Zaphod's First Order TK (TFA) build thread(TK-31415)(ABS Paste)(Pic Heavy)Photobucket links fixed

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Excellent work Pete thank you 

[ZacMuleer[TK]]

Jesus.  You make it look easy.

 

Seriously fantastic documentation.  This is a super help for those of us nervous to start gluing.  

[ZacMuleer[TK]]

This is where the Belt Sander shines. The length of the sanding belt gets the seamless joint edge nice and straight, minimizing the gap that needs to be filled. Come to think of it, I used the belt sander to sand down all the pieces to the cut lines. You get a lot of control when you can grip the piece your sanding with both hands. And just cleaned up the edges by hand with 120 and 220 grit sand paper. Huge time saver. The kit came with a template for the shims (see pic). I used Zap-a-Gap again. This joint has to be permanent, so E-6000 won’t do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm having trouble locating the file for the shims you mentioned here.  Could you direct me where to find this particular file?  (Feel free to PM me if it is in a pdf that cannot be posted publicly.)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I couldn't find the file or a template in my kit either, I just measured and cut strips. I figured it wan't rocket science right ?

Edited August 20, 2015 by ukswrath

[Zaphod[TK]]

I'm having trouble locating the file for the shims you mentioned here.  Could you direct me where to find this particular file?  (Feel free to PM me if it is in a pdf that cannot be posted publicly.)

The build instructions came in the form of an email from Anovos. I'll try to pm you the template pdf.

 

I couldn't find the file or a template in my kit either, I just measured and cut strips. I figured it wan't rocket science right ?

No it isn't rocket science lol, but every little bit helps.

 

-Zaphod

[Zaphod[TK]]

AB Section (1B, 2B, 9E, 9F, 9G, 9H, 9I, 9J, 9K)

CAUTION! THE KIDNEY SECTION HAS GLUE TABS

DO NOT CUT THEM OFF.

So this is another part of the build with seamless joints. Both sides of the AB, where the AB meets the Kidney are seamless.

I cut the Kidney in half right up that nice line that's there in the center of the back before I started. I figured it would be easier to handle and position half of the piece rather than the whole piece.

 

Because the sides are seamless I used CA glue to glue the Kidney and AB sections together.

This is a lot of surface area to glue and with just one or two seconds to line everything up, I enlisted my wife and son for clamp duty. We had a couple of dry runs; I'd pretend to apply glue, then line up one end, yell "CLAMP" (like I’m a surgeon), line up the seam all the way to the other end, yell "CLAMP" again. After we got all the giggles out, we were ready to go. I don't have any pictures of the gluing process, but we did it twice and it turned out well on both sides. I lost the skin off a couple of my finger-tips using my hands as clamps (CA glued them to the sides), but you can sand skin off plastic easily enough.

 

 

ABS Paste time again. This is a big area to cover and requires a lot of paste.

The aim of all of this is to avoid the cracking that some of the Alpha people have encountered using Bondo. Barcoder used Plastic Weld and seems to have gotten good results.

The AB section is going to be stretched, pulled and bent every time I put it on, and from just moving around while trooping. So something that won't crack is the best choice. And since I have plenty of time, I'm exploring the ABS Paste route.

 

 

 

 

After I applied the paste I tried brushing Acetone directly on to the paste to try to smooth it out some more. I did this before and I'm not entirely convinced it helped all that much, I'll be sanding it off anyway.

I saw no need to ABS Paste the box sections 1 and 7 on the AB. These will get covered by the boxes so I figured why bother. After sanding, I think it turned out pretty good. I'm pleased with the results I'm getting with the ABS Paste.

As before, I went over the whole seam with Bondo Glazing Putty, to fill any air bubbles or low spots.

 

Now time for the AB Boxes, or 7 little 'ears'.

If you are unsure of the cut lines, look on the inside of the boxes. There is a lip that should help you locate the correct lines. When I sanded these, I sanded parallel to the side I was sanding (without sanding the actual edge of the piece) so I had almost a knife edge when it was done. I then knocked down the sharp edge with some light sanding with 120 grit. It took a little more light sanding to get the boxes close to the contours of the AB. The boxes are not seamless, as we have learned, go there will be a small gap anyway. I just tried my best to minimize the gap.

 

 

Now how to glue the boxes, without gluing the boxes, if you know what I mean.

I thought of using a block of some sort to glue to the inside of each box, then glue the block to the AB. Each block would have to be a custom height to get the box as close to the AB as possible. I thought of making the blocks out of built up layers of ABS strips, but then I thought up this idea.

I got a Vinyl Baluster from Home Depot (It came out of a returned, open box, Fence kit or something).

I cut pieces about ¾" wide off and then cut those in half, making two interlocking C shapes.

