Plushie's TFA Build Thread (TB-24601)

[plushie[TK]]

Going ahead and starting my own thread. I'm maybe 10-15 hrs away from completing my kit as of this writing and planning to resume my build May 9th. Darn work and trooping getting in the way

 

I took a different adhesive route than recommended. Knowing bondo is more of a filler and has a tendency to crack, and not having the time for slurry, I went with devcon plastic weld. I'm careful with my kits, but not having a standard body type for armor (being female with curves), I wanted the flexible strength of the plastic weld. We hardly touched the recommended CA glue at all.

 

Plastic Weld Pros:
Strong

Flexible

Quick cure time

 

Plastic Weld Cons:
Can get pricey as we used a LOT

Tough to sand

 

It took extra effort using the plastic weld when it came to sanding. Some areas were too closed in to sand in a seamless and smooth manner. We have areas like the ab boxes that did wind up needing bondo putty as a filler. As you can see, the combination worked great.

 

 

We have some more areas to resume working on with the bondo putty I'm sure, along with repainting. While the weather here in Colorado was nice and dry, it was still too cold for painting. We should have used a space heater near the painted pieces as they dried, alas. My painting dried rough and no gloss. I'll be hitting the armor again with wet sanding and fine grit paper along with plastic polish. 

 

 

Things to finish:
Internal Strapping

Shoulder/Elbow Gasket fitting

Velcro attachments for cod, butt and chest pieces

Attaching boxes to belt

[plushie[TK]]

Since I have curves and girth I am trying to lose, I had to shim my ab/kidney plate. Which we again used the plastic weld, sanded and puttied smooth along the lines.

 

[camprandall]

Awesome!

[gazmosis[501st]]

Ssssssssssssssnnnnnnniiiiiifffffffff! Ah the smell of plasti-weld. I am surprised you went that route using it as a filler. There are more flexible bondo options like micro lite. Most any bondo will crack if applied heavy on a flexing surface, but on this armor, the seams are so small and the bondo so minimal in the areas of flex that odds are low of issues occurring. We had no issues with any of the suits that were on Stage with JJ and the cast at Celebration.

Can't wait to,see you suited up!!

[sandtrooper[501st]]

Thanks for sharing your build.  Are the leg armor pieces and ribbing permanently attached together i.e. they're put on as one unit instead of a piece at a time?

[plushie[TK]]

Currently, I don't have the leg armor pieces attached to the ribbing aside from using velcro. This may change as I finish and wear the armor and see how it flexes on me.

[plushie[TK]]

Ssssssssssssssnnnnnnniiiiiifffffffff! Ah the smell of plasti-weld. I am surprised you went that route using it as a filler. There are more flexible bondo options like micro lite. Most any bondo will crack if applied heavy on a flexing surface, but on this armor, the seams are so small and the bondo so minimal in the areas of flex that odds are low of issues occurring. We had no issues with any of the suits that were on Stage with JJ and the cast at Celebration.

Can't wait to,see you suited up!!

 

 

I like the flexible adhesive strength of using the plastic weld as opposed to using the CA glue or Zap a Gap. It was a personal preference of myself and the build team. 

[Barcoder[TK]]

Thanks so much for posting your build! Looking forward to seeing more!

 

Do you happen to have any pics showing the forearm construction? I assume it's not as easy as slapping 2 sections together.... lol

[plushie[TK]]

No it's not slapping two sections together! LOL

 

My full build picture gallery is up on Mountain Garrison's galleries. There are multiple angle shots of various stages of the forearm construction. It may require a forum login to view though. I haven't moved photos to photobucket or flickr yet. 

 

The forearms had a resin greeblie each, a box, the 'top' and two sections. So it was four pieces, not counting the greeblie. Unless I'm brainfarting at the moment and missed a part. 

Edited April 29, 2015 by plushie

[Barcoder[TK]]

Wonderful pictures! Thank you so much for letting me view them. The forearm makes sense now.

[plushie[TK]]

The forearms puzzled us greatly when we were trimming the pieces and getting ready to assemble them. So this is normal

[tkrestonva[TK]]

As I recall, each forearm was actually 11 separate pieces of plastic ...

- top
- bottom
- left side
- right side
- forearm box
- inner forearm box (same concept as the inner drop box on an OT TK)

- "railroad track" greeblie that goes on top of the forearm and slightly under the forearm box
- 2 resin "latch" greeblies
- 2 internal joining pieces (which had to be cut from a sheet of ABS using a template)

 

 

[Barcoder[TK]]

 Indeed! (This is going to be a lot of work.... lol)

[plushie[TK]]

Thanks Brian! I was thinking of just the major pieces! 

 

And yes Peter, it's a LOT of work! It's definitely not a kit for a first time builder. 

[Colin1138[TK]]

The more I read this..the more I am dreading ordering one of these kits! Took me two years to finish my current tk...and it's a doodle compared to this!

[Barcoder[TK]]

I can imagine a first-time builder would lose their mind. lol

I am nervous, anxious, and a little scared...but mostly excited to do this!

[svache[501st]]

I can imagine a first-time builder would lose their mind. lol

I am nervous, anxious, and a little scared...but mostly excited to do this!

 

I think you said all the words I felt, and still feel haha!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[plushie[TK]]

I can imagine a first-time builder would lose their mind. lol

I am nervous, anxious, and a little scared...but mostly excited to do this!

 

This WAS my first build. LOL. My scout was bought second hand from a retiring member, so boy have I really learned a LOT.

 

I was so nerve wracked during scoring and snapping. "No replacement parts, no pressure," was rolling through my head. LOL

[Barcoder[TK]]

This WAS my first build. LOL. My scout was bought second hand from a retiring member, so boy have I really learned a LOT.

 

I was so nerve wracked during scoring and snapping. "No replacement parts, no pressure," was rolling through my head. LOL

Wow! Good for you; excellent job so far! I am not sure I could have done this as my first build...I had many moments of panic with my TK. LOL

[plushie[TK]]

I could NOT have managed this without the more experienced and talented members of my garrison helping me out and guiding me. I would still be staring at plastic pieces and crying with frustration. LOL

[Pancho[TK]]

 I would still be staring at plastic pieces and crying with frustration. LOL

I see this in my future......

[plushie[TK]]

Today, work commenced! 

 

Shoulder bells now have straps attached to the yoke. Belt boxes are ready to be attached to the belt.

 

We spent a lot of time having to trim down the shoulder gaskets so that the biceps would fit over them. That took up a chunk of time as we trimmed a little at a time. Better to start small than go big and realized you cut too much. We did have to do the triangle cut, as well as the first two 'ribs' across, and then a little more out of the 'triangle' we cut.

 

 

We also found we needed to trim off one side of the velcro tabs on the elbow gasket. 

 

 

We're now finalizing parts, such as velcro on the cod, butt and chest. (I forgot my compression bra today, oops. Ladies, I found this a necessary item. That or SPANX to flatten the chest.)

I found that my head looks SO disproportionate to my body in the armor when I have the armor but no helmet on. I also noticed this on other people. So for others, when you're test fitting without the helmet do not panic at looking at yourself and things do not look proportionate. 

[camprandall]

Great to see you back to work! Can't wait to see the final pics.

[plushie[TK]]

It's nice to be back to work on this, without the pressure of CVII!