First Troop and the HyperFX E-11 Blaster

With the thighs now fixed, it was time to take the armor out for its first practical test drive. And the best way to do that was by doing what I signed up for in the first place - trooping with the 501st :)

Before I talk about that, though, I'll talk about the E-11 blaster I got from my squad's group purchase. The Southern California Garrison OC Squad did a gorup buy of over 15 blasters and 15 DLT-19s from HyperFirm/ HFx (http://www.facebook.com/HFx-Productions-1669859386576227/). This allowed us to get the Elite version for a lower cost.I received mine on May 1st, a few days after our squad coordinator received them. Their Elite version has more screen accurate power cylinders (the greeblies on top of the magazine feed), a mounted D-ring (required for Centurion blasters) and a generally cleaner look. Forgive the messy desk in the pictures as I was showing it off to colleagues.

For the ANOVOS holster, it's pretty easy to scrunch the thing by pressing the two lengthwise edges carefully towards center, until the opening is big enough to accommodate the blaster. Alternately, shoving a glass soda or beer bottle into the holster and leaving it there for a few days to stretch the opening can also help. The retaining strap is big enough to easily accommodate my blaster.

Ironically, the troop I went to on Friday May 13th did no allow blasters, so the Elite stayed at home. However, I don't chagrin this. As it is, May 13th is the birthday of Albin Johnson's late daughter Katie, so it was an honor to be able to do my first troop that day, for the kids of Highland Elementary in Norco, CA, for their PTA Country Fair.

In the future, I may make a separate blog for trooping, but I've included my experience from my first troop for ANOVOS builders wondering about the experience, and how my armor held up. Mind you, this was only a short 1.5 hour troop for me, with 1 hour prep time after travel.

I got to troop with my fellow ANOVOS ANH Stormtrooper rookie Teri, as well as a few veterans from the Inland Empire Squad and a couple of members from the Rebel Legion. For the sake of the privacy of attendees and troopers, I took no pictures of the staging area or event, but our wrangler took some pictures of the event.

Members of the @official501st's @southerncaliforniagarrison and the @rebellegion.us's @sunriderbase joined forces to support the HIghland PTA country fair this weekend. CC-9617, CC-61513, TD-9087, TK-21129, TK-76253, Rey, and an X-wing pilot adhered to a temporary cease fire in support of this event. Great job troopers! • • • #socal501st #501scg #southerncaliforniagarrison #starwars #official501st #501st #501stlegion #badguysdoinggood #charity #theforceawakens #rogueone #thefirstorder #rebellegion #sunriderbase #commandercody #captainrex #stormtrooper #sandtrooper

A photo posted by Southern California Garrison (@southerncaliforniagarrison) on May 16, 2016 at 1:29pm PDT

Teri's a little shorter than I, but I also differentiated myself by using my orange pauldron, a gift from a coworker when he discovered I was going to put this armor together.

Each event is different, and the POC will check with the requesting party to see if there will be a changing/ staging/ break area, refreshments for troops, parking, if blasters are allowed, etc. In our case, all the above was available, but they requested no blasters as the event was at a school. 

The prep space was more than large enough for the five of us from the 501st and the two members of the Rebel Legion. Everyone arrived on or just after call to suit up. Everyone had their bins set up to pull out their armor and replace the contents with their day clothes during trooping. It was interesting seeing the different hard armor kits, especially for the guys dressing as Rex and Cody. The Sandtrooper (TD) also had a different kit, so it was interesting to look at the differences up close.

There were also plainclothes members acting as wranglers, who help direct troopers and make sure the troopers are OK (and that unruly kids behave around the troopers!), as well as some plainclothes "bounty hunters" manning the small Star Wars themed jail that was part of the Fair (I had a similar experience being "captured" at Star Wars Celebration by Mandalorians).

As far as my armor was concerned, I had some issues with the head strapping, especially after my bucket took a thump from behind from one ballsy boy, which cause the H&L to separate from the helmet (which required me to duck back into the prep room to re-secure (with the help of some masking tape I brought for any emergencies). Also, the left thigh was actually low, which I dealt with and fiddled with until we took our break, at which time I was able to remove my left shin, un-snap the strap from my belt, remove and re-place the H&L tab farther down the thigh pieces, snap it back into place, and put my left shin back on. It's one major advantage of the H&L system - being adjustable on the fly. Other than that, I had zero issues, and the fan system worked well also.

I had to leave the troop a half hour early to make it to my own kid's school open house, but I had a lot of fun with the troops from the IE Squad and look forward to trooping with them again.

