Ukswrath's FOTK build thread

[Peregrinus]

Sharing some resources I've found in my accumulating of materials.

For the 2" by ¼" neoprene for the belt insert, I found it by the foot on the famous auction site. Four feet plus shipping comes to less than US$9. Half the price of the chunk you found on Amazon, and some of us don't have the space for a whole lot of leftovers, no matter how potentially useful they may be down the road.

 

Instead of elastic cord for the crotch connector and shoulder tie-downs, I found a 10-foot spool of 3/32" EPDM rubber cord. About five bucks, and fits the rubbery theme of the black portions of the armor, IMO.

 

Hope these are helpful.

 

--Jonah

[ukswrath[Staff]]

39 minutes ago, Peregrinus said:

Sharing some resources I've found in my accumulating of materials.

For the 2" by ¼" neoprene for the belt insert, I found it by the foot on the famous auction site. Four feet plus shipping comes to less than US$9. Half the price of the chunk you found on Amazon, and some of us don't have the space for a whole lot of leftovers, no matter how potentially useful they may be down the road.

 

Instead of elastic cord for the crotch connector and shoulder tie-downs, I found a 10-foot spool of 3/32" EPDM rubber cord. About five bucks, and fits the rubbery theme of the black portions of the armor, IMO.

 

Hope these are helpful.

 

--Jonah

When looking to save some dolla dollas those will definitely work  

[mikidymac[TK]]

Well thanks a lot Tony. After reading all your build I think I need a FOTK.

I thought you might want to look at Bob Smith Industries. They are in Atascadero California and make many very high quality adhesives. Their rubber modified CA might be perfect for the FOTK gaskets.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

6 minutes ago, mikidymac said:

Well thanks a lot Tony. After reading all your build I think I need a FOTK.

I thought you might want to look at Bob Smith Industries. They are in Atascadero California and make many very high quality adhesives. Their rubber modified CA might be perfect for the FOTK gaskets. 

Glad I could be sales assistance lol. Interesting glue, too bad not too many want to ever wear rubber gaskets if they can help it lol. 

 

[Peregrinus]

Hey, Tony... It's been posted in a few other places online, but I haven't seen it on here. Since your build thread is kinda the benchmark a lot of people work from, I was wanting to get your take on these two pics from the Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor book. These are the only production photos I've run across of how the torso is connected to the belt. I'm pleased to see their fabric rigging inside the torso is almost exactly like yours. But as for the rest... Thoughts?

 

 

 

Leather for those lower "tabs"? And in that second pic, the closest torso rig -- those white things along the top edge. What do you make of those?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

5 hours ago, Peregrinus said:

Hey, Tony... It's been posted in a few other places online, but I haven't seen it on here. Since your build thread is kinda the benchmark a lot of people work from, I was wanting to get your take on these two pics from the Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor book. These are the only production photos I've run across of how the torso is connected to the belt. I'm pleased to see their fabric rigging inside the torso is almost exactly like yours. But as for the rest... Thoughts?

Leather for those lower "tabs"? And in that second pic, the closest torso rig -- those white things along the top edge. What do you make of those?

Hey Jonah, some of use were aware of this early on but were limited to the only armor available at the time which was Anovos. It's my understanding now there's a couple suppliers featuring the lower ab to belt connecting points, as well as other areas before unknown. The fabric rigging seen in the photos above and in my thread is the lower section of the suspension system that supports the thighs.

 

As for the white material along the top edge, it was used to secure the suspension system to the armor. I choose to not use it in my build instead used boning which is stronger. 

 

Have a great day   

[Peregrinus]

3 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Hey Jonah, some of use were aware of this early on but were limited to the only armor available at the time which was Anovos. It's my understanding now there's a couple suppliers featuring the lower ab to belt connecting points, as well as other areas before unknown.

OOOohhhh... That made me take another look at the top pic. Those tabs are part of the torso armor, projecting down. Am I now seeing that right? Hopefully that'll be something incorporated into ANOVOS' new version. If not, I'll go with what you did in this thread rather than scratchbuild the tabs -- I think it looks cleaner.

 

Quote

 The fabric rigging seen in the photos above and in my thread is the lower section of the suspension system that supports the thighs.

I mean the mesh and shoulder straps and shoulder slider pieces and such. I figured you had been privy to some of the inner workings, but the way you worded things, I was never really sure what was derived from the screen suits and what was your own invention for practicality. I really liked your torso liner and the way you did your straps, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how closely yours matches these.

 

Quote

As for the white material along the top edge, it was used to secure the suspension system to the armor. I choose to not use it in my build instead used boning which is stronger.  

That one I'm having trouble visualizing...

[ukswrath[Staff]]

"OOOohhhh... That made me take another look at the top pic. Those tabs are part of the torso armor, projecting down. Am I now seeing that right?" Correct  

 

"Hopefully that'll be something incorporated into ANOVOS' new version. If not, I'll go with what you did in this thread rather than scratchbuild the tabs -- I think it looks cleaner." I haven't see or heard anything from the Anovos camp stating that area will change.

