SpiceCredits ANH Stunt Build Thread [AP]

[SpiceCredits]

 

Greetings all!

I've had my kit for a couple of weeks, or something like that. I initially wasn't going to create a build thread, and I planned on sticking to my garrison's Facebook recruit page for questions and feedback. However, I think having input from other members may be a great idea overall—more eyes, the better right? So here we go…

Here's a little info on me and the build:

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145lbs.
Kit: Untrimmed AP (with Centurion in mind)
Neckseal: Darman's
Boots: TK Boots

Ab Buttons: ATA (due to mistake)

Centurion Level Rivets: justjoseph63 (Joseph)

Thigh Garter: Pencap510 (Ty)

Holster: AP (replacing black straps with tan)

Supplies used thus far:

Ruler
Pencil
Shop knife
Lexan scissors (curved and straight)
Dremel (drilling, one-time sanding)
Sandpaper (Hand-sanding now)
ABS paste (whoops!)
Paint
Brushes
E-6000
Needle files

Hand sewing

Please feel free to ask questions, give feedback, and ask for any photos if you'd like to se something I am not showing.



EDIT: I may be having trouble with getting photos on here, so bear with me. lol

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BBB Day and my kit spread over my small one-bedroom apartment floor!



Tk Boots arrived!



Darman's neckseal keeping my neck warm at work.

Edited May 7, 2016 by SpiceCredits

[SpiceCredits]

Ok, so I feel pretty dumb right now. It says I only have 16KB left for images, and I barely have any on here. How am I supposed to post everything? Can anyone help me out by chance? Did I miss the instructions somewhere?

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Post your photos to photobucket or other image hosting site and then link your images to your thread here.

[SpiceCredits]

Post your photos to photobucket or other image hosting site and then link your images to your thread here.

Ah, ok! Thanks! I'll do that and then update everything. Thank you!

[spyder918]

Congrats and good luck!  I'm waiting for my BBB from Mark as well!

[SpiceCredits]

Thanks to DarkTrooper for setting me straight with photos. It should be smooth sailing from here on out. lol

On to the good stuff.




When cutting out the eyes, I had a skip with my Dremel and nicked the brow a little. I got real familiar with ABS paste, very early on. Luckily with the brow trim, it goes unnoticed.
P.S. that was the last time I used the Dremel to sand. It's been hand sanding ever since.



And the final result…this was my first time doing anything with ABS paste and wet sanding. I was pretty proud of myself that I didn't screw it up worse! lol


 

[SpiceCredits]

Next came the ears and mic tips…

*Spoiler Alert: Lots of angles

Front facing




Front Left


Front right


Rear left


Rear right


And more detail shots…




 

[SpiceCredits]

Here is a photo of my first layer of grey. I plan on finishing up the paint in the next few days.

[SpiceCredits]

I trimmed out the chest piece, but the return edge seems pretty small (partly due to lighting), I've since gotten rid of most of the lip, while leaving enough return edge (5mm). 

I'll be using the snap method of assembly, so I don't think it's too bad. I was thinking of using brackets, but this has pretty much made my decision for me. lol I don't want to try it out with the return edge I have now. 

 

[SpiceCredits]

And here I am fitting my ab and kidney plates.

The return edge seems to be a little bigger than most here, but it helps it to be a little more snug and keeps me from cutting more from the ab and kidney...which I don't think is a good idea. The cuts are at red line as is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I know this is such an image dump at the moment. I'll post more normally as I go. I just wanted to get all the images I had made up here while I was filling the thread out.

 

[lucnak[TK]]

I posted in my Garrison forums and here simultaneously as I went. I found that there is a lot of expertise here since a lot of us look at TK armour all the time whereas there are likely less knowing eyes in your Garrison. I found my Garrison forums particularly useful when it comes to finding supplies in town!

 

You're making some good progress! I went with snaps as well and I am happy with my choice. Your ears look really good! I had such trouble with mine and trashed my first pair. Also, your ABS repair looks good too. Apparently Novus polish is really helpful with this kind of repair, though I can't say I've used it myself yet. My dremel skipped a few times throughout my build so I have small spots to fix, but I figure I'll do all that in one shot later on. Didn't affect approval as it's hard to see without taking a close look.

 

Feel free to post whenever you have a question or you're doubting yourself! That's what we're here for! Keep up the good work!

[SpiceCredits]

I think that's what I am going to be doing as well. I'd have to agree with you 100%, and that's why I decided to start a thread here also. Plus, not everyone is as consistent with checking FB as they are here. There are just more people here and it's more TK specialized which will help out more.

Thanks! Yea, I really wanted to do brackets, but with that edge and a couple other reasons, I thought snaps would be better and hold up longer in the future. I initially wanted a complete screen accurate armor only, but have changed my mind with all my research and for what I want to use it for. I'l just get it as close as I can, but also keep trooping in mind. I'm happy with my ears as well, thank you! I was really glad they came out the way they did for my first attempt. lol I was dreading it. Same for the paste job. lol I ended up having to repair a "butt crack" too. I was a tad too forceful when trimming my butt piece and i hd a small tear that I had to paste too. It also came out well and is not noticeable. It was tiny. I have since learned to be much much much more careful while completing my build. Yea, the nous has really saved me with fixing up those paste jobs. I fell like I am a pro at it now. LOL hopefully you don't have to ever need to do it, but it wasn't all that tough to do. Seriously, if I can do it anyone can!

