Artshot's ANH Stunt Build (AM 2.0)

[LoveMonkey[501st]]

Looks good so far.

 

One thing I recommend is lightly sanding the bottom of the cover strip and the area on the piece where the strip will go. Having those 2 rough edges helps the glue have some teeth as it sets.

 

And you can never have too many magnets. Can get them pretty cheap on Ebay, that's where I got mine.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Artshot]

Well, after 24hrs and not having much patience, I removed the magnets and clamps and tested the joint, very strong and hopefully very flexible.

 

Next I prepped the two areas I was going to glue by roughening them up a bit, wiped away all the flotsam and covered the areas in E6000, waited till they were tacky, then went at them armed with "a couple of clamps and a handful of magnets".....incidentally that should be the title of anybody's "How to put armour together" video.

 

It took me a while to wrangle the seams together and line them up, the armour really did not want to cooperate, but with fingers covered in glue, hands nipped by magnets and a fair amount of electrical tape that was closest to hand, I wrestled it into submission.

 

 

Soon as everything was as stable as I could make it, I gently put it down and stepped away, I am convinced if I listen carefully I can hear it straining, not unlike the cables on a suspension bridge.

Tomorrow when I remove the magnets, clamps and tape, I may take the precaution of wearing safety goggles and a hard hat.

 

Wish me luck.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Artshot

[LoveMonkey[501st]]

Good luck! One thing I tried when fitting them together was using blue painter's tape. Helps hold the pieces together while you get glue/clamps/magnets in place.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Artshot]

My initial plan was to use the blue tape, but I forgot the cardinal rule of having everything I am going to need within arms reach, luckily the tape I used seams to have worked....I hope.

 

I did notice that the once round wrist opening is now slightly oval, hoping that will flex back into shape once the clamp at that edge is removed, I would like it round, but not sure about soaking it in boiling water.

 

Definetly going to have to sand a flat spot for when I glue the outer cover strip in place as I want it to settle flat and not up on a slight high join.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Artshot

[Artshot]

If at first it doesn't look right, rip it apart and start again.

 

After removing the clamps, magnets and tape I discovered that long areas of the joins were not level, it bugged me enough that it was time to start again.

 

Thank you E6000

Edited August 22, 2015 by Artshot

[ukswrath[Staff]]

[ukswrath[Staff]]

AM armor assembly can be difficult do to the nature of the armor. Though unconventional I still insist on using inner cover strips when assembling. It  simplifies the process and gives a cleaner look. 

[Artshot]

Well, I have glued, unglued and re-glued my left forearm 6 times, each time there was a different amount of the join raised up and out of position, just enough to annoy me.

 

At this point I am thinking its Super Glue for me, luckily I found some that allows for repositioning, until it's glued forever, I will be masking off any area that I do not want glue to get on and doing it in 2 inch stages.

 

Wish me Luck

[Artshot]

Here's hoping that the 7th time is the charm.

After trying some Loctite Super Glue on a couple of test pieces of ABS, I was less than impressed with its ability to hold, it was very brittle and its unforgiving nature has made me return to E6000.

So, it's 7th time, hopefully lucky, I roughened the areas to be glued, applied the E6000 and gave it plenty of time to get tacky, instead of just leaping in, I began at one end of the forearm and clamped, taped and magnetted as I went.

So far it looks better than my previous attempts, however I am going to leave it till the weekend before I unwrap it and see what I got.

Hopefully it's the forearm I have been wishing for.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Artshot

[Artshot]

In an attempt to keep busy while waiting on my forearm glue to cure (7 attempts before I was happy with it), I decided to complete my Thermal Detonator.

 

The first problem I encountered was the over enthusiastic trimming that  had been performed at manufacture, whilst I do appreciate it, it made the OCD in me start to twitch.

 

After receiving advice (thanks Steve) about the sizes, I found that both end caps were trimmed at a slight angle (high side 18mm, low side 16mm), I thought about levelling them out at 16mm, but the difference of 4mm from the recommended depth would have bugged me, after checking the Centurion CRL, I decided to leave them alone as it was not an approval crucial difference, the face/button plate was likewise a bit short in length.

 

I had to trim the grey tube by 5mm to reach the 190mm required length.

 

After reading through ample builds and submissions for EIB, Centurion and the CRL's, I made the clips fit snug against the end caps and painted the four round head screws gloss black (each screw was fixed inside via a bolt, which I then super glued to stop future movement).

