Stephen's RS ANH stunt build WIP (for small people)

[Cricket[TK]]

Your control plate looks better!  Just make sure it's centered between the brackets (it looks like it's a little too far to the left, but since it's not glued and all, I'm guessing that you weren't aiming for perfection yet!).  

 

Agreed on the brackets curving.  Mine were straight like yours as well.  I wasn't able to get that curve on the brackets until I put it on my belt while kitted up.  I kind of pushed it in and bent it a little to adjust it, and voila!  Mine has the curve like in your reference pic now.  So I wouldn't stress too much about the bracket curvature at this point.  You'll get there soon!

 

Also I've been doing more trimming of the body pieces, sorry no pics, but I stool it together with duct tape and it seems to be fitting quite well for a small person. How do I work out how much I need to cut down the kidney and chest pieces? They seem to fit fine, but how do I know if the cod and butt pieces are too low?
 

 

 Proportions are important when scaling down this kit.  Everything needs to be resized in relation to other pieces.  Take your time with this.  Start with the ab/chest pieces.  Examine just that relationship.  How do they sit on you?  Does the chest overlap the ab too much?  Does the chest look too large in relation to the rest of your frame?  How are things around your neck?  Along the sides?  Study screen grabs of ANH TKs and see where each piece sits in relation to the other pieces.  

 

For me, I wanted the ab buttons to show like a normal-sized TK (no major chest overlap as is what happens to many short troopers).  That was my goal, so I focused on that.  Remember that for all TKs, the ab buttons stay in pretty much the same place no matter what size you are, so it's a good starting point for the torso.

 

The ab plate was almost completely covering my chest, so I realized that I needed to start with that and remove some of the top of it for comfort.  Once I got that done, I placed the chest plate over the ab in the position I was happy with.  In order for the ab buttons to show like I wanted them to, I saw that I needed to move the chest up.  I decided to remove and rebuild the bottom of the chest with enough space to allow brackets to be installed.  Once that was done, the neck needed trimming.  I always kept the ridge details on the chest proportionally centered as I trimmed.  Then I realized that the shoulder straps on the chest were almost overlapping between the chest and back.  So I cut into the chest on the sides and at the shoulder areas, essentially reducing the size of the chest overall and rebuilding new shoulder areas.  I studied ANH TK pics of the sides of the armor to get an idea of where the chest piece should end in relation to the kidney/ab edges.

Once I was happy with the chest/ab, I discovered that the cod was sitting too low.  I estimated how much space there was between the cod and my... uh... girly bits... and then used that measurement to slice the cod at the ab and bring it up.  I also had to trim along the edges of the cod, thus shrinking it from all sides.  

 

Aaaand once you've got the front assembled to your size, trimming the kidney/back/butt to the right size becomes a lot clearer.  The front and back halves of the armor fit together like a puzzle.  If the back pieces aren't sized down correctly, it won't fit properly with the correctly sized front.  Hope that makes sense.

 

Another method is to blue tape your kit together from the inside as if brackets were installed.  Put it on, and you'll get a pretty good idea at that point of what needs to be fixed.  

 

Long answer, but hoping to give you some ideas for how to proceed.  Other people may do this differently than I did.  Sorry if I rambled a bit!  

Edited March 29, 2017 by Cricket

[Gwithian]

That's fantastic, thanks Christine

Edited March 29, 2017 by Gwithian

[Mworm1974[TK]]

My TD is exactly the same and I was thinking the same thing,I'm going to wait as Christine says and finish the belt first before bending it. <br><br>

I have started the forearms and it's nerve racking making the first cut. I have looked at your pictures and the kits are exactly the same. If I see any issues when I'm on a certain piece I will let you know but I'm going to be slower than you.<br><br>

Matthew

[Gwithian]

Thanks Matthew

 

Ok this is not a good selfie lol, I duct taped the ab, kidney and butt plates together

 

 

 

 

 

Then I taped the back and chest piece together and popped it over my head

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to check if there was any overlap on the back plate.

 

A one more... the chest plate is cutting into my neck a bit

 

 

Thoughts appreciated, this is only a rough tape together at the moment, I still think I need to refine the return edges around the neck, ab and cod and also the ones that hold the brackets , the latter are half an inch at the moment, the rest 3to 5mm

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Two suggestions:

1. Try on your armor with your undersuit on when fitting.  It will fit you very differently with the black stuff on!

 

2. I highly recommend taping the kit together from inside, not the outside.  It simulates how your kit will eventually be assembled better.  Or you can do what I did:  throw caution to the wind and just install the flippin' brackets (even if that means you will need to remove and rebuild returns later).  You're gonna end up installing and removing them a gazillion times when you're making adjustments, so you may just as well get comfortable doing that now.  

 

Looks like you will need to give the ab plate more of a curve to fit around your waist.  Wiser troopers than myself have told me that the belt should be there more as 'decoration', not as a structural piece to pull in the plastic.  Don't make any trims to the sides of the ab until you get your curve right.

