Red_2's NE ANH TK build ...

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

You might be joking about your soldering skills, but it's still better than most of us. Or at least me. 

I'm glad to see you're keeping the momentum going. At this pace it will be over soon!

 

Edit: Oups, looks like we've crossed posted. 

Very nice to see the full suit together again. This is definitively looking good. And given your height, notching the bottom of the thighs and the top of the shins at the back is something that should really ease your mobility.

Edited October 18, 2015 by The5thHorseman

[Red_2[TK]]

Thanks, Germain! Yeah, it'll be nice to get some more comfort.

 

Test walk shows that joint could use clearance. Check it out!

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Haa, the sweet noise of ABS rattling around. You never get tired of that

 

Gaining some clearance around the knees will definitively make it more comfortable, even though I think the top of your thigh going into your groin will always limit your movements. But that's something I would advise to learn to live with. After all, we're all about the look, the comfortness is secondary. 

 

Oh, and yes tilting the head down with a stormtrooper helmet is pretty much restricted. And I mean a lot.

[Red_2[TK]]

Here are the cuts I'm planning on the thighs and shins at the back of the knees.

Basically the flat U shape I've seen in a pic or two.

 

 

Better shot of the left thigh cut line.

 

And the shins ...

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

You gotta sell it, Jason! "Honey, check out all this amazing stuff on Pinterest we could make with this thing. The holidays are coming up. We could step up our craft game!"

 

If I didn't have a pack I still have to buy and helmet electronics on my wish list maybe I could persuade her. lol 

[Red_2[TK]]

Sooooo ... so close, yet so far.

 

Went ahead with the behind the knee cutouts on the thigh and shins to help with mobility.

Went conservative with the first cuts, but they made a huge difference. I probably

will go a tad higher on the thighs to get a bit more room.

 

Shin cut outs ..

 

So the frustrating part is I noticed my butt was being pushed up in the pics I took over the weekend. Judging

by what I saw it look like the initial angled sides of the butt were hitting the thigh causing the push. I was partially right.

I trimmed the butt about half an inch at the angles on each side. They cleared the thighs perfectly but the butt was still getting pushed up. Turns out my inner thighs are also pushing against the tip of the butt where the two snaps are. I trimmed that down a bit in attempt to make it skinnier hoping it would clear the inner thighs and just sit in between. No such luck.

 

These damn thighs are killin' me.

 

Here's the push up happening, post butt trim.

 

My plan is to go ahead and trim down the thighs more.

 

I'll trim the front inners a bit more and carry that trim to the inners and that will give clearance to the front of the cod and hopefully the butt.

 

I'll shoot for this shape and maybe I'll get a little of that groin exposure similar to these guys.

 

I was hoping to be taking pics to apply by this weekend. Maybe it can still happen.

[Red_2[TK]]

... or maybe the butt push is okay.

 

See this guy on the left.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Pretty much everything ends up ok after watching frame by frame the ANH Stormtroopers . You can even secure the top of the butt plate with the kidney plate using white duct tape. 

 

One way of fixing this issue might be to modify the oblique line on the butt plate:

[Red_2[TK]]

I actually made that cut already, Germain. And it was successful but now the only place that's hitting

in the tip/crotch portion of the butt.

 

I'll get a better pic of the clearance after the oblique cut.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Haha, nice! Why am I even trying to help you? You seem to be doing fine on your own .

[Red_2[TK]]

Oh man, you've been a great help, Germain! It's great to have someone give feedback, and it's very reassuring. Merci beacoup!!

[Red_2[TK]]

Here's the breakdown of phase 3 of thigh modding.

 

NOTE: Only notch the left thigh! Right thigh has a mild/subtle notch. See reference pic below!

 

Sketched out the shape in pencil.

 

This section is the whole reason for the continued mod. I need this area to clear the butt!

 

Taped off. I use the outside edge of the tape for the cut guide, and the inside edge to pencil in my return edge boundary. I don't get anywhere near that inside line but I like having a border to lead the heat iron.

 

Post cut and guide line in pencil!

 

The notch!

 

Return edges in, need to clean them up next. Again ... NOTE: Only notch the left thigh! Right thigh has a mild/subtle notch. See reference pic below!

 

Gonna try em on here in a sec. Hope it works ...

Edited October 24, 2015 by Red_2

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Ouch, I really hoped you didn't already start working these new lines... I'm afraid I have to tell you that only the left hand thigh has clear notch at the top. The right hand thigh has a very much softer notch (if you can call that a notch at all).

[Red_2[TK]]

Oh! Well I can fix that.

 

See, Germain? Always helping!

Edited October 24, 2015 by Red_2

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Glad to hear you can fix it. Man, those thighs will have given you a lot of work!

[Red_2[TK]]

Okay ... sooooo, thigh modification/correction phase 4.23 something. Thanks to Germain for pointing out that the notch exists mainly on the left thigh. Not so much on the right.

