toddo

This is the lens I use: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/69/11378/ITEM/AFX-Fast-Shield.aspx

Impressive work Chef.

That's Andrew Ainsworth's site. He's the one who worked on ANH and won the lawsuit by LFL a few years ago. Part of the settlement was that he can't sell to the U.S. His quality is ok, but he is terribly overpriced for what he offers. In other words, look elsewhere.

now what did we decide to call this guy?

I really dig this Ty. I was just thinking about it earlier today while repairing my Nova. Well-done sir.

I still say to cut the wrist portion to fit. Currently you'll have a hack of a time moving your wrist. Take off what you need. The only danger is of losing the taper. I recommend cutting the wrist side to fit you, then trimming the entire forearm to maintain the proper taper. Make sense?

some guys use ABS plastic. Others have been using black canvas. That link was mine, and that's what I did. It works so well I wouldn't do it any other way personally.

Told you Scootch is fast, huh?

being that that armor is HIPS, the score/snap method works really well for trimming. Just clamp a metal ruler where you want to cut, carefully score the plastic with an X-acto, and then use a pair of needle-nose pliers to bend the excess. It will snap cleanly off. Be sure to measure at least twice before cutting though

Scubacat, nice build so far. There is one problem though. Should your bf be going for 501st approval, he will need to lose the blue tube stripes. According to the CRL: "The tube stripes are black in color and may number between 9 and 15 per side with the curve bends extending backwards. These may be hand painted or decals. There does not need to be the same number per side" Mike at Trooperbay has black stripes as well.

I just zip-tied mine to the chest plate.

Congratulations. Maybe some other Nova Elites can weigh in here, but I ran into the same problem with the helmet being pushed up by the pauldron on my Elite and my Incinerator. I didn't on my TD, so I considered the differences. Mainly, My TD was a well-used pauldron whereas my Elite and ICN used brand new pauldrons. I determined that the stiffness of the new pauldrons was the root cause of my helmet issue, so I went to work twisting and ringing the leather on the pauldrons to loosen them up. That has helped me considerably.

I think that will give your bells that ROTJ look a bit more. That's perfectly fine. I suspect that will be a good solution.

make all of your details flat black and you can't go wrong.

Be sure to show your work in progress Firebat. Let us know if we can help with anything.

Thanks Chef!

Nice job Jim. I think Chef is sending some elastic to me, so we should be aiming at Specialist around the same time brother.

Tutorials are always welcome.

the shirt is awesome in that it makes you look like Spiderman. Nice job on the boots.

I've seen those boots before and considered getting them. You need to paint the elastic to make it red like the boots. Otherwise they are great for the magma.

that is so exciting Walt!

I'ts not unusual to have difficulty with the backs of the lower legs closing. Use as wide a coverstrip as you need. Like I said, it doesn't matter what it looks like from within, but rather what it looks like from the outside. It is truly all about how well you make the armor fit YOUR body. Do a nice job with that, and you can be 300lbs and 5' tall and get approved. as for trimming the tops of the coverstrips, go for it. You have to be able to move, and this is perfectly acceptable.

I prefer to score with an exacto blade then snap. Gives me nice clean lines.

you can have a 1/2 gap on the sides. That's fine. Remember that the original stormtroopers were about 5'8" 150 lbs or so. Likewise, I think your coverstrips look fine on your body. As for the holes, if it doesn't show from the outside, who cares? Keep it up. Are your boots higher than normal TKBoots? If so, that could prevent them from popping-out which would be cool.

Looking good.