I also had an Orange County Squad armor party the next day, where I polished my thighs a little more. There was a very small crack on the edge of my left thigh where I put some ABS paste to re-create the armor thickness, but it should be easily fixed. Otherwise, I say no significant damage to the armor. Consensus from my squad mates and the guys from the IE Squad was that the thighs looked great considering the shimming I'd done, so I'll take that as a sign of a good repair (along with the comments I've received on FB from the ANOVOS builders group).

To eliminate the H&L issues with the helmet, my next step will be to take out the helmet hardware so I can finally PlastiDip the inside of the helmet after copiously, tediously applying masking tape to protect the parts I don't wish to paint. Once that's completed, I can replace the ANOVOS H&L tape inside the helmet with higher-quality tape, as I actually like the rebuilt harness they included with the helmet. I'll leave that for (hopefully) my next blog update.

The Thigh Re-Re-Master Pt 2: Mr. Sandman

It took longer than I wanted to finish this project, but other events took precedence, such as preparing for my century ride for the Tour de Cure in Long Beach and, of course, my family and home. However, once the Tour was over, I was able to finally finish these pieces.

Before I moved on to the final paste layer and sanding, I needed some build-up on the edge of my fabricated piece, as it was too thin and especially thinning near the edge due to sanding. What I did is used ABS paste build-up by scraping the paste off on the back edge of the piece. The considerable layering and build-up required me to wait until the next evening, after the paste had hardened, to sand and shape the build-up to match the desired edge shape and thickness.

That was the last of the major work needed to be done to the pieces, and all but exhausted the "build-up ABS" I had been using to this point. For the final front layer of paste, in order to get the best color match to the rest of the pieces, I whipped up some new, pristine ABS paste, making sure to use only fresh scraps (and ensuring that none had the terrible film that sneaked into my last batch and had to be fished out of my work constantly) in a new glass jar. This mixture was more liquid than paste to help ensure the coating was more uniform and less thick to reduce the amount of sanding required, since it was only being applied superficially and not structurally.

Once this paste was ready for application, I applied it using my fingers (using clean, washed hands) like one would do when finger painting. I dabbed a bit onto the seam area and spread it with my finger until the paste started to set, then I would repeat until the entire work area was covered. After coating the entire work area of one thigh, I moved to the other. When that thigh was done, as the paste set up fast due to its thin coat, I started sanding the first thigh with 150 grit paper to remove streaks, and repeated on the second thigh. I then repeated this entire process to add a second coat. Overall, it minimized the seams between the pieces significantly.

With that process done, it was now time for final sanding and polishing. this was accomplished using the following sandpaper grits and processes:

• 350 grit
• 600 grit
• 600 grit wet
• 1500 grit wet

For the wet sanding, for those unfamiliar with the process, I simply dipped the sandpaper in a plastic bowl of water to get the paper wet, and then sanded with the paper and water. This method helps to polish the area before final polishing, and is also used in automotive finishes.

As I sanded, I took care to look for deeper scratches (drying off wet areas with a paper towel to inspect work areas). If need be, I'd drop to a rougher sandpaper or start over on certain sections to help remove deep scratches.

Once I was satisfied, I applied Novus 3 and then Novus 2 plastic polish until the thigh was nice and shiny.

The above processes where also applied to the strips simultaneously. Satisfied with my work thus far, it was now time to re-apply the strips. I simply needed to cut a small amount from the top of one strip, notch both strips with 45 degree angles for aesthetics, and re-attache them to the thighs using good old E6000 (this gives me the option to replace the strips with new ones in the future). 24 hours later, and the pieces are fit for trooping once more.

There are still some scratches to remove from the multiple sanding sessions, but nothing more than what would be considered normal scuffing in most spots. In any case, I wanted to at least get the strips back into the pieces so I can continue removing scratches so I con polish them even further.

Overall, this rebuild took a bit of work, but I would have actually been finished earlier if not for the tour Tour most of all (as I had to get my gear ready for the century ride). I'm now ready, I think, to start pursuing my first 501st troop.

Obviously, there are still tweaks I'd like to make;with the addition of my HyperFirm E-11 blaster, I may end up replacing the limp ANOVOS belt with a more firm belt sooner rather than later, which will be a bit of work removing the plastic parts from the current ANOVOS belt due to the rivets and the dreaded pink glue on the rivet covers (I'll probably opt for another method to fasten the plastic to a new belt, as other troopers have). After I make some minor tweaks to the bottom of my shins (to further reduce rub against the boots), my hand guards (adding a second elastic loop to prevent slipping up or down my hands) and my abs plate (retouching button paint due to minor scratch), I'll through all the armor back on along with the new blaster and see how things go. And I still want to Plasti-Dip the inside of the bucket so I can work on future mods there.

