Chaos

LOL Yeah seems we are never satisfied until we are dead or move on to another project!

I use UKSWRATH's DT helmet voice amplifier and wireless mp3 player. It allows me to speak normally and play pre-recorded DT scrambled voice clips on demand or in a loop similar to the TK radio transmissions file. (I have a thread in this section about it) And it's all contained in the helmet so there are no wires hanging down into your armor. I went with his set up as I didn't like using a full time voice scrambler because sometimes you need to speak normally to the younglings so they don't freak out. The real time scramblers that I have seen, require you to turn them on and off to speak normally. Also with UKSWRATH's system you can preload tunes and play them thru your helmet such as the Imperial March, Christmas tunes for parades, dance music for those non-cannon troops where you just want to wiggle your butt plate, etc! @ukswrath

Congrats and welcome to Team #NotVader! All your shiny parts are making me want to repaint mine, a years worth of trooping is making me look like I was in the beach assault scene, LOL

Congrats and Welcome to the Team #NotVader

Good to hear! I never really understood why it said silver, most grime is black or brown.

CRL: "Helmet may contain lightly done silver weathering but is not required" Weathering looks black/dark gray. You might want to ask your GMO before you clear coat it.

I wish I had made a WIP thread, I'm the type of person who starts a project and works continuously until I'm either finished or drop from exhaustion. LOL One thing that I did do that I'm happy I did was use a rubberized spray coating on all the pieces' inside areas after I fitted them. You're going to be surprised how easy Jim's kit will be to finish. Best of luck. There are plenty of us who have been approved and can help with any questions you might have.

http://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=-VE5W7f3CM7MwQKJqJKACA&q=flyye+law+enforcement+chest+rig+black&oq=flye+law+enforcement&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0i13k1l2.1789.16313.0.19027.28.25.2.0.0.0.298.3849.0j23j1.25.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.26.3995.6..0j35i39k1j0i10k1j0i22i10i30k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1j0i13i30k1j33i13i21k1j33i22i29i30k1.228.aLFt3LzUzOU If you meant that you could not find any in stock or available, you can always write to any of the ones listed and ask about restock timelines.

Congratulations Nick. Looks awesome!

Have you thought about Jim Tripon's armor kit? Its a flexible fiberglass resin. I have had mine for almost a year and it has held up very well and is easy to "fit". It does require painting unlike black ABS, with fiberglass resins, the details are much cleaner than with an ABS pull.

I went with Jim Tripon's complete kit. His helmet has lots of room inside. If you live near a Garrison or Outpost you might want to see if they have any DTs and if it would be possible to try on any helmets that they might have.

Unfamiliar with how the 850 forearms are put together, however if it is ABS and you are using the clamshell closure method, you can put them in boiling water until they are pliable and then bend them to have a smaller circumference, and then trim the excess on the edge that does not have the cover strip. If you glued both pieces together you may have to cut along the back cover strip and reduce the circumference and re-glue. Be careful doing this and make sure that the wrist end is big enough to slide your hand thru. I prefer the clamshell method as it allows them to fit snug over my undershirt and gloves. Balaclavas are hot by nature, you might want to look for one that offers moisture wicking properties and only covers your neck, and back of your head so that no skin or hair shows when your helmet is worn: https://www.amazon.c...e/dp/B076FSR7JG Not sure what kind of helmet you are using but if you have a hardhat liner instead of using foam cushions you can increase the airflow around your head. Also a set of fans incorporated with the hard hat liner will help even more. If you are looking to get 501st Approvable you will need to make sure all your armor pieces are trimmed and fitted to your body size. Might be a good idea to go ahead and do that now before you get too far along and have to undo everything you have completed already. Here is my helmet set up with the hard hat liner and fans:

Looking awesome! You sewed your own chest rig, just curious if you used my DIY thread? It looks great!

Another thought, you may have to shorten your neck collar/tusks. You may be able to heat bend them down to lay closer to you chest piece once it is sized. But I have seen where people have cut out a middle section and reattached the pieces so that the neck tusk/collar lays closer. They had to place a piece on the inside over the weld spot to re-enforce the joint but it works. Measure the distance the collar needs to be moved back (blue line), then cut out the amount needed from the collar sides (red lines), then re-attach them, re-enforce the joint, fill gaps, sand and paint.

Looks like your kit was made to fit large and smaller chested individuals. Get someone to help you position the front piece shoulder extensions under your back piece shoulder extension. Make sure both the front and back are aligned with your body position and then make a mark on the front pieces where the back piece extensions end. Then cut at this point. A slight gap is acceptable as the shoulder buckle straps will cover it. Or you could just heat the front piece extensions and bend them to your shoulder curve and then underlap them with the back piece extensions. This will give you a sturdy attachment point to place either Velcro or snaps, or strong magnets. I put magnets in the extensions so I could put my chest and back on and have it line up before I fasten the Velcro strap. Side view when I was building. Front piece showing recessed magnet Back piece magnet is under the Velcro.

When I painted Jim's kit I used 80 to cut out large ridges, then 100 - 220 to sand out any minor imperfections, then I primed with Rustoleum Filler Primer, then wet sanded that with 400-800, then I painted 2x light coats with Rustoleum 2x Ultra Gloss Black, wet sanded 1000-1200, and then 3x light coats of the Rustoleum 2x Gloss black again. I waited twice as long between cure/recoat times just to make sure the paint did not wrinkle or orange peel. After the final coat cured I hit all the pieces with Meguire's Ultimate compound and a low speed buffer, followed by Meguire's Ultimate Polish. Came out great.

I used Tom's template. It s still there on the Death Troopers Build Site on FB. Listed as R1 DT Blaster - Decal Template. I imported the file into my Silhouette and printed out vinyl stickers and then matt clear coated over them.

Sweet!

Congrats Jeff. Don't forget to start your Imperial Dragons Kill Count thread as well.

Nick, just an idea Evike has an all metal airsoft Sterling SMG on ale for $250 plus they have a 25% off purchase if you give them your email. Might save you some time and $$. Also I have seen where people have been able to squeeze electronics in a hollowed out magazine. https://www.evike.com/products/50076/ or they have a normal E-11 https://www.evike.com/products/61969/

Best of luck!

Click the individual picture's share link in imgur and select the bcc/forum code. If you are trying to use the mobile app you won't get that option. You have to use a computer and the website

Outstanding progress! Yep, pre-paint prep work is worth it.

You can always get Walt (I think?) to pull you a clear helmet and just paint it and leave the lit areas masked off.

Lance is right about the foam, but you can look at many of the build threads from over the years for other types of armor builds over on Whitearmor.net or even in the Spec Ops build threads where people have had to make "shim" pieces to enlarge pieces to make them fit. Maybe you can put the shins on and take a photo so we can see just what you are working with.