Cricket's RS Stunt Build (for the Vertically Challenged)

[Cricket[TK]]

The big part of my first build is over, which has left me to cleaning up things in the office where I work on Star Warsing.  Looking around at my now-clean space, I realized that I own two e-11 blasters.  One is a Hyperfirm, because... well... ya gotta own one, right?  Indestructible.  The other is a Hasbro conversion with Hyperdyne labs electronics upgrade, because... well... pewpewpew!  I love my blasters, and it seemed like such a shame to keep them laying on my shelves.  They deserve to be shown off.  

The only place I have in my house to show off my Star Wars stuff is in my office, and I don't have much extra room in here to display things out properly.  The shelves are full of books and building materials.  I have three desks- one is for my computer stuff, the other two are my work stations.  I saw that many of you troopers mount your blasters to your walls, and I thought, "Well, it's time."

 

I picked up two sets of J hooks on Amazon last week, and I'm thrilled with them!  I've now got "Blaster Art".    The hooks aren't so big that they overwhelm the blaster on the wall and are very heavy duty.  In the photo above, I have my Hyperfirm displayed between shelves of a tall heavy-duty wire rack system.  The Hasbro e-11 will be going up on my office wall as well once I've finished with the scope rail mods on it.  I'll most likely pick up another set when I finish my Jawa ion blaster so I can put that on display.  (The T-21 I have in the works will probably need bigger hooks, though!)

[Cricket[TK]]

Oh, hey.  New Centurion here.  

OMG!!!!!!    We did it!  

Awesome way to begin the weekend.  Woo!

[68Brick[TK]]

Congratulations Christine!

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Awesome - congrats!

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

I haven't had the chance to take a look at your applications but I'm sure it's well deserved. Congratulations, and welcome to the ranks!

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Well done!!!!

Welcome to the ranks!

 

Marc

[Cricket[TK]]

Thanks, troopers! I have been told that I'm the first female TK Centurion in the Georgia Garrison, so this is quite an honor for me. I'm still a little in shock that I've finally got the Centurion award next to my name. I keep checking back in here, looking at my avatar on the left in the FISD forums thinking, "Is that Centurion badge really there?"

[douglasthecook]

Awesome, congrats!!!

[zv288bot[TK]]

Whoop Whoop! Congrats!

 

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[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Great news and well deserved!

 

 

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[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Great news and well deserved!

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

I've had my kit stored in my 'half bin' while I've been getting my lid fine-tuned and ready for SWCO.  I had kept all of my black soft items stored outside of the bin because when I had stored the black items in with my armor, I had been noticing little purpleish marks showing up on the armor.  I would get so annoyed when a new mark would show up!  Fortunately, a little time sanding with 400 grit sandpaper (followed up with some polishing), and I was able to remove the marks when they appeared.  Goo Gone or paint thinner won't remove it because the stain isn't just on the surface of the ABS. I could never find the culprit for what was making the ink transfers to my kit- but I figured it was something from my black fabric items.  So I made sure to keep all the black stuff away from the white stuff.  Problem solved!

 

Or so I thought.

 

Okay, so yesterday I pulled out my armor to do some final adjustments on it, and surprise!  There was a 1"x 0.5" and a smaller additional purple mark on the flat part of the square "frame" of the OII on my back.   WTF?!  That wasn't there when I had put it in the bin a few days earlier!

 

Then I looked inside the bin and found the culprit!  It was Darman's neckseal.  I didn't see it when I was clearing out my bin for the armor- it just blended in, and was laying on the bottom of my bin where my back plate had been.  The dye in the fabric had transferred into my ABS.  I can't blame moisture or water or whatever else to have caused this to happen.  My bin, armor, and the neckseal all were totally dry when I closed up the bin. 

Truth be told, I love Darman's neckseal.  It fits great and is very comfy!  But as a heads up to other troopers out there with mystery purple marks on your armor, keep your black stuff away from the white stuff when you're storing it.  It's much easier to keep them apart than to have to do extra sanding/polishing later.

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by Cricket

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Bummer about the neck seal spots. I have a Stanley bin (Husky makes a similar bin) that has a tray and I store all my soft items in there, away from the armor. I also use a couple old beach towels and wrap them around my armor so that they aren't touching each other or anything else. I also redid some of the carpet in my home recently and used some of the off cuts and lined the inside of the bin. It's been working great for over a year!

