nick.black

Have a chat with us in the cantina buddy! Nick

Ryan, your best bet is 3" pipe for the main barrel and 2.5" pipe for the smaller tapered bit. You can get lengths of both in alloy off eBay. Once you've got it, make a tapering by fitting thin bits of wood or plasticard on the outside of the 2.5" pipe and sliding it inside the 3" pipe and glue it in place where you need it, then taper the gaps with body filler. Once it is all sorted and sanded use 1mm fishing wire or similar to do the wrap. I'll show you pics of mine when I get home. Hope it helps

Oh dear Ryan. That's gotta smart. Hope you get back to full function soon!

Use cable ties buddy! Much lighter!

Lee, Thank you for your comments. As has been explained here earlier this is not being endorsed by the 501st or the MEPD and so terms like "armourer" and "wip" are not things we need to use. We spoke with the staff of the MEPD prior to launch to get the OK to do some plugging here amongst Sandtroopers of the 501st legion for any willing members who anted to go through our process and so far it has been very sucessful. You are more than welcome to come along to our Facebook page and see for yourself, or ask to be allowed access to our members group where you can submit your armour against our standards. Regards

Yes you're right mate, the one we saw in the flesh did not have these. They are present on both sides on most Lewis'

Yeh Berkal I agree here, 3.35" or 85mm just seems a bit too big. Ryan, definately go for 3" pipe mate as its easy to get hold of in the uk mate. Nick

Thank you for all your valid points here. Felix; We did indeed speak to the MEPD Command Staff about getting Tunisia '76 off the ground. The fact of the matter remains that this is really nothing to do with the MEPD in essence. We are a stand alone unit/group with our own standards, but which mirror in many ways, those of SWAT and PO standards of the MEPD. There are differences of course. This is a separate badge from MEPD PO and SWAT to show you have gone to different lengths than what the 501st have dictated within their CRLs. We will certainly be keeping the best traditions of the MEPD CRLs with us as we go however. Some of the key members of MEPD have helped to make this happen and so we asked kindly if we could "advertise" as such, on MEPD to spread the word about what we are trying to do. As it stands there has been a lot of interest so far in our group, which launches tomorrow (May 4th). If you want to come and look in on our group then you are very free, it will be open to all to apply, and see if there is something there for you. Regards to all Nick

Thanks Rick that's right we thank MEPD for allowing us to spread the word here about what we are doing however we are not part p the MEPD in terms of our standards.

Yep, that's the beauty of what we are creating, you don't need to do it all in one chunk. Work on. And submit one piece at a time, either your blaster, your pack, or your armour, and get accredited if you meet the standards. All will become clear on May 4th.

Ryan, be sure to get yourself one of our ultra realistic stock brush casts before they run out mate, Nick

Out of interest, one of the packs used in the film WAS based on an Alice frame. That is pack #4 http://www.looksirdroids.com/backpacks.html seen in the alley check scene. So you'd be good to go if that is the one you wanted to replicate. Nick

Wet wipe bottles are the correct size and cheap. Nick

Really amazing to get this published. This is going to be a hugely big deal I feel. Not only are we recognising the hard work that you guys put into your props and costumes, but we are also here to support you on your journey, and as Lee says, we will be opening a shop to buy some booty and hard to find parts, all of which will be supplied to the standards for the awards. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great work guys, really loving the attention to detail on t-21s at the moment! Nick Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Agreed with the above comments here. Don't take offence or anything to heart here. You said yourself that you did think you should have come here earlier. We want to be able to help you reach the standards of the 501st legion, and I guess that's what you want too, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Again don't lose heart, you are now on the right track. The armour you have is not a good base to get into trooping with the 501st. Let us know your plans and we'll help in any way we can. Nick

Mate this is by far the best T-21 I have ever seen. You have really set a gigantic bar for us all to aim for with this. Amazing engineering skills, Wonderful paint job and weathering Ingenious use of parts and attention to detail. Well done buddy, thoroughly deserved and I hope you will carry it with pride. Nick

Woohoo well done Chris really well deserved, I know you've put alot of hard work into getting this right and it has now paid off. SWAT #40

Oh man I love that, that is totally awesome

Yeh, you would not want to troop with this bad boy. Nick

There is absolutely no restriction on what combination of pouches, weapons and pauldron for your TD, other than what is on the CRL for 501st and MEPD Police officer entry. The only time it matters is for swat! Nick

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/252300365554 one of these has the correct lenses inside. Nick

Wow, this is really quite amazing work. Can't wait to see how well it turns out! Nick

I really like that design John. The only thing I would say is that you need to put a trooper on the back of the dewback. It would just look better. Nick

Great discussion Juan. Some of us guys in Britannia Patrol have been discussing the possibility of a special badge, something like "Tunisia '76" for those who have gone to the extreme with their costumes, and sourced original parts, such as Karrimor frame, Bapty blaster etc. This was only going to be for fun and totally separate from the MEPD SWAT program. We wouldn't have the luxury here, as would be the case for many countries I believe, of using deac weapons, but a replica made to be very close to original would be acceptable.