 

 

 

The plan is to glue the backs of these, one to the inside of the box, the other to the AB. Then using E6000 glue on the legs of each half, slide the two together. The box bottoms out on the AB and the legs get glued wherever they stop.

 

 

I think I'll glue box 1 and 7 after I've primed the AB section to make sure none of the bondo paste can be seen.

Speaking of box 1 and 7, Krista (kme1682) said she (or heard of some Alpha) had issues with these popping off, probably due to the amount of flexing going on there. So I included a safety system to try to avoid losing a box if one does pop off.

 

 

There is just enough room inside the two 'C' pieces for these tethers. There is a set inside each box.

Now, if a box does pop off, the break will probably happen at the E6000 glued legs and not damage the box, and the tether will keep the box attached so I don't lose it. Here's hoping I never get to find out if it works.

 

-Zaphod

Edited October 10, 2019 by Zaphod
Repairing Broken Photobucket Links

[Zaphod[TK]]

BACK/YOLK Assembly (1A, 5A, 6E)

This part I had a little problem with. The back 1A and yolk support piece 6E didn't fit together very well. I thought if I glued the Yolk 5A first I could figure out something with the back.

 

I used E6000 on the larger areas of guleing areas. 

 

Update

When trimming the yolk, try to save as much of the scrap as you can, with the aim of reinforcing the return edges of the wings. The scrap pieces have roughly the same curve to them as the yoke. The update below in this post will explain why you may want to reinforce this area.

 

 

24 hrs later and I was ready to glue the back to the yolk support.

 

 

It isn't very noticeable, but to the left in the picture above, you can see a slightly wider gap between the back and yolk compared to the other side.

I was more concerned about getting as much of the seam as tight as possible, I figured "I'll be filling it with ABS Paste anyway" and continued on.

 

 

I squeezed CA glue into the gap to stiffen it up a bit and now the ABS Paste. I had to mix some more because I had a feeling I was going to need a lot for this piece.

 

 

 

I used so much ABS Paste in this piece, I left it for a good week to 10 days before I even considered working on it. After sanding I was left with a lot of holes from bubbles, and I was not happy with the edge. In the picture below you can see where the gap was, resulted in two edges, (or a wide flat edge) instead of a narrow sharp edge. 

 

 

 

On the other side, I was much happier with the edge I got...

 

 

 

I decided to apply another layer of ABS Paste to try to even out and sharpen up the seam between the back and Yolk into as sharp an edge as I could. 

 

 

After sanding 

 

 

So while I have a nice sharp edge, in the last picture you can see that filling the gap resulted in the back standing about ¼" from the yolk compared to the other side. Sanding this down to be the same as the other side would remove material from the back and not just ABS Paste. That could ruin the whole thing, so I guess I’ll just have to live with it. Who’s going to notice. (Besides me and everyone reading this). 

Ready for Bondo and sanding.

 

-Zaphod

 

 

 

UPDATE!!

It happened.

I was trying everything on with the gaskets; to get an idea of where to put snaps for the internal harness/strapping system. I wanted to get this done before painting, so I wouldn't mess up the final paint job. While taking off the back/yoke it split, right in the same spot that most people have experienced a split; right where the support piece ends and the yoke wings start over the shoulder. This is the only shot I got of the split.

 

 

After a long outburst of profanity, I immediately set about reinforcing the edges on both sides with strips of ABS and CA Glue. I used pieces of scrap I had trimmed off the yoke; these had roughly the same curve to them as the yoke.

Do yourself a favor and plan to reinforce this area right from the start.

 

 

 

EDIT: This fix ultimately didn't hold up tp trooping, it cracked again. I put in a fiberglass layup on both shoulders. So far so good. 

In order to try to avoid it happening again, I also trimmed the ends of the wings to widen the gap. Hopefully this will allow more room for my shoulders and reduce flexing of the yoke.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

Something I also noticed while trying everything on was the overlap between the back and chest. I had a good inch, enough for a strip of Velcro, until I tried it with the thermal detonator in place. Overlap gone.

I added the shims to the back rather than to the chest. There are some details on the edges of the chest I didn't want to lose, and the back sits under the chest anyway, so any imperfection on my shim job should be mostly hidden.

I used a piece of scrap for the shim rather than the piece of ABS that shipped with the kit. (I believe the scrap pieces I used came from the thighs). The reason I used scrap is because of the difference in thickness of the vac-formed armor compared to the extra piece of ABS. The scrap piece had the same thickness as the armor and I used the extra ABS sheet for the support behind the shims. This mod added about 2 inches, which gives me plenty of overlap for Velcro now.

I used CA Glue, and of course, ABS paste to hide the joint. I don't have any in process pics of this. I was rushing to get into the paint booth before I ran out of warm days.

