FX chest plate mod

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

One of the things that really bothered me on the FX armor was the way the chest plate curved to far down on the sides. So, after seeing the thread on how to make a return edge with a hobby iron, i went and got myself one and decided to take care of this bothersome thing on the chestplate. I didnt really document it as i went along as its quite simple to do, i just wanted to show the results i got. Its not perfect, but i think it looks way better than the standard FX chest. While i was at it, i also took in the thighs a bit more at the bottoms. Heres the pics:

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

and this one for fun:

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Awesome result, makes a vast improvement over the standard look.

 

Ive been thinking of carrying out this mod also as the original look bugs the hell out of me too, but how far do you keep modding the fx armour before just accepting it the way it is?

 

Great pics, thanks for sharing

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

Awesome result, makes a vast improvement over the standard look.

 

Ive been thinking of carrying out this mod also as the original look bugs the hell out of me too, but how far do you keep modding the fx armour before just accepting it the way it is?

 

Great pics, thanks for sharing

 

Thanks Mark!

 

Honestly i wouldnt have biothered since i have already ordered AP armor, but im converting my FX to sandy so i figured id give it a go.

 

Haha good Question.... I think i may replace the shoulder bells, but other than that i think this is as far as i will go lol. The thought did cross my mind to make the back more correct, like as in the small sapce between the kidney and back plates, and i even thought about using a heat gun to curve the kidney plate a bit like the originals/AP/TE etc. But since thr FX kit is going sandy and ill have the pack, im not goiung to bother with all that. So, im probably done with modding this kit.....but then, i always say that....

[SuperTrooper]

That's and excellent mod, thanks for sharing.

[Nootch]

looks great, sadly i can't do it to mine as its GRP not ABS

[Chefhawk[501st]]

Im Impressed, amazing transformation.

 

Its a shame you didnt photograph as you went along.

 

I think a few guys will be trying the same.

 

 

Nice one and thanks for sharing.

 

 

 

 

 

cheers

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Amazing, it vastly improves the look of the FX chestpiece. I've just added that to my to-do list of mods.

 

Did you do any trimming, or did you simply "tuck" the return edge underneath the chestplate? Can you add pics of the chestplate lying inside-up on a table such that we can see how far the return edge comes up?

 

An outstanding mod, thanks for sharing!

[Tech151[TK]]

looks great, sadly i can't do it to mine as its GRP not ABS

 

Whats the difference between GRP and ABS and why wouldn't you be able to go sandy with GRP?

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

thanks for the compliments!

 

Chiefhawk, Yea i probably should have took pics as i went along, but i was so in the zone lol..but it really is quite simple, just trim and do the return edge with the hobby iron as per the other thread about that. Its not really all that much material being removed.

 

 

tkrestonva:

I did trim it a bit first, just on the outter edges. Make sure you leave a little more material than you want, as that will be what will become your return edge. i basically matched the edge to what was in the center. i just trimmed the side areas, the middle is still the "stock return edge". Other than that, its pretty straight forward i think. ill get a pic up for ya in a couple minutes..

 

Again thanks for the compliments!

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Whats the difference between GRP and ABS and why wouldn't you be able to go sandy with GRP?

 

 

GRP is glass reinforced plastic aka fibre glass....

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

ok here you go:

 

not the best pics, but you should be able to see how much of an edge i made. I just matched it up to the size of the original. You can see its a little wonky, but you cant see that when its being worn, so i didnt bother trying to fix it

[Lizzeh]

That looks great, Lou, big improvement! It's probably something I should do to my chest plate, especially seeing how it's so huge on me. I could go for a more Luke-sized chest plate.. maybee

 

edit: Jeez you've got me really wanting to do this now. I think my armour would look tons better. I did a quick photoshop..

 

Before:

 

Edited:

 

Looks like I'll be hacking up my armour a little

[PandaMan]

Do you have a pic of the hobby iron? And maybe give some tips on using it?

Thx in advance

[Billhag]

PandaMan said:

Do you have a pic of the hobby iron? And maybe give some tips on using it?

Thx in advance

 

Brian

Get ready to do your best Homer Simson impression

 

TIPS and HOWTO's (Tutorials)

HOWTO: ABS raw edge mod, how to turn a raw edge and give it a return

 

http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2313

 

It also as links to where you can find an hobby iron.

 

[darklordtripple9]

**** makes the chest look more original.

I'll be looking for this iron on ebay or at the hobby store.

Say isn't that iron used for applying the plastic onthe wings of an rc plane???

[stukatrooper]

wow now that looks so much better,hats off to you for having the balls to go for it.It makes me feel good to know that ive helped out a trooper with the raw edge tip

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

haha that looks great Lizzeh! do it do it do it! lol

 

**** makes the chest look more original.

I'll be looking for this iron on ebay or at the hobby store.

Say isn't that iron used for applying the plastic onthe wings of an rc plane???

 

Yup i got mine from e-bay, with the original intent of using it for this mod on the top edge of the thighs when i get my AP as i have short legs so will probably have to trim them down. But while i was waiting for it to arrive it dawned on me i could do this mod, rather than buy a different chest plate. I figured if i botched it up, id just go with my original idea of replacing the chest plate with a more accurate one.

 

Yessir, same iron used for applying the plastic on the wings of an RC plane

 

 

Stuka- Priceless info you posted, im sure ill be doing this again on something lol thanks a zillion for posting that up

[ThayNerd[TK]]

Great mod. Thanks for sharing.

[PandaMan]

Thanks, Billy for the link! I learn something new on FISD all the time. Gotta love that

Brian

[Stomper]

Lou, don't listen to these Troopers... you ruined your armor, send it to me!

[Daetrin[Admin]]

I have to say this is perhaps the best FX mod I've seen to date. Awesome!! The results make it look really good. Hmmm, now how to get the other 1000 FX TK's in the Legion to do the same ;p)

[Nootch]

alternatively offer to do the mod for people, thus earning a small fortune from the amount of troopers out there that will want it done.

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

I have to say this is perhaps the best FX mod I've seen to date. Awesome!! The results make it look really good. Hmmm, now how to get the other 1000 FX TK's in the Legion to do the same ;p)

 

Why thanks!

 

Once i saw the thread on the return edge, this was the firt thing that popped in my head! lol

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

 

Tony, ah, i think you may be right, it will be in the trash compactor tonight if you want it...

 

nootch....hm....dont give me ideas hahaha

[Double Dee]

Just wondering if a standard iron would work? Just put a terry cloth or like over the metal? All you need is constant heat and pressure. Might try with some of the extra ABS that came with the suit.

 

Quick question. Did you just bend up the ends? Or did you do a little in the middle as well? How much of the ends did you actually get rid off?

 

Good mod!

 

DD.

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

ya know i was thinking about the standard iron also, but it would be very hard to control and way bigger than youd need.

 

What i did was i cut off a little on each side/bottom edge. i drew a line with a china marker (grease pencil) to mark where it looked right to me and just cut those little bits off leaving a bit extra on there to make for the return edge. The middle is pretty much how it was, didnt touch that,its just the sides. Im not sure exactly what amount i cut as i just drew lines until it looked right to me. Id say it was around an inch on each side. thats guestimating