TK41970 Requesting ANH EIB Status (AP) [898]

[Etrooper70[TK]]

5 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Nice job on that cover strip fix, Eric!! 

 

Thanks man. Ill be filling that crack and smoothing our surface with ABS paste - but hoping this gets me through approval 

 

[Etrooper70[TK]]

7 hours ago, shashachu said:

Hi Eric,

 

It looks like you have some sort of decal on your blaster, which unfortunately we're going to have to ask you to remove. This is one of those rare areas where trooping and screen accuracy collide a bit, but the L2 and L3 approvals are all about achieving the highest levels of screen  accuracy. If you look back at some submissions from the UKG, you'll see they've been asked to remove the decals from their shoulder bells, for example.

 

 

I know you said you're going out of town tomorrow, so if you're not able to get the new pics up before you leave, we will be here when you return.

 

Yeah thats just my TK# ID sticker for loss prevention. Removed it.

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Much better!  On a side note, there should be no weathering on the T-tracks.  These were made of plastic, and would have no "metal" showing.

 

                                     Reference image

[shashachu[TK]]

Eric - does your E-11 have a charging handle? It's hard to tell from the photo. Maybe it's just a bit shorter than I'm used to seeing?

 

 

Reference:

[Etrooper70[TK]]

2 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Much better!  On a side note, there should be no weathering on the T-tracks.  These were made of plastic, and would have no "metal" showing.

 

                                     Reference image

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Etrooper70

[Etrooper70[TK]]

Just now, shashachu said:

Eric - does your E-11 have a charging handle? It's hard to tell from the photo. Maybe it's just a bit shorter than I'm used to seeing?

 

 

Reference:

I’m not sure what a charging handle is 

[shashachu[TK]]

2 minutes ago, Etrooper70 said:

What are t-tracks?

 Pointed out here:

 

[shashachu[TK]]

2 minutes ago, Etrooper70 said:

I’m not sure what a charging handle is 

Sorry, my reference image was small. Here's an annotated diagram:

 

 

Basically a little handle that sticks out near the scope. I believe the thing that makes the "ch-chink" sound in action movies.  Since the ANH blasters were made from actual Sterling machine guns, they retained most of the parts from the actual guns.

[shashachu[TK]]

Hi Eric,

 

Thanks again for your patience, and for submitting the additional photos. Beautiful photos and very nice build!

 

CRL and EIB Application Requirements:

All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. On behalf of myself and the rest of the DO team, congratulations! 

 

Other-Armor Fit/Assembly

In this section we review observations made by your fellow troopers and ourselves. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor.

 

Starting at the helmet, although there was a lot of variation on-screen, the Stunt helmets tended to have their brows a bit higher than yours, so we're suggesting you scoot it up a bit.

 

Reference Image:

(Ignore that guy on the right )

 

Continuing with the helmet, the mic tips should have a bit of white on the edges. And while you're at it, you could slightly update the shape of the vocoder, although what's there now is nice and sharp as it should be.

Reference Image:

 

Finally, with the Stunt helmets, the ears tend to line up with the edge of the traps on the screen-used helmets. Yours are actually very close, especially the left, but if you're aiming for ultimate accuracy and you can do it without damaging your helmet, you could try tackling repositioning the ears.

 

 

 

Reference Images:

  

 

Moving along, as was mentioned by your fellow troopers, ideally we want to have minimal black showing on the armor, but for taller troopers such as yourself, gaps are inevitable, so it at least cleans up the look of the armor to even those gaps out. So we're suggesting you raise your forearms a bit, which should hopefully be a simple matter of shortening the strapping between your biceps and forearms. This should also prevent the forearms from running into your hand plates.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Continuing on down, ideally the corners of the ab button plates should be squared, not rounded. Also the smaller button plate should be a bit smaller, although it's not clear to me whether you'd be able to trim it down much without running into the buttons. Finally, the paint on the larger plate is perfect, but the smaller button paint is just a shade large; ideally the paint should be just smaller than the plastic buttons.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Around the back, as was already pointed out, ideally the corners of the TD panel are squared off, not rounded. However if you do decide to make that correction, be careful to keep the clips flush with the edge of the panel.

