bluebantha

TK-72103 Requesting access https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=44462

Im so sorry, I found it!! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=44462

This is the only link I can find to the member search, and it is simply a result, nowhere for me to search for my name or TKID https://www.501st.com/members/searchresults.php?criteria=tkid&searchfield=4901

Hey! Thanks for the response. Yes, I need to submit the link, but what I mean is that the member search is not working for me. I cant find my profile. The only results that show are the ones on the screenshot I sent. There is no link for me to grab unfortunately.

Hey all, good news... TK-72103 reporting for duty! I could not possibly be more excited. This is a group ive wanted to join since middle school, so finally being able to say im a member feels like a huge accomplishment! So, now I believe I need to request access to the member specific forums on this site. Im having a bit of a problem though. I am showing up as an active member in the Text Only Member Roster, but not in the ones with the photos, as requested in the approval forum, so im wondering if I can have some help. Here's the proof. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you to everyone who has helped me out throughout this process, it truly means the world. I am so, so excited!

Thank you so much for the feedback! I BELIEVE I have made all the necessary edits. The one things I am still struggling with is the distance between the shoulder bells and chest. I cannot get them to be any closer. I have trimmed the belt, straightened out my legs and arms, made the distance between both forearms and biceps equidistant, helmet is straight, kindney and ab have been lined up, the holster is no longer poking out. I have included a closeup of the ab, but have not replaced the buttons. I have taken, what I hope to be, better lit photos of the helmet. I have not changed anything with paint however. Here are the photos: Well, there we go! I would like to reiterate that I am certain I will apply for higher levels before the end of the year. Certain items I am not fixing at the moment in an attempt to save some money. With that said, I believe that ant changes that can be made only prevent me from entering higher levels (Ab button, larger shoulders). Please let me know what you think! If all goes well, I will submit to my local GML for approval!

INFORMATION: 1. Carter Sachse 2. Garrison Carida 3. MTK (TrooperBay) 4. MTK (TrooperBay) 5. Homemade belt 6. Denuo Novo Neck Seal 7. Keep Trooping Boots 8. 6'2" 9. 215 Lbs 10. ANH Stunt 11. Walt's Trooper Factory lengthened Shins and Forearms 12. Special thank you to @gmrhodes13, @JBar, and @TKSpartan for all of their help and encouragement throughout this build! Helmet off: Front view: Left side view: Left side view (raised arm): Right side view: Right side view (raised arm): Back view: Helmet close ups: Hoping for basic currently, but have full intentions to pursue EIB and Centurion before the end of the year. In the interest of saving money, I am waiting a few months.

Yet another question, as I cant seem to get all my thoughts together. While I know it is not accurate to how they were constructed in the movies, is there any true downside to cutting out the center of the inner chest plate? To me, it seems that if I were to do this, it would help immensely with cracking on the shoulder straps of the chest and back, as every time I open it to poke my head through, it seems to crack a bit. I only ask because this part isn't seen, and it may be beneficial. Who knows!

ALSO... quick question. While I do fully intend to go for Centurion before the end of the year, In the interest of saving money on parts, I will only be going for basic approval currently. With that said, if going for basic, is the only difference between TFA and TLJ the helmet? I understand the forearm cuts, thermal detonator, and cod piece differ, but that seems to only be for the higher levels. Im just curious. Thanks!

Hello to everyone who may be following along, and time for a VERY long overdue update! Im so happy to be back in the swing of things with this kit. I took a break because I was getting quite frustrated with the ABS paste/slurry. I find that when im working, and I get frustrated, I tend to make hasty decisions, so its best to take a step away from the expensive kit of plastic... While I wanted to avoid doing this, I decided to use bondo to smooth over the seams as opposed to ABS paste. I work quite frequently with Bondo on my 3D printed parts, so I bit the bullet. The only difference is that I can re print a part if need be, with this kit, im not able to do that. So, here we go... I started by really slapping this stuff on. Id rather have the material there, than have to go back and keep adding: I let this stuff dry overnight, then I took the weekend to sand. and sand. and sand. and sand. and sand. Needless to say, this took forever, but I was left with a beautifully smooth finish as a result. I went from 80 grit, all the way up to 2500 grit: Following this, I used the Behr Gloss White spray paint that seems to be the standard when working on Sequel trilogy TK's. I was a bit nervous, as I know plastic can vary in color from each batch, but am INCREDIBLY pleased to say that they match up perfectly! Here is a look: I am super pleased with this. As you can see, there are some pinholes on the side of the chest, but those have been sanded out and repainted, I just don't have photos of that quite yet. Im so happy with the results. The time spent sanding made all the difference. Having this portion of the build sorted out has really relieved a lot of stress I had about the project. It has reinvigorated me, and Im excited to push forward. The next course of action would seem to be the assembly of the abdomen and thermal detonator cover piece, which is stumpting me a bit. Any advice on this front would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks for following along!

