stormtrooper armour

Hey,

'haven't been on in a long time.
But, I had one question-is it really worth it to spend so much more money for the TE armour when the FX armour is only about 550 dollars. anyone who's built some stormtrooper armour-could u give me some advice-i've been thinking about buying some i already have a place to buy from but if u have any cheaper suggestions just tell me

Thanks

I just recently finished a set of GF armor and I would say that I love it! In answer to your question about the FX armor, I do have some opinions that might help you decide what you are looking for in a suit of armor. I researched the 'Trooper armor for almost a year before finding exactly what I wanted.

First off, if you are looking for perfect screen accuracy, do not, I repeat, DO NOT get the Armor FX. The helmet is nowhere near accurate. It is 10% larger than the actual helmets used for filming and the black "goatee" or chin piece is not cast as part of the helmet; it is a separate piece that isn't even the right shape. The only time that I would say that you should go ahead and use the FX helmet is if your head will not fit in the smaller ones or would look funny because you are a larger individual. (I am 5'8" and my smaller screen accurate GF helmet looks huge on me even when in armor.) Most of the kits don?t come with accurate mic tips for the helmet, so I wouldn?t even worry about this to begin with. The closest thing that I have found is an item sold by triktoys.com. They are machined black aluminum and look great. I have yet to find good reproductions of the Hovi-PA mic tips that were used for the original helmet. You can find them sometimes on eBay, but the screen mesh on the front doesn?t look right to me and requires painting, which even when done well, doesn?t look right to me for some reason. (They are also solid, which doesn?t allow me to put my small speakers inside them.)

The other thing to look at with the FX is the way that the pieces fit together. If you look at the original armor, you will see that there is no black gap between the abdominal and back plates where they meet at the sides. This is unavoidable with the FX armor and you will need to have extra ABS plastic to fill the gap with a shim. This problem is actually unavoidable with any of the armor if you are of a larger build. Another problem with the FX armor is the upper back plate. If you look carefully at most of the promotional pictures and screen captures, you will see that a lot of the time, there is a small gap between the upper and lower plates allowing some of the black body glove to show through. Again, this is only aesthetics and if you do not want this gap, then go with the FX armor or buy another suit of armor and an extra back plate that is larger. The shape of most of the pieces with the FX armor are relatively accurate, the only difference between different suits is really going to be the level of detail. The last major problem with the FX Armor is the way that it is assembled. To be completely screen accurate, the front and back of the forearms and biceps, and the front of both the shins and thighs have a thin strip of ABS glued to the seams. The FX kit does not come with enough extra ABS to cut these strips, nor does the instruction manual even mention these. Also the belt was not originally made of strips of ABS that wrap around the back, it was in fact white elastic with a Velcro closure in the back. With the FX kit, this is easily rectifiable, but needs to be bought separately, where as with the kits that are advertised as screen-accurate, such as GF or TE armor, this Velcro is supplied.

I hope that this info helps you. If I think of anything else I will add it to this post. Also, if you want reference photos, of the things that I am talking about, let me know and I will try to find them on my computer for you. - Zac

Plus, it's a lot of work, but as someone who's put a set of armor together, it's a great feeling to wear a set that you've put together with all the hours and hours of work it takes to do so...and you make some great friends along the way, sharing tips and tricks of the trade