Lord_Potato

This weekend I intend to touch up my shoulder bells and work on my thighs..... I am still mustering the courage to go at my ears again. I have trimmed my left thigh and taped it together for a rough fit. Looks like its gonna fit me pretty well. There is overlap in the back so I need to make sure when I cut it I have the back side ends butting together at the center. My thigh is a little thick near the top and tapers alot as it goes down. I have more room to work on the taper near the bottom but less room near the top. Another thing is that I ended up cutting the front ridge area to have a 25mm width. I tried making it down to 20mm (since a 20mm cover strip is ideal) but I guess I overcompensated when I made the cut. I am a little nervous to cut the ridges again and accidentally make it so they both add up to less than a 20mm width. The uneven shape of the ridge and shape of the curve makes it hard to measure a uniform length. Here is how the left thigh looks thus far:

More stuff coming this weekend, I've been a little distracted with life, biggest thing was finding out I'm going to be a dad after trying for a couple of years and also getting promoted to the next rank for my job (now I can stay at my job long enough to retire. Yay job security).

Thank you for the tip I will be doing that. I was also hoping if you could take a look at my TK's eyes. I feel like they are a little extra asymmetrical than other WTF helmets I have seen. I followed the shape of the eyes and I feel like trying to correct the natural shape could lead to bigger problems. Any suggestions?

My holster came in on Saturday and boy is she thick!!!!!! I appreciate the tip for the thicker holster. It is a lot sturdier than my RS. But at the moment my RS blaster needs to be shoved in there. It is a super tight fit. I am going to leave it in there and see if that will help stretch out the leather. I also did rough cuts for my thighs.....I wanted to get a general fitting before I shorten the return edges. As I tried to measure 10mm on both sides I realized I could not find my metal ruler......or any long ruler. I guess I will have to buy a new ruler and also a 90-degree ruler during the week. So I am at a stopping point for now on the thighs or anything that requires long straight cuts. I don't have time to go to the store, Game of Thrones will be on soon and I have to help make dinner

I saw a youtube video of someone putting on ears on a WTF helmet. He said there was a mold line that should follow the helmet nicely. I saw the mold line and cut along it. It did not work for me. It looked like it semi followed then decided to look like a piece of pooh. I am happy that it seemed to halfway fit but I am filled with many sorrows that I ruined an ear. The hit came with two pairs so I can try again. This time I need to plan a better approach. I will be doing more research. I also need to do some research on how to connect the mesh. The tips also appear to need a lot of sanding.

Made progress on the helmet today. I sanded out the teeth and eyes more. I was a little thrown off on how the eyes were not symmetrical ( I am aware screen accurate TK's are all lumpy LOL ) but I never noticed WTF eyes were noticeably asymmetrical. I don't think it looks bad and I scoured through the WALT's facebook page and also on various WTF build threads here and self confirmed that the left eye has more of curvature at the bottom. I did my best to try and even the shapes but could only do so much. Most of the flashing is removed. I think it looks good. Obviously, I am open to criticisms I added a second screw on each side to secure the helmet better but during the process, the helmet shift down a bit and now I have a smaller gap. I still have a gap and I am hoping that is good enough. I personally like where it sits. The visor strip is not long enough to meet my screws. I think I am going to cut small triangles and mount them behind each eye opening.

Thank you, I will sand more of the teeth and eyes, I know a lot of screen TK's had some flashing left over in the eyes....but I do agree that I can open them up a bit more. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

You are correct. I don't know why I want too. I guess it's because that's how they were made and I want to copy it. But I have learned how they put the original TK's wasn't always the best or most efficient. For example, I removed the original strapping system from my RS and did snaps. Way better. So I guess I won't use the rivet gun. I do have to but another screw on each side to prevent the back side of the helmet from rotating forward and aft. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I decided to follow the inputs I received (thanks Digz and LTM) and screwed the two helmet pieces. I put the screws near the edge because If I have the helmet assembled correctly, I would like to use rivets. So here my helmet with one screw and nut on each side holding it together: Side by side comparison with my RS Any criticisms or inputs about my assembly would be greatly appreciated before my rivet gun comes

I lowered the brow just a smidge more. I think it looks very nice like this. But I am open to suggestions and opinions. I am a little nervous when I actually rivet this thing together. So as of this moment I intend to join the two pieces like this:

Thank you for your link! Your original mistake with your RS forearm was what I was afraid of doing. But looking at what you did to you WTF, that makes sense. Attach the front and curve and equally trim both back pieces. A man is grateful for your help.

Thanks for your input, I get paid tomorrow so I will be buying that and a rivet gun. I do have a quick question. I decided to work on my helmet this weekend instead of my forearm. If I can get working on it this weekend (might be hard with all the 501sr events going on for May the 4th lol) I might try the method you suggested earlier if it turns out I need to make my forearm smaller (circumference wise). My question was if I only focused on closing the front butt joints and focus on hot water bending the pieces to a smaller shape, would that affect the way the "swoop" piece is centered on my forearm?

So I worked I bit on my helmet and noticed it has an imperfection on the faceplate. Kind of looks like a beauty mark. I'll call my helmet Diva. Anways, I sanded everything down, tried to get the teeth and eyes to look screen accurate. After that, I realized I need to order a rivet gun. While I try and find a quality rivet gun on Amazon, I was hoping to get some inputs on my helmet assembly (it is being held together via magnets at the moment). I know it is screen accurate to have space between the eyes and the black rubber gasket brow, but I prefer having no gap. So I am trying to get away with the smallest gap possible lol. Any critiques would be greatly appreciated. I also heard that the CRL might change to require a gap. Even if that's not true I have seen a lot of people submit approval photos for centurion and having no space on the brow has been something mentioned.

