Butt joining AM armor?

[ZacMuleer[TK]]

Howdy, y'all -

 

In the whitearmor main portal armor tutorials, there are some fantastic diagrams and explanations about the differences between overlapping and butt-joining the armor, and that usually the make of the armor will tell you which is easier to do. (For example, AM/FX armor has overlapping joints.)

 

However, I noticed that many troopers (including the incredibly helpful pandatrooper) who are building AM armor prefer to go with a more screen-accurate butt-joining and top it off with a cover strip. I'm a little unsure how this is done without slicing off the overlapping section (what is essentially a connected coverstrip) throwing off the measurements...

 

In the picture below (an example of AM thighs), where the arrow is pointing, if the outer piece is brought to butt join with the inner piece, the back of the thigh (in this case) would separate, correct? Just squeezing the two together would make it look weird, wouldn't it?

 

 

If I'm worried about nothing, then feel free to just let me know. Maybe I'm overthinking. But I'd like to make my AM armor as slick as I can get it.

 

I really appreciate the FISD's help. I know it's a basic question, but I think it'll help.

 

Thanks!

 

Dan

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

to create the butt join, you need to use the other method described in the tutorial.

the method you have shown in your diagram from the academy shows the overlap method.

 

this is the diagram you should follow.

 

the front area where the cover strip sits should be 20-22 mm wide with the strip 20mm wide for each front.

at the rear area where you mount the overlaping strip should be 25mm with 1/2 (12mm) extending past the mid point

at the rear of the thigh. the cover strips on the back of the thighs are mounted to the outside part of the leg

and should overlap the inside part of the leg by 12mm. this covers the velcro join at the back

of the thigh. or is glued in place according to your leg size.

 

20 at the front (butt joined) and 25 at the rear (outside overlaps inside)

[ZacMuleer[TK]]

Right, I saw that - but it said that the armor makers AM was already made for the overlap method.

 

Overlap assembly means that the halves of a thigh piece are "overlapping" each other at the seams. Some kits (like RT / FX / AM) were designed this way to make assembly easier. Some troopers prefer to "butt join" the thighs and use covers trips, as this was a more screen accurate approach (see below). With a bit of ingenuity, you can also assemble armor designed for overlap lap construction using butt joins and cover strips.

 

I was just wondering what the "bit of ingenuity" was, since I have little to none of my own.

 

I guess, the easy answer would be... Is the overlapping method just squeezing the inner halves of the thighs a little more than the outer halves?

 

Thanks,

 

D

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Yes, you squeeze them.

 

Glue the fronts, wait for the seam to cure fully, size up the armor then do the backs.

[ZacMuleer[TK]]

LOL - My big brown box is clearly on its way, so I have yet to tinker with it.

 

Thanks for the tip!

[Hedjii72]

I have a question regarding specifically, the AM biceps.

 

There is a formed ridgeline only on one piece of each bicep. Following Padatrooper's great tutorial, I have used a 8mm strip to mark that and cut the bicep leaving only 8mm of the ridgeline. Seeing as how the other half of the bicep has no ridgeline, am I correct in just butting the non-ridge piece up to the ridge piece, like this?

 

 

 

 

[seantrooper[TK]]

On 8/14/2011 at 10:52 AM, Hedjii72 said:

I have a question regarding specifically, the AM biceps.

 

There is a formed ridgeline only on one piece of each bicep. Following Padatrooper's great tutorial, I have used a 8mm strip to mark that and cut the bicep leaving only 8mm of the ridgeline. Seeing as how the other half of the bicep has no ridgeline, am I correct in just butting the non-ridge piece up to the ridge piece, like

his?

 

 

 

 

 

I've been wondering the same thing too

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Would be awesome if Pandatrooper or TKrestonva could chime in on this one...

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Yes. Thats exactly what you do. I think the pictures in my build thread show this step by step.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Doesn't that result in your cover strips being somewhat lop sided? ie: about 2mm on one side and about 8mm on the other?

[Hedjii72]

Yes. Thats exactly what you do. I think the pictures in my build thread show this step by step.

 

Thanks Terry! Your thread is legendary. I'm just being extra careful in my interpretations of each step.

[tkrestonva[TK]]

I'm a bit late to this thread . . .

 

The AM biceps were initially a tough nut to crack, since if you use the overlappling assembly method as per the instruction booklet (which by the way makes for great kindling material ) it's about impossible to get them to line up cleanly. I assembled my biceps (and forearms) by completely cutting off the built-in overlap strip.

 

 

So the takeaway is you can do it either way (mine or Terry's) and still have great results.

 

Dan, since you live just down the road from me (which given the maddening nature of metro D.C. traffic could mean minutes to hours), anytime you want to stop by and take a look at my kit - or would like some hands-on assistance with your kit - let me know and we'll work something out.