Jes Gistang [KWDesigns] Build in Georgia

[bzb]

Shannon has been approved in the Jes Gistang Female Legacy Armor (TK-30305)

 

Kit: KW Designs Jes Gistang
Helmet: KW Designs Jes Gistang
Blaster: Hyperfirm DLT-19
Neck Seal: Darman velcro close
Boots: Gio (crow62)
Gloves: Gorilla gloves
Compression suit: Eastbay ladies
Helmet liner: Vega motorcycle helmet liner sz Small - $8.54 from Amazon
Helmet fan: 12V cage fan

Adjustments from stock kit for approval:
1. Helmet: KW Designs
2. Comic style backplate: KW Designs
3. Clone-style boots: Gio
4. Thermal Detonator: all white 2" PVC pipe, scrap ABS

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 115 lbs
Bust: 32"
Waist: 27"
Hips: 36"
Shoe: 7.5US



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Original post:

So the most amazingly packed brown box (#33) came today.
 
STORMTROOPER EXPLOSION!
 

 
I'm gonna look sooooooo amazing in this suit.
 
 It's for my wife, Shannon, who is 5'6" 115lbs.  This armor is TINY - but then again, I've been working with Vader for the past 6 months, so my perspective is probably a little skewed.
 
Purchased:
Kev's Fem Trooper armor

Black elastic

3/4" - went through about 5 feet, used for shoulder straps to shoulder bells, inside shoulder bells, shoulder bells to biceps, hand plates, and side armor attachment

2"- used a couple feet to attach the butt plate to kidney, and the insides

 

White elastic

3/4" - about a foot used for the knee plates

2" - shoulder straps, about 2 feet purchased

Black nylon webbing 3/4": about 3 feet, used for thigh attachment
E6000: only needed a bit for a couple parts.  Used white. 
Zap-A-Gap & Zip Kicker: one 2 oz bottle of each got me through this build.
Line 24 snaps: minimum of 10 needed, but have more for any mistakes.  Shoulder straps 4, Side armor snaps 2, Thighs 4.  Later dded to Chest plate to ab plate to keep the chest down (4 more).
 
On Order:
Gio's Fem Trooper Boots
Kev's Fem Trooper Helmet Kit
Eastbay compression suit
 
Still need to acquire:
Neck Seal (Darman)
Fan Kit (Probably Echo if he does another run)
Helmet Padding
Voice Amp (Aker 1505)
 
Looking forward to this build!

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[bzb]

Trim trim trim trim trim trim.

 

Fat guy in a little coaaaat.  Fat guy in a little femtrooper armorrrrr...

 

 

I don't know if my wife is going to be mad or happy that I'm destroying the dining room and leaving bits of white plastic everywhere... again.

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I certainly hope we'll be seeing someone else doing the modelling as the build progresses!

[bzb]

As I'm getting tired, I swapped over to easier parts... then of course ran into my first issue.

 

Did anyone else have end caps that are basically the same diameter as the pipe?  Is it just a matter of heat gun and squeeze it on?

[bzb]

On 9/6/2014 at 12:41 AM, Sith Lord said:

I certainly hope we'll be seeing someone else doing the modelling as the build progresses!

 

Whaaaaaa?  You don't want to see my gender bend Jes Gistang?!

 

I hope my wife is in the mood for me to armor-molest her over the next few days

 

It'll be going on this lady:

 

 

It will hopefully turn out better than her first attempt at a TK:

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Niiiice...!!! The armor, ah, the lady. Ok I'll shut up now

[toybiz[TK]]

Wow..one of the first few of these builds, its sure to be a hit at the conventions or Halloween!

Edited September 7, 2014 by toybiz

[bzb]

Masking tape progress.

 

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Edited September 28, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

I've seen the armor worn by someone in real and the result will be awesome for sure!

[bzb]

I've had to go about this a little different than my TK build.  

 

For the curves, it's similar to the way I'd cut curves in woodworking.  I draw cut lines where I think will give her enough room, then rough cut them with a box cutter.  Dremel takes them down where I think it needs to go... then I snap the straight lines for assembly.

