wingnut65

Well done, Glynn! That is a lot of work to get it assembled!

Great idea on updating the holster. I've been working on my baton to get it to fit better. Even to the point that if I can find some rubber for the grip, I'd try a lathe to turn a baron a little smaller to fit into my AS Holster. I think you are on the right path... The thought of using some magnets in the holster to keep it in your style of holster has crossed my mind. Hmmmm....

😭 I know the time will have to come, but it is so shiny right now... Really shiny... Guess I need to start refreshing myself on weathering. Lightly weathering...

Am I the only one who hates going to the dentist? Well, it’s that time again… Dental Work to Feel the Breeze As a Stormtrooper, I really appreciate the openings in the frown that allow air into the bucket. My IPT bucket came with the frown closed up and tube stripe vents open. For CHiPs Approval, CRL Level 2 requirements include having the areas between the teeth cut out and have mesh behind the teeth. In order to make my life a little more complicated than it needs to be, I did a few more steps when opening up the teeth… The Quick Fix Earlier in my IPT Build, I discussed how my GML required me to fix my bucket to get the 8 cut outs in the teeth, instead of the 10 that I had. It only took 20 minutes with some ‘For Sale’ sign plastic, E6000 and gray paint and, Problem Solved! 207 Except, the OCD in me could not leave this alone since the teeth were not all the same size… Uggghhh! ELECTIVE DENTAL WORK NOTE: The following spacing adjustment of the teeth is OPTIONAL! You Do Not Have to Do This! However, the steps used for opening up the teeth to add the screen are informative. The size of the middle tooth is fine being slightly bigger. But I kept feeling that the rest of the teeth should all be the same size. I used some blue Imperial Adhesive Strips to protect the bucket and started planning the new teeth, keeping the first tooth size as the basis and re-spacing and adjusting the others. 208 The dental drill was used to drill holes around the new openings. The bucket material around the teeth is thick, so this took some time to keep things aligned. I didn’t have a saw blade small enough to fit in the small holes I drilled, but I had a well-used coping saw blade that could stand to be replaced. Using a vice and pliers, I carefully snapped off a piece of the blade that I could fit in my hobby knife handle. (If you did not want to adjust the teeth spacing, this is where you would just drill out the black recesses.) 209 A small needle file was used to smooth the edges of the openings. 210 Not bad for a beginning Dentist! 211 I used some filler putty from my model building supplies to fill the edges of the openings and to make the teeth straight. If it were only that easy in real life… 212 I trimmed down a nail file/emery board to fit between the teeth for sanding. A needle file worked well for fine tuning the corners. A coat of gray paint to make sure it looks acceptable, and we can leave the dentist chair. 213 I finished off the dental work with some black paint to touch-up the edges of the openings. Yes, I did paint the small strip between the teeth and the face. 214 Mesh Behind Teeth The CRL Level 2 calls for “Cut out areas of teeth are backed with black mesh.” The teeth have been cut out, now on to the mesh screen… During the Detachment CRL discussion on the screen, I found the highest resolution LFL promo photo I could find online and zoomed in to the mouth. This may be just my opinion, but the screen behind the teeth that I see is aligned horizontal and vertical, NOT aligned on the angle of the teeth. To me, this appears they used one piece of mesh covering the whole frown. 215 Hmmm… Now that I look closer at those teeth, the teeth are actually rounded and don’t have sharp corners. Guess I may need to get back in the dentist chair… I had some leftover window screen that looks to be the same scale. 216 I used a paper towel (kitchen towel) to make a template of the frown. I used that template to cut out the screen in the same pattern. Before I installed the screen, I painted it black and glued it black side facing out. Add some Imperial Blue Adhesive Strips and E6000 and let it dry and... 217 Success! The difference is noticeable! Opening up the teeth really allows more air to enter the bucket. 218 An inside shot of the finished bucket. I added my first fans from Tony to circulate the air. This setup works well for me. Foam chunks will get adjusted as I figure out how to get the bucket to sit and move better. 219 Brow Vent Painting While I had the black paint out for the edges around the teeth, I also painted the vent line under the visor. This is also a Level 2 requirement from the CRL: “Under the visor and above the lens, there is a black recessed curve.” 220 Next, I will bring share several troops where I’ve been Patrolling Tampa Bay! Thanks for checking in!

