Rogue Kenobi's ANH TK (stunt) RS Props Build

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

Just pushed the button... so it's official.  Went with the RS Props: ANH (stunt) - ABS (going old school) Stormtrooper.  Let the wait begin for my BBB

 

In the meantime.  I'm beginning to research some of my customizations and get ready for next steps.

 

• Armor - RS Props ANH Stormtrooper
• E-11 Blaster - Just ordered this one from TRamp.  I had to have this! - https://fb.watch/7Tw06PUqT_/
• Helmet Customizations -  I've spent the last few days reading about:
  • Audio System w/Voice -  I've been looking at Ukswraths iComm package - https://www.etsy.com/listing/525718278/stormtrooper-audio-system-wvoice?ref=hp_rf-5
  • Fans: Looks like Henry's Dual is the way to go? - https://www.etsy.com/listing/542571379/dual-modular-ball-bearing-5500rpm-fan?ref=shop_home_recs_2&frs=1&crt=1
  • Comfort -  Ordering some Helmet Pads to customize - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PGF4CTH/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A1CED60143DOXT&psc=1
  • Hearing assist?  Will I need this?  Anyone have an opinion one way or the other?

 

That's what I've got so far.  Anything I should check out that I haven't listed above or some customizations I should research that I haven't thought of?

 

Thanks!

 

Bobby

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Rogue Kenobi
title update

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

Are you getting all your soft parts such as neck seal, belt, and gloves from RS? Boots?


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[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Great to know !!  looking forward for your BBB day !  

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

I am.  After reading and researching it seemed like RS Props was the best place to start.  I'm anticipating having to do some minor alterations and have been researching tools and techniques.  I figured I would try to get approved that way and then meet/discuss with some people from the Mountain Garrison about Centurion down the road.  Looking forward to joining the ranks. 

[Chemi[Staff]]

Excellent Bobby. Keep us updated!!!

[TheDecisiveRaindrop[TK]]

You’ll find it hard to hear with the helmet fans. I myself have been eyeing Uks’ hearing assist

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Really depends what fans you have, what power used and placement, I only use one at a time as I find it's enough and I have no issues with hearing, I actually did fit a hearing assist system but found it picked up too much background noise at large events so I ended up taking it out. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Welcome, Bobby, and GREAT to hear that you pulled the trigger on ordering your RS armor!  While you "hurry up and wait" for BBB to arrive, I would suggest a few things:

 

1.  Get all your build supplies lined up and on hand.  Nothing worse that having to stop in the middle to order or buy something.  Link here.

 

2.  Once your kit arrives, start a build thread.  Trust me on this one.  Does it take extra time?  Yep, but there you can ask all the questions you like (no matter how small), and add photos.  Lots of them.  Adding pics is especially important when you have an issue.

 

3.  Hopefully you will be aiming for Expert Infantry and then Centurion levels after Basic 501st approval, and this is MUCH easier to do during your build rather than after, and not as difficult as you may think!

 I have a thread here which will answer a lot of questions as well as show you what we look for when approving those.

 

4.  Most importantly.. take....... your....... time.  I 'm sure you want to get it done so you can get out and troop, but rushing leads to mistakes.  Consider it a marathon, not a sprint, and you will have one awesome looking set of armor when you are done.

 

We are here to help every step of the way, all you you have to do is ask.

 

 

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

Thanks, Joseph.  Good list of stuff to keep me busy.

 

I appreciate the suggestion to look into EIB/Centurion while I wait.  Might as well dig in and fully understand the what and the how now.

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

11 hours ago, Rogue Kenobi said:

Thanks, Joseph.  Good list of stuff to keep me busy.

 

I appreciate the suggestion to look into EIB/Centurion while I wait.  Might as well dig in and fully understand the what and the how now.

 

 

 

Here is a link that with some info:  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35371-eib-and-centurion-what-do-these-terms-mean/

 

[Alay[TK]]

Welcome Bobby!  You'll be well served with RS!

 

As far as helmet stuff, honestly after however many years... I ended up taking most of the stuff I put in my bucket, out.  Except the extra padding to fit my head snug.  The only one that's sometimes worth it is the fans, but even then only on the hottest days.

 

I'd say build it, see how you like it, and go from there.  You can always add extras!

[Sly11[Admin]]

You certainly have a great start with what you have acquired so far.

In my experience, fans would be the first priority for basic airflow, some visor fog and just to make it that touch more comfortable.icomms are a fun gadget to have, but even just an Aker amp will make a difference to being heard in a noisy environment.

hearing assist, well I never really though it was worth it until I decided to put one in. Suddenly I could tell who was talking to me from where they were standing, left or right, and I stopped asking people to repeat or just nod like I heard what they said.

I could hear people talking clearly from quite a distance away, so it does take a little volume adjusting to get it just right, but man the first time I wore my bucket with it installed, it was a game changer.

The beauty is you can have all these things and change your load out based on different trooping environments.

Sometimes I just go fans, other times the whole shebang it's always a bunch of fun what ever you do as long as you can troop and enjoy it.

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

It's official!!  My BBB day is this Friday.  My RS Props ANH Stormtrooper armor is on the way!!

