pandatrooper

Good to know, thanks!

I think Fox Flier and Cushman paintball make vac formed versions of the T21. You might also want to contact Woodchuck a member on here who makes great wood versions of them. I'm in the middle of my T-21 build tutorial as we speak. I already created a template for it (see BFG section) If you can wait a while, you can review it and see if it's something you can make yourself. It hasn't been that hard so far (knock on wood!).

Those are perfect, thank you! Good enough for me to work from. Does anyone know what that part is for / function?

Thanks Arakyel, I've visited that site so many times! Unfortunately, that Lewis gun doesn't have that round part I'm looking for. This is the part I'm looking for.

hey guys, does anyone have some clearer images of this part? It's that half round thing above the cooling fins, on the top of the gun, roughly in the middle of the gun. I want to say it's a sight, but that wouldn't make sense if there's a sight at the back (the one that flips up) and the one at the front near the barrel tip, correct? If anyone knows what this is and has some better images, that would be great. Thanks! *edited post: added image

These are reference pics for Pack #3 from Sideshow collectibles "Sandtrooper Squad leader" orange pauldron trooper. Also included are comparison pics with Sideshow's pack 5 and some images of the T21 that comes with the squad leader.

I would use the ANH cover strip, looks a lot more finished.

I would transport them in a bag / case. My T-21 (in progress) breaks down into 2.

Nice work! I've got the fame done and some parts trimmed on mine, but now I've been working on T-21. We get so easily distracted! Great looking pack!

Wow, very nice collection!

Luke said "blast!" or "blast it!" a few times in ANH.

Depends on what fits you. If your lower body is thin enough, you can make the front of the shins and thighs more screen accurate by leaving 10mm or 12mm on each side of the thigh (from the indent of where the cover strip would go) that way if you butt join them together, you get a total of 20mm or 24mm on the front of the thigh. This would allow you to put a 20mm or 24mm ANH style cover strip on the front. Now for the back, you would wrap the armor around your thigh, and when you think you have the right size (don't make it too tight, leave a little room for flex / padding) make a pencil mark where you think the center of the back of the thigh would be, at the top and at the knee. Then you would cut both sides along this line, also creating a butt join. You shouldn't rely on the marks or indents on the back of the thighs as that may not fit you. If your thighs are bigger, you may need to make the allowance bigger at the front, and say use 15mm per side if that's what it takes. You have to tailor it to fit your body. In general, people try to keep the front more screen accurate, and have the back less so - to suit their body type. Now you can assemble both halves by using shims (extra plastic) to hold the halves together, gluing them inside the armor. Most people glue / clamp the front and let it set overnight, then do the backs the next day. The same would apply for the arms, except the arms use 15mm - 20mm cover strips, again depending on the size of your arms. The Stukatrooper tutorials cover this type of assembly. At the end of the day, don't cut anything until you've taped things up and tried it on for size. measure twice, cut once!! Good luck!

Thanks guys. I might still try to get an extra pauldron, so that I have a backup just in case.

Thanks guys, I wasn't sure if there was another random TD or not using a T-21. I forgot that his pack is off during the "stop that ship!" assault, probably so that he can tuck and roll! Thanks again!

Was the orange TD in ANH the only trooper to use a T-21? Were there any others that used them? Thanks in advance!

Aaron, if you haven't already - check out Stukatroopers AP build. Great info and step by steps there. I used curved plastic scissors (from a hobby shop for cutting RC car bodies) and an xacto for the score and snap method, then sand the edges like Stuka and my kit came out great. I use the same method on all builds. I also use Plastic weld and E6000 for assembly. Plastic weld melts the 2 surfaces, where as E6000 is a tacky to tacky adhesion that allows a little more flexibility. There's also a lot of AP build threads on FISD if you want more reference in this forum here http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showforum=37 http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showforum=36 I will guarantee you'll run into frustration when you get to the thighs and shins on the AP kit in terms of alignment. Many build threads have solutions, so check there for info. But don't be afraid to ask questions too. Good luck!

Ha ha ha! Lol I wouldn't actually use propane tanks on my pack , just a theory that maybe that's what they originally used.

I'm not sure if the "Wet Wipes" cylinders / bottles on packs have been identified, but I was walking through Walmart yesterday and I saw some BBQ propane tanks that were very similar in size to the blue cylinders. This made me wonder if they were disposable propane tanks / bottles / cylinders from the 70's. These are commonly used for propane torches for welding / soldering, portable BBQ's, lanterns, etc.. so junked empty ones would be easy to find. On the packs, I know there's the ones with the mushroom caps (the lower one on the Move along pack), but on "Pack 1" (with the rectangular air filter on the upper left) that cylinder doesn't have a mushroom cap, but is commonly referred to as having a "domed top" with nothing on the top at all. I took a few pics and did some tweaking. Below is a screen cap from Braksbuddy, I then tweaked it in photoshop, and you can see a highlight of "some kind" at the top of the bottle. Perhaps this was the threaded nipple for a propane tank? Here's a few images I found of common modern propane tanks, of various shapes and sizes. You can see the size and proportion of these portable ones is not unlike our beloved "Wet wipes" bottles, which we try to use to match the screen used bottles. What do you guys think?

Based on comments from John Mollo (in the Making of SW book), I would think that the pack assembly was pretty rushed since they were shooting very soon, and George wanted the troopers in "combat order" rather quickly. We can also see the use of wire and tape and whatever they could find, so it seems like time was short. I can see them using a found part, like a found filter of some sort. I agree that it's not the car filter posted as the ribs are different. That being said, I read in some books that there were junk yards / wreckers and various parts from military and aircraft around, so perhaps those were possible sources? Could it be some kind of airplane / jet filter of some kind?

Very nice Dennis, great mods / paint work! So jealous of everyone and their nice BFG blasters!!

Very nice job on the poster!

If anyone has more accurate dimensions based on a real Lewis gun, please let me know and I'll gladly refine the template. I don't have acess to one so any accurate specs would benefit everyone! Thanks!

It does look a lot like a Crashmann pack now that you mention it. The radio corners don't have the dimples / rivet things, and the vents on the speaker looks a lot like Crashmann's too.

Very nice work Juan! Glad I could help convince you! I just thought you did a great job on the magazine, why not go a little further? I've seen some surprisingly good weathering and paint jobs on Hasbros, so I'm sure if you combine that with your more realistic proportions, you'll have a nice unique blaster!

Congrats Michael! Looks great!