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

[Troopacoola[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.

 

 

sent from my phone

Hahahahaha!

 

Marc

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Looking great! I was going to mention the Space Marine sized shoulder bells but the other helpful folks already addressed it. So very close! I remember the excitement at this point as well.

 

 

 

Jim - TK50899

[Cricket[TK]]

Looking great! I was going to mention the Space Marine sized shoulder bells but the other helpful folks already addressed it. So very close! I remember the excitement at this point as well.

 

Hahahaaa Jim!!!!!         At least my shins aren't sized like your Space Marine, right?  

 

Seriously, my shoulders bumped into the door jamb when walking into the guest room to take pics yesterday.  That should have been a big clue to me that they needed to be taken down a bit.

 

Hey, where is your Space Marine's blaster???  He's holding air.

 

 

[fragarock[TK]]

Really exciting to see it so close to being done.

[Cricket[TK]]

I've made some adjustments to the thigh positions as well as the thigh ammo pack.  Does this look better?  Should I adjust more?  I flipped the images so it doesn't look like I've got the legs on the wrong sides.

Before and after:

[TKZombie[TK]]

The height of the thighs in the before pic looked better, too much gap now. I'd think you'd have better mobility with more gap at the knee. <br><br>

Did you trim the thighs and shins shorter?

[Cricket[TK]]

The height of the thighs in the before pic looked better, too much gap now. I'd think you'd have better mobility with more gap at the knee. <br><br>

Did you trim the thighs and shins shorter?

Agreed, Christina!  I didn't trim the shins any shorter, but I did even up the thighs.  I may just get a new pair to fix this.  I don't like how short they are.  It's going to bug me, even if I can get it to look 'okay'.  :/

 

I worked on gluing my latex handguards to my rubber gloves today.  I glued these onto an old pair of rubber gloves, and I really didn't like how flat they sit on the glove.  I found a way to give the handguards a little bit of natural curve that I thought I'd share.  I'm sure all you old-timers know this trick already.  I can't remember where I saw this originally (sorry for not being able to properly credit the OP).

 

Stick a small towel and bottle of Novus (or similar sized/shaped bottle) into your glove and glue the handguard in place.  It puffs the glove up like a hand inside might be there.  Apply your glue, and you're set.

 

 

It will give the handguard a slight curve that sits on the glove much better than the flat handguard does.  Below, they're fully glued on.

 

 

Ooh!  Slightly curvy!  Aaah!

 

 

Another benefit to gluing the handguards on this way is that it makes for easier placement of the handguard on the glove when gluing.  

 

Okay, I'm getting back to fine-tuning my kit.  Stay tuned!

Edited January 15, 2017 by Cricket

[illusionz_09[TK]]

The height of the thighs in the before pic looked better, too much gap now. I'd think you'd have better mobility with more gap at the knee. <br><br>

Did you trim the thighs and shins shorter?

Agreed. I'm glad your going to address that.

[Cricket[TK]]

Alright, so now I wait to hear back from RS about those thighs.  I'm pretty much at a standstill with being able to finish the armor at this point.  I only have enough cover strip material for two front thighs, and two back thighs.  If I finish off the cover strips now on my current thighs, I won't have anything to put on the replacement thighs because the new ones will be longer.  RS seems incredibly busy assembling commissions right now, so I have a feeling that it's going to be a while until I can complete my TK.     But, in the immortal words of the philosophers Plant and Page, "Nobody's fault but mine."

 

So in the meantime, I'm working on getting the helmet together.  I've already trimmed and shaped everything for the most part, including the ears.  I have already built a helmet, so I wasn't up for taking pics of it all.  Everything fits well, so I jumped ahead to coating the interior with PlastiDip.  Lesson learned from my first helmet build is to not rivet the halves together until all the inside painting, lenses, and frown mesh have been installed.  It's a pain to try to make inside mods when the halves are permanently stuck together!

 

I masked off this little detail that was placed on the inside of the back piece at the bottom of the lid...

 

It will probably get covered up by electronics (it's just 1cm x 1cm), but I like knowing it's there.  Kind of like a Hidden Mickey. 

 

I am building one of these kidney-tab thingies to help keep my ab/kidney in line.  I saw this over at Jorge's build, and I think it's a perfect solution for dealing with vertical shifting on the 'free' side of the ab/kidney connection.  The only difference between his and mine is that I'm using a piece of flexible black styrene as the tab instead of white.  That way I don't have to worry about painting the tab (or eventually paint wearing off of it).

