maxsteele

Having them "float" with a white elastic holding them down is the screen accurate method for the shoulder bridges. Take a look!

Here's a link to my Bass Amsterdam "build". I have a link to Amazon for the boots and show how I removed the finish that comes on the boots and painted the boots white. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25062-maxsteeles-bass-amsterdam-tk-conversion/ I've seen at least one Centurion application approved with Bass Amsterdam boots painted white like this. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/27699-tk-32627-requesting-anh-hero-centurion-status-ne125/

Fredrik, if you haven't put the elastics between the biceps and the forearms, I followed this guide from Geaux Saints' build. He gives very precise measurements on where the elastic should go, and it came out great for my armor: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21390-geaux-saints-anh-stunt-build-tm/page-7

Let's everyone detail how they put their sets on! I start with my neck seal and my thigh belt on, pull the thighs on and snap them into place. Next I put my boots on, then slide the shins on over and secure them in place. My ab is permanently connected to my kidney on my left side, and I keep my butt plate and back plate snapped to the kidney. I wrap those pieces around me and secure the right side of the ab / kidney with two straps. Then I snap my belt into position and pull the belt tight and secure it in the back. If I had my TD finished, this is where I'd put my TD onto the back of my belt. I don't have my shoulders attached to my biceps, so I pull on my shoulders next and snap them into place on the shoulder straps. My shoulder straps are glued to my back plate and snap into my chest plate. After securing the shoulders, I snap the chest plate to the shoulder straps from the back plate on each side, and then snap the straps between the chest and the ab plate. I put my gloves on next, as I don't have permanently attached hand guards, then pull the bicep / forearm combo on. I get the biceps situated nicely under my shoulders and make sure I can bend my arms correctly. I then slip the hand guards onto my gloves. Final touch is putting on my helmet, and I'm all suited up!

The main reason to do elastic over webbing is to transfer the stress. With webbing, the stress is on the snaps. With elastic, the stress is on the elastic.

If no one has told you this before, the way you put one of these buckets on is turn it almost sideways with the ears facing more forward, then twist the helmet back into the right position as you put your head into it. They do not go on straight up and down facing the proper way. Give that a shot before you trim out any more.

Kevin Smith commented on seeing Stormtroopers when he was on-set: http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2014/07/kevin-smith-talks-star-wars-vii-confirms-stormtroopers.html

Hi Marcus! Your armor is looking great! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post here or not. If not, then I apologize in advance for it! I'm building an NE suit myself, and looking at your submission pics, I have some suggestions for your build. These may or may not affect Centurion approval, but I wanted to let you know changes I believe would improve the over-all look: - Installing an elastic strap between the bicep and forearm would remove the gap you currently have and keep them both in place. - Both of your forearm pieces look rather large. I saw the amount of padding you had put in them, and was thinking that you could fit those more to your arms. - You could cut the ab piece at the bottom of the left side so it doesn't come to a point and goes straight over to where the bottom of the kidney piece is. It looks like you cut that point off on the right side, and I believe you'd be able to cut it off on the left side without interfering with the bottom rivet spacing. - I know it's already attached, but the extra that you have at the top and bottom of the battery pack around the thigh makes that piece quite wide. The extra should be cut off like you did with the extra on the top and bottom of the belt plastic, if possible. - There's some extra flashing around the butt plate that i feel could be removed. Good luck with the Centurion approval!

On the opinion of Lighty2627 and Gazmosis, I have separated the shoulder bridges and cleaned off the e6000 on the chest and bridge pieces. The shoulder bridges were too far back on the chest piece, causing the backs of the bridges to stick out too far on the back piece. I will have 5 bumps (not including the big one at the end) on the chest piece, instead of the 4 I went with originally. There was a concern that I'd have to do some minor heat bending to get the shoulder bridges to curve nicer. I taped down the fronts and with the way the bridges are shaped and putting more of them on the front of the chest, they hug the back plate very nicely without further modification. I'm going to glue them back down over the next couple of days. I'm waiting for my holster and TD clips, so I have time before I can submit for base approval.

