"I want to
buy armour and start Trooping, give me some advice!"
Since Celebration Europe 2007 the UK Garrison
has been inundated with queries from the public asking "where
can I buy armour, I want to join you guys!!!"
Well my first bit of advice is to JOIN
THE UK GARRISON FORUM. But PLEASE do
not go on the forum asking "where can I buy armour".
We are not allowed to discuss armour manufacturers and sellers
on our forums, as they are all unlicensed and our relationship
with Lucasfilm stipulates we do not publicly discuss these
manufacturers. We can send you PMs if you ask for advice
though, or go to the REPLICA
PROP FORUM.
For info on all the different armours out
there, check out http://www.tk1536.com/armor.html.
This gives you a run down of all the different kits available.
If you buy armour in kit form it's cheaper than buying it
complete and pre-built, but the advantage of buying kits
is that you can build the suit to fit YOU properly, and
trim and adjust it to sit on your body nicely. Pre-built
kits sometimes are a poo fit.
Use the "Useful armour links"
on the left to help you with your build. Ask as many questions
to these guys as you like, don't be afraid, they'll all
help!!
DO NOT rush onto eBay and buy the
first set of armour you see, no matter what the price!
Take your time, do your research, and choose carefully -
it's a lot of money to spend and you don't want to buy something
crap.
If you have seen the Shepperton Design Studios
armour (SDS or AA it's called), be aware that this is quite
thin and is prone to cracking, so it may not be too robust
for carrying around in a suitcase and trooping in. A few
people who I know have suffered cracked helmets, chest pieces,
and crotch pieces. It's expensive stuff too.
AP armour (Authenticprops) is what I wear.
It's super-tough, great looking armour and if you are thinking
of converting to a Sandtrooper, the abplate buttons come
seperately so you can easily remove them at a later date.
Other armours have an abplate buttons as PART of the abplate,
which means dremelling them out and glueing in a new abplate
section for a Sandy converstion - a messy hassle-tastic
job. Below is the AP armour as it comes to you in kit form.
Also beware FX armour, which can be quite
big for a lot of people. If you buy FX armour, DO
NOT BUY THE HELMET!!! It's huge, oversized and
a hideous shape. See pics below for comparison, click to
enlarge.
