Cricket

Woo hoo, Joseph! Huge congrats!!!

WTG! Congrats!!!

Way to go, Caleb!!!! I'm so incredibly proud of you!!! You really stuck through this, even when it seemed like such an unattainable goal. Aren't you glad you didn't sell the kit way back when? Well deserved indeed!!!

Greetings Jonathan! Looking forward to seeing your pics come in for us on the GML Team to review!

The time has come, and the boy is rapidly outgrowing this kit. I'm considering selling it, but I have no idea how to price it. Armor is solid and still has lots of trooping life left in it. Would fit a skinny kid body type with a height from 53"-59" (maybe a little taller). There is some wear in typical areas, inner thighs, inner top of ab where chest plate overlaps. I think I've got over $200 of 2K clear coat on it alone. Includes everything, armor, helmet, belt, pouches, gaskets, neck seal, thigh garter, blaster, shoes, gloves. Also includes two sets of fully completed forearms (one smaller, one a little larger), and two fully completed/assembled shins/spats (one smaller, one slightly larger). Everything is painted with automotive white gloss to match, and all parts have several coats of 2K clear for protection. Any pricing suggestions would be most welcome! Thanks troopers!

Thanks for bookmarking my build! Feel free to ask if you have questions, and be sure to start your own build thread. We love new white armor!!! Cheers!

I might be a little late to the party here, but this is inaccurate. There is nothing in the CRL for the ANH TK regarding the forearms that says anything about the number of squares. I cut off a few of mine, no problems at all. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_stunt Forearms Forearms are fully closed. Overlap construction is only allowable for kits that come with the cover strip molded in to the part. OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): No return edge on the inside of the front of the forearm is allowed. Forearms must be constructed using the butt joint and cover strip method. Overlap construction is not allowed. For the ANK TK, it's never been an issue for basic through Centurion approvals.

Oh, and that thing you mentioned about adding ABS strips to stiffen the connection area if you're gluing.... I've never needed to do that. When I cut, I didn't cut right at the ridge at the bottom of the ab (where the cod starts). Instead, I cut about 3/4" below that. This allows a wide secure surface to overlap with your cod and to glue it back on (if you're shortening things). Also, it preserves the vertical ridge on the ab/cod, so you don't have to worry about guessing where to line things back up. The parts will naturally align to that ridge. I hope that makes sense! I very recently shortened my cod on my TK Hero kit, so I'm kind of familiar with how things go.

The build of the FOTK is an entirely different beast. I 3D printed a set for my son (scaled down, of course). Looking again at my build, there is a strap riveted to the interior of the ab, and snaps were attached to that. This is how Tony's (Ukswrath) FOTK build went, so I did pretty much the same thing. Connection area is totally hidden by the belt. I wouldn't attach the cod directly to the belt of the ANH TK, though. It doesn't seem like it would be all that secure. From what I've seen others do, it's a matter of gluing snap plates to the inside of the ab above where the cod is cut. Add corresponding snap plates to the inside of the cod, then attach your snap/straps.

I actually did cut my cod! And moved it up to fit my shorter torso. I let the parts overlap and glued them back together. You can't see at all that I trimmed things to accommodate my vertically challenged state. I don't see why a cod piece secured to the ab with nylon straps or elastic, or whatever, would be a problem. The belt hides everything where the cut would be, and the elastic at the bottom of the cod/butt plate would keep things from flopping around. (haha... see what I did there?) The FOTK kits have their cods secured separately from the ab using snaps on the inside of the belt. Can anyone tell? I doubt it unless you're staring intensely at the trooper's cod. And if you are doing just that, then you might have other issues going on.

A suggestion: You might consider lining up the tops of the forearms, and trimming from the bottom (while adjusting at the back for width). There is detail at the top that you really don't want to lose too much of. You'll most likely need to recreate the swoop on the inner forearm to accommodate for the size reduction and for mobility. In case you haven't seen it, here is how I sized down a forearm that had ridges on both halves. I think Glen is saying that you cut straight along the bottom of the forearm. But the forearm itself can taper inwards at the wrist- is that what you're asking? So the forearm is slightly more narrow at the wrist, a bit larger at the elbow.

As a smaller trooper I can attest to the fact that if you only pad out your arm/leg armor and not size it to fit you width wise, you're not going to be comfortable or have much mobility at all. No disrespect to Mark, but if I had done as he suggests for you, I would have been waddling around instead of walking. You want to have some room in your arms/legs, but not too much. I've added a little padding to prevent the sniper knee from clipping my thigh, but that's about it. You won't look disproportionate if your torso and limbs are sized correctly. It takes patience and work to size things down, but very much worth it. I heated up the butt plate tab and shaped the snap end to curve better to meet the cod piece so it wouldn't strain on the connecting strap. I did this only after my torso was completely strapped together and the final fit had been achieved.

Offering a little bit of feedback with what I can see here: It looks like your cod is hanging somewhat low on you, which means everything needs to shift upwards a bit. Typically, you should only have an inch or so gap between your cod and your girly bits. When you walk, your thighs shouldn't rub against this part. If they do, then it needs to come up. And you can trim the cod as well- but shifting things up first would be what I'd do before trimming. If you haven't done it already, another thing to look for initially is placement of your ab button box. The top of the ab button box should rest somewhere near the bottom of your sternum. Next, there should be 1-2 fingers' width (horizontal) between the top of the ab button box and the bottom of the chest plate. You can secure the ab and chest plates together and then put them on- if your cod is correctly "high and tight", then you may notice that the ab button box is too high- which means you would need to cut your cod down (on the ab plate) to better position your abdominal plate. And if your ab button box is in the proper location, then you might notice that your chest plate is hitting your chin. At that point, you'd trim around your neck line (and possibly around the arm areas as well). Any modification you do to your armor, try to remember the "As Above, So Below" concept. If you shorten things up in the front, then you will absolutely need to make corresponding modifications to the opposite parts in the back, or else your armor will end up wonky. Just a few personal notes from someone who has built and fitted their fair share of TKs for myself and others: With as many people who complain about armor bites, I'll say this: If your armor fits you properly, it won't hurt. And if it doesn't feel right, it probably needs adjustment. There is a certain lack of mobility that comes with wearing white plastic, but it's not entirely uncomfortable! Looking forward to seeing more of your progress- you're off to a great start!!!

Welcome welcome! Good to see new white armor on smaller troopers! I'll add in another suggestion for fitting: tape all of your ab/chest/butt/kidney/back plate pieces together with blue tape, attaching them all on the insides at the returns (don't tape on the outside, inside simulates best how it actually fits with strapping). Then put it on. Take pics of front, back, both sides. You'll suddenly have a very good idea of how the 'actual size' fits and feels. When you put just the front ab and chest together, the fit can be a little deceptive unless you have the back parts attached as well.

I had to trim a lot into that upper neck area and shoulders on my RS backplate. I also had to heat-curve things on my RS backplate to fit better as well. If trimming makes things fit better, then go for it (just trim conservatively as you go)!