Raintrooper

Will do, thanks Terry! And also, thanks for your ATA helmet #1 build thread!

Thanks for the link Germain! Looks like shims and a bit wider cover strip will do it.

Almost done with the arms! I started with the biceps, but right away made a classic mistake. Knowing the covers strips on the arms need to be 5/8", I measured and trimmed at 5/16" on the front AND backs of the bicep pieces, making them far too tight when testing them taped together. Question: Since I am unable to butt-join the pieces completely together, how should I go about gluing the cover strips on the back of the biceps? Should I use wider cover strips, covering the raised flat section, or stay with 5/8" strips and leave a space between the strip and the edge of the raised section? Is it ok for the back cover strips to be wider than the front? I know I've seen this issue before with thighs and calves, but not with biceps. On a positive note, I think my forearms turned out pretty good! I did what I could with the much larger right ATA forearm by trimming a tad more and gluing the cover strips to the very edge of the flat section.

Yes! Thanks for posting these videos, Mike! They've been a HUGE help with my build!

AP is a great kit! You're on the right track there. The only problems you may run into are with trimming/re-sizing to fit you. Although, even though the seller is 4" taller than you, it looks like there are plenty of gaps between his arm and leg pieces, leaving you plenty of room to size down. Good luck!

Hey Anthony, do you happen to know the FISD instagram username? Can't find it in the search.. Thanks!

Will do. Thanks Darth Aloha! First things first... Finish this armor and 501st status!!

Watching this thread with great interest!

I'm definitely building towards EI and Centurion! Are EI and Centurion patches no longer available? The coins are great, but I'd really love to have these on my jacket someday soon! ---------

Go with RS Props! No question. It's one of the most accurate, best looking suits there is! I'm almost the exact same height and weight as you are, and If money wasn't an issue for me, I definitely would have gone with RS! But, ATA was more in my budget. Also, it's really not THAT hard to put one of these kits together.. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly a challenge! It can be daunting and intimidating at first, but you get the hang of it real quick. I didn't have any sort of building or crafts experience either and now I'm cruising through my build. I say go for it!

Welcome to the FISD, Hunter! Just curious, but since you say you're about to start constructing... have you already purchased an armor kit? ANH and ESB stormtroopers are the made using the same armor kits and helmets, with only a few differences in parts and paint. ROTJ is an entirely different armor and helmet kit altogether. (Veterans, please correct me if I'm wrong. ) Good luck on your build!

I received my bracket package from Darren (Mr. No Stripes) the other day, and I dove right into attaching the chest to the ab/cod piece! I had a few concerns about using the brackets on an ATA kit due to the small return edges on the butt and kidney pieces. Would the ABS crack too easily? Would it look accurate? My mind was put as ease, thanks again Germain (5thHorseman) and Troopermaster Paul for the tips and the photo references! Due to the angle of the return edge on the chest (less than 45 degree), I might need to bend the brackets inward a bit. Once thats done, I think they're going to work great!

I'm pretty sure it stands for Nostalgic Empire... ?

Thought I’d get the last bit of painting out of the way and finish my ab buttons. I traced circles from a template onto painters tape, then used an x-acto knife to cut the holes. After 2 coats of Testors grey #1138, and Blue #1110, they turned out... ok. There’s a bit of bleed through and a few spots where paint came off as I was taking the tape off. I’ll try to clean up that bottom button with some thinner. How do they look, size-wise?

That is great to know. Thanks so much Germain and Paul for the info! I'll definitely be using the brackets. Danny, I'll post pics here and let you know how it works out when I get there. Thanks again, guys!

I'm working with an ATA kit as well, and I'm wondering the same thing. I'm almost at the strapping stage, well.. maybe a month away at the rate I'm going, and I want to use the accurate bracket method too. My main concern is with the ATA back, butt and kidney pieces, that have very little return edge where the holes need to be drilled. I've noticed RS and TM have much larger return edges on the torso pieces. The ATA chest and ab/cod pieces look like they've got plenty of 'meat' for drilling holes for the brackets, but I'm not so sure about the back half...

I've seen both gloss and flat black on fellow troopers vocoders. I used semi-gloss and it looks pretty good. I'm not sure if there is a strict requirement on that... I could be wrong.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the front seam was only a restriction when going for centurion. Wouldn't it work for basic 501st approval, even EIB?

Yeah, I definitely need to get something to cut those bolts. I left the bottom bolts long to attach a chin strap to it, but that wasn't very comfortable.

Finally solved my helmet padding problem! After trying the star foam & strap, hard-hat liner, and other pieces of cut foam, these peel-and-stick 2" squares did the trick. Helmet fits like a glove and doesn't wobble one bit. Thanks so much Caleb! (emile1138) FS thread here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/24520-fs-customizable-helmet-padding/

Those ears look awesome! Great work!

Those drill marks look great! The holes I drilled for the bottom part of my ears were closer to the edge than yours. Drill away!

$246?!?! We could almost buy our own blaster for that! <-- (in a whiny Luke voice) But, when you click on the '26 sold', it shows they've only sold 5 in the last few weeks at $16.77 USD. (???) Weird... I'm confused.

There’s always Trooperbay.. ---------

No feedback on the actual armor itself (I've got ATA), but trooperbay.com is awesome and reliable!