anrev in the Mountain Garrison makes a pretty sweet holster -- real leather; nice and thick. He offers them in ESB and ANH versions, even white for snowies. I'll send you a PM. Bernard makes nice holsters as well, but the material is a bit thinner, and I'm not certain if he does ESB/ROTJ ones. From everything I've seen and read, the holster is simply looped over the belt. As for belts -- I think Wyatt *might* still have an open run on his cargo strap ones. I haven't got one, but the pictures I've seen look like the REAL DEAL. If it's not the exact material as the film, it's pretty dang close. FireBladeJedi and GundamZepplin make awesome canvas belts... I have one of each, and they both rock. As for the other stuff... I've got my pen and paper handy so I can poach info. Thanks again for starting this thread-- I have a lot of the same questions you do, so I'll be following along with keen interest, if that's okay.