Nagedzi

If you're going Hero, there is no better neck seal than Veedox's. Full bib and looks great when the bucket's off. I often get compliments on mine from fellow troopers.

This is my chipper ESB. I'll be using the same techniques--just trying to screen match it to the main MNS on Tantive IV. This one I mostly the copied the placement of the chips from someone else on FISD (I forget who at the moment) because I thought it looked convincing. There are some great reference shots of the left hand side of the bucket so that should be pretty straightforward. I'll just have to improvise on the areas not seen on film. There's a good size chunk missing on the top right side of MNS so that should be pretty cool. Very Gorbachev-esque.

I had the ears cut and positioned with no gap at first. Maybe some of my best fitting ears I've ever done. I'll tell you, it was hard to intentionally cut deeper and deeper to create the gaps. I'm glad I did as it definitely gives it a different feeling, though. More battle worn or something. Next to add the khaki colour....

Take a look at this thread and you can see pictures of it painted and taken apart: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28514-new-official-e-11-blaster/

You don't need a blaster for basic approval.... If you do plan to include it in approval pics, in my opinion, it can pass if you fill in the holes and paint it black. The CRL states (level 1): Based on a real or replica Sterling sub-machine gun, scratch-built, or a modified commercial toy Stormtrooper blaster. This CRL was written well before this toy blaster came out and is directed, I think, more at the Hasbro than anything else. The only thing it is really missing is the power cylinders. Unlike the Hasbro which is missing the clip, a proper counter and accurately shaped scope, the Rubies is pretty close in all those details. The T-tracks are little weird, though. It would need more significant modifications for level 2, though. I'm not sure if it would fit an Arduino board or not, as I've not dealt with them before. I have 3 Rubies that I'm building up to different levels but haven't done anything to them yet. In the long run, it would make more sense to put an electronics kit in a pipe build because it would simply be better at all levels. Unless you wanted to do it more as a proof of concept.

I'll be joining you in the way of MNS. I'm just trying to get the teeth and ear gaps close before adding chippy goodness....

Cool...I did not know that!

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but I was kind of shocked. I did a quick search and came across a whole bunch of SDS gear on Amazon.ca. Now don't get me wrong, I would never purchase his stuff personally or recommend it to anyone (for a whole slew of reasons), but I was very surprised to see it so readily available. The "Battle Spec" helmet is $337.99 CDN with free shipping. You can even get 2-day shipping on it if you have PRIME. I suspect this isn't available in the States, though, with their embargo on Ainsworth gear. Now I only wish TM or RS could be ordered and delivered in a 2-day window....

I went down to my studio and removed the counter for you to take a pic. It's certainly fixable with some bondo and correcting of the scope rail line....

I rounded the edge on mine, but when I built my brother's I was less picky and just did 45s on the ends. As long as you make it less likely to snag on anything, you're good.

Yes, it can be removed. I didn't do it, but if you unscrew those two inner screws it should be no problem. It would leave a mortise-like slot that would need to be filled. You could then leave it off for a budget ESB or filming-damaged ANH.

I assume that's on the ROTJ set by the looks of the torso armour on the table. It doesn't look weathered enough for the SE shots, does it?

Personally, I would avoid buying any FX armour. It's not a ridiculous price for built armour, it's just that at this point in our hobby there are loads of better vendors out there. Armour from any of the approved vendors would be significantly more accurate than this one.

In the Star Wars Helmets link, you can see the decals right next to the painted ear detail in order to compare the two colours. I would say the sticker grey colour is a little cooler than the paint, but not exactly blue.

Look here to reference screen-used helmets and the colour of the stickers: http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-ESB-stormtrooper-armor-helmets.htm

Just remember that the traps, tears and tube stripes on ESB helmets are stickers. They are not painted on. Maybe see if the vendor you bought your kit from has a sticker set?

On a side note, check out MNS' ab buttons in this shot. His stunt work must taken its toll. The ammo pack flops around quite a bit in this scene, too. I think SFS's squib-loaded chest armour shares a lot in common with Bilbo's sword, Sting. It glows blue when the enemy is near. LOL

I forgot to include the 11th scene where MNS is bumbling through the breach in the detention block wall, too. I think it's a 4-tooth as the stunt scenes tend to use that one.