And the kidney looks a little tall to me.  But I can't really tell until you've got pics with the undersuit on.  

Those purple rims are killing me.     Damn!

[Gwithian]

Thanks Christine, will do

 

Those purple rims are Yamaha racing blue

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Well I've been busy doing other things since I last posted so not much progress to report. I did get some cool lenses from Clive at the Imperial Supply Depot plus some really good TD brackets , well chuffed with them and the quality is top notch

 

 

 

So today I've fitted the lenses to my lid

 

 

 

 

And the TD brackets to erm..... well the TD

 

 

 

I think that's much better and ready to glue now (hopefully)

 

Oh and I also picked up some size 7 gloves today, I got them from Sainsbury's and they fit really well

 

 

 

I've enjoyed doing this bit today , hopefully I will get more done over Easter

 

 

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[TK73511]

Lovely job trooper

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Looks good! Congrats on finding gloves that fit. Smaller sized rubber gloves are often a challenge to spot in the wild!

[TK73511]

You should of said I stock all sizes.

 

 

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[Gwithian]

You should of said I stock all sizes.

 

 

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Sorry Clive , I never thought , but it's good to know for the future

 

 

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[Mworm1974[TK]]

Hi Stephen,<br><br>

I started with the forearms but I must say after seeing your helmet build I'm going start it this weekend it looks awesome. I do have a question that I hope you can answer, when you got your kit did you get pre cut strips of ABS or a large sheet and one small sheet. I got the one large and one small sheet. From what I've read on the FISD all I need is 8x 20mm for legs (shins and thighs) and 8x 15mm for the arms ( forearms and biceps), I emailed RS last week just to make sure but I haven't heard back yet. <br><br>

Also with the legs how did you find out what are the left and right sides. <br><br>

I haven't started a build thread on the FISD yet as I am still looking at Christine's and yours and I'm picking up heaps of good tips. <br><br>

I did get my E6000 the other day in the mail as it's really hard to get here in Australia as I not 100% comfortable using zap a gap yet.<br><br>

Did you take off the funny lip on the TD control panel before glueing it down.<br><br>

Matt

[fragarock[TK]]

Hi Stephen,<br><br>

I started with the forearms but I must say after seeing your helmet build I'm going start it this weekend it looks awesome. I do have a question that I hope you can answer, when you got your kit did you get pre cut strips of ABS or a large sheet and one small sheet. I got the one large and one small sheet. From what I've read on the FISD all I need is 8x 20mm for legs (shins and thighs) and 8x 15mm for the arms ( forearms and biceps), I emailed RS last week just to make sure but I haven't heard back yet. <br><br>

Also with the legs how did you find out what are the left and right sides. <br><br>

I haven't started a build thread on the FISD yet as I am still looking at Christine's and yours and I'm picking up heaps of good tips. <br><br>

I did get my E6000 the other day in the mail as it's really hard to get here in Australia as I not 100% comfortable using zap a gap yet.<br><br>

Did you take off the funny lip on the TD control panel before glueing it down.<br><br>

Matt

Hi,

 

Having just finished my RS build I can tell you that the ABS sheets that RS sent with your kit will be enough to do your outer cover strips. I have about half a sheet left over. I did buy a generic ABS sheet for my inner cover strips.

 

The right and left shins are identical so don't worry about mixing them up.

 

Good luck on the build. Fun times ahead.

 

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[Gwithian]

Hi Matt, like you and Frank, I too got the large and small sheets for the cover strips, I did get some more from RS as I asked them for it when I collected my kit. I'm not too sure on the size of the cover strips , I know I've asked the question and it's been answered so I need to look at my build thread on here and the UKG.

 

I must admit I am / was worried about building the armour, but Ross at RS told me that the lid is the most difficult part to do, I do hope he is right.

 

One thing for sure, when you start your build thread there are loads of people who provide advice and encouragement, which is just what we need. Like you I found Christine's aka Crickets build thread and franks aka Fragarock very helpful indeed.

 

Good luck with the construction of your TK

 

Stephen

 

 

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Edited April 11, 2017 by Gwithian

[Gwithian]

Well today I've fitted the a seal to the lid, I've put the joint at the front, is that ok or should it be at the back?

 

 

 

 

I did it like Clive / Ross said and cut it bigger so it fits snug. Can I glue down the bits if the trim that are bulging on the inside?

 

Also finished the TD. Well I still need to paint the screws, but it looks miles better with the brackets from the Imperial Supply Depot. I've not glued the end caps on as they are fairly tight fitting , is that Ok?

 

 

 

 

Then I've removed the hand armour from the gloves and glued them to the medium gloves I got the other day

 

 

Oh and I messed the right ear bottom screw hole up

 

 

I'm going to glue a bit if abs to the back of it and fill it with abs paste, at the moment the hole is actually bigger than the screw head.... I think I went a bit mad tightening it up and the screw or screwdriver made the hole too big.... doh ... anyway this is the bit if abs to fit behind the hole

 

 

Oh and I did retry on the body armour, the chest piece isn't in the right place and the butt and kidney pieces need bending in , also I think the butt needs some more trimming ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gwithian]

I'm also thinking of cutting the neck half an inch lower, together with the shoulder straps and back piece, thought this may help to raise the chest pice a bit to make it fit better with the ab section.....

