iLLuSiOnZ_09 ANH Stunt Armor Build (*ATA)

[illusionz_09[TK]]

I originally wasn't going to create a thread for my armor build, but since it was really helpful for when I made my bucket, I decided to do one.

Please feel free to shime in and critique anything so I don't mess up lol...

 

Well, first using a dremel I did a really rough trim on the large pieces (chest, abdomen, back, kidney, butt)

 

 

However, it is really messy and really loud (i.e. wifey sleeping while im working on armor at night)....so I decided i should tackle the arms first by using my utility knife and x-acto blade.

My main goal first is to work on the inside/return edges first, then i will work on the joining sides to get them the right size.

I used the score and snap method...its actually a very good and clean way of doing it.

 

I did it for both biceps and both forearms. I first snapped and then cleaned them up with my x-acto. I still need to do a light sanding to them to give them a clean and smoother finish.

 

Now that my edges are to my liking (more or less, i may have to adjust one i start officially fitting them), next is to make my strips to work on the joining of the pieces

[Raintrooper]

Looking good so far!  Yeah.. scoring, snapping, and lexan scissors are the way to go for trimming most of the kit.    I only used my dremel for fine-tuning the ears, drilling holes, and some clean-up here and there. 

[illusionz_09[TK]]

I was working on my forearms first...

after i cut it to where i wanted, i did a nice sanding for the edges.

 

then i taped them up so check if they fit as needed.

 

 

fit them on to see the status.

As expected, the left forearm fits nice and snug, whereas the right arm may need some slight foam inserts.

 

 

Now that I had the forearms, more or less, where i wanted them, i created the strips. In order to do proper modifications, the left arm i made the strip 15 mm and the right arm since its a bit looser and i want to squeeze it a bit, i did it closer to 14 mm.

 

One at a time to assemble though, 

first i began focusing on the left arm since i know it fits perfect.

 

And now glued (E600) and clamped to leave overnight.

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Today I was in a cutting mood of getting some of the rough cuts made. Again i did the score and snap method.

 

I cut out the ammo pack

 

Also did a rough cut of the shoulder straps

 

 

Shoulders as well...

 

 

And did the right thigh. Similar to the arms I am focusing on the return edges first and then I will size the sides later.

 

 

And i also cut a rough cut of the sniper plate

 

Naturally I have to clean everything up to get the edges where I want them and then do an nice even sanding. But I just wanted to get some stuff out of the way...

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Cut a couple more pieces last night...

 

[Tehcaveman]

Damn that looks like the caveman technique

 

 

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Damn that looks like the caveman technique

 

 

 

lmfao...

 

although, you would have this build done by now; im slacking lol...

TIME!!!!! horrible... 

[illusionz_09[TK]]

 

Ok, so i pretty much cut everything out (just needs sanding),

I need some help and guidance from my fellow troopers.

 

Which shoulder bell is left/right. I think i know based on the groove and how it sits on my shoulders, but i just want to make sure I'm not crazy...

 

Also, which way is up and down on the kidney piece? again, based on the groove i think i get it, but before i cut and make any adjustments I want to make sure.

 

Finally,

How much do I cut from the butt plate? Am I suppose to cut to the lines? i.e. no return edge, only on top where it hooks up to the kidney plate?

 

Please let me know guys.

 

thanks.

[illusionz_09[TK]]

It's been tough to find time to do anything, but now that I have some magnets I am going to get more done on putting things together this week.

What i have done since last time is minimal,

I cut out the ab button boxes to size.

 

 

 

And then I started putting some armor together...

 

I'll be working on that this week...

 

If anyone has a chance, please look at the thread above and answer my questions for the shoulder bells, kidney plate, and the butt plate.

 

thanks.

[charlesnarles]

The shoulder bells point forward as you wear them. I think Luke or Han has them backwards in a few scenes inside the Death Star (cause their characters wouldn't know left from right either... right?...lol)

As for return edges, [EDIT: I found one for just the arms by searching "whitearmor.net return edge":

http://www.whitearmor.net/fisd/Tutorial-arms ]

Edited May 21, 2015 by charlesnarles

[illusionz_09[TK]]

thanks scott!

Keep me posted.

as far as return edges on my arms, they are extremely minimal to almost none; those biceps are ridiculously small compared to my arms lol.. I couldn't go the standard 15mm on biceps. I'll update as soon as i finish putting them together this week.

Edited May 21, 2015 by illusionz_09

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Finally got my Stanley 50 gallon storage box!

 

 

And while waiting for E6000, I cut out the TD caps (25mm) and the drop boxes (15mm)...

 

Edited May 22, 2015 by illusionz_09

[russellr2d2[TK]]

Looking great!   I am glad you put down the Dremel for cutting out the pieces...it's much easier just to score and snap.

 

If you have not already cut off the bottom of the buttplate, I will tell you the buttplate is a bit small on me so judge for yourself  (I'm 5'11 and 170ish)

I would leave on the extra area beyond the mold line at the bottom to help tuck under your tushey.

 

Looks like your on your way...have fun building!

 

Russell

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Looking great!   I am glad you put down the Dremel for cutting out the pieces...it's much easier just to score and snap.

 

If you have not already cut off the bottom of the buttplate, I will tell you the buttplate is a bit small on me so judge for yourself  (I'm 5'11 and 170ish)

I would leave on the extra area beyond the mold line at the bottom to help tuck under your tushey.

