DoggyDoc

Hi Collin. Great start. Looking forward to following your build. Always feel free to ask lots of questions. We are here to help

I think the shoulder placement looks fine from the photo but the resolution isn’t great. ‘Your method of attachment seems to be correct as well

Hey Jacob. Jim’s pieces will need prep work before you can paint. You will need to fill pinholes with Bondo, or UV resin in my case, it will need sanding and then prime , paint and clear coat. The shins will need to be attached in the front and filled and sanded. Jim’s Kit comes with most of what you need but many have upgraded things like the belt buckle, belt boxes, shoulder straps, buckles. on Jim’s kit, I have a hard time envisioning attaching them to the chest as they will sit too far forward.

Hi Jacob, welcome to spec ops. Jim makes a great kit, you won’t be disappointed. You will find a big difference in the reactions between Vader and the death trooper. Lots of fun to wear.

Welcome to spec ops Gary. You will have this approved soon enough. It is so close.

I did not weather my armour, so the recessed lines were not painted but left gloss black. For weathering, most use a grey/white wash for the effect

I used the Tamiya Metalic black with an airbrush. I masked off the black areas which were painted first, then clear coated over everything. I then masked off the non matte black areas and did a matte clear coat over the gloss one to give the matted finish

Just a tip, I coated the inside of my armour with Plastidip and it helped huge with the fibreglass irritation but found afterwards, that I had to sand it off in areas that needed to be bonded with strapping or seams as the plastidip will peel away and the bond will not hold.

Hi Salvir. according to the CRL, (Shall be rubber or a smooth semi-gloss black material with sewn ribs.) the ribbed material needs to be semi gloss to look like rubber. The stitch lines do need to be visible, so they are sewn on. I did not see mine, but bought it from Jim Tripon with my armour. His order suit is likely one of the best and when you consider the cost of material, the skill and time to make your own, his is very reasonable.

Hi Oscar. I have not had any experience with Imperial Arms. Looking at their products, they seem to be reasonable well made from the photos but it is hard to tell if everything is sized right as the E-11D has a specific size requirement in the CRL. The other thing to be cautious of is the quality option. The basic quality has print lines visible and would not be approvable. The premium would be a must for a 501st approvable blaster.

I did use an airbrush but I think the LP line can be painted on. The main reason I went with it was because of the black alcad lacquer which is an airbrush paint. The main thing was to keep the paint types similar, so there was no worry about the paints reacting with each other. You should be fine with the ones you picked.

Hi Jeroen, welcome to spec ops. The death trooper build can be challenging but well worth it in the end. ‘For the silver, I used the Tamiya LP11 and for the metallic black, for the silver I used the Tamiya LP40 and weathered it with the black. I went with the lacquer paints as my blacks were also lacquer from alcad. ‘Your choices should all be ok. The main one is the metallic black being the #40. Looking forward to your build.

Hi Todd, not sure that there is a specific fabric for the ribbed undersuit. The ribs need to be sewn in, so it will be a matter of creating the fabric yourself. Here are some photos of mine

I only found Ople Props when I was doing mine. Not sure if there are others out there.

My experience was pretty smooth.