Jenlarouge Posted July 6, 2015 Report Posted July 6, 2015 Hey all. As promised its JULY! So that means starting on my armor. I have purchased most of the parts I need for initial build and started gathering rest of the soft parts. I ordered the Legacy Stormtrooper from KW designs like everyone else. I have about a weeks worth of trimming and sanding done. Need about another week to finish that part. As I stated in my introduction thread I am very short at 5'0" and not thin. I will have some shortening to do on most pieces. I foresee the biggest challenge being the torso as it is about 4" longer than my torso. I feel like I started off with an advantage because I not only had the opportunity to attend a local armor party, but another attendee had made this armor for his wife so he was able to give me some starting pointers. Thanks Chris Berban! SO without further ado, here is my progress so far. First started with inventory, like you do... No way to get that back in the box, because Kevin is a wizard... or Hermione Granger's cousin or something... Oh well, now on to trimming 2 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 So trimming and trimming... this takes FOREVER! I decided to watch some more Clone Wars while trimming and got completely ADD and made my first big oops. I trimmed all my return edge off of my belt. Boh! Took it with me to armor party though, read through some threads of other's who had similar issues. We'll see about fixing that later... Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) Everything got all trimmed up at armor party and I've started sanding and cleaning up edges. Decided to start with the helmet as that part I shouldn't need to shorten... I'm still having a difficult time controlling my cuts which has led to a few oops'. Some are not deep, just scratches really and those will be covered with black paint. But I would like to maybe buff them out with a soft file? Is that possible? In a couple places I sliced through thin spots all the way. However, a quick forum search led me to a couple methods for repairing cracks so after filing it even I will just adhere and reinforce them and we can pretend like it never happened. Right?! Edited July 8, 2015 by Jenlarouge 1 Quote
Barcode Posted July 7, 2015 Report Posted July 7, 2015 Looks good so far. Just try and go slow & steady on your cuts. Also ground your wrist when cutting. (Prop it against the table or a solid object) It makes everything a bit more stable. Good luck and please ask questions if you have any. A lot of us here have constructed this armor set for the wifey's. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 Looks good so far. Just try and go slow & steady on your cuts. Also ground your wrist when cutting. (Prop it against the table or a solid object) It makes everything a bit more stable. Good luck and please ask questions if you have any. A lot of us here have constructed this armor set for the wifey's. Thanks Benjamin. I have 4000 questions on the way. Trying to keep them organized. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) So I ordered the black pants and top from Underarmour. We here in TX get some serious heat and I am hoping that their HeatGear line will help with the heat and moisture. eww. Anyway. I ordered a large based on their size chart/my measurements only to discover that it was TOO large. Grrrr so back to amazon that goes and I wait for a medium. I did try it on however and the fabric is blissfully lightweight. Yay for preventing heat stroke! Here is what I got... The shirt has these black mesh panels in the side that will help even more with the venting but are still opaque enough to pass muster. Yay! They also have the little thumb holes that should help keep them tucked into my gloves. and the pants are all black, with minimal seaming and only one small decal which will be covered by the shin piece. Edited July 7, 2015 by Jenlarouge 2 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 Working on the face and trying not to kick my self for my little scratches and things. After stepping back and looking at the eyes compaired to the ones on the CRL I thought mine needed to be a little longer to the sides... Also added the black brow piece (what is that called?) and screwed it together. I attempted a try on, but was met with resistance by an unreasonably long pair of screws... Kevin sent a small bag with several long screws and two shorter ones... I am beginning to think the shorter ones should have been used? or I have to cut them down some way? Or a trip to the hardware store for shorter screws? What to do? Quote
Berbs42[TK] Posted July 7, 2015 Report Posted July 7, 2015 Jen, I'll show you, Renee's at the next Armor Party. Not sure exactly when that'll be here in SA, but soon!! In fact I may just upload some pics. - Berbs 1 Quote
