starsaber25's MTK ANH Stunt Build

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey all.  This is the start of my first build and I want to share it.  I started looking around this site about 2 years ago on and off and finally decided to take the plunge and get an armor set.  I ended up with a MTK suit because of affordability and I like the way it looks.  MTK was a pleasure to work with.  I want to fill you in on what my goals are for this endeavor.  Most importantly I want armor that looks good and I want to build this armor as accurate looking on the outside as I can with limited skills.  I live about 90 miles away from NY city out on Long Island at the end of the world and as far as I know there aren't any other members out here.  There aren't any events out my way for an opportunity to meet other members and "troop."  So essentially this armor will probably only be worn a small handful of times at Halloween parties and things like that.  Ultimately it will be displayed on a mannequin in my basement.

 

I will post a bunch of pictures and ask for help along the way.  I haven't even started yet and I already have some questions.  I will post the first pictures and then ask away. 

 

 

THE BIG BROWN BOX!

 

 

THE ARMOR BURSTING OUT OF THE BOX!

 

 

AND IT ALL LAID OUT!

 

 

Ok so here are my first few questions.

 

1.  I know the size of the snaps I should get and I know that Newey were the accurate originals.  However, I see that a lot of people use the Dritz and Tandy snaps.  Out of those two, would one be better then the other?  And they are Nickel plated correct?

 

2.  I plan on using the nickel split rivets on the side of the Ab and kidney.  However they will be there just for accuracy purposes.  I plan on using snaps and elastic to actually hold it together there.  But here is my question about something I had dreamed up.  My weight fluctuates 10-15 lbs depending on the time of the year probably like most of you.  Has anyone ever done or thought about making different sized elastics with snaps to compensate for different weights?  So if I want to pop the armor on at the last minute and I didn't get time to not eat for 5 days, I can grab the longer side elastics.  Again, for the most part I'm not going to worry about my ab and kidney not having a gap.  If I get those two pieces to not have a gap it will be now as I'm making it and go on a big diet to get it to fit correctly the first time.

 

3.  I plan on painting the inside of the helmet black.  In most people's experience, is it best to paint the inside of the helmet before doing any cutting?  What is the best paint to use for that?

 

Thanks for all of your help!

[devilmaan[TK]]

Congrats on your big brown box! I am still waiting on mine and will be watching your build! good luck and have fun!

[enrod]

Congrats!

[Snaps[TK]]

Congrats on your new armor and good luck with the build. It's a great feeling building it.

 

I can't really help you with your first question. I used some snaps I picked up at Hobby Lobby....Your number 2 question, I don't think it'd be a problem with using elastics like you mentioned. The most important thing is the outside look of the armor. If you go for EIB and/or Centurion, then the gap between your ab and kidney plate will come into play. #3, I used testors flat black paint. I used light greay primer first and then applied the black paint and it came out fine...

 

The guys who've been doing this longer will give you more probably but hope that helps some...

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome from another another MTK'er.

 

1. I tried 2 brands of snaps without success (total fail!) before I bought Tandy ones. They seem great now. I've heard good and bad about Dritz but can't comment first hand.

2. I think the look will be compromised if you do adjustable straps, however, is 15lb really that much. Even if all of that 15lb is on your waist, I'm not sure that your armor would be that tight that you wouldn't fit. I would build it to your preferred size.

3. I just used whatever black spray I had lying around. Seems great. Didn't smell. I would definately recommend painting before building and applying other paint/decals. I didn't. I thought I masked it up real good. Turned out the spray crept through the gap around the ears and helmet joins. I had a LOT of cleaning up to do with fine sandpaper and polish afterwards.

 

Good luck and post up heaps!

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey everyone and thanks for the help.  There was one other thing I wanted to put in my original post.  When I was new and starting to look around I was trying to find builds in which people were of similar size to me and it was very difficult.  The best place to look was in the EIB and Centurion requests.  So here is most of my info:

 

Height:        5'8"

Weight:       190lbs

Chest:         41"

Waist:          38"

Stomach:    39"

Hips:           41 1/2"

Forearms:  11 1/2"

Biceps:       14"

Thighs:       23"

Calfs:          15 1/2"

 

Now I did some rough trimming so far on the shoulder bells, the forearms, and the biceps.  Here are some of the pictures that I took during the process.  If there are any suggestions please feel free to share.

