Cricket's RS Stunt Build (for the Vertically Challenged)

[zv288bot[TK]]

I say cut away. I think it will make the proportions look better.

 

sent from my phone

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I say cut away. I think it will make the proportions look better.

 

sent from my phone

Totally agree!

 

Marc

[Cricket[TK]]

Okay, that's all the confirmation I needed.  Thanks Jorge and Marc for chiming in.

I disassembled my ab from my kidney (the third time now...).

 

 

My measurements to shorten the kidney were going to originate from the top edge.  I cut off the return at the bottom and left the overall height of the kidney to just a little over 155mm.   I measured 145mm as the height I wanted the kidney to be with the return.  I allowed about 10mm to mount the returns for my brackets with a little extra return to spare.  I marked up the inside with a pencil.  

 

 

Then I flipped it over and made marks for 145mm on the outside of the kidney, measuring approximately from where the return edge at the top began.  This was a little tricky because the top return isn't exactly perfectly straight.  Oh well, let's do this!

 

Then I pulled out my wood jig, heat gun, gloves, and a little piece of wood paint stir stick, and got to work.  The little wood stir stick is what I use to make the initial bends in the ABS once it's warm.  It does a much more even and consistent job than my gloved fingers do!

 

This is just after the first bend.  It looks scary, but this is just the first step in making my return.  I make another pass over just the folded edge with the heat gun after my initial bend has been made.  Once it's reheated, I use my little wood stick to press and smooth out the bumps in the edges, working a small section at a time, making sure I stay away from the bent edge itself.  Here is a pic of after the second pass has been completed.

 

 

 

I'll be trimming off a few mm of the inside return after I've installed the brackets, so I'm not being picky about a little leftover ripples in the edges.  Here's the 'new' kidney, at 145mm in height.

 

This new return is much better than the return I had made on it before, so I'm really glad that I did this.  The kidney looks in better proportion to the rest of the back now.  Can't wait to get it all strapped back together and take pics!
 

[Troopacoola[TK]]

You are really becoming the master of recreating the new return edges!

 

Marc

[illusionz_09[TK]]

looking good...should be done soon...

[fragarock[TK]]

Okay, that's all the confirmation I needed. Thanks Jorge and Marc for chiming in.

 

I disassembled my ab from my kidney (the third time now...).

 

 

My measurements to shorten the kidney were going to originate from the top edge. I cut off the return at the bottom and left the overall height of the kidney to just a little over 155mm. I measured 145mm as the height I wanted the kidney to be with the return. I allowed about 10mm to mount the returns for my brackets with a little extra return to spare. I marked up the inside with a pencil.

 

 

Then I flipped it over and made marks for 145mm on the outside of the kidney, measuring approximately from where the return edge at the top began. This was a little tricky because the top return isn't exactly perfectly straight. Oh well, let's do this!

 

 

Then I pulled out my wood jig, heat gun, gloves, and a little piece of wood paint stir stick, and got to work. The little wood stir stick is what I use to make the initial bends in the ABS once it's warm. It does a much more even and consistent job than my gloved fingers do!

 

 

This is just after the first bend. It looks scary, but this is just the first step in making my return. I make another pass over just the folded edge with the heat gun after my initial bend has been made. Once it's reheated, I use my little wood stick to press and smooth out the bumps in the edges, working a small section at a time, making sure I stay away from the bent edge itself. Here is a pic of after the second pass has been completed.

 

 

 

I'll be trimming off a few mm of the inside return after I've installed the brackets, so I'm not being picky about a little leftover ripples in the edges. Here's the 'new' kidney, at 145mm in height.

 

 

This new return is much better than the return I had made on it before, so I'm really glad that I did this. The kidney looks in better proportion to the rest of the back now. Can't wait to get it all strapped back together and take pics!

 

Hey Christine,

 

Can you post a pic showing how you strapped the chest to the ab piece?

If you look on my thread I'm having trouble figuring out this connection given the 4" to 5" overlap of my chest over the ab. Not sure how wire and elastic are supposed to work here.

