Fumanchewie

Welcome to the MEPD, congratulations trooper

I saw this and thought I would share with the group. The 501st member that inspired me to be a sandtrooper had a couple of the previous iterations in his office. I always wanted one since then. https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/star-wars-sandtrooper-sergeant-and-dewback-hot-toys-912535?var=912535

Welcome to the MEPD

Requesting 501st and Sandtrooper access TD-936 Thank you https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=3392&costumeID=2

Thanks for sharing your progress. Looks great. That canteen is rare find. Way to go.

Looking forward to following your progress. What armor kit do you have?

Welcome everyone. While you are waiting for your armor you can work on a backpack and or blaster.

Making progress on the shins. Does anyone have suggestions on how to reshape the ABS so the opening in the back is not in compression when closed? I feel like these things are going to blow off my legs in a middle of a troop.

Off to a good start.

I've trimmed and sanded the biceps. One tip I picked up from other builders is to sand the the edges that will face each other under the cover strip. I laid a half sheet of sand paper on a flat surface to sand off the high spots and create an even edge. Before gluing on the inner cover strip I sanded the B side of the strip and inside edge of the bicep. I don't know if this is necessary but I did it to give the glue a better surface to grip. Glue and clamp After the glue had set on the inner strips I brought the other half of the bicep together. The right bicep went together as planned but the left bicep had a surprising gap on one side. After adjusting, clamping, taping, re-adjusting, clamping, taping and magnets. The gap did not want to go away. I eventually realized it was the inner strip causing the gap. So I peeled off the inner strip (thank you E6000) and re-adjusted the pieces, then they fit together much better. Anyone else run into this? I glued the outer strip on and they looked how I expected. At the top of each bicep there was an uneven end. I debated what to do with these. Sand them off because no one would see them anyway? Or leave them be and regret every arm movement as they tear into my flesh? I couldn't find any threads addressing this specifically but I did see a builder who used a hobby iron to fix the uneven ends of the forearm. So I bought a hobby Iron not knowing if this is really going to work or not. And by the way the hobby iron does not come with instructions for use on ABS plastic, so I practiced on a couple pieces of trim scraps before using it on the biceps. After a little practice I got it to where I wanted it. The finished biceps

Good luck on your build. Take your time and post pics of your progress.

Way to represent!

LOL. That is what everyone goes there for, the awful dad jokes.

The AM kit has real crisp pulls

It's a testament to the quality and affordability of the kit.

I am using the score and snap method to trim the armor. There are good lines on most of the pieces to identify what is return edge and what is not. I'm marking where I want to cut with a pencil and lightly scoring the plastic a few times followed up by a deeper cut. Things were going well until I snapped two blades. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure. I switched to the old reliable box cutter. . . much better.

Here is a breakdown of some of the armor makers in the community and what they offer in their kits. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/11538-the-various-types-of-armor-and-where-to-find-them/ And here is a link of where to get armor and just about everything else. http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=4255 Both put together by Paul

I felt the same way. I was away from the 501st for a few years to finish school and I printed off a books worth of images of builds because I was afraid the community wouldn't be around. Boy was I wrong. You are right, there are a ton of choices for armor.

I've read build threads using crashman trays. I never realized it was someone in our community. light bulb

I got the medium size seed tray at Park Seed.com

Here it is all laid out. Nice pulls on everything. All pieces accounted for. On the work bench. I can already tell I'm going to have a hard time pacing myself as the anticipation is killing me.

Thanks I have spent the last few months reading and following different armor builds both here and on FISD. But I will be looking for feedback and input as I "move along" (pun intended) on the build.

Nice piece. I drew a lot more when I was younger then other hobbies took over. I would like to get back into it as I have that creative itch that needs to be scratched.

Well the the long awaited time for new armor has finally arrived! I have been a member of 501st for 10 years and have rocked FX armor all these years. (Don't laugh, admit it you thought it was awesome too when you first saw it ) But that old and busted armor has been retired to make way for the "new hotness". Here is the box photo I read a lot of great things about the ATA armor and I must say I am even more pleased when it arrived.

Wow! that is dedication. He just turned the fandom up to 11.