Florida_Phil

Hey guys, just a quick stop in... I think I am about done with my base armor (looking at the pic, I notice I need to shorten the strap that holds my right bell on), any comments before I weather this thing?

Hey Hippy. I'm going, and staying at the Marriot. You ever find some more roomies?

Looking sweet! I just hope mine turns out that good!

Well I'll follow it up with the obligator crustacean link: http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=7914 What were we talking about again?

I must have missed this thread here.... I've been on the board for a few weeks now I guess. I'm not yet 501st, I don't yet have an assembled suit of TK armor, much less TD, but I'll get there one day! I'm based here in Florida, and while I had first heard of the 501st years ago, I had no idea that there were any active 501st members near me. I know better now! and I've been trying to get up to speed for the last few months. I'm one of those newbies that is going to ask a lot of dumb questions, but I do actually make an effort to look for the answer first.... Happy trooping! -Phil

Since the ebay auction is gone now, any chance anyone can post what this was, so others can see?

I've had really crappy luck finding what I need here in Tallahassee for metal. But I will suggest that you look at a "Hobby Town USA." They tend to have a little case of small aluminum strips (Little stand, different thickness, different length, different widths, etc) in the back for fabrication purposes. Might be what you would want. But yeah, I'm basically in the same boat as you for getting my hands on raw materials just like what I need.

I was going to post that I found trimming the helmet easier than the armor... but then I got to looking at my ears as I was about to test fit them. AP ears are asymetrical. I gotta figure out what is front, and what is back, and what is left, and what is right.... Any hints, or does it even matter?

I have AP, not a bash of AP. There are some AP parts which are mirror imaged, with no difference from the left version, and the right version. I'm sure I'd get it wrong if I tried to name them, but suffice it to say, it's not 'as accurate' or what ever. Not something you can tell at 10 feet, but I totally understand the arguments in either direction. I knew going in that AP wasn't TE/TE2, but then TE/TE2 wasn't being produced when I ordered mine, and AFAIK it's still not in live production. I'm happy. Maybe next suit

I've been test fitting my bucket, and I'm concerned that the brow is a bit lower than I want it to be. (Of course at this point I've drilled holes in the marked spots. Anyone have suggestions for how to gimick the brow to be just a BIT higher? (I've tried shifting where it connects on the bottom around the neck, but it just makes the hole smaller AND doesn't really help, so I guess the crux is inside the ears attachment point, but I'm lost as to how to shift it and keep the helmet together and still raise the brow?)

I did a lot of asking around, then I broke down and bought a TK-409 one. I'm VERY happy with it.... now if I can just get the rest of this armor together...

It's got dirt on it Honestly, AFAIK most of the Sandtroopers wore the clam like hand armor just like a regular TK, but there were a few in the movie that wore.. odd armor. http://cgi.ebay.com/Sandtrooper-Parts-STAR...6QQcmdZViewItem I base most of this off screens I have seen, and comments made at http://www.multiplehat.com/whitearmor/mods.htm But like I say, I think you are best off with normal TK hand plates: *Warning, I'm a newbie.

I'll take a stab, but keep in mind, I'm a newbie, so fact check everything I tell ya. The 'gun' is more of a clamp/pliars for the size of rivets we are dealing with. I paid about $16-$19 for it at Lowe's or Home Depot (and it was probably too much, but what do ya do?). You want Aluminum rivets, not steel ones, since the steel ones will take so much force to crimp that it will tear through the plastic. They make Aluminum white 1/8" rivets, seen in the picture, and I didn't even have to order them. You might also back the rivet with a 1/8" washer, also shown, so that you distrubute the force over a larger area, and help insure that the rivet doesn't pull through under stress. That's about all I got. Good luck!