Changes have been made, and I have taken some new photos!! I'm changing course ever so slightly, and will explain. While I was intiitlaly, and long term, still am, going for centurion, I will be going for basic/EIB at this moment. In an attempt to be smarter with money, as I am a student, some of the pieces that I'll need for centurion will need to be put off until later in the year. That said, I still want to be a member of the legion, and am hoping to start at basic, then work my way up! So, with that in mind, here are my new photos. My boots have come in from Keep Trooping, and they feel great! I have a solid background, and do realize that in one of the photos, my feet are cut off. When it comes time to actually submit for approval, those things will be addressed. Just want to show everyone where things currently stand! I did my very best to get the back plate as close as possible to the bottom of the helmet. I also do realize that my neck seal is popping out a bit in the side photos, but im curious to hear some input. Thanks to all who are following along, im having a lot of fun!

Thank you so much for all of this, I will certainly make the changes during my next round of photos! Before I go ahead purchasing new armor parts, I have two questions. Do you think the black gaps between my thighs and posterior armor are too large? and, less pertinent, but is there a list of vendors who sell Hero helmet kits?

Thank you for the encouragement! I have yet to be in the legion, but I tried before with a shadow trooper. Whatever the opposite of passing with flying colors is, that's what happened with that kit. I felt that I was unable to do TK's, but im happy to hear that I might be on the right track. Thanks for the advice regarding the holster- completely forgot about that!

Another question for all of those with more knowledge than me! I dont believe there are, but besides the helmet, are there any explicit differences between stunt and hero kits? Im interested in getting a hero kit approved as well, so I figured id ask before diving in.

Hi Glen! I took all of your notes into account, and I THINK I made all of the edits. Let me know what you think. FIrst, here is the helmet. I moved the left ear forward slightly so that the screws are in line wit the back of the trap: I fixed the brow trip so that it is now level. Next, here are my updated full body photos. I still have yet to set up the backdrop, but plan on doing that once I get my actual boots and can take proper submission photos. Like I said, you will see that I am wearing sneakers for the time being. One or two of the photos have the very top of my helmet cut off, but it shouldn't affect the parts of the armor that I was asked to fix. Here are the photos: Just to clarify some of the changes I made- - The belt was trimmed (May need to be trimmed more) - Shoulders were brought inward, although I may purchase a pair from Trooper Master, as his are larger - Shoulder straps were held down with white elastic - Ab and kidney were velcroed "straighter" to keep top edges aligned -V tabs were added to keep kidney and posterior touching - Back was lowered as to not create a gap between the back and kidney plates I am seeing that the belt drop boxes do not look aligned, although I am positive they are. Perhaps it is the angle of the photo. I am wondering if any of the black clothing gaps on my body are too large, soecufucakky the gaps between the thigh armor and posterior armor. If they are, I am considering ordering a new pair from Trooper Master. In addition, I also have a new abdominal button plate on order, as I trimmed the first one too close. Let me know what you think, and if anything else jumps out at you. I appreciate the insight and help thus far! Thanks!

Thank you SO much for all of this helpful information! In the coming week Im going to take the notes you gave me and make the changes in hopes of straightening some things out. Quick question about the back torso armor: Is there any specification in regard to the gap between the back and the kidney armor? I only ask because I worry that when I add the v tabs to the posterior and kidney, it will make the gap between the kidney and back larger, as I am relatively tall. There doesn't seem to be anything defining it in the CRL, but when taking a look at the pre approval posts, the smaller the gaps, the better. Thanks!

