Info on TKArmour.com vendor?

[wh1plash[TK]]

Hi guys

 

I had a recruit recently purchase a kit from TKarmour.com which is a vendor I hadn't even heard of before. Searching on FISD I only find like two mentions of them on the whole site, and they are from like a month ago. Wondering if anybody has any good intel on who these guys are. Maybe someone we already know about that changed names?

 

The fact that they have a straight-up website selling TK armor is the first red flag, and their parts look like possibly recast AM1.0? The chest and back for sure look like AM1.0. But from the other pics, its hard to tell, but I don't even see any return edge on the arms and legs and such.

 

I don't want to tell him he wasted his money, but this is why all the advice out there is to read and research before you send money. I've helped people build something like 17 TKs in my garage now, so I'm pretty well prepared to help regardless. Just curious on what we've got.

Edited May 12, 2016 by wh1plash

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Another red flag: "TK Armour UK" yet all the images are clearly Thailand (the cheque is from the Thailand garrison for example)

 

A who-is lookup is more telling: https://who.godaddy.com/whoisstd.aspx?domain=tkarmour.com&prog_id=GoDaddy&k=TfquYX3SQOUSiZpPh%20TIvsLLyIvLQ5R5lK7aOzvlFcIgF2erynXesAUmXkSADzhK

 

The address is 152 City Road, London, UK which according to google is a Virtual office company (ie a front). The email address is .au.

 

In all a 10foot pole doesn't seem to be long enough.

Edited May 12, 2016 by themaninthesuitcase

[wh1plash[TK]]

Yeah the recruit mentioned that he talked to someone from AU that had one of their kits and it was approved, so thats where he heard of them.

 

I agree on the length of the pole, but the damage is already done since he made the purchase. Just wondering if anybody knew who they were.

 

I find it odd that they mention on the front page that they are not re-cast, yet the back looks very much like old AM. And they also say they are the only 3-piece helmet on the market.

[BoomerTrooper]

"I don't want to tell him he wasted his money..."

 

Are you asking because the armor is so bad that he can't get approved or he can't get approved because he bought a recast?

 

I've seen their website once (can't remember how I got there) but I guess I didn't pay that much attention to it.

 

 

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[Ranger]

Is this the same as mytkarmor.com? Or "TK Armor" on Facebook?

[wh1plash[TK]]

"I don't want to tell him he wasted his money..."

 

Are you asking because the armor is so bad that he can't get approved or he can't get approved because he bought a recast?

 

I've seen their website once (can't remember how I got there) but I guess I didn't pay that much attention to it.

 

No, the box hasn't arrived yet, but he has already paid. We haven't seen it in person yet. I wasn't aware he was looking at it before he made the purchase, or I would have warned him.

 

Being the GRL, I've got like 34 recruits I'm talking to and helping along with different costumes at various stages of the process. There's lots of Anovos plastic dust flying these days in garages across our city.

 

But this is a new kit I've never heard of, just trying to find out whats up with it, and put a warning out there if its a known recaster or something.

Edited May 12, 2016 by wh1plash

[wh1plash[TK]]

Is this the same as mytkarmor.com? Or "TK Armor" on Facebook?

 

Doesn't appear to be. tkarmor.com redirects to mytkarmor.com. But tkarmour.com goes to this site I'm talking about. Thats armour spelled with a u.

[BoomerTrooper]

No, the box hasn't arrived yet, but he has already paid. We haven't seen it in person yet. I wasn't aware he was looking at it before he made the purchase, or I would have warned him.

 

Being the GRL, I've got like 34 recruits I'm talking to and helping along with different costumes at various stages of the process. There's lots of Anovos plastic dust flying these days in garages across our city.

 

But this is a new kit I've never heard of, just trying to find out whats up with it, and put a warning out there if its a known recaster or something.

Ah makes sense. Like I said I saw their site awhile back but wasn't paying too close of attention to them since I noticed that they were using pics that I KNEW wasn't their armor.

 

I wound up selling my ANOVOS and going back and buying another MTK because I wasn't a fan of the final product.

 

Good luck and I hope it works out for your recruit!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Brandon,

 

Can your recruit cancel the order?  I won't say that it is impossible, but there are simply better options out there for his money.  As for the seller, this very strongly appears to have a direct connection to the ones discussed here:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31895-warning-evade-this-seller/

[AWOL]

I'd say it would depend on the particular garrison whether or not it would pass basic, I doubt very much it would pass for the UKG as basic for that is pretty much EIB for any other garrison...

I'll be honest, I have one of these kits (still in box) (bought last year before I knew better) I can post detailed pics possibly tomorrow when I get home, it does look pretty nasty tbh...

