TK-2135 Requesting [ANH] EIB Status (BFA)

[rapstertee]

Mandatory Information

• Armor = BFA (Andy Rodgers UK) – HIPS (AP/TE2 Derived)
• Helmet= BFA
• Blaster= Doopydoos Resin Kit, with mods (working trigger, real hex bolts, metal front sight needle)

Optional

• Height = 5’8â€
• Weight = 167LBS
• Boots = TK Boots
• Canvas belt = Rebelscum (UKG)
• Hand Plates = White silicone (Karin Sonnenschein)bonded to black rubber gloves (also Karin)
• Electronics= ROM FX
• Neck Seal = Pleather collar & spandex bib by Kathy Maginn UKG
• Holster = Leather, ANH style, Hero Workshops International (Kit Summerfield, UK)

PHOTOS:

 

Full Body Front:

FRONT

 

BACK


LEFT SIDE


LEFT SIDE DETAIL


RIGHT SIDE


RIGHT SIDE DETAIL

 

HELMET :

Info:

Make: BFA (UK), HIPS.
'S' shape neck trim.
Painted all details except tube stripes. (Trooperbay)
Flat Green perspex lenses.
Frown mesh
2-part Hovi's.
Paint: Humbrol Gloss black #21, Grey #5. Interior painted Matt Black

 

 

pics:

FRONT

 

SIDE

 

INSIDE

 

HOVI's

 

S TRIM

 

INSIDE STRAPPING R

 

INSIDE STRAPPING L

 

OUTSIDE SIDE DETAIL L

 

OUTSIDE DETAIL R

 

AB BUTTONS

 

RUBBER HANDPLATES:

 

INNER STRAPPING - SHOULDERS

 

BUTT & COD

 

TKBOOTS

 

BELT OUTER

 

INNER DROPBOX R

 

INNER DROPBOX L

 

HOLSTER ATTACHMENT

 

NECKSEAL

 

Butt plate:

 

Shoulder bridges/Elastic

 

Handplates / Gloves

 

BLASTER TO FOLLOW

Action shot:


ACTION shot A


 

[TK73511]

Good luck trooper

[Vader’s Wingman[501st]]

Hey Terry! Looks like a great build! A few things I notice moving forward that may or may not be an issue......I think you need to take some more return edge out of your left shoulder bell. If you notice from your pics it is sticking out and not sitting flush with your bicep like the right one is. It is even more noticeable in the pic of your "left side detail" photo. There is considerable gap on both sides of your ab/kidney sections. You may need to add shims to remedy this. More than 1/2 gap inch is too distracting. Your helmet looks great. Your "S" trim on the back of the helmet has a slight gap. This may or may not be an issue, also I am seeing a lot of yellowish inner Hovi tips lately....don't know what that's about. I would like to have seen a right side and back side helmet photo as well. Your canvas belt looks really wide to me.Ideally it should be no wider than 3 inches but 3 1/4 is acceptable. Also your holster is hanging a bit low and may need to be brought up some, or rather I should say the placement is correct but the brown strips are a bit long. Some thermal detonator photos would be nice to see as well.It looks like your TD screws are silver, if going for Centurion these will need to be slotted pan head screws painted black. And your TD clips may need to be moved closer to the end caps. There should be 1/8 inch or less gap between the clips and the end caps.Your "Han" snap on the right side ab my need to come up a bit. It looks a little lower than it should be.I really enjoyed looking over your photos. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pics. As always, don't make any changes until instructed to do so by the DL. I wish you all the best! Good luck Trooper!

[A Master Builder]

Looks Great! Don't remember to add pictures of your blaster! Good luck man.!

[rapstertee]

 

Hey Terry! Looks like a great build! A few things I notice moving forward that may or may not be an issue......I think you need to take some more return edge out of your left shoulder bell. If you notice from your pics it is sticking out and not sitting flush with your bicep like the right one is. It is even more noticeable in the pic of your "left side detail" photo. There is considerable gap on both sides of your ab/kidney sections. You may need to add shims to remedy this. More than 1/2 gap inch is too distracting. Your helmet looks great. Your "S" trim on the back of the helmet has a slight gap. This may or may not be an issue, also I am seeing a lot of yellowish inner Hovi tips lately....don't know what that's about. I would like to have seen a right side and back side helmet photo as well. Your canvas belt looks really wide to me.Ideally it should be no wider than 3 inches but 3 1/4 is acceptable. Also your holster is hanging a bit low and may need to be brought up some, or rather I should say the placement is correct but the brown strips are a bit long. Some thermal detonator photos would be nice to see as well.It looks like your TD screws are silver, if going for Centurion these will need to be slotted pan head screws painted black. And your TD clips may need to be moved closer to the end caps. There should be 1/8 inch or less gap between the clips and the end caps.Your "Han" snap on the right side ab my need to come up a bit. It looks a little lower than it should be.I really enjoyed looking over your photos. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pics. As always, don't make any changes until instructed to do so by the DL. I wish you all the best! Good luck Trooper!

