A Scouse TM ANH stunt WIP[*TM]

[TK9477]

So back in August I contacted MR TM and ordered Full set of 2" armour with and extra 2" long calves with trimmed & assembled lid......

I just want to say that I nearly made a complete A*se of myself by PM’ing TM and complaining that the lid’s eyes where wonky!! Good job I took a closer look at my ref pics as he has got all these ‘quirks’ absolutely spot on, not just with the noggin cap either – he deserves the hero status that each builder/recipient give him!

The wait was worth it ‘cos now I get to put it together!!! PLEASE PLEASE comment..even if it’s only to give me reassurance I’m on the right tracks!!!!

I won’t be following the original assembly so purists LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!

[TK9477]

The start – last weekend

Like I said the lid was pre-assembled however I wanted a more robust lens so I cut up the rest of a shade 5 welding visor – stuck a blob of milliput in the nose & screwed the visor in.

I also didn’t want to use chin-straps so I did away with the old marijuana leaf padding and out in my own brand!

 

 

 

Next came weapons:

My E-11 that was donated to me free of charge form Rob aka Matt Black HUGE THANKS. If memory serves me correctly it was a studio creations that was modded slightly. I just added the T-bars and weathered some more.

 

 

 

Next was my SE-14R from shawn....real nice kit. Again painted up and weathered.

[Spectre]

That helmet looks awesome, and the padding is whatever works for you I reckon.

Damn that SE-14 (or is it SR-14?) looks great. I want one of them and a DLT-19 so bad haha.

Looking good so far.

[TK9477]

Take a look folks....pure plastic porn!

 

Onto trimming – and I’ve been advised on the following as a general rule of thumb regarding the reurn edges:

minimal on bottoms of bicep’s and bell’s. 3-5mm tops of bicep’s,

5-8mm on the sides of the back and chest plate, sides and tops of the ab section,

6-10mm for the bottom edge of the back and chest plate, top of butt, top and bottom of kidney

(depending on strapping method being used).

3-6mm for thigh tops (transition from thick and thin for better definition in certain areas).

5-8mm tops of shins/calves, no returns on bottoms.

I’ll be leaning towards the greater end of these measurements.

So far I’m not feeling (too) lazy so I’ll use the lexan scissors to do the main cutting

And a dremmel to sand down.....

Now from experience I’ve learnt 4 key rules to using a dremmel for sanding armour.

1. The first rule of sanding with a dremmel is don’t talk about sanding with a dremmel

2. High speed v. light touch

3. Wear gigs – no one like white napalm getting in their eyes

4. Cover your beer – it gets everywhere!!!

Chest - bottom edge

Chest – sides

 

[TK9477]

Back – bottom

 

 

 

 

Back – sides

 

 

 

 

Trimmed –

 

 

Edited February 6, 2012 by TK9477

[TK9477]

Cod – top

 

 

 

 

 

Butt

 

 

 

Butt – top & side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also needed ‘Mr Sharpy’ as the round barrel just wouldn’t produce the edge I needed.

 

 

Kidney

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so the off-cuts build up – always good for running repairs!!

 

 

Question: has anyone felt the need to reinforce any of the torso area with grp from Halfords??

 

I think I already know the answer to this but may as well ask it

Edited February 6, 2012 by TK9477

[Griffin-X[TK]]

Looking good Grant...! Do you have Iron Maiden playing in the background, eh?!

[TK9477]

that final shot was taken at Two Minutes to Midnight!!!

[TrooperVenger]

that final shot was taken at Two Minutes to Midnight!!!

Why is there no 'like' button!

Looks awesome. It's such a great looking set of armour.

[Cardiac[TK]]

The start – last weekend

 

Like I said the lid was pre-assembled however I wanted a more robust lens so I cut up the rest of a shade 5 welding visor – stuck a blob of milliput in the nose & screwed the visor in.

 

I also didn’t want to use chin-straps so I did away with the old marijuana leaf padding and out in my own brand!

 

 

 

Next came weapons:

 

My E-11 that was donated to me free of charge form Rob aka Matt Black HUGE THANKS. If memory serves me correctly it was a studio creations that was modded slightly. I just added the T-bars and weathered some more.

 

 

 

Next was my SE-14R from shawn....real nice kit. Again painted up and weathered.

 

love your SE-14R

[TK9477]

Okay - more work progressed over the weekend.

 

Shoulder bells

 

 

 

Arms (I needed to breakout the big guns for this!!)

 

 

 

Biceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finito!

 

 

Thighs

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2012 by TK9477

[Griffin-X[TK]]

Great work Grant!

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Nice armor! How tall are you? I wish more armor makers offered longer shin pieces

[TK9477]

I

Nice armor! How tall are you?

 

I'm 6'2" - this will be more than enough

[haunted toilet]

Looks like your build is coming along very nicely Grant. Keep up the good work buddy.

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Its always a pleasure to follow a TM build..

[TK9477]

Okay so updates from the weekend....more trimming I'm afraid folks!

 

Calves / greaves

 

 

And all the small stuff.....

 

 

 

So first trim complete and ready for sizing & fitting......I can alsmost smell the E6000

 

[Griffin-X[TK]]

Ah yes...nothing like E6000 in the morning...! Rock on...!

[TK9477]

So I did a bit more over the weekend.....

 

Trimming the calves, thighs & forearms in preparation for the covere strips.

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was out with the 'jaffa tape' for sizing - please let me know what you think before I get the glue out...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again let me know your thoughts on the sizing....I think the biceps, forearms could be a bit baggy (although I have just abuilt a v.snug clone!) and are the calves a bit high?

 

 

......oh, and how come my pics end up soooo grainy!

[Locitus[Admin]]

Looks like a fine fit to me.

[troopermaster]

Everything is looking good so far Grant.

 

I wouldn't worry if some of the parts are a big 'baggy'. Better lose than tight I would get the biceps to be snug when you tense your muscle so they don't restrict your movement and I would totally trim away all the return edge on the wrist and inner elbow curve. As you are a slim guy, you can get the wrist pretty tight and try and flare out the forearm towards the elbow to give it that nice flared ANH look!

 

I would get the shins assembled first and test walking around before you start hacking them. If you feel you need to trim them down then take a bit off the bottom and test, then a bit more if you need to.

[TK9477]

Not a great deal of progress made due to an exausting Saturday troop - however as most of the trimming has been done it pretty much many small jobs from here on in.....

 

So, sealing the arms and legs

 

Get it straight - note not all will not necessarily need to be straight in order to be flush. This is the bicep

 

 

Line em up

 

 

Plas weld at the ready

 

 

Weld the edges together

 

 

 

Inside cover strips glued (E6000) & clamped

 

 

Outside cover strips added after the inside ones cured

 

[TK9477]

Biceps dry, forearms glued.......just check out the way TM has the flared out the forearms from the narrow wrists...yummy! Will prbably need to pad it a little inside.

 

 

Next job as the appendeges cure (for bits that will be under stress like the arms and legs I like to let the E6000 cure for three days) was to get some detail on to the torso.

 

Ist up, marking out where the rivets and snapper will go.

 

 

 

...and fixing them in.

 

 

next came the most boring job of the build.....making the female snapper & plates.....I prefer to use canvas for these as it's never let me down - just make sure you run a flame round the outside of the patch to melt the frayed strands

 

 

Finally, got them all glued on (as well as the cover strips on the calves, top right)

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

Your shelf in the bottom picture full of armour reminds me a bif of some LFL archive pictures!

[inglorious trooper]

looking good grant,how exactly did you get the flare on the forearms,its a nice touch?