2x2's FX (probably) Stunt build

[Udermeister]

Here's a couple shots of how my FX was set up for the arms. Maybe try and raise the biceps a touch

 

*PICS*

 

Marc

 

There we go! Marc with the reference point! 

[2x2]

There we go! Marc with the reference point! 

 

I was going off of ukswrath's thread here http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31920-ukswraths-am-10-ata-bucket-build/page-5 in post 92 where he said the gap between the forearm and the bicep should be 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch

 

Mel

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Hi Mel. Fitment looks OK, providing there's elastic in there. It looks like the forearm and bicep may pinch when his arm is fully bent. If not, then leave it as is ( providing the bicep stays under the shoulder bell when in full movement ).

It could be the forearm needs a little trim, as there is very little gap when the arms straight.

You can't go wrong following Tonys threads, he's probably one of the most experienced out there!

 

Marc

Edited November 15, 2016 by CTID

[Ripper_L[Admin]]

Just wow.

You've been doing your homeworks.

Really, this is a huge list of stuff you want to change on that armor. Even if a lot of these changes are not necessary for membership or EIB.
To let you know, I commented everything in yellow that I would recommend to change (after wearing this armor for 4-5 years now I have some good & bad experiences).

 

 

Here's my checklist so far of what I want to mod on my kit:

 

1. Ab piece

 - Deciding whether or not I want to try and cut down the box areas so I can make my own and glue them on. I've got a home made vac table, but I'm not sure it's strong enough to pull abs plastic, though I've got tons of styrene... Would also need to try and create the indented area under the narrow 4 button panel on the bottom if I do
Maybe you can get the accurate ab-button-plates from somone who is building a sandtrooper? You could ask @ the MEPD for that. (they don't need them anyway)

 - Also thinking about using some bondo to fill in the area around the box to make it more ANH accurate, but that will require painting the entire kit...
You could also just partially paint it and weather the whole kit, so you can't see the color gradient. Maybe interested in making a slightly scuffed HWT?

 - At the very least, replace buttons and paint proper colours -> definitely necessary

 - Optional (?) Separate the Cod for ease of sitting and peeing (I'm told lol) It is less accurate but more comfortable (and definitely helps). Your decision ;D

 

2. Chest piece

 - Trim the bottom corners and create return edge

You can trim the whole chest piece on the bottom edge and afterwards create the return edge usind a household usual iron. (ask haui for a HOWTO - he's the master of armor ironing)

 - Are the 'pecks' a little low on this chest? wondering if it's possible to trim the top a bit to bring them up and redo the return edge - Anyone have any thoughts on this?

May help, but it's not necessary

 

3. Shoulder bells

- Trim, taper bottom edge slightly

 - create return edge

 - heat to narrow slightly

Definitely useful. I used a heat gun to get a better shape for the shoulder bells, but was still annoyed after years. Finally I replaced them.

 

4. Thighs

 - Trim notch at the top, trim proper shape at the back and try to get close to the right shape on the bottom. - The bottom shape is ok, especially on the right thigh it's covered by the knee belt anyway.

 - Butt join and cover strips (not necessary but more accurate)

 

5. Calves

 - Butt join and cover strips (not necessary but more accurate)

 - Wondering about using heat gun or hot water to shape to each leg better? I wouldn't change them at all. It's more important to fix them in position (using foam inside or a "stirrup")

 

6. Biceps

 - Butt join and cover strips (not necessary but more accurate)

 - Heat left inside and create thumb print easy fix

 - Return edges? - Have to double check, I think only one end gets one - only the bottom end is visible, so don't bother about the upper end

 

7. Forearms

 - Butt join and cover strips (not necessary but more accurate)

 - Wondering about shaping with heat gun to add curves - actually they are fine. They don't have a different number of bumps, but you can't change that easily...

 - Is there a return edge on the wrist end? - have to double check  No return edge at wrist

 

8. Hand backs

 - trim down and create return edge skip this step

 - mold and cast rubber versions eventually or just buy them here ;D

 

9. Back piece

 - Maybe bondo up the inside of the O to make it as wide as the ANH armour.. not sure I can do much to fix here, open to suggestions

this is too much effort for smth. not really necessary.