Time for a few small updates. But first, what is … The Pain in My Back! The more I had my armor on, I realized I had a pain in the middle of my back. It moved when I moved with the armor, making me determine it was one of the corners of the Ab Armor. Visually, the corner of the Ab just kept curving around the circle and into my back. For my first attempt, I used a hair dryer to carefully heat up the armor till I could twist it a little with an adjustable wrench. But, this didn’t help completely. 193 Last result to get rid of the back pain, is to get rid of the piece of armor that is causing the pain. Before I got the saw out, I made sure this would be completely hidden behind the Ab Cover Plate and the Back Plate. A sanding block smoothed all the edges. 194 Problem Solved! No more pain in my back! The other side doesn’t bother me, yet… 195 Better Strapping! Back a few steps, I showed how I attached my 1” (25 mm) nylon shoulder straps. I made the straps a little longer for flexibility. 082 I’m glad I did. After wearing a couple times, I realized that I needed to cross the straps over my shoulders to form an ‘X’, instead of just having left and right shoulder straps. This has stopped the straps from sliding down and off my shoulders. 196 Since the straps were left long, I noticed a couple of the loose ends wanting to peek out from behind the armor. I know I could trim them off, but I like the flexibility of keeping them longer. I could get in the car and go buy strap adjusters that will keep this from happening, but I wanted to see if I could make some myself… I had some extra 1/16” (1.5 mm) aluminum from making TK Thermal Detonator Clips to give it a try. I measured the thickness of two layers of strap and drilled 1/8” (3 mm) holes 1” (25 mm) apart. I used a Dremel Motor Tool and a few cut-off wheels to trim open the holes. These are the three others after my first concept proved successful. Several cutting wheels gave their all for this project… 197 I trimmed the buckles to be 1-3/8” (35 mm) long by 3/4" (19 mm) wide. They fit perfectly! 198 Mission Accomplished! No more loose straps hanging out on a troop! 199 Securing My Shoulders In a previous post, I showed how I used a 1” (25 mm) nylon strap with Velcro to attach the shoulder bells to the shoulder bridge. But, this small single strap is very loose while I moved around, allowing my Shoulder Bell to flap and bounce all over the place. It needed help! 164A First, I removed the single smaller straps and replaced each with a 2” (51 mm) nylon strap. 200 This also allowed me to use wider Industrial Strength Velcro to make sure my shoulder bells don’t twist around or fall off while trooping. 201 There are two ways to keep the Shoulder Bells from flopping around when I troop. First would be to sew another piece of Velcro to the bicep of my jacket and add another to the inside of the Bells. Second option is what I did since I didn’t have the patience to sew Velcro on a sleeve right now. I may try that option later, but for now, I glued a piece of 1” (25 mm) elastic in a loop to the inside of the Shoulder Bells. Mission Accomplished! No more loose, flapping or falling Shoulder Bells. 202 With my black jacket, if I would not have shown this photo to you , you would not have ever noticed the elastic holding my bells on. Baton Issues – How to Keep from Scratching My Baton The Baton and Baton Holster as I received them, are very, very tight. I was able to determine that one end of the baton is very slightly smaller than the other. By twisting the baton around, there is one way the smaller end can slide into my holster. I’ve added a marker dot on my baton so I know how to align it when inserting in my holster. But, since it is so very tight, my baton keeps getting scratched and frequently needs a touch-up. 203 Since the holster has a very nice automotive paint finish, I decided not to touch it for now and instead to try and sand down the smaller end of my baton a little. I made a mess sanding, but not sure how much really was removed and how much smaller it really is. I sanded until it was easy to get it in and out of the holster. 204 I used a dental pick and heavy-duty wire bush to clean all the grooves of the baton handle. 205 Another coat of paint, and it was ready again to troop. 206 Well, it did make it easier to insert into and out of the holster, but after one troop, it still got scratched. Guess I need to work on another solution to prevent scratching completely! Hmmm… Next Up, a little more dental work…

My New IPT Transport In order to see how much cargo capacity I would need for my Patrol Trooper armor, I tried to see if it would come close to fitting in my small TK Transport. Nope! Even without the bucket, the armor is just too bulky to fit. 188 I need to use a smaller bin to get everything in since I drive a sporty car that has limited trunk access. The standard 50-Gallon Imperial Transport Bins will never make it in my trunk or in any of my doors. I’ve tried when I offered to drive for a troop… So, after several shopping trips and seeing what is available, I ended up at Home Depot, one of our local building supply stores here in the States. They had the half-height Husky bin that might just work, but I can’t understand why the smaller bin is more expensive than the bigger bin - $49.00 vs $59.97? 189 Further examination of this bin and I realized the tray is missing from inside. And, the foam rubber on the handle was ripped. Lucky for me, I’m not picky! So, I found a manager and discussed the deficiencies of this bin. Manager listened and agreed it was defective merchandise, but had no clue how to make a fair value of the bin. I offered $30 and it was accepted. I wasn't worried about the missing tray as I knew I wouldn't have space left to actually use it, if I did have it. 190 I was so thrilled after going through that much effort to see that this bin will easily fit in my trunk! WooooHoooo! 191 Best part was that, except for my bucket, my Patrol Trooper armor fits inside. With having a small car, I am used to having a bucket bag for my TK, so this is something I can accept. 192 As Edo mentioned the desire to be able to disassemble the armor for storage, I store my belt inside my Ab Armor. Have Bin, Will Travel! Let’s Go Trooping Sometime!

Thanks, Edo! Legendary? Hmm.... Wow, Thanks! Those are great questions. I have been fortunate to have had helpers available when I suit up to help with my Chest and Back Plates. Last weekend, I had a group of Squadmates around me wanting to see the new armor and I had them help me. (1) Yes, I am worried about suiting up by myself, because the Back Plate is a little heavy and needs to be fitted with the Chest Plate. I am so afraid I will drop it as I try to fit it with the Chest Plate. Therefore, I am planning to add a strap around my chest to allow me to put on my Back Plate and have it held in place with no worries of me dropping it. (2) I have my belt removable from the armor, just as you are suggesting for ease of storage. I have industrial strength Velcro around the bottom of the Ab Armor and around the top of the belt. I have no worries sitting the armor down on the belt and boxes. The boxes and TD are so rigid, the armor just stands up. To suite up, I attached the belt to the Ab Armor and set it on the floor so I can step into it to put it on. Here's a picture from earlier in the build, showing it all sitting fine on the belt, boxes and TD. This even has the added weight of the rest of the armor and there is no issues. 144 Thanks for checking in! Keep the questions coming!

