Keyla's ANH Stunt build (1.5mm TM, aiming for Centurion)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

+1 for internal cover strips. They make the armor look better and give it a lot more strength.

 

Your armor is looking good so far. Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to glue with e6000. You can pull the pieces off and remove the glue. I used it on all my exterior cover strips and nylon snap plates. I used super glue on the interior strips and ABS snap plates.

 

Hey Tony, aren't the cover strips for the thigh backs also 25mm?

 

The cover strip measurements are 15mm for the arms, 20mm for the front of the legs and back of the thighs and 25mm for the rear of the calves. 

 

Though I've never seen reference photos of canon armor measurements to substantiate what I've been told on a few occasions, by those who've been involved in armor accuracy for years, unless proven otherwise, this is what I go by.  

Edited July 14, 2015 by ukswrath

[ukswrath[Staff]]

No internal strips are needed. Whether they look nice or not, the correct external joining strips (and that's what they are - joining strips) are more than enough to hold the armour together. I often read how people put them on the inside for extra strength but these are lightweight plastic costumes, not ballistic battle armour, so the external strips do their job more than good enough. Plus, you only have enough ABS strips in the kit for external use.

 

You're correct about the cover strips. To reiterate what Paul said, inner cover strips are not needed and I'll add, not required.

 

With that said, TM wouldn't be TM if you hadn't taken something and made it better, correct?   

 

I agree the inner cover strips are NOT needed for strength, but for people who want their armor to have a nice clean look on the inside as well, cover strips are not a bad idea. Sure they're not canon but neither are snaps and straps that 85% of the applicants have.  

[Chills[TK]]

The cover strip measurements are 15mm for the arms, 20mm for the front of the legs and back of the thighs and 25mm for the rear of the calves. 

 

Though I've never seen reference photos of canon armor measurements to substantiate what I've been told on a few occasions, by those who've been involved in armor accuracy for years. Unless proven otherwise, this is what I go by.  

 

 

Interesting. I've been told it was 20mm for leg fronts and 25mm for leg rears. I've seen that in a few threads, too. I'll have to look around to find them.

 

As far as the internal cover strips, I've done only 3 troops in my armor, and on one 5 hour troop one of my external cover strips came loose at the very top. I was glad to have the internal one as a backup. A week and a half ago we did a parade, marched just over 2 miles, and they all held up well. 

 

Is the internal necessary? Maybe not, but I like having redundancy and they sure to help with strength of the armor. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Interesting. I've been told it was 20mm for leg fronts and 25mm for leg rears. I've seen that in a few threads, too. I'll have to look around to find them.

 

As far as the internal cover strips, I've done only 3 troops in my armor, and on one 5 hour troop one of my external cover strips came loose at the very top. I was glad to have the internal one as a backup. A week and a half ago we did a parade, marched just over 2 miles, and they all held up well. 

 

Is the internal necessary? Maybe not, but I like having redundancy and they sure to help with strength of the armor. 

 

My cover strips on my Centurion, rear thighs were a bit wider than 20mm because I have thick upper thighs. Sometimes there's a little grace given if everything looks symmetrical. We're not here to brow beat and nit pick every little measurement thank goodness. 

 

BTW regarding your last statement, I completely agree with you.  

Edited July 14, 2015 by ukswrath

[troopermaster]

The sizes of the strips vary but 15mm for the arms and 20mm for the legs are a good guide, but you can go wider if you need a bit more room inside the armour. The back of the calf has a 25mm strip to cover the opening and you should try and have the back thigh strip the same width as the front of the thigh and shin if possible.

[Chills[TK]]

How's the armor coming along, Sarah?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

 

[Keyla]

I have been on vacation! I now can thoroughly recommend Krakow, fantastic city.

 

And that is not all - I now have three tubes of e6000 (exciting! I've never been excited about glue before!).

 

After last time's traumatic experience, it was hard to work up the courage, but eventually... I glued!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Awesome great Job Sarah and welcome back BTW

[Chills[TK]]

Welcome back! Your thigh looks pretty good. And remember, the great think about e-6000 is if you mess up you can pull the pieces apart, and the glue is not hard to remove.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Hey Sarah how's to build coming?

[Keyla]

Aw it is going so slowly. It feels like every time I get going with it some life gets in the way...

But I've not given up, and the calf pieces are now in progress and hopefully up for gluing tomorrow!

 

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Awesome, well please keep us informed 

[Chills[TK]]

Good to know you're still working on it.

[Keyla]

So, this happened:

 

It looks like the gaps might be due to the magnets being too weak, so the cover strip was never properly pressed to the shin pieces. 

 

I am considering buying heavier magnets; what do we think about these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12pcs-Super-Strong-Cylinder-Magnet-Set-10mm-x-10mm-Rare-Earth-Neodymium-N52-/321790344814?hash=item4aec32fe6e

 

The magnets I have been using are also N52 but only 10mm x 2mm (where 2mm is the height).

 

Also - how do I solve this? Tear apart and re-glue? (hurray for e6000)

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Yes, tear apart, and reglue. If you're careful, you can even salvage the cover stripe, however if you tear it by force you might break it.

 

As for the magnets, the wider they are, the more you will avoid gluing issue. With the ones you posted, I fear the center line of the cover stripe will be glued while the edges won't sit nicely flat, leaving small gaps. I would advise for at least 20mm-25mm wide magnets.

[Keyla]

20x25 sized magnets now on their way, thanks for the advice!!

 

 

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[troopermaster]

I find it easier to glue the strips onto one half of the armour using bulldog clips and once cured, I tape the other half to the armour and use small magnets (9mm x 7mm) which are very powerful and do a great job. I probably have a few hundred of them but you can buy a pack and use them on one part of the armour until the glue dries and then onto the next part. Once you have finished building your armour, sell the magnets on here so someone else can use them

[Locitus[Admin]]

And remember that you can stack magnets for extra pull.

[Chills[TK]]

And remember that you can stack magnets for extra pull.

 

^ This! I ended up stacking magnets often to get a really solid grip. 

 

Good to see you posting. How's the build going?

[Keyla]

I must be the world's slowest at this point, but yesterday I glued my second shin I've made a deal with myself to do a little bit each day that I am home, even if that just means 10 minutes sanding.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

There's always slower than oneself! A shin is better than nothing, after all. So keep it up, and eventually you will see that your armor is finished .

[Keyla]

look who's back!

 

after an inspiring weekend at Celebration Europe, seeing UK garrison's shadow trooper build tutorial (with so many lovely helpful folks with plentiful advice), and getting some help from my local darth vader, I've started working on the helmet.

 

Is the trimming enough on the eyes and teeth? (the sun is off to the left, so it is illuminating the edges quite nicely for the photo)

 

[pewpewpew[TK]]

Welcome back! <br>

You can do this! If you ever need motivation and inspiration I have found that the Field Training Exercises forum section is pretty good for this: <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/13-field-training-exercises/'>http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/13-field-training-exercises/</a><br>

As for trimming your helmet, I would sand a little closer to the pencil lines you made for the eyes and for the teeth, you can check here for some references: <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/16270-anh-frown-reference-pix/'>http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/16270-anh-frown-reference-pix/</a>

[Keyla]

hi strangers

 

the helmet scared me off a bit, so I've gone back to basics and started trimming down my chest plate today. Hopefully I'll stick with it better this time around...!