Anovos TK armor preorder

[kman[TK]]

well to start off happy holidays and a new year. now that the greetings are done i need a quick recap due to life hitting hard this year with family dying and being laid off,

1. is the kit worth the price for a noob

2. is it legion approved.

 

last time i was on here the kit was with the soft parts were on the debate because last time i was on anovos just announced the kit and at the time there was a lack of info on it. in advance thanks and i wish everyone happy holidays and a new year and thank those that have to work on these holidays.

 

1) The kit price without the soft goods is definitely a good deal.  Bear in mind issues with extremely slow ship times for some Anovos products (sometimes they surprise you, other times their shipping estimates have literally been pushed for 1+ years), and zero options for spare parts from the company.

 

2) No kit is "Legion approved."  The Anovos kit, if it is built to legion specs and fitted to you properly, can be legion approved.  There are MANY approved Anovos troopers, all the way up to Centurion.  If it is not built to legion specs and not fitted to your body correctly, you won't be approved, even though the fundamental armor is capable of being approved.

 

I would recommend skipping the soft parts from Anovos.  The undersuit bleeds dye and stains the inside of your armor.  The neck seal is ok, IF you fits it (it's "one size fits many" but if it doesn't fit YOU, it's no good), and the accurate gloves (simple black chemical gloves) can be found for $5 easily.  You can buy the same or better quality for much less than the $200 Anovos is asking.

 

The Anovos belt all their kits come with is not very good and you will likely want to replace it.  It can be approved, but not all the way to Centurion.  And it's simply not a good belt, so you'll likely want to upgrade it anyway.  (much better belts can be found for ~$30-40)

 

The helmet is "approvable" out of the box, but there are some accuracy upgrades you'll want to do for higher level approvals.  Pretty simple stuff, however, and you would have to do much more with other kits, where the helmet doesn't come preassembled, anyway.

[shamankid]

thanks. i didnt want to spend money on the kit if it  was more pricey version of a cheap Halloween costume from walmart or party city. now i know that i need to ditch the soft parts. when i and like others first heard the news i was like it had to be to good to be true and it was for the soft parts. all im looking for is just a basic kit that will fit a tooth pick like myself and to make my retired navy grandfather show off his inner star wars nerd. as for as assembly goes its not a problem because i expected to put it together like a model kit.

 

now time to hit the local sporting good stores and walmart for the pants and shirt and amazon (if i remember right ) for the shoes while sales are going on and ill also hit the vendors here on the forum in if need anything else. i also have your anovos build thread saved. side note anything else i should avoid with this kit and store brands or vendors you recommend for the soft soft parts and blaster?

[kman[TK]]

thanks. i didnt want to spend money on the kit if it  was more pricey version of a cheap Halloween costume from walmart or party city. now i know that i need to ditch the soft parts. when i and like others first heard the news i was like it had to be to good to be true and it was for the soft parts. all im looking for is just a basic kit that will fit a tooth pick like myself and to make my retired navy grandfather show off his inner star wars nerd. as for as assembly goes its not a problem because i expected to put it together like a model kit.

 

now time to hit the local sporting good stores and walmart for the pants and shirt and amazon (if i remember right ) for the shoes while sales are going on and ill also hit the vendors here on the forum in if need anything else. i also have your anovos build thread saved. side note anything else i should avoid with this kit and store brands or vendors you recommend for the soft soft parts and blaster?

 

No, the Anovos armor is no Halloween costume.  It's legit.  We have quite a few Centurion-approved troopers in Anovos armor, just take a look at see how great it can look!

 

Do yourself a favor and also join the Anovos Stormtrooper Kit Building Group on FaceBook.  Very active group, LOTS of help there.  Be sure to read the sticky post, which details the various issues that need to be addressed when building.  And of course, start a WIP thread here, too, once you have your armor.

 

Any good all black compression gear will work, for the undersuit.  Some you may need to remove logos, if they're in a visible location.  UnderArmor (HeatGear or ColdGear, depending on your local climate) is very popular, if expensive.  Personally, I'm currently trooping in UnderArmor bottoms and a DrSkin top (from Amazon), because I really like the Mock Turtleneck top and UA doesn't offer a good one right now.

 

I'd recommend Darman's neck seals, based on lots of positive feedback.  That's what I'll be buying, once my Anovos neck seal gets too worn.  There is a sales thread in the forums, here.

 

Most popular trooping gloves are black Nomex flight gloves, which you can get for $10-15 on eBay.  You'll need black rubber chemical gloves if you want to go Centurion (and you should!), but they're pretty terrible to troop in so many just use them for Centurion submission photos and Canon troops.  Plus they're only like $5 so not a big waste of money even if you only wear them once.

 

Blaster depends on you.  Some people just use the $12 plastic Rubies E11 from Walmart and paint it black.  It'll do for basic, even if it's not super accurate.  A more accurate and very popular option is the HFx HyperFirm E11 (which is what I use, personally), which is hard rubber foam so nearly indestructible.  Others want the even more detailed (but frightening fragile, should you let one drop onto a hard surface) resin blaster kits, from DoopyDoos and other sources.  The Doopy kits are very cheap, and very accurate, and can be made to look fantastic.  I just don't care for them, personally, because I'd be worried about them constantly and there's enough to deal with on a troop as it is.  (Great for display, less so for trooping... IMO.  There are certainly people who troop with them, but more power to them!) 

