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Greetings, Troopers! I had always intended on converting my RS Props stunt TK to a TD, but wanted to make sure I had another shiny white TK to replace it. I eventually built another RS Props TK (Hero), but was still afraid of pulling the trigger on the conversion process for my Stunt. Last year I participated in a photo shoot with smoke grenades while wearing my Stunt TK. Let's just say that smoke bombs and ABS do not get along. My armor ended up STAINED beyond belief! I tried Novus and even 220 grit sandpaper to try to remove the stains from the smoke bomb pigment, but nothing worked. That crud was in there deep. This was my sign. Time to get this kit dirty! Here are some of the pics from the photo shoot before the conversion. At least the photos turned out pretty cool. I began conversion by taking my armor apart and removing the ab button plates and sniper knee parts. I glued the new sniper plate in place and began weathering. I used oil paints in raw umber, burnt umber, and burnt sienna as my base "dirt" to begin with. Weathered shin on the left, unweathered on the right. Here's what the process looked like. I like using oil paints very much because they give you loads of time to work with them due to the slow dry time. Lots of opportunity to blend, blend, blend! Once I was done blending with a cotton rag, I took a clean rag and wiped, wiped, wiped... After going over all the armor, it looked like this: I really liked this look, but I felt that while it looked dirty, it was still too polished and shiny for what I thought a Sandtrooper should look like. I let the oil paint weathering sit for a week before moving on to the next phase: adding SAND! During that time, I jumped into building my pack. I snagged a K2 Karrimor frame off of eBay last year, complete with red kidney/back straps! Woo! I cut off the top part of the frame to begin with. I painted it black, removed the lower cross support bar, and bent the frame in the middle. Bending that frame was scary! The pack was still too tall for my liking, though. When I put the seed trays on it (using Woodman's trays), there was a large space at the bottom that I didn't like. So I removed another 5cm of length from the top ends of the frame and shifted the top crossbar down accordingly. Here's what it looked like once cut for the second time: Before and after the shortening of the frame: I used my 3D printer to make this greeblie. I added the hose clamp to the tube before hitting it with black paint. I also 3D printed out the thermal detonator plate and end caps for the mortar tube because I didn't have anything else that fit the 2" black tube! And assembled it on the seed tray with my vintage Brexton lunch box, wet wipe bottle, and rubber black plunger cap: I bought a cistern part from Gordonator a few years ago. Added some zip ties, sanded, and Bondo'd the part to make it look like it should before painting: Made some shotgun shells with 1/2" PVC pipe, some EVA foam cut to fit inside, a little tulle netting, and leftover stems from pop rivets: I am using a Crashmann Sonix radio kit for my pack. To make the "leather surround" part for the box, I used stretch pleather and EVA foam. I didn't have enough EVA foam to completely surround the entire length of the box, so I measure the entire box and made two pieces in a length to meet at a corner. Then I used basting spray to secure the foam to one long piece of pleather. The basting spray helps keep the edges stuck down before sewing. I created stitching along the edges and wrapped the pleather/foam piece around the box, using hot glue to secure it in place. Done! I figured out how to put all the parts together, and then I ended up with this: Side view: View from the top: Side view: Back view: I tackled adding sand to my armor to give it good texture and make it truly sandy! Using a mix of grout, sand (duh!), fuller's earth, and a little yellow ocher oil paint, I painted it all over the armor, wiping it off until I had just enough sand texture. Had no idea it would be such a messy process! It did not want to wash off my skin. I should have worn gloves. Ah well. The sandy texture really knocked the shine off this kit! Close up so you can see some of the sand detail. That stuff is STUCK on. I can't even scratch it off. A garrison friend suggested I add a little more dirt to my boots and lower shins, and I agreed that it needed more. Here is the result: And the lid: And before anyone wants to mention my brow height, let it be known that I like the brow where it is for now. So I took the armor out for a spin last weekend, and ended up taking pics! I sent in submission pics, and was approved by my GML in less than two days! So now I'm officially TD-10401, but I want to add PO to my rank. I'll be taking more pics this weekend, and should be submitting my application to the appropriate department soon. As always, any feedback (good or bad!) is greatly appreciated. Can't wait to be an official L2 member of the MEPD!!!

Hey Glen, I'm on the short side at 5'4", and I've built 4 TKs (and assisted sizing down several more), so I know a little about trimming for height. I might be able to give some guidance. Your photo is showing as an itty bitty image though, even when enlarged. Any chance on sharing a larger pic? The Dremel is your friend when it comes to trimming. But for cutting off a larger amount, you might want to trim off the bulk first, then finish with the Dremel. Tin snips can behave aggressively with the ABS sometimes when you cut on a curve and can leave you with extra sanding work to do. A better alternative would be to use a curved pair of Lexan scissors. I own many pairs of Lexan scissors in both straight and curved shapes, and they do an amazing job of cutting plastic.