 

Reference Image:

 

Tackling the lower armor, your thighs are a bit high; this is especially evident in the back where the gap between your thighs and calves is much larger than the gap (or lack thereof) between your thighs and posterior armor. You did mention that dropping your thighs caused the sniper knee to get caught under the thigh armor; I know that others have handled this by putting some foam on the front of the shin and/or the back of the thighs to prevent that. Finally, it appears that you might be able to heat bend up the bottom of the posterior armor some to keep it from overlapping the thigh armor.

 

Reference Image:

 

Great job with the left and right ridge alignment on the sniper knee. Unfortunately, this has left your sniper knee a bit crooked. It looks like you may have a bit of room to bring up the left edge to straighten it out a bit. Since this is just the way your armor is made we won't require a correction, but you might see what you can do to split the difference to even everything out a bit. The sniper knee positioning is the perpetual thorn in the side of any TK armor builder.

 

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, this is definitely a dressing issue, but when suiting up be sure to have a handler take a quick look at your calf armor closure. The right one is perfect.

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, with your blaster, there are a few suggestions.

 

The grip, t-tracks, and rear or the Hengstler counter were all plastic, so they would not have metallic weathering showing. Additionally, the scope was originally brass, so any weathering showing through should be brass colored.

 

 

It's a matter of personal style, but I'd also say that overall your blaster has a bit more battle damage than typically showed on-screen, so we'd suggesting you tone down the overall weathering.

 

Reference Images:

        

 

Next, it appears your charging handle is a bit shorter than we're used to seeing, or it could be the angle of the photo. If you do decide to apply to Centurion (and we hope you do!) we'd ask for a clearer photo.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, the coils connecting the power cylinders to the Hengstler counter were actually only shown in promo images, but we do allow them. However, yours do seem a bit long and saggy, so I'd consider cleaning them up or even just removing them.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Centurion Requirements

In this section we prepare you for Centurion. Because Centurion photos show more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all that we can from what we see but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. 

 

The L3 CRL states

 

• There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates.

 

 

 

This is a tough one because you are a bigger trooper. I would see if it's at all possible to shorten the strapping between the shoulder bell and the shoulder strapping, as well as trimming off all the remaining return edge of the bottom edge of the shoulder bells. In the worst case, you may need to order bigger shoulder bells from some of the bigger armor makers such as AM, and I believe WTF has also started recently offering larger shoulder bells, but the color match could be an issue.

 

The L3 CRL also states:

 

• Drop boxes are vertically aligned with the end of the ammo belt with minimal gap between belt and box.
• The corners of the plastic ammo belt shall be trimmed at a 45 degree angle that that meets the outer edge of the cloth belt.
• The top of the ammo belt should sit at or just below the bottom of the central and vertical abdomen button panels.

 

 

 

 

There are a few issues here, some easier to correct than others. For the drop box positions, that should be a simple fix - shortening the strapping holding the drop boxes on, and adding a dab of glue to the strapping so they don't wander.

 

The belt 45-degree corner is a tougher one, because your canvas belt just seems wide compared to the plastic. It does look like you do have some room to trim back the plastic some so that it might align better.

 

Finally, for belt position, this is a correction I also had to make on my build. I saw that you said you have your belt low to cover the kidney/posterior gap, which makes sense. However, it looks like from the photos you might have a bit of room to scoot just the front of your belt up to keep it in place. I actually added a couple small strips of Velcro to keep my belt from sagging in the same way:

 

 

Reference Images:

    

 

 

Finally, the L3 CRL states:

 

Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor.

 

 

Your ab/kidney gap looks particularly large in your arms raised photos, but it is still there in the arms down photos:

 

Hopefully this should be a relatively easy fix of tightening/adding the strapping between the ab/kidney as well as tightening your belt. On my own build I used nylon to connect the left side rivets, and on the right I added an extra strap to help close that gap. 

 

Note also, that the tops of the ab/kidney should ideally remain aligned. This is really only evident in the arms raised photos.