 

Up next:  sponging on those tubes!  Stay tuned!

Edited January 19, 2017 by Cricket

[douglasthecook]

For us newbs following this thread, what is the purpose of plasti-dipping the inside of the helmet? Structural re-enforcement? Heat dissipation? Enhanced visibility? I think the inside looks good blacked out.

[Cricket[TK]]

For us newbs following this thread, what is the purpose of plasti-dipping the inside of the helmet? Structural re-enforcement? Heat dissipation? Enhanced visibility? I think the inside looks good blacked out.

 

I prefer it blacked-out inside, too.  It adds a little bit of heft to the lid, so it feels more substantial once it's all together.  I think it makes the helmet look more "done" on the inside.  The PlastiDip also makes it more difficult to see inside the helmet from the outside (if you were looking from a kid-sized angle up).  I don't think it does anything to dissipate heat or enhance visibility.

 

I used the spray can version of PlastiDip, but there are some that use the paint-on version of it, too.  I've seen tutorials of helmets that use several alternating coats of hand-painted PlastiDip and cheesecloth on the inside to make it even more substantial in weight.  

[zv288bot[TK]]

Curious to see this picture with the drop boxes on the belt. Not that it's going to fill in all of the area above the thigh but I wonder if it will help even it out.

 

 

I've made some adjustments to the thigh positions as well as the thigh ammo pack.  Does this look better?  Should I adjust more?  I flipped the images so it doesn't look like I've got the legs on the wrong sides.

Before and after:

[douglasthecook]

I prefer it blacked-out inside, too.  It adds a little bit of heft to the lid, so it feels more substantial once it's all together.  I think it makes the helmet look more "done" on the inside.  The PlastiDip also makes it more difficult to see inside the helmet from the outside (if you were looking from a kid-sized angle up).  I don't think it does anything to dissipate heat or enhance visibility.

 

I used the spray can version of PlastiDip, but there are some that use the paint-on version of it, too.  I've seen tutorials of helmets that use several alternating coats of hand-painted PlastiDip and cheesecloth on the inside to make it even more substantial in weight.  

 

Ok, that helps, and makes sense, thanks!!! 

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Curious to see this picture with the drop boxes on the belt. Not that it's going to fill in all of the area above the thigh but I wonder if it will help even it out.

Like Jorge says with drop boxes on and IMHO raising them about an inch, I think you could get away with them.

 

Marc

[Cricket[TK]]

So just when I'm thinking about the whole thigh gap thing, I found this...  See the arrow?



Hey, my thigh gap is screen authentic!  

Seriously though, I really prefer the look of the longer thigh armor.  I'll take some pics soon and look at where the adjustments get me.  Thanks for the feedback, troopers!

[Troopacoola[TK]]

So just when I'm thinking about the whole thigh gap thing, I found this... See the arrow?

 

 

Hey, my thigh gap is screen authentic!

 

Seriously though, I really prefer the look of the longer thigh armor. I'll take some pics soon and look at where the adjustments get me. Thanks for the feedback, troopers!

Can't argue with you there! Still think an inch higher would help.

 

Marc

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

This thigh gap is clearly unintentional, expecially when you see how asymetrical it is:

 

The thighs for the OT stormtrooper are supposed to be worn high. All the gaps between armor parts should be kept minimal in fact.

[Cricket[TK]]

All the gaps between armor parts should be kept minimal in fact.

 

That's my goal.    New thighs will be the only way I can fix this.

 

I want my thigh armor to fit like how I've altered the right thigh in the pic below.

 

 

If only it was as easy to alter ABS as it is to alter a pic in Photoshop.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Cricket

[Jaltrooper]

Hey Cricket!

 

Found your build thread! 

 

Great Stuff! Will help me a bunch!

 

The suit looks awesome! Thanks for all the detail and pics...

 

Jon

[Gwithian]

Sorry to hear about your thigh problem, but it will be worth the wait. I wish I had seen your progress and tips on constructing lid before I riveted mine together... doh... I too have spray plastikote to apply ...... .... humm , oh well we live and learn

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

 I wish I had seen your progress and tips on constructing lid before I riveted mine together... doh... I too have spray plastikote to apply .....

