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

[Mworm1974[TK]]

Hi Stephen,<br><br>

It's looks like it's all coming along well, I'm a bit behind and haven't started a build thread yet. I did start the forearms and biceps but I wanted to ask did you remove the return edge on the bicep completely or did you leave 3mm?. <br><br>

I removed all return edges on the forearms except a small edge on the outer piece with the dimples to give the armour a thicker look I think it's acceptable for EIB and centurion? The other thing I did was mark up the inner piece swoop I followed the same instructions Yu did so I hope it works.<br><br>

Matt

[Gwithian]

Hi Stephen,<br><br>

It's looks like it's all coming along well, I'm a bit behind and haven't started a build thread yet. I did start the forearms and biceps but I wanted to ask did you remove the return edge on the bicep completely or did you leave 3mm?. <br><br>

I removed all return edges on the forearms except a small edge on the outer piece with the dimples to give the armour a thicker look I think it's acceptable for EIB and centurion? The other thing I did was mark up the inner piece swoop I followed the same instructions Yu did so I hope it works.<br><br>

Matt

Hi Matt, I left the 3mm return edge on the biceps and the top of the forearm, apart from where the scoop is cut out, there should be no return edge at the wrist end of the forearm and that's required for centurion . I need to cut out a bit more for the scoop in the left forearm, but it's best to do it a bit at a time, it's much easier to cut more off than add it back.

 

I have done a bit more over the past few days but not posted as my mum got admitted to hospital last Friday and we have spent most of our time there, so only had the odd half an hour here and there and thought it would be better to post in one go.

 

 

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[Mworm1974[TK]]

I am sorry to hear that about your mum I hope that she is ok.<br><br>

Matt

[Gwithian]

Thanks Matt, she is back home now, she had a heart attack, they have changed her medication, she is too old and frail for an operation, so we are going around three times a day to do things for her. Hopefully I can get back to working on my armour soon

 

 

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[68Brick[TK]]

Armour can wait. Take care of the fam.

[Gwithian]

Armour can wait. Take care of the fam.

Thanks, I really appreciate your post ... and yes it can wait, you are right

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Been working on and off over the past week, mum has been in hospital, thankfully she is home now and getting better by the day.

 

As I say progress has been slow, I've done the front cover strips on the left hand side forearm and bicep and started to trim the right forearm

 

Here's some pics

 

 

 

Starting the right forearm

 

 

It needed a lot of trimming

 

 

 

 

 

The left arm with front cover strips, I think I used too much glue

 

 

So I scored firm the cover trim with my stanly knife and scraped the excess glue off with a bit of spare ABS

 

 

Finished

 

 

 

Need to re-tweak the right forearm, this is how far I got

 

 

 

 

And the two together

 

 

Getting there bit by bit

 

 

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[Mworm1974[TK]]

That's good to hear, my dad recently had a stroke and I'm in the same boat the armour can wait.<br><br>

I did want to pass some information onto you about the hooks that RS supply with the armour, one of the guys here got a commission set and said that the hooks get caught on his under garments so he is replacing the hooks with Velcro. I'm 50/50 on the hooks but if the Velcro is better although not truly movie accurate I'm going to go with the Velcro. Apparently if we do the hooks straight up,the rear 20mm cover strip will still work with Velcro after removing the hooks.<br><br>

Maybe someone else has a better option or opinion on this ?<br><br><br>

Hope this helps and talk soon<br><br>

Matt

[MrSnrub[501st]]

hey matt, the hooks are a fine method, never had them catch on my undersuit before, but i have on my cotton socks, easy to avoid. if you get a commission from RS and the hooks aren't a great fit, it would be no problem to pull them out and put them back in at an appropriate place.

[Gwithian]

Like you Matt, I'm in two minds re the hooks, purely because they look difficult to fasten. Christine aka Cricket has used magnets to fasten the greaves , her thread is worth a read, I'm thinking if going down that route. Regarding Velcro , I'm not that keen on the stuff , I've had to replace too many motorcycle boots because over time the Velcro stopped holding, the hook bits were fine but the soft bit it hooks into just became a fuzzy mess

 

My mum had a stroke back in 2008, it really is amazing how people can recover from these, I hope your dad is ok

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Ok I've done a bit more work on the right forearm, glued an inner cover strip on

 

 

Sanded the cover strip

 

 

And the inside to help the glue stick

 

 

Put the glue on the cover stick and then spread it out with abut if spare abs

 

 

Fitted the cover strip

 

 

Added some magnets and clamps to hold it in place

 

 

Now onto the shoulder bells, looking at Franks thread I have measured 12 inches up and 5 inches from the side of the raised piece, I have taped the line, does this look ok

 

 

 

 

Also got left and right from franks thread, again is this correct

 

 

I'm thinking it is from this screen shot I got from Frank

 

 

Thanks , your thread and Christine's thread are proving very helpful

 

 

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[68Brick[TK]]

Hi Stephen, Have you mocked up your full arm (shoulder bell, bicep, and forearm) on your body yet? I'm only asking because you are planning on cutting your shoulder bell. Double check that it all looks good before making the cut. I suggest kitting up as much as you can to ensure the sizing looks appropriate.