 

 

This is the trim line I used on both of the shoulder bells.

 

 

Here is the trim line on the bottom.  I just kind of did this with the naked eye and left this return edge.  I started to do some measuring but then I got antsy and just did it without.

 

 

HERE ARE THE FINISHED PRODUCTS.

Do you guys think I need to trim more or is it good.  I still need to do some sanding to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I moved on to the forearms.  I will be using a 5/8" finishing strip on them.  It is very interesting working on these.  They really are two completely different pieces.  After I thought I knew what I was doing, I realized that the left will be much tighter then the right.  I may just keep the left a little separated when I finish it and keep the right one tight.  And again I know its too late but I did not leave any return edges on the forearms.  So if there was supposed to be any at the top then oh well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND HERE ARE THE BICEPS.  Now again I know the biceps are different but the left one appears to be so much bigger then the right one.  With this type of lineage, will the biceps actually look fine or is there some type of changes I need to make to them to make them look more similar?  On the biceps I will be using a 7/8" cover strip.  I also left about a 1/8 inch return edge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so thats it for now.  Remember these are all rough trims and I still need to sand.  I was thinking of doing all trimmings and then assemble everything.  Has anyone done it this way or is it best to stop when I get these trimmed and actually assemble them.

 

Also, I know the difference between the biceps and forearms but I never actually found in the threads which one is the real suit and which one is the tour suit.  Which one is which?

 

My last question is what is the best size of earth magnets to purchase to assembly?

 

And I'll leave you with one more picture of my dog Jedi sniffing around his enemy.

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Edited June 18, 2014 by starsaber25

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey everyone.  I have been on a hold since my last post because I'm trying to finish up my sons Walt80 before his birthday.  I have a question about the undersuit and was hoping you could help.  I want to keep it cheap and I will go to Target, Walmart or Kmart and wanted to know who has gotten undersuit pieces from these places and what is the best one.  I ask because I can't just drive 10 minutes down the road to go to these stores.  They are an hour away from me and I'm going to get one shot for the time being.  I want to make it count!

 

And does anyone have any feedback on my progress so far?

 

Thanks!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I picked up my compression gear from Kmart. It's great. Haven't trooped in it yet, but it feels comfy. Different stores may or may not stock them, so I'd ring ahead if you have to travel that far. (Australia is obviously totally different to you though)

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey all.  I finally got back to working on some of my armor and I have a few questions that I was hoping to get some help on.  Is there a specific measurement for the shoulder straps?  I think I remember once seeing that they are two inches wide and then the shoulder elastic is 1.5 inches.  Is that right?

 

Also is there a specific measure for how thick the drop boxes should be?

 

Finally I saw on Toybiz's ESB build that he used a 3" PVC coupling to reshape the left bicep a little in boiling water.  Is this a recommended move or would it be wise to just leave it as it is.

 

Thanks!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Check out this thread for some good detail on strapping and elastics.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/26477-what-we-know-about-strapping-snaps-rivets-etc/#entry334341

 

Yes! Follow Toybiz's lead if you can. I didn't think about when I did mine. Wish I did!

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Ok so I'm back and slowly getting back at it.  I trimmed up the dropboxes and the shoulder straps. 

 

For the Dropboxes I decided to go with 13mm.  They look like this now

 

 

 

 

 

Do these look ok?  I know they are just the dropboxes and people probably do not even notice them most of the time, if ever.

 

And the shoulder straps I took some advice from Sith Lord (Ian) and went with 51mm.  They were so hard to get straight but right now mine look like this.

 

 

 

 

Do the corners get rounded off or are they supposed to be at angles?

 

Finally I roughly cut the knee ammo boxes and then I got a little confused.

 

 

One side is 7.5mm from the last box and then the other is 6mm.  Now do I end up keeping it like this so it fits on the thigh and can just make my corner edge now?  Or do they get cut to the same size on each side and then rounded off?  Is it kept different so people can fit it to their thigh?