I have seen some bridges glued with 4 bumps on the chest (not including the big one at the end) and some with 5. For my build, I went with 4. I didn't like how far down on my chest the bridges were with 5. That was just my preference and the design of my armor. Because of this, my bridges extend a little further in the back. That is also ok.

I was wondering this the other day, because my armor is labeled as .09 . Through some research, I found that .09 means .09 inches. That converts to 2.286 mm. That tells me it is the thicker armor.

Thanks guys! It's been a long road (and an equally long thread!) I definitely need to come up with a solution for my butt plate. I know I don't have the strap running between it and the cod right now, but even with that, I don't see the butt plate tucking between my legs as well as it should. I will probably try dipping that part of the plate in boiling water and bending it to get a nicer curve. If that doesn't work, then I'll need to <gulp> use a heat gun. I'm also hoping that once I get the strap installed it will be "enough" and I'll be able to troop with minimal issue. A concern I have with that is the plate will tuck under, but not enough and will interfere with the tops of my thighs on the inner legs. I also noticed my left shoulder was feeling some discomfort, specifically on the rear part of the shoulder. All of the snaps I have on the shoulder connections are at the front of the shoulder. I think it's the return edge points on my back plate shoulder transtition that are digging into my shoulder. I'll need to come up with a method of filing that down to give a more comfortable fit.

How about an (almost) full test fit? I don't have the thermal detonator or the holster yet. I have the belt rivet covers taped on, but they're in the positions they will be when I glue them. I don't have a strap between the butt and the cod yet. Everything else is complete.

Ab buttons painted:

I like the "Standard Imperial Issue" comment for when I'm trooping. I'll keep that one in mind. I'm also referring to people who I'm talking to about my armor and the 501st, and they bring up how I 'made' it all. I have been giving the answer that I get it from other members who vacuum form the armor, and then I cut and assembled it all. I also receive follow-up questions about how much it has cost me. If I'm comfortable enough with the person, I'll let them know (friends, co-workers, etc...), but I also stress that no one makes any profit, and then I go into the history of the creation of the 501st, which ends with: "...so I'm doing it all for charity!" Everyone really likes that part. Thanks everyone for the responses!

I'm nearing the completion of my TK, and when showing people the various pieces I have, I have had the typical "Did you make this?" question. It's normally sufficient to say "Yes". However, I have had several people follow-up with questions like "How did you get the plastic in this shape?" "How did you make the molds for the plastic?" and similar types of questions. I know the official 501st stance is that we don't sell anything and to respond with "we make all our own costumes." However, I didn't make the plastic. I didn't vacuum-form the pieces. I purchased the plastic from a vendor, cut the pieces to fit me and set up the strapping system to be able to wear it all. How should I answer someone when they ask questions pertaining to how I molded the plastic?

Thanks for the comments Steve! I will certainly get to trimming down the back plate. It may not be done for base approval, but will certainly be done for continuing approvals. I know 99% of all builds install the snaps directly into the ab plate. The advantage I get installing snap plates instead of installing the snaps directly into the ab is my own peace of mind. I'm extremely gun shy after cracking the side of my ab plate installing a split rivet. That combined with the fact that I don't have any type of real safety net what-so-ever when it comes to my kit (no one is making this kit any longer) were the reasons for going the snap plate route. I did see one or two builds through research that used snap plates instead of installing directly. I don't have any current pics with the belt attached via the snap plates, but to my "in-training" eye, it is not noticeable. I'm using snap plates with white webbing, not an ABS strip, so they contour to the armor and have a very low profile. I'll get a pic of the belt snapped in up here soon. Also, if it is a horrible decision that I should have never made and looks terrible, I can just peel the plates off, drill holes, and install snaps directly into the ab. As for my q-tips, they would be very expensive with the amount of padding I have on them now!