 

Hi Zixx, thanks fo rthe feedback, here are my comments:

 

Left shoulder bell is formed a little narrower the the right - cutting off more return edge will do nothing to remedy the sticking out - it's just a tighter curve.

Side gaps are 1" - I was told these are most probably acceptable for EIB  & Centurion. If not, I will not shim as no shims were seen in the movies.

S Trim - small gap  - I wasn't aware this was an issue - certainly not on any CRL.

Yellowish hovis - The resin is like that - I can't disassemble them. Again, not on any CRL

Canvas Belt  is 3 1/4" wide  - Rebelscum makes these for very many UKG troopers and never had any problems. (see attached pic below)

Holster (& belt) was put together to conform with pics of 1976 screen used belt from Billhag, UKG armourer.

TD  - currently I have silver Rivets. I read about slotted screws, but again, this detail 9and placement of clips) is not mentioned on the CRL

'Han' snap - pretty hard to remedy without damaging the armour - is it *really* that bad?

 

Once again, thanks for the pointers. I feel that this appplication is likely to be withdrawn in all honesty. It's not something I can easily afford.

 

3.25" belt:

[Vader’s Wingman[501st]]

Terry, I am merely pointing out areas of possible improvements. Please don't make any hasty decisions and wait to see what the DL has to say. You are definitely worthy of EIB

Edited June 18, 2014 by Zixx

[Dazauto[TK]]

Looks great to me matey, good luck with your application

[HawkFan24]

Looks good to me as well, don't get discouraged when people are commenting on what you may need to change. Everyone has a different eye for different things that they notice and comment on. Steve has the final word on what you'll need to change before approval. Most of Jason's suggestions are minor mods that you may or may not have to do. Personally I don't find your side gaps distracting. I've seen a lot of troopers with this gap. What I noticed was that perhaps you can drop your thighs down just a bit to reduce the knee gap at the back.

 

With the S trim, a lot of people hide the gap by having the two ends meet underneath the vocoder instead of having them meet at the back of the helmet where the gap is more visible.

 

Good luck with your application!

[Vader’s Wingman[501st]]

Here is a reference for the holster, Terry.  

[rapstertee]

Yes, my holster has 1.5" of brown leather showing.

[gazmosis[501st]]

Hey Terry! You have a nice build here. BFA isn't an armor that is shown too often. It looks nice! Let's take a look at your armor!

 

CRL and EIB Application Requirements:

First in regards to your application, there is a few shots from the required photos list that are missing. I need to see a shot of the back of your helmet, your thermal detonator close-up, and aside from you holding it and in your holster, we have no shots of your blaster. 

 

In looking over your armor for the characteristics that qualify for EIB, there is only one thing that stands in your way: your side gaps between your ab and kidney. They need to be 1/2 inch or less. Pictures may be deceiving but they seem excessive (more than 1 inch).

If you take a pic WITH YOUR ARMOR ON and a ruler next to the gap and show that it is 1/2 or less, my mind will be changed.

 

Other-Armor Fit/ Assembly:

Your fellow troopers have chimed in with their observations and suggestions. I love to see people so involved in helping each other. AWESOME!!!

Anyway, the first thing I wanted to discuss is a possible adjustment with your thighs. They seem very tubular to me and this throws off your front appearance of your armor. The human thigh is very conical; wider at the top than at the knee. Your thigh armor should be the same. I'd bet that if you squeezed the thigh halves together, you would have overlap that could be trimmed away behind the knee that would contribute to both comfort and an improved look.

Your paint work on your helmet is wonderful. The outline of your traps and tears BOARDER LINES on being wide but it's not distracting to me. I still do need to see that rear shot of your helmet, though.

There was a concern regarding the excessive width of your belt. I think this is a deception. I will stand on my soapbox and beg our TK belt makers to build your belts at 3 inches rather than 3 1/4. this would solve every ones problems. But I think that this case here is a combination of a 1/4 too wide belt and a slightly enthusiastic corner trimming on your waist belt. Either way, it's not worrying me that much.