 

Lesson learned, always double check reference pictures before you cut, and also remember the asymmetry

factor before doing something to both sides! 

 

In this case, I lucked out in a couple ways. 1) I saved the cut portion of the thigh, and 2) My drop box actually covers this area so

no biggie.

 

But in the spirit of being mostly accurate I'm gonna try to get it closer to Germain's reference pic up top.

 

Here's the trouble area and the cut piece that will return home.

 

I mocked up the piece to the thigh to get an idea of where it would be positioned best.

Then traced a pencil line. My goal is to get as close to a flush fit then use a piece of abs behind

to hold it in place. Then use ABS paste to fill in the small gap.

 

Post cut, and checking fit.

 

I cut a thin strip of For Sale sign ABS for the backing, E6k'ed it and clamped it down.

 

After the backing dried, I test fit the piece again. Looks alright!

Once clamped that lower portion will sit more flush.

 

Clamped up and waiting to dry. Will mix up some ABS paste

here in a bit ...

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Seems like it's going to be a good recovery. I didn't even think about gluing back in place the ABS piece, nicely done!

[Red_2[TK]]

Tah-dah! Fixed the right thigh!

 

Well ... almost. After pasting and sanding a couple times I noticed this dark band where the paste filled
the gap. What the heck? Basically it's air holes and a bad mix of paste that had sediment in it and
was probably not thick enough to begin with. Sooooo ....

 

I decided to drill out a channel with a small hand drill, which I did and cleaned up a bit with an X-Acto.
That way I'd have a new gap to fill with whiter, thicker, more consistent paste.

 

So I made a nice thick white paste with virgin ABS cards provided with my NE suit.
I carefully added a line of paste making sure it filled in, then added another line which
I squeegeed into the gap and then added a covering line of paste that I will sand down
and hope will be smooth and white when it's all done.

 

Stay tuned ...

Edited October 28, 2015 by Red_2

[Red_2[TK]]

Wow! Tried to edit some grammar on my phone and the post just turned into html code. Doh. I'll fix in the morning since I'm tired. And in bed

 

Here's ABS paste try #3 after drying overnight. Will sand down here in a bit to see how it looks.

Looking closely I can still see microbubbles. Hopefully that's just on the surface. Those stupid bubbles

darken the area, but I guess they're inevitable as the acetone has to evaporate.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Red_2

[Red_2[TK]]

Well, after a few days of sanding and pasting. I'm officially going in circles. Tiny air bubbles foiling my attempt to get an even looking

gap fill. Oh well, I'll keep at it. Again, luckily, my drop box covers it up mostly.

 

Anyway, my bigger issue is still my butt. It stills sits funny compared to the kidney despite my recent mods.

Here's the front view after thigh reshaping.

 

Side view shows the issue well. Butt pushes out and up a bit. It still hits my thighs, especially when I walk.

You can see where I cut the angle/oblique on the butt to get clearance there. But the crotch portion

of the but still hits the thighs. The other thing that is a factor is that the kidney fits snug to my lower back and sides of my waist

and the butt doesn't. Maybe a little heat bend adjust is in order?

 

Maybe the butt as a whole can be proportioned down? I look at screen shots and the butt is all over the place as far as alignment

and proportion. But I want to get it Centurion correct. So what do you guys think? Anything obvious I'm missing?

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Man, those thighs! You nailed the inner curve so well! And the notch is top... notch (i feel bad making that pun ).

 

About the butt and the fact it doesn't align straight with the kidney, I don't think it's a problem of it conflicting with anything, but just the fact you have a back bottom to cover. 

However one thing to note is that NE is recast from RS and by default the RS butt plate flares a lot at the ends comparing to the kidney curvature. Maybe some careful heat bending at the ends of the butt plate will help reduce that issue.

That and perhaps tightening the straps between the kidney and butt.

 

But honestly, it doesn't shock me at all.

Edited May 26, 2016 by The5thHorseman

[Red_2[TK]]

Thanks, Germain!

 

I actually loosened my crotch strap a bit and that helped some.

 

I'm gonna go with your suggestion and try and tighten the straps a tad.

It shouldn't take much. I'm fussing over a quarter to half an inch here.

 

I'm trying to avoid anymore heat bending just cause it's a pain to

avoid wrinkles at the return edge. So that'll be last resort.

 

Tried it on again this morning. Man, it's so much fun to walk down the sidewalk and wave at surprised cars driving by. Ha!

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Looking at your pictures again, I think tightening only the middle bracket might be enough.

Also, It's hard to see but I think the crotch part of your butt plate isn't trimmed properly. On the NE kit this area has been extended over its supposed length to adapt with larger bodytypes. And I think you have kept this extensio which in your case isn't necessary.

[Red_2[TK]]

So maybe trim a little at the tip?

 

If so that will also contribute to some more clearance at the thighs.

[Red_2[TK]]

Yeah, mine probably has about 2-3 inches extra compared to this picture.