Chaos

Looking awesome Michael. If you get a chance try to either put some wire on the ends of your boot covers or use small velcro tabs to try and pull the edges down along the boot toes. It helps eliminate the scuba fins look of the covers. Good luck on the approval.

@Tiderion ideally the bottom edge of the greeblies should be horizontal and parallel to the ground. There are no specific measurements, as long as it looks like the CRL you'll be good to go. Just be sure you dont put them on the wrong side or upside down.

@Oldracer27 Greg, Welcome to the Forum. I like the Sith Jet Trooper, it is a shame that in the Trek World any person wearing red is eventually killed in every episode, lets hope you survive longer than the other Red Shirts.

That's the same, the lettering is only in the one spot, unless you have huge wrists, you won't use the entire band you cut out so the letters never show.

Doesn't Jim's kit already have the band clips molded into the forearm? I know mine had the clips. If that's the case, just get a 4 inch black rubber pipe coupler and cut the 1/2 straps. That is how I did mine.

@GeorgiosHD I wish Doc would produce the Jared's and Talibs again. IB does make the Killer boot series, you might want to contact Gio at Crow Props, he has started making a DT boot as well, he can even do the larger sizes. What size boot are you needing? Doc run about 1/2 size smaller than your normal shoe size. I have a pair of Talibs in US Men's 10 or EU 43.

This might help:

@Tiderion I can see if I can find something in the build threads. Might take a day or two.

If you want to paint the striping / details on your E-11D here is a basic example you can use. E-11D Decal Locations.pdf

@HRivera7322 Hector, here is the best answer I can give you about the painting of the E-11D. Weapons are not required for 501st approval so there is no "detailed" list of what does and doesn't have to be done to the blasters. Blasters fall into the "Optional Accessories" so if you are going to include a blaster with your application for approval that it must appear as described in the text and photos. The photos are sufficient to determine painting and decals. There is nothing in the CRL that says "aluminum finish." What the CRL photo does show is that the end of the barrel is tempered due to the heating of the metal due to blaster fire. So any type of paint can be used to achieve that effect. However if you simply paint the end of the E-11D in a chrome without applying any of the tempered effect then it would not meet the CRL intent and could be disapproved for "Canon Trooping" use, such as 501st Approval. My barrel's silver finish base was a Rustoleum Chrome and the other colors added on top of it. As far as electronics for your blasters; I use TRamp (found on Facebook) for my blasters. You could find a Nerf Star Wars Rogue One Imperial Death Trooper Blaster and gut it to use the electronics out of it. The Plastic Arms Dealer used to have an electronics kit that he would put in his "Finished" E-11D products. If you want to do your own wiring there are a couple of schematics that other Troopers have posted in the forums. @Woodo007 has an awesome build thread with photos of his blasters, but no wiring diagram. BlasTech also makes electronics and here is one of their schematics that you can get an idea of how to wire up a blaster.

@Tiderion Awesome news James. Nice choice on the audio systems. Make sure that when you use any TK type audio system that it does not do the clicks and pops like a TK. DT's did not have that in the films. Best of luck and thank you for keeping us up to date.

Ditto to what Dan suggested. I have a Jimmi kit as well and by coating the inside of the pieces it will also save on the wear and tear of your undersuit and gaskets.

@Fatalslink Mike, as I go thru this since I need to get a visual idea of what we are working with. So I am going to ask a few questions at first, so please just be patient with me. These are Toms files so I am familiar with the base construction, I do know that others have had to make some adjustments due to body types and sizes. How is your poncho attached to your undershirt? Sewn or Velcroed? How are you strapping your upper back armor to the lower back armor and then to your posterior plate? How are you strapping your chest armor to your abdomen armor and then your cod piece? How is your belt constructed? How did you strap the support for your thighs? (Photos would help for the above strapping questions if you have the time) Are your shins completely closed or are they clam shelled? Do you have a 3D printer or have access to one? If so you may or may not need to make two of these: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n56rr6rzxsm2vl2/collar tab support.stl?dl=0 collar tab support.stl

I just noticed your GML must have a DT, that's why he is so detail oriented. Believe it or not that's a good thing. Especially when you stand next to a kit that didn't go thru the same type of scrutiny you will be able to tell the difference.

