T-Jay

Oops, hadn't noticed that this thread really got pinned, until I saw Ian's comment. Thanks for the hint, man Wow - was quite blown away for a while and didn't know what to say. It's not only the recognition for what I did; much more it is a very encouraging sign to everyone here on the FISD. You don't need to be a member for many years and don't need to have tons of posts, topics or "likes" to do something interesting. In fact I have to thank countless other people here, because reading and studying their threads turned my understanding of the look and the appearance of our loved TKs into this result. And I would like to quote something Paul (Daetrin) wrote in an older thread from Derrek (Dday): The aim of my work was to make the trooper look like if the armor was really manufactured and issued by the mighty empire, but at the same time adding the used-look which some of them had (like on the Tantive IV Boarding Party in the first few seconds of that cool movie we all saw years ago). The following quote from Ingrid (LadyInWhite) summarizes all that in one line:

Wow! Even in my most daring thoughts, I haven't expected a reaction like this - especially when considering who wrote these lines!!! If you really want to, please feel free to stick this thread.

@ Germain (The5thHorseman): Thanks! That background was the most appropriate I found. Although it was quite tricky to get all these pictures done without being seen fully suited up by others... Any idea what I can do to prevent the butt plate from riding over the kidney plate? @ Steve (gazmosis): Okay, you're right. Will send you the armor AND put that crappy blaster on top, so you can add both to your collection of bad TKs and E-11s from other members here. By the way, how many do you have meanwhile?

Update 06: - pictures in full armor Okay, I had promissed it. Guess I have to deliver now... Luckily the last picture got some nice lighting, which brings out the armor weathering very good. Let me know what you think of the result. Thanks.

@ Brian (Bulldog44): Wow, really a nice mod. Haven't seen this before! @ Ian (Sith Lord): Good idea with the metal part. The thin resin won't stand the stress very long.

Heating up the ABS will help.

Interesting news, Paul! Did you find a way to vac-form it in ABS? Just wondered as Derrek stated, there is no way of being thermoformed in ABS.

Incredible, what some people here are able to do with their skills... And the FISD is an ideal platform where these people can meet. In a few years we'll look back and say: That was the moment THE TFA-helmet was made...

Congratulations on that I know how this feeling changes your mood Back to topic: I think you are right. 37 years ago they had to work with the real Sterlings and we are trying to reproduce these as accurate as possible in different ways (conversions, resin builds, pipe builds...) Having 2014 and being able to do a lot with 3D printers, that might be the way they did it now - much easier than to organize all the original parts. I only hope, they didn't alter the measurements in a way, that we can not use all these blaster kits out there any more...

Hi Joseph, didn't find anything about 2 or 3 pieced helmets in the CRLs, so theroretically no problem to get approved with such a bucket - although I would suggest to go for a 2 pieced version (if possible).

Correct, 2nd picture shows the white thumb from the trooper on the right side. Any ideas on that shape of the rear sight? (3rd photo) Looks strange to me. How do you like the chromed parts on the scope? Nothing on the armor is chromed (as far as we currently know). Doesn't fit into this color scheme. Has anybody ever seen a folding stock with such details on the sides? Vern said, it looks like a Hasbro toy, but I can't even find anything with these details on the folding stock...

First picture shows two red displays. One is placed in the magazine in a way, that it needs to be hollowed out and the end cap (with the knob and the word OFF) looks like it could easily break... And there is no armor on the trigger finger. Might be an additional leather piece, as you can see some seams.

The sound of the Imperial Probe Droid could be an indication, that John Boyega plays a wanted person (for whatever reason). Maybe he turned away from the Empire or stole some armor to infiltrate it... However, this would also explain his complete behaviour in this scene. He definitely looks chased.

Yes, looks like a lot more movability in these legs. 3rd picture isn't blaster bottom. It's the top view, as you can see the scope and the magazine on the side. Image is a bit confusing, as it might be mirrored (not clear yet).

What a nice idea!

Yes, the thin top end of the walls can be shielded with something heat resistant to prevent these to warp.