Build is trucking along now! Didn't take any pics yet, but I got my sniper plate glued to the top of my left shin yesterday and today. The sniper plate was digging into my knee. I cut back the return edge, but it was still pressing into it. A little research later, and I found putting some foam padding just below the knee in the front of the shin piece resolves the issue completely. There was a part I could have had glued better, which I'm re-doing right now. Let's take a look at the revised list of items to complete: Armor work to be completed: - Assemble and attach drop boxes to belt - Strapping for the drop boxes is complete, need to close the boxes up. - Procure and attach holster to belt - Order placed - Glue screw covers to belt - Will complete after attaching the holster - Glue sniper plate to top of left shin - Heat bend the thigh ammo belt, drill holes, and set rivets to attach belt on the bottom of right thigh - Glue straps between the biceps and forearms - Glue plastic shoulder bridges to chest plate - Procure and attach TD clips, along with gluing the TD plate and end caps to the PVC pipe - Sent a PM to Troopermaster for TD clips - Attach velcro to my shoes and inside shins to keep my shins in place - Might not need this part if padding in the front of shins keeps them from rotating and riding up. - Install split rivet in cod and attach strap between butt and cod Helmet work to be completed: - Either cut or cap off the screws inside the helmet - I kept the screws the length they are now and hot glued foam pads over them. - Glue in mesh behind the frown - Working on getting some mesh now - Install helmet liner - ordered a set of MICH pads from Amazon. They work great!

No explanations. I'm simply going to say - I did it.

Alright, this part has been giving me anxiety and stalling my build - fitting the thigh pack to the bottom of the right thigh. I dunked the entire piece into boiling water and then bent it around a paint can to get the initial bend. Then I found the straight pieces after the end of each box wasn't bent enough. I just dunked each side in boiling water for about 15 seconds, then used the pressure of two paint sticks to put more of a bend on each side. I've positioned the pack on the bottom of my thigh piece. I know I have extra, which will get cut off and the bottoms rounded once I have the holes drilled. Opinions requested on this fit: Questions: - When it comes time to drill, should I drill and fasten one side completely, then pull the pack across to the other side to drill and fasten (If I did this, I would cut the excess from the end I was going to fasten before fastening it)? Or should I drill one hole first, not fasten, but pull the pack across to the other side and find the mark? - Should I drill a hole in the pack first, then mark and drill in the thigh, or should I drill through both pieces at once? - Three boxes on the inside, two on the outside? Or two on the inside, three on the outside? My pics have it as three on the inside and two on the outside. EDIT: The way the bottom of my thigh is shaped, the ammo pack doesn't really sit in a 'two on outside, three on inside' position. It needs to be the way it's shown, with three on the inside and two on the outside. That answers that question. I'm just hoping it looks fine in it's current positioning.

I've been told to cut the screws when they are inside the helmet with the nuts on the screws. Using a band saw or dremel doesn't work because they won't fit into the space. If you cut the screws before they're attached with the nuts, the cutting can prevent the nuts from threading onto the screws after cutting. I've had the suggestion of using a pair of diagonal pliers (dikes) and snipping the screws off short while they are attached to the helmet. I haven't done it yet, but that's currently the method I am going to use.

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/17032-help-attaching-snaps-for-canvas-belt-to-abdomen/?p=205725 For my build, I glued snap plates onto my ab instead of drilling / installing snaps on my ab. I just didn't want to drill any more holes into my ab.

Yeah, I think the space between the top of the thigh and the bottom of the cod area is good. If the thighs feel comfortable at that point, I don't think you need to go higher. You'll have the drop boxes at the ends of your belt hanging down right at the biggest black space between your cod and thigh. I think it looks fine.

From what I'm seeing, the cover strips look straight. It would be good to see a shot of the strips without the masking tape on to get an overall look at the sizing of the strips and their fit on the thighs.

Fredrik, do you have masking tape sitting over your cover strips, or is that the color of them?