gazmosis

I actually have these in my helmet. Just make sure your hair is really short, you have tiny profile fans or both. Hair stops the blades

The only thing you would need to do is to make sure you paint any exposed white within the slats so they don't stand out.

Are we talking 5 foot even? If that's the case, without sugar coating anything, there are no TK armor sets designed for a trooper of that size. Like Andrew said, you can start with one of the smaller suits like AP but "smaller" here means circumference of parts. It is still designed for someone 5'8" -6'. You start getting below that, and parts will need to be cut and their length reduced.

Hey Simon! Thank you for your application for EIB! We don't get a chance to see too many sets of SDS armor, so let's look at yours!! There is a lot to cover here. In no way are we trying to beat you up. We are just making suggestions to provide you with the information should you decide that you want to take this armor to the next level. That said, let's get to it!! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: You have all required photos properly posted. Nicely done!!! You are one adjustment away from EIB. I am surprised that your GML missed this because it is really construction 101, but as Germain pointed out, your right calf closure has the inside overlapping the outside. The outer halves always overlap the inner halves. Make this adjustment and we can move forward with your badge! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: These are suggestions that go toward improving the overall look of your armor. These suggestions will NOT affect any application unless otherwise stated. Putting all the stories behind regarding this armor maker, you have a very good base set of armor. You have a very good and balanced fit. May I say also that your E-11 is splendid!!! What I would recommend is that you swap out the velcro on your strapping system to straps and snaps. There are far less "wardrobe malfunctions" and no ripping and crackling noises. I would also recommend building a garter system to hold up your thighs rather than the snaps on the inside of your ab. This will free up your movements and leave no possibility of your thighs coming undone from your armor. I have only one comment on the general construction and that is your plastic waist belt is a little wide. However, your canvas belt seems to be sized to this so fixing it at this point would be useless. Carry on!! Centurion Suggestions: ​This is the section that is really the separation between most armors available here and SDS. Most troopers who have Centurion in mind, build it following those guidelines right out of the box. Making adjustments, ad ons, and repairs after the fact is always most difficult. But if you intend on shooting for this accuracy badge, there is some work that will need to be done first. First and foremost is the overlap construction of your parts. This method was only used in the ROTJ armor which yours is not. It seems that the fronts of your thighs and shins have the correct butt joint/cover strip construction that should be followed on ALL your parts. The good news here is that looking at your parts, the overlap is excessive. this means it is very possible to trim this down to a single seam butt joint and top that seam with a cover strip. This is only possible based on whether or not you can get the halves apart. The last time I heard SDS was using a plastic melt/weld that fuses the parts together. You can probably contact them and ask their opinion of what you should do to get the halves apart. Should you have any questions regarding the correct construction procedures, look up the build threads and there should be around a million examples of this. You already have the correct gloves, now you need the flexible/latex hand guards You will need the hardware for along your side seams. The 6 split rivets on your left side: and the inward facing male snap on your right side: Note their positions and distances from the seam line. You will need the two, inward facing snaps on the crotch portion of the butt plate as well as the split rivet on the cod portion of the ab. The blue buttons on your ab button plates look added on. All the buttons here need to be originally molded into the plate then painted directly onto the raised buttons If you plan on tackling the cover strip challenge, keep in mind that the cover strips on your shin backs and thighs(fronts and backs) should only go UP TO and not exceed the ridges. You will need to trim the one cover strip on the front of your left thigh. This is an example of a thigh back with the proper strip placement: Your chest plate will need to altered slightly. Right now, the distinct upside down "U" shape of the bottom is just too similar to the old FX plate that needed upgrading. Here is what I am suggesting as a change here: It merely takes the end and curves it slightly to level it off and take away that "U" shape. IF you really wanted to be sneaky and put in a new return edge here you would be a rockstar!!! While we are on the subject of trimming things, a bit can be taken off both sides of your back: This will mess with your connecting strap here, but replacing the velcro with snaps is always a plus. You will need to change out the black straps that connect your chest and back with white elastic or webbing. The details on your helmet will either need to be hand painted or the "hand painted look" decals can be purchased from Trooperbay Laslty but not super high priority are the belt clips on your Thermal detonator. These should be 25-28 MM thin aluminum strips. Your screws are great. The clips need to be wider. Like I said, this can be last on your list. I know this sounds like a lot but we are here to support you should you decide to take on this challenge. If not and you are satisfied with EIB, make that calf closure change and we will celebrate that!!!

You could keep the bracket system for your back/kidney. I would just knock the return edge back a little bit. Just leave enough return edge to support the screw loop on the bracket. You don;t want to go too thin or the screw hole will create a weak spot.

Drools! Massive, wet huge drool puddle!!!! Just Wow!