 

Did you chop off material from the top of the ab?

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Cricket[TK]]

Hey Christine,

 

Can you post a pic showing how you strapped the chest to the ab piece?

If you look on my thread I'm having trouble figuring out this connection given the 4" to 5" overlap of my chest over the ab. Not sure how wire and elastic are supposed to work here.

 

Did you chop off material from the top of the ab?

 

Glad to help!  Yes, I chopped off the top of the ab as well as the bottom of the chest piece and the top of the cod.  Whew!  I can't remember exactly how much I cut off the top of the ab...  maybe about 1 1/4"?  Don't go exactly on my measurements, though, because these work for my body type.  Could be different for you if your torso is longer or shorter than mine.

 

Here's a reference shot with a tape measure so you can see how short my ab is now:

 

 

Here's how it looks all strapped together in the front:

 

And strapping.  Forgive the blurry pics... I'm recovering from the flu and my eyes aren't focusing like they should!  

 

 

 

 

I never measured how these would fit together before I cut, and in hindsight, I probably should have!  I got lucky with how it all turned out.  Measuring now, the tallest brackets on the chest just line up with the return edge of the ab.  So when I do this again (and I will be for my ATA kit), I will do it in the following order:

1. size down the chest piece
2. make new returns on the bottom of the chest for brackets
3. install chest brackets
4. line up chest where it should be positioned over the ab
5. transfer marks of the tops of the chest bracket edges to the ab
6. add 8-10mm to those marks to allow for new returns on the ab (you'll be trimming the returns down once your brackets are installed)
7. cut the ab and make your new returns

Remember to always trim conservatively.  Hope this helps clear things for you.  Let me know if you have other questions.  

 

I'll be resuming my build once my kids are back in school next week (yay!).  Hope you are having a great holiday season!  

Edited December 30, 2016 by Cricket

[fragarock[TK]]

Glad to help! Yes, I chopped off the top of the ab as well as the bottom of the chest piece and the top of the cod. Whew! I can't remember exactly how much I cut off the top of the ab... maybe about 1 1/4"? Don't go exactly on my measurements, though, because these work for my body type. Could be different for you if your torso is longer or shorter than mine.

 

Here's a reference shot with a tape measure so you can see how short my ab is now:

 

 

Here's how it looks all strapped together in the front:

 

And strapping. Forgive the blurry pics... I'm recovering from the flu and my eyes aren't focusing like they should!

 

 

 

 

I never measured how these would fit together before I cut, and in hindsight, I probably should have! I got lucky with how it all turned out. Measuring now, the tallest brackets on the chest just line up with the return edge of the ab. So when I do this again (and I will be for my ATA kit), I will do it in the following order:

• size down the chest piece
• make new returns on the bottom of the chest for brackets
• install chest brackets
• line up chest where it should be positioned over the ab
• transfer marks of the tops of the chest bracket edges to the ab
• add 8-10mm to those marks to allow for new returns on the ab (you'll be trimming the returns down once your brackets are installed)
• cut the ab and make your new returns

Remember to always trim conservatively. Hope this helps clear things for you. Let me know if you have other questions.

 

I'll be resuming my build once my kids are back in school next week (yay!). Hope you are having a great holiday season!

Thanks, this explains a lot. Guess I'll have to chop off the top of the ab.

How do you determine the size of the elastic loops for this chest connection?

 

I just got and tested my new sewing machine last night (there were many giggles from my wife) so I'll be working on these loops soon.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Cricket[TK]]

I ordered my bracket system from Mr. No Stripes.  The elastics I received are all the same size.  They'd be easy to make!  They're all 1 inch wide elastic.  The overall length of the elastic is 2.5", folded in half to make a loop of 1.25" each.  You should need nine in all.  Good luck, and have fun!

[Cricket[TK]]

AAAAAAgh!

 

Okay, so I finally get a few hours to work on my kit.  "Home stretch," I think to myself.  "Just some minor adjustments, trimming, strapping, and it's submission time!"