 

the force? oh I'll use the force, bring me a hammer...

[Jinsei[TK]]

IIRC there are a few webpages all under like TKarmor.com that sell the TKUK kit. Another seller of the TKUK kit is Stormtroopercity.com There was a guy that was trying to sell it here a while back and got chased off when people were pointing out it was just an FX recast. Apparently they have released a new "kit" I'm just wondering who they recast off as I'm not nearly good enough at identifying kits.

[wh1plash[TK]]

Got a bit of an update. The recruit received his box today. I got a couple pics but hard to tell since its a shadowtrooper and wasn't well lit. Another friend of ours (old hat 501st) saw it closer, he says looks like a mix of recast FX and AM1. There's also no return edge anywhere on the kit, other than the chest plate.

 

The recruit emailed the guy and asked if he could return it, and surprisingly, the guy responded within a few minutes. The guy claims these kits are approvable by the 501st, depending just on how it fits you. The maker also claims to be unaware of what the term "return edge" means... But english is clearly not his first language.

 

As it turns out I'm hosting an armor party at my shop on Saturday, so I'm curious to see it in person, and I want to take some good pics to warn other folks.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Did the seller offer to let him return it?

 

If so, I'd still resommend that route. Without knowing what he paid for it, I'm willing to bet that the armor vendors here are mostly comparable in price, and superior in quality.

[Bizklimkit]

I purchased this armor initially. It was pretty thin and flimsy. The cod piece was separate from the abdomen, which bummed me out. I was going to move forward with the build regardless, but the chest plate ended up being entirely way too small for me. So I sold, and will be receiving RT-mod armor very soon.

[whosdachief]

Is this the same as mytkarmor.com? Or "TK Armor" on Facebook?

TK Armor is the maker of AM 1.0 and AM 2.0 here in the US, and TK Armour is a UK based guy. I own probably 15 of TK Armors helmets and 4 sets of armor. Deffinatly two different makers. mytkarmor.com is the US based guy very honestly, high gloss, thick pulls, and all comes pre trimmed, but his site is no longer up but you can find him on Facebook as TK Armor. The shelf is all AM helmets starting from left to right AM, AM 1.0, AM 1.0 conversion to Hero, AM 1.0 Shadowtrooper, AM 2.0, and on the right is the AM 3.0. AM 4.0 coming soon with one piece cap/ back instead of the two piece cap/back.

Edited August 11, 2016 by whosdachief

[ivantam303[TK]]

The guy selling TK Armour is David Ashcroft...

I had a shadow from him before and it was...  not a good experience indeed

Recently he has new armor mold and I havent seen it yet in person

[TKUK]

Hello Guys,

 

By way of introduction, I am the person behind TK Armour UK and my name is David.

 

There seems to be alot said about me and I thought I would give the opportunity for you to ask me any questions directly as there seems to be a few Chinese Whispers happening.

 

I have been making armour since about 2004 when I started in Australia. I have studied materials engineering and am fairly familiar with plastic and rubber processing.

 

I initially started with armour of the FX variety which I made for many years and sent out many units at a very affordable price. I guess my entry into the market at my price range was compared with Aldi supermarkets, the big supermarkets didn't like it! 

 

I later evolved the helmet to a more desirable design as the FX was considered big and not accurate enough.

 

As I supplied larger companies directly with armour i needed to become a Limited company as many corporate buyers will not deal with some guy making armour in his shed. TK Armour UK Ltd was created with an office in central London and a Barclays company account to deal with transactions with individuals and larger companies.

 

I spent some time in 2015 changing my molds to be closer to the ANH style of armour with all the faults. 

 

I have exhibited at a few comiccons around the world to just show that I am here and this is my armour. I was at a Comiccon in Belfast in 2015 when I met a member of the Irish 501st legion. He commented that the armour was a good effort and not far off. I asked him if he could guide me as i was open to constructive criticism. He brought across to me kits from 3 of the more significant makers and advised me to make changes to mine that would reflect similarities with the other makers making mine more accurate without being too close to the others. I followed his advice and have kept mine individual and different to the others.

 

Whilst I was changing my molds I supplied the Britains Got Talent golden Buzzer act Boogiestorm with my first version armour. They came in 3rd and had 80 million hits on youtube. Since my changing of the armour I have also changed their armour to my new version. These guys are doing a great job with sick children etc.

 

I have made mistakes on the way and sometimes I have disappointing some people. But I have never ripped anyone off. I have had many people rip me off. I have been all around the world to places where armour makers would never bother to go. I have gone to visit costume groups all over the world and many people know my name and many have many thanks for me.

