Chaos

@nanotek and @RogueLeader so both of you have your forearms attached on both sides so no "clamshell" effect? Rubber is a finiky component to work with. Here are two solutions to the bands that I know work. First off, for anyone reading this who uses the "clamshell" method on the forearms and whose hands are too wide and can't have the bands tight and permanently affixed to the forearm, attach only side of the band to one half of the forearm and place a couple of the small earth magnets in the band and into the forearm where the clip greeblie is, this holds well and allows you to open the wrist area to slide your hand thru. For those who have the forearms closed, scuff up the underside of the rubber bands and also the area they cover on the forearm. E6000 them in place with clamps and allow to cure fully. then take a small 1 inch picture hanging nail with a small flat head, heat it and push it into the band from the outside into the forearm. The head should be pushed just enough to be recessed into the band. It will leave a small hole/indentation but this can be covered with black silicon caulking or filler putty and painted with a rubberized paint. As for the nail protruding thru the forearm, use a pair of needle nosed pliers and bend the nail 90 degress. Cover the bent end with gaffers tape or E6000. Do this in several places around the circumference of the bands. I have mine clam shelled but fortunately, the rubber coupler that I cut my bands out of has enough give/stretch to it that I can slip my wrist thru even with my gloves on (no hand plates) and it snaps back into place. Best of luck finding what works best for your solution.

I used 1 inch cotton webbing for the bottom strap and 1 inch black heavy duty elastic for the side straps. (The texture and color of both are almost identical) All three holders are then sewn to a single 1 1/4 inch cotton webbing piece (its about a 5 inch piece that I cut off the webbing belt I used for the upper chest rig straps) That is held to my chest rig by snaps that I painted black. I wish I could provide you with a photo but I am not in the U.S. right now. I was going to finish the tutorial for the grenade holders but never got around to it.

Slow and steady! Looking great, keep up the momentum!

Congrats and welcome to the Darker Side of the Darkside! DTs are an awesome addition to any Garrison! "Chaos" Death Trooper/Shadowtrooper/FO TIE Pilot (in-progress)/FO Sith Trooper (in-progress)

I bet! ?

David, That's all we can ever hope to accomplish. We can provide people with the resources and if they choose not to go the correct route then that is on then. Funny you should mention the "instant go to" I see people posting " I know it has probably been asked etc, but I can't find it" and then I type in the search area exactly what they asked and instantly it shows me a poop-ton of posts. LOL sometimes I have to reign in my "WTF are you that F-ing Lazy" comments. God forbid I hurt someone's feelings because I have to realize that not everyone knows how to operate the piece of equipment they have been given.

LOL yeah just about there! I'm more of a "part time" hire for right now, but things are slowing down right now with winter coming and the arrival of "Snow Days" makes it easier.

Martin, though you may have found an "affordable" vendor for your armor hard parts, most of the soft parts vendors charge $300-500 for their soft parts, when you decide on your armor vendor, factor in the additional cost for the soft parts and then bounce that off the cost of what vendors who include soft parts with their kits. Also you need to realize that this costume is one of the more costly ones, its along the lines of a Vader. The "Approved Vendor's List" on this forum needs to be updated. But as Mark @nanotek mentioned above vendors such as Denis at the ArmoryShop and Jim @jimmiroquai include their soft parts as "package deals with their armor. Mike at the Darkside Closet has set up a new work space so he will be ramping back up his operations. There are a few WIP build threads in the Death Trooper section of the Forums where some members have made their own undersuits. A quick search for DIY undersuit brings up most of them. Welcome to the ranks of becoming a Death Trooper and best of luck with your build.

