Geaux Saints' ANH stunt build (TM)

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

Looking good

 

Thanks! Great suggestion (through Paul) for the rounded corners. Very easy with good results.

[Locitus[Admin]]

Sure is a good one.

[Potty Meister]

The ammo pack is one of the last things I need to do. Thanks for the find on how to get a proper rounded edge. I'd never seen that before. My armor is ATA and I've been debating on whether or not to use the heat gun to bend the ammo pack because it's already pretty flexible. It's supposed to be off center, right? The perfectionist in me wants to center it.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

According to Paul, he liked the idea of off center with the three boxes to the inside and two on the outside. Looking at lots of screen shots, this way seems to be the most screen accurate. Obviously it is a matter of preference. It is YOUR armor, so go with the way you want it to look. Not screen accurate does not equal wrong.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I painted my latex hand guards tonight using a suggestion from this thread....http://www.whitearmo...__fromsearch__1

 

Mix ratio is 4:1 (glue:paint)

 

Here's what I used.

 

 

 

The hand guards are still drying. I'll update the result.

 

 

 

They look more white than the picture shows.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I put on my armor for a ROUGH fitting tonight. I did not put my neck seal on, the thighs are being held up (because I have not put the straps on them, yet), and the hand guards are not ready, yet. I forgot to snap the belt to the AB plate, so the belt is low in the pics. Two main things I noticed....1.) My chest piece is still digging into my neck (even after removing the center chest strap as suggested). I guess I will shave some more off the neck curve of the chest. 2.) Even pulling the thighs up manually, the shins and lower thighs are fighting each other. I think I will have to trim at least an inch off the top of the thighs. Opinions and/or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

It's better to trim the bottom of the shins than to trim the top of the thighs if you need less length on the leg parts.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I still feel like the thighs are all up in my cod and butt pieces. That's why I was thinking top of thighs. Also, my bottom hook straps on my shins are pretty close to the bottom. I'm afraid if I start trimming there I'll have to move them which could be a bit of a pain.

[troopermaster]

Don't cut anything yet!

 

Get your thighs strapped up properly first and try wearing just your thighs, shins and boots with no body armour and get them comfortable. You can tape your straps inside to get the length right before gluing them. You may find that once your thighs are pulled up as high as possible, things will feel better. If the back of the thighs are digging into your butt, simply trim a bit off the top of the back joining strip at an angle.

 

Trimming the thigh tops is a last resort tactic. Trim a small amount off the bottom of the shins first and see if that helps. If you have to reposition the lower hook strap then so be it.

[HawkTrooper]

Hey Tony, I love yout build thread. Thanks to you, I finally found the courage to start building my TM kit.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

Don't cut anything yet!

 

Get your thighs strapped up properly first and try wearing just your thighs, shins and boots with no body armour and get them comfortable. You can tape your straps inside to get the length right before gluing them. You may find that once your thighs are pulled up as high as possible, things will feel better. If the back of the thighs are digging into your butt, simply trim a bit off the top of the back joining strip at an angle.

 

Trimming the thigh tops is a last resort tactic. Trim a small amount off the bottom of the shins first and see if that helps. If you have to reposition the lower hook strap then so be it.

 

Thanks, Paul. I'll give it a shot.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

Hey Tony, I love yout build thread. Thanks to you, I finally found the courage to start building my TM kit.

 

Thanks, Hawk! I'm glad to hear that. Like I said before, the 100 mile walk starts with the first step. Start by trimming. Start a build thread and take lots of pics and ask lots of questions. You might end up helping someone down the road with a particular way you do something. Good luck!

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I think the only two things left for me are gluing the hand guards and attaching my holster.

 

I was pretty happy with the results of the paint technique I used for the hand guards. I did notice today, though, that there was a little cracking in some spots, but overall the hand guards flex without cracking.

 

 

I used Loctite CA Super Glue to attach the hand guards, and glued in the areas that are shown in Paul's picture.

 

 

I placed the hand guards on and put some weight plates on them.

 

 

I couldn't get a definitive answer on where exactly they needed to be placed, so through many different pics I came to this conclusion.

The rounded top should be at the knuckles and close to where the fingers attach to the glove.

 

RIGHT GLOVE:

 

 

 

 

The middle of the raised section seems to be in between the ring and middle finger.

 

 

 

The triangled side should be thumb side, and the straight side should be pinkie side.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I looked at many screen shots trying to see where the best placement of the holster (stunt) should be. I did notice that lots of shots are from stormtroopers' right sides. I found it difficult to get a lot of left side shots of the holster. I did notice that a majority of the holsters were attached with the intent of the holster hanging down the side of the left thigh. I did see one holster that was hanging more over the left butt cheek. The holsters seem to hang about an inch from the bottom of the belt. Any other observations?

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

OK....here are some pics that I will using to get my TK ID#. I'm having issues with the inner thighs and cod fighting each other. I think I'm going to have to trim some of the inner thighs. I trimmed the bottom of the right calf as suggested, and that did help with the bottom of the right thigh fighting with the top of the right shin. I think I may need to make some biceps hooks. The biceps keep sliding out from under the shoulder bells when I move my arms away from my side. Suggestions? Critiques?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still upset that I have to you use crappy Hasbro blaster instead of the Doopydoo that I should of had by now.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking very nice there, no doubt there will be those who guide you will a few little tweaks

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

Looking very nice there, no doubt there will be those who guide you will a few little tweaks

 

Thanks, Glen!

[Locitus[Admin]]

Looking good! But it does look like you riveted the holster a little far up on the belt.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I got so caught up in the distance from the belt that I was not paying attention to the height. I was having issues with the rivet tool as well. Will that be a demerit that will need to be corrected some way?

[Locitus[Admin]]

I got so caught up in the distance from the belt that I was not paying attention to the height. I was having issues with the rivet tool as well. Will that be a demerit that will need to be corrected some way?

There's no requirements to do it at a certain height, but it'd be a shame to leave it at this when you've done such a great job on the rest of the armour.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I'll look into correcting it in the near future. Thanks!

[Potty Meister]

I installed some snap plates on the inside of my biceps and shoulders and strapped them together. They stay in position and I don't have to worry about them moving at all. Hope that helps.

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

I installed some snap plates on the inside of my biceps and shoulders and strapped them together. They stay in position and I don't have to worry about them moving at all. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the input and advice!

[troopermaster]

The armour is looking really nice on you Tony. Bicep hooks will do the job of keeping the biceps from sliding down your arm. Don't waste your time with snaps when you have gone to all this effort of keeping everything original. Here is an original arm that you might have already seen for reference.

 

Not sure what to advise on the thigh issue. Mark Hamill was quite short and he didn't really have the thighs chopped down, though the tops did have a slight odd shape to them, at least his left thigh anyway.

Hopefully some of the shorter troopers will chime in with some advice.

 

Overall you have done a superb job

[Geaux Saints[TK]]

Thanks, Paul. I just know when I lift my legs just a little (ie- if I were going upstairs or when I sit to put my calves on) the thighs jam all up in my groin and hips, and when I walk the inner thighs and cod are fighting each other. There's no way I could sneak up on somebody with all the noise it makes.