Ebay Armor Opinion

[Stutz[501st]]

Hey FISD,

 

I'm the GML for the ISG Garrison and I'd love a few opinions on an eBay armor set.

 

We have a potential trooper who attempted to go the cheap route and pick up some ebay armor. He says his friend from the SoCal Garrison vetted it for him, but I have my doubts. I certainly have my owen opinion on whether this is approvable or not, but I wanted to get some alternate opinions from the experts here before I respond to him. He already purchased it (don't know how much $$$), but he hasn't started the build yet.

 

Also, the armor is fiberglass (?!)

 

Link to the auction:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-WARS-IMPERIAL-SHADOW-TROOPER-COSTUME-ARMOR-LIFE-SIZE-MOVIE-HELMET-PROP/263418371106?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3D1d2b222cce4a41378d48e8b9afc7c56d%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D253324579667&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

 

I appreciate any feedback!

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Hey Dean 

That looks like an FX kit and that can be made approvable with some work (not going in on the possibility of a recast) the helmet is another story and as it is now not approvable, the shape looks funny and indicates that it won`t be able to get approved but sometimes the camera fools the eyes, since it`s a shadowtrooper I recommend you head over to specOps to hear what they say

[Shanester[TK]]

There is A LOT wrong with the helmet. 

[TheSwede[TK]]

5 minutes ago, Shanester said:

There is A LOT wrong with the helmet. 

Ears are nice and flush 

[Stutz[501st]]

One thing that bothers me is the apparent complete lack of return edge on any of the armor pieces.

[TheSwede[TK]]

1 hour ago, Stutz said:

One thing that bothers me is the apparent complete lack of return edge on any of the armor pieces.

I agree - however having return edges is not a requriment.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

14 hours ago, Shanester said:

There is A LOT wrong with the helmet. 

Agreed.  Plus, whoever trimmed it left sharp angles on the butt and ab, which creates areas that will be prone to cracking.  

 

[msouza[TK]]

Besides the obvious issues with the helmet it looks as though the armor was trimmed to much and would make it hard to fit anyone unless its a petite person. 

They'll also need to replace the knee ammo pack, and belt section as to much was trimmed to make it usable. If they haven't purchased it yet I'd advise them to stay far away.  

[sharkbait[TK]]

That helmet is definitely wonky, as others have said, the teeth really jump out at me.  The chest looks a little "space boobs" of the AM 1.0 era (AM did a 2.0 and fixed that; that's what I wear), but then in other photos they look like they have soft details (possibly indicative of recasting, but I make no comment one way or the other; that's a can of worms I'm not even going to touch). The angles pointed out also worry me- cracking and just why is it angled?  

 

I personally see too much work and scrapping the helmet all together.  I say stay away. 

[Ripper_L[Admin]]

at least it's not the original FX bucket

So I think if you correct some details it might even be approvable...

Here is a comparison shot of the old FX helmet to a helmet with regular shape:

 

 

 

The armor itself is definitely a FX recast and looks exactly like the one I've been wearing for the last few years. It has no return edge, wrong detailed thermaldetonator and abdomenplate, a very long chestplate and very wide shoulder bells. But all this is usual for FX armors. The problem with specificly this armor on your pictures is the knee ammo belt and the belt section, both are trimmed too much on the sides.

The rest of the armor doesn't look like it has been trimmed too much. This is how FX armor looks like.

 

To get this back in mind: FX armor was once the backbone of the legion. It is still approvable. It might be some more work than usual, but it's far from impossible.

 

Sure, armor kits from other (vetted) makers look much better and are more accurate, but since he already bought that kit, you will have to live with it, right? Try to make the best out of it. And try to be constructive, not repellent.