Shoulder Bridge Update When wearing my armor with my bucket, I had a hard time seeing out the eyes. My bucket was so high that I could not look down or turn my head. Starscream noticed this and fixed his shoulder bridges to allow the shoulders to sit lower and give more room for the bucket. (Thanks, Edo for refreshing my poor memory on where I saw this!) The Neck Ring is attached to the Back Plate. You can see the Blue cured line where the back plate meets the neck ring. The Green curved line is closer to where my shoulder really sits. That space noted with the Orange line, is extra and is pushing everything higher. 177 This shot is from one of my test fittings and it clearly shows the shoulder bridge sitting higher and it is elevated above my shoulder. 178 Patrol Trooper X (fill in name later) showed how he/she trimmed a curve out of this extra armor to help lower the whole shoulder bridge, resulting in also lowering the bucket. Genius! 179 I hated to do it, but this seemed like a logical way to improve the fit of my armor. I used a coping saw to trim the excess. (I added a dowel before, to help reinforce the neck ring. Had to replace it a few minutes after it was trimmed.) 180 Ouch! But, it does give better clearance! 181 Trimming the armor exposed the inside construction, showing that there is a factory seam at this point. To strengthen that seam, I cleaned out the seam plastic and the honeycomb filler to allow me to insert a wooden dowel. Once the area was opened up, I coated the dowel in glue and pushed it into the space. This did add strength to that area. 182 Connecting the Chest Plate to the Back Plate showed where this shoulder curve overlapped the front half of the shoulder bridge. 183 Using the coping saw, this was also easy to remove. 184 The final results were just what I had hopped for. The shoulder bridge was now sitting right on my shoulder, lowering the neck ring and allowing more space for the bucket! Success! 185 Shoulder Bridge Alignment I that fitting photo above, I realized the front portion of the shoulder bridge was not aligning with the back shoulder bridge. This just took a little heat from a hair dryer till it was flexible and then just held it in place until it cooled. Much Better! 186 Finished and Ready to Troop! Oops. I forgot to post this in the last post… This is my completed armor build, ready for me to suit up for the first time to take my submittal pix. Those pictures were a success and I was approved a short time later. 187 Now, how am I going to transport all this armor? And how can I fit it in my small car??? Stay tuned…!

Picture Time! This was the first time I had everything suited up. I mentioned before that the temporary boots and chaps that I started with were a royal pain to get on, so I decided since I had put everything on, I would take pictures from all sides in hopes that I was satisfied enough to submit. Full disclosure, I was going on a cruise within a week and I pushed to see if I could be approved before I left… Well, these were good enough and are the pix that my GML received! I only had two items to fix on the first round. 165 My biggest complaint is my temporary boot chaps are so flimsy that the leg armor was sitting down on my boots. That issue has since been resolved, but that was not an issue for my GML. 166 167 168 169 And it looks like these pix were taken before I repainted to top of the chest button panel black. 170 171 Do I Wait or Do I Fix! At the time I submitted my approval pix, Pathfinders were working on revising, updating and correcting the Patrol Trooper CRL. One item my GML noticed was an item that was going to be revised, but wasn’t yet. That was the note that the painted Ear Rank Bar (at that time) was noted to be on the front. Mine was on the back as it really should be… GML Said I could either wait a couple weeks for the CRL to be revised, or make the change. Second item which I had no answer for, the CRL calls for “A total of 8 cut outs in the teeth area of the frown”. He pointed out that my bucket had 10 cut-outs, as he considered the small ones on the ends as cut-outs. I do not know if this will become a broader issue for more Troopers, or if it was just for me. If others have this issue, we may need to look at the wording on the CRL to count the teeth and not the openings. 172 TIME TO FIX IT! I was still hoping to get all the requested pix submitted before I left on a cruise the next week, so I decided to make the changes that were requested. Gotta make the Boss happy! Popping the Ear Rank Bars off was easy. A little E6000 to put them back on and then on to the teeth… 173 I do plan to eventually open up the teeth for ventilation and for Level 2, but just to make it easy on myself at this time, I decided to just cover up the outside two openings. I went back to my go-to material, the trusty For Sale Sign plastic. And, it is easy to cut with scissors and bend at the end. 174 A little E6000 and a little gray paint and the 9th and 10th openings just disappear! 175 20 Minutes later and updated bucket photos were submitted to my GML. 176 That evening, I received an email from my GML approving Imperial Patrol Trooper TB 50297! Mickey informed me that I was the Sixth approved in the Legion and the First approved Imperial Patrol Trooper in Florida. Cool! Thanks, Boss! Stay Tuned… More to Come! The armor may be approved, but the build isn’t quite finished, yet. I still have some tweaks to go!

Thanks, Kris. I just had to get a few projects done in the garage before I could get back on the computer. I still have more to add...