I'll read thru what your GML sent you and provide any feedback that I can. Keeping in mind GMLs are the final word and their interpretations of a CRL can vary from GML to GML. That's why we see some kits get approved and others don't. Give me a day or two. You can start working on the helmet. Wet sanding and filling the imperfections first. Also let me know what paint brands and type you are using. Some paints have a bad reaction to each other.

you might as well go with Jim's armor kit as well, its an unfinished kit so it will have to be built, but its easy to work with and if you give Jim your sizes, he has several sizing options to work with. Word of Advice. If you do look to go with a finished kit that someone is selling ask to see photos of each piece just like the CRL shows, this way you can get an idea of what (if anything) will have to be modified to meet the CRL.

@Fatalslink Mike Oh one more thought. If you ever have to repaint your kit, (Like I just did last year) think about painting everything as it looks new, and then use an acrylic water base light grey in an airbrush or dry brush and then use a dry clean rag to wipe away the excess. This way if you want to look like you just stepped out of the Imperial Armory or you were conducting a VIP escort, you can simply use warm water and a soapy rag to clean off the "dirt and grime" and go full blow shiny.

@Fatalslink Mike, yeah that's my fault the CRL greeblies look like that. When our model was submitting photos it was missed in the "lookie loooos." The CRL rewrite was done and we were working on the 2 versions, fortunately the Front and back full body photo for Version 2 is correct. Sometimes its best to go with what the words say. Thank you for catching that. We will make sure we change on the next update. Nice job of duplicating what you saw by the way. @nanotek Mark I guess I have one more thing to change on the CRL

@Fatalslink Mike, Looking good Brother! I think you will be good to go this time. One thing that I have to point out (and I am probably nick picking way too deep, but that's how I roll thanks to my occupation) that might be noticed by the GML, but maybe not. The left forearm "rocket" greeblies are not really painted correctly. As they are now, they look (thinking real world here) like they are made from a silver metal, then painted black, and now they have been scuffed in battle etc., so that the paint have been worn off to expose the silver metal underneath. To meet the CRL, they are Metallic black or weathered silver colored cylindrical detailed parts shall be evident on the left forearm. So achieve this, they should either be painted completely Metallic Black (which is referencing the Tamiya TS40 color) or they are painted a silver color and then washed over with a thinned out black to give the appearance of being oxidized. This might help.

https://forum.specops501st.com/topic/8414-questions-regarding-recess-and-highlight-painting/?do=findComment&comment=102835

@Fatalslink Mike the parts do not have to be from the same kit. I mentioned that because you had said it's a PAD kit same files as the CRL model and alluding to the fact that just because its a certain kit doesn't make it anymore approvalable than any others. There is a good thread on the painting of the recesses I commented on some where. A trooper had painted every single recess which was incorrect. I'll see if I can find it.

@Fatalslink Mike, I don't think it's fair to say that you have pissed anyone off. Sounds to me like your GML is being thorough. I have been sent links from GMLs asking for advice about submissions. One said the kit was a PAD when in fact it was a combination of 850, PAD, and KB kits. It's not unusual for GMLs, if they can't see a kit in person, to ask for more detailed photos. With that being said, after looking at your photos, I would ask for pretty much the same photos. An indirect bright light will help not only with the details but also with being able to see whether the paint scheme from the CRL is accurate. I commend your GML for being thorough, I've seen some approvals that not only fail the 10 foot rule but also fail way out to the next county. Stick with it and best of luck! I

That is always a good thing for 3D prints. Honestly it's nice that 3D is lighter than fiberglass resin suits, and looks much better than ABS pulled suits, but layering 3D PLA with fiberglass and resin will save you hours on repairs down the road, pay particular attention to the areas that flex the most, like the shoulder extensions front and back, side extensions of the chest and upper back, and also the abdomen side corners, and the biceps. You did an amazing job on your kit, wear it proudly! LOL and Yes ... wranglers are important, I had to give my daughter and wife a two hour block of instruction on how to help and what to look for.... they were NOT impressed.