Navajo Bro's FOTK Build Thread

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Hey guys, I'm the only member in NJ that has a kit so I'm the Dirty Jerzey test subject, lol.  I have done a ton of research here and on the facebook group gathering photo reference, files and instructions.  I'm okay with building armor but since this is a new type with no first hand reference for me I'm taking my time and doing the best I can.  I'm familiar with ABS paste and making it, but honestly haven't used it more then a few times for minor fixes as opposed to complete seamless assembly.

 

So far it seems pretty straight forward, everything is labeled and with the glue tabs it's basically like the old school TK overlap construction, meaning things are pretty obvious where they fit together.  I'm sure I'll still have a lot of questions along the way so I'm going to start a thread to help myself out

 

I see some FANTASTIC tutorials here already, so I won't necessarily try and show how I build this, but rather post up progress shots for feedback and questions which will hopefully not only help me but help others that might be unsure of the same stuff.

 

I used tin snips to rough cut every single piece, had no problems and took maybe 4-5 hours total.  I liked it because this part I could do upstairs next to the computer using the photo references here to find and ensure the cut lines.  Tin snips left almost no mess at all whereas a dremel would have covered the entire living room in white dust hahaha!

 

 

 

Starting with yoke/back/front and shoulders - complete rough cut test fit to get acclimated with the parts and layout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From here I started sanding and finishing the edges, and removed the return edge from the back armor and connections to make the seam more flush.  Afterwards I'll also trim the inside support to match the curve of the shoulder straps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I wanted to start gluing some stuff so I did the shoulder bells too as they seemed pretty simple and straight forward.

 

 

 

 

 

I was one of the lucky ones with this wave of helmets... I didn't have any cracks as opposed to a lot of others that I saw posted in the facebook group.  The back of the lining was coming apart a little though, sort of let down from a licensed company and price point, but for what it's worth I'll just glue it myself since it seems to be the only flaw and I can fix it easy enough.

 

 

 

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

My biceps armor are a little too small as is, they literally leave no room, so I'll be adding a shim to give me about an inch or so to account for the gasket.  I'm actually going to start doing the gaskets at this point so I can be sure everything fits prior to further assembly on the arms / legs

 

 

Which brings me to my first question:

 

I see the gasket tutorial provided, but does anyone have a photo step by step in their personal build threads?  I'm trying to browse them all but there are so many hahaha, I want to make sure I'm solid when all is said and done.  I see my first step is to trim off the fabric all the way to the rubber edge, right?  And cut out the rubber shims.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good so far, just make sure you remove any sharp edges, you don't want them bitting into the gaskets

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Looking good so far, just make sure you remove any sharp edges, you don't want them bitting into the gaskets

Thanks, so far it's all rough trim and acclimation for part fitting.  I just cut out and washed the gaskets, I'll make my attempt at gluing them tomorrow.  After that I'll start really smoothing things out and making a go at assembling some parts with bondo or ABS paste

Edited September 8, 2015 by Navajo Bro

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Here's a shot of the glued back/yoke (haven't filled in seams or sanded down inside yet) 

 

 

 

 

I have a questions about getting it on.  I have to pull it out to get it over my arms, and obviously this will lead to stress fractures and breaks.  Can I trim down the bottom of the fronts about an inch or so?  That would probably enable me to get it on better...

 

 

like this:

 

Edited September 8, 2015 by Navajo Bro

[Punkers]

I don't know that I would trim it down that much if at all. The whole look of the wings under the chest might be thrown off if the gaskets don't sit just right and if the chest isn't sitting properly. I would wait til nearly the end before cutting it if at all.

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Thanks Tyler,  I've been posting questions both here and on the facebook build group (sometimes the answers come quicker there because pretty much this entire planet spends all day browsing social media on their mobile devices hahaha) and they said the same thing.  Pretty much not to trim it and instead just do my best to reinforce it at the weak point and get dressed carefully with a good spotter lmao

 

I trimmed the gaskets and am going to glue them next so I can get that done and have the available for test fits like this.

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

I say trim it. Depending on the person, I've seen top portion of the curve peak out from the chest piece that covers it to some being completely covered. I can't seem to find a reference picture of a screen image from the trailer or even a view from the action figure. I don't read in the CRL that it needs to be showing. 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I just finished the arm gaskets, had a build set back because I took a week to help a new recruit finish her TK  

 

I plan on getting back to this over the weekend, I'm still excited to go forward on this so first thing I'll do is dremel down all the rough parts and try another test fit..

[camprandall]

Nice work! I'll be curious to see the extended bicep when its all done.