Hey ya'll I am seeing more and more questions on here and "Spacebook" pages about "who is the best?, what vendor's are available?" etc,. I am very proficient with the "search" feature of the forums and have been able to find some pretty obscure topics, but I think it might be a good task for 2020 to update the "Spec Ops Approved Vendor's" section. I know it's a huge undertakings but one that I think is necessary and would be willing to assist others work on this as best I can. I am still in the sandbox so my "off work" time is still limited but I can try and assist where I can. As a side note, for those TX's out there that are active on the numerous Star Wars "Spacebook" pages, and see questions like the above posted there, make an overt effort to send them this way to our Forums. There is a plethora of subject matter experts and knowledge bases here and it helps to un-muddle some of the misinformation new recruits may be getting from the "Spacebook" Warriors. Swift * Silent * Relentless

Mark, just a thought, in order for the CRL to accommodate individual sizing, if you put any type of widths or any groove numbers which limit the ability of the wearer to adjust the circumference of the abdomen, then you are in effect discriminating who can wear this costume and what Level they can obtain. ie. only people who's waist size is 30-36" because any larger would need to either add shims, which would increase a section's CRL annotated width or the number of lines/grooves a section has thus preventing costume CRL/Level approval. For example some makers customizing 3D files in order to size them to the individual wearer. For this costume, it would be an easy method to gain some girth in an abdomen piece to add 1-2 inches to either a flat section or to one of the grooved sections. The abdomen would still give the appearance of looking proportional and correct yet it would not contain 32 grooves but rather 42, or the upper width of a tapered section may need to be 3 inches instead of a CRL width of 2 inches. I hope that makes sense, I am at the end of my day and sleep is calling me.

850's DT is a good product. It is ABS so it does lack a lot of the sharper details that you would get with a 3D printed or fiberglass cast set of armor. The Armory Shop, Jim Tripon, KB Props, and The Plastic Arms Dealer are makers of outstanding kits as well. There are several build threads of each type in this forum. I would recommend looking through each type and determine which type you think would work best with your budget, skill set, and time line. Almost all of them offer or have teamed up with another maker to produce the under suits. Original Doc Martens have become hard to find but are still out there on ebay every once in a while. Imperial Boots does provide screen accurate boots and gloves which they do production waves of, If you go that route get your order in early on in your build. In the build threads almost all of them list their sources which you can use to make your own list and then decide on a provider. Welcome to Spec Ops and best of luck on your build. The search button and other members are your best tool in sorting through the plethora of knowledge that the members of this group can provide.

Thanks for posting the pictures. My first advice would be to lose the "Specialist" items, they are not needed for approval and muddles the view of the rest of the armor. 1. Biceps are too low so they bind down on the forearms. Also looks like he might be able to trim back the forearms one ladder rung. They appear a little long for his forearms. 2. Not sure if the lighter color pouch on his left side is the leather one, if so it's too big, if it is the canvas pouch, the color looks off (another reason to lose the chest rig and pauldron) 3. The spacing of the back armor needs adjustment. The butt plate needs to come down so that the bottom edge is lined up with his (___|___) buttline. That should allow more room to allow more of the kidney plate to show. 4. Belt canvas pouch alignment, the CRL photos perfect for getting positions correct. 5. Under suits knee gaskets need tightening up, the bunched up gaskets give the appearance of improper fitment. 6. Boot lace covers need to be tucked under his shins. Velcro on the inside front of the shins and the top of the boot covers will help keep them tucked in. That's all I can see from the photos. Get him to take the correct posed approval photos (front, back, left, and right with arms down and up) without the Specialist items. He's almost there, just a couple of issues.

I don't have access to that sub forum, probably for GMLs. Maybe post up the photos here?

I've got Jim Tripon's suit. I just put it in the washer on cold, gentle cycle and let it air dry. I've been doing this for over 2 years and have never had any issues at all.

