troopermaster

You are wrong Vern. The tops of the thighs are assembled correctly and not mis matched. The original ANH left thigh has the peak as part of it's shape and has nothing to do with how it was trimmed. Here is a screen used left thigh top.

I'm not really sure what you mean by 'pinched' but the top of the wearers left thigh armour has a peak just as I have sculpted it. All of the original ANH and ESB armour have this and it has nothing to do with trimming, that's how they were formed. It seems that for ROTJ this peak was removed when the moulds were made resulting in one thigh notably shorter than the other. It would be great if you could make up a comparison between LFL/AP/TM to see the differences. I really can't see what your seeing in the AP when comapring it to the LFL suits.

A bit of E6000 on the drop box elastic and the canvas belt stops it from moving anywhere

WRONG! ATA is still using my knee cap and ab buttons plate. No arrangement has been, nor ever will be made. I have never even been contacted about it.

Looks like the legs and a few other parts are cast from the Don Post statue. I've never seen this kit before.

Hi Jim, The DH2 website is where I got my inspiration many moons ago. It has a lot of useful information on there to help you get started. I would start by making body casts using plaster bandage or old rags dipped in plaster, only casting seperat body parts at one time. I started with my forearms and made plaster casts from the body casts and sculpt onto those. Everything is on there that you need to know. For reference, I would check out starwarshelmets.com and only use screen used armour personally. If you want to make trooper armour then what better reference to use than what you have been watching on screen? It isn't any easier to sculpt FX than it is TE, so go for the real deal mate Good luck!

I think you'll find that it's the shine from the unpainted brass screw that you are seeing, not foam. I love these helmets with the three holes cut out. My favourites for sure

Apology accepted

Looks fantastic Caleb

LOL....it's no secret. Just a plastic tab with two snaps glued inside the top of the thigh behind the joining strip. I don't have any photos, sorry. It's very simple, just get some 2" wide elastic and loop it over at the top and sew it so the belt can slide through. Put a female snap on the bottom of the strap and your done

I'd love a signed copy please Brian.

Cool! Looking forward to seeing more of the original TE ROTJ from back in the day Any luck with your vinyl shoulder straps yet?

Thanks Geordie! Wye aye man Looks like Matt has deleted a lot of stuff on their including the info about how he aquired the ROTJ suit from CO <_< Too bad, there's not much I can do to back up my statements now, unless anyone with an old ROTJ TE with the odd hands and bells can chirp in?

The first pic I posted is quite possibly from Trap Joe which is a recast of the TE ROTJ. Reading that thread you linked to (which I have read before) a quote from TE posted by FON states that the sculpted hand plates are from him (TE) so why sculpt them if he had the originals from CO? Anyone got a link to Matts website with the ROTJ helmets?

They are similar to the MFX, but they are TE's.

Here's one.... ...and another

So how come they used to come with the oddly shaped bells and hands? I'm sure I read it on Matt's website or somewhere about the parts being shipped at a later date. One thing is for sure, the first sets did come with newly sculpted bells and hands. I will find the pics shortly. I'm not bagging on your kit Celab, it's really great I just doubt it is 'THE' first suit ever pulled.

The ankle area on the ROTJ shins are notoriously tight. It may help to tape up your boots tight at the tops to make them narrower. I had to do this with a pair of boots I had once. It's a pain, but it works.

Maybe someone who was around back then could comfirm this? (Not Matt )

I could be mistaken here but I am pretty sure the first run of the TE ROTJ armour did not come with the original shoulder bells or hand plates like you have shown, so I doubt this one could have been the first (or one of the first) suits pulled. From what I can remember, CO didn't send the original shoulder bells and hand plates and they were resculpted (not very accurately) to make them up while they made their way to TE. Either way, looks killer

A first rate maker doesn't make second rate armour, let alone sell it. I would never consider making inferior armour just to sell more kits. I can see where you are going with this but for me personally, I would charge the same amount for either quality or material used. A man who does a job wants paying the same money for the same job regardless of who he is working for. Asking him to charge less for the same amount of time and effort he has put into completing his job because the customer either doesn't want to pay much or use inferior materials is a bit selfish. If you want a cheap job doing, get the cowboys in, not the professionals.

You can strip the gloss from the caboots and paint the soles white. I think the original ROTJ boots were just sprayed white with no masking on the soles. I don't see any reason why the underside of the soles need to be white, just the edges that you can see. Trooper boots are more like jodhpur boots, so just because Dr.Martens are classed as chelsea boot style doesn't justify them for use as trooper boots. Not all chelsea boots are suitable to use as trooper boots IMO.

I might be wrong here Pablo but it sounds as though you are asking makers to lower their standards just to satisfy people who don't want to spend money on quality armour. Using the anology with the hairdresser, maybe if he loses clients to the cheaper guy, they are not the clients he wants. If the hairdresser decides to lower his prices to keep clients and do basic haircuts then he is lowering his standards in my book. The hairdresser should raise his prices to keep those other clients out of his salon!

If you want cheap, lesser quality armour there are guys who sell this all the time and you know who they are. If you want quality armour then you have to pay for it. Like everything in this world, you get what you pay for.

I wouldn't touch the white docs with a barge pole personally. I think if you want to look like a stormtrooper then you need to wear the right gear, not something that is easily obtainable or comfortable. I know it's different when you are trooping as opposed to displaying your armour but really, your boots should look reasonably close to what was seen on screen. Just my personal opinion of course