Thigh construction question

[Beren[501st]]

I am trying to determine where to cut the back of my thigh armor to create a butt joint/ cover strip result. I am using AP armor and want to have a tapered fit of the thigh to fit accurately to my leg.

 

In the first picture, you can see the line drawn where the overlap occurs. In the second picture, the pieces are fitted to show how they will fit together.

 

If I trim along the pencil line, my cover strip will ultimately be place on a diagonal, and as seen in the third photo, and I will have to work around the molding on the bottom of the thigh. I am concerned that this will not look right.

 

If I mark the middle of the top and bottom and draw a straight line down, this would make sense, but the "overlap" molding on the outside leg piece will interfere.

 

1. Should I trim this overlap off completely first and then draw my cut line?

2. Am I correct to think that I should create a tapered fit?

3. Or, if I am to cut along the pencil line, how do I address the fit near the bottom (photo 3)?

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Split the difference and cut it like this. Cut the formed ridge off the back and use a cover strip to hide the seam instead. Trim a little off at a time and test fit it. The bottom will line up better this way.

[Spectre]

Yeah what Terry said. That never would have occurred to me haha good work Terry.

[Shooter]

It really depends on the size, shape of your thigh. I would recommend as Terry showed to put together the Front first, then do some test fitting and trimming until you have the fit you're looking for.

[TK-4935]

I held the thighs on to my legs to get the right fit and got a friend to tape them and then draw a line right down the middle (and then a line showing where it had overlapped)

Basically, what you have already done but don't cut along the pencil line that you've drawn on the underlapped half. Draw a centre line on the overlap half. That's your cut line.

I then removed, re-taped and cut through both pieces at the same time following the line down the middle.

This gave me a perfect butt joint.

 

edit: Dont worry about matching the bottom raised edges. The AP thighs simply don't match up.

Edited January 13, 2012 by TK-4935

[Beren[501st]]

Here's an update to the thigh armor. I marked the top and bottom, drew the "dashed" lines on each piece (thanks Terry and Simon) and trimmed. In the third photo, you can see how nice the pieces will match up once I attach the shim and a 25mm cover strip.

 

One area of uncertainty... how do I address the discrepancy at the bottom of the leg when I place the cover strip? Do I stop the cover strip at the molding on the right side, or try to cover over it and extend to the molding on the left side?

[daennika]

Having had the same issue I recognize that trim pencil line, since I made the same one while fitting the thighs on myself. Only difference is that I almost completely removed the bottom edge. I couldn't move otherwise since I'm super short.

 

The way I see it, you can adjust the height from the top if you want to leave the bottom edge intact. You might lose some return edge up there, though... But you'll start trooping and you might want to cut a lot from the bottom because you could be bleeding in that area.

Edited January 15, 2012 by daennika

[TK-4935]

On 1/15/2012 at 11:45 AM, Beren97 said:

Here's an update to the thigh armor. I marked the top and bottom, drew the "dashed" lines on each piece (thanks Terry and Simon) and trimmed. In the third photo, you can see how nice the pieces will match up once I attach the shim and a 25mm cover strip.

 

One area of uncertainty... how do I address the discrepancy at the bottom of the leg when I place the cover strip? Do I stop the cover strip at the molding on the right side, or try to cover over it and extend to the molding on the left side?

 

 

I would adjust the bottom so the raised edge lines up as near as dammit. This will result in two things.

1) You will have to then trim a section of the return edge off to match the very bottom edge. That's not a problem. You can reinstate the return edge with a modelling iron or a normal iron if needs be.

2) The top will now be slightly out. Again, not a real problem as the cover strip can mask this. It's only a matter of mm's after all.

 

All in all, that's a very neat trim job.

[Beren[501st]]

Here's another update to the thigh trim in case anyone is having similar questions and wants to see how it is turning out. After placing an inner shim piece, I aligned the top portion of the lower molding. Once set, I used a modeling iron to correct the top and bottom. Now, it's ready for the 25mm cover strip.

 

The only thing left to trim afterwards will be the bottom edge to allow my leg to bend without pinching.

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Great work! Looks perfect,a lot of good info here.

[LePaul]

HOW did you make those edges line up?? Impressive

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

it looks too tapered to me.

I'd like to see it with the shims and finishing strip?

 

are your legs smaller than the armor? or larger?

[Beren[501st]]

On 6/7/2012 at 11:33 AM, TK Bondservnt 2392 said:

it looks too tapered to me.

I'd like to see it with the shims and finishing strip?

 

are your legs smaller than the armor? or larger?

 

My legs are thin and I wanted to avoid the "cow-bell" effect, so I tapered the legs to fit.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

nice subtle weathering!

[dak[TK]]

nice job and good info

[TKZombie[TK]]

The taper is good. Good job on the timming.