 

Nope.

 

I tried it all on, and I kept noticing that when I belted everything up, the kidney on the right side (opposite where the riveted side is) seemed to want to stay lower than where I wanted it to be.  I kept having to pull it up in order for the top of the kidney to meet the top of the ab.  I spent about 30 minutes looking, tugging, adjusting, tugging at the two pieces over and over again.  I thought that I might need to hot water bath or heat gun the kidney to twist it into position.  

 

I took it all off and closed up the halves to see how things naturally wanted to meet.  Sure enough when closed without me inside of it all, where the ab and kidney meet, there was about 5 mm difference.  To be certain, I pulled out my measuring tape and measured both sides of the ab, as well as both sides of the kidney.  The kidney sides were the same height.  The ab sides were not.  The right side of the ab was about 5 mm longer than the left.  Dang it.  You can see the pencil mark where the edge of the ab should be.

 

Only one solution to this now.  I need to trim and create a new return on the right side of the ab.  Which means I'll also have to remove that snap and do some ABS repair to the hole.  Gah!  So much for being in the home stretch.    So, lesson to all you short troopers out there:  when trimming your ab, be sure to measure that the edges are exactly the same length before creating your new returns.   Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend free from the kids so I can work on this repair.  

Edited January 6, 2017 by Cricket

[Kacrut[501st]]

Keep the spirit high!! \m/ \m/

[Addertime[TK]]

You've done an amazing job! Keep the faith.
I'm looking forward to seeing that completed masterpiece in April!

[Cricket[TK]]

Thanks for the encouragement, troopers.    Much appreciated when I feel like tossing my kit out the window at times like these...  Anyhow, the fix wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  It just involved more time (which I don't seem to have much of lately)- removing more brackets, taking out that snap, and prepping for the new return.  Feels like 3 steps forward, and 5 steps back sometimes.  

 

The heat gun and I have resolved our differences, and we now have a much more cordial relationship now.  I can almost say that we're friends.  Almost.  We get along so well now that I didn't even have to cut the return while I was making the new one.  Check it out... the pic below is where I began.  You can see there are two pencil marks on the edge above the hole where the snap was removed.  I chose to go with the top pencil line- better to bend less than too much, right?  That is the line where I intend for my new return to be.
 

 

Next you can see the piece of wood I use to smooth out the return once I get it warm.  The nice thing about making returns like this is that you don't need to get the ABS super hot and melty in order to shape it.  There's less chance of over warping the plastic this way.  You warm up the plastic just enough that it's plyable, but not super soft (you need to practice to know when the right amount is).  Then you rub the wood piece back and forth over the heated area (think of polishing it), smoothing it out as you go.  

 

 

And next you can see how I finally worked things so that the new return is where the top pencil mark is.

 

 

I didn't trim any of this, even though I thought I would.  Just heating the area that hung over the wood edge softened things up so that I just needed to iron out the old return in order to make the new one.  In the pic below, you can see the bracket holes.  The bracket hole on the right was previously right at the edge of the return.  After making the new return, it's a few millimeters further in the return now.

 

 

Please ignore the messy ABS repair!  I have already moved this bracket once.  I didn't need to make it pretty because it's hidden under the chest.  Below you can see how sharp the new return is.  

 

Waiting for more ABS paste to cook so I can patch that hole.  Today I'll focus on sewing garters and shoulder bell snaps.

[Cricket[TK]]

Oh, look, a bit more progress!

So this happened today.  DIY garter belt for my armor thighs.   I still giggle when I think of big ol' stormtrooper guys wearing these....

 

 

And I sewed my shoulder snaps on! (finally)

 

I don't know why, but sewing on the snaps on the white elastic side seemed to take me forever to complete.  All I kept thinking was, "Boy, you gotta really want to be a stormtrooper to put up with this part of the build."  It felt great to be done with it and to snap my shoulders on to my kit.  I'll have to get hubby to get pics of me tomorrow, because there was no way I could get a good angle for a selfie yet! 

