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[Nagra Shysa]

this is my KOTOR Era armor:

Chestarmor with bloody handprint

Helmet Jester stile

Helmet Jester stile

left shoulder

right shoulder

that's it so far, more to come.

[Dar'manda]

Is that chest a straight clone or TK? Because it looks remarkably similar.

[Nagra Shysa]

Its a TK.

[Dar'manda]

I'm not an App Team member, but i'm not sure  straight, un-modded TK plate will pass the muster/approval if you intend to be able to wear this to any Official Events or apply for any kind of approval with it.

[Dar'manda]

there are a few mercs with tk chestplates on official kits, but those are modern eras.
if you're going for a kotor era then the CLRs and approval process are very different
you could, however, easily mod this chestplate to suit the style you are going for

[Hondo Karr]

Not to be the bearer of bad news but,no matter how cool the end result looks, a TK chestplate on a KOTOR Era Mando won't pass muster.

There are 3 litmus tests to pass for any kit for any era.

1. Is it Swarzy? Well, a TK chest plate I would think is lol 

2. Is it relevant to the Mandalorian culture? That's debateable. In the past we've accepted members with TK or CT chestplates. However, that was before my time as PO and many CRL revisions ago. Personally, the more I know about the Mando's teh less plausible I think it is. Now, if those pieces are used and modded or disquised so they don't look their original part that's fine. But, straight out of the box to me they don't cut it.

3. Is it relevant to the Era? TK's and KOTOR are sperated by what... 3,000... 4,000... 5,000 years or so (sorry don't have a timeline in front of me). Regardless, it's milennia. So, even if it were relevenat to Mando's (which it's not especially from an era wwhere beskar was common) it's definatly not relevant to the era.

I would say HEAVILY mod it ( I mean so we can't recognize it at all) or replace it.

[Dar'manda]

A collection of chest plates from the KOTOR era. Nagra's helmet is a certain trademark of:

I see a huge variation in the chest plates of the KOTOR era, especially in the late crusader kits that were replaced by Cassus Fett's Neo-Crusaders. Nagra's helmet got exactly the same shape as Rolan's who was offered a Neo-Crusader kit by Mandalore in KOTOR book 20.

Of corse there were no Stormtroopers in KOTOR Era. But this is about looks and how to cover a human male's chest with a single-piece plate. As you can see in above collection, Mandalorian armor can be slim at the sides or covering them, there are examples for close fitting or bulky, vertikal or horizontal lines, rounded or rectangular abs. What is the reason why this particular shape could NOT have been produced in KOTOR era?

[Dar'manda]

Tomoe, barring all your lovely pictures, it's still an un-modded TK chest piece, easily reognizable as such, ans therefore doesn't pass CRL's...  This TYPE of chestplate could be used, yes. But it would need substantial mods to the PARTICULAR one (the coverage and other features you mentioned are hallmarks of the type, not the particular) to make it work.

[Dar'manda]

Feel free to make a proposal.

[Ordo Skirata]

OK What would you do to modify the TK piece to fit then?

[Dar'manda]

Not my chest piece, and the KOTOR Era isn't one i'm keenly interested in. Filling the dent/divet in the middle would go a long way. and lessesning the bottom shelf/slant of the chest 'pec' area and making the flat/top face longer (by bondo/bondo-glass, etc..) would also help.

That may get it there or may not, i'm not an App Team member, but those two areas are very high profile identifiers for a TK  so blurring or altering them will help. Also, some sort of ab or belly armor attached to it would fit the era (an essentially solid, one piece armor covering the whole of the front).. Even if a leather add-on woudl work, though a solid, fluid extstenion of the plate overall would be best I think.

[Kora]

Filling the dent/divet in the middle would go a long way. and lessesning the bottom shelf/slant of the chest 'pec' area and making the flat/top face longer (by bondo/bondo-glass, etc..) would also help.

Pretty much what I was going to say, assuming you're trying to make the chest piece look like a Neocrusader chest piece. Though, bearing in mind I am not app team nor can speak with any authority, I really don't like the idea of combining a Neocrusader chest and a Late Crusader helmet. Regardless of whether or not there was actually an overlap between the two eras, it just doesn't seem right. For either era though, those mods will probably work, just some different shaping for each kind.  (Though if you're going for more Rohlan look, you'd have to somehow enhance that divet I would think. . .the space on his looks a lot bigger.)

[Dar'manda]

Yeah, it'd be a lot easier with an ABS vac-form to fill in than enhance a hole, i'd think.

[Kora]

The fact of the matter is, it's a stormtrooper chest plate. For a kit that exists ages before stormtroopers. It needs mods or that's exactly what it's going to look like. And when you have a member of the App team say that as well, it's best to listen rather than argue.

[Dar'manda]

Most of above examples have some kind of center piece or creave, so filling up that dent will certanly ruin a perfectly good paint job for getting nothing but uncertainty in return can hardly be considered a good deal: Nagra fills it up, then the next by passer tells him "now it looks like a clone's chest to me"... or even suggests to throw the whole work and money into trash as the perfect solution to all the previously invented "problems".

I just asked somebody of the local Stormy club for his opinion and he didn't have any issues like that eve after drilling into him for a while. He said the handprint wasn't what he would wear. So what?

Constructive critique should be informed of the era and keep the overall appearance in mind, even when just looking at single tems.  If you're not insterested and don't care to gather the information for a reasonable and valid suggestion, why do you bother? Just trying to get into my face on Nagra's costs, Ijaat?

I think that Nagra has chosen just the right coverage considering his built. The Neo-Crusader neoprene-jump-suit with the V-shape chest would be unbecoming for him. A good costumer is aware of his build that is essential to make the right impression in the end.

I can assure you those pieces were't all that is to come yet, but considering the quality of the feedback and the fact that Nagra is already an official member of Mercs, I can't command him to use this forum for his creative process. I want to see this kit built and I'm sure the outcome will be striking as usual.