Raintrooper

My guess is, unfortunately, that the velcro being permanently attached to the shoulders will be a problem.. I've heard people generally use double-stick tape or regular, non-industrial strength velcro for patches. It's also my understanding that patches affixed to armor are generally not allowed during canon events/formal troops, only non-canon events like Comic-Cons or Celebration when you're not officially trooping.

At first glance of that etsy page, I'd say stay far away... Over-priced and inaccurate. Stick to the sellers on clonetrooper.net.

If I'm not mistaken, the only helmet that is perfectly symmetrical is eFX. Although, it needs a lot of mods to be legion approvable. All other helmets will be asymmetrical and lopsided to a certain degree.. (ie, more screen accurate). Not much about stormtrooper armor is symmetrical from any maker. You're gonna have to embrace a certain amount of lop-sided wonkiness!

LOL! Thank you! Thank you very much! Yeah.. couldn't help myself. I'm usually not much of a rant-er.. I guess I'm just more sensitive these days when people talk smack about Stormtroopers, or Star Wars in general.. Especially when they're obviously wrong!! (...there I go again)

"..It wasn't until The Empire Strikes Back that Lucasfilm sprung for beautiful new helmets ... oh no, wait, actually they just reused the old ones, slapping yet another shucksty coat of paint on them. Hell, sometimes they didn't even bother finishing the details, like when they completely painted over the breathing slits on the sides of the helmets." HA! WRONG! Mr. No Stripes is from ANH, and the "breathing slits" were not painted over. They were just not painted on due to an oversight. (I always thought of them as some sort of exhaust vents). AND, of course they were "shucksty plastic painted costumes"!! It was the mid-70's! Not a big-budget blockbuster with a massive costume and prop department like movies today! ..well, at least it wasn't yet.

I believe ATA and MTK come from the same lineage, so not much (if any) difference. The only difference I know of between those and the AP helmet is that the dome of the AP mold has been smoothed out so no 'bumpy-cap-and-back'. Some people like the idea of the smooth 'idealized' helmet as opposed to the bumps. I like the more authentic look personally...

It all depends on your strapping system. If your torso armor is a permanent clamshell with the side rivets and metal bracket strapping system, you're gonna need a bigger bin. If your armor is entirely snapped together and can be taken apart, you can definitely go with something smaller.

Doesn't get any better than these... --------------

...and those boots!

VERY nice looking ATA!! Well done!

HAHA! Novus polish. Same spelling... didn't even catch that.

Boot weathering isn't really necessary at all. Your boots will get plenty weathered on their own after a small handful of troops. Unless you're going for that Tantive IV boarding party look.. I'm more of a fan of letting the boots, armor, and helmet weather naturally. Polish be damned!

I understand your frustration, Dan. When you are following a topic like a merchandise thread, and you just want to know when the next run opens again, and all you get are daily "Interested!" posts, getting your hopes up. It would be nice if there was a way to only receive a notification when the original poster responds, but that's just the way all these forums work. On the flip-side of that, in the case of build-threads, you actually want every notification when someone chimes in with advice or questions.

Trooperbay Mike uses a hot glue gun in his tutorial video.

Niiiiice!! Lookin' good Mike!

I did my ATA with Mr.NoStripes brackets. No problems at all. They've held up for a years worth of trooping so far. Just don't tighten them down too tight and add a tiny dab of E6000 to the end of each bolt at the nut. No cracks, loose screws or issues at all so far. The main thing you want to keep in mind is the smaller than usual return edge on a few pieces, namely the kidney plate (top and bottom) and the butt plate. A handful of the holes needed to be drilled in the corners at an angle, almost on the outer part of the armor. But don't worry, that's kinda screen accurate. The link to my build thread is in my signature. Check it out.

Yep, that's the one I have too. Works perfect! No blaster drooping or wobbling, even when you're walking!

Looks like FX. Says FX in the title. Also says ABS in the description toward the bottom. Not very accurate armor, but could be made passable with the right helmet. Good luck!

Congrats Luke!! Makin' Cloud City look goooood!!

THG E-11s are made by a fellow 501st member and garrison mate of mine ('Ronime' here on FISD. There is an extensive build thread). I have one of his rubber unbreakable versions and I love it! It's on the more expensive side, but completely worth it, as it will last forever! and yes, it is also on the heavier side as well, so I'd definitely recommend a sturdier thicker leather holster.

Oh, that male snap is for attaching the canvas belt to the ab plate. There's one on each side of the ab.

It connects the ab to the kidney via elastic glued to the inside of the kidney, and snapped to the inside of the ab.

Looks awesome, Luke! You got this, no prob.. Go Cloud City!!

Wow. Yep, still sells the------------- How much did you pay for the kit?.. if you don't mind me asking.

Don't panic.. You're still ok. There's still quite a bit to trim off at the face-plate opening. All that 'rippled' plastic and the 'lip' under the chin needs to come off. Don't worry about the two pieces lining up perfectly on the sides. It all comes together once you screw the ears in place and put the rubber S-trim on.