Brain Freeze! They say that the memory is the second thing to go, and I think mine left the station a while ago. While checking to see which pix I have shared and still need to add, and I realized that I have already posted all the Fitting, Strapping and Velcro updates that I planned to add. So, a couple small items before submittal pix! Bicep and Forearm Armor My jacket was provided by Armory Shop and it came with the soft side Velcro already sewn onto the sleeves – one at the Bicep and Two on the Forearm. Thanks, Denis! I cut some pointy side Velcro and attached it to the matching piece on the jacket. Then it was just peel-n-stick to the armor. I did check the CRL and Promo Shots to make sure how they go. 160 Then, I used a Sharpie to label inside each for left or right, and which end is up. I tend to keep them attached when not trooping. Felt Protection I know, I know, I know… Eventually I will have to weather the armor and it won’t matter, but the CDO in me wants to keep the armor from getting damaged. I started with the shoulder bells to add a layer of felt inside to act as a buffer when rubbing against my bicep armor. All it really needed was a good coat of white glue. 161 I also added a strip of felt around the bottom of the calves to keep my boots and boot armor clean. At least, for a while… 162 And another strip along the bottom of the chest and back plates to keep my girdle looking good. 163 Last item to resolve is how to attach shoulders to the armor. For this, I just glued a strip of 1” (25 mm) nylon strap to the top and added Velcro to the other end to attach under the shoulder bridge. But I had to change this later… 164 Visible in this photo is my labeling system. I have these inside each piece of armor for 1) to remind me which side is which, and 2) puts my name on it, in case it doesn't make it into my bin after a troop. EDIT: 164A Next up, let’s see how the Submittal Pix turned out and what were the results…

Congrats, Edo! Glad to hear we have another IPT in the works! I hope mine and the other WIP threads can help you along. And, if you have a question on how to make something work, just ask. As we create these Work In Progress threads, sometimes what we want to say in our head and in pictures, might not come across. Please ask! This is a really fun armor to wear. I brought it out for the second time on Sunday for a large Squad troop. I got so many compliments from other Squadmates saying they loved the armor. Two were interested in more info to consider it. The public loved it, but it was just another Stormtrooper to them. And, we have another IPT kit in my Squad, now that Btabc got his BBB. Go Forth and Build!

WOW! Life really knows how to get in the way of other fun activities. I took a week away from this thread and then came Halloween and then Thanksgiving and Christmas and now, we're well into 2020! How can that happen?? Kris reminded me a while ago, but Life just kept coming at me. Hope you all are doing well! I had to refresh myself to where I left off and see I don’t have too much more to share before I took my submittal pix. Yes, I passed! But, before I continue on with strapping, I’ll continue the previous post and show how I spent some more time on my EC-17 blaster. I’m still not close to Starcream’s, but I am happier with the finish. Fixing wingnut’s EC-17 Blaster Build Here is how I quickly finished the blaster before taking approval pix. It can pass for the 6 foot/ 2 meter look or even holstered, but not up close. Being my first build of anything 3D Printed, I have things to learn. Notice all the print lines that I'm not satisfied with. 150 I picked up a can of Filler Primer that other’s mention using to fill in the lines. I remove the scope to make it easier to fix all surfaces. Let’s get sanding… 151 This is going to take a while… Probably would have been easier if I didn’t paint it black first… 152 It wasn’t until the first coat of primer that some bonus pieces became more visible around the cooling fins. There was also a long line left at the edge of the flashing that I didn’t completely remove. Yes, this would have been easier cleaning this up before it was assembled! 153 I also found an extra piece under the muzzle 154 Not perfect, but much better than first attempt! 155 156 157 RUBBER BELT OOPS! – TIP: Reinforce Your Belt! As I opened my bid at my First IPT Troop, my rubber belt had ripped between slits for the boxes. Luckily, I had a crash kit with Super Glue and black Gorilla tape. This worked, but after the troop, another slit was starting at another box. 158 This belt material is thin and really needs a layer of reinforcing behind it to prevent rips and tears. I’ve heard suggestions of adding a layer of vinyl, leather or plastic. I used some thin plastic from a For Sale sign and a thick layer of E6000. I will probably add this to all the slits in the rubber for all boxes. 159 Learn from my experience and prevent unexpected repairs! Thanks for visiting! Still to come… Fitting, Strapping, More Velcro and updates for Level 2

Thanks for the kick, Kris. Got sidetracked with a big deadline at work and finding a few days in a row that I could rearrange my garage workshop. I will start working on the updates for the build. I've had my IPT out three times, so far. Lots of fun!

Patrol Troopers are Multiplying! I am thrilled to see more Patrol Trooper BBB’s arriving and armor kits getting built. I think Hask may have set a record for time from Box to Pix. I can’t wait to see Imperial Patrol Troopers popping up at troops as a normal occurrence. As we get more kits being built, I’m sure there will be many others like me who knew nothing about what an EC-17 Hold-out Blaster looks like, let alone how all these puzzle pieces go together. So, before I continue with my build, I’d like to present… Assembling Armory Shop’s EC-17 Blaster Kit The EC-17 Blaster is 3D printed as 15 separate pieces, nicely packaged together in one zip-lock plastic bag. Several of the pieces had extra flash that needed to be trimmed off. All pieces need to be sanded. 145 After looking at some Biker Scout’s Blasters, I figured where all the puzzle pieces went to make it look like it should. Several of these pieces have started to be sanded. 146 Note: Please feel free to share this diagram to help others! Just a little persuasion and the pegs will click in the holes. I only used Super Glue to put the rest of the pieces together as diagrammed above. 147 After several coats of Satin Black, I used a silver Sharpie marker for light weathering. 148 This build only took about 2 hours to complete, with most of that time watching the paint dry. Not bad for a first time 3D print build project. I really need to use the filler spray paint and refinish my blaster to get rid of the print lines. Something more like Starscream's Blaster, which is a thing of beauty! 149 This EC-17 Hold-out Blaster is now ready for patrolling the streets! Go Forth and Build!