 

I also drilled a "vent" hole into the grey tube prior to the fitting of the end caps, that definitely made it easier to push the end caps into place, the face plate covered the hole once glued in place.

 

I have tried to compensate for the slight angle in the cut of the end caps by rotating them so the more obvious is hidden or under the Thermal Detonator, when I look at it, I actually like the slightly miss cut quirks, I think they give it a more authentic look.

 

May I present my Thermal Detonator, hopefully the first of many parts that reach Centurion Level during my build.

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Yep looks fine to me 

[Artshot]

Well, after beginning the build of my left forearm about a month ago, I have finished it…….I think.

 

After initially measuring, fitting and trimming my forearm down to a size I was comfortable with, I began the gluing of cover strips, inner, inner, outer, outer (one at a time), the last inner cover strip is where I encountered problems, I took it apart 6 times before I was happy with it, either parts did not glue correctly or it started to spring apart once the magnets, clamps and tape was removed.

 

Here are a few things I learned on my seventh attempt:-

 

1) Scuff both area’s to be glued, you know it makes sense.

 

2) Leave the glue to get tacky, it sounds obvious, but it really helps, do not be in a hurry.

 

3) Use a round dowel or something similar to apply the glue, I found this works great as you sort of roll the glue evenly along the area.

 

4) Line everything up before you begin, fighting with magnets when you’re in the middle of gluing is not fun.

 

5) If the cover strip or piece you’re gluing has a habit of sliding out of position when gluing (this accounts for 2 regluing’s of mine), use a couple of magnets to block its movement, tape the magnets though to avoid any scuffing.

 

Granted, all the above might be common sense or basics that everybody knows, but if my mistakes can help somebody repeating them, then my work is done.

 

Okay, so on with the photos

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my left forearm, after I had successfully glued the inner and outer cover strips in place, prior to gluing the outer cover strips I gently sanded away any raised or uneven joins that would stop the outer cover strip lying flat.

 

Once the cover strips had set, I trimmed away the surplus glue and using a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface I gently levelled out the wrist edge, I actually angled the inner side slightly to aid wrist mobility.

 

I also took this opportunity to fix a twist to the opening using boiling water, not as scary as I thought it would be, currently it is slightly oval, which I like as I have to put my hand in sideways then turn it to line up the raised indent strip, which sort of locks it in place.

 

At this point I found my set of Jewellers files (used during my E-11 build) and rounded the ends of the outer cover strips, put a strip of tape on the armour around the area, this should stop any errant slips with the file marking your armour, incidentally I cannot recommend a set of these files enough, there cheap and have a really fine grain.

 

Once the wrist end was finished I started on the elbow end, I knew going in that this end was going to be tricky and involving rebuilding a return edge, thanks to advice from FISD I bought a sealing iron and after a lot of practice on spare ABS, I carefully began to bend the return into a better shape, I wanted it more rounded than I currently had.

 

I used a wooden Popsicle stick to brace and stop the plastic curling too far over as I went, again I found this was not as scary as I had envisioned, no pile of melted plastic.

 

Soon as the ABS returned to being firm, I began to trim the final width of the elbow end return, I opted for around 4mm, which gave me comfort and returned the illusion of armour thickness.

 

So now it was time for another learning experience, making ABS paste, just add ABS scraps and Acetone and Hey Presto, instant ABS, the first fill was done with relatively thick paste, this helped fill the gaps in the return edge join.

 

This is where I found the Jewellers files were great, they give you great control as you file the ABS into a new shape, the fine grain leaves only slight scuffing and a little bit of dullness to surrounding ABS, once I had the return looking like a continuous edge I noticed a few bubbles and pockets in the surface, this time I used a thinner solution of paste and almost painted it onto the surface, each thin coat building it up a little more, I again used the files to bring the return edge back.

 

I also used the files to put a slight curve to the outer cover strips corners after I trimmed them down to just a few mm short of the beginning of the return edge curve.

 

Okay, so this is where my attention to detail comes in, or my inability to let something lie, I used more ABS paste to continue the inner cover strip up to the inside of the return edge and blend it in to the inner lip, I know it was unneeded, but it would have bugged me.