 

I will be at the MCM London Comiccon as an exhibitor this weekend if anyone wants to see what I am about or just to see my armour parts. You can also catch an autograph and photo of Boogiestorm at my table on Saturday as they are performing there if you are lucky.

[TK 41576[501st]]

I'm all for calling guys out on bullshucks..... BUT ..............Why.... when the guy is here to defend or answer your claims against him did everyone shut up?

He is clearly not trying to hide behind the internet and rip people off, he just explained himself.. and he's here to answer questions.

 

People talk so much smack but when a guy says hey man. I made mistakes but I'm trying, still working on my armor. I'm here to explain or defend myself and set the record straight..

Everyone shuts up and has nothing to say?

 

Zero questions, Zero constructive comments, ZERO!! yet you were bashing the guys work. He has the STONES to come in here and say ...I'm right here and further he invited you to come check out his armor in person to decide for yourself.

 

I dont know this guy from Adam, Never met him, dont own his armor. I'm a new member, only approved in Nov but I'm sorry but you guys are being Armor snobs.

 

I'm looking into his armor for a sick friend and I found this topic.. It has ZERO helpful information.

I did find another topic that had someone who owned the old armor. No one with real first hand info, just hearsay, he said she said. ZERO FACTS!

 

Why is his kit bad?.. whats wrong with it exactly?..What are the details you can point out that make it non approval... help me and others in this forum to see how other then being of a cheaper quality,

how it wont do for guys who cant afford the vetted sellers.

 

I LOVE BEING A STORMTROOPER, I LOVE BEING A 501ST MEMBER BUT WE CANT BE BULLIES AND SNOBS,

 

GIVE THE GUY HIS TIME TO DEFEND YOUR ACCUSATIONS!

GIVE HIM THE CREDIT FOR STEPPING UP AND COMING IN HERE SAYING HERE I AM BOYS N GIRLS ... FIRE AWAY.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I can't remember the exact details, this post is from October, but this reply was more or less verbatim on several threads.

 

I seem to remember there was some discussion on one of those posts but I may well be wrong.

 

I was at the con mentioned in his post but I was busy trooping for the UKG and by the time I was done everything was over for the day so I don't get a chance to look in detail.

 

Facts I can give you are as follows: the original armour won't clear. The new armour? I've no idea as I've not seen it. If he's at MCM again in spring I'll try find time to go look properly.

 

But ultimately most critism has been acknowledged by the seller. You're right we should have probably called him out on some more of the issues, like the virtual office address on the website and why are all the images on the site from Asia?

 

However we have a number of known good sellers people will be happy to recommend to you. They have proven track records and sell products known to be accurate enough to clear.

 

I'm not going to tell you who to give you're money to. I will however only recommend people I feel deserve it and as of yet I don't feel I can personally recommend this kit until I've seen it and probably held it.

[TK 41576[501st]]

I can't remember the exact details, this post is from October, but this reply was more or less verbatim on several threads.

 

I seem to remember there was some discussion on one of those posts but I may well be wrong.

 

I was at the con mentioned in his post but I was busy trooping for the UKG and by the time I was done everything was over for the day so I don't get a chance to look in detail.

 

Facts I can give you are as follows: the original armour won't clear. The new armour? I've no idea as I've not seen it. If he's at MCM again in spring I'll try find time to go look properly.

 

But ultimately most critism has been acknowledged by the seller. You're right we should have probably called him out on some more of the issues, like the virtual office address on the website and why are all the images on the site from Asia?

 

However we have a number of known good sellers people will be happy to recommend to you. They have proven track records and sell products known to be accurate enough to clear.

 

I'm not going to tell you who to give you're money to. I will however only recommend people I feel deserve it and as of yet I don't feel I can personally recommend this kit until I've seen it and probably held it.

 

 

Thank you Chris............... a real reply..

 

I can understand totally on recommending kits of sellers you dont know...

The virtual office is a big question mark.. pictures from asia too... I can see that but the guy was here. 

You all had the chance to put him down once and for all..

 

In my opinion he came here, took stones to do that and, people trying to rip people off most times avoid that kind of contact.

 

I posted a question about this armor on another topic and got zero real info.

I'm trying to build a kit for a terminally ill buddy and this seller has a 2 for one deal.

 

Im not looking for the best quality, Im looking for basic approval accurate and as cheap as possible.

The guy will never get to troop hes sick. He will get approved and hopefully brighten his life with armor on a mannequin and the satisfaction of being a 501st stormtrooper.

 

I was seeking new information not recycled old info or information I can find myself you know.

 I know who the real sellers are and they are all over 600$ Canadian per kit to start. This guy has two for one 442.50 canadian each it works out.

 

I guess the only real way to know is to buy it and see for myself and write a full review after so we have some real facts.

