maxsteele

Thanks for the input Derek! I have 30 of these magnets: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0084UASJQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2AN80OGADPFB5 They're 1/2" diameter by 1/8" thick. Looks like they have the same pull force as the ones you linked as well. Perhaps I can just stick with the ones I have. I think I'm going to return the bar magnets I just bought because of where the polarities are. I am absolutely using e6000. I haven't started gluing yet, but my biceps and forearms are ready for strips. Those will be the first pieces I glue together. I guess I'll just need to see if I feel comfortable gluing both sides at once vs. one at a time and go from there. Good to know there isn't a "You really should do it (this way)" method for that. I am going to go for no inside strips this time, and if it seems like it's not strong enough, I can always go back and put in an inner strip. Sounds like that will work. My only concern is the right forearm, which has quite a bend to it. I'll have to see how the glue holds up when I put the finishing strips on the outside only and go from there. Next up - gluing the biceps and forearms!

Ah, that's what I was afraid of. The magnets are the strongest at the tips. That's too bad. Maybe I can use them for something, but they won't be able to provide the force I need at the middle points of some of the longer strips. I'd love if I could get some feedback on my three questions from my previous post before I continue with this build.

Alright, I'm getting ready to start some gluing and had some questions about technique: 1) Should I glue one half of the finishing strip to one side of a piece, clamp it and wait 24 hours, then glue / clamp down to the other side, or should I put the two pieces together under the finishing strip and glue / clamp down the entire strip at once? 2) It seems that no matter what option I use, once I get to the point of gluing the other side's finishing strip down, I won't have the ability to do one side of the finishing strip first, and then the other, because the two pieces will be basically touching already. If I'm incorrect on this, should I use the "one half" method on the second finishing strip or the "all at once" method? 3) What is the current recommendation for inside finishing strips? I feel I can do without them, but if there are enough compelling arguments, I could change that feeling. 4) I have these magnets: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0084UASJQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2AN80OGADPFB5 . Are these going to work for the center areas of finishing strips where clamps can't reach? Or do I need to buy wider / strong magnets? EDIT: I'm seeing these magnets on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1M37MY/ref=s9_simh_gw_p60_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=03XCWN3H8APQ6TEEPW1Z&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630083462&pf_rd_i=507846 That's quite the deal. I can get 12 of those for $14. 25.4mm x 6.35mm x 6.35mm . 77% off because of Cyber Monday deals. Would these be good for finishing strip compression in the center areas, like thighs and shins? Actually, the more I read about these, people are saying the strongest part of these magnets is at the ends, not through the length of the bar. I was wanting to lay them on their side and have them hold together that way, but it's the tips that are the strongest, which means the surface area is only going to be 6.35mm x 6.35mm. It's about the same as my 6.35mm diameter round magnets. I'm not sure why these are 25.4mm long. I don't get what purpose that serves. Well, I've ordered them anyway and if they don't work for what I need, I'll send them back.

I think this starts coming down to where the pieces are comfortable for you to wear. I haven't glued them yet, but I've cut down my forearms, and they certainly fit closer than yours do. I also have very small forearms / wrists compared to yours. It looks like your left forearm has more space than your right? The right forearm is looking like a nice fit to me. Here's my cut forearms for comparison: It's also a good idea to see how the fit is with your undersuit and gloves on.

Just to chime in - I used Gray 1138 for the frown, and will use that for the traps and tears. I used flat black for the vocoder and the mic tips.

I'm using Testors on my helmet. I only did one coat with my vocoder. It covered well enough the first pass. I waited 24 hours with the frown on a second coat. I don't think I needed to, but it was just a stopping point for me and I couldn't get back to it for another 24 hours. I probably would have been fine waiting a couple of hours. The one thing I did notice is don't start trying to paint a new coat or put your brush over the new paint within the first 30 minutes or so. The paint is still goopy and you'll start lifting the paint up and causing deep brush strokes in the drying paint. I was able to clean mine up when I did that, but it's best to avoid it.

Alright, I've had some garrison members over to help out with fitting my pieces. I've started cutting! I need feedback on these forearms. They have been trimmed down to fit me. If these are looking good, it's time for finishing strips and e6000. I can re-take the blurry ones if needed, but I think you can make out enough details.

