TK8280

You can use black car door trim, thats what I used on my AP and it works great...It is the same stuff that they used to trim the ROTJ Armor but its just black instead of white

Yes! I have turned another one muahahaha

Please remember that this discussion is not about trooping with the more accurate blaster, its having one when submitting your photo's for elite status

It doesn't really fix the toy blaster, it just trys to mask it

Ok, some more progress pics of the armor... My chest plate ready to go... My upper back plate ready to go... My ab plate, the buttons still need to be put on, but they are painted correctly Its starting to really come together

Yes, that is true, what if it becomes too easy to become at least ANH elite? why not set a higher bar? Paul, you said that My ROTJ is comparable to the Bikerscout.net's Lancer status, why shouldn't the same be said for the ANH Elite? I have to use an authentic looking weapon for my ROTJ elite status, why can't ANH have those same requirements...because the Hasbro blaster would NEVER work for the ESB or the ROTJ Elite because of Hasbro's pathetic interpretation of a Hengsler counter on it ...these are just some of the items that really make me wonder bout the ANH elite status bar and where it is set

I glued my forearms, and bideps tigether, my calfs are the only thing that has velcro on it in the back... But there are those of us who don't have thin arms like the OG troopers...so, i would sy just do what works for you in the end

It can be a two edged sword though, sometimes ignorance is bliss , but I wouldn’t have it any other way

I think that people get the Kenner because it is convenient to get something that "sort of" resembles the original blaster rather than take the time to make there own or put out $ for a more accurate replica, I am glad that you broke down the the options for these members Justin

Great job Chef, keep up the awesome work!

Here are some more progress pics... My knee plate preped for triming... My knee plate instaled... I'm still waiting for my trim

Ok, now that my armor is coming together, the next thing I want to do is convert my shoulder straps from ANH to ROTJ... ANH cut shoulder straps... I trimed the outer edges in this shot... and lastly I cut off the flats at either end,and there you go, Authentic ROTJ shoulder strapping ...

The cushman E-11 doesn't look bad, at least it is proportioned a little better than the toy, I think that the Cushman E-11 should be the minimum required for elite status, but thats just me all you would need is a bigger mag and a counter for ANH, they shouldn't cost as much as a whole hasbro mod kit

Yes, TE2 is awesome armor and is not much more than the AP kit, but, like I said if you have the means and can get a TM go for it

After all these months of building and studying ROTJ armor, there are a few more items I'd like to add to the list *The cod piece is triangular in shape not round like the FX cod *The belt plate is plain with no "buttons" such as found on the ANH belt plate *The corners of the belt plate are not clipped, they are left square *The Belt plate does not have much of a border to it, and is trimmed very close *The belt plate is fastened with 1 visible rivet on each side, this rivet is also affixed to the ab plate *The holster is worn on the right side, and is attached to the belt with 2 rivets just under the center of the belt, *The leather straps that are used to attach the holster to the belt are about 6" long and made of black dyed leather *The chest plate and back late are attached to eachother with plastic ribbed pieces, there is no existence of the smooth ends to them like the ANH ones, and they also do not have much of a border to them like their ANH counterparts *The drop boxes are attached to the belt with White material that ranges in length from 1/4" to 1 & 3/4" long depending on which trooper you are portraying *The Sniper plate could be attached to the shin with rivets *The Lower Thigh Plate can also be attached with rivets and does not have much of a border to it also it is trimmed smooth very similar to the ROTJ belt plate *The ab plate is one piece and is not cut *The ab buttons are Black with three "dark" midnight blue buttons *The Button boxes should be molded into the ab plate, but I don't know anyone who does this *Besides all the other differences that the ROTJ helmet has it also has a narrow look to it, that is really hard to simulate with a helmet made to look ANH This is all I can think of off the top of my head right now But I do hope that all of my trials/errors, frustrations, and knowledge that I have built from this build will inspire more people to take a crack at building 100% screen authentic ROTJ armor, I look at it as building armor and not just a cistume...its not that hard, it obviously was for me, because nobody had ever done this before with this kind of accuracy...Now it should be easier for the next Elite ROTJ to do their build

Yeah, that would be nice

What are the AP kits like? Are they fairly easy to put together? The AP kits are pretty easy to put together as long as you have help, and advice which is all around these boards Is there one bucket that stands out from the rest in accuracy and detail? There are conflicting opinions on this subject some say TE and some say Gino, the AP is a second or third generation TE style lid I think Which ones come complete with nice inside lining ready to go? The expensive $500.00 + ones

Yes, if you are in the US it is more economically sensible to get the AP...they have done wonders with it to make it more ANH friendly too

I rounded the top corners on my back plate properly...

I usually only use a dremel on my resen clone parts, I think its to powerful for abs as thin as an AP suit, and have seen some BIG mess up's in the past be very careful when using a dremel as you cannot put back what you take away <_<

Dremels can be dangerous in the wrong hands

I own an AP kit and some TM armor, and I have to say there is not much of a difference with size of each kit...my AP is ROTJ spec so I have side gaps as per originals, but I saw no problem fixin it to look ANH...there was about a 2 inch gap on each side before I trimed it to ROTJ...I am 190 and 5'11" very athletic and do 200 mile bike races...My only concern's with the AP kit when I got it was if my big calf muscles would fit into it,but they did....and I have pretty big thighs, and they fit also, But the choice between AP and TM for me would be "location" and "which movie you are doing"...Location means if you live on the continent of North or South America, it would be mre sensible to buy an AP kit, because it would cost about $300.00 to $400.00 more for the TM with UK shipping and all...I would recoment the AP for ROTJ and not for ANH because the AP just looks too ROTJ still because of the original castings...Now if you had planned on doing an ANH and have the means, I would go for a TM, but like I said thats just me and my knowledge that I have gained over time

A chain saw Na, I'd use a pair of tin snips, but thats just my weapon of choice

Got some much needed confirmation on the color of the AB buttons most were painted Black, but a few were painted dark blue, The Blue is darker than what was used in ANH...I do not yet know the configuration of the colors but am in the works of hopefully doing that

Troopmaster or TE-2 would be your best bet