Alright, Pete! Thank you for your application for Expert Infantry! You have a very nice set of armor accompanied by a nice build! Let's take a look at your armor!! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required submission photos have been posted. Very nicely done!!! Your armor meets all the requirements for EIB!! With that, I would like to congratulate and welcome you to Expert Infantry!!! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: This is the section where your fellow troopers and myself provide suggestions toward the overall look of your armor. Unless specifically stated, these suggestions will not affect any application! I want to start with your shoulders. They are sitting a distance from your ribbed shoulder bridges and should be right up close if not touching them. I believe there are two factors causing this the main one being your bicep hooks. Not everyone is built the same unfortunately. Some have longer this or shorter that. We have to adapt our armor to our bodies. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Although your bicep hooks are a nice touch and accurate with the "Han" suit, they are pulling your shoulders out of position at least on your right side. The second is that your shoulder bell to shoulder bridge straps are just too long. Try playing with these adjustments to bring them closer together. The next thing is your torso. I am trying to figure out if it is shimmed or if you have just left all extra material on your sides. Typically during fitting, the ab and kidney are placed together on the body and any overlap on the sides is marked off and trimmed. With your weight dimension at 210, I find it difficult to understand why you need any extra material at all. IT is just a suggestion, but some re-sizing here will give your torso a much more streamlined look and although it might be snug, it's a small price to pay. Something I also noticed was that you left all the unnecessary return edge at the top of your kidney. I like the incorporation of the original style brackets, but you really don't need any more than 3/8 inch of return edge to make those work. Reducing this may also help to bring your ab and kidney closer together. You may want to go back and remove some of the extra return edge off the sides of the chest. You have a LOT here that can be removed: Your belt had a bit of a droop in the front. This should be raised so that it sits up against or slightly above the bottom of the button plates. The last suggestion I have is in regards to your chest. It seems to look very uncomfortable and being pushed way up on your body. The on screen troopers had their chests, for the most part, resting right at that ridge line that extends up from the button plate. Yours is way above this. Compare the distance between the top of the button plate on your armor with these screen troopers. I think if you lengthened the elastic that joins the chest and ab and lowered your chest to about here:, It might improve function and may even bring your shoulder bells closer to the top. The last thing that I noticed that if you want to tackle is up to you, is the thickness of the ears on the helmet. Han's helmet ears were really thin as seen in this shot but maybe I'm just being picky. Centurion Suggestions: I would like to see your shoulders and belt brought up closer to the proper positions. Other than that, unless something shows up on your Centurion photos, I can't see anything that would hold you back! Congratulations again!!!!!

AWWWWWww!Thanks, Andrew!

no, it's not

What are you going to mate the hinge point to the pipe with? There's a lot of stress there! I have my doubts that glue will work here.

They can keep their "bapty" whatever. If I had one and let someone see it and they didn't know what Bapty was, they would say, " what the hell is this?" It was just one more example of the practical, yet somewhat insulting, lack of detail that went into the background TK's for a movie that wasn't supposed to make dollar 1.

Return edges really have nothing to do with wearability or approval. You are going to have a bit of return edge on almost every part for the exception of the wrist side of the forearms, the foot side of the shins and the chest side of the shoulder bells. The return edges were designed as a way to make the thin plastic armor parts look really thick. But they also provided a platform (on the torso parts) for the metal brackets that, when connected with loops of elastic, held the torso together. You can see the brackets and screws here: Using the metal brackets as the means of joining your torso parts is not a requirement. Find a happy medium with how much you leave. 1/4-3/8 inch is a good start. You don't want too much or it will start knifing into your body.

A pic of the eye cut out ridge

agreed and well stated, Eric

Can't wait to behold its glory!!!

Wow...just wow!

You have a lot more to trim out of the eye openings and teeth.

And your adventure begins!!

6 million dollar belt!!

Look at the rivet cover position and top to bottom width of the belt

These aren't so much done by measurement as just by visual eye. Look at your belt and where the belt boxes meet the flat portion is about where you want it trimmed down to. As for the rivet cover placement, it should not be centered, it should not really be right on the edge. Leave a mm or two between the edge and the cover.

Yes you are!

Looks good so far!

Oooh like Germain said, be careful with grinding metal that is attached to plastic. Intense heat will build immediately and will melt the plastic. I suggest a standard drill. A sharp bit and minimal pressure will remove enough material that you can pull apart the two halves with long nosed pliers.

You are correct about your lighting...help needed there! You can take a bit more off the bottom curve of your thigh pack that goes on the lower right thigh. Use the end cap of your thermal detonator to trace this. As for your sniper plate, it did look like it was just mis aligned on the right side.( looking at the shin) it us historically a difficult part to install. Many clamps needed here.