 

"I mean the mesh and shoulder straps and shoulder slider pieces and such. I figured you had been privy to some of the inner workings, but the way you worded things, I was never really sure what was derived from the screen suits and what was your own invention for practicality. I really liked your torso liner and the way you did your straps, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how closely yours matches these. " Yea obviously I had a litte help lol

 

"That one I'm having trouble visualizing..."

https://www.amazon.com/Polyester-Sewing-MaxPro-Lingerie-More-Black/dp/B01GV1MQOO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520877549&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=boning+for+sewing&psc=1

 

[Peregrinus]

2 hours ago, ukswrath said:

"That one I'm having trouble visualizing..."

https://www.amazon.com/Polyester-Sewing-MaxPro-Lingerie-More-Black/dp/B01GV1MQOO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520877549&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=boning+for+sewing&psc=1

 

Oh, I know that boning. I have a roll, myself, and am intending to use it for my build (in addition to the things I originally bought it for). What I'm trying to wrap my head around is what those white bits are, and how they relate to the whole thing.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

57 minutes ago, Peregrinus said:

Oh, I know that boning. I have a roll, myself, and am intending to use it for my build (in addition to the things I originally bought it for). What I'm trying to wrap my head around is what those white bits are, and how they relate to the whole thing.

Are we talking about the same area? Very top of the armor, white? Sewn into the inner mesh?

[Peregrinus]

4 minutes ago, ukswrath said:

Are we talking about the same area? Very top of the armor, white? Sewn into the inner mesh?

Yeah. I'm trying to parse what I'm seeing. Is that, like, a 1" wide strip of something glued around the top with half sticking up, and the black diagonals are very loose stitching? All in all, I think the top and bottom you have on your torso rig are far tidier and make more sense. I'm trying to grok what they did so I can make the most informed choice possible in my own build.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

19 minutes ago, Peregrinus said:

Yeah. I'm trying to parse what I'm seeing. Is that, like, a 1" wide strip of something glued around the top with half sticking up, and the black diagonals are very loose stitching? All in all, I think the top and bottom you have on your torso rig are far tidier and make more sense. I'm trying to grok what they did so I can make the most informed choice possible in my own build.

From other photos I've seen I'm guessing it's some type of material sewn to the netting but glued to the armor

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Notched foam padding maybe?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Harbinger said:

Notched foam padding maybe?

It's anyone's guess. I've seen some close up photos and to be honest with touching it I would have no idea. To me it looks like a type of vinyl.  

[Peregrinus]

One (hopefully) last thing, and then I think I've got all my bases covered. I'm asking here, because you're pretty much the FOTK guru.  The spats... Are they attached to the shins (and, if so, how), or separate pieces that get strapped on after the shins and stay in place just with gravity and friction?

 

--Jonah

[ukswrath[Staff]]

The canon spats at glued to the shins or at least held in place with some type of epoxy.

 

I use 3 small strips of Velcro. A 1/4" x 1" in the front and the other two left and right rear, evenly spaced. Place the Velcro at the top edge, obviously  

 

On another note I'm not THE Guru, there are plenty others but thanks for the kind words and feel free to ask as many questions as you like. 

[Peregrinus]

*takes notes* I can work with that... Now my armor just needs to frikkin' show up. With nothing to actually work on, I'm kind of obsessively over-engineering this stupid thing... 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

3 minutes ago, Peregrinus said:

*takes notes* I can work with that... Now my armor just needs to frikkin' show up. With nothing to actually work on, I'm kind of obsessively over-engineering this stupid thing... 

ah hahaha 

[Haribon72[TK]]

bump to the top cause this is an awesome build thread.  =)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Haribon72 said:

bump to the top cause this is an awesome build thread.  =)

HAHAHA Bring your stuff over Walter let's do this 

[shygor520]

Hi Tony, i just have a quick question...I want to know how much it cost total for all the tools and supplies you got for build up this master piece. I am a new trooper but I am comparing the Anovos Standard and the Premier kit. But since I don't have enough space for build up, I was wondering if i should changed into Premier package but first want to do  compare, Thank

[ukswrath[Staff]]

2 hours ago, shygor520 said:

Hi Tony, i just have a quick question...I want to know how much it cost total for all the tools and supplies you got for build up this master piece. I am a new trooper but I am comparing the Anovos Standard and the Premier kit. But since I don't have enough space for build up, I was wondering if i should changed into Premier package but first want to do  compare, Thank

Hi, tools? maybe $30-40. If you want to get fancy you could easily spend 100s. If you've never built armor before you'll be just like the rest of us. It will take time, patience and yes space to build it in. I have yet to see the premier kit and so I can't really comment on the accuracy or how it will fit on your body. Building it yourself allows you to build it to your liking.

 

Hope this helps .   

[shygor520]

12 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Hi, tools? maybe $30-40. If you want to get fancy you could easily spend 100s. If you've never built armor before you'll be just like the rest of us. It will take time, patience and yes space to build it in. I have yet to see the premier kit and so I can't really comment on the accuracy or how it will fit on your body. Building it yourself allows you to build it to your liking.

 

Hope this helps .   

Hi, this is a great detail you gave me! I believe I will find my friend someone who have a studio and some tools to do the build up, fitting and such...there always an options I believe

Thank you sooo much!! 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Anytime, Troopers Helping Troopers  

[Ian_the_gonk_droid]

On 2/13/2019 at 10:01 PM, ukswrath said:

Anytime, Troopers Helping Troopers  

Your photobucket pics aren’t working anymore.

any chance you could fix it?