Darth Emphatic

Ya, I'm not good with straight lines either. I usually double or triple tape the line I wanted to cut with painters tape and then tried to stick to it's edge.

Awesome. Can't wait to see it!

That always throws a wrench, lol.

While optional, the listed weapons are approvable with the costume. Optional doesn't mean any weapon is allowed with any costume. At the end of the day, it's up to the event coordinator if a non approved weapons is allowed at an event. They, by default expect you to bring your approved costumr. If you want to bring something unapproved, even a weapon, you should ask them beforehand if it's alright for the specific event.

Welcome, Richard. PM incoming.

Stirrups are they way to go. I use them on my flight suit and even my calf armor for my shadow stormtrooper.

Step 1 - buy a Dremel . It's one of the most universally useful tools I've ever owned. I use it for all kinds of stuff, not just costuming related. If you have a harbor freight near you, you can get a fairly cheap rotary tool there.

All, for perspective, the crl was updated to accommodate early development and help out troopers working on a very expensive costume. Understand, the 501st is the premier costuming group out there for a reason. We pay attention to details. In this case the hot toys figure did not match the screen used costume. Some armorer's built off the hot toys figure before costume models at cons and solid movie screen were available. That resulted in Inaccuracies in the early costumes. Keep in mind, if every armorer developed the costume to screen with 16 notches, no one would complain that 16 was a requirement because all armorer's would have done 16 from the start. That's why we ended up with 15, Also, consider, armorer's didn't pick a number from the dark. They built to the most readily available source at the time and that had 15. As we all know, action figures and statues are often grossly inaccurate. They may supplement, but they rarely stand alone as their own costume source. The 501st is about acceptance of all comers, yes, but it's also a group of premier costumers. That means notches can matter, ribs can matter, and screw types can matter. It's an expensive hobby and not for the faint of heart, but in the end we get the pleasure of serving others with a level of uniformity not found in any other group. We made a change here because it seemed like the right thing to do, but it's not because we are trying to avoid legimate cases where someone didn't build to spec and just wanted a pass. I don't think anyone working or having finished this costume is in that boat, but it is still the reality of being a member of a very exclusive group. We all should be proud of the work we've done on our costumes and even more so the public work we've been able to do in those awesome costumes. Cheers.

Yep, updates were published late yesterday/early today.

Congrats, John. Always an exciting day...especially once you really get to pull everything out.

Thanks, Mike. I have a member of the team taking on the crl for this. This will be a great starting point to 501st-it-up.

I definitely am following and also discussing with the LMO.

Awesome updates, Mike. We will have to get working on the crl.

Here's a diagram, but as others have said, make sure you don't ignore proportions. It's important that it looks right, especially if you are on either end of the height spectrum.

Very nice work. You can reduce the return edge on the hand plates.

Lol...why isn't this a thing

Congrats, Greg!

Oh no, man. That sucks.

Ya, I like sludge for a repair, but if just aiming to stick two pieces together, abs cement makes so much more sense.

Depends on the pieces and as you said how much stress is on them. On my armor, any part I knew didn't need to come apart I used abs cement. Others just use e6000 and they get away with it fine. I like knowing mine will never come apart, but that can also be a bad thing. If my armor was not made from abs, I would never use anything but e6000 on it be because it is so thin.

Novus sells different levels. You have ones meant for just shining and others meant for scratch repair. I've used those in the past. As for protection, I polish my armor with maquires car wax. I find it works better than the novus polish.

Pauldrons look great on them, but you don't have to have one and it's still killer armor. It's your call, just make sure it's black.

Can't wait to see full pics!

You seem well on you way. That hands on help will be invaluable. You can always split the kidney and butt if you prefer - that is acceptable.

Welcome to spec ops, Joaquin