 

Ah, it's not the end of the world if you've already riveted things together.  You can still spray it all in there, it just takes a little more work.  

 

A few posts ago, I promised some spongy tubes.    This method works great if you want to paint your lid, but are too afraid to pick up a paint brush. 

 

Get your handy tube stripe template and stick it to the tubes of the helmet.  The stripes need to be about a pencil's width away from the face.

 

 

Apply the templates on little by little, starting at the ear, and smoothing each section on as you work toward the front.  If you try to just slap it on, you'll end up with wrinkling and creases in the template- this is because the template is flat, the tube is not.  

 

Next, mask off the templates so you don't have to do a ton of cleanup.

 

 

I cut a piece of cosmetic wedge down to a workable size as my sponge.  This kind of sponge leaves a smooth finish.  Apply paint to the sponge.  You can either dab it on from a flat surface or apply it using a brush.  Don't oversaturate the sponge or else you'll end up with bubbles in your paint.  Less is more for this.  

 

 

Go gently and lightly along the template.

 

 

Dab evenly all over the template.  If your sponge starts to get 'sticky' or dry, just apply a little more paint to the sponge.  Avoid going over the same area too much, because the paint will lift off onto the sponge, and the paint will be uneven on the tube.  The pic below is after the first coat of paint.

 

 

Don't expect uniform coverage on the first coat.  I allowed about 10 minutes for the paint to dry between coats, applying three coats of sponged-on paint.  After the third coat of sponged-on paint, remove the template.  You want to remove the template while the paint is still fairly wet so that the paint doesn't pull up when you remove the template.

 

 

Here's the result:

 

 

There is just a little bit of cleanup necessary in the pic above, but it won't be much trouble at all.  All you need is a fine brush, a little paint thinner, and an old rag to clean your brush on in order to erase any paint bleed.

 

 

The same method works wonderfully for other stripe templates as well.  Sponge on, troopers!

[Gwithian]

Ah, it's not the end of the world if you've already riveted things together. You can still spray it all in there, it just takes a little more work.

 

A few posts ago, I promised some spongy tubes. This method works great if you want to paint your lid, but are too afraid to pick up a paint brush.

 

Get your handy tube stripe template and stick it to the tubes of the helmet. The stripes need to be about a pencil's width away from the face.

 

 

Apply the templates on little by little, starting at the ear, and smoothing each section on as you work toward the front. If you try to just slap it on, you'll end up with wrinkling and creases in the template- this is because the template is flat, the tube is not.

 

Next, mask off the templates so you don't have to do a ton of cleanup.

 

 

I cut a piece of cosmetic wedge down to a workable size as my sponge. This kind of sponge leaves a smooth finish. Apply paint to the sponge. You can either dab it on from a flat surface or apply it using a brush. Don't oversaturate the sponge or else you'll end up with bubbles in your paint. Less is more for this.

 

 

Go gently and lightly along the template.

 

 

Dab evenly all over the template. If your sponge starts to get 'sticky' or dry, just apply a little more paint to the sponge. Avoid going over the same area too much, because the paint will lift off onto the sponge, and the paint will be uneven on the tube. The pic below is after the first coat of paint.

 

 

Don't expect uniform coverage on the first coat. I allowed about 10 minutes for the paint to dry between coats, applying three coats of sponged-on paint. After the third coat of sponged-on paint, remove the template. You want to remove the template while the paint is still fairly wet so that the paint doesn't pull up when you remove the template.

 

 

Here's the result:

 

 

There is just a little bit of cleanup necessary in the pic above, but it won't be much trouble at all. All you need is a fine brush, a little paint thinner, and an old rag to clean your brush on in order to erase any paint bleed.

 

 

The same method works wonderfully for other stripe templates as well. Sponge on, troopers!

Thanks for the tip, the thought of painting the tubes is giving me nightmares, it almost made me go ESB lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sgt. Bilko[TK]]

Very nice turnout on the tubes...I'll be stealing this on the next build. Well done.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TKZombie[TK]]

Your paint tips are great! <br><br>

Sorry I called out the thigh issue but you knew it needed to be fixed. You didn't go this far with all those mods to settle.<br><br>

Christina

[Cricket[TK]]

Sorry I called out the thigh issue but you knew it needed to be fixed. You didn't go this far with all those mods to settle.

 

Christina, don't apologize for that.  You said exactly what I was thinking but was afraid to openly admit.