Yes its an AP helmet, the hole kit is a ANH autentic prop stunt armor kit (80 thick ABS white glossy plastic). But i know its a bit confuseing. As far as i know... Around 2004 GF, was borrow TE moulds (and maid them in abs plastic about 60 thick, whit a hero helmet, smaller edge top head). Around 2006 GF go under the name, AP autentic props. Now in thicker abs plastic (80), and whit a stunt helmet (more wide and round shape top helmet). And has now done it in a more professional vacum shop. So all the armor parts has a better sharper look. Bye the way, the newest AP armor kit has a new modify belly (the string from the main box and up, and round arm pice on the chest goes longer up to in a edge). Ill done some new modify on the armoe since last time, i will try to post some new pictures next week. Hope it might help trooper. Ok, here is how I came up with that statement. Lol. I'm trying to mask the 'mouth' off to paint it black, but the ridges that make up the 'mouth' on my AP helmet are not exactly like what is painted black in the ANH screens. So I started looking at your bucket. It has the left eye like an actual mold, just like you'd expect, but the definiton seems a lot better here: around the mouth than in the unassembled AP I have before me. I started looking at yours since it said it was AP, cause I couldn't figure out what to use as a guide for masking my AP bucket to paint it as close to ANH as possible. Also, the whole/indents for the 'frown' made me think yours wasn't an AP: I have a total of 10, abilt the last one down by the corner is very small. Then again, I've spent the last month staring at screenshots, and video captures, and I realize now that until about July 3rh of 2006, I only THOUGHT I knew what a TK/TD looked like. And at this point, I realize I know NOW that I didn't know what one looked like then, but I'm still not to the point where I can say for sure what one looks like now. Your armor btw, looks freaking awesome. So if that is an AP, then how the heck did you paint the black part so well. And what did you use as a cheat, or are you just that artistically inclined (in which case i'm doomed!).

Ok, I actually have started masking off MY helmet today, in prep for painting. And after looking closely at your photos, I have to ask, what kind of bucket is that? Cause it doesn't look like an AP (this is not a slur at either AP, or your bucket btw).

Let's say (strictly hypothetically) that a total newbie was assembling some armor. And it was late, and he was tired, and he was following along with some websites, and he did something really dumb. Let's say he cut a 'slot' about 3/4 of an inch long, and about 2 millimeters wide, all the way through a piece of ABS. Now it's not in a spot that gets seen a lot, but it IS a spot that can be visible.. What would be some options to fill and cover this? I'm thinking some type of a plastic cement, then careful sanding and painting? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, as I explore the solutions for this um.. hypothetical problem.

Ok, don't shoot me, but I am currently in the process of assembling an AP kit, and for the first few months, I wanted to keep it clean... My question is about the button plate. The kit comes without the button plate installed, but once I get it painted, I will need to afix it to get the standard TK look right. My question is, what is the best way to put it in/on now, so that in a few months, (after I sell some more organs to afford more parts to go dirty) I can take it off/out easily? I've thought about just using hotglue, but I figured maybe someone here had a suggestion?

I've been working on trimming an AP kit for a few days now. I've tried the cut and crack method, and it's just too ******* the slow curves. I've got a pair of heavy tin snips, but it seems to twist the ABS a bit as the blade moves through it. I've ended up using a dremel with this: I've been through about 5 or 6 of them so far, as I tend to accidentally set the dremel down when I'm done on an un even surface and the disks crack and snap really bad when they are hot/have been used. I face the side where the screw secures the disk towards the part of the plasti c I intend to keep. That way if I'm not paying attention, and the chuck of the dremel bumps the surface, it's the surface of the scrap ABS. I run around 8 for the speed on my dremel (it’s a 400 XPR), and I press the disk perpendicular into the ABS, using about 1/5 of the disk cuts for curves, easing the dremel back from the cut line as I put it in. If the dremel 'gets' crazy, then the way I hold it causes it to jump away from the armor and into the scrap pieces. I tried the metal cutter on someone’s suggestion, where you use the dremel almost like a router, and I'm VERY glad that I tried it on a scrap piece first. Anyway, I’m a new guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt . It was my first armor ever, and I probably spent 3 or 4 hours using a hobby knife to get the first hand piece out. But now that I feel comfy with the dremel, and the method I use I probably trimmed the cod plate in less than 5 minutes. I’m still sanding and assembling, so wish me luck!