Outstanding work, Kris! Weathering really looks great! Even that one spot from that aerial back flip from when your speeder crashed. Well done!

Progress continues… I hope all this documentation isn’t too boring to read, but I feel it is important to document in detail the various steps to this build. Many of you will breeze over this as an overview of a process, others may use this and improve on these steps. Well, let’s keep going… Please remain seated as this adventure is in motion! Back to the Belt! Earlier in this build, I put together the leather-like pouches, the small white boxes and the bigger box made into the Imperial Patrol Trooper Card Containment Apparatus. 067 Now, it’s time to attach all those puzzle pieces, along with the Canvas Pouch, Thermal Detonator, Baton Holster and EC-17 Holster, to the rubber belt. 124 The belt is mounted with no visible fasteners or buckles. I decided to have my ends overlap on the right rear, behind the Canvas Pouch. The rubber belt material provided in my armor kit measures 3-3/8” (88 mm) wide by 47.5” (1,206 mm) long. My assembled Ab Armor is 42” (1067 mm) around. I may trim a little off. This step also helped me determine where the centerline of the belt will be as it sits on the front and back Ab Armor so I knew where to install the puzzle pieces. 125 The Thermal Detonator comes with four dimples on the back, assumedly for fasteners. I drilled a small hole through one of them and determined that the back of the TD is relatively thick plastic, thick enough to take screws directly through it. I decided to use machine screws to fasten the TD to the belt. I made a backer plate to spread out the grip and hopefully lessen any torsion that the TD may cause on the belt as it hangs. Since I wasn’t using the dimples provided, I overlaid the backer plate over the belt and the TD and drilled four holes through all of them, in a wider spacing. 126 I tapped the holes for a 6-32 flat-head machine screw. 127 I countersunk the holes so the screw heads would be flush with the backer plate. I also will cover these screws with white tape to prevent scratching the Ab Armor. 128 I clamped the belt in place to locate where all the other boxes will be located. Here, I have the Thermal Detonator held in place with a couple screws and washers as I work out the details. (Note, the armor is upside down in this picture) 129 Belt Box Fastening I don’t know why I would ever want or need to, but I’m going to make my connections removable, instead of gluing them directly to the belt. Since the belt boxes come with slits in the back, I’m going to use them with Velcro One-Wrap, where the Velcro can loop through and fasten to itself. Also, I added thin plastic spacers in the smaller boxes to spread the width of the Velcro fasteners. I was afraid that the slots were so narrow and it may allow the boxes to rotate or twist while on the belt. 130 Using the slits in the boxes as templates, I cut out slits in rubber belt… 131 EDIT: I’ve had a few of these slits in the rubber belt tear in the corners. This belt material really needs a layer of reinforcing behind it to prevent rips and tears. I’ve heard suggestions of vinyl, leather or plastic. Here is the back side of the boxes installed on the belt. The big box/card holder is on the left and the two smaller boxes on the right. On the bottom of this picture, I tried to diagram how the Velcro is fastened through the boxes and overlapping other Velcro. 132 Here’s how the inside of the boxes look while fastened to the belt. 133 Since I don’t want to see this Velcro fastening as I hand out trading cards, I made a fake back plate out of extra For Sale sign plastic and tacked it in the box with E6000. 134 The other two boxes received some E6000 to hold on the covers. 135 Leather Pouch Fastening Since the plastic boxes came with slits in the back, I decided to use the same idea to fasten the leather-like pouches to the belt with Velcro. This is why I didn’t glue the cover to the pouches when I made them. Once attached to the belt, I used E6000 to glue the pouches together. 136 7 puzzle pieces attached, 3 to go. For the record, the CRL belt photo is NOT spaced apart accurately! This shows how far apart my boxes, pouches and TD need to be to be placed correctly around my waist. 137 Here’s the back of the belt with what I have attached so far. 138 Fastening The Belt to the Armor As I keep mentioning, I want my armor to come apart in pieces. Others may not want this option and can choose to glue the rubber belt directly to the Ab Armor. I used quite a bit of Industrial Strength Velcro to fasten mine. 139 EC-17 Blaster Holster Attachment From pictures, it appears that the top of the holster is to align with the top of the belt. I used Chicago Screws/threaded stud posts to attach the holster to the belt. This provided a thin screw head on the front and a flat fastener on the back. Also, I did need to use my hair dryer to heat the holster up to widen it to allow the blaster to slide in easier. 140 Baton Holster Attachment Because of the unusual shape, the Baton Holster was interesting to attach. It is also very tight to get the Baton to slide in and out. That means there is absolutely no space for a fastener to be sticking out. There are two screw holes provided in the holster which are sized to accept the 6-32 flat head machine screws I have. The screws are flat head, because they are countersunk. I used a small countersink bit by hand to countersink the hole. It took a while to get the screw head flush with the plastic. To fasten the screw, I needed to use a right-angle screwdriver to fit inside the holster. Once fastened, I measured and trimmed the extra length off the screw, so it doesn’t scratch the armor behind it. 141 On the back of the belt, the screw is through a washer and then the nut. If I would be gluing the belt to the armor, this could be screwed into, or through the armor. Since I’m making my belt removable, I needed to drill a hole in the Ab Armor to accommodate the nut and washer. I will add a piece of black duct tape over the screws to prevent any scratching to the Ab Armor. 142 Almost finished! 143 144 Still to come… Fitting, Building a Blaster, and Finishing Touches…

If it helps any, shipping updates took a while on mine. Mine was shipped 7/4 and arrived at my door on 7/17 - 13 days total. My only update was on 7/16 saying it was in NY. Nothing from local saying it was out for delivery.