I'll definitely be posting here as I go. I planned on having the helmet painted and done this week, but I need to buy a few more brushes and some thinner. I have been shelling out money on this thing, and will need to wait till I get paid next before picking up a few more things. 

Not to all newcomers: Purchase as many supplies as you can while waiting on your kit! I wish I had. I thought I'd buy supplies in stages, but that didn't work out well and it causes me to wait longer. :/

 

[SpiceCredits]

I'm currently fitting and trimming my forearms, biceps, and bells. More to come soon! 

[SpiceCredits]

So, I trimmed, fitted, and sanded the forearms, biceps, and shoulder bell for my right arm. Forearms and biceps trimmed to support 15mm cover strips.

Afterwards, I decided to try on a rough fit of the full right arm with some tape. I think it's looking good, but would love some feedback. Sometimes you can see something differently when you're attached to it. lol

I'm thinking of removing more return edge from the top of the forearm—probably to almost none…I don't like that the return edge catches just a bit when I bend my elbow. I'm also going to remove more of the return edge from the bottom of the biceps as well, think. Wrist's edge has been removed.Thoughts? Do I need to remove more?

Feedback welcome.

Thanks!

P.S. Some pics may be blurry, due to the one-handed photographer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SpiceCredits]

Congrats and good luck! I'm waiting for my BBB from Mark as well!

Thanks! I can assure you you'll be smitten. Hope yours makes it soon! Good luck to you also!

[SpiceCredits]

Here's my TD. I realize that the lighting above my dining table/workbench isn't very optimal for photos. I'll try to take more in natural light. 

Here's a shot right before the E-6000 and screws were tightened.

 

Here it is all completed

 

[lucnak[TK]]

I was able to keep a fair amount of return at biceps and forearms. I hear a lot of people remove the forearm edge at the elbow. illusionz_09 has big arms so maybe check his thread to see how much he removed...can't remember right now. Wrist edge should have no return so you shouldn't feel any of that roll when you feel it on the inside.

 

Your TD looks good! I put some some velcro on the side touching the armour to prevent scratching.

[SpiceCredits]

Thanks! I've seen the velcro thing done on the clips as well. I think that's probably a good idea to add in the future as well. I'm pretty sure that will happen. I didn't think I wanted to use velcro for my shins (once I get there), but I am coming around to the idea more and more. So, I'll probably need some velcro anyway.

The wrist's return edge has been removed as of now. I have maybe 3-4mm return on the tops of the forearms as of now. It doesn't catch a lot, but it just barely does. It looked like a lot of the reference images had pretty much zero or zero, and I have seen some other builds with guys my size having none, and it looks good. I like the idea of having some return edge there though. Maybe I'll keep it there for now (forearm tops and bottom biceps), and wait till I have both arms done and then see how it looks and feels after? I can always remove more later if I still feel the same. 

I'll be doing the left arm tonight, and I'll post pics of the return edges of the pieces. I'm going to make them identical to the right arm anyway.

[SpiceCredits]

Here's a quick question while it's on my mind. I'll be painting tube stripes this weekend… Does anyone have a preference between painter's tape for masking and the Trooperbay masking templates? Is one better than the other in regards to paint bleed, or are they about equal in that aspect? I'll be laying dow a very light (almost dry brush) amount of white as a base to help, and letting that fully set before adding the blue.

[bobafret[TK]]

Nice job on that bucket those ears are TIGHT.  Looks sharp.

[SpiceCredits]

Nice job on that bucket those ears are TIGHT.  Looks sharp.

Thanks so much! I was way nervous to do them, but the AP trim line for them is damn near right on! They were a task for sure, but not near as difficult as I had expected.

[lucnak[TK]]

Here's a quick question while it's on my mind. I'll be painting tube stripes this weekend… Does anyone have a preference between painter's tape for masking and the Trooperbay masking templates? Is one better than the other in regards to paint bleed, or are they about equal in that aspect? I'll be laying dow a very light (almost dry brush) amount of white as a base to help, and letting that fully set before adding the blue.

I used a paint mask sold to me by my GML. Haven't tried using painter's tape and cutting out my own. You might have bleed regardless. Be ready with thinner and toothpicks/q-tips depending on the amount to clean. Stripes should sit 1/4" from the cheek.

[SpiceCredits]

I used a paint mask sold to me by my GML. Haven't tried using painter's tape and cutting out my own. You might have bleed regardless. Be ready with thinner and toothpicks/q-tips depending on the amount to clean. Stripes should sit 1/4" from the cheek.

Thanks for the suggestion on the stripe placement! Is that the same as using the pencil width method? In my head I feel like the templates may adhere closer to the ABS eliminating most bleed. I'm sure both will have their bleed though, like you said. Maybe I'll just save money on buying a template and use tape. I'll just pencil the decals I have on to the tape and cut them out as a template. 

 

Also, I saw on your thread that you had some issues with trimming a bit too much over your eye on your bucket. I did the same. It leaves a little gap between the lens and the top of the eye. I'm wondering if I should leave it as is, or whip out some more paste and gain some mm back. I'm not to putting the lenses on yet, so I'll probably send a photo once I get there and see what everyone thinks.

[lucnak[TK]]

Yes, pencil width is generally the same! Good luck!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SpiceCredits]

Sweet! Thanks again!