JohnQTK5122

I used the rubber plumbing washer, too, but it's actually too small. Rolph's flag stand is much better. I used a piece of aluminum to make my box. cut it from a piece of rain gutter. It's thin material and bends easily in a vise but holds the shape well. I've only trooped with it once, but it was a long troop and the box stayed together.

Yeah - now that I have that background, I'll have to do a "gun pointing in his face" pose sometime. Thanks for the encouraging words, everyone!

Thanks, Guys! One more picture, just for fun (now that the pressure's off).

Thank you very much! I'm really, really happy to be a part of this group. I appreciate the MEPD philosophy of paying attention to detail and staying true to the movie - while having fun doing it. I will try to send those backgrounds to you, but they might be too big to email. For sure, though, I will email you and let you know where I found them. Thanks again! Woo Hoo!

Beautiful! I wish I could do that!

Hello from John Quirk, Legion ID TD-5122, MEPD login name JohnQTK5122, Midwest Garrison, Wisconsin Squad. Although I'm looking forward to making improvements over the years, I'm fairly certain I finally have all deployment requirements met. I've attached medium resolution pictures for viewing here, and can submit a link to higher res originals if needed. I "borrowed" these backgrounds from various photo sites. The photos of me were taken by a fellow trooper in a poorly lit and cluttered dressing room where we were taking a break during a long event this past weekend (a local symphony orchestra's movie music concert in Appleton, Wisconsin). Here's my RT-Mod helmet, with hand-painted everything except tube stripes. It has flat green lenses and four teeth per side. The mic tips say Hovi Mix on them, and with RT-Mod's good reputation I assume they are fairly accurate replicas. I had the brow trim riding higher in the front but it's sitting loose in the helmet's groove and it slipped down before we took these pictures. I'll have to glue it in place. My Sci-Fire MG-34 has T-tracks affixed according to the pattern at looksirdroids.com, and has a disk (rubber washer) and ammo cover box I made from aluminum. Thanks to a good friend who collects WWII guns, I have a real MG-34 charging handle which fits perfectly in the slot on the gun. I built my backpack over a year ago with found items. You've seen it here before but I did insert a correct radio dial recently, thanks to you guys who found them and posted templates here. My backpack is built on a vintage boyscout pack frame. The cistern siphon is real, although I had to dress it up some to give it the "hamburger stacker" look. That part of the cistern is quite bigger than a hamburger stacker, so I had to compensate by using a canister underneath that's bigger than a "wet ones" bottle. I didn't have a thermal detonator part so I had to make that, too. It's far from perfect, but the quest to find "suitable" parts and building from "scratch" was fun (although I'm tempted to get a vacu-formed radio someday, now that originals have been found). I made my sniper knee plate and ab plate from templates found here at the MEPD, and just removed the fourth ab button recently. The canvas belt was the last thing I upgraded. It'll get dirtier and the edges will get rattier as time goes by. My friend, Frank has the same belt, and after a few troops it naturally looks more and more like the beat-up belts in the movie. My shoulder straps are pieces of canvas webbing. And, here's me. The sweaty hair and sunburn are real thanks to the trooping event and a recent trip to Florida. My pouches are from IMA-USA, dyed black, and I removed and moved the little tool pouch. If you need more photos, different views, or more information, just let me know. Thank you for your time and consideration - this is a great group! I've really appreciated everyone's input and assistance over the last couple of years.

If you have that set, why not just use the right one for your hip pouches?

Wasn't a big gun (other than E-11) required for deployment last year or so? If not, I must have misread the requirements. I bought a Sci Fire MG34 because I thought they were required. I don't regret having it, either way, I'm just curious.

tupperware tk sells FX parts, and the new AM parts, too.

I used the tan pouches because when I've tried to die green things black in the past, they always had a greenish tint to them. No such problem with the tan version. Then again, I used leather dye on my pouches which is probably a lot stronger than regular fabric dye and might be able to overpower the green canvass.

A little over a year ago I received my 501st TD approval. I have just two more things to do before I can ask fro MEPD deployment (my new canvas belt needs to be weathered and I need to build an ammo feeder cover box for my SciFire MG-34/DLT-19). BUT I finally got my RT-Mod helmet. I put it together in a hurry this week before the Star Wars Concert in Chicago. Here are pics of it: http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jo...lmet/Weathered/

Here's the template I used. http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jo...Mods_wScale.jpg I'm not thrilled with the knee plate, though, because it's just flat. it looks cheap to me, although I doubt anyone else has ever noticed. If I ever need a new one, I plan to contact TM about his (thanks for the heads-up, TM). And yet another option might be to contact Ward. He says the new AM armor pieces work well with the old FX armor (assuming that's what you have) ... http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=...40&start=40

You don't necessarily have to buy these, you can make them yourself from patterns that are available here if you use the search function. When I get home tonight, I will see if I can find them on my pc and post them here.

Good Question. Since we can see (in movie stills) the connectors for the shoulder strap, maybe we'd have to know whether those are on the radio or on the leather case. Looks like they could be on the case?