Glad to hear that several more armor kits are almost ready for shipping! Can’t wait to see more build threads and more approved Patrol Troopers patrolling the streets of Corellia, or wherever you are deployed! And, as promised, we continue with the build... Boot Armor The CRL calls for Three (3) pieces of Boot Armor. Armory Shop armor fabricates these into Two (2) separate pieces – The ‘Toe Armor’ and ‘Dogbone’ are one piece and the ‘Heel Guard’ as a separate piece. I have small feet and the Toe Armor was too wide for my boots and I’m afraid I would have caught them and broken pieces off. So, I used the hair dryer again to persuade it to become a little narrower. 104 This helped reduce the overall width from 118 mm, down to 98 mm. 105 This shows the three pieces the CRL calls out for the Boot Armor. There is supposed to be a space between the armor showing the boot, but, since I have smaller feet than most, my armor pieces almost touched each other. So… 106 I trimmed about a half inch (12 mm) from the outside end of the Heel Guard. This gave me a little bit of black between the pieces, but I was afraid to trim too much and throw the piece out of proportion. I did not trim anything from the inside edge as I would lose the point in the photo above. If this isn’t enough, my only next option is to trim down the Dogbone. Or, separate and move the Dogbone further forward. Hmmm…. 107 To fasten the armor to the boots, I used three pieces of black Industrial Strength Velcro on each piece of armor. I used spare 1” (25 mm) nylon strap for the instep strap going under the boot. I glued one side with E6000 and added Velcro on the loose end. 108 Shin Armor We last left the Shin Armor after I sanded it all down, got the pegs to fit in the holes and added an aluminum strip to reinforce the top connection. Now, to get them to stay connected while trooping, I need to trim the edge of the Front Shin Armor just a little to get the peg of the Back Shin Armor to sit firmly in the hole. 109 NOTE: This idea will be in testing mode to see if it actually works. There really isn’t much area for the Velcro to grip. I may go with rare earth magnets for these connections. I used a hole punch and a hammer to trim some Industrial Strength Velcro to fit over the pegs. 110 Then, it is just peel and stick. 111 The outside edge of the armor is attached with another large strip of Industrial Strength Velcro. I clamped them overnight in hopes of secure adhesion. A plastic laminate sample was used to spread the clamp grip over the whole Velcro. 112 Shin Straps The Shin Armor is held together at the bottom with a ribbed rubber strap and two faux buckles, which all were provided with my ArmoryShop PT kit. I measured and thinned down the ribs on the rubber strap so that it can be glued directly to the back of the buckle using E6000 and clamps. I started with only trimming and gluing two ends, before measuring and trimming the strap to the length I need. 113 I used scrap ABS Plastic to create tabs to connect these buckles to the Front Shin Armor. In the following steps, you will see that one of the tabs needs to be flat and the other needs to be curved to match the front curve. 114 The outside edge of the armor is actually fastened with the Velcro I added in photo 112, above. The strap buckle is just for looks and only just needs to tuck in behind the Front Shin. Therefore, I just needed a piece of Velcro on the face of the Back Shin Armor to hold the strap and buckle in place. 115 Then, it’s just peel and stick the Velcro to have the tab under the Front Shin Armor. 116 With the outside edge buckle in place, the inside end of the rubber strap can be measured and trimmed. Hold the buckle in place with the edge right at the side of the Front Shin Armor. I’ve also noted on this photo, the curve of the Front Shin Armor that the curved tab will connect to. 117 Once the rubber strap is trimmed to length, thin down the rubber ribs so it will fit against the buckle. Also, since this buckle will be located where the leather boot is visible, I painted the curved tab black, where it will be visible through the buckle. Notice how it looks in the top buckle. 118 Once measured and trimmed, I used E6000 and clamps to glue the buckles to the rubber strap. I used three pieces of Velcro to hold the ribbed rubber strap/buckles to the armor. 119 Since this needs to be a secure connection while trooping, I used a piece of Industrial Strength Velcro to attach the curved tab to the inside of the Front Shin Armor. I also painted more of the curved tab Black, since parts of it was still visible. Now, it disappears! 120 Oops! I know I need to raise the whole Shin Armor up to get a space above the Boot Armor! Besides being too low, this does show how the Ribbed Rubber Straps and Buckles look on the finished armor. Currently, I just have a large piece of Velcro at the top front of the Front Shin Armor, that is holding on the armor. Only time will tell if anything else is needed. 121 My Starter Boots… With an emphasis on “Starter”, which will be changed… As I mentioned in my introduction, I am building this Patrol Trooper on a budget. Since I am currently between projects at work, I do not have approval from the Finance Minister to purchase the authentic leather riding boots that I want. Since this is costuming and the objective is the look, I have decided that since most of the boots are covered in armor, I can achieve the look by using of my old TK Boots and black leather riding chaps with the visible snap on top. All the rest of the boots and chaps are covered by Boot Armor and Shin Armor. Again, Please note that these are my temporary set-up and will be replaced before too long. Especially since it is very difficult to get the boots and armor on. Can’t wait to make this easier to suit up! Correct boots will also help with the armor being too low. My TK Boots were also a budget buy, Black Amsterdam boots that I painted white. I could not get the white paint off, so, I just re-painted them Black. I used the ‘Meltonian’ Black shoe spray to get a matt finish and then Black Shoe Polish and a rag to get the shine. 122 The boots with riding chaps are an extreme pain to get on, with the armor already on the boots. So, Troopers, this is a solution, but not an easy one! This also shows the Velcro I'm using for the Boot Armor. 123 Next Up…. Back to the Belt!

