ticopowell

Looking at the single head(?) rivets I have from RS. The package says they are tube rivets for the ammo belt to canvas mounting. I have 8 short, 8 long, and 8 washers, Which should I use for the thigh mounting? The only other rivets I have are 9 split rivets. 1 for the cod, 6 for the kidney straps, and 2 spares? or maybe for the other side of the kidney/ab plates but it only came with 3 straps, so either cut one in half and use it twice or use the excess strap from the torso connections... not a big deal either way. So 3 split rivets for the belt, 2 for the thigh, that leaves 3 left over, maybe 2 for the holster and a spare? I have chicago screws for the holster attachment, and I could use them for the belt too If I wanted them to be separable. I think I have everything I need rivet wise. How does everyone connect the ab to kidney on the right side? I know the left is the 6 split rivets, but the right seems to be a "do what you want" situation. The RS armor reference pics show one snap on an elastic strap at the top of the ab/kidney, is that enough? would you recommend 2? one on top and bottom? both need to be hidden, but I imagine that we don the armor from the right so we'd want snaps of some sort there. Thanks again for all the responses.

I'm fitting the back of the shins, and the right side looks easy enough, but the left looks funky to me. I know the back cover strip doesn't have to be perfectly vertical, but I feel like the left will be tough to get it close. there is a bit of extra plastic so I could cut it to make it mostly vertical. But then the cover strip would be sitting off on the left side of the back of the calf and I think that would look funny. So either that, or I have it angled up the back. Thoughts? The angled doesn't look horrible, but it doesn't look great.

Thigh ammo belt install. I marked the dots for the rivets. They are both 1.5cm from the back edge and that keeps the ammo belt nice and tight without stretching any plastic Now I just need to drill a few holes and pound some rivets and it will be complete. (except the strap to hold it up of course)

Brilliant... haha Ill do that

Si necessita hablar en espanol (english keyboard, so no accents..) esta bien conmigo. That is a great idea, but my worry about attaching straps is if I need to trim more off I'd rather not have to attach them, then detach, trim, reattach, still doesn't fit, detach, trim, reattach. But if might be worth it. Results are what we need, the process doesn't matter if it looks correct right?

Great thread so far. I've probably read it twice, working on a third run through. RS builds seem uncommon, and they seem to have some unique difficulties so thanks for posting what you can, it helps my RS build! With the helmet, yes you can do everything afterwards, but if you want to add the external microphones you might want to do those before finishing the ears. I hear its a good place to put them. I also didn't get any frown mesh from RS, idk if it's 100% needed (nylon pantyhose should do the trick if you have an old pair lying around, I know I do... wait, I mean my wife does...) How much of your helmet is assembled? I haven't started mine at all, and I'm nervous on how much to trim. do you have any before and after pics of your trim lines? or did you just follow the molded lines already in the helmet? Thanks! Caleb

Ok, for the shape I just found, let me know what you think. I taped it so it wasn't round anymore Then I held the shoulder bell up to it. Not bad! Then I realized that if I angle the bell on the mold it looks even better. Here is the short one, There is a small dent in the back, not sure if you can see it in the photo. I wonder if this one was just a bad pull, I might message RS and ask if it looks normal to them. So it's shorter, it's misshapen, and it's dented... Guess Ill see how well the bath improves it, and if not Ill look at getting a replacement part. Any thoughts on these?

Also, I still haven't done anything with the shoulder bells. I keep going back and forth between the hot water bath first, or trimming them first. If I can replicate this shape I should do alright, then I can try on the bells again and see how they fit. My biggest worry is getting the right shape. I have stuffed animals I can toss in there, but I'm worried it will be too curved with that. If I trim first I can get rid of the abnormal short bottom edge of the left rear bell, then bathe them, but I'm thinking I want the right shape, then it will be easier to set it right. and I'd rather not cut more off of the bells if I can help it. I was writing this post and I asked my wife what she thought I could use, and as we were looking around the office/workspace I found some roof flashing rolled up that I had used for R2. I rolled it to an approximate size and it should work well to get that same shape for the shoulder bells. I think Ill start by warming the bottom inch or two for 30 seconds and see if that's enough to get the correct curve on the bells. If one dip doesn't work ill try two or three for 30-35 seconds, but not much more than that. It worked on my buttons and TD end caps so it should work alright. And thanks Chemi, I appreciate it!

