gazmosis

Moving this thread to general armor discussion.

Mine too! I wish Germain would buy me one!!!

The requirement states that it must be a box in box. A neatly trimmed piece of ABS sitting on a filler like foam looks nice, but is NOT an inner box as required

Some bang up work, brother!

Currently, there are no regulations regarding the attaching hardware. If you are shooting for Centurion, getting the correct slotted screws is suggested. They are available everywhere so why not?

Looks outstanding! Nice and even

You WILL be selling these!! You should consider other weapons! Sterlings, MG 42's Sandtrooper weapons.

You're good. The straps on the originals were brown or black

You look great brother! You should have no issues with your approval. I would look into connecting your kidney and ab plate at the side seams. This will raise up your kidney into its proper position eliminating that gap on your back between the back plate and kidney. Also, your shoulder bells could use a bit of an upward boost. The tops should come really close to touching the ribbed shoulder bridges.

ATA's are a bit shallow. That's just the way they are. Can't wait to see your upgrades!!

Congrats on your ATA kit, Christian!!! You seem to be scooting right along. Please keep in mind that there is not a sour soul in the FISD. We are here to provide guidance and suggestions to help EVERYONE in their quest for an incredible set of armor. However, sometimes guidance is given what to do, sometimes..it's what not to do. You have to see it as positive criticism. Helmet painting is a daunting task no matter who you are. I applaud you for giving it a go as you did. However, I know a few eyebrows were raised when you revealed your choice of materials. This is the first time I have seen acrylics used to paint the details on a helmet. Every helmet I have seen uses some brand of enamel model paints either Humbrol or Testors, or Model Masters, or Tamiya( I think that's how you spell it). Anyway, the finish should be a somewhat even and glossy result. To be honest, your finished areas look a little like tissue with almost no gloss whatsoever. Have a look at this thread:http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/8117-helmet-ab-paint-detail-reference-guide/ This will give you a reference guide to the proper paints that are most commonly used to achieve the right look. This here is what is most difficult to say. There is a difference between "hand painted look" and very choppy. the term "handpainted look" refers to lines that are slightly uneven, not laser straight. Paintwork with a little "character". The black outlines of your painted areas are in need of a little assistance. But first I would work on getting the correct paints. there are a couple approaches you could use in paintwork. You could place the templates you have onto the helmet and outline them with a pencil. Then cut your masking tape into small strips that you will be able to carefully place along the template lines. You will need to be creative when placing the upper corners because they have a curve. I have always placed tape across the corners and carefully trimmed this out with an exacto knife. When the gray dries, position new strips just outside the gray for your black outlines. This is more difficult in the tears because they are recessed. You can approach it the same way you did it as well, but the outer black lines need to be MUCH less choppy. If this is something too daunting (for many it is) you can outline/mask each area then paint it like you did. The tears and frown are something that is freehanded a lot. I would consider giving this another go. It's just paint. Thankfully, it is something that can be corrected without the fear of damaging the helmet. The last thing to remember is that the paintwork should be place within the recessed areas. Your temple trapezoid paint work on the left side (as you are looking at the helmet) looks like it goes beyond the raised area. Take your time with this. The helmet is the crown jewel and the focal point of what everyone looks at. We are here to help. Please remember that.

Well done! Unless it is a ROTJ suit or ANH hero, the lenses must be flat. Nice lid. Can't wait yo see pics of the rest!

I have nothing against spray painting if I am using my airbrush. With a can, there is no way to control the amount of paint that comes out with each push of the button. If you want to give it a go, by all means have at it! Just make sure you mask everything very well

Testors gloss gray in the bottle is 1138. What it is in the can I don't know. It's much less a pain to brush it than spray. You can still mask it.

It's right under your name...501st ID. Do not put it in 'Legion ID". That's different

great work so far, man!