Thomas, lots of hard work has been done by you and is apparent. All the previous issues brought up are easy fixes. On 850's back piece there is a parallel features just below the ^ lines, the flat area between the ^ and the parallel is where your TD should be attached. Concerning your SE14 holster, Kerry Alan Roundtree makes an awesome and accurate set, he is on Facebook and can be found in the Death Trooper Build Group. https://www.facebook.com/kerry.rowntree.5 The rubber on the outer thighs is ribbed side facing out, the pieces that came with your kit should have the ribs, just detach them and turn them around. You can put a strip of 1/2 inch velcro along the ridge at the top of your cod piece and along the inside lower edge of your belt, this will keep the cod in place. Put another strip of velcro along the ridge just below the circle on your abdomen, and on the inside top of your belt. Don't worry about the number of horizontal "ribs" on the abdomen that show. There is no required # that must show. Us short folks may only have 1 or none showing, whereas a taller trooper may have 5-7 showing. Keep at it, you're doing well. This album may help you out, there are also several really good build threads in this forum you can reference to assist you. http://imgur.com/a/7GT4R Keep posting your adjustments, we will help you get things right.

Holy Bovine Glenn!!!!! You did an amazing job!

Brandt, For the TX Magma currently there are no "Level Two" criteria additions to the CRL for the armor and helmet. There are proposals in the works. You can go take a look at the proposed changes under the TX Magma CRL thread and get an idea of what's in the works. However, in the "Specialist Program" (which is a higher level of accuracy) there are certain criteria that your armor must meet. You can look at it this way, if you just want to be 501st approved by your GML then use the guidance that is in the CRL. Once you get approved, if you wish to apply for the "Specialist" recognition, then you can tweak your armor to meet the criteria set forth in the TX Magma "Specialist" sub-forum. Ideally, to save you some time, you can initially build your TX Magma using the "Specialist" criteria and once you get approved from your GML, you can go to the "Specialist" section and apply there for your "Specialist" badge. As far as strapping your armor, the TX Magma and the TK Stunt have the exact same pieces, so any strapping reference you can find on the FISD forum or using Trooperbay's videos will get you the desired results. The "piano wire" method which TB is referring too is how the original costume designers of the TKs in the OT movies used to attach the pieces together. If you really want to go for "originality" when strapping your TX Magma you can use that method. However, I can tell you from experience it's really not the best way to do it. I would recommend using the snaps or as some people call them "poppers" method. It allows you a greater tolerance for fitting measurement errors. If you use industrial elastic for your connections it will give you more freedom of movement in your upper torso and thigh area. Hope this all made sense and can assist you in your endeavors. Welcome to Spec Ops and best of luck with your build. There are plenty of WIPs and reference post in the TX Magma section and as always if you hit a brick wall or something just doesn't make sense, there is a plethora of knowledgeable people here.

Welcome to the dark world of Shadow troopers. There are available attachments such as are used on the E-22 (Shore trooper), the E-10 (Mud trooper), or the E-11D (Death trooper). Weapons are not part of the 501st "approval" process. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Weapons_policy Where the weapons come into play is "if" you troop with a weapon at a "canon" event it must be IAW the "Option Accessories" section of the CRL For the Shadow trooper two weapons are identified; the E-11 and DLT-19, for canon events they have to be as close to original as possible. However, for non-canon events, your GML can approve you to use any weapon you would like. Your best bet would to get with your GML and see what his/her policy is. Since Shadow troopers have special senors which allow them to see in the dark, I don't think a flashlight would be needed.

Xanthais, that's my armor. The chest buckles are secured to the chest piece with screws. The ridged straps are epoxied to the back piece and lay over the front and are held in place with earth magnets. There is a nylon and velcro strap that runs under the shoulders to actually hold the front and back together. There are also snaps on the nylon/velcro straps that my shoulder bells attach to. There are better detailed photos in the same album where you can see the straps and magnets. https://imgur.com/a/7GT4R

Yes you can put the audio system in at anytime. I put it in last so I could make sure of placement.

I prefer elastic as it allows the armor pieces to move with me. As far as glue, I was in Hawaii, E6000 has a tendency, when heated, to loose it's adhesion. I use a plastic weld epoxy. Has been over 2 years without ever coming apart.

If you're getting Tony's fan system you might as well get his helmet audio system as well.

This might give you some ideas about the strapping http://imgur.com/a/7GT4R

Awesome work on your blasters.

Check with The Armory Shop or The Plastic Arms Dealer