toybiz

Some background, I've been with the 501st / Golden Gate Garrison since late 2014, served on Command Staff for a couple of years and helped a bit with garrison merch, but got retired due to lack of activity in 2024. A couple of reasons, one) all ABS armor eventually yellows. This was a battle with my ESB TK armor for the past 5+ years and it is now at the point of sanding and painting to rescue it. It saw quite a few troops when I was part of the Golden Gate Garrison. Two) we are in small numbers here in the Northern Nevada under Central California Garrison, thus event requests are far and few between. So with that said, I am planning to return back to active status this year with Central California Garrison (relocated to the Outer Sierra Mountain Ranges in 2023). We are looking to change this in 2025, so if you know anyone who is looking to join the Empire here in the Reno/Sparks area. We are here to help! This is my First Offical WIP entry. Not that there is anything that probably haven't already been done with other builds, but I did do a few tricks when fitting my TK armor to fit as good as I was able to accomplish. Something I am looking forward to doing here as well. My loadout: Armor: Studio Creations full kit. Ordered April 12th, received May 3rd. (Which BTW, at the time of this entry, they were offering a $504.00 price for their kit. Unheard of IMO and don't know how long this sale will be good for! Plus Kurt took care of me when I asked if he could accomodate my request. That was customer service!) Soft Parts: ChrisX909X: Full soft kit including boots. Hoping my experience will be better than some others had, especially regarding the boots. I wanted to give my business to someone in the USA. Ordered on April 27th, with an estimate of completion around June if I jumped in line but his original ETA was end of July, but as we say, "Time will tell" Gloves: Wampa Wear - Size Med Received April 30th. Base Layers: Basic black compression gear and balaclava used with my TK. I am hoping that I won't need to use the insulated ones during colder months with all the TB layers.😄 Voice Amps: Anker and Throat mic. Optional: TrooperTalk used with my TK. Ground Transportation: Honda CBR650F with Imperial Graphics Okay, since photo space is limited on the forum, here are pics from my Google Photo account. I'll be adding to it and sharing anything specific about my build from another image hosting site. Obligatory Big Brown Box and initial unboxing. Hasbro Black Series TB Helmet and LEGO key chain for inspiration. My next post will probably be helmet related as that doesn't need to have my soft parts for proper fitting. Until then Toybiz out...🫡

Howdy all, Saw this on eBay while searching for some original gloves. They seller sent me a bunch of pics but just not sure if his soft parts would be approvable. Anyone else used his gear? I searched his seller name but no results. I can't be the only one who has come across his listing. FineLeatherCrafts You know that saying, When it sounds too good to be true...😯

I know this is an old post - but here is my experience using similar hair bleaching creams to reverse the fire retardants from coming to the surface. (from what my research found as the cause and multiple discussions about this on First Imperial Stormtrooper forums) Interesting thing is, when looking at parts like the shoulder bells, the INSIDE of the bells are white, the OUTSIDE turn yellow - or IMO the side that is stretched when vac forming. Does this have anything to do with the cause of yellowing? 🤔 I have done this twice with my TK with the first time back in 2019, it brought it back but not completely to the original white. My armor is kept in a bin, in the garage away from any direct sunlight. I religiously used marine grade UV plastic protectants over the armor before and after every troop. Like everyone here states, the process appeared to not cause any physical damage to the plastic. Unfortunately, the armor started yellowing again but not like overnight but over time. The pic below shows what it looked like in 2021 after the doing the process the first time and only after 4 troops (due to Covid). The after doing this hydrogen peroxide process once again is on the right. I used a UV spot light this time and sunlight. (the sun is intense here at 4,500 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Mountains) So my findings - yes using the hydrogen peroxide will reversed the fire retardant yellowing but from what I researched, it doesn't remove the chemicals but pushes them back into the plastic. I could be wrong. The problem is in 2023 my last troop at Star Wars Day for a local baseball minor league event, my armor was already showing yellowing when compare to another TK, I was standing next to. This was only three troops since the 2nd hydrogen peroxide treatment below. So IMO - using this process only increased the rate at which yellowing occurs post treatment. Painting may be the only permanent recourse. I'm not sure if clear coating will help over new armor. Interesting thing, my ESB hand plates were made from vac formed PVC and it is still bright white - 10 years later! YMMV - and like the veteran TK members say, "All TKs eventually become TDs" for this very unavoidable reason. 😊