Chest Plate and Back Plate Connections Next, I worked on the Chest Plate with its elastic side straps with buckles and then connecting the Chest and Back Plates together. The Chest Plate has an elastic strap along the sides that have a buckle to look like it is attaching the front to the back. My kit came with a length of 2” (50 mm) wide white elastic. I did not measure the length, but I had plenty for my build. 090 I decided not to cut slits in the Chest Plate to insert the elastic and instead, trimmed the end of the elastic to be the same angle as the front piece. I used a lighter to seal the cut thread ends of the elastic and then used E6000, spring clamps and plastic laminate samples to glue and clamp the elastic to the Chest. 091 This shows the angle that I was referring to. My protractor shows this at around 99°. 092 From other build threads, photos and the Hot Toys IPT, I figured out where the buckle needed to be mounted. I followed Ruthar’s build process for mounting the buckles to Chest Plate with the elastic. He noted that the elastic was slightly wider than the buckle and needed to be trimmed. In this diagram, the Red lines are where I trimmed the elastic and then sealed the cut thread ends with a lighter. I trimmed it down until the Yellow lines matched in width – inside buckle clearance equaled the trimmed elastic width. On the back of the buckle, I used some scrap ABS to fill in the void so I would have a level place to fasten it to the Chest Plate (photo 095 shows this). 093 I fed the elastic under the back and over the big middle hump and tucked End ‘A’ into the pocket. (See diagram in corner of photo below). This allowed the narrow width of the Trimmed Edges of the elastic to fit through the buckle, with the transition to the wider elastic, hidden under the buckle. I coated that hump and the end of the elastic with E6000 and let it sit overnight. I did not clamp it as that pushed it too tight to the buckle and didn’t look realistic to me. 094 The ‘extra length’ of elastic that I trimmed off, became the strap extension that will go behind and fasten to the Back Plate. Just as I did for ‘End A’, I also had to trim down the sides of ‘End B’ so that it would fit to the back of the buckle. The Red lines are where I trimmed the elastic and then sealed the cut ends with a lighter. ‘End C’ will fasten to the Back Plate. The filler piece of ABS that I added to the back of the buckle is where I mounted a piece of Velcro. I’m using Velcro to allow me flexibility to move the buckle forward or backward as needed to engage with the Back Plate and to give more tension, if needed. Photo 098 will explain this... 095 The mounting location for the buckle should be near the back edge of the Chest Plate so that the Back Plate will tuck into the end of the buckle. 096 The design of the buckles provided with my Armory Shop kit, provided enough space to create a pocket for the Back Plate to tuck into as shown above. 097 Inside the Back Plate, I added a length of Velcro (soft side facing body) with pointy side on End ‘C’ of the elastic. Making it a longer strip than needed will allow me flexibility if I need to pull it tighter for more tension. 098 VELCRO TIP: Always attach Velcro so that the soft side faces your body and the pointy side faces outward. This will prevent the pointy side from rubbing and snagging your under suit, jacket, pants, skin, etc. Shoulder Connection My first attempt at the shoulder strapping was to mount 2” (50 mm) wide Industrial Strength Velcro across the inside of the shoulder. I made this 6” (152 mm) long with half on each piece. NOTE: This was excessive, and the Industrial Strength nature of the Velcro made it extremely difficult to remove. This Velcro was removed shortly after this step. 099 Following Ruthar’s lead, I realized that having an ABS plastic tab on the Back Plate to allow the Chest Plate to sit on, made a lot of sense. From some scrap 2 mm ABS, I cut a strip about 1” (25 mm) wide. Using the hair dryer, I heated it up and curved it to better match the curve of the Chest Plate. My plan is to get the joints to meet together as a butt joint, not overlapping. 100 After trying the armor on a couple times, I determined the length of the tab shown above may be too long and I trimmed it down to 1/2” (12 mm) and rounded the corners with a sanding block. I’m not convinced that I want this join to flex, so I used white nylon strapping and Velcro, instead of elastic. I glued the strapping to the plastic tab with E6000. 101 This connection has worked for me the few times I’ve had the whole armor on and off. I will need to really take this for a test troop to see how it will all handle the mileage. 102 One last photo showing some progress! 103 Next up… Boots and Shins and more Strapping!

Patience, Young Padawan! You have your hands full right now with your walking carpet. There will be plenty of time for us to Patrol Tampa Bay, together. It will be here in when you need it to be. BTW, thanks for coming over and helping on my trial suit-up to see what I was missing. Always helpful to have another set of eyes seeing issues, like a shoulder strap that went AWOL. Like it just went to the Back Side...

Glad you have another IPT in for approval. Your armor looks great! I'm having the same issues with the helmet and neck rubbing. I love your idea to trim from the inside. I was considering getting the paint and doing it to the top side, but your's looks better.

