gazmosis

YES YES YES YES Thank you!!! Typically, I can tell if there is a "D" ring even without a straight on shot like you just provided. Please forgive me if I could not. And I wear my glasses when I do these!!!! Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS, Tom!!! Welcome to EIB!!!

The armor itself if built properly will be 501st acceptable. Almost any armor is 501st acceptable. But mostly it's how it is assembled that decides whether or not it is accepted.

Hey Rid: Thank you for your application for EIB!! Let's look at this awesome armor! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: Thank you for getting that action shot uploaded. Sometimes pics are left out but a review can still move forward. If an action shot is left out, you can't be entered into the database without it. ALL required pictures have been posted. Your armor meets all necessary requirements for EIB. Congrats on this awesome example of what AP can be taken to...and on receiving EIB!!! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: n this section, I will review observations made by your fellow troopers as well as by myself. These may lead to suggestions for improvements to the final look of your armor. If any of these improvement affect the outcome of any application, they will be specified in the above or below sections> Because it's worth mentioning again, bang up job on this armor. It was custom tailored for you and fits you to a tee!!! Solid seams and attention to detail are really the icing on this TK cake! YUM!! There was earlier mention of your thigh pack which Germain pointed out as nothing to be concerned about. Even if it was hanging totally down, it would only be mentioned to secure it a little higher and wouldn't affect any application because it is attached properly. If someone was to put a gun to my head about an adjustment/improvement it would be to your helmet frown. The vast majority of standard "Stunt" troopers had the paint extend up to then past the 5th tooth indent. I just like that look. Outstanding work! Centurion Suggestions: Centurion requires a much more detailed set of photos showing details not seen completely here. Although I try to note as much as I can, ultimate Centurion accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. It is obvious we are going to see a Centurion application from you. There are two changes I will ask you to make prior to applying. First is the tape on the back of your drop boxes. I don't care that you used this but because of the vast color difference, it really stands out when wrapped around the sides. Please either glue your elastic down or trim the tape so it doesn't show on the sides. Next are the male snaps on the butt plate crotch attachment.The correct hardware is something that has always been supported in Centurion applications. Pop rivets are not allowed, paper brads for side rivets...etc..... The only thing that ever gets let by is split rivets used to attach the thigh pack rather than speed rivets. This is because from the outside it looks the same. Here is the comparison: Before you apply, I'd like you to switch out the snap back so they look like male snap backs and not split rivets. Thank you for this outstanding bit of work!!! Congratulations!!!

Alright Tommy: We've put this off long enough so let's get to it!!! Thank you for applying for Expert infantry. Let's take a closer look at your armor! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: Thank you for your easy to follow and complete set of submission photos! Originally, this response was delayed to give you a chance to properly upgrade your blaster regarding the left (magazine) side and the removal of the lower most T-track row and replacing that with the proper vent holes. This has been done. However, in the concentration of the vent hole conversion and the mention of the counter placement (which I am not all that concerned about) there is one more aspect of the Hasbro conversion that I do not see to be EIB eligible. The "D" ring on the back of the butt cap. Although this picture is a real Sterling, the "D" ring conversion will look almost exactly like this when done: If it is there, please post a picture. There was another concern regarding the bicep straps on the shoulder bells. Those photos showing their presence have also been provided. Thank you. Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: In this section I will review observations made by your fellow troopers and myself. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor. If any suggestion affects any application, it will be listed separately in the above or below sections. Clint had mentioned a CRL quote and a concern regarding changes of it and how it pertains to the conversion of the Hasbro blaster to qualify for EIB. In a previous version of the CRL, the conversion items were listed in a wishy washy kind of way that some people interpreted as a suggestion rather than a requirement. This has since been changed to clarify that. As for the mention of the tube stripes, there is no set or required number of stripes. Just as long as they stay properly positioned, are in the right color, the curves facing the correct way and are 9 or more. Other than that, I really have nothing to add regarding your armor! You have a solid build and great attention to detail. The item regarding your blaster is the only issue I have at this time. Centurion Suggestions: Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. I try to point out all I can from what is seen but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. With the details as you have it, I would be surprised if a Centurion application is NOT in your future. There are a couple things to look at before applying. First is the need for a Sterling based blaster upgrade. You will need flexible/latex handplates You will need to incorporate the notch into the lower, front portion of the kidney. Although your back armor is Ok, the overlap onto your kidney will need to be adjusted. There should be no or so very little overlap in this area. It should just be a single seam. You WILL need to acquire a new chest. Lastly is just a slight adjustment of your shoulder bells to get them higher up. Its best to have very little to no gap between your shoulder bells and the shoulder bridges. Please contact me should you have any questions. Great work just get that blaster worked out and you are there!!