I'd like to hear from the stunt man who had an affinity for MNS on why he often chose that lid (would he still be 'around'?). I don't think choosing MNS is a pure random grab, either. I've heard (maybe in this thread?) that stunt men's outfits will often have a distinguishing feature for the Director and crew to easily find him. Makes sense to me. What I find interesting is that besides all the stunt work, he was given such an important role in the film. Close up, speaking part and the only TK to shoot a hero. Surely they had other helmets--even hero helmets--that could have been used? I guess because a squib explosion was going off they wanted only stunt men in frame and that one guy got to choose his lucky bucket?

I'm working on a chipper version of Mr No Stripes so I've once again started to peruse screenshots for good reference pics. When MNS is "stunning" Leia there are a couple of good shots of his left side so I can replicate the tear stripes and chips on that side. There are very few good shots of his right however. So my research began again.... I wanted to get a good look at MNS during the open the blast doors scenes but there weren't any great/non-blurry shots of "him" online. I took out my handy dandy Blu-Ray and went frame by frame (as us crazy fans are apt to do). I don't have a Blu-ray in my computer so I had to snap it from the screen with a camera (sorry for the poor quality). Looking at this confirmed to me that it is very likely that two different Mr No Stripes buckets appear in ANH. In the first shot above on Tantive IV, the MNS has four teeth cut into the left hand side and I'm pretty sure on the right, as well. The shot below shows that there are only three teeth cut out on each side in that MNS. We all know that the film was shot out of order so it is conceivable that the teeth could have been cut before the Tantive scene. It is known that one of the stuntmen wore MNS a lot. In fact, it is probable that it was "his" bucket on set. Maybe he wanted to expand the quantity and number of holes to aid in breathing/vision? Who knows? What's not super clear in the lower shot are the chips surrounding the mic tips/vocoder (they were visible on TV). On looking at each and every chip, it was hard to find one that matched up with any of the chips on the Tantive MNS. Another thing that I noticed is that the 3-tooth MNS' mic tips look installed at a normal angle. The 4-tooth on the other hand are installed at an extreme angle--particularly the left. So I think we see 2 different MNS throughout the movie. The scenes that I see them in are: 1) "Set for stun" scene--4-tooth (as above) 2) Guarding outside of the MF while officer talks to Vader--4-tooth at the bottom of the ramp 3) Behind Vader in the same scene (second row)--3-tooth (I think) 4) Walking through the MF with a DLT-19--4-tooth 5) Marching through hallways--3-tooth 6) Han's encounter with mass number of TK's--4-tooth (I think) 7) Shooting at Luke and Leia on bridge platform--4-tooth 8) Close/open blast doors--3-tooth (as above) 9) Troopers at attention--3-tooth (maybe) is 3rd down on the front row 10) Getting shot as heroes escape--4-tooth I know that this will likely never get approved as a 501st variant, but it is indeed interesting if more than one was used so extensively on screen. Like someone said above, too bad they weren't seen in the same camera shot.

The overwhelming favourite for trooping is ANH. Many people just prefer the aesthetics of it over ROTJ. It may or may not have to do with TKs getting pummelled by Ewoks in ROTJ. The other factor is that most armour is made to look like ANH/ESB. There is only one credible maker of ROTJ kits that I know of and that's CFO, vs numerous makers of ANH. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself which you prefer. The ROTJ would certainly make you stand out more....

PM sent....

I'm not sure if there are any affordable built helmets out there that are accurate unless you buy want from a garrison member. I would just avoid the eFX ones etc. ATA is always up there in discussions about affordable quality helmet kits. He even includes two sets of ears with his kits. I know I needed that extra set on my first build lol. I also like Scootch's CAP-W helmets. They are similarly priced, but in my opinion look even better when finished. The major difference is that they are formed in HIPS plastic and need to be painted--just like the original ANH and ESB buckets. The ATA comes in a nice acrylic-capped glossy finish. These are the two that I am most familiar with as I've built a couple of each.

Yes, I love the bolts to give the illusion of traditional brackets.

That's an art piece I created--combining a stormtrooper with a wooden armour hat that some of my ancestors used to use on the coast here in BC and up to Alaska. I have another set of armour I painted up that I'm wearing in my profile pic. I agree there are a lot of other areas to work on while you're on a wait list. A blaster build is always a fun way to while away the days.