Aren't you a little fat/short for a Storm Trooper - RT-Mod

[andylah[TK]]

The time has come for a TK! 

After the awesome advice from everyone on SCG  to get a soft costume and decide whether trooping is for me before getting Armour I’ve decided Trooping is for me and its time for Armour…

 

Lots of research via FSID and SCG and i decided RT-Mod was best suited for the bigger guy, thinking wider, not taller so this may still be hit and miss….

 

build thread pics: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andylah/sets/72157653274859390

 

here goes with list of stuff:

 

TK Suit -  RT Mod - obligatory big brown box photo will go here once it arrives...

Under suit/Balaclava - Stromtrooper under suit but arrived in Extreme Racing satchel. 

 

Boots  - Dublin Elevation Jodhpur Boots

 

 

           - painting supplies 

 

Gloves -  Ansell Black ones from Woolies

handplates - TrooperBay

 

E-11 - Trooper Bay / Doopy Doos -  here is finished photo… this was a whole lot of fun to build

 

Holster -  still need to source?

 

hardware -  still need to get. - buttons, elastic, webbing etc - this was fun.... walking into Lincraft with no idea what i was doing nor what I needed and just grabbing a shucks ton of stuff

 

Neck Seal - Trooper Bay 

belt -  Trooper Bay 

 

TD Clips -  Evilboy

 

Bucket Fans -  Evilboy 

 

Mounting belt thingie -  stealing Drew's idea I grabbed one of the belts https://flic.kr/p/tNSjvN from bunnings that should also act like a girdle a bit i hope.

 

 

So I started "operation lose a shucks ton of weight" back  when I ordered the Armour, and that worked for a bit but didn’t really happen to well which is the suck (my fault) So  would like to be able to size it down as needed hopefully :S

 

eeeek i'm scared.

 

 

My confused look at having no idea what i was doing in Lincraft!

 

 

Day 1 Progress:

 

plus

equals

 

I promptly put the hammer down and grabbed a keyboard and spent all night reading.

 

Still scared shucksless.... suit remains in the box.

Edited July 4, 2015 by andylah

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

When are you expecting your big brown box?  The RT kit is a dream to work with, seriously.  Rob is a true artist, and the kit reflects that.  It looks like your research is already paying off well, as you've got a lot of necessary bits there waiting for your BBB day!

 

If you have any questions about building that kit, be sure to have a look at the existing RT builds out there already.  You can find my build thread in the link in my signature.  

[andylah[TK]]

Big Brown Box arrived yesterday

which was madly torn open and this happened

and thats as far as I got...

 

It then went home and sat resealed back up to make sure I didn't start anything before I was reading.

 

I've just spent hours reading your whole thread @Dark CMF and am in awe and hope mine turns out to be even 1/4 that good...

I have another 5-6 build threads to read up before I start playing i think...

 

im still scared though....

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you, there are a lot of REALLY helpful build threads that helped me to get started.  Read through every one that you're planning to read, they'll help your comfort level substantially.

Of course, you'll still be scared until you've already assembled at least both biceps and probably one forearm.  

 

Then, you'll just be cutting stuff to pieces like it was nothing.  That first cut syndrome though...  You'll be weakened and nauseous about it until you get it over with.

We all go through it, but we've got your back.  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to the build

[HansDC[TK]]

YES ANDY!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!! 

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Super excited for you. 

 

Just some back story with Andy....when he got his officer approved a few months ago he was out trooping every weekend and even came down to Melbourne for a massive troop. Stayed with me for the night and checked out my TK and he's been hitting me up with questions ever since!

I have no doubt this build will turn out great!

[andylah[TK]]

thanks for kind words people!

 

Hans, i might need a trip to Melbourne

Q, i might need a holster

 

anyway, progress...

 

 

So after two days of reading and weeing myself i decided to unpack the box



damn. im scared even more now...

which turned into quick lets put stuff on....



after putting everything on as best as I could reason / work out/ willing to try it fits alright

RT Mod is made for bigger person, me thinking sideways didnt think of tall so im still not sure how tall it all is in reality to me but am sure some trimming will be necessary
Right calf wont close as is, no surprise there so that will need shimming
as will the kidney to ab plate, that will need a chunk of shimming i think, on both sides so that will be fun too....
everything else seemed okay, but when you are trying to hold it together and explain what you mean to blank looking father i am still unsure...