Well... It has certainly been a while. As it often does, life has gotten in the way of my personal projects, and I have only really had time to complete orders, school work, etc. Thankfully, with it being summer, I have been able to chug away at this kit, and it is in a good place currently. Unfortunately, I haven't really taken any photos of the work that went on since last post, but I will post the ones I have in the hopes of receiving some feedback. While working on the kit, it was evident that I was going to need larger pieces, as I mentioned in my initial post. I ordered some lengthened shins and forearms from Walt, and after a few months, they finally arrived. I sewed together a boat load of elastic and velcro for strapping, and kitted up. Here are the photos: All things considered, Im pretty happy with the way things are looking. I have boots on order from Keep Trooping, I ordered them on the 19th, which was the final day of this wave. From anyone else's experience, how long can I expect to wait for them? Just curious. Im hoping for a bit of feedback if anyone is willing to help. The angle of the photos could be better, next time I will ask to get them more straight on. To my knowledge, all the pieces seem to be on ok. The belt is a bit bunched in the back, and Im feeling that maybe some of the black gaps are a bit too big? Im not sure. I can lower the butt plate to close the gap between the thighs and posterior armor. Im a tad worried about the shoulders, as I don't think I can get them to sit any closer to the chest. Are gaps allowed at all in the back, whether that be between the chest and kidney or kidney and posterior? Any guidance is welcome! Thank you guys!

Thank you!

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

Just a quick update, and a bit of a cry for help lol. Last night, I two very thin layers of ABS slurry to the seams, to once again go in and wet sand. I did a preliminary round of sanding at 120 grit, and here are the results: I seem to be running into a problem every time I do this. I have the patience to sit and sand, that isn't the issue, however, Once I get it to a point where its smooth, I get these dark lines down the center of the pieces. I have to imagine they're the seam, and it's probably the glue showing through, but these aren't cracks. Am I starting with too low of a grit? It's also not an issue of the slurry not matching the armor itself, as I have reinforced and sanded edges of the armor with no issue. Any guidance or help here would be SUPER appreciated!

Hey! For anyone still following along, I have some updates! I just finished up the semester, and visited a friend for his birthday, so I haven't had the opportunity to post. Lately ive been concerned with smoothing out the side seams. Still have a ton of work to do, but here's where we currently stand: The right side has some bubbles that need filling, and for some reason, on the left side, the seam seems to be a different color, which is a bit frustrating. While I was away, my Endor Finders gloves arrived! They look and feel great: Will eventually upgrade the hand guards, but these work for the time being. Along the lines of soft goods, I wanted to try my hand at making the shiny shorts. I bought a sewing machine just about a year ago, and haven't had too many opportunities to use it, so I figured id give it a go. I purchased this Marvel branded shiny black fabric at Joanns, and it was about $20 a yard: On YouTube, I found some free PDFs for biker shorts, so I downloaded them and printed them out: Transfered: Traced: Pieces cut out: Shorts assembled: They're a tight fit, but it makes sense. I will eventually attach photos of myself suited up, so we'll see how it looks with the rest of the ensemble. Still trying to do as much DIY as possible, and saving a bit of money with the hopes of upgrading down the line, I decided to also 3D model the shoulder brackets. Here are some photos of them printed out: These were printed in ABS. I designed them to be 1/16 of an inch thick, and the hole on either side was designed to fit a standard male end snap. I will add these to the 3D file depository in case anyone wants to use them. Here they are with some filler primer: Im happy with the way things are going currently, Im working at an OK pace. Im most worried about the abdomen seams, so I will likely have some questions going forward. In addition to everything in this post, I have also painted the inside of the helmet, and done some more sanding on the shoulders and yoke. I'll have photos of that work posted tomorrow. Thanks to anyone following along!

Good eye! thanks! I imagined that the clips went on the outside, but Ill be sure to switch them.

Quick little update! As we know, the included panel is too tall for the included fabric pouches in the Denuo Novo kit. I took some measurements, and it's about an inch too tall. So, I took it upon myself to model this in fusion 360, so I could 3D print this instead of buying new pouches! Here it is: If anyone finds themselves needing the file down the line, Im more than happy to send it over to you! I can also put it in the 3D file depository. Hope this helps!

So, once I got everything glued, I did a bit of a preliminary suit up. Im super aware that there are issues here. The shoulders are not attached to the chest, the thighs are not attached to the abdomen, and the abdomen has yet to be closed up. And, it is hard to see, but I do have my gaskets on. I tailored the leg gaskets that came with the kit to be more form fitting, as they were tight on the thigh, and very loose on the calf. Let me know if anyone sees anything jumping out at them as being egregious: Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!

Here's some photos of the pieces being glued up with E-6000! Forearms: Calves: Biceps: Thighs: I then began to sand and paint up the holster: Then I added some shims to the back plate in order to bridge the gap between the chest and back: Then slurry: It looks like I put this on thick, however, I did it just about as thin as possible. There are two thin layers here.