I believe this template is set to go on the side they are when you look at your helmet, as you have it laid out in this pic. So in this case, the template on the left goes to the "left" side of the helmet when looking at the helmet (which is the actual right side of the helmet), and the right template goes on the "right" side when looking at the helmet (which is the actual left side of the helmet).

Woo hoo!!!! BIg congrats to you David!

Frown painted:

Vocoder painted:

What you will notice with the shins is there is a greater inward curve toward the bottom of the piece for the inner piece. In your case, you can see that the piece on the right has the greater inward curve. That would be an inner piece. There's a noticeable molded ridge for both pieces that indicate the front seams. Again, with your picture, you have the molded ridge on the piece on the left, and the piece on the right. That means these two pieces together are a front piece, and with the inner piece having more of a curve, together that makes it the right shin. Here is what the left shin looks like: And here is my right shin after I trimmed the front pieces: As for the return edge, you want to at least remove the return edge at the bottom of the shins, because that is where the shins will come in contact with the boots. If you leave the return edge, they will dig into your boots and cause grooves in them. As for the return edge at the top, it is suggested to keep it, but it's up to you whether you want to trim it down or remove it completely. It becomes a matter of comfort. Here are my shin pieces with the bottom return edge removed:

Alright, I've painted the Mic tips and installed the screens. Question regarding the black outline on the side and rear traps - do I start the line inside the indent, on the middle of the curve of the indent, or on the outside of the indent where it begins? Also, once I have my lines to paint in order, should I mask off next to the lines so I can paint and not worry about having a shaky hand for getting a nice straight line exactly where it's supposed to be? And if I do mask, do I take the tape off shortly after painting, or wait for it to completely dry before pulling the tape off? EDIT: I'm highly considering painting the gray on the traps and tears, but using black pin striping for the black outline. http://trooperbay.com/stormtrooper-ear-pinstripe-tape/ I'm also considering using the Trooperbay templates to keep a consistent size and make the vertical stripe painting easier: http://trooperbay.com/stormtrooper-helmet-masking-templates/

Hey ya Darren! I'm building NE right now. From all my research and suggestions, here is how I cut my chest, kidney, and butt plates: Chest - I removed the extra flashing on the lower sides: I took out the "L" shape on the kidney: And I took off the flashing on the top sides of the butt plate: Those changes will certainly make your kidney and butt plate wrap around your torso differently, which could pull in other gaps elsewhere.

Alex, I'm doing an NE build myself. Here are what my forearms look like with the return edge removed on the wrist end: I later cut out the return edge where the molded indents are as well on those first two pieces - there at the top middle. You'll understand what I'm referring to when you look at the return edges. I also completely removed the return edge on the inner forearm pieces at the elbow end: And I trimmed down the outer pieces' return edges at the elbow end about half of what they are. I can take photos of that if you need them, but I didn't take any originally. Here is where I found the common line on the front molded edge, then measured 7mm back and placed my metal ruler on that line (held in place with earth magnets) After that, I scored down the ruler with an xacto knife and did a bend and snap on the line: I did the same on the other joining part, and here's the result: And here's an example of what it looks like with the 15mm finishing strip laid down over this seam: Once you have the front done, you'll need to do like Steve said and get the pieces wrapped around your forearm, find the common center, and cut the excess away. When you're ready to glue the finishing strips on, line up the forearms at the elbow end and cut the excess off at the wrist end. All of the excess should be on the pieces without the molded indents. Then you can put the pieces together and glue down the finishing strips. Good luck with your build and I'll try to chime in when I have some info for you!

Congrats Bryan! I will endeavor to assist you as much as I can from what I have learned so far with my NE kit. I didn't get the helmet, but I've been working on the armor. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions in your build thread!

Initial mic tip hole drill and installation:

I think they're looking good! One bit of advice I received when I was carving my teeth is to have the top and bottom parts of the holes slant with the frown. You could possibly take some more off the top and bottom of each tooth here and really make them match up with the direction the frown is curved.