Back Plate Greeblies As I unpacked my IPT, I noticed that the thin inserts for the Back Plate had warped slightly. No big deal! These are thin and are flimsy, so a little bit of glue and a weight and all will be fine! But, since I live in Florida and this is the Summer, why don’t I let them flatten out all by themselves? 083 Not All Great Ideas Are That Great! Trust me! TIP: This is what NOT to do! Do NOT put them in the back window of your car for a couple hours on a hot Florida summer afternoon! This is not the solution you are looking for! Move Along! 084 How to Fix a Great Idea! So, now my great idea made a ‘slight warp’ into a ‘tidal wave’ that even a LOT of glue and some HEAVY weights would not get this to stay. Plan B: A hair dryer + heavy weight = Success! I used a piece of 2x6 lumber to sit on the heated piece and let it cool. 085 Thinking this through, I think that if these inserts would have been just a flat piece of plastic, the heat should have gotten it to settle back to a flat sheet. But, since these were 3D printed, they are made up of many small lines of plastic filament that doesn’t react the same way to heat, instead, creating more stresses within. OK, that sounds good. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Moving on… From pictures of the Hot Toys’ IPT and Ruthar’s build pix, I figured out where these little pieces all went. 086 I used E6000 to coat the backs of each and set them in place. All Finished! Except for… 087 It wasn’t until a little while after I had these all finished, that Ruthar submitted his pix for ChiPs approval, that BikerScout007 pointed out that the IPT back plate also needs the tube installed in the left back plate, similar to how it is installed in the Shore Trooper, shown here: So, back to the workbench… I found some small vinyl tubing that looks like it may work, except it is clear. After not getting Black Rustoleum paint to dry, I tried my ‘Meltonian’ Black shoe spray that says it is good for vinyl. Yes, it worked fine on the vinyl tubing. I inserted a coat hanger wire into the tubing, bent it and cut it to length. With how I initially glued in the greeblies, I didn’t have room to get the tubing into place. I popped it off and trimmed about 1/8” (3 mm) off the left edge of the left greeblie. 088 I pushed the tubing/wire into place and re-glued the greeblie. I’m satisfied with the results, but I hope Boss approves this detail when I submit for CHiPs inspection! 089 Next up… Chest Plate and Back Plate Connections!

Great questions, Jochen. Glad to see the crew was available to jump in and resolve the concerns. I really hadn't noticed the indents on my armor, but mine matches yours. And, my GML had no issues with the variation. Really, with the belt and boxes in place, it really isn't noticeable. Good Luck with your build!

The Boss isn't looking, so let me get an update posted... Abdomen Armor with Back Plate I believe I have the IPT 2.0 version of the armor as my Abdomen Armor is basically a one-piece print with a back cover plate. Pictures from Ruthar’s and Five’s PT Builds show that their Ab Armor comes in two pieces – front and back – with seams on the sides. I don’t know the reasoning of the factory updates, but here’s a picture from my unpacking day, showing the one-piece Abdomen. 010 Since the time I sent my measurements to Denis, my Ab Armor was very tight around the mid-section. I noticed the ends were bending inward slightly, which may have contributed to the tightness, not my bad habit that l like to eat… 071 I used a hair dryer to heat up the sides, just enough to allow the plastic to be adjusted to a new shape, not enough to damage the paint or make it too weak. 072 I alternated heating inside and outside at the same time to heat up the plastic. I also did this to the last 4” (100 mm) to pull that more open, instead of bending inward. 073 Success. This widened the back-opening gap on mine from about 2-3/8” (60 mm) to right at 3” (76 mm). Front to back only shows about 3/8” (10 mm), but sideways was increased enough to feel comfortably snug. 074 The Back Plate comes painted and finished. It has two pegs that slip into matching holes on the left side of the Abdomen Armor. I’m not sure I did this correctly, but I made the pegs as the fixed side and the right side can be opened for putting on, if needed. And as I am typing this, I think this may be backwards that the pegs are the moveable side. Hmmm… Guess I will need to troop a few times to determine how I really want it… 075 This is how the Ab and Back Plate look assembled. 076 Inside view of same pieces. 077 Ab Strapping The Ab is snug enough that it will stay in place by itself while I test fit it, but I don’t want to rely on my body size being the only thing to keep the armor on in our humid weather, and I may be the type of Trooper to dance around to make kids smile. I decided to use 1” (25mm) nylon strapping and plastic parachute buckles to make suspender-type rigging. 078 The roll of nylon strapping I purchased is only 60” (1524 mm) and a test fit showed that might work, maybe not. So, I dug through my Crash Kit and found another 19” (482 mm) of the nylon strapping. 079 I cut each of the straps in half and used a lighter to melt the cut ends. 080 I used a flexible ruler to determine where I wanted to mount the straps. I used some of the Imperial Blue Strapping Adhesive to mark the mounting locations. 081 I have these set to just go over my shoulders and clip at my chest. Using E6000 adhesive, spring clamps, scraps of cardboard on the outside to protect the paint, and plastic laminate samples on the inside to spread out the clamping forces, I glued and clamped the strapping directly to the inside of the Ab Armor. 082 With adding the extra length of strap, I now have strap enough that I can make adjustments to get the armor to ride higher or sit lower. Let’s hope it all works well with the Chest and Back Plate Armor. Next up… Not All Great Ideas Are That Great! and… How to Fix a Great Idea!