pandatrooper

It fits you very nicely! Good job! What lid is that? AP?

A lot people just replace the FX 2 part one by getting a section of 2.5" pipe, and assembling as described in the pictures / film reference.

I tuck so it's not messy, and use black hockey tape on the UA logo. I might eventually just sew a small black patch over the logo to hide it.

Will this help, Alex? http://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56850

They probably used a standard rivet and a backing washer. Try and grip the rivet on the front and back with flat pliers (to prevent it from spinning) and use a drill bit that's slightly larger than the hole. They likely either used 1/8" or 3/16" rivets. Drill as described above. Don't worry about the paint or glue.

I use a drill bit that is slightly bigger than the size of the rivet shaft (not the head). Grab the back side with a pair of pliers, then drill out the rivet from the front / head. Drill slowly. once the drill bit grinds away the head, it usually just "pops" off, leaving a clean hole. Don't press too hard ont he drill or you risk drilling through the plastic too. Don't be tempted to cut away the back side, it usually ends up messy and you end up squishing the rivets and stressing / enlarging the hole.

Whoa!!! Awesome progress!! Looks fantastic, and working bolt too! I created a similar switch assembly for my T-21 too, great minds think alike! Nice work so far!

Looking good! My only small things are: - could the eye holes be trimmed slightly more? They seem a little "deep"". - the blaster could pass if it had a D-ring on the back and some T-rack on both sides. It either needs to have 7 T-racks total, or 6 and the lower left side rack ground down and holes put in it's place. It's great that your wife is supportive of this hobby too!

Looks awesome Jesse, nice work! Your work bench looks like mine!

Coming along nicely! Your trigger / frame / grip however looks slightly off proportion (the real one doesn't have a perfectly round trigger guard, and the grip is a bit rounded on the front and back (the slotted lines don't go all the way from front to back). Here's a really good reference pic and site that might be better than my description http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Heer/photos/H080061.html

The blaster is pretty awesome. Must be a ROTJ kit. Interesting that it has the greeblies on the side too (not sure if those come with the kit or not?) I think I also understand what he did, he bored the "core" of the barrel out, then drilled the vent holes on the outside so that you can see intot he barrel. This guy definitely has mad skills on a tiny scale! I have a hard enough time making that stuff in life-size!

Pretty impressive detail! Looks like he's modifying the E-11 from the Kaiyodo model kit. Looks like he was turning the barrel on a mini-lathe or something? Crazy detail nonetheless! The Sideshow TK's actually come with very detailed 6th scale E-11's now. The Kaiyodo kits are from several years back. Unfortunately, he's got the grey on the helmet all wrong in terms of screen accuracy

I think it was maybe 2007?

I love this (and the little details)

This is why I tape the parts together to prevent them from moving while the glue cures.

This is the other one I was talking about: From Star Wars to Jedi - the Making of a Saga. I have a VHS version of this that came with a VHS box set of the OT. 1 of 5 parts

Understood. We can do it FISD!

If an FISD member completes 2 EIB costumes (eg: ANH stunt, then does ESB), does that count as 1 or 2 EIB for FISD?

