emile1138 Posted February 2, 2016 Report Posted February 2, 2016 MAN. I've lost a decent amount of weight since I've build my suit... and a lot of it has come out of my thighs... So it's time to start trimming this baby up! I'm starting with the biggest change, the thighs. I began by smacking a screwdriver between the cover strip and the thigh plates to try to break it all apart... Curt came over and reminded me that I can't trim any more off the front or I'll lose the detail ridge that the cover strips are glued on to. Oops. At this point though, I had to clean up the mess I made of the front inner cover strip so I can repair it properly later. I just created more work for myself for trying to do it this way first, but oh well. We live and learn. Meh... Good enough. I'll fix this up more later. Now to the actual trimming, the right way. I started by scoring ans snapping the plastic on both sides of the outer cover strip. I knew I'd need to take a good 2" or so out of the circumference of the thigh, so starting with taking out the whole cover strip worth of plastic seemed like a decent start. I then put the thigh on with my under suit and had Haley tape it in place. Right now it's just overlapping, I'm still waiting on TM to get back to me about some replacement cover strip material before I can start reassembling. Here's the overlap, AFTER I already took out the whole width of the outer cover strip: Some comparison shots: Right thigh fitting, untrimmed: Left thigh fitting, after trimming: Side by side. My right thigh isn't trimmed, my left one is. It's easier to see the difference from the back, but there's a huge change in size and fit here: A better comparison shot. Trimmed on the right (left thigh), not trimmed on the left (right thigh): I just repeated this process with the right thigh to get them both trimmed down to a more comfortable size. Scraps tax: I'll keep updating as I make more progress, but for now I can't wear my costume as the thighs are just taped together. As soon as I get more cover strip material I'll get working more on those. Next up: trimming the forearms and biceps! Quote
thechosenhitman[TK] Posted February 2, 2016 Report Posted February 2, 2016 Caleb why not use the strip of plastic you cut off as the new cover strip? Quote
emile1138 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Posted February 2, 2016 Caleb why not use the strip of plastic you cut off as the new cover strip? It's way to thick. There's 3 layers of plastic glued to itself, and I'd never be able to tear the layers apart without breaking the strips. Plus I'm gonna need more for the forearms and biceps as well... Quote
thechosenhitman[TK] Posted February 2, 2016 Report Posted February 2, 2016 Well was a thought. Only other thing I can think of using that's a bit cheap & not having to wait is white plastic for sale signs. Quote
emile1138 Posted May 24, 2016 Author Report Posted May 24, 2016 Alright, now that the semester is over I've finally gotten around to working on this again. I started up again a few days ago (Saturday) and I've finished trimming up the left arm completely. The right arm hasn't been touched yet. I'm taking my time. It's a slave Leia getting this stuff apart with the way I glued it together initially, so I'm making sure it's 100% perfect before putting it back together after trimming. I'm not gonna bore you with all the progress pictures, so here are comparison shots of the brand new trimmed-to-fit arm (the left arm), vs the old still-needs-to-be-trimmed arm (the right arm). All pictures show the new on the left and the old on the right. Bicep Took about an inch or so of the diameter off. Forearm Took 1/4 inch off the diameter of the elbow joint, and almost 4 inches off the diameter of the wrist. This makes a HUGE difference in the shape of the forearm and how it sits on the arm. It not only looks MUCH better, but also makes it way more comfortable to wear. My forearms have always been a solid tube shape that pinches my inner elbow and seriously hinders my range of motion, so I took out a big angular chunk of plastic on the inner elbow to make it even more comfortable, look better, and give me more range of motion. (Elbow end) (Wrist end) I took so much material off the forearms in the wrist area, the new one comfortably fits inside the old one... Test Fit Comparison Shots Below are some shots spliced together showing the look and fit of the new arm on the left, vs the old arm on the right. I LOVE the upgrade. So much more sleek and comfortable!! This picture shows the added range of mobility involved in taking that extra little bit out of the inner elbow. This is lifting my arm until my elbow starts to push my forearm further than it should be and starts pinching my skin. I went from about 90 degrees of mobility to about 130 degrees. Major difference!! Next Up -Re-shaping and trimming the torso section (probably won't be posting pictures of that as the changes will be minor) -Doing everything shown above to the other arm. -Revisiting the thighs that are still torn apart from my original post to this thread... Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned! Quote
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