Hello everyone! I was recently introduced to the 501st by my good friend jwriston. He told me about the 501st and we decided we should try to join! I have see you all at cons before, but I guess I was too oblivious to realize it was actually something I could be apart of! I loved seeing you guys at the TinCaps game last night, and it only fueled my desire to join even more!

I was wanting to be a basic TK with John for a starting point as I am new to all of this. I saw you guys recommended heading to http://www.whitearmor.net and I have been looking through there quite a bit.

I noticed most of the armor is made for a smaller person and I am about 6'4" 220 lbs. I was wondering if anyone is roughly the same size and could give me some guidance on armor. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

I am really excited to start this process with you all!

Welcome to the NDG forums!!

You have the right idea to check out the FISD website. There are lots of larger TK's out there. I'll see if I can point you towards the right information.

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Welcome.

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Listen, you smell that?

Welcome!


Bradford

Thank you all for the welcome! I have been researching these different kinds of armor and I really liked the RT-mod armor but they are full wait list until 2015. I have also been in contact with the makers of the AM armor and I was wondering if anyone has purchased their armor from them or have any concerns with their product. Thanks!

Welcome Ryan.... I have an AM kit, and I can tell you, it is definitely made for people in all shapes and sizes. You can certainly build it to fit your frame. I am a bit smaller than you, and we had to trim quite a bit off of it to get it to fit my body type, so I would highly recommend the AM kit for you! The armor is sturdy and made of good quality ABS. You'll love it. Also, the maker is a good guy, who responds quickly to both email and PM's on the FISD forum (whitearmor.net).

Get your armor ordered and get going!

Ok that's good to hear that the AM kit is a good one! I am waiting for a reply about getting on the wait list for the armor. It sounds like I may be able to have it by July!!! What tool did you use for the trimming of your kit? Also, did you order the helmet from him as well?

The hardest part is waiting lol!!!

welcome!

I ordered a full kit.. Helmet, strapping, etc, etc.. I know that they upgraded the helmet considerably and a couple of members have the new helmet so maybe they can chime in on that. I have the older AM helmet and personally, I don't like it. It is kind of a "bobble head" look. The new helmet that comes with is supposed to be smaller and much more accurate. I ordered a new helmet from ATA and am working on that now.

Trimming is pretty easy.. You measure, mark and tape, measure again to be 100% sure, and then you score the plastic with a razor blade knife and snap it where you scored it. Get yourself a straight edge (like a metal ruler) and you clamp the ruler to the piece in line with your measurement to make sure you are cutting straight. Then follow the straight edge a few times to score the plastic.. Then that part will just snap off.

The first few cuts are stressful and hard to do, but once you get rolling, you will find it's not too bad to do.

Who are you in contact with about your AM kit?

Ryan, Steve said it best but I'd like to add start with the small pieces like the biceps, and for arms. there easy to get your feet wet with before tackling the harder stuff. At first cut off a little at a time till you get the feel for the plastic. You can always cut off more if you need too but you can't put it back if you cut off too much lol. Also if you have any spare ABS practice on that first. Lol Steve said it right, your first cuts are your hardest cause your nervous you might screw it up.
Good luck and keep us posted. P.S. We like pics!!

Sorry its been a while since I could last get on and post! I went on a vacation and didn't have much time for the interweb.

Anyway! I have ordered the "full kit" from troopergear who makes the AM armor. That is supposed to come late June/ early July as far as I know! He said I also need to acquire:

Boots
Gloves
Neck Seal
Under Suit
Canvas Belt
Holster
Blaster
Voice Amplifier

If any of y'all can give me pointers, tips, etc. on where I could find this stuff that would be great!
Also, if anyone lives in the Fort Wayne area I would love to see your armor and gear so I can have a better idea of what I'm looking for and doing when it comes to assembling everything!

Have you signed up on the FISD yet? http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/

Boots: TK Boots http://www.tkboots.com/index.htm
Suit: Underarmor works great, but any plain black compresion suit works.
Trooperbay.com has several great items for you build, he is a member of the 501st as well.

There are several TK's in the Ft. Wayne area, the next big event is the 3 Rivers Parade on July 12th.

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Ok, I'll give this a whack, but as Mark said above, if you head over to the FISD you can find resources for a lot of this stuff. Many great peeps make some of this below..... But, I will tell you where I got mine.

But before you buy anything else... Make sure what you are getting conforms to the CRL (Costume Reference Library). You are also going to have to decide what movie you are modeling your trooper after because each movie had subtle differences.. (helmet paint scheme, holster, blaster, handguards, and some other small things). Each movie has a CRL that details each part and how it must look for approval. Here is a link to the CRL area for Stormtroopers.

http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:FISD_CRL

Boots http://tkboots.com/ - This is where I got mine, but unfortunately they are sold out right now while sourcing a new supplier. Most peeps are buying black boots that match and dyeing/painting them white (which is how the original ones were done, I believe) Just make sure your boots conform to the CRL before you buy and dye them...

Gloves - These are pretty easy to find. You can use either rubber black gloves or black silk gloves.. Again, with everything, just make sure they conform to the CRL.

Neck Seal - http://trooperbay.com/ - Or several people make them on the FISD boards.
Under Suit - Pretty easy. Just go get all black (no grey or white trim) underarmor. Make sure it's the form fitting kind. Doesn't have to be "UnderArmor" brand, just anything like it will do.

Canvas Belt - http://trooperbay.com/

Holster - This depends on what movie you are going for. These were different in each movie. You can get them from Trooperbay, or there are makers on the FISD.

Blaster - There are few different roads to go down. Since a blaster isn't required for basic approval, you can do just a hasbro painted black. But there are a lot of good options out there. Some people make replica blasters from scratch, some use conversion kits to modify a hasbro toy blaster. Different strokes for different folks. Do some reading on the FISD under the blaster section and you can decide for yourself.

Voice Amplifier - Totally optional.. Not required at all. But if you decide to get one, most people buy the iCOMM unit. The guy who sells them is on the FISD.

That about sums it up. I'm sure that anyone else can chime in with additional thoughts, or correct anything that I might be incorrect about.

Feel free to ask questions here about items before you buy if you like.

Steve

I need to note that the silk gloves can only be used on an ESB Trooper. If you do an ANH Stunt you can use rubber or Nomex/leather flight gloves, these work good if you want to troop a lot because they breath a bit better.

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