 

Reference Images:

  

 

And that's it! Congratulations again on reaching EIB. I know it seems like a lot to get to Centurion, but it's clear from your build that you're a skilled armorer, so we have full confidence you'll be able to make the necessary corrections to reach Centurion. As always, reach out to us if we can be of help. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congratulations trooper

[giskard8[Staff]]

Congratulations trooper, welcome to the ranks.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Congratulations, Eric.  I am proud to call you a fellow Stormtrooper, a fellow member of Star Garrison (and NTX Squad), a friend, and fellow EIB Trooper!  

Looking forward to welcoming you to the ranks as a Centurion next!

[Etrooper70[TK]]

1 hour ago, Dark CMF said:

Congratulations, Eric.  I am proud to call you a fellow Stormtrooper, a fellow member of Star Garrison (and NTX Squad), a friend, and fellow EIB Trooper!  

Looking forward to welcoming you to the ranks as a Centurion next!

Thanks Tim - and thank you for inspiring me from the very beginning to take pride in my armor and do the work to make it the best it can be... or should I say the best it can EIB. 

[Etrooper70[TK]]

12 hours ago, shashachu said:

Hi Eric,

 

Thanks again for your patience, and for submitting the additional photos. Beautiful photos and very nice build!

 

CRL and EIB Application Requirements:

All required photos are now in and, after review, we are pleased to welcome you to Expert Infantry rank. On behalf of myself and the rest of the DO team, congratulations! 

 

Other-Armor Fit/Assembly

In this section we review observations made by your fellow troopers and ourselves. Some observations may lead to suggestions to improve the overall look of your armor.

 

Starting at the helmet, although there was a lot of variation on-screen, the Stunt helmets tended to have their brows a bit higher than yours, so we're suggesting you scoot it up a bit.

 

Reference Image:

(Ignore that guy on the right )

 

Continuing with the helmet, the mic tips should have a bit of white on the edges. And while you're at it, you could slightly update the shape of the vocoder, although what's there now is nice and sharp as it should be.

Reference Image:

 

Finally, with the Stunt helmets, the ears tend to line up with the edge of the traps on the screen-used helmets. Yours are actually very close, especially the left, but if you're aiming for ultimate accuracy and you can do it without damaging your helmet, you could try tackling repositioning the ears.

 

 

 

Reference Images:

  

 

Moving along, as was mentioned by your fellow troopers, ideally we want to have minimal black showing on the armor, but for taller troopers such as yourself, gaps are inevitable, so it at least cleans up the look of the armor to even those gaps out. So we're suggesting you raise your forearms a bit, which should hopefully be a simple matter of shortening the strapping between your biceps and forearms. This should also prevent the forearms from running into your hand plates.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Continuing on down, ideally the corners of the ab button plates should be squared, not rounded. Also the smaller button plate should be a bit smaller, although it's not clear to me whether you'd be able to trim it down much without running into the buttons. Finally, the paint on the larger plate is perfect, but the smaller button paint is just a shade large; ideally the paint should be just smaller than the plastic buttons.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Around the back, as was already pointed out, ideally the corners of the TD panel are squared off, not rounded. However if you do decide to make that correction, be careful to keep the clips flush with the edge of the panel.

 

Reference Image:

 

Tackling the lower armor, your thighs are a bit high; this is especially evident in the back where the gap between your thighs and calves is much larger than the gap (or lack thereof) between your thighs and posterior armor. You did mention that dropping your thighs caused the sniper knee to get caught under the thigh armor; I know that others have handled this by putting some foam on the front of the shin and/or the back of the thighs to prevent that. Finally, it appears that you might be able to heat bend up the bottom of the posterior armor some to keep it from overlapping the thigh armor.

 

Reference Image:

 

Great job with the left and right ridge alignment on the sniper knee. Unfortunately, this has left your sniper knee a bit crooked. It looks like you may have a bit of room to bring up the left edge to straighten it out a bit. Since this is just the way your armor is made we won't require a correction, but you might see what you can do to split the difference to even everything out a bit. The sniper knee positioning is the perpetual thorn in the side of any TK armor builder.