Another concern that came up was the gap in your helmet's "S" trim. this also doesn't concern me. What does is that unless it's glued down, you will have problems with it falling off. I would replace it just to save yourself the headache of having to deal with and potentially losing it as I have seen done before. The stuff is readily available and cheap.

We all need to remember that not all armor fits everyone the same. Although your forearms appear to be the correct length, they are over- rotating on you. The curve at the elbow side of your forearm should be at the inside of your elbow bend. In the p[osition it is sitting on you in the pic, that is a recipe for a nasty armor bite. You could either install a little foam on the inside or a strap that connects the bicep and forearm like the originals had to hold everything in position. 

 

Centurion Suggestions:

Like I said before, you have a really nice build and are not too far away from a Centurion application as your details show you are headed. Your side gaps are the main concern, here. For Centurion. any side gap should be close if not completely eliminated all together leaving just a seam line. 

The only other thing I see (provided the submission pics you still need to provide don;t show anything) is the clips on your thermal detonator need to be moved closer to the end caps like here:It will also give you a chance to install the black, slot head screws if you haven't already done so, 

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. 

[rapstertee]

Hi, and thanks for the notes.

This is not out of stubborn-ness or laziness but I won't be able to make EIB so there's no point in carrying on with this application.

 

As a couple of  examples of why, my thighs are sealed shut with a combination of Poly Weld glue and Zap A Gap CA. So separating them will be nigh-on impossible and very damaging.

My side gaps *are* 1", and until I get down to my target weight of 140 lbs (I'm currently 167) they won't get any smaller.

 

My S Trim is glued in place so it'll be a bit of a task to remove and replace. I've filled the small gap at the back with a small wedge of black EVA foam, bu tthat's aobut it.

To replace the belt would mean totally disassembling it and that would entail buying a new belt and the ABS belt parts - both pretty costly.

 

As I say, it would've been good but I guess a lot of things that weren't on the CRL have been asked for, or at least added during the time that I was building my kit and now the amount of damage and cost that would be involved to get it to pass EIB (let alone Centurion), makes it a task that I'm no longer willing to do. My suit is cleared with the 501st and UK Garrison, which is the main purpose of getting a new TK, so I'm eligible to troop in the UK now.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and pointers, I appreciate the compliments and suggestions.

[SW1]

I do and still do say that the side gap rule is perfectic and should be changed it was clear to see there were all different sized side gaps on screen with in reason of course !<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[gazmosis[501st]]

Keep in mind, Terry, that the only issue I mentioned that affected EIB was your side gaps. The other items mentioned are improvement suggestions for comfort and overall appearance. I applaud your determination to make your goal. I also applaud the fact that you would rather change your appearance from the inside instead of the outside. You keep on your quest and return when you arrive at it. We will be here.

As for the wide variety of side gaps seen on screen......I have yet to see them.

[Holnave (evan_loh)[TK]]

Keep in mind, Terry, that the only issue I mentioned that affected EIB was your side gaps. The other items mentioned are improvement suggestions for comfort and overall appearance. I applaud your determination to make your goal. I also applaud the fact that you would rather change your appearance from the inside instead of the outside. You keep on your quest and return when you arrive at it. We will be here.

As for the wide variety of side gaps seen on screen......I have yet to see them.

 

Not sure if I'm seeing correctly. There seems to be a gap on the trooper second from right. And it's too dark to be a shadow either.

[gazmosis[501st]]

There are always the extreme circumstances where a trooper from the film was expected to act in a way that stretched the elastic on the side. in the case above leaning way backwards. What I am referring to is standing at attention in a relaxed position. 

[Techne[TK]]

The gap issue is something I can understand from a philosophical point of view, in the sense that there are two ways to look at how to make the most screen accurate armor in this regard.  The first way would be to close the side gap, because (generally speaking) the screen armor had no side gap.  The second way would be to not use a shim, because the screen armor had no shims.  Each way could argue to be "more screen accurate" depending on the point of view.

 

I went back and forth on this personally, but I fell on the side of doing the shim; regardless of the question of accuracy, I think it just looks better.

 

Regardless, at the moment it is in the CRL.

 

Terry, I do think that since the gap is the only issue you've got, it would be reasonable to put in temporary shims until you lose the weight.  Then you could remove them with little trouble and have the armor and the weight you want.