[Cricket[TK]]

Dammit.  It's just not good enough.

Those are my thoughts when I put on my kit yesterday when looking at where the kidney and ab meet on the right side.  The top of the kidney keeps wanting to droop down below the ab, even though everything is the same size along the edges.  WTF?!

So this morning, I took another look at things and pulled out my measuring tape.  There's got to be some adjustment I'm missing to get this fitting better.  Across the ab, the measurement is 12.5".

 

And across the kidney, the measurement is 13.5" at roughly the same line.

 

And the kidney flares out at the bottom, making it even wider there.  

 

I made the two halves meet without any flexing, and discovered that the problem is with the kidney.  It's just too 'flat'.  If I can alter the kidney to more of a rounded curve (bringing it in about an inch), it meets the ab perfectly.  So.  Only one thing to do.  Which means good news and bad news.

 

 

The bad news is that the split rivets and brackets had to be removed (again!!!  Gah!!!!  I think this is the fifth time I've removed the split rivets, and I've stopped counting how many times I've removed the brackets now...) so I can give my kidney some extra spa time to shape it up.  Good news is that I've now got killer skills with removing split rivets and brackets.  So at least there's that.

 

[zv288bot[TK]]

Oh, look, a bit more progress!

 

So this happened today. DIY garter belt for my armor thighs. I still giggle when I think of big ol' stormtrooper guys wearing these....

 

 

And I sewed my shoulder snaps on! (finally)

 

 

I don't know why, but sewing on the snaps on the white elastic side seemed to take me forever to complete. All I kept thinking was, "Boy, you gotta really want to be a stormtrooper to put up with this part of the build." It felt great to be done with it and to snap my shoulders on to my kit. I'll have to get hubby to get pics of me tomorrow, because there was no way I could get a good angle for a selfie yet!

I so hated that part as well. I remember sewing something wrong and having a complete 5 year old temper tantrum. My wife had to come over and put me in a time out over it.

 

 

sent from my phone

[Cricket[TK]]

I so hated that part as well. I remember sewing something wrong and having a complete 5 year old temper tantrum. My wife had to come over and put me in a time out over it.

 

 

Haha!  I totally understand.  I hated this part, and I've sewn my fair share of costumes over the years.  Those snaps were tedious!

 

All right, I've got momentum on this build, so let's keep it going now, shall we?

 

I was able to successfully reshape my kidney via the hot water method!  And it now fits even better, so, yay!  Now I have to wait for the elastics to dry out before I reassemble everything again.  I only removed half of the split rivets- the ones on the kidney side.  I did a little bit of reshaping the ab as well since I had the boiling water out.  I had left the elastics/split rivets installed on that side, and I reshaped a bit of that.  While I wait for things to dry, there are always other things to work on, right?

 

But, as with sizing down the plastic, you'll end up with some wrinkling along the returns.  No worries for me, though.  Using my wood jiggy-thing and heat gun, I was able to iron out those bumps with ease.  

 

Before bumpy and smoothed after ironing:

 

Other side of the kidney, before and after:

 

 

Aaaand since I was heating things up, I remembered that I had trimmed down the butt plate a tad.  This left my butt plate looking a little... er... flat around the edges.  I wanted to get those returns back to plump my posterior armor parts (not like I need the help, haha...).  So I pulled out my heat sealing iron and got to work.  I tested it out on a piece of scrap ABS first, just to make sure I wouldn't screw things up.  Once I felt comfortable with the process, I took my butt plate, held my breath, and...

 

 

Taaa daaaa!  New returns on the edges of my butt plate.    This was much easier than I expected it to be.  Once I get my thighs trimmed down to fit me, I will absolutely be rebuilding the returns on those as well.

 

***Edit***  I forgot to include the awesome tutorial (from Pandatrooper) that shows exactly how to create the new return edge using a heat sealing iron.