 

 

It's WAY more test-fitting than I ever did on my TK.  But in the end, I'm hoping this fits her better than mine originally did (I had to make multiple adjustments to get to EIB).

 

Because my wife is so tiny (the built biceps don't even fit on my hand... and I'm not exactly a big dude) I've had to get creative with measuring.  The biggest issue I'm running into right now is the forearms look big... but this is as small as I can go and still have her hand fit through the opening.

 

 

Here's a progress photo with an exploded stormtrooper on my table.

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Comming along nicely

Those arms are a pain. Had some trouble fitting them to my wife right, so they wouldnt look to big, but so she could still get her hand through.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

If it's not a 501st approvable costume, can you just clamshell the forearms with Velcro to get them to fit better?

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Its not 501st accepted...yet

Might as well build it, as if it were accepted, so you can get it approved, when the time comes

[bzb]

Slight progress.  Fitted and assembled torso.

 

 

Still waiting on boots before I finish out the shins. The shins are causing me some grief.  Since she's so small, I don't want the giant greaves look... but I'm a bit unsure how I should trim the fronts and still keep the nice line for the shim.  Any tips?

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[bzb]

More progress.  I'm going to add snaps to the front to keep the chest piece overlapping the ab plate.

 

She's pretty excited about nerding it out.  After all these years of her calling me a nerd... one of us... one of us...

 

 

 

Screwed up cutting the belt too small (I positioned it incorrectly when marking it) so I've reached out to Kev for a replacement part.  Hopefully this is the only part I'll need to do that for...

Edited October 11, 2017 by bzb

[Dday[501st]]

She might want to get a top with longer arms... she'll have all us nerds picking up our jaws from the floor. Otherwise she can redefine "going commando" 

[bzb]

Haha, she had a tank top on underneath (sorry!)  

 

I guess she didn't want to mess up the do. *shrug*

 

Just got word her DLT is waiting for me at the FedEx store!  Woot!

[bzb]

So after stressing over the knees... I think I got them after pouring over everyone else's photos.

 

 

Thighs as big as a hallway.  (really weird photo effect).

 

Legs are DONE.  Boots finally arrived from Gio, but they're over a size too big.  Sigh - I guess inserts may work.

 

Next up is the shoulder straps.  Going to attempt to heat them with a hair dryer and bend them a little flatter.  If that doesn't work, I guess the oven is next.

[bzb]

It's like the Bat suit, waiting in the closet... except the complete opposite color.

 

[neoakaj[TK]]

So after stressing over the knees... I think I got them after pouring over everyone else's photos.

 

 

Thighs as big as a hallway.  (really weird photo effect).

 

Legs are DONE.  Boots finally arrived from Gio, but they're over a size too big.  Sigh - I guess inserts may work.

 

Next up is the shoulder straps.  Going to attempt to heat them with a hair dryer and bend them a little flatter.  If that doesn't work, I guess the oven is next.

 

 

What size boots did you order from him?

[bzb]

Ordered 38, which is listed as equivalent to a 7.5US - but it's more like an 8.5US.  All my wife's shoes are 7 1/2 (I should know... I've bought every pair of those dang expensive closet dust collectors).

 

I got her a pair of SuperFeet inserts today, we'll see if that shores up the size a little better.

[neoakaj[TK]]

Please let me know how that turns out. I am now worried about Vals

[bzb]

Still a little too big.  May have to take them to a local cobbler, see if they can add some padding or something in it to shore it up.

 

Worst case scenario, she wears two socks and that should do the trick.

 

Hoping Val's turns out a little better fit!

Edited October 11, 2014 by bzb

[bzb]

While moving too fast, I put Shannon's belt on incorrectly and ended up cutting too much off the belt.  I asked Kevin to look into getting me a replacement piece... but after finishing up the clip-on belt boxes I realized it might cover the screw up.

 

I couldn't find the cut ends, so I just found another trimmed piece and glued it on with a "shim" as if I were doing a typical repair.  Heat gunned it and bent over the top edge a bit to attempt to match it.

 

 

End result looks pretty good.  You can still see the cut line if you are looking for it, but I the box covers most of the issue.

 

 

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Covers it pretty good