OH BOY... First build! (RS)

[albisancho]

Whats up everyone! i got my wonderful boxes today filled with goodies! This is my first TK build and I decided to go with RS prop masters. When i opened up the boxes and laid everything out i felt extremely overwhelmed... I looked up a bunch of builds and followed closely and got all my tools ready but now finally having everything in front of me I'm pretty stumped on where to start or what to do... Unfortunately RS forgot to send me my drop boxes, and the rivet covers, and ab plates. One quick email and the great people over there replied right away and we worked everything out, theyll be shipping out to me soon. =)

 

 

ALRIGHT!! woke up this morning pumped to the door bell to find this guy!

 

 

 

Heres all my tools and stuff I might need.

 

 

AND heres all the good stuff. 

 

 

MUCH help welcomed! Im going to try my best to keep updating this with good photos and please let me know if im doing something wrong ect!..

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

get a pair of flat long sheetmetal shears.

 

then carefully cut out everything to the forming lines... keeping the proper lip on all the parts.

 

Edited February 14, 2014 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[Locitus[Admin]]

Sheet metal scissors is way overkill for the thin RS plastic. Lexan scissors however cut it like butter.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[albisancho]

A nice pair of scissors sounds pretty good.. im having some trouble getting a nice cut here...

 

what do you guys think of my thermal detonator ??

 

 

I also got this little split on one of the detonator caps.. should I be concerned? If so how should i fix it??

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

You end caps are far too "long". Trim them to about 2 cm. Have a look at the RS original detonator in our gallery: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/2484-td/

[zebrabuse]

ARMOR PARTY!

 

Have you already signed up with your local garrison? Getting to meet with other troopers and seeing their gear is a great way to wrap your head around things

and learn some tips.

 

All the best on your build!

[Cantina Security[501st]]

Don't be afraid to hit some of your edges with sand paper , it will help you smooth and even out your edges.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Cantina Security

[Holnave (evan_loh)[TK]]

I'd say do the helmet last as the ears can get tricky to trim the curve around the helmet. So by the time you've done the rest of your armour you'll have plenty of experience on trimming and will be very familiar with the plastic. That is assuming of course that you have had no experience trimming. I started out with no experience whatsoever and I wish I made my helmet last XD

 

All the best for your build and remember to take it slow and not to rush into decisions.

Edited February 15, 2014 by evan_loh

[Trooperman]

Good luck with your build

Edited February 15, 2014 by Trooperman

[gazmosis[501st]]

There are many good RS builds on here. Study them and most if not all your questions will be answered. Don't go through it alone!

[albisancho]

You end caps are far too "long". Trim them to about 2 cm. Have a look at the RS original detonator in our gallery: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/2484-td/

WOW you were right!! how does this look??

 

 

ARMOR PARTY!

 

Have you already signed up with your local garrison? Getting to meet with other troopers and seeing their gear is a great way to wrap your head around things

and learn some tips.

 

All the best on your build!

unfortunately no.. How would i go about doing that?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Have a look on the 501st site for a garrison near you here is the link

 

I love the smell of new armor, looking forward to the build

[Locitus[Admin]]

WOW you were right!! how does this look??

 

Better. But you still want to clean up all the edges with some sanding paper to make it real smooth and sit flat. Get rid of all the burrs.

[kylebeagle[TK]]

Best of luck on your bulid...

 

Looks like you have a nice start!!

[albisancho]

OKAY so where do you guys recommend i start? i wanted to start on the torso but im really not sure where to start trimming.. im actually scared to... and the arms and leg pieces are all different lengths.. what did i get my self into haha.

[albisancho]

Alright I decided to stop being a big baby and started trimming the chest piece with a 5-7 mm return edge and im happy. Does it have to be a definite size??

 

 

 

Also what do i do with these pieces?? 

 

what do you guys think of this marking for trimming on the bottom of the chest plate. its about 10mm across. I know i have to leave some room for brackets but im not sure how much?

 

[Holnave (evan_loh)[TK]]

I trimmed the top of the chest towards the edge of it like this:

 

 

For the bottom part the left side (left side from look at your armour) looks fine but leave more return edge fot eh right side:

 

[albisancho]

Something truly wonderful arrived in the mail this morning! 

 

i started trimming some of the pieces roughly to see where i wanted them.. i stil lhave to go back and smooth it out. im working witha dremel. 

 

but im alittle stuck on the torso .. im not too sure how far to trim.  i drew a line of where i thought it should be and where I felt like the mold mark was.. what do you guys think? 

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

You leave far too much return. On average I would say that 5 mm is maximum. Where you keep your brackets you can trim more after you have fitted them.

 

Have a look in the gallery at some original suits and you can see where they left return and how much.

[albisancho]

Ill check out the gallery! i thought i was leaving to much. i just cant help but think im going to ruin it..

 

I started on one of my forearms today.. I cut the Cover Strip to about 15 mm so I divided it in two to 7.5 mm and thats about what I cut the edges to. 

 

 

Next im going to completely trim out the return edge on both sides of the forearm then glue them together overnight with E6000.

[Locitus[Admin]]

Excellent on both accounts.

[albisancho]

thanks so much!! now i have completely trimmed off the return edge on the wrists. 

 

Now on the back of the forearm, do I also completely remove the return edge? or am I supposed to keep a bit of it? 

 

same for the biceps, do i keep some return edge on both sides or leave a bit on some areas? 

[Locitus[Admin]]

You can leave a little on the back of the forearms and biceps. It kind of varied between each original suit. It's easy to remove some more later on if you need to because those areas can cause pinching. But overall the original suits had very little return on these parts.

[albisancho]

OKAY now this might be a silly question... but im very very iffy about cutting away at the back of the forearm.. Theres really no mold mark or any other indications on where to cut.. i noticed this is the same with almost all the clamshell pieces. 

 

as for the other forearm.. and one of the bicep pieces.. I noticed one side is considerably taller. how do i work with these pieces? 

 

Edited February 17, 2014 by albisancho

[Locitus[Admin]]

Back of the forearms, shins, thighs and biceps you just trim as much as you need to get a nice tight fit. This is where you size up all the pieces to fit your body.

 

Lengthwise on that forearms I recommend lining up the elbows and cut the wrist where you need it.