iconoclasta_88

I have always attached snaps to scrap plastic and then E6000 them to the armor with no idea that metal+e6000 "melted" the plastic, I have seen it happen but never was to worried about that. This is the "melting" I have seen several times. And it does not show at all on the other side. Hope it helps. Saludos

Yep, that was what I was thinking... Something like this: We trimmed the belt trying to make it the right length, so it would make it a bit shorter, but given that all armor was trimmed individually by hand, could this be possible. I mean, there is not an exact measurement for the knee belt, or is there one? And, I think it would still look the part. What do you think Mathias? Believe me when I say I know exactly what you mean by "feeling bad to approve it if you had too". Any ideas or thoughts? Saludos. Juan

Yes. I can see that now. Thx a lot. I will discuss this with Sam cause I don't really know if she will be willing to take the rivets off, repair the wholes, order new rivets and put then in the correct place. It is a shame I did not noticed that earlier. I blame myself. Anyway, I know that wont prevent her fir 501st clearance and I guess neither for EIB Given the case, but how about Centurion? Thx fir your help. Saludos.

Thx for the comments guys! I will talk with Sam about possible upgrades and mods... In the mean time, here are some more pictures: The inside strapping and split rivets. Canvas shoulder straps. Split rivets on torso, pre paint. Crotch split rivet and snaps. Ab detailing and belt snap. Modified chestplate on the neck end. Vintage rivets on knee belt. More pictures coming. Saludos.

Nice!!! We've been trying to build the armor up to Centurion standard from the beginning. Trying to replicate the way ANH armor was put together as close as possible, if only for the looks (no accurate strapping). This pictures are outdated anyway, since they were shot we have modified the neck part on the chest plate, put the elastics from the biceps to the arms in a more accurate place... Also, shins and thighs are almost done. All returned edges were trimmed according to real armor, and we have used vintage rivets for the torso side and knee belt from Seantrooper's run. We build a canvas belt trying to make it as ANH as possible, but it is still in at the taylor's. We're done with the main building, now we need to finish some details, like painting the ab bottons, mounting the belt and drop boxes, and finishing the bucket. Here is a picture of how it was a few days ago. I have assembled probably a couple dozen buckets, and I am really pleased with how this one came out. Picture is not too good, but better ones will come later on. Need to say that the whole build has been worked by Sam, I have only told her what to do and point out the tricky parts and all... She cut, trimmed and sanded it, glued it together and probably done most of the difficult work, leaving the "direction" to me. This is my first experience with accurate TKs (99% of my experience is with TDs) so any suggestions or comments are always welcome! Saludos. Juan

Very off topic but... In Mexico it is illegal to have replicas that look real, specially if they are assault or heavy weapons. But due to the "war against drugs", lots of weapons exist in mexico owned by the drug cartels. So... once I was driving to a troop and didnt care enough to put my MG15 in a proper bag or something, so it was just there on the back seat of my car, showing to everyone. In a traffic light, a police car stop just besides me. They got a good look at my MG15, then look at me (I saw that). Then they had a couple of words about it, and just pretended that they didnt see me. Even drove away as fast as they could. That was funny, but the in reality it is very very sad and scary. Regular Police doesnt handle heavy weapons issues normally. But the army is patrolling most main cities and thousands of small towns and villages along Mexico. And for them, there is no explanation needed. They see the gun, they go for it. So yes, Be very careful and follow your local laws... But the suits help a lot and explain a lot by themselves. Sorry, couldnt resist to tell that little story. Now, back on topic. Saludos.

Plus... 1.78m = the height GL asked the casting people for Stormtrooper actors... If I remember correctly. Saludos.

