LTM

I struggle with the distance between eyes and lens, no idea how you get anything in there.

Well, this is getting interesting. Gives me a feeling that mickey is not aware of what is going on internally (within disney) given they have renewed the contract.

Been watching the build on FB, looking forward to the first review

Magnets... Don't need to worry about the closure, snap and go.

What Tony said^^^ Get some of the strapping done and then post pictures. When you have your arms in the air, as a "taller bigger" trooper don't expect to do that or snaps will become undone (plus Vader does not approve of surrendering). What plans to hold up your thighs (belt, harness,etc...)? Get some of the foam to line the insides of the thighs and shins, that will help with the sniper knee and the rotation of the shins.

You forgot butter...you need butter (and maybe a pinch of salt). When you are ready to dip, have the cold water running and be aware of hot water dripping from the armor. For my bells, I did 15 sec to start (learning curve). You will quickly get the hang of it. -Good Luck!

This is from my submission, just make sure you are in line as mine was not.

"Seriously guys, can't make it out today. Got a bad case of the DLT's"

No pics showing from OP?

Looks great! This was a tip I got from the model building guys when using stencils: After applying the stencil, first coat of paint should be whatever is in the background. This will seal the edges and any bleed through will be the same color. Then lightly apply the other paint. This tip also works for painting walls and using the blue painters tape.

Check out some of the other AM builds to help guide you in the building process. These are recent:

Check out seans and AJ's builds from sean: They swoop back, if that makes sense.

Lid looks good!

That looks great! Well done trooper! It will come up that the black border around the ears is thinner than the tears (I assume the stickers that came with the helmet), might be easier to make that change now.

For me personally I view the originals as meant for just shooting the movie (short periods of wearing the suits). The way they put them together is just not practical for real world wearing and doing multiple troops. Just learned this past troop that you should be prepared to fix almost anything on a moments notice in the field, stuff just separates or breaks due to whatever. The ability to quickly fix it for the troop is what will allow you to have a great time putting smiles on faces.

Why do the rivet gun? Bolt and nut will be hidden by the ear, and if you ever needed to adjust it will be easier than drilling out a rivet.

This site is your instructions. Hardest part to understand is "one size fits all" and "its wonky". Most of what you are going through has already been experienced by other troopers, make sure to check out other AM builds (each suit maker - AP, WTF, AM, etc... have their own issues) and keep asking questions. For this lid, go with the measurement on the right side (it looks correct) and make the left side match as close as possible. Making the ears match on the slant will be a little challenge, but if you want l3 go ahead and bite the bullet now. Use screws and nuts to hold the face to back of lid as you might need to reposition a few times. Mine looks like swiss cheese under the ears. For a strap, I did not do that. Instead I did the hard hat liner from trooperbay and could not be happier. I tried the foam pads, but for me the lid was either pressing a little too much or wobbled from side to side.

That is how the helmet "wants" to go together, you need to make the left side match the right side. Once I did this to my helmet (AM btw), it made a big difference on fitting my head. This issue was brought up in my pre-approval process: Corrected, you can see how much I moved it by looking at the hole. Hard part is knowing that the lid is "wonky" as per the originals

Give the measurement from the cheek to the front of the ears, I think you have the same issue I did.

Walts trooper Factory (WTF) just posted on their facebook group that they now offer a larger chest plate

In your "big brown box" you should have extra plastic that is used for cover strips and shims. If you use that, you should not need to paint the shims. Worst case is novus polish and some elbow grease.

Are you able to use scrap pieces included from your BBB?

If you are nervous to use rivets, just use a screw and nut. No one will see it as the ears will cover it, and if you need to adjust it's easy. Just get a short screw so you don't scrape your head putting it on/off.

Check some of the other AM builds, I am thinking you might want to lose the return on the cod (or at least some of that). Trooping with returns there can give you armor bites. When testing for fit, always wear your undersuit to get it accurate. Have you trimmed anything off the kidney or abs in the picture above?

Bump bump @Cricket