troopermaster

That's no TE2. Looks more like an GF or RT to me. Definitely not a TE2 though. Looking forward to seeing you suited up with your RS PP crowning your TM

The armour is looking really nice on you Tony. Bicep hooks will do the job of keeping the biceps from sliding down your arm. Don't waste your time with snaps when you have gone to all this effort of keeping everything original. Here is an original arm that you might have already seen for reference. Not sure what to advise on the thigh issue. Mark Hamill was quite short and he didn't really have the thighs chopped down, though the tops did have a slight odd shape to them, at least his left thigh anyway. Hopefully some of the shorter troopers will chime in with some advice. Overall you have done a superb job

You can make the braces yourself. Go to your local fabric store or market haberdashery stall and buy some 1" black nylon or polypro webbing strapping. You will probably need about 5 metres at most and some quick release buckles. I don't have any photos to show you but they are pretty easy to make, especially if you get the buckles that have the slots in so you can adjust the lengths.

Well, I got it done. Don't ask me how but I did it somehow. What an awesome day it was too! All the hard work paid off and it was really so cool to see my Son and Steve SW1 trooping together. They both had a blast. It was also great to finally meet Steve and Karen, and to see some old faces from the UKG (FBJ, 89batman, and few others). As usual, I didn't take many photos, but I am sure there will be more coming soon. Here are a couple that I did take.

First of all, you need to have good, strong elastic straps inside your thighs and the ends that go through your inner belt need to be pulled to your side. This will help keep them in the right position. Secondly, I see is your thigh armour is shaped oddly. From the front they look wide and from the side they look narrow when it is usually the opposite way around. This could be why you are getting the armour bites. Finally, if your inner belt is being pulled down so much then you can add some braces to keep them up. Use webbing so it doesn't stretch and it will keep your belt in place.

I have replied to Andy now so all is good. I have been so busy with my sons suit this past week that I have let everything else slip, so I apologise to anyone who I have not replied to in a timely manner but I have been working on something for myself for once that had to be done. It's back to business as usual now Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread. Your support is greatly appreciated

Just to clarify, the number is not unique. All my boots have different numbers in them but they are all the same make and style. I guess it is just a batch or lot number.

I wish I could take all the credit but it was John B. who shared the info. He has the original boots. Now, if you can find the original socks to go with these boots my journey is over

You may have seen the trooper with the Death Star Gunner holster in the Tantive IV raid. That seems to be the only odd looking holster worn in ANH. It is not flipped or reversed, but a different shaped holster altogether.

Thanks again. I am sure I can get it all done today. I have a few hundred powerful magnets as well as the super quick drying Stelmax to get the job done quickly. I actually got half the gluing done last night so today should be a breeze. I just have to pace myself and time everything right. Rushing is when mistakes happen and I don't have time to start forming any new parts if I mess up, so I have to get it right.

Thanks Mark. It's going to be another long day tomorrow. Not only do I have to get the armour and helmet finished, I have to scratch build a blaster and sew a neck seal too. I can see this being another one of those builds where the paint is drying on the way to the troop

Just finished a 13 hour shift working on finishing the moulds after I made some last minute changes and finally pulled the entire kit this evening. These photos were taken at 8.00pm tonight and I got straight on with the trimming and some assembly. This has to be a full wearable suit by tomorrow night

Don't cut anything yet! Get your thighs strapped up properly first and try wearing just your thighs, shins and boots with no body armour and get them comfortable. You can tape your straps inside to get the length right before gluing them. You may find that once your thighs are pulled up as high as possible, things will feel better. If the back of the thighs are digging into your butt, simply trim a bit off the top of the back joining strip at an angle. Trimming the thigh tops is a last resort tactic. Trim a small amount off the bottom of the shins first and see if that helps. If you have to reposition the lower hook strap then so be it.

Thanks A helmet pic. More coming soon.

It's virtually identicle to a full sized suit only scaled down. I have only used hi res photos of an original ANH suit as reference when sculpting these moulds and tried to capture all the minor details. I just finished assembling the helmet and it looks better than the first one. I also assembled the legs too but will leave closing the backs until I can test fit them this evening. Strapping with hooks to be fitted in the calves. The belt looks so cool. It's made of layered canvas with all hardware just like the original. Drop box elastic has the cut out so it doesn't foul the snap. Pics up soon

Just got the legs pulled tonight (finally!) and already got them rough trimmed and test fitted. I will get them fully trimmed and finished tomorrow so I can test fit properly with the rest of the suit on and see what needs adjusting/changing before I pull the next suit on Wednesday in 1.5mm gloss ABS. I managed to pull test helmet #2 after making some changes to moulds that needed doing after I built the first helmet. I fiddled with a few areas on the face, back, cap and ears, so everything should fit together much better and also look much better too. I tweaked a few minor spots on the arms and shoulder bells too but didn't bother pulling those tonight. I know they will be perfect for the gloss ABS suit. Only things left to sculpt are the canister parts now and finish off the shoulder straps which I will do tomorrow. Still need to scratch build a blaster and get it finished for Friday. Oooh the pressure

Of all the six pairs I have found, only one was advertised using the brand name. All the rest were spotted by eye. Most boots don't have the brand visable inside since they are well used and the markings have worn away. Knowing the brand won't automatically get you a pair. You have to search long and hard to find these boots.

That's right. Just drop the vintage and you will have many more to view. It is a pain in the rear looking through hundreds of old boots, but these things don't just drop into your lap, so those who really want them will have to search hard.

Nice find I just snagged another pair myself. This time a UK 10.5. They are out there if you keep looking.

You should use single cap rivets - not pop rivets. 7mm x 7mm is a good size. Pop rivets will rub against your armour where single cap rivets are flat and won't rub, and they're screen accurate too.

In the photo is 19mm sew on snaps, 1" Black elastic, 2" White elastic and 1/4" white elastic.

I can help you with an undersuit. PM inbound.

No, you still don't get it. They shouldn't be hidden. They are just the same as the ANH armour and will be seen when the armour is worn correctly. The reason you don't see them in the photo above is becasue the arms have slid down due to not being connected to anything (which is the way they were designed). I wouldn't go trying to hide the straps by placing them higher. Use 1" wide black elastic and glue them inside the very bottom of the bell just as they were in ANH.

Put the original strap back in there. The ESB suits all have them and the CRL is wrong! Do yourself a favour and listen to someone who knows about original armour