I glued my shoulder straps on, let them sit for a day, then pulled them apart and realized that the right one had a bit more seepage than I expected, so pulled one the right one a little and it just popped off. I cleaned off the dry E6000 at the edges and added more. I think Ill let those sit for 2-3 days, maybe more, just to make sure they are fully cured before I pop another off. Do I have enough clamps? As I said my wife is a much better painter than I am. Here's proof! She had just finished painting the grey on the larger button panel, I had painted all the others

I think Ill trim the bottom edge off by about a half inch to make them match, Does anyone have a measurement from the ridge to the bottom of their shoulder bell down the side? I know following the top ridge should be 12", and the shorter side of my one bell is 9". Here is a pic. If I do 12" on the ridge, and 9" on the sides, and blend them smoothly it should look correct and be close enough to the right size that it won't be noticable. They will be slightly shorter, and slightly wider(making my shoulders look broader, but I was a swimmer so they aren't small shoulders in the first place), but the shortened back side of the one bell will match the front and the other bell. Am I missing something here? or would that look fine?

I think I know why one is shorter than the other. I assume that this is an original casting defect of some sort, basically it's the shape of the one RS has. Not a big deal, and I can possibly cut it shorter all the way around if I needed to, but it's the back of the left shoulder so I'm not too worried about it. The other side matches fairly well. What would you guys recommend to shape the bells with when I pull them out of hot water? all I can think of is a stuffed animal but I'd hate to warp them into a worse shape.

One more question, among the many I've asked... How deep do the belt boxes need to be? I've seen a billhag diagram that says 15mm, and to cut the inner to 12mm to fit. Is that accurate? I know they aren't very thick but idk how thick to make them. At 15mm my outer boxes need almost no trimming, basically I'd remove the flashing and call it good.

I was thinking 6 on each side of the torso for the rivets. I thought I saw 12 in that packet I received from RS. It's Mike Ford that's making it, he's made a lot and shown me his that he uses. Here ya go. Underside. Inside side the right one (without the swoop, right?) is slightly taller than the other.

Well, thought of more questions. I bought my blaster from RS, so I up until now assumed that it would be almost perfect. But since I can I'm going to ask what y'all's think. Here are the pics From what I can tell it meets all the requirements, if I need more closeups please let me know Shoulder bell time I trimmed them slightly big, 12.5" over the top and 6" on each bottom, 12" and 5" is recommended based on the RS props video, just to see how they would fit before removing too much. I think I can go ahead and remove the rest based on these pictures, but what do you think? Not sure why the left is sticking out so much on the back in that second picture. The back armor is clearly shifted right, so that probably has something to do with it. To get the bells better aligned I might need to bathe them unless you guys have other tips. Thanks again

Thanks guys! I decided that in order to get thing set up correctly you guys needed more pictures, and I needed to wear the costume in said pictures. The top straps are going to be just fine if I wear the armor here. My neck wants the armor a little lower so I think Ill trim that a little, and Ill need to shim the sides as previously mentioned, other than that everything seems to fit alright. Once I start walking around in it I might feel differently lol Here are the pics So in my personal checklist of what I have left to do/buy: trim excess return edge of body pieces attach shoulder straps, plastic and elastic size shins while wearing boots and add a cover strip and bra straps Remove excess glue from all appendage pieces Rivet on knee ammo belt Rivet ammo belt onto canvas belt chicago screw holster onto belt (it's being made right now by a local 501st member) make/attach belt boxes (1 rivet in the back right?) Attach loops to thigh ammo Finish trimming and attach straps to shoulder bells Attach biceps to forearms and make a bicep hook for the shoulder bell (or strap, not sure which route I prefer yet) Add shims and rivets to kidneys and abdomen including crotch strap Paint all the rivets that need paint (12 off the top of my head, the crotch ones dont get painted right?) paint the screw heads around the torso pieces Attach button panels to abdomen (gonna have them touched up by the wifey first) Start and finish helmet. Talk to the GML I have a black top on order, I have a balaclava from Vader I can use, I have the rubber gloves and flexible hand guard already, but I don't think I want to wear those on every troop so Ill need some black gloves, I already have a spare hand guard I can wear with normal gloves. I know a sound system isn't required, but I like the idea of people being able to hear me so that will happen eventually. Am I missing anything? any other big gotchas? What's the fastest first time stormtrooper build? because from start to finish it's been 3 years, but from when I started work it's been about 11 days. I think in another 11 days I can have most things ready to submit for approval. Hopefully I can get EIB quickly as well, but being number 1000 would be cool in itself... haha Thanks again guys, let me know what I'm missing. Caleb

I definitely learned that with my Vader costume, ask questions, measure twice, and hopefully don't buy everything 2-3 times like I did. Bought a halloween costume off ebay and after spending $800 the only piece that I reused were the shins. Hopefully I can get the rest done before I go back to work in 2 weeks, shouldn't be too hard at this pace. I've been studying helmet references for that build, Ill probably start that here in the next day or two.

I think they look great. I figured out that using 550 cord spaces the distance between the bumps and the side just right.