 

10. Kidney piece

- Cut from butt piece definitely do that

- create return edge helps a lot for the strapping afterwards

- heat gun to add curve to side depends on your body shape. I would be careful with the overuse of a heat gun.

- NEW: notches on the bottom corners easy fix

 

11. Butt

- Cut from Kidney piece

- Create return edge

see 10.

 

12: Belt

- Make canvas belt yes

 

13. Drop boxes

- make inside halves of boxes, vac form (probably styrene) If you're able to vac form, this should be easy for you - otherwise here is a HOWTO.

 

14. Mod my MRCE helmet, but that's for another post

 

Anything I'm missing?

15. get a new pipe for the thermal detonator

16. Make rivet covers for the belt (HOWTO)

 

17. Get some decent soft parts (Boots, Holster, Neckseal, Gloves)

 

18. Have Fun
 

 

In addition, here is the visual Checklist for EIB:


I've done my FX to EIB - if you want to have a look, here are the changes I made:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35336-changes-i-have-to-do-for-eib/
And here is my EIB application thread:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35681-tk-55550-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-fx-531/

 

If you have any quesions, don't hesitate to ask!

Best Regards,

 

Danny (TK-55550)

[2x2]

Just wow.

You've been doing your homeworks.

Really, this is a huge list of stuff you want to change on that armor. Even if a lot of these changes are not necessary for membership or EIB.

To let you know, I commented everything in yellow that I would recommend to change (after wearing this armor for 4-5 years now I have some good & bad experiences).

 

 

 

In addition, here is the visual Checklist for EIB:

 

I've done my FX to EIB - if you want to have a look, here are the changes I made:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35336-changes-i-have-to-do-for-eib/

And here is my EIB application thread:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35681-tk-55550-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-fx-531/

 

If you have any quesions, don't hesitate to ask!

Best Regards,

 

Danny (TK-55550)

 

Hey Danny! Thanks so much for all your comments! And that visual guide is awesome!

I will check out your build link for sure!

 

I have downgraded the project to some extent, as my husband (who I'm building the kit for) has decided that he probably isn't interested in trooping, but I'm still going to make it meet basic at the least, and maybe even EIB eventually, so will still be making most of the changes I'd planned on. But since he only wants it as a costume I figured I'd save myself a bit of the work. And I figure it's good practice for the day we buy more accurate armour, should that day come

So for this build, I decided I am just going to use the overlap joints, since they will still pass.

I am trimming the legs since I have to do that for them to fit him anyway, so trying to get the right look there, front and back.

I have cut the cod using Darth Voorhees' mod and added the tabs to keep it from going past the armour once it's elastic-ed in.

There is not enough room in the biceps to add the return edge without shimming them, so I won't have to do that.

Still want to do a return edge on the bells and shape them better, they just bug me. 

I LIKE the idea of going HWT and dirtying up the suit, I really like the weathered look and love the pauldrons. Would have to make one of the big guns I guess ;D

Not going to worry too much about changing the shape of things with heat gun - abs is a trickier beast than styrene I've discovered and I think it might be a lot more trouble than it's worth and could potentially end up messing things up, so I'm going to leave well enough alone. 

I trimmed the hand plates because they are MASSIVE, but I'm not at all happy with them, so I may just order some of the rubber/latex ones eventually.

Still need to cut the butt from the kidney plate. I need to read up on that a little more to make sure I do the cut in the right place.

Will have to look into a new pipe for the TD, didn't know about that.

Was planning to make some rivet covers for the belt, thanks for the reminder! I'm really annoyed that the belt I got was trimmed short >  so it's about .5 - .75 of an inch short on each end. Haven't decided what I'm going to do there... I may add some pieces to the end and fill the joint so it has the right length and look. I'm leaving that for now.