 

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, this is definitely a dressing issue, but when suiting up be sure to have a handler take a quick look at your calf armor closure. The right one is perfect.

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, with your blaster, there are a few suggestions.

 

The grip, t-tracks, and rear or the Hengstler counter were all plastic, so they would not have metallic weathering showing. Additionally, the scope was originally brass, so any weathering showing through should be brass colored.

 

 

It's a matter of personal style, but I'd also say that overall your blaster has a bit more battle damage than typically showed on-screen, so we'd suggesting you tone down the overall weathering.

 

Reference Images:

        

 

Next, it appears your charging handle is a bit shorter than we're used to seeing, or it could be the angle of the photo. If you do decide to apply to Centurion (and we hope you do!) we'd ask for a clearer photo.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Finally, the coils connecting the power cylinders to the Hengstler counter were actually only shown in promo images, but we do allow them. However, yours do seem a bit long and saggy, so I'd consider cleaning them up or even just removing them.

 

 

Reference Image:

 

Centurion Requirements

In this section we prepare you for Centurion. Because Centurion photos show more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all that we can from what we see but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. 

 

The L3 CRL states

 

• There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates.

 

 

 

This is a tough one because you are a bigger trooper. I would see if it's at all possible to shorten the strapping between the shoulder bell and the shoulder strapping, as well as trimming off all the remaining return edge of the bottom edge of the shoulder bells. In the worst case, you may need to order bigger shoulder bells from some of the bigger armor makers such as AM, and I believe WTF has also started recently offering larger shoulder bells, but the color match could be an issue.

 

The L3 CRL also states:

 

• Drop boxes are vertically aligned with the end of the ammo belt with minimal gap between belt and box.
• The corners of the plastic ammo belt shall be trimmed at a 45 degree angle that that meets the outer edge of the cloth belt.
• The top of the ammo belt should sit at or just below the bottom of the central and vertical abdomen button panels.

 

 

 

 

There are a few issues here, some easier to correct than others. For the drop box positions, that should be a simple fix - shortening the strapping holding the drop boxes on, and adding a dab of glue to the strapping so they don't wander.

 

The belt 45-degree corner is a tougher one, because your canvas belt just seems wide compared to the plastic. It does look like you do have some room to trim back the plastic some so that it might align better.

 

Finally, for belt position, this is a correction I also had to make on my build. I saw that you said you have your belt low to cover the kidney/posterior gap, which makes sense. However, it looks like from the photos you might have a bit of room to scoot just the front of your belt up to keep it in place. I actually added a couple small strips of Velcro to keep my belt from sagging in the same way:

 

 

Reference Images:

    

 

 

Finally, the L3 CRL states:

 

Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor.

 

 

Your ab/kidney gap looks particularly large in your arms raised photos, but it is still there in the arms down photos:

 

Hopefully this should be a relatively easy fix of tightening/adding the strapping between the ab/kidney as well as tightening your belt. On my own build I used nylon to connect the left side rivets, and on the right I added an extra strap to help close that gap. 

 

Note also, that the tops of the ab/kidney should ideally remain aligned. This is really only evident in the arms raised photos.

 

Reference Images:

  

 

And that's it! Congratulations again on reaching EIB. I know it seems like a lot to get to Centurion, but it's clear from your build that you're a skilled armorer, so we have full confidence you'll be able to make the necessary corrections to reach Centurion. As always, reach out to us if we can be of help. 

Thanks to you for all the feedback to elevate my armor to EIB status and recommendations to take it to the next level. Really appreciate the time and effort it takes for you to do what you do and how thoughtful and thorough you’ve been. 

[wook1138[TK]]

Congrats trooper!  The vast majority of the recommendations are pretty easy fixes, see you at Centurion! 

 

To keep my kidney and ab aligned and gap-less I had to make a tab and slot connection on the right side and add more strapping to the left side.  Worked like a charm.

 

Nice work!

[CableGuy[TK]]

Nice work, Eric. Welcome to EI. :-)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Congratulation Eric welcome to EI brother