Armor Build Night

My friend and former classmate Mike came over last night for a cool project - building an FX suit. He purchased one through me, after I convinced him that the legion was a good group and that Storm Troopers were cool. (It didn't take very much convincing at all.)

Armor kit laid out.

So, first thing, I pick him up from work and we headed to my place with the FX Kit, a box of CA Boots and two Master Replicas Helmets. Remember a couple weeks ago that I mentioned that there were $90 buckets out there? Well, Mike picked up two and sold one of them to me. More on that in a little bit.

Armor kit laid out.

The first thing that we did was unpack the box of armor pieces. An FX kit, for those of you who don't know, is a pre-cut set of armor, which makes it a fantastic beginner's kit. Since Mike already has an MR helmet, we skipped putting the kit's helmet together, which is probably a good thing, because the FX Bucket isn't the most accurate helmet out there.

After unpacking the box, we drove up to the Berlin Mall, where we bought industrial-strength Velcro, caulk for the helmets, gray and black spray paint, gloves and sand paper at Walmart. After picking up that stuff, we walked past the toy isle, which was a big mistake. I ended up leaving the store with a much larger bill, and two Star Wars Lego Sets, the Imperial Troop Transport and Clone Trooper set. Mike got a set of Storm Troopers as well. No action figures though, because our Walmart sucks.

Belt screwed on

We returned to my place, and started putting together the set. The first thing that we did was look at how the pieces went together and from there, sanded the joints a little, to give the Velcro more grip on the plastic. This is something that I didn't do when I first built my armor, and I've regretted it since, because I've had my armor fall apart when I first started trooping. Since then, I've replaced it with the industrial strength stuff, and glued it down.

Mike cut out the Velcro for the seams, and we soon had the thigh pieces done. There seems to be a difference between my FX set and Mike's. The legs have been redesigned, so they're a bit wider, and a lot more comfortable. My right thigh piece currently digs into my knee, and it's pretty painful at times, even though I've trimmed it a little. There's also a notch at the back of the leg in the new suit, which also helps. I started building the Landing Ship, which came out pretty cool.

Mike putting velcro on the thigh pieces.

After Mike finished with the legs, he started on the chest piece, and I bore out some of the holes in the stomach armor with a screw driver, and put in the ab buttons, then assembled the belt, while Mike continued with the arms. We also spray painted the detonator, and left it to try.

Trying on for size.

By this time, it was 10:30, and I drove Mike back to campus. We still have the shins, upper arms and detonator to assemble, as well as the TX Bucket. We might as well put it together. Then we'll get working on his helmet.

Lego!