Once I rewrapped everything back up in plastic wrap I moved on to tab making...


again without any real plan i just made back tabs which will at least get me some idea what im doing...

game plan I think is start with the arms... forearms up I think...

looked at those bits and thoight okay, i think i know what goes where, and was thinking this looks all very symetrical???



so in conclusion, slow progress but any progress is progress....

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I'd suggest you do biceps down, as the forearms are a little more complicated to fit typically. I do always suggest/recommend the biceps first for all TK builds.

[andylah[TK]]

thanks for the advise Tim!

 

so after poor planning on my part I missed the Canberra armour party which was silly. It would have given me th confidence and access to people in the know to have some idea what i am doing...

 

And yes this was taken after the Dubs lost today damned Dellavedova locked Curry up....

anyway; finally got to take it out of the box again and started on the arms...

first issue encuntered  - i keep cutting my hose putting the bucket on....

so step one of armour building, bleed is done...

right arm:

that felt okay until i did the left arm...

Left arm:

the left bicep goes up a lot higher than the right

both shoulders attached to the biceps, and the left is definitely horter, which leaves  the gap between the forearm better



Once again, hopeless photographer father takes a bunch of shots and this is the only usable one...


I think the left is good? the right needs some work, will start with getting rid of the return edge as its not so scary, but it might need some off the top as well...

again:


and the forearms might be a tad too long but im really scared of cutting them? both are similar to this...

Edited June 8, 2015 by andylah

[Bone[501st]]

Get rid of most of the return edges of your bicep parts so they can slide up and down a bit.

You'll be a lot more comfy an you don't have to cut the length.

Your wrists look like they could be a little tighter, but that also depends on your comfort level.

Just remember, that the wrists don't have any return edge at all.

 

Oh, and btw, your forearms are way too long.

Compare them to reference photos and you will recognize, that the long part with the square indentions is cut off at the wrist and does not end in a return edge.

 

Looking good so far!

Edited June 8, 2015 by Bone

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

SQUEE!!!! You have some extra material to cut off on the forearms so that should help with the length. You might want to have this topic moved to the ANH Build thread

[davej[TK]]

Hi Andy!! Just get stuck into it mate

 

If you need help, just give me a yell. I'm not far away from you

[andylah[TK]]

So I took a heap of photos at Nova and spoke with lots of people and today was the day I finally got down and dirty and some work....  well I thought I got stuff done, but I really think i just opened new questions...

anyway, progress is progress....

1. painted TD pipe grey. woot... means I shoould just be able to do this tomorrow and have something crossed off the list
2. reset and looked at shins
Left looks okay I think; just glue it and velcro in the rear - shave some off the bottom and even it up?  (who thinks they are too long)

and
Right leg is again my issue.... how do I ttach them, after this was taken i realised it might be okay just to velcro in the rear if i space out some more in the front -  but i presume i want symeterical?

Given RT-Mod uses the overlap method im confused to what I should do really

3. I half glued both biceps after trimming the inside return edge which makes them fit a whole heap better...
yay for magnets


4. Thighs.... again problem area; although this time I think they need cutting more so to fit more snugly - but can't tell as they arent attached yet so might not be such an issue
Left, I think I need to cut at inch plus off the top to make them shorter, which will skew the rest of the fit i think?

and right with similar issue  - for these I had my sister tape up the back nice and tight and think I need to again cut some off -  this might sort itself out if i lose some length at the top?



5. forearms... I need to cut at least a 1/2" inch off the wrist to get to just the raised bit, and as such probably similar at the other end... looking at other kits at Nova, everyone seemed different and all of them seemed long? not sure if I want to do 1/4" inch off each and reasses / ask the masses to be sure..

6. finally I installed the evil boy fan kit in my bucket which has made a world of difference...

so that was my Saturday...