I post this every year but if it helps one person it's worth it. Summertime is OUR time. Big troops, big crowds, lots of kids, lots of chances to show off your hard work. With the hot weather, there are also lots of chances to be become quickly dehydrated and sick. Don't let this happen!! There is no greater cooling system than hydration. But drinking a crap ton of water is not the solution....it's how and when you drink it that is. Let's be clear here!!! We are talking about WATER! Not soda, not energy drinks, not juice. WATER...H2O. Leave the Gatorade in the cooler for after the troop. Proper hydration should begin a full day prior to a hot troop. Steady intake of water (8-16 oz. an hour) is fine. Too much water at one time can actually be harmful but a slow and steady intake will allow the body to properly absorb and distribute it until you are hydrated down to a CELLULAR level. Yes, you will be in the bathroom a lot. But when the pee is clear...you are there! Continue this until just before bedtime. On the day of your troop, avoid coffee and other caffeinated drinks that can dehydrate you. Your bathroom trips will have evened out overnight. Have one more bottle or serving of water before suiting up. Once in your suit, you will sweat. No matter what fans you have in your lid....you will sweat. THIS is your cooling system. If you are properly hydrated, you will have the fluids so that your body will adjust to the rise in temperature and cool itself properly. If not, your body will use the water in it twice as fast and without the proper reserves, you will risk not only dehydration but elevated internal temps, dizziness, and possible heat stroke. The long and short of it is be safe and smart this summer. We need out troopers vertical!!!!!

Hydration is the best cooling system. Water is cheap, and good for you.

The Kidney notch is a bit tall but not too bad. Keep going with the shoulder and belt adjustment, suit back up so we can see everything together and how your back and kidney look re-adjusted. Can't wait to see it!!

For basic approval, you don't even need a blaster. Your blaster will need to be black if you decide to carry a weapon. Only when you get into EIB(land) does your blaster need to meet any physical specifications.

One of the main issues that excludes it from Centurion is the fact that FX was designed to be built with overlap construction. All the two piece parts interlock with each other and have a molded cover strip to hide the seam where as the originals had the parts trimmed to but against each other with a TOTALLY separate cover strip positioned and glued to cover the seam. The next thing is in regards to the ab. The button plates in the front of the FX suit are molded into the part minus the ab buttons. The molds are wrong so even when the trooper buys the correct size of ab button (the BLACK buttons that come with the suit are gigantically inaccurate) they end up being positioned way too far apart. The proper ab button plates were a separate piece all together glued on. The buttons were molded into this piece and were painted. Without making this a 15 page manuscript, the remainder of the parts differ too much and are poorly sized compared to the originals. The armor was great for its time. IT was the foundation that made this Legion possible. It's molds were also sculpted based on stills on a VCR and from magazines. This is progress. If "good enough" was indeed good enough, we would still have computers that filled an entire room and cars would still have carburetors. Stormtroopers are no different from any other respected character in the Legion. Boba Fett's armor is different for each film...no one complains about that. If All Darth Vader helmets had a point in the middle dome and the triangle vent under the chin was all the same size it would be an outrage and change would be demanded. Why? Because that's not how it was in the films. Many of the armors we have here are still more accurate than FX but not perfect. Leniency with this character is vast. But any way you stack it, FX is still too far off.

That return edge point is for the biceps alone!!! Don;t apply that to your other parts

Yes, Please get your action shot uploaded. I cannot enter you into the database without it.