 

Thats all for now.  Any feedback would be great.  And if someone can answer those couple of questions that would be cool.  Thanks.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I'd keep your shoulder straps at 90deg corners.

 

I assume you mean the ammo belt is cm away, not mm. LOL! Wait until you have the thigh glued together first. It needs to line up with the rear of the thigh, so wait to see what that size is before you trim/

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Ok everyone I am back.  I have a huge update today.  And Ian thank you so much for you assistance and advice.  It is helping me tremendously!  In the last week I have trimmed the Belt, ,the chest button plates, the cod, chest, kidney, back plate, and the butt plate.  Now I have trimmed and roughly sanded so they are not completely finished.  But talk about nerve wracking!  Man these are some important pieces and I was so worried that I was going to screw something up.  So here we go with all of the photos.  Again, I really appreciate Ian helping me along the way but it would be really cool if some other experienced builders could chime in with some feedback.  Thanks in advanced.

 

Here is the belt.  I used the Bill Hag template:

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed pretty straight forward so I think I got it.  Next is the ab buttons.  Again I used Bill Hag templates:

 

 

 

Do I leave these at 90 degree corners or do I round them out?  Next is the Chest piece.  For the most part I just followed what appeared to be trim lines and then back and forth to pictures and this website.  Its really interesting how there really are so many different ways to do this.  This is what looked right to me.  I will be using the original strapping systems and I got the brackets from MrNoStripes.  They are fantastic by the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Butt Plate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the Back Plate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Cod Plate.  This was very nerve wracking:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Kidney Plate.  This one I didn't take off too much because I couldn't find a good reference picture.  Is this too much of a lip on it?  Also, there is a little notch right in the middle of one of the lips.  Does this signify something?  Like does this mean this side goes up?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Notch but you can barely see it in this photo:

 

 

 

 

 

OK that is it for now.  Sorry for all of the photos and if you are a guy that doesn't like seeing all of the photos I am sorry.  But when I was looking around build threads to try and find pictures like this it was very hard.  So I'm looking at it as a way to try and help future builders to try and find a large quantity of photos.  I just hope I'm doing it right!

 

Again any feedback will be great.  I really am looking for all of the input I can from this board.  Thanks again.

[starsaber25[Admin]]

I am doing some building right now and I am working on the thermal detonator.  Are you supposed to paint the tube a certain color?  My tube is gray but I just didn't know if you are supposed to paint it.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tolo[TK]]

I am doing some building right now and I am working on the thermal detonator. Are you supposed to paint the tube a certain color? My tube is gray but I just didn't know if you are supposed to paint it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It should be the same grey (about) as your paint on your bucket and ab buttons.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Thank you for your response Eric.  I think I have an idea of what to do now.  Ok I have moved on to trimming the shins and the thighs.  However I did not completely trim them yet because I have some questions.

 

Here are the shins first.  I think I will be going with the 7/8ths cover strips on them.  My calves aren't that big so I think they will fit.  I am just unsure if I know what is the right or left shin.  Here are my pictures:

 

I think this is going to be my right shin:

 

 

 

 

 

And this will be my left shin:

 

 

 

 

Please let me know if I have them right or if I need to take more pictures.  I would say that the only thing I wish MTK kits came with was a right or left sticker on the parts.  I had no problems with the forearms or biceps but the shins are really hard.  Now onto the thighs.

 

I trimmed them but again like the shins I left the edges where the cover strips go untrimmed.  I was thinking of trying for a 7/8ths strip on the front and going with whatever on the back but then I thought that I still wouldn't be able to get them to fit,  I would say out of everything that I am worried about getting to fit the most it is certainly the thighs and the ab and kidney connection.  Are there a lot of people who put a 1 inch cover strip on front of these?  I think then I would be able to get them to fit.  I also think that I am going to have to cut the tops off a little bit.  Just by holding them on I can tell that they are going to be too long.  My question with that is, if I have to trim the top a little, do I have to remake a return edge or is it not imported to have a return edge on the top of the thigh.  Here are my pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats it for now.  I know its slow moving but I am doing the best I can.  I hope that some of you armor experts on this forum can chime in and give me a hand.  Thanks!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Have a look at Mike's videos on trooperbay.com. He explains the left/right shins really well. Basically look at your own calves and see how the leg muscles look on the inner and outer. The armor shins are the same.