Thanks! It's always a worry that I do something, or cut something, and someone comes along and says that I did it wrong and need to redo everything, so I'm very happy that it looks great

Another question with trimming the shoulder straps. I have my left one marked, but I'm wondering what you guys think on the marks. The short ends would be trimmed right against the bumps. the sides have 1/8th of an inch or so, and they will be as straight as I can make them. I picked this one to be on the left side because of the way it curves, I feel like the right side curves up slightly more, so when on the armor it will bow out in the middle, making the back closer to the center of the upper back torso piece. It's slight, but there is a slight difference between the two.

Thanks Joseph, that makes me feel better about the knee. I trimmed it like you mentioned. I got the torso and back piece straps done. I expect to take them apart a few times, but I need them together to accurately size the shims. Next I need to get the top straps done. I believe I read that 4 bumps on the top straps need to be attached to the chest armor and the rest behind. I wasn't sure if that was accurate so I did some research. Here is a good photo reference, from what I've researched 4 is the minimum on the armor, but it most are 4-6 bumps but there are numerous examples with more than that. Because of my height, 6' tall, I imagine I'll want 4 and if there is excess over the back I can deal with that. I might do 5 depending on how they sit when I try them on. I have to trim them first, so I'm researching that too That's it for now, maybe Ill post later tonight with more updates.

I didn't quite finish the thighs, but I got the right one done minus the ammo belt. The left one is trimmed, I just ran out of magnets to glue it. The other magnets are on my left forearm at the moment, I was messing with it and the cover strip popped off so it's getting glued again. I also got my sniper knee done. With the pieces RS gave me it is going to be impossible to have them flat at the front (screen accurate) and have them exactly match the top edge of the shin like the CRL says. The back part matches, the front is flat, so I'm happy with it. Of course I have pictures. I've also been cutting out reinforcements for the strapping kit. It's annoying, but I believe it's better to do this now than to try and repair the armor later. I'm using the extra parts left over from the cover strips that I've cut out. thats it for tonight, more to come tomorrow.

Thanks guys, I decided to just go with what the wife likes better, so the shin with tape will stay on the left. Now I'm working on the sniper knee. I found this reference page I did find a few videos and threads here with techniques from other builders (yes I know, build off the reference photos). I did a rough trim of the top and bottom of the sniper knee part. The return edge is completely removed on the bottom but it's not sanded yet. The upper part looks kinda funny, and I'm not exactly sure where to put it when I install it. I of course took some pictures to get your opinions. I drew a line as a guess as to where I should trim the back edge, and I have another line around the top with my final trim estimation. Also I'm tempted to bathe these to get them to match the shin's curves better. I'm not too worried about the shin being off centered when looking from behind, it appears that the reference pics knees are also off centered, matching mine pretty well. this pic is a good reference for the back of the sniper knee. I did manage to finish attaching cover strips to the arms. I'm not sure if I need internal cover strips for those, but I do have the scrap material for that if it's recommended. I'm thinking the biceps will be fine, but I could see the forearms needing it with the extra movement and possible bumps that they would get in the future. The right forearm smooth cover strip area had a lot of excess bend in it, so I attached it while the protruding (top when wearing) cover strip area was not attached, then after that had cured I was able to bend the forearm and attach the top cover strip). sorry if that doesn't make sense, I can post a pic if anyone is confused. I haven't done much else today, just research and reading other build threads. I did read that the belt screw/rivet covers were 1" squares, so I marked mine out but wanted to find the actual reference to that before cutting them out. Heres where I marked the back side before cutting. That's it, I think tomorrow I want to get the thigh pieces fitted, and possibly finished. Well see how far I get

Opinion time! Which shin looks better on which leg? My wife thinks the shin with tape on it looks better on my left leg, but what do you guys think? It's an RS kit so they are the same, just my building is what makes them different. Tape on left Tape on right I obviously want to figure this out before putting on the 25mm cover strip and the sniper knee, and I definitely need a cover strip on the back. I also need some trimming without shoes on, but with shoes I might need to tape the shoe a little around the top to get the shins to sit right. I'd rather not, but I'm always open to suggestions. Thanks! Caleb May the 4th be with you

Vader wanted to see what all this white armor was about...

I did mainly research tonight, I did get a few pieces closer though. The front of the thighs are completely done. The front of the shins are curing/drying. I cut out hopefully the rest of my visible cover strips and managed to have enough magnets to get a forearm started and a bicep started. The sheet I got was 17.5"x17.5" so I could cut one 15mm strip and cover part of a forearm and part of a bicep. Thankfully the bicep was small enough normal clamps would work, I used clamps because I ran out of magnets. I bought 30, if I were doing this regularly I think 80 would suffice, I could then do both legs or both arms all at once lol