If I get ripped off, then we will know...but I think this guys just trying and all of us are being Richards and armor snobs.

 

Why would he come in here to defend himself.... why not just stay clear of us knowledgeable people and keep ripping off the uneducated.

He obviously wants the legion approval.. or at least cares enough to try.

 

I dont know..

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Money is always an issue, and something more affordable is sometimes fine. This may well be that case.

 

But you say you want to clear it, maybe even in a hurry. I am aware of this being cleared by 2-3 garrisons, but none in Northern America. It may well clear with your garrison, my best advice would to be request some up to date images from the seller (or maybe look on their Facebook, think there's some there) and send these to your GML for advice on if they will clear.

 

If time might be problem it might also be worth enquiring on lead times now.

 

Fit will as always, be down to you.

 

I hope you can get something sorted for your friend.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I'd venture to say that the reason that it went silent was more due to the fact that his response came nearly two and a half months after the previous post than to the fact that nobody has anything to say.

 

He admits here to having made mistakes, and that is - as you pointed out - admirable and nobody here has an issue with that.

 

There were/are questions as to the accuracy of the armor which he says that he has made efforts to correct.

 

Typically armor makers here who wish to show their work provide in progress pictures of the molds being sculpted/made/updated along the way.  That is clear and normally irrefutable proof that the work is their own and that is something that is taken very seriously here.

 

There are many underlying connections (which he and others have partially addressed here) between his website and others which belong to armor makers that have been proven to be recasters.  There are many connections (via the website registries) between his name and others associated with those other websites.  These are connections (like the virtual offices) that are known to many of the Legion's Asian Garrisons.  When those questions have been asked, there have never been any clear answers that have been given by any of the people associated with them.

As Chris mentioned above, if someone buys the armor, the community here will do what we can collectively to help that person build it to a level that will earn 501st membership approval.  However, until the armor is out there, and all of the cards have been laid out and played, the questions remain, and the seller will not be placed on the vetted seller's list.

That's the extent of it really, from a Detachment perspective.  David has never been anything less than cordial or friendly on our forums, and has never (that I am aware of) spoken ill of either the Detachment or the Legion.  To the contrary, he has spoken very highly of both in any instance that I am personally aware of.  Though he indeed gives the appearance of being a genuinely nice guy, that doesn't buy a pass where the armor procurement/production processes are involved.

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Agreed with Chris. Quite a few people are being attracted to this vendor by the "buy 1 get 1 free" special they are running. If you are personally willing to take the financial risk on what is at this time a questionable (for lack of a better term) vendor/product in order to help out your sick friend, then by all means. After all, someone has to be the first. But as always, the "buyer beware" adage is applicable - especially since we have not yet seen concrete proof of the quality and lineage of his offering. Getting a set of up-to-date product photos from the vendor and consulting with your GML before you buy may help you to reduce the risk.

 

I have personally had four different people ask me about tkarmour.com, and I cannot with a clear conscious recommend them at this time. But if you choose to buy from them, please post pictures of the kit as it looks coming out of the box, and document your build experience in a build thread.

[TK 41576[501st]]

Thanks guys... I appreciate the feedback on this topic as I know its an older thread.

 

I am going to be the fool here and test the waters when everyone is calling shark, lol as Brian said someone has to be the first.

 

I got a buddy to take the risk with me, We both understand the situation and decided its a crap shoot, shot in the dark but we will know 100% and put this to bed.

I have mixed feelings but I'm optimistic and in this situation I'm willing to try it out and give David the benefit of the doubt.

 

Ive spent 500$ on worse stuff. I can always turn it into a Zombie trooper if its a hack job or toss it over Niagara Falls in the spring if its proven to be shhyte.

Trooper over the falls in a barrel... that should get some youtube views eh! lol

 

Ill keep everyone posted on this,I'll do a full un boxing video and a full review of the armor and process.

[nfmatt04]

Thanks guys... I appreciate the feedback on this topic as I know its an older thread.

 

I am going to be the fool here and test the waters when everyone is calling shark, lol as Brian said someone has to be the first.

 

I got a buddy to take the risk with me, We both understand the situation and decided its a crap shoot, shot in the dark but we will know 100% and put this to bed.

I have mixed feelings but I'm optimistic and in this situation I'm willing to try it out and give David the benefit of the doubt.

 

Ive spent 500$ on worse stuff. I can always turn it into a Zombie trooper if its a hack job or toss it over Niagara Falls in the spring if its proven to be shhyte.

Trooper over the falls in a barrel... that should get some youtube views eh! lol

 

Ill keep everyone posted on this,I'll do a full un boxing video and a full review of the armor and process.

I as well purchased it. Let me know what you think. I have a friend who just complete his.

 

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