 

These are just a few options for each thing, however.  There are plenty of other options out there that you may end up preferring, and that's all good.   Enjoy the hunt for what YOU like best!

Edited December 21, 2016 by kman

[shamankid]

No, the Anovos armor is no Halloween costume.  It's legit.  We have quite a few Centurion-approved troopers in Anovos armor, just take a look at see how great it can look!

 

Do yourself a favor and also join the Anovos Stormtrooper Kit Building Group on FaceBook.  Very active group, LOTS of help there.  Be sure to read the sticky post, which details the various issues that need to be addressed when building.  And of course, start a WIP thread here, too, once you have your armor.

 

Any good all black compression gear will work, for the undersuit.  Some you may need to remove logos, if they're in a visible location.  UnderArmor (HeatGear or ColdGear, depending on your local climate) is very popular, if expensive.  Personally, I'm currently trooping in UnderArmor bottoms and a DrSkin top (from Amazon), because I really like the Mock Turtleneck top and UA doesn't offer a good one right now.

 

I'd recommend Darman's neck seals, based on lots of positive feedback.  That's what I'll be buying, once my Anovos neck seal gets too worn.  There is a sales thread in the forums, here.

 

Most popular trooping gloves are black Nomex flight gloves, which you can get for $10-15 on eBay.  You'll need black rubber chemical gloves if you want to go Centurion (and you should!), but they're pretty terrible to troop in so many just use them for Centurion submission photos and Canon troops.  Plus they're only like $5 so not a big waste of money even if you only wear them once.

 

Blaster depends on you.  Some people just use the $12 plastic Rubies E11 from Walmart and paint it black.  It'll do for basic, even if it's not super accurate.  A more accurate and very popular option is the HFx HyperFirm E11 (which is what I use, personally), which is hard rubber foam so nearly indestructible.  Others want the even more detailed (but frightening fragile, should you let one drop onto a hard surface) resin blaster kits, from DoopyDoos and other sources.  The Doopy kits are very cheap, and very accurate, and can be made to look fantastic.  I just don't care for them, personally, because I'd be worried about them constantly and there's enough to deal with on a troop as it is.  (Great for display, less so for trooping... IMO.  There are certainly people who troop with them, but more power to them!) 

 

These are just a few options for each thing, however.  There are plenty of other options out there that you may end up preferring, and that's all good.   Enjoy the hunt for what YOU like best!

i will and again thanks. due to all of the crazyness of 2016 there are somethings i forgot about and  the kit was one of those things i forgot about until rogue one and my boss pre ordering things for star wars day at eastern IL university. now all that i need to do is get on that reservation list for the kit.and while im waiting maybe i can work on a few of my other costumes from marvel and dc for the upcoming con in april. its a little funny that when anovos announced the kit everyone was talking about it and there wasnt a real waiting list for order because people thought they were blowing smoke and now its like trying to get a ticket see rogue one.

 

well thanks and i wish you a happy holiday and a peaceful new year

[Daetrin[Admin]]

FYI though that the FB group is not an official 501st group, so even though there are numerous 501st posting there, there is no guarantee that any advice will lead to 501st approval...

[ukswrath[Staff]]

FYI though that the FB group is not an official 501st group, so even though there are numerous 501st posting there, there is no guarantee that any advice will lead to 501st approval...

 

My thoughts exactly

[kman[TK]]

FYI though that the FB group is not an official 501st group, so even though there are numerous 501st posting there, there is no guarantee that any advice will lead to 501st approval...

 

Agreed.  Due diligence, and all that.  Especially with a group that has a ton of new builders.  Still worth checking out, but verify, verify, verify.

[Rat[TK]]

Finally go the okay to pull the trigger on a kit. Very glad I am able to get it on payments. Makes it much easier for me.

 

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[ColtEastwood]

Just placed a pre-order for Q3, hoping they'll ship faster than the people waiting since 2015

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Agreed.  Due diligence, and all that.  Especially with a group that has a ton of new builders.  Still worth checking out, but verify, verify, verify.

Yep. People like myself and Kalani who are often on that group do our best to steer them in the right direction (which often means referring them back here), but (1) we can't catch everything, (2) anyone can chime in on a 5000+ members public FB group and make themselves sound good regardless of their actual level of expertise, (3) given FB's always-on, instant-gratification nature, people seem to have gotten lazy in terms of doing their due diligence - I've seen a lot of things over there that made me cringe (one kid put his kit together with RIVETS!!!) and that could have been easily avoided.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Yep. People like myself and Kalani who are often on that group do our best to steer them in the right direction (which often means referring them back here), but (1) we can't catch everything, (2) anyone can chime in on a 5000+ members public FB group and make themselves sound good regardless of their actual level of expertise, (3) given FB's always-on, instant-gratification nature, people seem to have gotten lazy in terms of doing their due diligence - I've seen a lot of things over there that made me cringe (one kid put his kit together with RIVETS!!!) and that could have been easily avoided.