Do you have these done yet, or what? I had originally vowed not to use replica items on my pack - real found items only (just because it seemed more fun that way, and it was a lot of fun looking for stuff) - but my attempt to recreate the radio has been the thing I am least happy with. I'm ready to break my vow.

Although there's no picture of me on the 501st page yet, I officially received my sandtrooper designation today! http://www.501stlegion.org/members/display...amp;costumeID=2 Many, many thanks to all of you who posted your inspiring photos and stories here! I feel like there's an RT Mod helmet in my future, and then a few more minor tweaks and I'll apply for MEPD membership. Pictures are on my web site: http://TK5122.com

If you want sturdy, I used 9x13 mirro aluminum cake pans, the kind with lids. Take the lids off and use them for cookie sheets or something. The pans are lightweight but very strong. They have no handles, just smooth rolled-over edges. You can screw them together, screw hinges to them, or whatever you want. I just drilled holes in mine and connected them together and to the pack frame with zip ties. I drilled other holes through them and connected all the other parts to them. My pack is holding up very well so far. They are available in hardware stores for some reason, about $10 each, but also available in packs of 4 online: http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(lf5ipai2....aspx?SKU=62206 You'll need 4 anyway. Amazon also sells them in 4 packs for under $40. That's one option, if you want to use store-bought parts. If you want movie accuracy, there are vacu-formed boxes available from people here at the MEPD. There's one photo of my weathered pack here: http://tk5122.com and several photos before weathering (more angles so you can see the boxes) here: http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jo...useum_Feb_2008/

Thanks, guys. If there is room for the fans, that's great news because I really like the extra air flow, as small as it is. Do the sides of your helmet squeeze against your ears? If not, my headset should be okay, it is very slim. What do you use to keep your RT-Mod helmet on your head, a hardhat helmet liner, a chin strap, something else, or nothing at all? Anybody else have pictures of the inside of an RT-Mod with accessories?

Hi All, I'm this close to buying an RT-Mod helmet because I'm sick of not being able to move my head inside the FX helmet (it sits right on my chest and back). I've read lots of good things about RT-Mod armor at FISD and I've looked at his site. I've emailed Rob a few times and he seems nice to work with. I'm just wondering if anyone here has personal experience with putting fans inside an RT-Mod, and/or wearing a headset mic. I've got a big head, like size 7 3/4 hat, so I'm a little concerned about having room for accessories inside the RT Mod. I've looked at other helmets, too, but they are more expensive. Thanks for any personal experience and pictures you can share. John Q. http://TK5122.com

I added a closeup photo of my helmet that shows the weathering better. I used the Woodland Scenics paint, but only used the two lightest colors. Then I applied light-colored real sand and darker-colored model railroad sand using scenic cement. Photos of My Armor and Backpack Also, just for fun, here are some pics of the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. They had some props, models, and costumes on display. I made my first sandy appearance there. Star Wars Museum Display Photos

Thanks, Guys. For 501st TD designation I have to paint over the black stripes in the tears and on the back of the helmet, and remove the plastic ribbed shoulder straps (which come unglued all the time anyway). I'll do that stuff the next time I get the armor out of storage to go trooping, and I'll submit some new photos along with these to the 501st. For MEPD deployment I'd have to convert my gun as someone said, which I want to do anyway. I want a new (smaller) helmet so I can move my head, but shelling out a couple of hundred dollars for a better helmet is pretty much out of the question for a while. I've spent all my fun money on scuba diving in the Florida Keys with my wife - and I have no regrets about that! But every time I fill my car's gas tank, I think "there goes a quarter of an RT Mod helmet."

I haven't applied for my 501st TD designation yet, and my pack and armor are far from MEPD ready, but I got some neat pictures of myself lately that I thought I'd share - especially for others who might just be getting started. The information and examples here at the MEPD have been very helpful. Thank you. I built this backpack from store-bought parts, and one really nice eBay item. The search for everything was fun. I posted the photos and info on a web page: http://TK5122.com

So, there aren't really any cloth straps visible in the movies? I haven't seen them in any of the screenshots I've looked at. My chest and back pieces (and shoulder bells) attach with snaps to wide black suspenders, so I don't really need cloth straps to hold the armor on me, I was just going to install some because I assumed they were required to be a sandtrooper because they are seen in the film. I might just add black strap anyway to hide the snap that holds my shoulder bells to my suspenders, but it'll just be cosmetic, not functional. As you said, my backpack strap basically covers all that stuff (and the other side is under a pauldron). Thanks. By the way, Mike, did you know TD1536 is the name of a computer virus? How many people have their own action figure AND their own virus?

This might have been answered before, but I'm having trouble navigating the new forum layout, so I'm reposting. Since the plastic ribbed straps that hold my chest and back pieces together won't stay glued on anyway, I figured I should replace them with the correct kind of cloth strapping underneath. I can't actually see the straps in the screenshots (can't find the screenshots now, but I've looked before). Should the cloth straps be white or black or some other color? Thanks, John Q. TK-5122

Yes, if you know how to solder, the little radio shack fans are very nice. Here are my fans with power switches (one switch for each fan): http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43 ... t=fans.jpg and my batteries (2 for each fan so they last longer): http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43 ... teries.jpg