I always try to pick the adhesive that has the best properties for the job. Not all glue works well for everything (E6000 is close!) Some tips: Before gluing 2 parts, sand them lightly and clean them. Raw materials sometimes don’t bond well, if you sand both surfaces, this will give “tooth” for the adhesive to bite into. Clean off any sanding dust debris as well and clean the parts if possible. If you just ate some greasy pizza and are trying to glue armor, wash your hands first! Oil and contaminants can weaken a bond. I also find it’s helpful to have a tight fit for both parts instead of “space” that you need to fill with an adhesive. Try to get a secure fit first before gluing. Also consider surface area, the more surface area that you have with full contact on both parts, the more secure the bond will be. Pinning / mechanical - I think a lot of people forget to do this. There’s often situations where you could just glue something, but a simple trick is to “pin” it. Say I’m gluing a cube shape to a PVC pipe. I’ll drill a tiny hole in the cube, and glue in a pin. I often save the leftover pins from 1/8” rivets for this purpose. Drill the proper hole, and put a drop of Zap a gap on the end of the pin, and press it in the hole. It’s going to stay there. Now I just snip off the pin and only leave a ¼” or whatever on the end. Drill a matching hole in the PVC, apply E6000 to both surfaces. I’ll put a drop of Zap a gap in the pin, and now align both parts and clamp. The glue will hold the pieces together, and the pin will prevent it from moving. I would use this trick for assembling resin figures all the time, and I find I can use it on various props too. Don’t always just think that you need to use glue / adhesive alone. If no one can see it, use a form of mechanical support too like screws, bolts, rivets or pins along with gluing. You’ll get a much more durable bond and it can resist repeated impacts, etc. Having built lots of sculpture, models, costumes and props, here’s a few descriptions: Armor (ABS / Plastic) - I’ve used plastic weld for model building for a long time. It basically melts ABS and styrene type plastics to create a bond. I usually try to apply some to one surface to soften it up, then apply the other piece. Then I will brush some along the seams and clamp it. Pretty strong bond, but it only allows for a little flex on butt joins, surface to surface is quite strong. You can also get styrene tube glue. Most the ones for model kits are not as strong of a bond as plastic weld. I find it doesn’t “melt” the plastic as much. But you have more work time if you have smaller parts. Keep this just for styrene as it’s not as effective on other plastics. - E6000 provides for a MUCH longer work time, and it allows a little “give” in joins. For non porous surfaces (plastic) sand both sides, apply E6000 in a bead on BOTH surfaces, and spread it with a pop stick. Let it tack up for a few mins (in other words, take your time to get your parts aligned. I usually have tape and clamps ready to hold parts in place) align, join then clamp. I find that the bond will hold after several hours, but best to leave it overnight / 24 hours before stressing it on areas like the shins. The only downside is the long cure time, but that gives you more time to play with. I’ve used this for resin kits but I find that sometimes if you don’t spread it thin (on top of this, you’re spreading this on 2 surfaces) it will create a “thickness” that you might not want. This might throw the alignment out on other parts. - ABS / PVC cement adhesives. I’ve been using these a lot for blasters, etc. Make sure you get the correct type for the proper plastic! ABS glue for ABS and PVC for PVC. They come in different colors and have different cure times / properties. Remember that plumbers want a fast cure time so that they can install a sink or whatever, and move on. This might be too fast of a cure time for you, so pick the type that works for you. If you’re joining ABS to PVC, there’s a special version for that purpose too (since plumbers often run into this issue, trying to adapt one plastic to another. However with all of these plumbing type adhesives, you should sand both surfaces, clean them, and apply the cement quickly and evenly, and then join the parts quickly. You need to make sure that the adhesive is still “wet” in that it needs to melt both surfaces slightly to create the bond. If it’s dry to dry, it’s not going to hold. 2 part Epoxy - Can be a strong join but I only use it for surfaces that are solid and will not see a lot of flex. I sand both surfaces and apply it to one part, then join. I don’t like mixing it and some types cure yellow. I’ve found that it can get brittle over time, and it doesn’t have much “give”. Gorilla glue - I’ve only used this on aluminum. It fills gaps and foams up a little. Quite strong, but the foaming can leave a bit of a mess. Decent bond. Expensive and it can dry up in the bottle. Hot glue - I love hot glue when used properly! It works best on porous surfaces like foam, fabric, wood, etc. I’ve used it in lots of different ways, from bonding, gap filling, to even casting! Yes, you can cast with it by slowly gunning it into a mold. It results in a heavy piece since the glue is so dense, but usable for small parts. Hot glue comes in different types, there’s the standard type, and there’s a slower setting one that can be used on plastics and other surfaces, and a heavy duty one. If I need more work time, I’ll use a big hot glue gun with the slow set. If I need something quicker, I’ll use a mini gun with standard tubes. Small hot glue guns produce less heat, and the glue ends up with a lower melting point resulting in less work time and faster cure. A bigger gun creates more heat, resulting in a higher work time. The tips are big and small too, so pick the one that suits the job! Super glues - I only ever use Zap a Gap. The other types are somewhat sketchy. Zap a gap comes in different types with different properties (slow set, plastic, thicker consistency gel, etc..) I really like their adhesives. I have used commercial / industrial cyanoacrylite glues with accelerators before for making armatures for sculpting figures. It’s somewhat messy with spraying accelerator out of a bottle. It’s a “solid” adhesive and doesn’t have much give at all, very brittle sometimes. I’ve used Zap a gap on a lot of resin kits and such. It’s a good bond but I personally only like using it for “static” models. It’s OK for prop / handling use if it’s a greeblie, but for strength I’ll use something else. I don’t like using “Crazy Glue” as I find it’s very brittle and can “frost” the plastic you’re working with. I would only use Zap a gap sparingly and sometimes use it in a clever way. Say I’m gluing 2 cubes together. I’ll use E6000 in the middle, and put a drop of Zap a gap in each corner. The zap a gap will hold it in place, but the strength will come from the E-6000.

I'll try it tonight on my AM kit and see if I can manage it.

That's a Clever fix Eric. This method would have prevented any damage and created a more even bend / look. -----

Yes, these are the width of the strips. The length depends on how you cut your armor and what type it is. Some are longer, some are shorter. I'm not sure what you need when you're asking for "please tell me what about chest ,back plates and cod ?" You might want to clarify with more detail, but there are no "measurements" foe these pieces.

I really wish LFL would take things like this and the one that came with the 3 VHS set (from star wars to jedi: the making of a Saga) as well as the videos on the SW website, and put them on DVD / Blue ray http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Jedi-Making-Saga/dp/6303065791

Does this clear things up? ANH cover strips (the finishing strips on the front and backs of limbs) - Biceps (front and back) 15mm - Forearms (front and back) 15mm - Thighs (front and back) 20mm - Shins (front and back) 20mm Most people try to use screen accurate measurements for the front, and the same measurements if possible on the back. If they have bigger limbs, they try to shim the back with a wider strip. If that's still not big enough, then the front and back are equally shimmed if possible, again depending on your limb size.

This is awesome!!! in Youtube in 5 parts I notice in this video that someone is twisting some wires or something around the ankle of this TK (possibly to hold the shin together?) at 5:57 into the vid.