gatetrooper

Awesome news, and you're in the first 1000! Congratulations, David!

Very nicely done, AJ!

Very nice, AJ! Congratulations. It's gratifying to see all that hard work pay off like this.

Congratulations, AJ (and to Sally). I will see you in the field soon.

Day-amn, Lorelei! You're a TK! I second Frank's request that you try for Sun at Brickfest. I'll be there that day with my wee jawa girls in tow. This all started Labor Day weekend with a boiling pot of water, a deep breath and "here goes nothing". Looks like you've enjoyed the ride. :-)

AJ, Do you have a pic of the inside connection between the back and kidney (specifically to see the snap plate locations)? You probably do somewhere in your build thread... Perhaps if you use snap plates that have minimal flex (nylon or less stretchy elastic - perhaps elastic turned sideways, which doesn't stretch the same as length-wise) on each corner where it sticks way out, that will pull the back into alignment with the kidney, while keeping it from sagging over the top of the kidney. Then you could experiment with loosening the shoulder connection.

More from Carida-land... re: back plate flare The back plate sits very flat against your upper back, but the connection as it stands may be pulling the top too close to your back, and forcing the bottom to sit further out than it should. If you relax the shoulder connection to the chest plate, would that let the upper portion sit out a little, but not too much, and allow the lower portion of the back plate to slide closer to your back, thereby bringing those wings more in line with the kidney? I found personally that when I stand with my shoulders back, the natural curve of my upper back makes the back plate sit a little more In line with my kidney.

Lorelei, When you kicked off this build at Jonathan's house back on Labor Day weekend, I commented that he would finish quick ("blessed" with Joe Average TK build), but that your build had potential to be the stuff of legend. So far, both of those are playing true to forecast! You are doing awesome! When you are ready for The Show, please post (here or PM or Carida forums) where your first troop will be. I would love to be on hand when you go "live". Andrew

I look forward to the daily edition of TK life with Lorelei. This build has high entertainment value! I'd say you have room to trim both the eyes (to the trim lines you drew) and the teeth a bit more.

I got to see Lorelei's neck seal creation live and up close this weekend...it was pretty cool, and an ingenious approach. The rubber might get a little sweaty, but some fabric on the inside will fix that nicely. I think Lorelei got past some of the initial butterflies giving her biceps a workout, and she should be off to the races now! Watching with keen interest.

Another garrison-mate watching with anticipation. Love this thread so far! You may be way beyond snap plates at this point, but jic it makes a difference, I used nylon, Tandy 24, and my kit is RS. No issues 2 years into my trooping career. Keep on rocking, Lorelei!

Jamie is a senior advisor in our garrison academy, a member of the command staff this year, and just generally good people. He was an excellent guide thru out my build. Huge props to Jamie for being an outstanding leader. Thank you, Jamie!

Voted. Nicely done by all the entrants!

Great idea to stand up this program! Does the plan allow for us to nominate troopers? I have a candidate in mind who might not be inclined to proactively start this effort on his own behalf, but is worthy of the honor.

Andrew Haag 14023 Centurion Letter Tony http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/14023-centurion.png