Hey Brent: A very interesting combination pairing TM armor with an RS lid. Hey...best of both worlds, I guess!!! Anyway, thank you for your application for Expert infantry, Let's take a look at your armor. CRL and EIB Application Requirements: There is only one photo that is missing from the list and that is a close-up of your hovi tips. I know that RS doesn't supply bad tips but it's part of the process so if you can take and add that to the helmet section of your application it would be great. Thank you!. That, however, is not my concern. What IS my concern is the sniper plate on your left shin. Although a challenge, sniper knees are able to be wrestled into their proper position which is to follow the ridge t the top of the shin like this:Your seems to be leaning way far forward off the ridge but maybe it's just the camera angle but more than that, it seems to be attached with a rivet to the shin. Please provide a close-up shot of the top of your left shin to confirm or deny this. If in fact it is attached by a rivet, the rivet will need to be removed, the hole repaired with ABS paste, and the sniper glued into it's proper position. Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: This section is for suggestions that work toward the overall final appearance of your armor. Unless specifically stated, these suggestions will not affect your applications. I want to say that you have a great build here. You have a great general fit, your cover strips are proper, and it is built well. If I was to comment on anything, it would be that your forearms look a little big to me. TM forearms can be built to almost a second skin they are that well made. A bit of an opening needs to be left at the wrist for your hand, but even this can be reduced to a squeeze. It makes for a sleek, refined look of your arms. The other thing I noticed was the droop in the front of your belt. Your belt should fit tight against the ab and sit at the bottom of or even slightly overlapping the button plates. In this shot: It actually looks like it has come detached from your canvas belt. This is something I'd look into tightening up. Centurion Suggestions: If a Centurion application is in your future, There is a bit of work that will need to be done before that can be submitted. I'd best start from the top and work down: 1. Move the shoulder bells up slightly to come near if not touch the ribbed shoulder bridges 2. Although your placements are correct, the pop rivets on your left side need to be changed out for domed head split rivets and painted white. 3. You will need to provide a close-up photo to confirm or deny the use of seperate buttons on your ab plate. With the buttons molded into the ab button plate already, separate buttons are never necessary. These haven't been used since the days of the FX armor. 4. There should be a single split rivet on the bottom of the cod portion of your ab plate as well as two, inner facing male snaps on the crotch area of the butt plate. You can see both clearly on this archive picture. 5. As seen in this archive pic:The control panel of your thermal detonator should touch the tops of the metal belt clips. Your positioning on the main body is perfect, they just need to be moved a bit. If you wanted to add slot head. black screws for accuracy here, you could. 6. Your thigh pack on the lower, right thigh has two issues: First, it needs to be trimmed down above and below the boxes. There should be a minimal amount of belt showing above and below the boxes. Also, the attachment point needs to be in the upper corner of the belt. not the center. This picture will explain both points:The cap or speed rivet used should be painted white after installation. A split rivet can also be used here but NOT A POP RIVET!! Lastly, is your sniper plate on the knee but we will look at that when you post the pic for the above section. Every set of armor is a work of art in progress. With a little work, yours will be a masterpiece as well!!

Hey Andrew! Thank you for your application for EIB!! Let's take a look at your armor! CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required submission photos have been posted. Your armor contains all elements necessary to achieve Expert Infantry. With that said, I would like to congratulate and welcome you to EIB!!!! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: This section is used by myself and your fellow troopers for suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor, Unless specifically stated, these suggestions will not affect any application. There haven't been too many suggestions given because there aren't too many to give! You have a solid, detail oriented build that will serve you well into your trooping future. Care was taken to fit this to you. AM can be a very large armor on someone of your frame. You made it work well for you. Tim had mentioned your forearms and I think the tubular appearance was due to camera angle and not construction. The full body shots of your armor show a fine shape to your forearms so I wouldn't change anything here. I am sure you are pleased with your belt upgrade!! If you want, you could dab a little black paint on those thermal detonator screws but that's up to you. Centurion Suggestions: You have done many of the details that a person who intended on applying for Centurion would do. However, AM armor in this form cannot qualify for use in the Centurion program. Both the chest and back plates will need to be replaced before an application can be submitted. Hopefully you will follow up on this and we will see an application from you in the future. When you do make the upgrade, make sure you re-attach your shoulder bells so that they sit darn near touching the ribbed shoulder bridges. The next element that will need changing is the blaster. Your weapon must be totally based on the Sterling SMG and not the Hasbro toy (although your upgrade was cool!!) Hyperfirm, DVH, and Doopy Dos full and pipe kits are good places to start. Lastly, you will need to upgrade your handplates to painted rubber or flexible white handplates affixed to the back of your rubber gloves. Congratulations again on this fantastic armor! We hope to see your upgrades!!

If you like the overall appearance of your helmet the way you had it, I see there is already a hole you have drilled out. Just align the holes you already have and drill aconnecting hole between them. Like MArk said, there should already be this hole marked on the cap and face.

Great progress so far!!! There's light at the end of the tunnel!! The details on your helmet concern me. It looks like you used flat rather than gloss for the gray and black. If this is going to be an ANH helmet, you will need to only have 1 rank bar on the ear and it moved to the back of the rank area.

For the exception of 1&2, which look short, most look good. 4 is the one to defiantly avoid due to the side snap

They are properly sized. They do end up a little thick on the outside curve, but it's all good in the end

Not always true

Brilliant!