rhapsodyred99

Hehe I cant stop ginning.

WOO HOOO! Thanks all! This was by far the most rewarding build I have done so far. Dirt adds so much character to a set of armor. Thanks for all the help along the road! I know what you mean about the build being done blues....But I have my ROTJ Vader in progress to help me through it All my TKs and my TD need SOMEONE to boss em around ya know?

Well i made it to PO this year and am currently waiting for final SWAT comments from our CO... Id say the drive is successful on my end...

Grats! Glad they finally approved you for TD so you could get deployed! Look forward to your swat application.

Grats Brother! Great looking build look forward to seeing you go for SWAT.

No Jawas at my first official TD troop but... What? it COULD have been the droid I was looking for..... I had aken the pack off cause after 3 hours my back was killing me...

Looking good, just remember the belt needs to be just under the ab box, you have it a little low on these preliminary pics.

Thank you so much for the kind words. It is a great feeling of satisfaction to know your hard work paid off. I honestly never would have been able to even attempt this conversion if not for the direct help and feedback , and very helpful threads posted by the MEPD Brotherhood. I am so proud to be a part of this community. I wimped out and chose a popular well documented TD, but for all my life when I have thought of Sandtroopers, I have thought the lines "Move along, move along".....(ok, ok and "look sir droids!" ) When I decided to get dirty, I knew I wanted SWAT level. Before I put any dirt on the armor I poured over helmet shots and pack/pouch configurations, and kept comming back to the Iconic Move along...Move along....Sometimes ya gotta go with what keeps hitten ya in the head ya know? Thanks again all...I eagerly await official comments. I know real life comes first, so no worries

They are both backwards on the post break version seen in this pic: But on the pre break version he has this left handplate: I had originally had both plates on backwards because I was using the first pic as a reference, but after seeing the second pic I realized my mistake since I was going for the pre break look and redid the left glove.

I have to say the whole cardboard costume thing is a great idea, would take me back to the days when I was a kid making costumes out of boxes because I was poor and real ones did not exist! In addition to the help, I am working on the boss... ROTJ Vader WIP: Still waiting on the Chestbox and Leather parts to arrive....

I have both the TM and the RS. I am 6'1" if you want to check out the RS. I think my TM fits better on the white side, but the reason I went TD on my RS was because the pouches/Pauldron/pack hid most of the bigger gaps that are glaring on a Tk. Shoulder bells and back plate were my biggest issues. Ahem, but back to the thread great work on the BFG!

So how do the customs people know its say a tm suit and not a Rubies? It cannot be an intelectual property thing, so much as a new law on what is allowed in certain countries. I mean if customs official A opens a box and sees a bunch of white armor in it, he isnt going to know if its official or not, but if its on a proscribed list because, for instance the German government does not allow it (like certain accurate looking toy firearms say) then it is siezed. Perhaps they have passed a new customs law that does not allow body armor, even fake body armor from being sold or shipped in the country. Disney could try to issue cease and desist orders to the makers once they track them down, but customs officials could care less about that. All they care about is if the item is on the naughty list of things that have been deemed evil. It is why in the US it is not illegal to get a huge shipment of KO toys/handbags/sunglasses, but it IS illegal to sell them as the real deal. Customs does not have anything to do with the latter law. We are not allowed to get certain realistic gun toys shipped here either. Not because they violate a copyrite, but because they are on the no no list. My money is this is what it happening. Either that countries laws have changed to proscribe something about a TK suit, or the specific official thinks it violates some import law, not that Disney or LFL have been able to convince the various countries around the world to specifically look for their property and sieze it.

Sucks that boots are the hold up. You are a true artist when applying dirt. Good Luck!

I know I pointed you to both RS and Troopermaster, with a link of a centurion RS submission which may indicate my preference to RS. I chose that link because it was a guy who was near your size. Don't get me wrong RS is a great suit, but having both a Troopermaster and an RS I have to agree with Smally. Troopermaster has great customer service, an outstanding product and it fits me better than the RS does. RS is made from a pieced together suit, that they had to get the missing parts from Troopermaster to make a complete TK/TD suit. So it has first generation casts of a "real" TK/TD suit with replacement parts from TM and RS themselves. But as a cast of an old suit, there are some joining/fitting issues that are not present in TM suits. Nothing insurmountable, but it is there. Rob and Simon from RS are great guys, but a bit swamped with the demand, which means you could run into issues like I did where it took several months to get all the little parts that kept getting forgotten in shipments. They will do right by you no doubt and I have zero complaints in that area at all. You really cannot go wrong with either maker. RS edges out TM slightly on the accuracy, but TM is a better "out of the box" fit/build since his suits are designed to look like they did in the movies, not from a cast of a suit that has been used and abused for 30+ years. The RS helmet is awesome and I love it which is why I have 3 of them. I only have a TM hero lid, and it is great, but the RS stunt lid cast directly from a real TK lid is amazing. I do not have a TM stunt to compare it to though so dunno. Basically Long winded, but what I am trying to say if I was going to buy another suit, and having the experience of both, It would most likely be a TM.