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Good tips, Jim!  I need to make some "wraps" for my armor.  

I have a half-sized and a full-sized bin, so I know about that little tray at the top of the big bin.  It's very convenient!  The half bin is much easier to travel with, though.  I have a small bag for my black stuff, as well as a separate helmet bag.  I wish the half bin was just a little bit bigger to fit an extra tray in there!

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Yep the big bin can by a bit awkward to transport but I can fit it into the back of my Electric Fiat 500! (Of course once it's in there it's pretty much just me and my armor )

 

 

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[baldormoline[501st]]

Christine, how well does your throat mic work? I am asking, because I would like to get the same one next month.

[zv288bot[TK]]

I wash my under suit Everytime before a troop and 3 times before my first and I have those black marks all over the inside and edges of my forearms and biceps. Stinks...

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Christine, how well does your throat mic work? I am asking, because I would like to get the same one next month.

 

Heeeey Martin!  So does this mean you're still building your TK?!  

 

I've only tested the throat mic briefly, and it works great so far.  My throat is small, and I do wish that it could be adjusted smaller because it's loose when worn on its own. (I suppose that I can always tape it in place before I put my neckseal on.)  For your average person, though, I'm sure it will fit just fine.   When I wear my neckseal, everything gets snugged up over the mic, so the audio comes through without problems.  I think the newer models of this are adjustable for larger necks (mine was not).

It picks up my voice without any issues.  No problems between the throat mic and my iComm.  I will be testing a bit more extensively next week as I prep for SWCO, so I will keep you posted how things go!

 

I wash my under suit Everytime before a troop and 3 times before my first and I have those black marks all over the inside and edges of my forearms and biceps. 

 

 

Ah, that totally sucks!  But I'm glad to know that it's not just my black stuff that doesn't play well with my ABS.  Just a quirk of TK life, then.  I'll have to accept it and be diligent about keeping everything separate! 

 

BTW, I also noticed that the black rubs off on the edges on my kit, too- and I haven't even trooped yet!   I shall call it battle damage.  

[Cricket[TK]]

I had read a while back that Ukswrath had recommended the 3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System as a way to easily polish up armor.  I bought the kit last summer, and it had been sitting in my stockpile of "I'll Need This Someday" items.  Yesterday was the first chance I had to use it.

 

Holy shininess!  Wow!  The kit is essentially a bunch of little sanding and polishing discs, along with a squishy foam pad and some polishing compound.  I only used the little foam pad, paired with some Novus 2 and my power drill.  It made my armor shine like a mirror in no time at all.  I don't even think my armor was this glossy when it arrived on BBB day.  I would share pics, but I couldn't find a good way to show off how epic the shine is now.  Not an April Fool's day joke, y'all.  This kit rocks.

 

[Addertime[TK]]

Heeeey Martin!  So does this mean you're still building your TK?!  

 

I've only tested the throat mic briefly, and it works great so far.  My throat is small, and I do wish that it could be adjusted smaller because it's loose when worn on its own. (I suppose that I can always tape it in place before I put my neckseal on.)  For your average person, though, I'm sure it will fit just fine.   When I wear my neckseal, everything gets snugged up over the mic, so the audio comes through without problems.  I think the newer models of this are adjustable for larger necks (mine was not).

It picks up my voice without any issues.  No problems between the throat mic and my iComm.  I will be testing a bit more extensively next week as I prep for SWCO, so I will keep you posted how things go!

 

 

Ah, that totally sucks!  But I'm glad to know that it's not just my black stuff that doesn't play well with my ABS.  Just a quirk of TK life, then.  I'll have to accept it and be diligent about keeping everything separate! 

 

BTW, I also noticed that the black rubs off on the edges on my kit, too- and I haven't even trooped yet!   I shall call it battle damage.  

 

Ah, and the blaster... no matter how diligent you are. the blaster will scuff up the front of your ab plate and the lower part of your chest plate. It's best to hold it in your left hand like they did in the movie. This reduces the damage. If you hold the weapon in your right hand, the magazine is always bumping up against you.

[Cricket[TK]]

 

Ah, and the blaster... no matter how diligent you are. the blaster will scuff up the front of your ab plate and the lower part of your chest plate. It's best to hold it in your left hand like they did in the movie. This reduces the damage. If you hold the weapon in your right hand, the magazine is always bumping up against you.

 

Good to know!  I am a lefty, so keeping the blaster in my left hand isn't any problem for me.    Thanks for that tip!

