Willeywonka Requesting Pre-Approval Review (AP)

[willeywonka[TK]]

Name:  Jameson Willey

Height: 5' 11"

Weight: 190 lbs

Future Garrison: Carolina Garrison

Armor maker: AP

Helmet maker: AP

Cloth belt maker: AP

Neck seal maker: Darman

Boot maker: Imperial Boots

TK type: ANH Stunt

Name(s) of any Trooper(s) who significantly helped with your build: Frank75139, Neb Sgird, ABS80, lucnak, wook1138, TheSwede, gmrhodes13, justjoseph63, GilFran007, Twosolitudes (felt like we were working on our builds together at some points!)

 

PHOTOS:

 

FRONT (HELMET OFF)

 

FRONT (HELMET ON)

 

BACK

 

I know the gap between my back and kidney is not ideal. I have tried pulling the ab/cod higher and moving the back lower, but I don't want to move it too low because it will be too far below my neck. I also just noticed some of the thin white elastic slack from the piece used to hold the bridge down is peeking out from my left shoulder so I'll get that trimmed. 

 

LEFT SIDE

 

RIGHT SIDE

 

AB PLATE CLOSE UP

 

HELMET

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, don't see anything too glaring that would hold you up for basic approval.

 

Just to fine tune you could try bringing up your thighs a little, rotate them slightly, will give you a little more room at the knees. Even your ab/cod could come up a touch also.

 

Also try to have your mic tips pointing in the same directions, straight out, you can do this by cutting some tube one side on a slant and the other side straight, place this behind the mic tip and rotate until they are pointing straight then tighten.

 

Good luck with approval  

[wook1138[TK]]

Looks good!  I don't see anything holding you back from your approval.  I think Glen (and yourself) already covered anything I could see. Good luck!

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

Looks sharp! Great job on the build! 

[Neb Sgird[TK]]

Looking good! To further minimize that back gap, you could pull your entire ab/cod/butt/kidney up a bit. But you're definitely good for basic approval!

PS sorry I haven't had time of late to check in on your build thread. Glad to see you've done a great job!

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[CableGuy[Admin]]

Superb job, Jameson. :-)

As has already been mentioned, it looks like you are more than ready for basic approval. I’d agree with the suggestions of closing the back gap (if possible) and possibly raising those thighs a little for more flexibility at the knees.

If you were looking to progress to EIB and Centurion after your basic clearance, you could consider straightening the edges of your smaller ab plate:



And...I wouldn’t be known as the “tube-stripe sheriff” without mentioning them. Are they painted or decals?

[willeywonka[TK]]

6 hours ago, Neb Sgird said:

Looking good! To further minimize that back gap, you could pull your entire ab/cod/butt/kidney up a bit. But you're definitely good for basic approval!

PS sorry I haven't had time of late to check in on your build thread. Glad to see you've done a great job!

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks Ben! And it’s cool, I appreciate your help. I definitely plan to keep working on the back gap after basic approval. Goal is still centurion!

[willeywonka[TK]]

2 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Superb job, Jameson. :-)

As has already been mentioned, it looks like you are more than ready for basic approval. I’d agree with the suggestions of closing the back gap (if possible) and possibly raising those thighs a little for more flexibility at the knees.

If you were looking to progress to EIB and Centurion after your basic clearance, you could consider straightening the edges of your smaller ab plate:



And...I wouldn’t be known as the “tube-stripe sheriff” without mentioning them. Are they painted or decals?
 

Thanks! I’ll work on the back gap more after basic approval. The thighs are going to be tough to raise more because they’re super tight from over-trimming (see my build thread to learn more about my great thigh debacle), but I’ll see what I can do!

 

For the buttons, is that a “must do” fix for higher levels?

 

The tube stripes are decals. I hope that’s okay! I thought according to the CRL that was acceptable. Mark at AP also mentioned his decals are Centurion acceptable.

 

I appreciate your help!

[willeywonka[TK]]

9 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Also try to have your mic tips pointing in the same directions, straight out, you can do this by cutting some tube one side on a slant and the other side straight, place this behind the mic tip and rotate until they are pointing straight then tighten.

Thanks! This seems like a pretty easy fix. What do you mean by cut some tube? Are you able to provide a picture? I’m a visual guy haha. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

25 minutes ago, willeywonka said:

Thanks! This seems like a pretty easy fix. What do you mean by cut some tube? Are you able to provide a picture? I’m a visual guy haha. 

Tube, rubber pipe, hose, anything you can cut easily with a hole in the middle. It's the angle of the spacer which will help to straighten the mic tip.

 

Something like this but not metal

 

[CableGuy[Admin]]

Thanks! I’ll work on the back gap more after basic approval. The thighs are going to be tough to raise more because they’re super tight from over-trimming (see my build thread to learn more about my great thigh debacle), but I’ll see what I can do!
 
For the buttons, is that a “must do” fix for higher levels?
 
The tube stripes are decals. I hope that’s okay! I thought according to the CRL that was acceptable. Mark at AP also mentioned his decals are Centurion acceptable.
 