Hey there, Yessid! Thank you Very much for your application for Centurion. Let's look at your armor!! CRL and Centurion Application Requirements: All required submission photos have been posted. Thank you very much for all the upgrades you have done so far. There are a couple things that I would like you adjust that when done, will make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your armor. Forst, two things directly related to CRL requirements are the Kidney notch which I have circled on this screen used suit: This needs to be integrated into the kidney on both sides. The second thing is the overlap of your back onto the kidney. This goes beyond what I would consider minimal as stated in the CRL. Sometimes this is caused/solved with a snap adjustment at the shoulder bridge. But I noticed in your case that it might be caused at the back/kidney connection. Your straps connecting the two seem short causing the overlap before even wearing it.The topof the kidney and bottom of the back should rest directly against each other creating a single seam with minimal to no overlap. There are instances where I mention something that I would like to see corrected that is not necessarily on the CRL but differs too far from the original suits. The first thing is an easy adjustment and that is to eliminate the gaps you have between the shoulder bells and the shoulder bridges. There really should be no gap in this area and by a simple snap re-location on the shoulder strap itself will solve this. The second thing is you waist belt. The top of your belt assembly should be resting against or slightly overlapping the bottom edge of the button plates. The belt as you have it is causing a sag both in the front and the back. It is actually sagging MORE in your Centurion photo than in your EIB pic. Note the circled area I am referring to. As I mentioned in your EIB application, moving the snaps on your ab up a bit will sole the low belt position AND will probably cover up the lower rivet on the left side which should NOT be showing. Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: The little things you have done to this point have made a big difference including re-sizing your biceps, new thermal detonator clip screws, re-sizing your elastic on your drop boxes, and your side shims. I am sure with your talents, These small fixes will be no problem for you.

Thank you for these! I went back on the picture and went into photobucket to blow it up and still could not see them. This is why I asked. Once you get your blaster updated, I will also go over Clint's comment regarding the blaster and the tube stripe mention.

Alright, Joseph. Thank you for getting these up! The pauldron looks great as does the bicep straps. Thank you for providing the paint color. The reason why I asked is that the HWT backpack should stray away from anything resembling a light blue. In these shots: and here: the lighter color can easily be mistaken for light blue. I also know that in certain lights, gray can look like blue when photographed. There is no mistake when looking at the Battlefront shots like this one. That the lighter portions are gray. Thank you for your follow up and a great job in building your EIB approved HWT!!!!

AP, ATA, MTK, can all be fitted to slimmer trooper at a reasonable price.

This is the way the proper conversion should look for your blaster's left side. Can you also show a pic of the bicep straps that should be on the bottom of your shoulder bells? I will check back periodically for updates regarding your blaster.

ALRIGHT!! Great pics and thank you for getting these up so fast. No need to apologize! Every application is a chance to showcase the talent we have here in the FISD. We want to see all of it!! Let's look at your HWT! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required photos have been posted. I will need to get confirmation of a couple points before I put your EIB through. This confirmation is mainly due to the small photo size. First, I need to see a larger pic of your pauldron. These need to have the padded or "puffy" front and I need to make sure yours represents this. Next, I need to confirm the presence of the bicep straps on your shoulder bells...I can;t see them at all. Finally, I would like to know the color you used on the lighter portions of your backpack. Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: In this section, I will summarize comments and observations from myself and your fellow troopers. These observations go towards the overall final look of your armor and do not affect any application unless specifically noted. This is usually in the above and below sections. Great work on this!! I know you are going to love being called a Sandtrooper all the time!! Anyway, the good news here is that I don;t have a whole bunch to note and neither do your fellow troopers. I notice a little over rotation of your left forearm. Truthfully, I really don't feel that you overdid the weathering at all. Centurion Suggestions: Mainly, I'd like to see some larger full body shots. It's just too hard to observe/comment when the full details can't be seen. Although the comlink is indeed cool, I would like to see it removed for your Centurion shots if you are shooting for that. I know your belt snaps may not align properly, but for these new shots, what I'd like to see is for you to flip your belt over so the ANH holster rivet points don't show. By flipping the belt over, you can hide them under the hip pouch on the right hip. Although your back is fine, you know about the new chest needed. The return edge needs to be removed from the wrist area of the forearms I'd still like to see you remove a little from the tops of your kidney/ab to lower the height of your sides and bring those side rivets into better position. I look forward to seeing those confirmation pics!!! Thank you again for the application and great armor!!!