Here are some after pics

 

 

These side pieces can be bent open easily without risk of breaking, which hopefully will reduce the need to bend the yoke wings when putting it on and taking it off.

At least, that's the plan.

 

-Zaphod

Edited October 18, 2019 by Zaphod
Replacing Broken Photobucket Links

[Drummerben]

nice work. thanks for sharing

[CN1142]

I've noticed the spats are being glued, shouldn't they be velcroed like in the movie?

[Zaphod[TK]]

Spats (6A, 6B, 6C, 6D)

So I went about these a little different. I decided to try to make the greeblie clips somewhat functional on their own. 

 

 

 

I used E6000 on these pieces together. There will probably be a lot of bending involved putting these on and trooping in them. I also reinforced the front of the spats as recommended by some in the Alpha group.

 

 

I used a heat gun to warm up the greeblie so I could bend it to fit the curve of the spat. I then sanded the long side a little so that I created a 'Lip' between the long part and the short part. Then using the heat gun again I put a slight bend into the other side of the spat so that when it is slid under the greeblie it almost snaps into place. My hope is that friction will be enough to keep it closed.

 

 

If it doesn't work out, I can always switch and use snaps, magnets or Velcro to hold these together.

I guess I'll find out pretty quickly on my first troop. 

 

 

-Zaphod

Edited October 11, 2019 by Zaphod
Repairing Broken Photobucket Links

[Zaphod[TK]]

I've noticed the spats are being glued, shouldn't they be velcroed like in the movie?

 

 

 

I may end up velcro-ing them, I may end up using snaps. I'll find out if my way works after my first troop porbably. As you can see from the photos you posted, velcro didn't do a very good job keeping the spats closed.

We do a lot of things with our OT TK's differently from how they did in the movies, to maintain the look but stand up to years of trooping. I imagine this kit is the same. There are pictures already floating around of TFA Screen used suit with gaffer tape holding the forearm armor closed. 

 

-Zaphod

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Any chance you'll be done for the Woburn parade? It's cutting it a bit close I suppose. If not please TK. There will be an epic number of them. 

 

RICC for sure?

 

-Eric

[edwinfabian[TK]]

Great idea on the brackets for the chest piece! 

[Zaphod[TK]]

Any chance you'll be done for the Woburn parade? It's cutting it a bit close I suppose. If not please TK. There will be an epic number of them. 

 

RICC for sure?

 

-Eric

 

I will be in White Armor of some description. I had a Gasket mishap and ended up splitting the yoke right in the same spot most people have experienced this crack. I will be updating this build thread in the appropriate section when I can.

I will be getting a brand new set of Imperial Gaskets (the larger size) as well a as set of Mrs. TK4205's Fabric Gaskets. Hopefully one of them will come in before Woburn; I don't think I want to troop in Anovos Gaskets if I can avoid it.

 

-Pete

[Zaphod[TK]]

Updates added to Back/Yoke post.

I had a split occur, and like most people this has happened to, it was in the same spot; right where the back/yoke support ends. The update includes my repairs as well as trimming the ends of the yoke wings off, (the part that goes into your armpit).

Also included in the update: adding shims to the back section.

I needed shims because of the lack of overlap I had between the back and chest. I probably could have used snaps with white elastic straps, but, I've gotten pretty handy with the ABS paste, and I haven't seen anyone post about using shims yet, so I figured, why not, something new and it might help solve a problem for someone else.

 

-Zaphod

Edited October 16, 2015 by Zaphod

[Berbs42[TK]]

When I do my repaint after the premiere, I may have to do a similar Shim mod for the Back and Chest. Although, To lessen the chance for MORE splits on the top of the ShoulderYoke, I may add the Shims to the Chest Piece, so the the Gap for my arms is still wide. 

 

 - Berbs

[Zaphod[TK]]

When I do my repaint after the premiere, I may have to do a similar Shim mod for the Back and Chest. Although, To lessen the chance for MORE splits on the top of the ShoulderYoke, I may add the Shims to the Chest Piece, so the the Gap for my arms is still wide. 

 

 - Berbs

 

There are some details on the wings of the chest I didn't want to have to re-do if I put the shims there. The back pieces flex quite a bit and I'm not concerned about them cracking, just the yoke. I have yet to troop in it so I'll keep you posted on how it holds up.

 

-Zaphod

[Berbs42[TK]]

Thanks, Z!

 

 

Beep Boop...

[Zaphod[TK]]

Butt Cod and Belt  (5C, 5B, 6H, 9I, 9J, 9L, 9M, 9N, 10G, 10H 10I, 10J, Soft Parts Box)

 

Trimming the Butt and Cod are straightforward. You need to watch out for one of the boxes though, 9L.

 

 

The Cod Armor

 

Most people seem to have attached the Cod the same way, so I followed suit.

