Considering making a Mimban

[AntonioTony]

Good afternoon MEPD. I'm Antonio "Juice Box" from the SoCal Garrison in California, and I've been looking at either a mimban or sandy for awhile now. I initially began with a sandy but came upon a few hiccups and ended up here. 

A bit more context for my decision, Solo is one of my favorite movies, 3rd behind Rogue one and Phantom Menace, and I worked for years to finally get a mimban officer approved. I debated where to go next, either this or a Mudtrooper, but ended up here since I don't have a full armor costume (yet!) as the closest I've got is Inferno Squad. 

So here's the dilemma, I'm not sure exactly where to get started with this armor. I'm not super knowledgeable about TK's in general, let alone the NE ones. The only two makers I know of are Jim Tripon with his flexible fiberglass kit or 850 armor works with their vac formed kit. I won't lie, I've been disappointed with 850 in the past. I ordered my officer armor from them and the chestplate has some production issues that left part of the surface bumpy. Luckily most of it was covered when I assembled the armor, but some I had to cover with weathering. The advantage is that it's cheaper, should get here quicker and won't be as heavy as Jim's kit. 

However, I've purchased from Jim before, several officer tunics, along with my Del vest and most recently my security trooper from Andor. I trust that his will be good quality. Plus I can get everything except the poncho and ammo bag from him, since he offers the armor, undersuit, helmet, helmet reinforcement, and pauldron. However his kit after shipping would be about double the price, though it does include the helmet unlike 850. I was hoping to get some of your guy's opinion on it. 

Thank you all very much in advance! 

[minimo]

15 minutes ago, AntonioTony said:

Good afternoon MEPD. I'm Antonio "Juice Box" from the SoCal Garrison in California, and I've been looking at either a mimban or sandy for awhile now. I initially began with a sandy but came upon a few hiccups and ended up here. 

A bit more context for my decision, Solo is one of my favorite movies, 3rd behind Rogue one and Phantom Menace, and I worked for years to finally get a mimban officer approved. I debated where to go next, either this or a Mudtrooper, but ended up here since I don't have a full armor costume (yet!) as the closest I've got is Inferno Squad. 

So here's the dilemma, I'm not sure exactly where to get started with this armor. I'm not super knowledgeable about TK's in general, let alone the NE ones. The only two makers I know of are Jim Tripon with his flexible fiberglass kit or 850 armor works with their vac formed kit. I won't lie, I've been disappointed with 850 in the past. I ordered my officer armor from them and the chestplate has some production issues that left part of the surface bumpy. Luckily most of it was covered when I assembled the armor, but some I had to cover with weathering. The advantage is that it's cheaper, should get here quicker and won't be as heavy as Jim's kit. 

However, I've purchased from Jim before, several officer tunics, along with my Del vest and most recently my security trooper from Andor. I trust that his will be good quality. Plus I can get everything except the poncho and ammo bag from him, since he offers the armor, undersuit, helmet, helmet reinforcement, and pauldron. However his kit after shipping would be about double the price, though it does include the helmet unlike 850. I was hoping to get some of your guy's opinion on it. 

Thank you all very much in advance! 

Welcome!!! The mimban is a fantastic build! And so much fun! Jim is def the way to go IMO. Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions, let’s get you all dirtied up!!!

[AntonioTony]

16 minutes ago, minimo said:

Welcome!!! The mimban is a fantastic build! And so much fun! Jim is def the way to go IMO. Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions, let’s get you all dirtied up!!!

Hey Joe! Do you have Jim's kit? There's someone in my area who has his sithtrooper kit and he says its cracking especially around the belt sections. I was wondering if you've had any similar issues with yours if you have his kit. Also would you know any good sources for the ammo pouches and poncho? 

[minimo]

I have not had this issue, but i have seen some of his kits do that. You can reinforce weaker areas with some abs strips!

The cape is a Russian  plash palatka with leather grommets. It’s originally green, you will have to remove the water proof treatment and dye it black.

 The ammo pouch is US m855 bandolier. It will come with a white stitching which you will have to remove. 
 

You can find them both pretty cheap on ebay, etsy, or online surplus stores.