[toybiz[TK]]

Hi Steve,

Great work thus far. Just don't glue anything if you are unsure. Come back here and ask for advice.

My recommendation on the thighs since we are about the same height is to take your time, really take your time. The thigh fitment will really dictate how well you are able to walk, especially if stairs are involved. Sitting is a whole different story that I haven't even thought about tackling.

 

As far as cover strips, keep in mind they need to be the same on the front of the thighs and shins. The rear width of the cover strips are a little more forgiving as approval goes. With that in mind...

 

For thighs this what I did:

 

1) decide on the cover strip width. I went with 22mm for the front and 25mm for the rear.

2) trim the front of the thighs and shins to accommodate the width of your cover stip.

NOTE: try to leave the rear untrimmed if possible to fit the thighs and shins to your particular body build. More on this later.

3) trim the top and bottoms of your thighs and shins. I left about a 5mm return edge on the top and bottom of my thighs. The shins about 6mm top and none on the bottom. Reason? The top of the shins and thighs are very visible. Having a small return edge gives the illusion of thickness of the armor. The bottom of the shins will be right up against your boots and no need to have a return edge.

4) assemble the front of the thighs and shins along with the cover strip.

NOTE: be sure to not extend the thigh cover strip past the bottom "hex" flat part. Especially on the left since that will be behind the sniper plate. If you over extend the right, not so much worry because it will be covered by the knee ammo boxes.

5) with basically clam shells for both thighs and shins, fit them along with your under suit. Yes, with your under suit. What many builders overlook is compression material will actually make you slightly thinner. Which can affect your final fitment. 

6) So, fit, tape. walk around, and mark where you think you will be cutting. Remove and wait another day and repeat. Reason I say wait another day was I found in my haste of my initial fitment, it was kind of tight. Then the next day, I tried again and the spot where I made my marking to cut changed. Better to be loose than too tight. Make sure the proposed cut line on the back is somewhat centered to the thigh. Of course this helps if there is someone to help with the taping and fitting.

7) decide how you plan to hold up your thighs. Hockey belt with elastics. Elastics and leather belt. Or custom harness? This will determine the comfort of your final fitting. I went with a 3" wide elastic, double snaps on the insides of the thighs, a slip adjuster wrapped around a stiff heavy duty nylon pistol harness belt that closes with Velcro.  Some adjustability IMO is important here, as walking can be comfortable or simply painful. Nothing like the inside of you thigh being pinched between the thigh and cod piece.

8) once you have all that in order, and you have walked around a bit. Make sure you fit it so that there is a slight taper to the knee to give it a more organic shape and not like a bell around your knees. Then go for it!

 

Shins are very similar but you should again do the fitting with your under suit on and after you decided how you plan to close the back.

Good luck and keep sharing! You can do this. If I can and I'm no one special, then anyone can with some perseverance and plenty of studying of how others done it before you.

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Adam wow thanks for the thorough input!  This is exactly the input i need from this forum!  I did not know that you would need to put the same size cover strip on the thigh and the shin.  That is going to make me think a little harder.  I was thinking of doing a inch on the thighs and 7/8 on the shins.  See all of this would help if I wasn't sitting here scarfing down a beef gyro and french fries.  Then i could try and make things smaller!

 

I am going to keep plugging along and hopefully I will make some progress on these things in the next couple of nights.  Thanks for your inputs!

[Snaps[TK]]

Great job so far....all the work will be totally worth it!!

[JLight[TK]]

Great build thread. Sorry for just now catching up. Cover strips measurements are as follows:

15mm for forearms/biceps

20mm for front of legs

25mm for back of legs

As stated by Toybiz, the cover strips on the backs can vary build to build depending on your size. But the fronts should be what's listed above.

