A Tea between friends :-) How was Your Day

[LePaul]

ATA Armor kit. One of the 501st guys who lives two hours away from me helped me put it together last year. He's very good with these ABS plastic suits and all the attention to detail they require. That suit is the Empire Strikes Back version (yes...there are versions! Different helmet details, colors etc)

[ivan.akapulko]

Just back from a Halloween Event at one of the large Pediatric providers (I used to work for the medical system until budget cuts forced my lay-off in 2014)

The kids were really wow'd as were the adults

trooperfun.jpg

Old-style helmet! Thats cool! Selling StarWars universe to Disney is terrible. Like what they did to the expanded universe and design of troopers armor.

[ivan.akapulko]

ATA Armor kit. One of the 501st guys who lives two hours away from me helped me put it together last year. He's very good with these ABS plastic suits and all the attention to detail they require. That suit is the Empire Strikes Back version (yes...there are versions! Different helmet details, colors etc)

I'm surprised, you're not 501st?

[Titus]

Oh mannnn, I still want to have a suit like that, but buying is way to expensive last time I checked, and making it all yourself, haven't found time for that, and doubt I will.

[Izzy]

Tiggy is a tuxedo cat, you can't see very well from that photo, I've just taken another, she has a deformed front left paw and suffers from stress cystitis a lot,

but all our cats are rescue cats as I volunteer at Cats protection, I'm a little bit of a cat whisperer/ psychologist, slowly gaining the trust of the more difficult cats like the nice red boy below, Simba. He was affectionate but would suddenly swipe and bite. He was fine untill you stroked towards his lower back to hips, so possible has been kicked and is a little tender, so only stroke his head and shoulders, and be very gentle on his back (don't know why it's upside down, but open it to see the right way up.)

[LePaul]

Tiggy looks like a heavy cat like my Pudgey was

[Izzy]

Both her and Wombat are stocky each about the 5kg area. You know when they are on you lap, at Times Tiggy demands some attention there is nothing you can do, we call it Tiggy Time.

[nilrog]

Nothing beats some good old shovel-rock on Sunday night

[Izzy]

Does that leave some poor bugger trying to dig a hole with a banjo?

[ivan.akapulko]

Nothing beats some good old shovel-rock on Sunday night

Amazing!

[LePaul]

A funny picture from the Halloween Event last Friday at the pediatric center...what happens when a Stormtrooper goes looking for stolen droids

[Titus]

Nice! I still want one :'(

[LePaul]

ATA Armor + helmet runs about $650 last I checked. It's excellent

Anvos armor is a bit cheaper and needs a few tweaks to be 501st approved. Link

[Titus]

Like I said, it's sooooo expensive. If you want the soft parts too it's 650 too. So either you get those yourself for less than 200(should be doable), regardless it's expensive for a really cool thing you use only every so often. Ofcourse joining 501st and helping out people increases the use.

But then again, being the guy with the bought armor among 501st,you should at least customize it, or wear it.

One of the best ways I heard was to vacuum form the parts from cnced foam. But that will probably still cost you 300 and a lot of work.

There has to be another way

[LePaul]

Well keep in mind, you do not have to pay for everything up front

I went into "collector" mode for a while. I got the armor for free, I was approached by the person who makes it. He is building an R2 and asked about a trade. Perfect! So for quite some time, the box sat in the basement. I then went to Trooperbay for the helmet decals, the belt and neck piece. The undersuit is Under Armor (you have to turn it inside out so the logos do not show). There are some non-Under Armor brands that are just as good.

And like 3D printing, if you find a local group that does this hobby, you can have a good time learning all about it from them. The closest person to me is 3 hours away!