 

Another reason to redirect everyone to the FISD. The attitude of some of the applicants Andrew and myself have to deal with is astounding. You want to play in the big leagues, play by the rules. Is it a perfect system? no. Is there room for improvement ? always.

 

We have a CRL in place (though not perfect), it's a spectacular guideline. We have a photo gallery with 1000s of movie screen and back stage images. We have loads of knowledgeable builders who will, for the most part, steer you in the right direction an/or give you the correct advice. The times I visited the FB group and tried to pass on some advice I was mainly ignored. People want to hear what they want to hear. Most there want to take the easy route then get upset with us when instructed to make changes for basic and higher levels of approval.

 

People need to understand just because you have a set of armor doesn't entitle you to basic 501st approval nonetheless EI or Centurion. 

 

Sorry for the rant

[ColtEastwood]

I've been stalking this forum for a while and wanted to thank you guys for all the effort and time spent educating us. ukswrath in particular, your Anovos Centurion tutorial is what got me to stop putting a build off and ordered an Anovos kit and HF blaster

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I've been stalking this forum for a while and wanted to thank you guys for all the effort and time spent educating us. ukswrath in particular, your Anovos Centurion tutorial is what got me to stop putting a build off and ordered an Anovos kit and HF blaster

 

Glad to be of assistance Tyler. When you're ready please post a build thread so we can follow along. 

[Rat[TK]]

Yep. People like myself and Kalani who are often on that group do our best to steer them in the right direction (which often means referring them back here), but (1) we can't catch everything, (2) anyone can chime in on a 5000+ members public FB group and make themselves sound good regardless of their actual level of expertise, (3) given FB's always-on, instant-gratification nature, people seem to have gotten lazy in terms of doing their due diligence - I've seen a lot of things over there that made me cringe (one kid put his kit together with RIVETS!!!) and that could have been easily avoided.

Yeah I've mostly stayed away from the pages on FB why go there when I've got the whole of collective knowledge right here? You guys are awesome and thanks for the learning opportunities and all the work you've put in for the new folks like me.

 

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[shamankid]

i always love to learn new things. i have always asked for help when im stuck on something. i remember the first time i touched a model kit it was a advanced level gundam back when gundam was easily found at model shops and walmart. the instruction sheet was left field so i asked my father for help and we spent the whole day putting together a glue based kit. now im planning on doing the same thing with the exception tape and tools far more advanced than a knife, scissors and old fashioned model glue. so outside of the straps and elastic parts what tools should i look for while stores are fighting to be number one this year. i know i will need a sharper pair of scissors and big tube glue ( cant remember the name off hand) and various grits of sand paper to shave off the burs from cutting.

 

oh please wise guru's educate this novice (me) on his shopping list for tools. is it sad that after an hour of reading the FB group i lost all interest and felt a little lost?

 

i also remember what my old man told me when building that model " measure twice or more depending on pieces and cut once because there is no point in spending money on a model kit just for one part you mess up on." who knows maybe i can get my grandfather to join us on this build since he has been doing models longer than both of us.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

i always love to learn new things. i have always asked for help when im stuck on something. i remember the first time i touched a model kit it was a advanced level gundam back when gundam was easily found at model shops and walmart. the instruction sheet was left field so i asked my father for help and we spent the whole day putting together a glue based kit. now im planning on doing the same thing with the exception tape and tools far more advanced than a knife, scissors and old fashioned model glue. so outside of the straps and elastic parts what tools should i look for while stores are fighting to be number one this year. i know i will need a sharper pair of scissors and big tube glue ( cant remember the name off hand) and various grits of sand paper to shave off the burs from cutting.

 

oh please wise guru's educate this novice (me) on his shopping list for tools. is it sad that after an hour of reading the FB group i lost all interest and felt a little lost?

 

i also remember what my old man told me when building that model " measure twice or more depending on pieces and cut once because there is no point in spending money on a model kit just for one part you mess up on." who knows maybe i can get my grandfather to join us on this build since he has been doing models longer than both of us.

 

In a nut shell... 

 

For the beginner and novice - E6000 is what you seek

Even before your armor arrives start here - http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/38-getting-started-read-this-first/ and here http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/31-costuming-and-builds-501st/. Read, read,read, ask questions then read some more. 

Some of us are grandpas, or at least old enough to be one 

[Big Deal]

My ANOVOS kit is on order (3rd Quarter?) Hopefully I can get most of the other pieces in place by the time it arrives. I will check out the Anovos Facebook page, but it's pretty clear the best info and help threads will be here.

[mikidymac[TK]]

The best Anovos guide is the sticky here by UKS Wrath

 

 

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[Whiskey]

Woohoo!<br><br>

I just received shipping confirmation. <br><br>

According to UPS tracking, I should expect mine on Monday. <br><br>

Good thing I've purchased everything from straps to boots. <br><br>

Can't wait to build my ESB trooper

[AngryEwok[501st]]

Still waiting on my shipping confirmation... any day, now...