 

I would trim off more of the return edge on your kidney and ab plate. There is not a specific measurement for return edge, but typically 1/8 inch will do. Most of the builds I have seen, the bottom of the chest plate has the most return edge. But it also depends if you plan on using screen accurate brackets with looped elastic or if you use snaps. If you use screen-accurate brackets, then they get screwed into the return edges of your chest, ab, kidney and buttplate to hold everything together. I'm sure you read that. Also might want to round off the edges on the bottom of the butt plate--the part that will actually go under your butt and snap to crotch (cod). In my experience, you don't want sharp edges there, don't know to explain why!

 

Hope this helps. I will try to keep up with your thread. Keep in mind that more people will help if they see you are taking time to research. Probably won't if you ask bout every single step along the way. But I can tell from your first posts to your later ones that you have researched a good deal. Keep it up. We are here to guide or give second opinion, not explain every step. Doing great! Keep it up!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey thanks for the replies guys.  Jonathan, I get what you mean about the research and asking about every step along the way.  Its actually sort of funny but I've been on this forum for probably about 2 years now looking at things and writing things down.  Believe it or not I thought I was really ready to go with the armor and thought I had my act together.  Then all of the sudden you start doing it and it is nerve wracking and you dont want to make a mistake so bad that you start second guessing yourself.  I am going with the screen accurate bracket system.  I got my brackets from Mr. No Stripes and they are fantastic. 
 

For the most part I am following along on the Trooperbay videos as a guide as well as looking at a few different peoples build threads.  I am plugging along at a slow speed at the moment and will eventually get there.

[JLight[TK]]

Completely understand that!! Measure twice, cut once. And know that a lot of mistakes can be fixed. You will gain confidence as you continue.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Ok so here is a small update for now.  I actually have been working on my armor for the last 4 nights straight but its amazing how long it can take to do some sanding!  I think I did my final sand on my Chest, Back Plate, Ad, Kidney, and Butt.  I'm not going to post pictures of that now, I will just wait until I do something else to them.  However, I did put the strap and the sew on snap to the shoulder bells, I finished the thermal detonator, and I followed Toybiz's (Adam's) ESB build and gave my left bicep a hot steamy bath and I think it turned out rather well and I am happy with the outcome. 

 

Here are the shoulder bells:

 

 

Not the best sewing and I will end up cleaning it up a little but that is basically it.  I used one inch black elastic for the straps and the snap elastic.  Nothing too hard here.

 

Now on to the Thermal Detonator.  I used Dark CMF (TIm's) suggestion and got a can of Testors Gray Spray Enamel and painted the tube:

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I reached out to Evilboy (Jonathan) and bought a couple of his TD clips.  They are fantastic!  I recommend them to anyone!  I also bought some 6/32 3/4 inch Round Head Slotted Machine screws from my local building supply store.  The measure of the length of the TD is 7 1/2 inches.  Am I super happy with my outcome?  Its acceptable to me but I wish I could redo it and do it perfectly though.  Here it is:

 

 

 

And now the left bicep.  I went and bought a 3" PVC coupling and gave it a bath.  Here is that:

 

 

And I am very happy with the outcome.  I think it made the left bicep look closer the the size of the right bicep then it did originally.  But I guess most of you can be the judge of that.  I did 7/8 cover strips on the biceps.  Here they are finished for the most part.  I just need to finish up the coverstrips.

 

 

Glueing

 

 

 

 

It still is a little more oval then the right bicep but it certainly helped.  I think they look a little more even on my arms now.

 

Ok that is it for now.  I'm just happy I got most of the sanding done.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do next.  I added a couple of snap plates to the chest and back plate already just to get the feel for making snaps.  I am thinking I may add the snaps into the butt plate and start working on the torso connections.  Like I said I am going to install the rivets for accuracy purposes however I am going use snap plates to actually hold it together.  I thinking of making a long snap plate and putting the rivets through it to hold it in like many others have done.  But we will see.  Ok thanks for looking!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Looking good, Steve!

 

Progress of any kind is progress. You're making it look easy right now!