I appreciate your help!

Hiya.
The ab buttons are not an issue as such, I think it ‘might’ just be mentioned at L2/L3 as a suggested improvement.

Not an issue using decals rather than painted - they look very neat. I think they might be Dave M style decals but, (and you’re not alone) I think they might be on the wrong cheeks. Easily done and 99% of people would never know. As they are decals, that’s an easy fix should you want to make it. :-)

Here’s a pic showing what I mean. Notice the first few stripes almost running parallel to the frown.



You won’t have to change them for clearance, just depends how far you want to take the accuracy.

Your armour looks superb, by the way. So don’t take this as criticism. Just a couple of tiny things that could be tweaked, should you wish to.

Best wishes
Dan


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[lucnak[TK]]

Jameson, you look great and you should be very proud of your build! It was a pleasure to help you! Think you and everyone who has already chimed in has mentioned all potential adjustments you could make. Approval should be no problem!

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, CableGuy said:

Not an issue using decals rather than painted - they look very neat. I think they might be Dave M style decals but, (and you’re not alone) I think they might be on the wrong cheeks. Easily done and 99% of people would never know. As they are decals, that’s an easy fix should you want to make it. :-)

Here’s a pic showing what I mean. Notice the first few stripes almost running parallel to the frown

The Tube Stripe Police strikes again!!

 

Jameson, it might be the angle of the pic making it look worse than it is.  Like Dan said, 99% of people will not notice - Dan is the 1% in this case.  I did the same thing, but with the paint templates. 

 

[willeywonka[TK]]

Thanks everybody! I have submitted my application for 501st approval and sent my pictures to my GML. I just sent him a link to this pre-approval thread. Do you think there are any other pictures he may need? Also, I just got the tracking info for my blaster! 

[CableGuy[Admin]]

Your selection of photos looks good. Maybe send than an action shot when your blaster arrives.

Which one did you go for?

The Tube Stripe Police strikes again!!
 
Jameson, it might be the angle of the pic making it look worse than it is.  Like Dan said, 99% of people will not notice - Dan is the 1% in this case.  I did the same thing, but with the paint templates. 
 

I’ll get my coat. :-(


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[willeywonka[TK]]

12 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Your selection of photos looks good. Maybe send than an action shot when your blaster arrives.

Which one did you go for?

 

QuestDesigns. Mark from AP recommended it and it looks pretty ridiculously awesome. I might try to weather it a bit, but I’m on the fence because I kind of like the “fresh off the assembly line” non-weathered look too.

 

Here’s the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/192791479/star-wars-stormtrooper-e-11-blaster-prop?ref=shop_home_feat_1

[CableGuy[Admin]]

QuestDesigns. Mark from AP recommended it and it looks pretty ridiculously awesome. I might try to weather it a bit, but I’m on the fence because I kind of like the “fresh off the assembly line” non-weathered look too.
 
Here’s the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/192791479/star-wars-stormtrooper-e-11-blaster-prop?ref=shop_home_feat_1

Very nice. PANDA PROPS did a nice video using one of those. Handy if you wanted to mod it laster

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work Jameson, looks like you've received some great advice so far. If I were your garrison GML I would definitely require the back to kidney gap to be reduced. I understand you're concerned with the back plate then being too low, maybe you can compromise and bring the ab, kidney and posterior up at the same time bringing the back down. Good luck trooper. 

[willeywonka[TK]]

Thanks for the feedback @ukswrath . I definitely plan to keep working on the gap. I’m hoping if I keep finagling with it I can find a solution. I went ahead and submitted  as is in the mean time because I know the turn around time with getting approval and a TK ID assigned can take some time. Crossing my fingers I’m good for at least basic until I get it figured out. I’d be thrilled if I can join the ranks before the Solo premier so I can do my first troop!!

[willeywonka[TK]]

Updated pictures with the back/kidney gap minimized a bit more. In order to get it reduced I had to pull it down pretty tightly and also ratchet up the ab/cod piece. This, in turn, created more of a gap between my ab/cod and my thighs. Since I screwed my thighs up during my build I can't get them any higher. My legs are like sausages in them haha. Does anyone know of anybody that sells thighs a la carte?

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I hope this is better. I am sending these updated pictures to my GML as well since I haven't heard anything back yet regarding basic approval. Thanks for all the help!

 

 

[CableGuy[Admin]]

Looking great. Nice work. :-)


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[lucnak[TK]]

Lookin' good! Hopefully you hear back soon! I am in the same boat with the thighs...they are tight and will not go any higher!

[willeywonka[TK]]

@gmrhodes13 I forgot to take updated close up pictures, but I did get my mic tips fixed...or at least looking better...haha. Thanks for the heads up about that!

[wook1138[TK]]

Looks good!  Nice work!

[willeywonka[TK]]

Hey everyone! Just checking back in because it has been right at 3 weeks since I submitted my 501st application but still haven’t heard back regarding approval. My GML replied to my pictures about a week ago and said everything looks to be in order, but that’s all I’ve heard. Is there someone I should check in with or do I just need to hang in there?