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Cricket

[Cricket[TK]]

Quick question, troopers:  where should the top of the thigh armor be?  I don't want to cut it too short, but I'm not sure how much movement I need to have with them.  Should I be able to raise my thigh up so that it's parallel to the floor without the armor cutting into my hip, or is that too much to ask for?  Or should I be able to just raise it lower, at say, a 45 degree angle?  I don't expect to do Rockette-style kicks in this, but would like to know the extent of movement I should expect while wearing the thighs.

 

Oh, and a little more progress today.  Mostly reattaching brackets, touching up ab button paint, and reattaching the shoulder bridges.  I had to remove the bridges because I didn't like how they sat on the back plate (too close in on the shoulders- I'm aiming for keeping the bridges centered on each shoulder).

I made some stirrups yesterday, and they so totally rock.  This kind of stirrup allows you to put on your boot first and adjust how snug you want the stirrup to be.  It prevents twisting and lifting of the shin over the boot.  

 

This didn't take me more than 30 minutes to sew together, and it's very easy to do.  I followed the tutorial here.  No more fussing with shin creep, yay!

[Addertime[TK]]

The thighs should not overlap the buttplate or codpiece/ab while standing nor should the distance be too great.  Look at Centurion or EIB applications to get a feel for what others do. It's not about how it feels... it's about how it LOOKS! 

Yes, your movement will be limited. Descending stairs will be a challenge. Your greaves (shins) will twist and catch on the top of your boots and you won't be able to bend down and fix them. Your thighs will clank against your ab/cod and or buttplate... it's all normal. At my last troop, I was almost finished suiting up and I dropped a glove. I looked down at it. Two other TKs were near me. They looked down at it and then we all looked at each other. I said, "THAT'S gonna be tough to get." They both nodded knowingly and one told me a little tale about a video taken at one of their events of five TKs trying to pick something up off the ground unsuccessfully. SO... basically, if your story sounds like this... you did it right.

You learn little tricks though. When I ascend stairs, I go up on my toes with each step which brings my other foot right to the level of the stair. Normal walking on flat ground is pretty easy with practice but it's still a little unnatural and you'll sound like a pile or tumbling plastic.

[Cricket[TK]]

The thighs should not overlap the buttplate or codpiece/ab while standing nor should the distance be too great.  Look at Centurion or EIB applications to get a feel for what others do. It's not about how it feels... it's about how it LOOKS! 

 

And you look MAAAA-VEL-OUS!!!!!  Haha....  Yep, I think I get it.  The same thing is true for high heels.  No comfort at all there.  

 

 

You learn little tricks though. When I ascend stairs, I go up on my toes with each step which brings my other foot right to the level of the stair. 

 

Very good tip!  Thanks for that one!!!!

 

 

At my last troop, I was almost finished suiting up and I dropped a glove. I looked down at it. Two other TKs were near me. They looked down at it and then we all looked at each other. I said, "THAT'S gonna be tough to get." They both nodded knowingly and one told me a little tale about a video taken at one of their events of five TKs trying to pick something up off the ground unsuccessfully. SO... basically, if your story sounds like this... you did it right.

This had me laughing so hard!!!!      

 

And I thought of this video I saw recently (even though it's a year old)... was this your garrison's troopers?

 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Cricket

[Cricket[TK]]

Guys, guys, guys, guys, guyzzzzzzzzz!!! It's all happening!!!!  OMG!!!!  Now, I'm still working on finalizing things (thighs and forearms still need cover strips, thighs at the top need additional trimming/shaping, drop boxes/holster need to be reattached), but I am sososoclosetofinishing!!!! #socloseitskillingme  Tried on everything today for the first time.  Check out the 5'4", 108lb trooper! (remember that all the pics are taken in the MIRROR so it will all look BACKWARDS)

 

 

And from the back...

 

The back plate looks like it's overlapping, but it's not.  I've got to trim a little off of the front of the right thigh to bring it up a tad in the back.