Thanks Jason! Those ears are a slave Leia to shape. I just noticed from another thread - the gap on the back side of my right ear looks really close to this one: That makes me happy to see. Question regarding the mic tip installation - do I drill the holes where the indents are? It seems like that's where to put them and it will be very simple to just drill right where they are. Also - I'm kind of feeling like I don't want to polish my helmet or my armor. Is this something people do? I don't want to get dirty like a TD, but I don't need to be able to see my reflection in my helmet or armor. I'm thinking the current sheen of both the armor and the helmet look fine.

After measuring and sizing up for about an hour, I drilled the bottom holes into my helmet. I had to really work it in order to get my right screw to line up for both holes, but damnit! I made it fit! There's probably a little bit of stress at that screw join, but I think the ABS can take it. I'm not really sure how I could bring the bottom of the rear right ear in more. I'm not sure I really want to fight it, because it was hard enough as it was to get the damn screw in. My wife and kids didn't even notice it until I pointed it out. heh... And here is my S-trim installed - did I do this correctly? I think I could get rid of a little bit of the bunching seen in the bottom right corner if I trimmed a little more from the S-trim. Does it matter or is this fine?

I picked up these at Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Grease-Monkey-Long-Cuff-Neoprene-Extra-Large-23404/202188319#.Unqa1Plwp8E They look good, and they're pretty comfortable to wear. I got a pair of thin costume gloves from Halloween City just before they closed for $4 and I wore those and these neoprene gloves for a couple of hours (for a different Halloween costume). They worked out great. Not sure if they would be Centurion-approved, but these would be a pair that I'd get evaluated for that purpose.

I've shaped and drilled the top two holes / connected the left ear. I'll still have some gap in the front and back, but once I drill the bottom hole and tighten it down, it brings that gap in. I'm certainly not going for completely flush with no gaps. I'll drive myself crazy trying to achieve that. And - here's a front shot of the helmet with the ears on (top two screws only) That's how the brow trim is going to look. If I were to try and correct it, I'd be drilling more holes, and I'm not going to get into that whole business. I'll end up turning my helmet into swiss cheese. I see everyone always talking about how not every helmet was perfect, and each person's helmet is unique, etc... So to that, I recite: "This is my TK helmet! There are many like it but this one is mine!" I have noticed that the right ear is thicker than the left ear. I also noticed the molds for each ear are different, and the right one is squished in more down at the bottom, where the left one is flatter at the bottom. I don't think I need to worry about either the different thickness or the bottom details. I do know I'll need to trim up the bottoms of both ears so I'm able to get the S-trim on, which I'll take care of once I drill the bottom holes and cinch the ears up, so I can really see where they sit and how much I need to cut off to get that S-trim on there.

Are you submitting for basic 501st approval? If so, from what I'm reading, all you need to do is submit your photos to your local GML who can approve it. If you're going for ANH TK Stunt approval, the GML is the only one that needs to give a pass on it. As for the photos, it just states you need full body front, back and sides, which you have. The only thing I can think of is in your side photos, hold your arms straight out so the entire side of the armor can be seen. Right now, your arms are blocking some of the side view of the armor. If you received a response of "You need to show the costume better" with no actual specific details, I'd write back and ask exactly what it is you need to show better. It won't do much good for us to guess on what your GML is asking for.

That's what I thought. I found that even just adding the two screws at the top suddenly made the helmet very solid. I also like the ability to take the helmet completely apart if I need to, and I believe adding those rivets at the bottom would prevent that from happening. Now that I have the new brow trim (Thanks Steve!), I can start shaping the left ear.

I drilled more holes! Look out! Only the top two are drilled. I didn't drill the bottom yet. Looking at a couple of other build threads, I think the front of this right ear is trimmed enough. Once I get the bottom hole drilled and the ear screwed down, that will bring in the gap. As far as the back part is concerned, When squeezing the ear down, I saw a spot where I could take some more off of it and that should make the bottom part sit down better. Also - do I need to have a rivet at the very bottom where the cap and back meet? I have seen some people put the rivet there and then have the screw that holds down the bottom of the ear to the two pieces, and I've seen some where there doesn't look like there's a rivet there and the only thing holding the bottom parts together is the bottom ear screw.