Well, in stunt ANH, armor was made of white ABS and the buckets were green HDPE painted white. So they were different shades. In ROTJ, I think both helmet and armor were made of an off white (biscuit white) kind of ABS. So... You could always get a new bucket and paint both the armor and bucket the same white if you wish to have them of identical shade of white. About the traps... No luck. I just ended up leaving that investigation for later on. Saludos

1.78m and 78kg and my TE2 fits like a glove. Saludos

AWESOME!!! He must be very happy! Will he be applying for Centurion soon??? Bluey's armor, err... your bf's armor is GREAT!! Saludos

Have you washed with soap and water your helmet yet? The plastic has some chemical leftover from the agent makers use to de-mold the plastic. It prevents almost anything to stick. I have always used blue masking tape or painters tape with great result. Anyway, if it is for masking details like tube stripes and such, I also use electricians tape cause it seals closer to the plastic and leave straight lines. Neither wont stick with the chemical residue still on the plastic thou. Saludos.

I stuff two amps, wallet, romfx card, a two way radio and my car keys under my chest plate. That's me anyway. And I probably have never stored anything but cards in my td pouches. Everything under the armor. And I could stuff more things on the back plate if needed. Give it a try. It is not so difficult. About staying in character and real life, I am in pro of staying in character the whole troop, but also live in a real world with family, emergencies and just sime common sense. Saludos.

And you could look like this: Sorry, just wanted to show off share this picts of my armor! Saludos

Why not use the nomex under the rubber. I use cotton gloves under the rubber gloves and it works fine. Saludos

I think you should go full Sandy. It is more of a compromise since there is no way back. But the rewarding feeling of being one of the real Badass dirty looking cool guys in the empire has no comparison. But, being a Sandtrooper vs a HWT is more than adding some dirt. Its a character with a very specific rol in the Saga, specially since they appear in the OT. So there is a lot of room for interaction with the public and most fans know what to say to your lines. No other trooper can really say stuff like: Let me see your identification or How long have you have this droids.... and the very cool "These aren't the droids you are looking for" from the public while waving their hand in front of you. Just lots of fun... Ok, I know that could be performed by anyone, but no one can do it more cool than TDs!!! That and TDs rock!! Saludos

SPAM!!!

Just wanted to share my appreciation on this EIB program "apparent" failure... The MEPD was crated cause some guys thought that no one took seriously the Sandtrooper costume and character on the Legion. So they created the detachment and deployed police officer in the hope of giving new rules to the game and achieving at least some consistency among the Sandtroopers. This, mainly cause even the Legion CRL for TDs did not required being dirty. So, for a starter, the whole idea of the program came from guys who were very serious about making Sandtroopers look like Sandtroopers against common knowledge and appreciation. Now, at that time (and today of course) everyone could tell the difference between a Sandtrooper with lights flashing on a couple of black boxes on the back, a big weird looking rifle, a painted armor and a rainbow like pauldron from a proper screen accurate-ish sandtrooper, except for the Legion command. So, it is no mystery why so many TDs wanted to make their armor look right. They just needed the motivation. Now, TKs is another whole thing. Most people, even some members, wont notice or accept the difference between an avarage Stormtrooper and a EIB. Even some of us wont notice much difference between an EIB and a Centurion if seen from more than 10 feet. That is true. So, it might not be as compelling as being a regular unaccurate Sandtrooper wanting to be screen accurate, as being a regular TK wanting to be an EIB or Centurion. But then... that is refereing the avarage trooper and the avarage Sandtrooper. What about the accuracy geeks that populate the FISD and the MEPD??? Well, for instance, I am pretty sure that the ratio of accuracy obsesed sandtroopers is higher than that of Stormtroopers. Why? Just cause to begin with, building a TD requires more time, money and work than a TK. That is a fact. So, if someone takes the step to build a TD, most likely it is not just to retire an old armor and buy a new TK, but cause they want to have a TD. The extra commitment comes with the character and armor. That is a fact too. Not that building a TK is easy, specially a centurion, but numbers are there... only 11 SWATS vs I dont know, a few dozen Centurions. Please, dont take me wrong, I have said a few times before (and Daetrin can confirm this), that I believe that building a Screen Accurate TK is more difficult than a TD. Why, just cause everyone's eyes are on the TKs, not on TDs, that, and other reasons. But... and dont mean this in the wrong way at all... people willing to build a TD, even if it is a clumsy unaccurate build, are willing to walk an extra extra mile. So it is only normal to have more legion TDs in our program than on the TK programs. At the end of the day, there is a slight handycap on the MEPD program... total TD membership vs total TK membership, nature of the costume, commitment required from the beginning, etc. So, in those terms, you have it more difficult than us. So I wouldnt call it a failure, but a slower program with more ambitious goals. Does that makes sense? And please... there is no TD vs TK issue intended in any of my words. Just wanted to share my insight knowledge being a TD for 6 years now. Also, I know lots of the TKs have a second set of armor made into a TD... so I hope you understand what I wanted to say and not only what I wrote! Saludos... Juan BTW. I do believe commitment is required to achive screen accuracy in any costume. I will probably spend a year or two building an accurate TK starting soon. Just as I spend 3+ years building my TD. It also comes to a mater of the "certain point of view" you see things from.

