ESB AM 2.0 - First time build, help me (probably) wreck my armor.

[Tarrif[TK]]

An amazing thing happened yesterday: the armor I ordered from Troopermaster last week arrived at my house. I choked up at times while explaining to my wife and children why this was the happiest day of my life. Needless to say, many tears were shed. My oldest daughter was upset the big box in front of the house was not her set of Scout Trooper armor from Walt's Trooper Factory. The youngest is upset she is only going to be a Sith this year for Halloween, even though I offered to buy her a set of armor but she declined because lightsabers are cooler. After seeing my armor she regrets that decision. My wife thinks I should spend a few nights on the couch, but that's not gonna happen. I'll be in the basement trying to put together my first Stormtrooper armor kit. Sleep can wait...

 

The box...

 

The contents...

 

The parts, all laid out...

 

My progress so far...

 

I need help!

 

Since the armor arrived much faster than the tools and materials I ordered, I ran down to the local hardware store to buy a razor with some replacement blades. As you can see in the picture above I've barely made a dent. What tool and/or method should I use to trim off those edges? I feel like I'm doing this wrong. 

 

Help me FISD, you're my only hope.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

You are not "Doing it wrong", but a suggestion at this point would be to invest in a Dremel tool, Sebastian.  It will make life soooo much easier, and you will be able to use it on a lot of areas.  You will need to also purchase the "sanding drum" attachment, (pictured below) along with a few extra spare sanding barrels.  One word of warning, though... although this will make removing return edges MUCH faster, you need to practice a bit first, or it can get away from you rather easily.   Just trim off a little at a time until you get the hang of it 

If you choose to go the razor knife method, you can purchase a "half round" file ( I swear by mine) at Lowe's and use the rounded part to smooth out the edges before sanding.

Edited October 8, 2015 by justjoseph63

[Tarrif[TK]]

I ordered a ton of stuff from Trooperbay which should arrive next week, Dremel included. I didn't expect to get my armor this quickly! Thankfully I'm an avid model builder so I'm starting on the helmet.

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

Awesome. Good luck with your build. Definitely go easy with the dremel.

[Tarrif[TK]]

Started work on the helmet yesterday and today. From a distance it looks great and very sturdy, but as I said before, I'm a modeler and can't help but notice the small details. My biggest issue is the left ear bell and left side of the front mask don't line up. The issue can be felt when I run my finger across the inside of the front mask. There's an imperfection which causes the curve to be too shallow to align with the ear bell. 

 

Front View

 

 

Right Ear Bell (lines up perfectly)

 

 

Left Ear Bell (lines up imperfectly)

 

 

Left Side (lines up perfectly)

 

 

Right Side (lines up imperfectly)

 

 

Question

 

Do builders normally fill in gaps in the armor? If so, what is the best method / product? The stuff I usually use on my models probably will not work here.

[JasterTrooper]

On the left ear, try trimming (just a little at a time) from the rear side that goes around the tubes. Seen a number of posts about the same issue.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TKRalf[TK]]

Good luck on your build. Patience is key so despite your excitement, take it easy. AM handplates are way too big for ESB so look into trimming them into a more accurate shape.

[cjdesign[TK]]

Good luck on the build... im construction the same armor. the nice thing about the am 2.0 is most of it has been trimmed already. The file has been my most used tool so far.

here are some links to help you out... they helped me out a lot.

 

Helmet build:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/26301-ne-helmet-build/

 

Link from Trooper Gear to help with the ears:

http://www.mytkarmor.com/Ear%20Piece%20Build%20Tips.htm

 

Great AM build from Bro:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/32531-navajo-bros-am-20-stunt-build/

[cjdesign[TK]]

there shouldn't be major gaps in the armor. if there is you may need to readjust something. did you use e6000 on the crown? you may need to trim the ears with a file.

Edited October 16, 2015 by cjdesign

[Tarrif[TK]]

Unforunately the helmet will probably have to be done over, but that's okay. I used zap-a-gap and zip-kicker since that's what I had available from other projects, although I now have two tubes of E6000 from eBay on the way. For this helmet I'll probably have to use some ABS paste or Defcon glue to clean it up a little and fill in the gaps. The left bicep and arm were cut too short as well. They fit me, but I think they're maybe too tight based on what I'm seeing in the pictures. I did the right side and the legs much better. I already inquired with Trooper Gear about getting some replacement parts without having to purchase another kit. What I've done so far looks good, but I want it to be perfect. More pictures to follow...

[Tarrif[TK]]

I'm finally ready to strap on my armor and make the final additions / alterations.

 

 

So far so good. Hoping to finish up tomorrow so I can put in my 501st application.

[Tarrif[TK]]

Added some electronics to my kit, and sent my photos to my GML finally. I would up working tons of overtime, which allowed me to afford a few more kits to mess around with, but not enough time to finish off my first TK. Things have calmed down at work so I was able to fit the electronics to my helmet and chest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[demoman214]

Can you type in the link for where you ordered that armor from? I am looking to make my first ever stormtrooper costume but I am unaware of where to get the kits (like presented in your pictures) to start making one at.