 

Looks like your on your way...have fun building!

 

Russell

 

Yea I noticed that on the "tushey" also lmfao.... 

I'm definitely airing on the side of caution after working on these biceps. I'm 5'8'', 170 lbs but i work out and my arms are not the "standard trooper" size. So typical cuts for biceps were not working.  I had to open up the mm a bit, as you can see by the pic (well hard to tell from the pic) lol. 

I'll show more details later this week. 

But i'm just trying to make it work.

 

thanks for the tip though...

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

What size did you use for your biceps? I had to do 7/8" front and 1" on the back. Now I have to go back and redo my forearms to at least  7/8" on the front so they look uniform. 

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Wow see I wanted to try to squeeze mine in. Those strips are bigger than those of your thighs. I'm trying to see what I can get away with. I've only done the outside biceps so far at 16.5mm. The inside I will have to make bigger strips. We'll see. Maybe those I will do closer to that 7/8 inch. I just don't want it to look comical. That and since I did my forearms a bit more accurate to the true numbers, I want to avoids redoing them

[russellr2d2[TK]]

If you use larger than standard size I think the opinion here is to at least have the cover strips consistent on different parts (bicep to forearm). Check with other troopers more experienced than me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited May 27, 2015 by russellr2d2

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Yeah, there's no way I can get away with standard size on my biceps so 7/8" front and 1" back works great and is more than comfortable. I can fit in my forearms but they are super tight even with the undershirt on. It looks really dumb lined up with the 7/8" so I need to keep them uniform. I plan on using 7/8" for the front of the thighs and calves too. If you watch trooperbay's videos he mentions where you can deviate from the standard 5/8" finishing strips but hide as much as you can in the rear. 

Edited May 26, 2015 by Airborne Trooper

[illusionz_09[TK]]

I made a Home Depot run to get my "thermal Detonator" in order. I cut it at 7.5 inches as needed:

Naturally you have to buy the tube in 10 feet, so i still have a bit of left overs lol...

 

Sized up and end caps put on (with only pressure needed). Then i cut out the center portion, i will install later.

 

Working on finishing up my biceps:

 

Due to the size constraints, I had to leave a bit of a gap in between. Its covered by the strip so I'm good to go

 

While biceps were drying, i decided to look into my thighs. I began with my right thigh.

 

Just getting a size idea. I haven't created the strips yet, but the distance from indention to indention as of right now is 22cm distance in front and 30cm in the back. It may be a bit snug as it is. well see what i do.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Any update on your build? 

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Any update on your build? 

Lmfao. My build has been on hiatus right now Jason, but thanks for the support lol.

My daughter was born last month so its been a bit hectic.

 

Today is my last day of Graduate school, so i should be able to have some time to work on my armor soon.

My goal is to be suited up and ready for the Episode 7 premiere! Hopefully i can have it done sooner to get some troops in, but i will definitely post as i go.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

It's all good man! I have Irish twins, 18 month old, 6 month old. Also have a 6 year old step-daughter and my 10 year old son was here for 3 weeks for the summer. I didn't get anything done so I know how that goes. I was curious if you figured out your thigh issue. Congratulations on finishing graduate school!

[illusionz_09[TK]]

I actually got some work done this weekend!!!

One of my boys came over and while he worked on touching up his armor up (TK 10314) to get some more mobility, I worked on mine.

 

 

So one of the things i wanted to fix/correct are my arms before i even tackled the legs.

I cut out some areas in the forearms and then i tackled the biceps (again)

Now that i bought zap a gap i could make the changes quicker. I left the outside of the biceps at the 16 mm where i had them, and then i decided to cut out 30 mm for the inside of the biceps. My arms are not that small so i had to make them like that to get them to fit and have some movement. Below you can see both sides, the outside(left)/outside(right) of the biceps.

 

you can clearly see the difference, but either way you can't tell once you have the armor on.

 

I also cut the shoulder straps properly, glued them onto my chest piece, and then created the 2 inch white strap connecting the chest to the back.

I used the snap method, the males are on the armor and the females are on the strap. (Sorry I did not take a good picture of the strap)

 

 

then took some progress pictures to gauge how the armor is fitting. Blue tape with shoulder bells (just to get an idea of how it looks)

Up next i will actually do the straps for the shoulder bells to the armor.

 

 

And yes, we had a great movie on in the background lmfao...

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Glad to see you're back on the kit! Welcome back!

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Last night during the Star Wars premiere, i was home working on my right thigh lol.

I'm going to watch TFA on Sunday with my wife (being a daddy makes timing difficult!, if not we would have been there opening night!!!!!!!)

anyway i digress lol.

 

So I already had previously trimmed the thighs, so it was about getting them together.

I cut the front 20 mm strip and attached it.

 

The front strip was standard size so it was good to go, the hard part was then trying to figure out how wide the strip for the back had to be.

After much back and forth (and lots of masking tape) I ended at this.

 

So basically I ended up doubling the front strip and making the back 40 mm.

 

Using good old Zap a gap (in spite of getting my fingers glued a couple times) I attached the back.

 

As you can see, the strip sizes are quite noticeably different sizes; but just like the biceps, has to be done in order to fit.

 

So basically, my right thigh is done. Just need some sanding.