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I trimmed the yoke, test fitted and am adding the support shims I made from scraps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All my builds are like Where's Waldo, my son's room is downstairs right outside my workshop and he has the biggest closet mirror so all my photos are in his room hahaha!  My middle daughter is also always roaming around and sneaking in his room to climb on the bunk beds or play with his stuff

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Now that the arm gaskets are done I can work on the biceps.  The arm gaskets are tight but okay:

 

 

I could just about slide the biceps part on the way it's supposed to connect stock, but couldn't really get it all the way up and if I bent my arm it would probably snap lol:

 

 

If I use the glue tab as a mark to extend, then add a shim on bottom to connect and on top to fill in the space I am fine:

 

 

 

 

I'm gluing the shims in the biceps and thighs, I'll address the shims after those are dry....

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Here's what I did on the suggestion of another member who had the same problem with tight biceps :

 

Used the glue tab as a length mark, added a shim:

 

 

 

 

I'll fill in the space with either an ABS scrap cut to fit or paste/bondo.

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

In the meantime, I did the shoulder gaskets but might have screwed it up a little.  Looking back I think I was supposed to possibly trim somewhere?

 

It is hard to see because of my black shirt, lol, but they only sit flush it my arm is out:

 

 

 

If I put my arm down they bunch up a little:

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

.... I've been using my son's room for photos the last few years because it's right outside the workshop, and every picture has that ghost image in the refection near my waist hahahaha!  I'm going to go windex that right now before I forget

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I'm also moving to the ab plate and boxes while stuff dries.

 

I trimmed and laid them all out, they are flush and fine.  I know I've seen some builds but have to search them out - people put like support strings or something on them right?  In case they fall off?  Or is there some backing I'm supposed to use?

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Though I haven't posted the info on my boxes yet I simply glued nylon bolts to the inside of each box, drill a hole in the ab where the bolt ran through and is secured on the other side with a nylon nut. My two cents

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Though I haven't posted the info on my boxes yet I simply glued nylon bolts to the inside of each box, drill a hole in the ab where the bolt ran through and is secured on the other side with a nylon nut. My two cents

I actually did almost the same thing.... another guy had a bunch of chicago screws left over so I rigged up some spacers with extra plastic, put in the screw, lined it up and glued as an extra support.  I'm happy with how it came out

 

Inside:

 

Outside:

 

I used plastic weld and it seems to hold very nicely, I doubt I needed the extra support but it makes me feel safer lol.

 

I also write a love note to my wife hidden somewhere in each costume I build hahaha!!  My TK has it in one of the drop boxes, here I put it under the big ab box

 

 

 

I also got the kidneys put on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it's a "debate" over the type or thickness of plastic in these kits, lol, but I don't know enough about ABS vs HIPS to know the difference.  I will say that although some parts are pretty darn thick, some are also paper thin.  When I went to put this on the slightest flex made some serious creaking and cracking noise, so I reinforced the seam with a ton of ABS paste.  Didn't clean it up yet but it's on the inside so I'm not to worried...

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Very nice 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I finally got back on this, I had been helping new recruits with their TK builds but I'm happy to say the last two are DONE hahaha.  I still have one more guy but we have a conflicting schedule to the next few weeks so I jumped back to this

 

Shins initial construction was simple.  Sand the edges as flush as possible and line up the glue tabs.  The outside is glued, the inside will be velcro so you can put them on and take them off:

 

 

 

As with all the leg and arm parts, once they are glued and the seams are addressed I'll add the greeblies.

 

The thermal detonator was a little challenging to figure out but I did it lol.

 

Basically a lot of sanding and test fitting to get it lined up then gluing it together in stages.  It's really weird but once I figured it out was easy enough.

 

1)  Glued the bottom parts first, bottom seam first

 

 

 

2)  Glued the round end caps in before connecting the top edges.  I was careful to set up the correct right and left, but of course when I actually glued it I had flipped things over and ended up attaching the left on the right side hahaha!  I caught it and corrected it but some of the photos show the initial wrong way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

3)  Glued that part onto the base, which again was simply sanding and lining up.  Eventually the entire thing will be covered with bondo

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Last thing was the hook on the top

 

 

 

 

 

It came out a little rough, but I'm pretty sure I can clean it up with some sanding and bondo

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Forearms weren't too bad to figure out.  A LOT of parts but it is what it is lol.  

 

1)  I used reference and ultimately taped it up for a test:

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Using the correct shims (patterns provided with the instructions or online) glued them first:

 

 

 

3)  After the sides are secure you glue on the top.  Test fit to see if you can get your hand through.  If you can, just glue it on.  If you can't then they say to leave the bottom third by the wrist unglued so it will flex and allow you to get in and out of it.  Personally I don't think that is smart or will last so even though it's REALLY tight I can in fact get my hand in and out so I glued the whole thing 

 

 

 

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

The wording is a rough "tutorial" or "step by step documentation" because I also have it in my Garrison member only area to give our guys an idea what it's like and have it in place in case any of them eventually have a kit and need some reference.

 

Please let me know if anyone sees something wrong or confusing so I can correct it, lol, like I've said before I'm the first in my area so I'm flying blind !!!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good so far Terry. What glue are you using?