IcyTrooper

Yeah I noticed that this morning when I did my normal "no life" check on CRLs ...let's see what happens!

Looks like we lost this one? Lol

Hmmm, I'm trying to think who is the closest in shine to Anovos (which is who my costume is by). May get in touch with Walt at Walt's Trooper Factory to see what he has.

Was it Anovos?

Who was the original maker of your armor? That may influence which ones match the closest.

Looking great, Mike!

Ahhh okay now I know what you mean. Yeah mine on my cod and lower ab are silver. If you want to go level 2 with specialist then all those rivets and snaps are painted black. For basic approval there isn't much in terms of that. Here are the specialist requirements: http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/1445-blackhole-shadow-stormtrooper-crl-and-specialist-requirements/

You can use some rubbing alcohol to get that paint off no issue, or mineral spirits. Just don't use anything with acetone in it because it'll melt the ABS. Not sure why Anovos made those instructions to say silver. A guy in our garrison received the fully assembled shadow stormtrooper from them and his was the same way. Which rivets specifically on the bottom? Since I'm not specialist level on it the only rivets I have that I painted black were the thigh ammo back ones, and they were gloss black painted.

Yeah that seems odd to me. The CRL states glossy which might not equate 100% to shiny. I think as long as it reflects light and you can see somewhat of an image in it then it is passable, but I'm not a GML. Judging by the pictures on RS' website it looks glossy to me. Flat/matte seems to be what would not be able to be approved, in my eyes at least. What does the GML for the GG say? Might be worth emailing them to see what they say on it because they'll ultimately be the ones approving it.

Haha no worries! I know we all have lives outside of this! Yeah I see what you're saying, I guess it was just the way that the text was worded in the CRL that confused me. I knew that the text between this one didn't match the one of the ROTJ handplate but dang, they look close haha. For the record, I'm not planning on doing this costume any time soon but figured others may have questions. You answered perfectly!

Weeeeeeeeeee...also Dorothy, did you see my response about the hand plates? I guess this allows them to be ANH or ESB/ROTJ styled? As long as it edges are rounded? The way it sounds now it can be any of 3 movies.

Welcome and good luck. My shadow is Anovos as well, so if you need help let me know!

Congrats on this going live!! One thing I did notice, did the hand plates mean to be square and then make them rounded/ROTJ like for the higher level? Wasn't sure because the CRL calls for roughly square with rounded edges.

That is good thinking on that helmet! I can't wait to see more progress pics.

Right on! Glad I could help.

When I put mine in my bin I put my helmet in a padded holder and then put the chest piece and back plate around that helmet as if to follow a contour of a body and make sure that the strap flows as if it is being worn over the back plate. I also have a pack of garage door sealer formed foam (padded looking stuff) that is in there to cushion some pieces and separate the blaster from crushing stuff. Since it seems like even with bubble wrap it is getting damaged it doesn't look like the issue is the padding of the object itself but rather stuff shifting around and pressing into it. Filling the voids *should* help that.

From what I can see it looks pretty good! Black is hard to photograph (found out the hard way during approval photos, I had to resubmit haha). A few suggestions, and others can correct me if I'm wrong: Edge of the drop boxes should line up with the last ammo pack on the belt at the end, where the edge of the drop box meets the end of the ridge of the first ammo box before you get to the second one. It is hard to word that the correct way, I know that was the way with my stormtrooper on lineup. Maybe bring that right forearm up the arm a smidge, closer to the bicep. I can't tell but double check to make sure the tube strips are on the helmet. I'm not sure which batch of armor you got from Anovos, but one of the waves they were missing on some of the helmets (mine included). Easy fix as you can either paint some on or buy some stickers for them. Other than that, from what I can see it looks good!

You're welcome and good luck! You're almost there.

You could take a long piece of spare ABS from your initial trimming and cut it down to size to go along the underside of the strap to give it more surface area for the glue. I know a lot of people do that to reinforce the straps so that they don't crack at the top of the chest piece when the shoulder presses on them over time. I was able to get enough glue on the ridges on the bottom so that they it sticks, and then cleared the sides of any excess glue that squeezed out. As for the forearms, if they are too long it shouldn't matter on the numbers of details (from what I've seen) and you cutting them down, just as long as it meets that one requirement for appearing to be fully sealed and enclosed.

Gonna be awesome to get another CRL done!

Mike, I may be able to mail you some hopefully thin scrap ABS if you can't find any. Since you are painting it all either way it may not matter on it.

Niceeeeee!

I agree, looks great!

I'd say option 1. You can take the box in the reference pic on the first thread and compare that size to one of the actual ammo boxes on the belt itself and make proportion from that.

I know a guy with an Incinerator who used this trim and looks great: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZYGBRQ/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1IZK1VKGX8BAH&colid=ZLJPJ61FC2WC&psc=1