Hey Jospeh: Please go back and look at the EIB application photo checklist. Although you have been through an EIB application before, newer troopers do not know that. Every application must be treated separately with a complete set of pictures. You are missing several helmet pics as well as both sides of your DLT-19. In the future, it would be better to have larger, more detailed pics displaying your armor. Others will look at these pictures as examples of "how to do it". All your hard work should be shown off and easy to see!!

There is not inconvenience. The only bad question is the one not asked. There a few things that answer your questions regarding the RS commissioned suits. First off, RS builds their suits as close to the original suits as possible. The actual armor parts are glued together. The parts themselves are held together with elastic of correct dimensions that are glued or riveted to the inside of the suit with the hardware that replicates the ones used on the original suits. There are also elastic straps with snaps that connect certain parts to allow them to be worn and taken off with ease as well as stored and transported. Just because you order your suit from RS doesn;t mean you need to get their boots. Boots can be purchased separately and painted like the originals.

Aside from the many differences between the game and TD packs, the vertical pipe on the right side should not have the thermal detonator control panel. It should be more like the ribbed shoulder bridges.

------------ IT is a challenge to install these brackets on ATA because of the lack of return edge on critical parts like the kidney. But it can be done.

The front cover strips on the legs should be a bit less width wise. Typically, they are cut at 20 mm which is closer to 3/4 inch and the rear cover strips on the legs are 20-25mm or 1 inch. On your thighs, everything is glued. The halves do not need to separate as your foot can slide through when pointed. You calves will be glued in the front and left open in the back. The cover strip will be glued onto the outer half of the calf opening. The opening can be held together with velcro or small wire clips that hook through holes in the calf itself. There really is no room for snaps anywhere on the legs. The cover strips are just glued over the seams.

Alright, Chad: Thank you for your application to Expert Infantry and for letting us check out this awesome armor. Let's get to it! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required submission photos have been posted. Your armor contains all necessary requirements to qualify for EIB. With that, I would like to congratulate and welcome you to Expert Infantry!! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: This section is to summarize observations by myself and your fellow troopers. Suggestions might also be made to improve the overall look of your armor but unless specifically pointed out, will not affect any application. Those are usually in Centurion Suggestions. Great work on the proper mods for your blaster!! T-track removal and new holes for the lower row on the magazine side. Well done. Like I said, an overall great build. Fit's you nice as well. I would consider going back to the rank areas on your helmet ears and touch up the black so it closer matches the thin, black edging on the neighboring details. It will give your helmet a more balanced look. I believe we have covered your thermal detonator enough, but see below for one additional mention. I find it interesting that you switched the forearms from the way they are typically worn. Not wrong, just interesting. Centurion Suggestions: Although I try to see everything, Centurion applications require a more specific and detailed set of photos. These may reveal more than is seen here. The ultimate Centurion accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. It is obvious that Centurion is in your sights. A couple things to look into before you apply. A Sterling based blaster will be required, You'll appreciate the upgrade when you have it. I'd like to see your shoulder bells moved closer to the ribber shoulder bridges. I realize that you have the bicep hooks for the bell elastic. I'm not saying you need to remove this, I do believer that it is pulling the bells down. It is in no way wrong to have the vast majority of your bicep showing from beneath the shoulder bell. Try unhooking it for your Centurion pics and see if this allows them to move up closer and hook up for troops. The gap there needs to be reduced. Speaking of reducing things. The cover strips on your calf closures are huge. These should be, as Tony mentioned, a little closer to a max of 1 inch wide (25mm) I just don't see the need on your armor for them to be wider. You will also need to get some flexible/latex hand plates. Lasty, If you can get your new TD end caps before applying, GREAT!! If not, please include full body shots with the TD as you have repaired it moving the clips outward. Great work and congratulations again!!!!

Very good.....I will get to your full review tonight.

Hey Chad: Can you give me an update as to your search for new end caps for your Therm Det? They should be 20 mm (3/4 Inch) wide. Yours do look a bit on the thin side. If you have them coming, I will hold off till you have the new ones. If not, I would move the clips outward until you get your new caps then move them back to their original position. There used to be a measurement on the maximum allowed gap between the clips and caps (1/8 inch) 3+ mm but it was more accurate to have them right up against the caps. Your gap exceeds what I would consider "minimal". Let me know about your cap search or just move those clips temporarily for EIB purposes.