Great Lakes Garrison & Base

So this might come off as a surprise to some, but living in Michigan I have been bit by the snowtrooper bug lol. I just broke down and contacted RS about armor I will post pictures and such here once it arrives. Won't start work till my Muppet is 100% done. Oh and my butt plate too Mr. Fett

Did you get a kit from them, or hire them to build it for you like you did with your TK you got from them?

Mr Fett wrote:Did you get a kit from them, or hire them to build it for you like you did with your TK you got from them?

They are making it as I am better at modifying costumes and my building skills are not super strong (I broke a lot of armor pieces my first go and don't trust myself lol) I was told March for arrival. However I am looking at modifying the duster to a different one/ finding a lighter weight one for the warm months of trooping. I am purchasing a different belt as well with a holster as RS does not sell the holster (as far as I could tell, all of their photos show no holster on their belt). As far as I know the suit is unweathered so that is something else I would have to do as well. I am doing more research still to find what other parts would need to be changed. On the Blizardforce boards I found comparison shots of MC next to RS. I like the look of the MC helmet, might invest in one later. What surprised me was the size of the RS was a few inches smaller than MC perfect for smaller troopers like myself . And I am sure that there will be other adjustments. When I got my TK out of the box I had to trim the arms, add the holster and change out/ add straps to meet 501st standards.

Mayhem has holsters.

Flash wrote:Mayhem has holsters.

Thanks for the heads up I will shoot him a PM

I am actually GLAD that they are NOT weathering your armor for you. Because all of us here have weathered our armor using the same method. Now, you can get together with us and weather your armor the same way, so we all match better, regardless of armor maker type. If you want to match our look, I'd say maybe contact them and ask about if the armor comes weathered or not by them. Request not.

The reason no Snowtrooper armor makers do holsters is because Snowtroopers didn't have holsters in the movie. That's an optional accessory the 501st invented for people who wish to have one. Just like the blinking chest lights.

Sounds like they are making an entire costume for you, Duster and Mukluks and everything? Hope they don't remove the laces holders off the Mukluks, cause having laces is a MUCH tighter fit for trooping on your feet. I looked at their website and removing the laces is optional. Have them KEEP the laces. Will fit you much better.

Thundersnow will be growing soon!

What surprised me was the size of the RS was a few inches smaller than MC perfect for smaller troopers like myself

Yeah, I know the chest plate of the MC is a little big on smaller troopers. LOL. I kind of swim in mine.

Andy thanks for the tips. I had already requested no weathering to match everyone else. As for the mukluks yes they are included in that price, but I don't plan on using the ones they provide. I contacted an old hockey friend whose dad works for the Canadian military who is hooking me up with an un altered pair to use. I will email rob again ask the the laces remain. I read reviews on the undercoat and decided on wanting to get my own (probably from one of the forum sellers) for comfort. My plan is to match our members as best as possible hence wanting to do weathering on my own.

OK. We'll have a TS armor party when it arrives so you can do the weathering like we did. I think your duster will be fine as is. We don't really wear ours tons in the summer anyway. It's more a cool weather costume, so don't worry about getting a secondary duster unless you really feel you need to.

Ooooooh armor party!

Can a non member come and see whats up

KrisAntilles wrote:Thundersnow will be growing soon!

What surprised me was the size of the RS was a few inches smaller than MC perfect for smaller troopers like myself

Yeah, I know the chest plate of the MC is a little big on smaller troopers. LOL. I kind of swim in mine.

Mayhem and I have the problem of the chest plate being a little small on larger troopers.

I really need to get working on a snow trooper...

Kevin's is customized.

I will probably look like a ghost in mine because I am so small

flutefreak05 wrote:I really need to get working on a snow trooper...

Start saving, but don't use Greg's as your cost baseline. He paid considerably more money to have RS build him the costume as opposed to the rest of the Snowy's around here who all built armor kits.

This is a fairly easy build as far as white armor costumes go. Just a little trimming, paint, straps and you're done.

Mr Fett wrote:

flutefreak05 wrote:I really need to get working on a snow trooper...

Start saving, but don't use Greg's as your cost baseline. He paid considerably more money to have RS build him the costume as opposed to the rest of the Snowy's around here who all built armor kits.

To be honest I think that mine, once all is said and done, probably double the cost If there was not the exchange rate it would not be as bad lol having to go from USD to GBP is what gets you.

Brewski wrote:

Mr Fett wrote:

flutefreak05 wrote:I really need to get working on a snow trooper...

Start saving, but don't use Greg's as your cost baseline. He paid considerably more money to have RS build him the costume as opposed to the rest of the Snowy's around here who all built armor kits.

To be honest I think that mine, once all is said and done, probably double the cost If there was not the exchange rate it would not be as bad lol having to go from USD to GBP is what gets you.

It is. You literally paid double what any of us have in our Snowtroopers. Speaking frankly, if you went the armor kit route like the rest of us, you could have built 2 full entire Snowtrooper costumes (1 for you as well as 1 for Lauren) for the price RS charged you for just your one. But you didn't check with any of the local Snowys you troop with all the time before jumping in, so "live and learn" as the saying goes. I'm sure it'll be a nice looking costume, no doubt with that. We just could have saved you some money if we did the assembly locally, that's all.