Sunday I hope for some strapping, some more snap making, first proper cutting.... also will put on shins/thighs and crotch together and see what happens......

[andylah[TK]]

Sunday has begun and leads to more questions...

 

 

left end cap isnt on properly atm, right one is stuck on (not by glue) ive taped on the bits to see if the spacing looks okay??

 

but where does that other bit go??? underneath I assume?

 

I've taped it all up and put on properly and it might be too long?

Crl says approx. 7.5" ATM it's 8" as the one end that's on I can't get off, not sure if I'm meant to over lap it or what?

Not sure that's an actual issue or not?

Edited June 28, 2015 by andylah

[andylah[TK]]

today concluded with my basically giving up after managing to somehow glue the outside to the inside, not the inside to the outside...
with zapagap.



as shown there, I managed to rip it apart but have ugly glue residue left on the outside of my right shin...

so options:

1.  use tge zapagap debonder stuff as best I can and then buff the hell out of it with the dremel and a polishing head and hope it comes good... (on initial trials the debonder stuff seemed to get rid of the bulk of the residue but left it looking matte.)
2.  just stick a covering strip over the top of the face that shows... (one side of the join will have two edges, the overlap and the cover joint)
3.  abandon overlap method and go with butt joints and strips for all... (can the overlap'd armoue be converted to butt strips relatively easily)

Now each has its merits and negatives.....

nobody to blame but myself... yay me.

[Kredal[TK]]

1 seems like a recipe for disaster... 2 would work. 3 may be your best option.  ukswrath has a build thread going for an AM1.0 kit that was meant to be overlap, but he's making it all butt-joined.  Check that out, and see what you think.

[andylah[TK]]

That's sort of what I had excepted to hear.... And that's good.

 

Will go check that out! Cheers

[andylah[TK]]

fairly productive day thanks to Chris788 and hansdc in Melbourne for answering countless silly questions!

made the first cuts with the assistance of Clone Wars, some epic strong coffee and Tamiya lexcan scissors... (these things rule)

Chopped off the ends of the forearms and got them ready for gluing....  ( they need some cleaning up and sanding)

broke out the e6000 and did some gluing of the forearms and shins

and got the TD good to go


So half the forearms are setting now, will look how they are going tomorrow.
Both shins are now glued with velcro in the back so that is a bonus...
TD needed its clips shortened so also did that.

Tomorrow I hope to finish the TD.
Look at the thighs some more and see whats needed there.
look at the chest bits, kidney, ab plates etc etc to see whats next...

good day overall, actually feels like I achieved something...

[andylah[TK]]

So progress is progressing:

 

Shins, forearms and TD are glued and good to go: (other shin is some where else)

 

just work on fitting the forearms properly and making them a tad shorter possibly still...

 

And the Echo Fan setup I ordered arrived and is in place now.. still need to attach slightly more permanently..

I opted for the custom name and numbers which I think adds to the badass level and makes it feel like mine!

 

Now the helmet feels really small; have to pay attention putting it on and pulling off with fans; but I haven't tried with the balaclava on.... (that will solve the beard getting sucked into the fan problem at least)

 

Weekend is looking at thighs and running away, hopefully painting the ab buttons, and I think looking at the belt to try and get that progressing although I have missed buying a holster.... whats a good holster????

 

--------------

 

epic troop on Saturday helping out and I managed to get another good look at some TK kits and progress was had..

 

First go round at painting dots -  the cd label stickers I had weren't quite right so I free handed them, i did them again and they look better

Second go:

 

Armbourboy big an impolite person storage box arrived

 

Then on to the belt:

Some rivet goodness - 1/8" from bunnings

Then some push buttons. Feeling more confident with these now, ready to start strapping soon too i think

both done, woot.

 

and almost done - still have to stick the cover buttons on, and work out if the flappy bits at the ends are too long. Left it warmed up around a bike tyre to get some good curve happening

 

Next step is connecting the drop boxes and looping with elastic over belt, and attach the still hasnt been purchased holster....

 

New found motivation tonight I want to hit the sniper plate, and the should straps I think; and hopefully look at the beginning of strapping to try and get some of the body fitted up.