 

I've been thinking about better ways to keep my gloves on my hands while in armor.  I know that not many troopers wear rubber gloves while trooping, but I actually like how they feel.  I wear glove liners under my rubber gloves, and they're comfy when worn together.  I hated how my rubber gloves like to slip down my hands, though, allowing the cuff to pop out of the forearm.  It's mostly due to the weight of the latex hand guard.  Plus, when I'm wearing the glove liners, I can't feel the rubber gloves slipping down and off my hand.  Yikes!  

 

I had read Pandatrooper's tutorial about mounting hand guards on gloves, and I liked the idea of using velcro to attach the handguard to the forearm.  Then I thought about if the same idea could work for attaching the rubber cuff of the gloves to the forearm using velcro.  Worth a try, right?

 

So I cut off a 3-inch length of 1 inch industrial velcro and attached it to the cuff of the rubber glove.  My first hurdle would be, "Will it stick?", because nothing likes to stick to those rubber gloves.  Surprise, surprise...  it stuck to the rubber.  Then I added another piece of velcro to the cuff on the opposite side, so the glove will be attached on the top and underneath for security.  I attached the loop side of the velcro to the inside of the forearm on the sides to match where I had placed the velcro on the gloves.  Then I lined up the gloved hand guard to the forearm, making sure I had the spacing I wanted between the hand guard and the forearm.  Once the spacing was correct, I then stuck all the velcro together.  This essentially makes the bicep, forearm, and glove all connected together nice and secure.  No need to fuss with getting the gloves on now- they're part of the arm, and just slide on!

 

This pic shows what it looks like all together.   Having those 'dead hands' attached to the armor is a little creepy to me!

 

 

Not only does this keep the gloves in place, but it keeps the gap between the forearm and the handguard consistent.  I had read that a good "gap" rule is to try to keep the gaps between the forearm/bicep and forearm/handguard about the same.  So if the gap at the forearm/bicep is about 1/2", then you should aim to have about 1/2" gap between the forearm/handguard (when extended down, of course, not bent).  Mr. Accuracy Hag, could I get your input on this?  

 

Now I know someone is gonna yell, "But rubber gloves are the WORST!  Never wear them! You'll get all sweaty!  EEEWWWWW!".  So before anyone gets upset, I'm still getting my Nomex gloves together as well.  You see the little clump of tan and black behind and to the left of the hanging arm?  Those are my ABS handguards, I'm gluing elastic to them.  Those will fit over my Nomex gloves.  

Edited April 4, 2017 by Cricket

[Addertime[TK]]

Nah, the rubber gloves look the best and with liners, they are easily wearable all day. I succumbed to peer pressure and bought nomex gloves... and I never wear them.
You've chosen an interesting solution to that old problem. When I see you at SWC, I'll ask how they're working out.

[Cricket[TK]]

So super excited about SWC next week!!!! 

 

Decided to test drive my kit today.  The only times I've tried it all on were for my submission pics.  Those times didn't include having all of the electronics powered up and running, either.  My 7 year old son was more than happy to be my handler while we took a short walk outside in our neighborhood.

 

With my trusty Hasbro e-11.

 

 

 

Nothing more to see here.  Move along.

 

Of all the days to be outside, not a single car drove by on the street where I was walking.  I was hoping someone would drive by and be like, "Whaaaa???"  Ah well.

After walking around for about 15 minutes, I'm happy to report that my kit is actually quite comfortable.  No pinching or armor locking up anywhere.  My biggest challenge is with the throat mic.  I need to tape it to my throat in order for it to fit properly and pick up my voice.  But I like it so far.  My fans are running nice and quietly, and my hearing assist system works like a champ.  

I think I'm ready for Orlando!  Woo!

[Cricket[TK]]

 Reports arrived that rebel scum had been spotted at a nearby park this morning, so off I went to survey the area.

 

This area of the docks appears clear.

 

 

I secured this area as well.

 

Off in the distance I heard what I thought were droids.

 

Look sir!  Geese!

 

How disappointing.  Not a single droid or rebel scum captured today.

 

 

Trying to look on the bright side, though.  The area is secured!

 

So let's party!

 

Just don't lose your balance and fall in the water...

 

My work today is done.  Long live the Empire!


 

[fragarock[TK]]

Hilarious. Glad you're getting to use your kit and make your neighbors just a bit perplexed.

 

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