Barcode Posted July 7, 2015 Report Posted July 7, 2015 Thats good that you have a local person to help. You need to cut more out of the corners of the eyes. Inside corners. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 Jen, I'll show you, Renee's at the next Armor Party. Not sure exactly when that'll be here in SA, but soon!! In fact I may just upload some pics. - Berbs Awesome! I would not say no to pics and/or live help. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 Thats good that you have a local person to help. You need to cut more out of the corners of the eyes. Inside corners. Ben, I have marked out some more area... does this look about right? or does it need more even that that? Its kind weird and slopes up as it goes further in toward the noes, hard to see in the picture though But the eye on the right of the picture (which is the left eye...errrr) is marked where I think I would cut more out... On the right track? Quote
Barcode Posted July 8, 2015 Report Posted July 8, 2015 Ben, I have marked out some more area... does this look about right? or does it need more even that that? Its kind weird and slopes up as it goes further in toward the noes, hard to see in the picture though But the eye on the right of the picture (which is the left eye...errrr) is marked where I think I would cut more out... On the right track? Yes thats what I meant. =] Quote
Barcode Posted July 8, 2015 Report Posted July 8, 2015 See the eyes here. I could've taken more off in the corner too. Don't pay attention to the cruddy paint job. This is my fiancé's armor. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) Thanks Ben! I made them wider Now I need to figure out how to get the visor thing on behind the eye holes inside. It is more curved than the face and doesn't sit flush in its whole form. Do I need to cut out "lens" from the visor thing Kevin sent? If so do I just glue them in? Edited July 8, 2015 by Jenlarouge Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Posted July 9, 2015 SO stuck on the visor. here is the problem...the face is more curved then the lens so there is a gap. a BIG gap. Any wisdom on hot to make the visor fit? Quote
Barcode Posted July 9, 2015 Report Posted July 9, 2015 Yeah the visor needs to be trimmed down a bit to kinda emulate the shape of sunglasses. And sanding the insides of the eyes to make them even on the edge that touches the visor to make it flush. The visor itself will be forced against the eyes via where you drill the bolt hole attachment. You should go into the ANH TK build threads for a helmet build and check it out. It would be a lot easier to actually show you what I mean here... hahaha. Berbs42 can show you. I'd work on the actual armor some while you wait. Biceps and forearms and shoulders are really easy. 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 10, 2015 Author Report Posted July 10, 2015 Thanks Ben! Will do. More later... =) Quote
bzb Posted July 12, 2015 Report Posted July 12, 2015 Looks like you're getting there! Nice work on the eyes If there's a little gap between the white and the lens, that's actually preferable! You won't notice the gap when it's on your head, but that air gap will help some for airflow. I would definitely not advise sealing the gap... 1 Quote
Mutter Posted July 12, 2015 Report Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) Jen, as Bobby said, you don't want the visor to sit flush, you want gaps. This will help air circulate a bit in your helmet and help prevent fogging. Edited July 12, 2015 by Mutter 2 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 14, 2015 Author Report Posted July 14, 2015 Ok, without admitting that I have no idea how to actually cut the lens material that came with it... How did YOU guys cut yours? I may or may not have tried the dremel cutting wheel and it may or may not have melted all along the cut. Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 14, 2015 Author Report Posted July 14, 2015 Lexan scissors Greg, I tried, its to thick. =( Quote
Barcode Posted July 14, 2015 Report Posted July 14, 2015 Yeah I forgot to mention about the gap. Sorry about that. I used Lexan scissors too...... you can cut it with them. Quote
Mutter Posted July 15, 2015 Report Posted July 15, 2015 Hmmm. You can either try the dremmel on a slower speed to avoid melting the plastic or find someone with strong hands ;-) 1 Quote
Jenlarouge Posted July 15, 2015 Author Report Posted July 15, 2015 (edited) Decided to give the lens a rest for a bit and work on the ears. I should have taken more pictures, but frankly there are some very good tutorials on the forums already (which I tried to make use of). Here's what I got... Right side on Is that to much gap? Right Front... Left Front Right back...bigger gap on the back, can't seem to get rid of it... =( Left Back, same problem with the gap What say you all? What can I do to fix the gap in back? Does it need to be closer? Edited July 17, 2015 by Jenlarouge Quote
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