Tm aka troopermaster is a member here and on whitearmor just drop him a pm. Rs propmasters have a website just google em. Usually both will get back in a few days.

RT mod is more for larger folks in the way of girth (fits a 40 inch waist). I would suggest TM or RS props. I am 6'1" and TM fits my height a little better, but the Rs fits well enough as well. you just have to leave a bit more black showing. You are thin enough that RS or TM would be no issue as well. RT mod is great armor but he is backed up(I think middle of summer was the last I heard), and I think it would swallow you. Check out this link to the Centurion RS build from Florian who has a similar shape as you: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21415-tk-8646-requesting-anh-stunt-centurion-status-rs58/ So I think RS would look great on you. But I also think TM would be a great fit as well, as if I am honest, my TM fits me better than my RS even though it is the RS I chose to go TD with...

I worked hard to get it right from the start of the TK-TD conversion. I could not have done it without the help and support found here. I knew how to build a TK (as my sig implies), but would have never been able to pull off an accurate build without my brothers here. If the process goes fast you have only yourselves to blame for being so darn good at pointing me in the right direction...

I cross posted this at Whitearmor, since I thought it may be of interest there. Billhag spotted this as well here is his post: ....This is me last year pointing out to Simon the mis-matched thighs in the behind the scenes picture in Tunisia of all the Sandys lined up in front of the Dewback. I've spotted at least 3 mis-matched thigh tops on the Sandys so there is a very good chance that Si's could be one of them. There's also a theory that we've been throwing around with Mr.Muir (stand up and salute ) that parts of Si's suit could be from the early Elstree pulls and NOT from AA..... Funny how you can stare at something forever and never see something. I have seen that dewback pic 100 times and never picked up on the thighs, it took me staring at the movealong for my SWAT build to pick it up. I am so jealous of you UK guys who can go see the real armor. Rob and Simon are great guys.

Yes TM is actually more accurate than the RS suit....Since the RS suit has duplicate parts and is not a "complete" as it was intended Tk. I love my TM suit, but I love my RS as well.

Thanks guys! I ended up completely removing the lower tray from the frame, removing the radio, siphon and old tape. I then retaped hopefully more inline with the canon and reassembled it all and got rid of any gap in the trays. I was not able to book Roscoe to help out, but hopefully this will pass muster (love your posts Oscar!) Hopefully this was what was needed.

The fisrt pic, becasue of its unfinished nature and weathering, just screams awesome death trooper to me... It looks better than some of the Death Trooper attempts I have seen.. However as you get it finished I have no doubt it will be a kick *** Sandy! I mention the Death trooper thing cause I think they are pretty neat looking, and that top pick made me think of a realistic one instead of the excess zombie makeup versions you tend to see. Great work!

I was doing research for my Sandtrooper and after staring at screenshots for weathering/assembly accuracy I noticed this on the RBC: Check out that right thigh... Now here is RS Propmasters suit thigh: Hmmmm...we know the torso was a sandy, and at least one calf was a TK (glue residue from the Sniper knee). What are the odds that the Iconic Move Along Sandtrooper was the user of the right thigh? Pretty low I am sure but it does look darn close to me... Of course I already trimmed and reshaped my top thigh to not have the jaggy...so not going to redo it but makes ya think...

I have been very happy with the amount of help and support offered here, as well as how it is directed. Do not get me wrong I love the FISD, but sometimes the responses there can be a bit snotty. I have never run into that here. From the time I first posted, I have gotten nothing but help and support. this truely feels like a brotherhood. And with the time and effort required (I had NO Idea!) in getting dirty the right way, I have to say the TD has become my favorite costume by far. I have put more sweat and research into it than anything else. I feel very honored to be a part of this great community. Rock on my Brothers, Rock on...

New handguard done: Still working on pack.... But for fun I present to you the last thing a Jawa Sees....

All 4 OT TKs: EIB ANH Hero: EIB ANH Stunt: EIB ESB: Centurion ROTJ: (when seen together with the ANH and ESB Tks, my Poor ROTJ looks a bit...um 'Special" ) And of course my Police Officer TD: Currently working its way to SWAT. I am also building a ROTJ Vader slowly but surely as the parts come in....