Until my next update...

The Thigh Re-Re-Master: CTRL-Z, CTRL-Z

To recall from my last blog post:

The thighs, though, they don't go up any higher, and as you can see in my photo above, I'm showing way too much black on my hips. Sure, the thighs are comfortable to walk in, but they probably won't fly for EIB or Centurion approval.

I've honestly been thinking about this since I sent my approval in, and it's been one of the few things I've been fretting about in regards to the armor and being approved at all. So, I've decided to revert the thighs to (close to) original condition.

Thighs in their current condition not only look strikingly different from other TKs, but they could harm my chances of eventually taking this kit to EIB or Centurion status. It was time to revert them.

Reverting these pieces isn't like hitting CTRL-Z on an art file and undoing it magiacally. As I so sagely stated in a previous blog, to paraphrase, It's a lot easier to remove pieces than to put them back on.

Although I'm not yet completely done as of time of writing (6/2/16), I'm 90% there, and some have asked for pictures and description of the procedure, so let me document what I've done so far and make another entry later with the finished product.

Let's start with the thighs as they were for my 501st submission:

As previously described, they need to come up underneath the drop-down boxes on the belt, and hug the cod plate better.

I first retrieved the last pieces I cut off from the outside of each thigh. I re-connected these by butt joining them to the thigh pieces with ABS paste and clamps, to better ensure that the re-added pieces were flush with the thigh pieces as best as possible. This was necessary to not only avoid unnecessary sanding, but to ensure that the pieces were as continuous as possible for a good look.

I then found the pieces I had originally cut from the top. One thigh had this as one large section; however, during my "fitting" I had cut the armor off in sections until (I thought) I had the right fit. This piece wasn't going to be fit for re-adding to the armor as it would require a lot of shimming in and of itself before I could consider shimming it back onto its original thigh.

I was, however, able to use the strips taped back together as an outline of what a replacement piece should be shaped like. Using these pieces and a spare piece of ABS cut out from the inside of the thigh during de-molding, I was able to fabricate a new piece for this thigh, in almost the same shape as the original. (Note that I've omitted the spiky points near the top as I find them terribly annoying.) Thankfully the edge return (on which the strip rests) for the fabricated section was minimal on the original pieces, and nothing I could't re-add with a few layers of ABS paste and sanding.

The top pieces were shimmed back on using backing supports, glued to the thighs and shimmed pieces using CA glue, as they'll be permanently attached and require added strength, since the tops of the thighs take extra stress as they often get crammed into a trooper's hip when the leg is flexed. Other strips were also added to the sides to help retain the shape of the thigh in those areas.

Once cemented in place with CA glue, ABS paste as added to the joints to form the pieces together with the cover strips neat the top of the thigh pulled away to access the whole jointed area.

To be honest, the easiest way to apply ABS paste in these situations is to just use your fingers. This way, you can press it into the cracks, smear the more liquid paste like finger paint, or sculpt more solid paste like soft clay. When you do this, make sure your hands are clean or use silicone gloves. Remember to wash your hands when you're done.

The rough ABS paste was sanded down. Then, more paste was added in divots, pock marks, and other depressions in the armor, and then sanded down. This process was repeated several times with 100 and 150 grit sand paper until the seams were smooth for the most part. ABS paste was also added at certain parts on the top of the thigh near the edges of the added pieces, to help better secure the pieces and to maintain the shape of the top of the thighs.

I plan to use a new batch of unadulterated ABS paste and very clean thigh pieces for the last coat, to color match the thighs as best as possible, as a final coat that can be lightly sanded and polished to make a natural-looking thigh piece. But before I did this, I had to figure out how to make the strips long enough to fit back onto the re-added pieces, since it had also been trimmed.

I had purchased a plastic sign from Home Depot to use as spare parts, however, after some experimentation I discovered that it wasn't made of ABS. So I went with an alternate plan: I shimmed scrap strip back onto the existing strip using the same methods I used on the rest of the thigh. And it worked surprisingly well.

The scrap strips were but joined to the existing strips using a carefully-cut matching joint and CA glue which, despite the small cross-section for adhesion, worked extremely well. Afterwards, I coated the seam with ABS paste and sanded down. When I put the final ABS paste coat on the rest of the thighs, I'll do the same here to even better hide the seam to give the appearance of one continuations piece of strip.

 

In the next blog, I'll show the finished pieces with the final coat of ABS paste, sanding, and polishing. Until then...