Soft bits will be a slow process. For now we've got the black body suit and some gloves of the same material. I know I have some black chemical gloves in the basement, just need to check and see if they will be suitable or not. I will likely make my own neck seal, since I'm handy with a sewing machine (and my own canvas belt). Looking for boots - is it acceptable to wear painted ones? We don't have a lot of money to spare on what will mostly just be a costume for the hubby, so I'm hunting through thrift stores for the right kind of boots. This will likely be the hardest part to get. Holster should be easy enough to make, if I have the leather lying around, will have to check on that.

I have a resin cast E11 blaster that I bought years and years ago as well, no idea what it's going to end up being like or if it'll even be suitable, but I'll worry about that after the suit build. 

 

Well, guess I'll stop talking your ear off now (LOL) and go check out your build! 

Thanks again!

Mel

 

[2x2]

Hi Mel. Fitment looks OK, providing there's elastic in there. It looks like the forearm and bicep may pinch when his arm is fully bent. If not, then leave it as is ( providing the bicep stays under the shoulder bell when in full movement ).

It could be the forearm needs a little trim, as there is very little gap when the arms straight.

You can't go wrong following Tonys threads, he's probably one of the most experienced out there!

 

Marc

Yep, using elastic between them. They  have had a minor trim, but I still need to mod the bells before I put them together, so have to wait on that. 

Yeah, it seemed Tony's threads were the go to threads, so I started reading them  

Thanks Marc!

Mel

[2x2]

Question to those who have built an FX suit before - The shins/calves, are they both the same? It seems that both of the outside pieces I have are left sided and both inside pieces are right sided, based on the overlapping edges that the left pieces have and the right pieces don't (at the back). Is this normal, or did I get two copies of the left leg? 

[Udermeister]

Question to those who have built an FX suit before - The shins/calves, are they both the same? It seems that both of the outside pieces I have are left sided and both inside pieces are right sided, based on the overlapping edges that the left pieces have and the right pieces don't (at the back). Is this normal, or did I get two copies of the left leg?

Hey Mel, it seems like you might be struggling with the same thing I did. These pieces are nearly identical, but if you step back and look at them they'll probably show you where they go.

 

Can you toss a couple photos up so we can check it out?

 

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Question to those who have built an FX suit before - The shins/calves, are they both the same? It seems that both of the outside pieces I have are left sided and both inside pieces are right sided, based on the overlapping edges that the left pieces have and the right pieces don't (at the back). Is this normal, or did I get two copies of the left leg?

You are spot on.

You get two left shins with that kit!

 

Marc

Edited November 17, 2016 by CTID

[Udermeister]

You are spot on.

You get two left shins with that kit!

 

Marc

 

I don't know if I agree with that necessarily, Marc. When I was going through my bits of the kit, I noticed I had 2 shin halves that had overlap edges on front and back, and 2 that had overlap edges only on the front. It took me about a month to realize I could swap one piece from each pair and I ended up getting a right and a left shin out of it. I don't know if that's actually how it was supposed to be, but I made it work.

 

Have a look at this photo: 

Calves:

 

 

If you look closely, it seems like these are the same as mine - 2 halves only have the overlap/return edge on the front and no edge on the back. It is a weird angle on the outer pieces though, so again I could be wrong...

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I don't know if I agree with that necessarily, Marc. When I was going through my bits of the kit, I noticed I had 2 shin halves that had overlap edges on front and back, and 2 that had overlap edges only on the front. It took me about a month to realize I could swap one piece from each pair and I ended up getting a right and a left shin out of it. I don't know if that's actually how it was supposed to be, but I made it work.

 

Have a look at this photo:

 

 

If you look closely, it seems like these are the same as mine - 2 halves only have the overlap/return edge on the front and no edge on the back. It is a weird angle on the outer pieces though, so again I could be wrong...

Here's my old FX legs (two lefties) which was the case with the FX kit as far as I'm aware.

 

 

Marc

[Udermeister]

Here's my old FX legs (two lefties) which was the case with the FX kit as far as I'm aware.