 

Thanks for all the responses, videos and links for my research.  I decided to order the following to build out the interior of my helmet myself.  This way I can customize:

 

• Fans: Troopacoola -  https://www.facebook.com/Troopercoola
• UKswraths Audio System:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/525718278/stormtrooper-audio-system-wvoice?ref=user_profile&frs=1  (iComm & Hovi)
• Power Bank - Anker 
• Padding:
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016GTU3PK
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A4TNQ8A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Neoprene lining and woven cord tubing:
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FW3GTXB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YQAHQ20/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

So excited to get trooper'd up and figure out next steps!

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Let the stalking of delivery trucks commence  

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

So the day finally came...  Got my BBB and learned that whew you need to watch some videos just just get in/out of this thing lol

 

RS Props did a great job and now I'm figuring I need to do some minor tweaks.  Seems the belt needs a little tlc as it's fraying a bit and those snaps are hard to keep snapped.  I wonder if some velcro might be a better option?

 

I just added some glamour shots from the back yard.  Thanks to my wife who's been helping me along the way.  She's a trooper...  pun intended

 

I think I'm getting pretty close.  I just ordered all the parts to customize the interior of my helmet.  iComm system is in hand and just waiting on my fans from Troopacoola!

 

[Morgi[Staff]]

What an amazing day, congratulations! I'm sure this will be a day long remembered 

 

One thing that you could improve, would be to lift your thighs a bit, so you can get your shin armor out from underneath them and gain a bit of mobility 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congratulations looking good

[Brew12[TK]]

I hope you don't mind my chiming in with a few comments. I also very recently received a fully commissioned RS Propmaster ANH stunt and love it. I got through basic approval with only some minor strapping issues but I have plenty of more things I am addressing. I notice from your pictures that your kit has some of the exact same issues mine did/does.

 

• Thigh strapping was much too long. I had to shorten mine by several inches. I used a stapler to temporarily close off the loop (easy to remove the staple) while I sized it up to see exactly what length was best for where the belt was comfortable.
• Shoulder bell to chest straps were too long. I shortened mine so that unstretched it comes out to just under the bell. 
• Sew in snaps for the shoulder bells had issues. One popped off the 2nd time I suited up. I've replaced them with hammer in snaps, much easier since I needed to shorten the shoulder bell straps.
• Left shoulder bell to bicep strap was too long. This makes it harder for the bicep to stay under the shoulder bell band and also messes up the bicep to forearm spacing. Looks like you have the same issue. Right arm was fine as delivered.
• Belt sag at the waist. Easily fixed with a small piece of velcro under the button panel connected to the belt. Makes dressing out easier, also.
• Forearm band could use rotating. Might not bother you too much, but I think it looks very sharp when the cover strips on the bicep and forearm line up. With the way the band connecting the forearms to biceps is placed, it forces the cover strip on the forearm to rotate to the outside.

 

I've made a few other adjustments to mine, also, but these are the ones I think would benefit you based on your pictures.

Hopefully this helps and good luck! The armor really is beautiful! 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Brew12

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking sharp, Bobby!  As you mentioned, there are always a few tweaks here and there, and nothing jumps out too much.. mostly strapping issues.  I know it was your first time suiting up, but to add to what Steven mentioned, I would suggest:

 

1.  The ABS belt should come up quite a bit.  I see that the snaps are there, but Velcro will work as well.

 

2.  If possible, the shoulder bells could come in to where the tops touch the shoulder bridges.  If not, no biggie.

 

3.  The biceps definitely need to come up.  They should not overlap the forearm.

 

 

4.  I noticed that your sniper knee is getting caught behind the bottom of the thigh.  A common problem that can be remedied by adding a foam strip behind the top of the calf (along the seam) to help push it out. 

 

 

 

5.  The thighs look a little low and uneven.  These can be raised, which would also help with the sniper knee plate overlap. 

 

        

 

These are just suggestions, but they will definitely give you a better, more screen accurate look.  If you need help with anything, just let us know!

 

 

[Brevon Solla[TK]]

Thanks @Brew12 and @justjoseph63 for the great breakdowns of what I needed to fix.  Going down the rabbit hole as usual.  I ordered some tools, velcro, elastic and enlisted my wife to help sew a couple sections.  Looking much better!  Here's what I've done to improve the look and mobility.

 

• I added some Velcro to the belt section.  It was really tough to keep the snaps snapped. Now it's level and solid
• I added some elastic at the bottom of my shin pieces that slide under my foot in the boots.  This way the shins snap down on my boots.
• I took your advice and re-did the shoulder bells with heavier snaps.  That is much better.  (I got the hoover snap tool)
• My wife helped sew the thigh straps a ton to get those to rise up.  Looks and feels much better.  I can go up and stairs easily now.

Thanks again for the help.  I'm getting close!!  

 

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Rogue Kenobi

[Brew12[TK]]

Looks fantastic! Those small changes make a world of difference!

[Chemi[Staff]]

Congratulations Bobby!!!.  Your armor looks great...

Just one comment, if I may....

 

-Although it is not required at any level: "Something that characterizes us(Stormtroopers) is that we are anonymous.  Children(and "not-so-children" ) in Trooping see their characters with emotion and do not imagine that within that armor there is a fanatic like them. For this reason, we try, by adding a mesh behind the "teeth" of the helmet, to prevent our face from being seen through the holes in them"

 

 

Once again, congratulations. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks great, nice work

[Goggytalks[TK]]

Hi,
Looks so much better now that you have completed the minor adjustments. Well done .


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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Nice job on those, Bobby.  Nice job indeed!