Using a piece of nylon webbing belt as a snap plate, I glued it across the back of the tabs on the bottom of the AB section. The snaps go between the tabs. I glued the mating snaps to the cod.

I sanded down the return edge of the cod where it comes into contact with the AB tabs. I believe the whole idea behind putting the snap plates between the tabs and not on them, is to get the cod as close to your body as possible without going behind the AB section.

I glued snaps on either side of the cod, on the exposed AB tabs. These will snap onto mating snaps on the belt to help keep the belt it in place, just like on the OT TK. All of this I did after painting.

 

 

The Butt Armor

 

I really wasn't sure how I was going to attach the butt armor. I thought I would attach it to the belt with loops so the belt would be somewhat adjustable. 

I decided instead to attach it directly to the belt with snaps.

I put the snap plates on the tabs of the Butt, again to try to keep it as close to my body as possible.

 

 

I put snap plates inside the AB armor and made a couple of elastic loops with a snap at one end. The loops snap to the AB armor and the belt passes through the loops, just the nylon webbing part of the belt, the rubber goes outside the loop. The loops are hidden and this keeps the back of the belt in place and by default, my Butt.

 

 

Belt and Boxes

Trimming out the belt boxes was straightforward-ish.

 

The big belt box 7C, be careful trimming, there is a step around the top, IT IS NOT A CUT LINE. I marked the cut line in the photo below.

 

 

 

Piece 9M will be glued right on top of 7C. 6I is the back of this box and goes inside, like on the OT TK belt boxes.

This is such a nice big box I figured I would have to try to make it functional.

I made a hinge by gluing a piece of nylon webbing material along the bottom of 7C and 6I. In order for it to work properly I had to remove the bottom return edge from 6I.

 

 

I may glue magnets inside to keep it closed while trooping. We'll see how it holds up. Those are Chicago Screws you see in the photo, to attach the box to the belt.

This box is a perfect fit for my phone, so if I don't have to use magnets, I won't.

 

I did the same thing with the next smallest box 9N 6J.

Both of these boxes sit on the wearers’ right side.

 

 

 

 

Horizontal Belt Boxes

 

10I and 10G are the backs of 10H and 10J respectively. They do not go inside, but rather butt up against them. I made some shims and glued them inside 10H and 10J, along the longer side. The backs get painted black.

I figured I make these functional as well. I have no idea what I might put in there; Echo keeps a challenge coin in one.

I glued strips of tin on one side and neodymium magnets (rare earth magnets).

 

 

 

 

With the AB section on, and the Cod and Butt in place, time to figure out where the boxes go. I eyeballed it. Moved them around to where I think they looked good and marked the belt. 

 

I used Chicago Screws to attach all the boxes. The boxes have marks for where the screws go. I put the screws through both the rubber and webbing belt.

I sewed one of the buckle halves to the webbing belt, the other half is the adjustable part. I used chicago screws to secure the rubber belt to the webbing at the fixed end of the belt. I left the other end a little longer to cover the buckle when closed.

 

The soft ‘boxes’ of pouches go on the wearer's left and the buckle is hidden under these. The larger of the pouches gets a plastic cover (secured with velcro).

 

 

-Zaphod

Edited October 16, 2019 by Zaphod
Repairing Broken Photobucket Links

[Pencap510]

Awesome work on the cod and butt attachments. I'm interested as to how that will work when worn. Is that how others have done the strapping so far?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work Pete

[Zaphod[TK]]

Awesome work on the cod and butt attachments. I'm interested as to how that will work when worn. Is that how others have done the strapping so far?

 

I'm interested to know it will work out too.  I'll update here if it needs to be adjusted after I get to troop in it for a while. The only problem I foresee, is getting in and out of the AB. The Belt is attached across the AB opening in the back, so I will have dis-connect the belt loop from the back of the AB on the left side to get it on and off.

I'm not entirely sure how others have attached their butt to belt; there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information on this part of the build out there.

 

-Zaphod

[Zaphod[TK]]

Added a few more photos to the Belt/Butt post.

 

-Zaphod

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

I don't care what they say about you Pete... you're a helluva craftsman.

 

Also really good to see you briefly on Sunday. It's been too long. 

 

-Eric

[Zaphod[TK]]

I don't care what they say about you Pete... you're a helluva craftsman.

 

Also really good to see you briefly on Sunday. It's been too long. 

 

-Eric

 

I don't care what they say about me either Eric.  

As as for the cratfsman bit ........ I'm making it up as I go along, never been happier.

If I can figure out the gaskets I'll be able to do more than just stand around at Rhode Island Comic Con. I'm there for the weekend, we'll catch up over a beer.

Come on Wyatt, ship me those beautiful Imperial Gaskets of yours.  

 

-Zaphod