Funny - I was just about to recommend warming up the resin for bringing it in shape Did that on my build in 2 ways: with a heat gun (carefully) and with a hot water bath. Both worked fine and the resin became more flexible. The only problem is to keep it in that new shape while it cools down. @ Aaron: Wow, builds like these (or Brian's) were in my mind back in April when I said to Tim (DarkCMF): Just imagine what people could achieve in their future builds, when combining the best mods into a single blaster. I remember Brain (Bulldog44) wrote something similar recently. And again this leads me to the idea to create some kind of blaster build guide or manual, containing all of our so-far-done-mods for every single part. People could then individually go for the mod they like the most, depending on their skills, options and build type. Sure, this would definitely cause a few organizing and picture-owning issues for some persons. But I think it would be a benefit to countless more people, as this is a heavily frequented forum and resin kits are also chosen very often. That would avoid so many mistakes before even being made… So if there seems to be a need for such a thing, maybe we should stick our heads together to find a way to realise this... Back to the future-build

Wow, hard to believe the majority of parts is made from wood. Very well done!

Aaaah, somehow this feels like Christmas - just one month too early

@ Bernd (Bone): Agree to all you said. Might be more than gaffer tape and the image could be mirrored. Very nice work on your last picture update . While clearly seeing the scope rail, rear sight, end cap and the part framed in blue (it's not for the folding stock, it's to lock the end cap), I did not recognise the counter until you showed your last picture. B.t.w.: that counter in pic 2 somehow looks very familiar to me I don't think these 2 parallel marks on the main barrel show the spring, because these are too far down (the slot for the cocking handle is located a bit higher). And if the image is mirriored, these would be on the wrong side anyway. If you could mirror that first picture left to right, it might help to bring us closer...

Seen the teaser a few times now. Although still being not sure about the whole thing, I am pretty happy they gave us some views of the TKs. Thanks for all the screenshots here! Good work. The armor itself looks vac formed. Big gaps between all parts indicate better movement abilities. This might also be the reason for the smaller shoulder bells. Lower legs appear quite big. The "O II" on the back looks a bit strange (but easy to realize) and a lot of sharp edges were reduced and rounded. The whole thing lost a lot of its old contours and got some small new ones instead. These will surely be nice for weathering. Karin (Sonnenschein) will not be happy about these hand guards. The old ones really looked more interesting. These are - very simple. The helmet of course will become an issue of its own to reproduce this. To me it looks too much like a motor cycle helmet, but at least the guy who made this recently out of steel (you might have seen that video on youtube) can now be happy because he did the right one The question remains, if there will really be only one mic tip (or however it'll be called on these) on the left side of the helmet. The frames with the 6 troopers standing in line don't answer this yet. The undersuit will be much more work in future. Although the ribbed surface will surely only be placed where it is visible, it will increase the efforts of reproducing, the price and the sweat you'll be loosing in these. But most of us will like the classic and familiar look around the neck. Did anyone already spot if it's velcro or zipper closed? The blaster still seems to be a modified Sterling with some parts now being painted in white. You can clearly see the familiar magazine (Steve, get ready for more demand on these), although it has been moved to the other side of the blaster. No more power cylinders and Hengstlers. Shape of rear sight is changed, as well as the complete scope. Chromed parts on the scope? Really? Two red digital displays will bring some electronics into every future builds of these. Oh dear . Did someone else see white gaffer tape on the right forearm of that trooper holding the blaster??? Looks like it was placed there to avoid scratches from the end cap...

No matter how you are going to do this, your helmet will definitely look better on the inside. The only problem is (as James already stated) the moisture inside. For a display piece flocking will be okay, but if it's your helmet and you are going to wear it and troop with it, I would suggest to stay with black spray paint.

Only one day left for the real thing to come...

@ Germain (The5thHorseman): Yes the velcro on the shoulder bridges is not screen accurate (and not allowed in current Centurion CRLs), but I didn't like how these looked from the rear side. Most important (as to all of my modifications): it can get removed in case of going for rough screen accurate one day... The neckseals for the stunts looked different, but I checked all offers and Chris had the best looking material. That surface convinced me! And the overall quality was higher than I had expected. Thumbs up for this nice piece. @ Ian (Sith Lord): Thanks Ian, really appreciated. This is just because I was shocked of how the real screen used suits looked like. Maybe I start liking that look in a few years and begin to undo all my modifications