 

Okay, so that’s where I am so far, 1 month in and only a forearm to show (plus a Thermal Detonator as a diversion), this will not be a quick build, but I am in no hurry, after all I have only wanted Stormtrooper armour since I was 9…….now 47.

 

Sorry for the overly wordy and less picturey update (must remember to take photos as I build).

 

Next up, my right forearm………Dun Dun Duuuun!!!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Art

[Artshot]

Quick question for any AM 2 builders reading this.

 

Are the outer bicep pieces identical ?

 

I know the "Thumb Print" is in the left inner, but I cannot see a difference in the outer pieces, just want to be sure before I start trimming and fitting them.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Artshot

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Yes

[Artshot]

Well, it's taken a while, but I eventually finished my forearms and started on my biceps, a lot easier than my forearms, but not without problems.

 

I noticed when I was assembling my left bicep that it's slightly squarish oval shaped, so it looks like it's another trip to the boiling water, however here's my first photo's of my fit after about 2 cm trimmed from each side of each piece, whilst it's not as snug as I might have liked it, I realise that the bicep gets a lot of flex, so I thought it best to leave a bit more space, my only concern is that the top outer edge looks to be a bit of a distance away from my arm, poking out a bit, is that okay ?, as it will be covered by the shoulder bell ?

 

I left a 3mm return edge to match what I left on the forearms, although the inner scoop return might get reduced a bit to aid the fit, how snug into the armpit does it go ?

 

Also, while talking of shoulder bells, where do they sit in relation to the shoulder ?, full over it or more to the outside edge ?

 

Anyway, time for some photos, as always, please feel free to stear/push me in the right direction if you can see improvements to be made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Art.

 

As for the shoulder bell alignment, the top edge of the bell when attached correctly will nestle against your shoulder straps.

 

Here's a screen shot. Disregard the red illustration lines.

 

[Artshot]

Thanks Tony

 

After having a good look over the photo it's all a bit clearer now, obviously the internal strap on the shoulder bell will hold the bicep parallel and snug (along with providing support), however the bending of the upper arm will change that angle depending on the position, arm into the body = larger angle, arm crooked = less angle.

 

Maybe if I stopped overthinking the smaller details, I might get this thing finished

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Thanks Tony

 

After having a good look over the photo it's all a bit clearer now, obviously the internal strap on the shoulder bell will hold the bicep parallel and snug (along with providing support), however the bending of the upper arm will change that angle depending on the position, arm into the body = larger angle, arm crooked = less angle.

 

Maybe if I stopped overthinking the smaller details, I might get this thing finished

 

Overthinking the smaller things? yea I ask myself the same question. For some following my TFA build I'm sure they're asking the same question. The answer is simple, it's my armor, I want it to look nice and I paid too much for it to look like crap in a few months of trooping. So yea, take your time, scrutinize and nit pick if you must, just remember to have fun while you're doing it.  

[astrocling]

Did you make your TD clips or buy them?

[Artshot]

Hey Bruce

I bought my TD Clips from "Imperial Supply Depot" along with my holster, neck seal and green lenses, which come in one piece and my white canvas belt.

 

Since there in the UK it was a lot easier and quicker to buy from them, there are a lot of sources of the misc pieces you will need on this site, everything you will need

[astrocling]

Cool Thanks for the info.  I just realized you were in the UK.

[Artshot]

May I present to those still reading this thread, my arms, a lot of blood...lots of blood, sweat, and tears....too many to count, have gone into getting them this far, although until the left shoulder bell swoop was pointed out, I actually thought I had badly cut shoulders, you really do learn something new every day.

 

 

Oh, and because I had already taken the photos, here's my now completed biceps, after a bit of boiling to get them to fit better, and an application of ABS paste to fill the return edge join gaps.

 

 

 

Now all I have to do is figure out the internal strapping of my arms.

 

I have bought 2 inch black elastic for the forearm to bicep join, is this applied to the interior of the elbow ?

 

And, should it be attached with the forearm as close to or even slightly inside the lower bicep opening ?

Edited October 29, 2015 by Artshot

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

For the arm strapping, I used ukswrath's build thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31920-ukswraths-am-10-ata-bucket-build/?p=418714

 

Try to keep the forearm and bicep front cover strips touching or as little gap as possible. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Before installing strapping take note:

 

Right forearm has 12 dimples

 

Left bicep has the thumb indent and the forearm has 11 dimples

 

EDIT: Sorry dyslexia kicked in there