I'll have to take a look. Thanks for your input.

One more bit of progress I made, I ordered a pair of boots from imperial boots. Anyone recommend a site to purchase a leather e11 holster?

Not very happy with my progress this weekend but checking into a new command has been a lot more tedious and time-consuming than what I remember. I started to attack my helmet. I did my best to find the mold lines and cut out the excess plastic. I did my best to cut a straight edge for the brow (taped a measuring tape along the brow to make sure I got a generally straight edge). I punctured the holes for the hovi mich tips and made purposely small openings for the eyes and the teeth. Looking at a few reference photos, it appears that the teeth and the eyes have a bit of "return edge". That is where I left off. During the week I will be slowly sanding the teeth and the eyes until I get it to where it is supposed to be. Some good news!!! there is an armor party next weekend that I intend to go to. Maybe I can make at least a little extra progress there.

Hey Cricket! Thanks for your advice. And you are not late to the party at all. This is my first build so I am taking it slow and my job loves taking up most of my time. Your RS build thread was one of the first threads I ran into and I implemented a couple of things your thread when I resized the torso of my RS (I think it might be good enough for expert infantry). Anyways, I might try the forearm thing this weekend ( if I'm feeling cowardly, I might work on the helmet instead ). I guess I will trim it the way it is supposed to be, put my forearm in......if my forearm is swimming in the armor then try and do what you suggested. And thank you! my wife is super excited. She posted a thread on the Sandtrooper forum asking for opinions on making the TD better sized to her body but there were no responses. Fortunately, TK-44678 lives near me and is pretty good with building. We came over and he helped adjust her kit. As soon as she gets some MP-40 pouches she submitting for approval. Once that's done I will have a bit more time to attack my WTF.

You are correct. I guess I am over analyzing everything. I'll try and proceed better next time I get a chance to work on my kit. Thank you

Thanks for your comment! and yes I think you are right. Holding an individual piece is different than it put together. It can easily give you a skewed image as I have learned. And yes, hopefully there will be others to help handle and take photos

It's going to be a rough week for me, but my goal is to try and do something, even if its a little during the week. I knew I didn't have time to heat and correct my left forearm so I decided to cut my right forearm to be ready to just cut down the "cover strip edges" to be ready to try and size/shape at a later time. CRL states no return edge at the wrist opening for centurion. I removed the return edge wrist side (just need to sand to smooth out) and left minimum return edge on the opposite side. That's it for the right forearm for now. I trimmed the ab piece from the excess plastic and removed the return edges (I learned from my RS that the crotch area return edge tends to dig in my thighs) Just putting the chest and belly pieces against my body, it seemed to fit pretty well! I just need to take a tad off BOTH sides of the belly plate (where they connect to the kidney plate) mainly to make a straight line edge: Another thing I noticed is that I might cut just an extra sliver off the lower crotch area. My upper thigh seems to graze against it. I won't cut anymore until the strapping phase. Last thing I noticed was that the chest plate does not seem to fit evenly on my chest. My top left of the chest plate (the area where the shoulder tabs go on) pops up about an inch while the right side sets flush with my chest: LEFT SIDE (side that springs outward) RIGHT SIDE I intend to heat up the upper left area and then press down on that area and that should even the upper chest area. I would like to hear some opinions on this. I might hold off until I am in the fitting part of my build.

Thank you, yes, I was pretty lucky with not messing up the RS pieces I hear bended. Like I said, the Walt's ABS plastic is harder to manipulate. I will try what you suggested for my next piece :). Thank you so much.

You are very correct. I only have minimal experience in heat bending. Here is a couple of pictures of how I increased the curvature on my kidney with hot water and how I increased the curvature on my ab plate with a heat gun on my RS armor: Just so you can see I have done a little bit of bending. I removed the return edge on the top of my kidney armor after the hot water bath.... My RS is PVC plastic and Walt's is ABS. I think that (along with minimal experience) made me mess up on the left forearm. The PVC was a lot easier to get to a bendable state. I n my opinion, PVC is a little easier to mess with. The next time part I need to heat bend, I will take extreme caution.

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Haven't done much on my build yesterday or today. I guess I realized that I cannot rely too much on referencing my RS armor. Some armor pieces (like the forearms) are shaped very differently which I realized I was going to have to do some extreme shaping of the left forearm to make it look like the RS. But that is not the point. WTF is supposed to be different, it is a fan sculpted version. I spent time trying to reshape my left forearm and kind of distorted the shape. I am leaving the left forearm alone for now and tomorrow, I am going to just do the normal cuts on the right forearm and see how it naturally comes together. Before I try and put the right forearm together I am going to browse over a few more WTF threads. So I learned a small lesson and it might have cost me ruining a left forearm. But I have a job and I can get it replaced if it is not recoverable. Anyways, I really do appreciate the few of you who are checking up on this build. This build will take a minute and it makes me feel a bit more confident as I get some inputs. the last update for today, right before I received the kit my neck seal arrived in the mail from Geeky Pink's Phantastic Gaskets. Here is a picture of the fit. I was not sure where to go for various parts of my soft goods and stumbled across Geeky Pinks, it was also nice that she made the based on your neck measurements! I think it fits very well. One part of my soft goods down!

JustJoseph63, thank you for the input. I intend to removed the return edge during final fitting during my sizing stage, I realize I am leaving a little extra room.