 

 

 

Marc

 

That's bizarre! I wonder if the JediRobe recast was corrected then, cause I'm certain my kit is FX, but I definitely have a right and a left shin. (Granted I knew none of this when I bought it from craigslist years ago, I was just a clueless noob with a dream!)

Edited November 17, 2016 by Udermeister

[Troopacoola[TK]]

That's bizarre! I wonder if the JediRobe recast was corrected then, cause I'm certain my kit is FX, but I definitely have a right and a left shin. (Granted I knew none of this when I bought it from craigslist years ago, I was just a clueless noob with a dream!)

Possibly, I don't know. Otherwise have had this kit for a fair few years so it make sense to make that fix if they're continuing to sell it

 

Marc

[2x2]

I do have two pieces with overlaps on the front and back and two pieces with overlaps on just the front - but if you follow the instructions in one of Tony's (I think) posts that said the outside piece overlaps the inside piece, this is impossible in the back of the right calf because there is no overlap on the back of the right outside piece, only the left side has it. Both are identical, but I was able to overlap correctly on the front, but both of them have to overlap left over right at the back, just like in Marc's pic above.

 

 

[Udermeister]

Wow, who knew? FX really boned it back in the day hahaha. Makes me really question what my kit is. I'll post up a pic of my shins when I get home from work today.

[2x2]

Wow, who knew? FX really boned it back in the day hahaha. Makes me really question what my kit is. I'll post up a pic of my shins when I get home from work today.

 

One extra overlap on the back edge would have made all the difference!

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I do have two pieces with overlaps on the front and back and two pieces with overlaps on just the front - but if you follow the instructions in one of Tony's (I think) posts that said the outside piece overlaps the inside piece, this is impossible in the back of the right calf because there is no overlap on the back of the right outside piece, only the left side has it. Both are identical, but I was able to overlap correctly on the front, but both of them have to overlap left over right at the back, just like in Marc's pic above.

 

Do you have any spare sheets of abs

Usually you get a couple with the kit and is sometimes labelled as the belt. If so it's a relatively easy fix. You could trim off both raised sections on the back of each shin. Then cut down the spare abs into cover strips. Glue one half of each cover strip to the outer side of each leg and Velcro the outside of the inner calf. Most kits don't have a raised edge on the rear of any calf sections. The cover strip needs to be 25mm in width for the rear on the calf. Make sure that the calf will fit, minus the raised bit BEFORE cutting!

Here's a pic of a calf from my current kit for refference. Hope this helps

 

 

 

By the way. I use the bra hook and elastic method so where you see the holes would be where you'd install Velcro

Edited November 17, 2016 by CTID

[2x2]

Do you have any spare sheets of abs

Usually you get a couple with the kit and is sometimes labelled as the belt. If so it's a relatively easy fix. You could trim off both raised sections on the back of each shin. Then cut down the spare abs into cover strips. Glue one half of each cover strip to the outer side of each leg and Velcro the outside of the inner calf. Most kits don't have a raised edge on the rear of any calf sections. The cover strip needs to be 25mm in width for the rear on the calf. Make sure that the calf will fit, minus the raised bit BEFORE cutting!

Here's a pic of a calf from my current kit for refference. Hope this helps

 

 

 

By the way. I use the bra hook and elastic method so where you see the holes would be where you'd install Velcro

 

I have a couple extra pieces, that were supposed to be for the belt I think, but we are going to have to shim this armour around the middle to fit my hubby without gaps, and because of that I don't think there's enough to do what your suggesting - I did consider it before I put them together, as my original plan had been to do that to all the pieces requiring cover strips, but considering the scope of the project has lessened due to my husband only wanting the suit as a costume and not for the 501st, I decided that I would just go with the basic overlap joints.  I am considering this my practice kit for the day - should it ever come - that we buy a more accurate kit

[Udermeister]

I have a couple extra pieces, that were supposed to be for the belt I think, but we are going to have to shim this armour around the middle to fit my hubby without gaps, and because of that I don't think there's enough to do what your suggesting - I did consider it before I put them together, as my original plan had been to do that to all the pieces requiring cover strips, but considering the scope of the project has lessened due to my husband only wanting the suit as a costume and not for the 501st, I decided that I would just go with the basic overlap joints.  I am considering this my practice kit for the day - should it ever come - that we buy a more accurate kit

 

That's exactly what I'm doing with my kit! Learning as I go, but also trying to keep everything in mind cause I do eventually want to submit for at least basic level. I'm kind of hoping my GML will allow basic even with my FX bucket if I make it clear that I know it needs to be replaced and I will ASAP.

