Dart

Dude, you'll learn so much while making your costume. I have a garrison-mate who bought his first TK but since then, he's learned how to do all of it himself. He was all thumbs at first but after teaming up with some other folks in the garrison, and just doing things by trial and error, he's now one of our go-to guys for building TK's and clones (he's built 3 TK's, 1 clone and modified one of each to fit him). Point is, you'll learn everything you'll need by just doing it. Like we've said, if you need a nudge in the right direction, that's what we're here for.

When you see them side-by-side, you'll see just how bad they really do look. They're not really that difficult to make. Just take your time, read the boot tutorial and you'll be just fine. You can always ask questions here.

If you do a search here for Star Fortress, you'll see all the details. That said, don't waste your time with them. Not worth the money or the time and definitely not 501st approvable.

You can always cut a chunk of the back off with some scissors to make it easier to get the boots on. So long as you don't break the heel counter/cup, you don't really need any of the padded material around the top.

Elastic stirrups are the way to go. Just make sure they're not too tight or too loose.

Make sure you stretch the vinyl over the toe of the boot. From what you're showing, it could use a bit more stretching. Otherwise, keep it up!

Primer grey here as well.

It was "a little Henry"? Maybe that's their deal if you're buying the whole kit-and-kaboodle from them, but I have a hard time believing that they're selling them for $20 separately.

Cuffs are too short and the wrong material and you'd need to have the 4 padded ribs sewn on. They'd also need the suede sewn on the first two fingers. By the time you've done all that, you might as well have purchased the proper gloves. They're worth every penny and will last a long time. I still have mine from 3 years and they look great after a fair bit of trooping.

Best thing to do is to take your time with the KS kit. It's a bit tricky to assemble but it can look good if you put the time and effort in. Good luck!

I'm glad you posted your build. I've been thinking about doing something similar for a while. Can you tell us a bit more about the leather (thickness, amount of leather you purchased, what kind of leather...) Looking forward to the final result!

Those are them. Your eyes are not deceiving you.

Justin, the easiest way to post pics is to put them on a picture hosting site (I use imageshack.us, others use flickr and other sites like that) and then link the photo from there to here by clicking the little photo icon (just to the left of the blue in the toolbar) and pasting in the link from where it lives.

Yup, as Chef pointed out, it's the round "button" on the left side of the grip. That reminds me... I've got a light and sound blaster that I should really be putting together.

Interesting solution. I just wear a cup/jockstrap and that drastically reduces any 'toe.

Looks great. Nice job, Dad!

Brutal... just... ugh... KIDDING! It looks like you've gotten the shape and proportion down very well. How does it look sitting on the knee?

Yup, those would work. Just take that "Hummer" tab off the laces and they're good. If you wanted to go for Lancer status, you'd have to paint the soles as they're 2 colours (1 colour solid tan is required for Lancer).

What kind of armour did you receive? If it's just sanding at the edges, get yourself some 220 grit sandpaper and some wood/plastic files.

The length of the riding patches look good but they're not wide enough. If you check out the gallery, you'll see that they should cover about 40% of your thigh. The patch should come out almost halfway to the middle of your thigh. The template is good but it's not a strict rule. If you need to widen it, it's ok. I did. Before you cut your material, take a good look at the gallery. Good work so far!

Generally, when you purchase a set of armour, the holster comes with it.

Nope. I kinda sorta know the guy who put this up. He's not a 501st member but he wears his scout a lot. And he rides a unicycle at the same time.

Looks alright to me. Just clean 'er up, paint it and you should be set!

Congrats!

Ideally, the leg bands should be at the halfway point of your thigh and they shouldn't be loose at all. If you restitch them, just give 'em a bit of a pull when you sew them into place. They'll help bring in the material in the thighs a bit.