Future Trooper: AP TK Armor Build

[aliens8us]

After research and saving, I went with AP (Authentic Props) for my TK. I paid a little extra, so it will come with Gloves, Leather Holster, and fully trimmed. I have very little artistic ability and don't want to screw anything up. I have already built my Blaster (Hasbro) (replaced LED, front barrel screws with real ones) with the doopy doos pieces and prepping it to be painted. I thought about posting a separate build but the Blaster is already put together. I'm planning on sawing off the back scope cap and placing the target reticle inside the scope, cutting out the 'peephole' and placing a lens (which will be magnifying glass lens I found at Dollar Tree). Paint will be the next step. My 'package' arrives on Monday and I'll be attending a Armor Party next weekend!

[gazmosis[501st]]

Awesome start!!! Post pics of your build so we can watch and answer questions you may have

[sve5mh]

awesome...you learn tons!! have a blast!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to the build, good luck

[dkmwong]

Hi Jonathan,

I too did the same. Paid extra for the glove, holster, and fully trimmed. Mine should be arriving tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited. Need to build the blaster as well. Does anyone have a good thread to follow or have info on even where to start?

[aliens8us]

My Package arrived from AP! So the first thing I did (ws act like that kid on Youtube who got his N64) was take out everything and inventory! The quality of AP TK Armor is exceptional! So what was the first thing to do? Put the Helmet together first, of course! It was pretty easy to figure out and took me maybe 20 minutes to figure it out. The bottom neck liner was tricky to put on at first, but no issue. I'll have to purchase some E-6000 later this weekend. The helmet harness that I purchased from Trooperbay fit in snuggly but had issues with making marks where I could glue the clips for the harness, so I opted for velcro instead and that works fine. The Mike tips that I ordered from Trooperbay came in on the same day. Now I'm slightly confused which Mic Tips to use; I heard that 501st would not accept AP (which comes with the TK). But I'm wodering if AP upgraded their Mic tips because they look like what I have seen on other troopers and pictures. Trooperbay's is solid black, AP has the silver ring. I took the chance of painting the frown, ears, and vocoder. I think I did better than I thought. But with the ears, I wasn't sure how much of the ear base has to be painted, so I stopped. The same for the vocoder. Any suggestions, Troopers? (On a side note, I have an Armor Party this weekend! So any touch-ups will be done then.)

Edited August 6, 2014 by aliens8us

[aliens8us]

I haven't posted in a while, so I'll have to update this. I had my first 'Armor Party' last weekend. We made measurements for the calf and thigh pieces, cut and glued (E6000) and used clamps to hold in place. Had to do some hunting at several places to get items to build the harness to be worn. Had to go to Walmart for the suspenders because Lowe's was out. Went to Hobby Lobby for strapping and snaps. Still a lot of work to do. Later, I replaced the mic tips from AP to the ones from Trooperbay. I touched up on frown and ears, painted the third bump for the rank of Corporal ( my favorite rank in the Marines); according to the rank structure that is found in the forum

[aliens8us]

Late post: harness has been built. This consists of suspenders (Walmart) and black work belt (Lowe's), strapping, velcro and snaps. The velcro is used for the shoulders, to attach the shoulder bells, which also has velcro inside. Straps for the thighs has clips (parachute Buckles from Jo Ann Fabrics). The Blaster already has the Doopy doos pieces. The LED was replaced. The scope front was bored out to place a small lens in the front. The back eye piece was sawed off, piece of round disk was placed inside which also had the target reticle. The peephole of the scope was hollowed out and replaced with a curved lens which magnified the reticle. After all that, one coat of Krylon Metallic Aluminum/Brilliant was sprayed on. All lens were covered.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Sounds as if things are progressing nicely