Butt Joint Questions and fitting

[StriderNor]

If i'm not mistaken. a butt joint is when 2 pieces come together and you add a cover strip to the top to seal it. Here's my problem

 

Note:This is only a trimmed Forearm set nothing else has been done.. I"m only in the fitting stage. This is my first piece I started working on so I'm really clueless right now.

 

The 2 pieces will come together across the forearm if I squeeze them together, but its very uncomfortable, The worst part is my hand will not fit through if I do. The space that I have here is the distance I need to have comfort and squeeze my hand through just barley ( note that the other side is taped together as if in a butt joint). Can a butt joint be 2 piece semi close together with a cover strip. How can I fix this?

 

P.S. Ive already tried the compression suit, kind of made it worse.

 

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Firstly,make sure the return is trimmed from the forearm. I can't tell I the photo if it already is<br><br>

If its still tight, you would need to use wider cover strips. It would have been good to roughly size up the armor before you trimmed it too much, but its salvageable.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

It does look like the return edge is still on the wrist. Remove that completely, as Terry mentioned. That will open up the wrist substantially for you. As for the forearm itself, what I'd suggest is that you untape it, and make the cover strip opening the same size on both sides. I'd suggest using inner cover strips to create a shim effect, gluing them in place and allowing them to dry and cure, and then glue the outer cover strip over the gap. Spreading the distance out between the two sides will keep the armor looking more consistent, and streamline the build overall.

[StriderNor]

This may be a dumb question. But just want to be completely sure what a Return edge is.. I tried to google it but no luck.

[MechaPumpkin[TK]]

A return edge is the part of the armour that curves over at the edge.  Sometimes return edges are good, because they give thin plastic the appearance of thickness and weight.  

At the front of  the forearm there should be no return edge.  So if you're looking at it from the front (wrist pointed at you), it should be completely open.  Here is a picture of mine . . . 

 

Hope that helps!

[Artshot]

How I personally would approach this would be to cut an extra wide inner cover strip and use it to join both sides together at a comfortable fit, I would then straighten up the area in the middle so that it was even on both sides and they were the same distance apart, then I would cut a strip of abs and glue it into the gap, hopefully if the fit is tight then you would only have two very thin gaps running parallel down the length, I would then fill these with ABS paste and sand them smooth.

I would then apply a regular 15mm outer strip to the top of this to give the correct look to your forearm.

 

I think with a little bit extra work you can definitely salvage the forearm.

[StriderNor]

Thank you all for you input.. I think this I mat be able to make this work!<br><br>

I'll post a picture of the finished product when a completed it!