Yep, TDs look shorter than TKs too. About being actors from Tunesia, I dont know. At least Anthony Forrest is not. And the rest of them look like having a 70's western haircut. Don't know for sure, but no doubt someone here must know. And yes, no pressure... I know you are on it and there is a process before actually being able to produce the part! Saludos

Can I have my neckseal 1" too wide? That would mean another mould, so I will answer my own question: No. I have a theory that Sandtroopers had a different neckseals than most other TKs in ANH. Just like with the rest of the armor and gear. The Sandtrooper armor was more a prototype than the finished product. That is why so many things are different. Why not the neckseal too? Dont worry, I am happy with whatever you end up producing! Saludos

Interesting... Could only be that he just had it tucked in under the chestplate or pauldron. There are other pictures where the whole circular neckseal is shown. LIke this: -------- And, Also, no balaclava under the bucket here either: ---- SAludos

If you are going for ANH look, I would go off-white every time. Saludos.

Just checked your profile and you are enabled for PMs. Anyway, reset the tools for you... it is again enable. Give it a try, if you still can`t PM let me know. Saludos.

I don't know Seems to be more than enough proof that they did not wore balaclavas. Even pictures and videos of troopers at the precise moment when they took their bucket off and there are no balaclavas... and there is not much evidence, just a couple of pictures in a sea of reference, with troopers wearing them. I don't mean to say this as a fact but it doesn't look like balaclavas were used in ANH. Maybe there is info I am missing, but... I find it difficult to believe they used them, but never showed them in pictures or videos behind the scenes. Sorry Karin... that is what I think. Hope some evidence can prove one thing or the other... have a balaclava provider on my speed dial and my finder touching the button already, just in case. Saludos.

The thing with those bikers and the Endor scene, is that I guess bikers needed to use a balaclava cause of they short cut helmet. And then, the off helmet troopers might have used them as part of the onscreen appearance that Lucas Wanted to show, not necessarily what the costume department had in mind for utility purposes in ANH. I guess... The space trooper is a mystery for me though. Saludos.

It i weird to me... I have been reading and researching Stormtrooper armor for some years now (from my computer) and never had I heard a thoery where most extras wore balaclavas. Actually, I thought that the agreement was the other way around. Most of them did not wore balaclavas. I remember as a child spotting a real person inside the stormtrooper armor, cause in some given scene, when some troopers in the Death Star appeared on screen, I was able to see the neck of a guy, probably it was the chin, but I thought it was the neck. That was on a betamax copy of Star Wars ANH probably around 1982. Many things I remember from that tape does not appear anywhere else. Including the scene where the Rebel commander asks Luke about his father on the moon of Yavin. BTW, that was a bootleg copy, dubbed in Spanish Spanish. Anyway... I guess most Troopers did not wore a Balaclava, cause that would actally not be needed. If it was to hide the head of actors from lights and camera, why would they wore it but leave the teeth open? And so many other similar issues with costumes. My thoughts. Saludos. Saludos