Best way to expand overlapping thighs

[Feezle[501st]]

Ok, so my armor needs to be just a little bit bigger. I can wear it, but it is hard to move and if I gain 1 pound, it ain't happening.

 

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this without ruining the look.

 

 

 

In the tips and tutorials section it says that some people have used overlapping armor but butt joined the pieces. If I were able to eliminate the overlap, I would have plenty of room. I'm wondering how people have done this. I've also thought of maybe just shimming the backs of the thighs and using only the very edge of the overlap. I don't know how weird this would look though.

 

So how have people gone about putting in very small shims without ruining the look of the armor?

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

What I would do is separate it in the back and add the small shim to the inside of the butt joint of the a and b parts of the thigh. Then fill in and blend with something like model plastic putty so the edges blend. model putty link: ---

 

Then put back the coved strip in the back. With your suit being a TD and you keeping it Sandy, you will be able to mask any imperfections, if any, with the weathering. You will probably have a gap around the bottom area where the armor has the lip around the back of the knee area. You can do either one of two things.

 

One: Cut little shims, glue to the back inside area, and then smooth the top out with the model putty.

Or

Two: You can trim the back area off (see pic below), like a lot of troopers have done, and this will give you a little more bending mobility.

 

That is what I would do. hope it helps.

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[Feezle[501st]]

I actually trimmed the edges like you suggested last night.

 

On 7/9/2011 at 2:22 AM, RogueTrooper said:

What I would do is separate it in the back and add the small shim to the inside of the butt joint of the a and b parts of the thigh. Then fill in and blend with something like model plastic putty so the edges blend. model putty link:----

Then put back the coved strip in the back. With your suit being a TD and you keeping it Sandy, you will be able to mask any imperfections, if any, with the weathering. You will probably have a gap around the bottom area where the armor has the lip around the back of the knee area. You can do either one of two things.

 

I'm a little confused about this part. My armor isn't butt joined, it is the overlapping type. I don't actually have cover strips. I was considering butt joining the pieces anyway but the pieces aren't going to line up. Does that make sense?

 

It is like this except the inside piece is straight, it doesn't have the bend in it.

 

 

I wish I had a picture but I don't have one with me.

Edited December 4, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[Barricade[501st]]

If you're going to separate the thigh, you'll need to get a plastic strip to cover up where you joined the pieces. My guess is you want to increase the space inside the thigh by butt-joining ends instead of over lapping. It'll probably look fine as long as you cover it up with the strip.

[Feezle[501st]]

I think that is the way I'm gonna go. Just need to find some plastic to make cover strips out of. Probably leave the front the way it is right?

Edited July 8, 2011 by Feezle

[Billhag]

Rich

I've done this on quite a few suits now for other troopers and if you do it right no one will even notice

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps mate

[Feezle[501st]]

Great illustration! So should I cut off the part that is meant to overlap?

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

On 7/9/2011 at 4:16 AM, Feezle said:

Great illustration! So should I cut off the part that is meant to overlap?

 

 

I would shim it without cutting the overlapping edges. Even though they don't match up, I have actually manipulated the plastic on overlapping joints, like what you have, to bend enough that they actually match up well enough and with a cover strip, you will never notice it.

 

[Feezle[501st]]

Wife just picked up 3 scrap sheets of HIPS at a local plastic shop for free. Should be able to start this weekend. I'm going to probably have to sand down a lot of the weathering first.

[Billhag]

On 7/9/2011 at 4:16 AM, Feezle said:

Great illustration! So should I cut off the part that is meant to overlap?

 

Rich

I would mate, this would give you an even surfase to work with and look better.

 

 

 

 

Ideally for oversized thighs its better to spread the additional width needed between the

front and the back distributing it as even as possible whilst keeping an authentic appearance.

For instance, if I needed to add an additional 70mm overall I would have the front strips at

30mm and the backs at 40mm, following this through to the shins to keep it uniform.

You want to try to keep the shims that you insert as small as you possibly can because

the wider you go the bigger the finishing strip will need to be to cover it. I try not to go over

50mm for the backs if I can help it. This would give me a 40mm shim to play with allowing

for a minimum of 5mm each side of the strip for overlap at the sides.

Remember the bigger / wider you go the more noticeable it will be.

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps mate, let me know if you need anymore info and I'll be glad to

help out wherever I can

[Feezle[501st]]

Thanks a lot! I think in this case I will just try doing the back because I need so little extra space. I don't know though. I'll have to do some measurements. How do you handle the gap at the bottom in the front? The one side won't be a problem because of the ammo boxes, but the other side will be visible.

 

I'm assuming all pieces would be done much the same way? I may try widening the biceps and shins while I'm at it.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Feezle

[Feezle[501st]]

Just got home and checked the armor. The part that overlaps is a lot more shallow than I thought. I can totally get away with butting it together and putting coverstrips on the instide and outside. I don't think shims will be needed at all. Sweet!

[Billhag]

On 7/9/2011 at 10:37 AM, Feezle said:

Just got home and checked the armor. The part that overlaps is a lot more shallow than I thought. I can totally get away with butting it together and putting coverstrips on the instide and outside. I don't think shims will be needed at all. Sweet!

 

COOL!

That makes it even easier.Remember that you want to add at least 10-20 mm to the width

of your finishing strips to cover the butt seam as centred as possible.

 

 

I know that you can now get away without touching the fronts, but to answer your question

about gaps this is how you can do it to get around the problem.I just continue the finishing strip

to the bottom of the thigh.Not screen accurate I know, but it does the job with non painted

sets of armour.Plus you only have one bottom on show because the right one is covered

 

 

 

 

Keep us updated on how you get on mate

[Feezle[501st]]

Wife scored me some free High Impact Styrene yesterday! I will most likely do cover strips for everything though so it looks uniform. Some of them just won't be serving a purpose.

 

 

I needed to get rid of a lot of the weathering so I can blend in the cover strips. Half a bottle of rubbing alcohol, two old shirts, and about 4 hours later and I removed about 70% of the weathering. I'll be replacing about 25% of that with fuller's earth.

 

 

 

 

[Feezle[501st]]

Got one side of both biceps glued together as well as one thigh. I'm only doing one thigh at a time since I'm experimenting. No sense in having to break both of them apart again.