 

Drawn a rough line on, am not cutting it yet. I want to have another try on first.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Well today, the gloves are completed .

 

 

 

I put a bit of abs around the bottom of the lid where the tubes meet the hovi mic, to add a bit of strength, then added some abs paste for good measure

 

 

 

Started to trim the biceps armour, have made the return edge 3mm , are they looking ok? This is the left bicep

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did a rough cut with the scissors and then finished it off with the dremel.

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Well today I've trimmed the left bicep and I think I've got it right, can a left bicep be right? Anyway here are some pics

 

 

 

 

 

I think it will need a hot water bath to get it round

 

Then I trimmed the forearm piece, I've got the right width I think but I'm not too sure how much I need to reduce the length

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and I made my first cover strip, well cut it ... yep small things amuse tiny minds lol

 

 

As always, thoughts appreciated

 

 

 

 

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[TK73511]

Looks good to me.

 

 

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[fragarock[TK]]

Hi Stephen,

 

Nice to see you getting into the armor part of the build. Wise to start with the left forearms as they're relatively simple, small and easy-ish to trim. Your front side ridge where the cover strip goes looks good. This should be about 15mm wide. If you plan on building to the Centurion standards you'll want to cut away the return edges at the wrist on both pieces of the forearm.

 

Looking at the photo where your arm is down at your side, the length of the piece looks a smidge long. I'm just worried at that length you won't be able to bend your arm 90 degrees or more without the wrist end digging into your hand. Now, if you remove the return edges at the wrist that will help. But you'll have to decide what works best for you and how much movement you really have. Maybe try on your gloves and see your range of motion. If everything seems okay, leave the length and if you decide later on to trim a little off the end it will be easy.

 

Also keep in mind you want about 12-13 mm of space between your body (with your undersuit on) and the inside of your armor all around. It looks like you could reduce the diameter of the forearm down at the wrist area a bit. If so, it would help give the piece a nicer taper that follows the shape of your arm and look less boxy. If you do decide to do this, cut the wedge out of the back side of the pieces. See page 1 of my build for reference.

 

Overall nice progress. The right forearm can be a bit trickier. I'm curious to see if your pieces fit together as oddly as mine did. Keep up the good work.

[Gwithian]

Thanks for the advice Frank, I've been reading your build thread and followed your instructions on the biceps and forearm. I will remove the return edge as I do need to do this for centurion level. I am also thinking of cutting out the scoop on the inside like you did as the straight edge does limit my movement. <br><br>

My cover strip is 15mm and again I followed your instructions on how to mark that out. <br><br>

Trying on with gloves, good idea, why didn't I think of that and I will also look at making the wrist narrower .<br><br>

Once again thanks, you and Christine are an inspiration .<br><br>

Oh I will let you know how my right arm looks, the inside is a lot longer than the outside <br><br>

[Gwithian]

Well this morning I decided to go for a bit of a run.... and thought I could become a biker scout .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nah.... I'd rather be a TK

 

Anyway I have tweaked the forearm

 

 

I cut among the above line to shorten it a bit

 

 

 

I think it needs the inside top scooping out

 

Then I retried the armour, I've re-trimmed the return edges to give more room

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I treated the butt and kidney to a hot water bath, it's amazing how pliable the ABS comes after a few seconds in boiling water. It took quite a few attempts to get it right.... slowly slowly catch the monkey.... as they say

 

 

 

The return edges did buckle a bit

 

So a bit more hot water and buckles flattened

 

 

Another quick retry

 

 

 

 

 

The but still wasn't quite right do it had another bath, I'm pleased with the final result , unfortunately I didn't take a pic... doh

 

Anyway all in all a good days work me thinks

 

 

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Today I've glued my first inner cover strip, I cut some 15mm strips for the forearm and biceps, fitted one inner strip on the forearm and re-tweaked the forearm a bit. Ive cut a curve on the inner right forearm like Frank did, I measures 1.5 inches, 1 inch and half an inch in.

 

 

I cut the half inch line first

 

 

But it needed a bit more, so I cut the inch line, that seems fine so I left it line that until both inner cover strips are on, then if it needs tweaking I can cut abut more off

 

Making the cover strips, I took pandatroopers advice and did half a dozen light scores on the ABS and then it bent/ twisted off perfectly

 

 

 

Then glued the inner cover strip, I sanded both the inside of the forearm and the cover strip to help the glue to hold

 

 

 

 

Oh and a pic of the one inch cut out

 

 

 

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Edited April 24, 2017 by Gwithian

[Gwithian]

Oh and also did the inner cover strip on the bicep

 

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Looking good there, Stephen!  Nice progress so far.

I trimmed out some extra of the scoop area of the inner forearm as well.  It made the forearms much more comfortable.