[Troopacoola[TK]]

That's exactly what I'm doing with my kit! Learning as I go, but also trying to keep everything in mind cause I do eventually want to submit for at least basic level. I'm kind of hoping my GML will allow basic even with my FX bucket if I make it clear that I know it needs to be replaced and I will ASAP.

I could never get why they banned the FX lids.....until I bought my next set of armour. That's when I realised how big that lid is.

Here's a couple of shots comparing the two with my newer helmet on the left, and the FX lid on the right.

 

 

 

Marc

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I have a couple extra pieces, that were supposed to be for the belt I think, but we are going to have to shim this armour around the middle to fit my hubby without gaps, and because of that I don't think there's enough to do what your suggesting - I did consider it before I put them together, as my original plan had been to do that to all the pieces requiring cover strips, but considering the scope of the project has lessened due to my husband only wanting the suit as a costume and not for the 501st, I decided that I would just go with the basic overlap joints. I am considering this my practice kit for the day - should it ever come - that we buy a more accurate kit

If your not putting in for submission, then go with what you have. To be honest, the only people who will notice the two left shins are the purists. My son still looks great rocking my old FX kit and gets asked for photos all the time.

 

Marc

[Udermeister]

I could never get why they banned the FX lids.....until I bought my next set of armour. That's when I realised how big that lid is.

Here's a couple of shots comparing the two with my newer helmet on the left, and the FX lid on the right.

 

 

 

Marc

 

I've seen comparisons between FX and "real" lids before, but that is by far the best example. I've read things saying it's around 25% bigger, and I feel like it's probably closer to 35-35%. I never realized just how big this dumb thing is! I even got to play with one of the Anovos buckets a couple weeks ago and I was like "this doesn't seem that much smaller" but now I've seen the light. 

 

The only thing I have issue with is I've got a pretty large head at 24" circumference and I want to be able to get hovi speakers and junk, and it barely fits in my FX with my head inside...

 

EDIT: Just realized I'm kinda hijacking Mel's thread lol. Moving any conversation that doesn't have something to do with this thread to my own!

Edited November 17, 2016 by Udermeister

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I can't believe I've just gone and measured my own head! Hahaha.

By noggin is 22.5 inches and I still need foam padding and a chin strap. Yes getting the tech inside can be a challenge. I currently have my mic and wireless transmitter and two fans running of a USB power bank. I am intending to put a hearing assist kit in there too.

Here's a shot of the inside.

 

 

Marc

Edited November 17, 2016 by CTID

[2x2]

I've seen comparisons between FX and "real" lids before, but that is by far the best example. I've read things saying it's around 25% bigger, and I feel like it's probably closer to 35-35%. I never realized just how big this dumb thing is! I even got to play with one of the Anovos buckets a couple weeks ago and I was like "this doesn't seem that much smaller" but now I've seen the light. 

 

The only thing I have issue with is I've got a pretty large head at 24" circumference and I want to be able to get hovi speakers and junk, and it barely fits in my FX with my head inside...

 

EDIT: Just realized I'm kinda hijacking Mel's thread lol. Moving any conversation that doesn't have something to do with this thread to my own!

 

LOL, I don't mind!  It's still FX related, so it's all good !

[2x2]

If your not putting in for submission, then go with what you have. To be honest, the only people who will notice the two left shins are the purists. My son still looks great rocking my old FX kit and gets asked for photos all the time.

 

Marc

 

Yeah, that's what we're doing. I've already spent enough just getting stuff together to actually assemble the armour, I don't have the money right now to buy new parts