[deadvision]

Is the body harness going to act as a garter aswell? If so that's a great idea I may steal.

[andylah[TK]]

Is the body harness going to act as a garter aswell? If so that's a great idea I may steal.

yeah that is the plan... and a girdle, suck gut in, push this out, and then also give me (in theory) a fixed point to strap thighs too....

[andylah[TK]]

so with a anew self imposed threat / goal in my head I got into it tonight and achieved nothing really lol

Ab buttons are french blue


arbitrarily stuck the shoulder straps on just to have a look see

which lead to taping armour to me to see whats what...

take away points. my torso is really short, so need to hack and slash some length off the lot... and the cod piece is a separate piece to abs? is that normal @chris seemed to think it was odd...  (would top of cod be logical place to shave some space) -  RT Mod has a line drawn over it that says belt line so maybe not? in which case do I cut the bottom of the abs off to the bottom of the chest... actually proper scared about that now....

finally moved on to thighs... my previous guestimate was close, but I loosened a bit given comments by others and they feel much better... ive taped/magetneted and clamped them up overnight to try and get some shape out of them as they dont feel the right shape... hopefully then I can glue the fronts and make proper adjustments to the sizing and possibly shave some more height from the tops... (I need to even out the backs as its lopsided and has a edge that sticks out
right front:

right back (excuse half undone shin, photographer didnt mention until after and I couldn't see it

left front

left back



so again what I hoped would be a productive night has turned meh once I have reviewed the photos again....

[andylah[TK]]

after moving forward and then two steps back I reread Dark CMF's build and

 

this looks much better


stuck the cod piece up behind the abs



still just temporary but a relief none the less

 

then

some more gluing last night got me excited again:
Sniper Plate


and  fronts of both of the thighs

Edited July 24, 2015 by andylah

[andylah[TK]]

began the weekend again with lots of motivation.... ended the weekend in a alcohol induced paralytic state that stopped all my good intentions...

started with me doing the linc.

 

Boots have like 7 coats of white on them and look good... ( i peeled off the tape off the soles shortly after this pic was taken)

 

Did some more trial fitting with the aim of getting cod piece attached to Ab plate...

 

hand plates suck. these suckas just dont want to glue on properly -  do i want to glue them on to the dish washing gloves given they suck to troop in?

 

Now the elephant in the room.... Shims. Do I need them or not... when i got test dressed up and had dad measure them i need 7.5 cm shims to join the ab and kidney plates. When i got properly dressed and threw the belt on it was 4.5cm... In theory I will build them like that temporarily to see what is needed... reading the rules I might not need too? My stupid brain wants me to close the gaps and i would prefer them?

 

gave up moved on to the belt...

all riveted together now, just need to lop off the edges and cut the 45 degree angles and then attach the holster... good times.

 

ended the day with attaching some of the snap buttons to the ab plate to try and get it attached... my plan was to haev all plates built and ready for gluing this week after work... that didnt happen...

[andylah[TK]]

getting excited now and I don't think i'm actually scared any more... well within reason

 

 

belt attached and tight for once and the abs are snapped to the cod piece.

 

internal snaps to attach cod / ab plate... the one of the left likes to twist a bit as it doesnt seem to fit flush.... i lowered the ab down a bit to make it fit better...

 

 

snaps and elastic for the shoulder bells... not sure I like this as I think the snaps will run, but easy to rip out if needed...

 

 

next steps:

 

1. belt... finish it off -  cut the edges off (i think at the tape line) cut the 45 degree angle and attach the buttons. I really want to make one of the boxes usable but cant think how easily

1a. add the Gazmosis holster to the belt.

2. cod snaps and rivet

3. look at back pieces to start lining them up to work out the chest piece to work out if i need shims in ab plate and how high the chest needs to be

4. velcro/elastic/snap combo to attach to the weight belt thing I have... in theory its snaps to some elastic  with a length of velco as high as the belt so they are always in a fixed position

 

I can see reaching a point of needing actual assistance for decent fitting and final cuts before doing approval stuff soon... I cant seem to get any of the family to actually take the photo i want/need...