 

 

Again, still need to fine tune the right thigh as seen below.  I'm really happy with the following pic because I don't have any strapping inside of the kit where the ab and kidney meet, and this is how things are lining up naturally.  Once I add the strapping, it should all come together nicely.

 

Big pic so you can see my snazzy magnetic shin closures.  Can you see them?  I can't either.  

 

 

I was even able to remove the shins and put them back on while I had the entire kit on.  This is because the magnets do an auto-lock thing that works like magic.  Maaaagicccc I say!  

Okay, so now it's time for me to get over my initial excitement and hunker down to finishing this kit.  That said, I would like some serious feedback with regards to adjustments that you see that could be made.  Already I'm thinking that I might want to bring up my shins a little and bring down the thighs a bit as well in order to reduce the gap at the knees. 

 

I'm also having a little trouble with the ammo pack at the knee because it doesn't want to sit straight.  I've seen other troopers with the angled ammo pack, but would like to know if I should bring it down a bit.  Be as brutally honest as you wanna be because I can take it.  I want to make this kit as good as I possibly can.

 

Thank you!!!!!!      

Edited January 25, 2017 by Cricket

[zv288bot[TK]]

You look fabulous! Seriously! Now, I would mess around with dropping the thighs a bit, remember that your belt drop boxes will fill in some of that space as well. Not sure you can raise your shins any higher without causing you to look like you have floods on. Like you mentioned, I would also mess around with the knee ammo pack. You have done an amazing job at keeping the portions but I feel like you can take a smidge off the shoulder bells and still keep that centurion look . I forgot is this kit your hero kit or will that be the ATA?

[zv288bot[TK]]

The shins are amazing by the way. I need to do them.

[storm shadow[TK]]

G​lad Jorge sent me the link to this thread. You are doing an amazing job on this build. Cannot wait for you to join us in upcoming troops. Once you are approved you need to join the south side Ocmulgee Squad (https://www.facebook.com/groups/149444778450232/). I love the way you did the shins with the magnets. I will be looking to do this for mine. I agree with Jorge in dropping the thighs down about half and inch. I'm only 5'7" myself without any lifts and had to cut a good bit of length off my thighs.

 

Steve

(Hampton, GA)

[Cricket[TK]]

You look fabulous! Seriously!

Thanks, Jorge!  

 

Now, I would mess around with dropping the thighs a bit, remember that your belt drop boxes will fill in some of that space as well. Not sure you can raise your shins any higher without causing you to look like you have floods on. Like you mentioned, I would also mess around with the knee ammo pack. 

 

 I agree with Jorge in dropping the thighs down about half and inch. I'm only 5'7" myself without any lifts and had to cut a good bit of length off my thighs.

 

Yes, agreed about the thighs needing to come down a bit. In retrospect, I may have trimmed a little too much off the tops of these.  I'll be trimming a little more off the top of the right thigh just so the two are the same size.  I still think I'll be able to make adjustments so it'll work out.  The shins can still come up a bit, and I can move the thighs down a little as well.  I've been looking at other Centurion approval posts, and I'm seeing varying degrees of space between the thighs and shins.  Still, I think it's best to try to get them closer together.  It's very difficult to be able to visualize how everything will fit together until... it's fitting together.  Gah!  

 

I would also mess around with the knee ammo pack...

 

I feel like you can take a smidge off the shoulder bells and still keep that centurion look .

 

I forgot is this kit your hero kit or will that be the ATA?

Yep, readjusting the knee ammo pack already.  It's re-glued and clamped, and I think it will look better in the new position.

 

And those shoulder bells... what, you don't like Linebacker Trooper?    Yeah, they do look like I'm channeling the Big 80's.  I'll shave some off and see where that gets me.

 

This kit will be a Stunt build.  Once approved, I'll be converting it to a Sandy.  I haven't built the helmet for this yet, but that won't take me long at all.  I'm wearing my Hero lid in the pics just to complete the look.  I was told to expect my ATA kit to ship at the end of this month (fingers crossed!).  The ATA will be a Hero build.

 

Thanks for your feedback, troopers!!!