Edited May 10, 2017 by 68Brick

[Gwithian]

Thanks, will do

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Today I've trimmed the right bicep and fitted one of the inner cover strips

 

 

 

Ive also tweaked the scoop on the forearms , only took pics of the left one

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought I had best complete these before I move onto the shoulder bells

 

 

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[Gwithian]

Today I've tweaked the return edge on the left forearm where the rear cover strip fits, it wasn't quite aligned

 

 

Used the heat gun and a pair of pliers , I copied cranks trick and covered them in tape so as to stop them marking the ABS

 

 

Looks ok now

 

 

Tidy up with the dremel and bobs your uncle

 

 

Fitted an inner cover strip on the right bicep

 

 

Removed the rear inner cover strip on the right forearm, re-sized it a bit and glued a new one in, the E6000 glue is very forgiving for us novices

 

 

Tidied up the rear joint on the left forearm

 

 

Cut an outer cover strip, I held it in place with a small clamp so as to get the right length

 

 

Length sorted I cut the corners at 45 degrees

 

 

Just placed it on the forearm with clamps, not too sure it looks right, I think I messed up cutting the rear of this as it doesn't look square to me, what do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gwithian]

As Oliver Hardy would say "Hum..... that's another fine mess you have got me into"

 

Well actually that's me talking to myself, I've messed the right forearm up, I was focused on getting the fit right, trimming a bit here and there ....

 

 

 

Glued the inner cover strip and the following day I suddenly realised it looked like this

 

 

I have done all the trimming from the back piece.... doh

 

So I need to cut it down and do a new return edge,

 

 

Out comes the heat gun

 

 

The glue on the rear cover strip melted in places or it just wasn't stuck that well so I removed it

 

 

Tried to get it to fit a bit better with the heat gun and discovered abs is more brittle after it's been heated, I only cracked the front of the forearm, thankfully bits only a 5mm crack and will be hidden by the cover strip, so I glued a new inner strip to the damaged side, and applied abs paste to the crack

 

 

This is the worst bit of it

 

 

Anyway this is what it will look like when stuck back together

 

 

I know I've messed this up, it actually fits really well now but I'm not sure given what I've done if it would pass clearance.... worst case scenario I buy a new right forearm .

 

Anyway on a brighter note I fitted the rear outer cover strip to the left forearm,

 

 

My fluffy blue and yellow magnets stuck to the glue... doh

 

 

Still it will clean off .....

 

So I've had quite an interesting couple of days .... it's amazing what you learn from your mistakes ... who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks

 

 

 

 

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Edited May 17, 2017 by Gwithian

[fragarock[TK]]

As Oliver Hardy would say "Hum..... that's another fine mess you have got me into"

 

Well actually that's me talking to myself, I've messed the right forearm up, I was focused on getting the fit right, trimming a bit here and there ....

 

 

 

Glued the inner cover strip and the following day I suddenly realised it looked like this

 

 

I have done all the trimming from the back piece.... doh

 

So I need to cut it down and do a new return edge,

 

 

Out comes the heat gun

 

 

The glue on the rear cover strip melted in places or it just wasn't stuck that well so I removed it

 

 

Tried to get it to fit a bit better with the heat gun and discovered abs is more brittle after it's been heated, I only cracked the front of the forearm, thankfully bits only a 5mm crack and will be hidden by the cover strip, so I glued a new inner strip to the damaged side, and applied abs paste to the crack

 

 

This is the worst bit of it

 

 

Anyway this is what it will look like when stuck back together

 

 

I know I've messed this up, it actually fits really well now but I'm not sure given what I've done if it would pass clearance.... worst case scenario I buy a new right forearm .

 

Anyway on a brighter note I fitted the rear outer cover strip to the left forearm,

 

 

My fluffy blue and yellow magnets stuck to the glue... doh

 

 

Still it will clean off .....

 

So I've had quite an interesting couple of days .... it's amazing what you learn from your mistakes ... who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks

 

 

 

 

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Don't sweat the mistakes. Everyone has something they botched and at least yours is in a mostly concealed spot.

 

When I started off, I used the heat gun a lot but looking back, I would recommend using a sealing iron if you have one. After just a couple tries at making return edges I really got the hang of it and found it easier to control.

 

The heat gun will help on larger pieces or those with weird shapes like the chest piece or belt or ammo knee ammo pack where you just can't get the sealing iron into the crevices.

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

I've been there many times with things like this, Stephen.  Nice recovery!  Glad to see that you were able to repair it.  "Learning experiences" like this will help you become a more skilled armor-builder.  Keep up the good work.  

[Gwithian]

Thanks for the encouragement Frank and Christine , we all live and learn, I don't have a heat sealing iron but I do have an old iron we used for clothes , would that be ok?

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

The heat sealing iron is good because it is small and light. I suppose that you could use a regular iron, but your wrist/arm might get tired pretty quickly.

[Gwithian]

Well today has been better I glued the inner rear cover strip to the right forearm

 

 

Made the outer cover strips

 

 

Did the return edge on the right biceps, top, front and back, used the heat gun again, tried the iron on spare ABS and whilst it softened it some of the plastic actually melted onto the iron, don't know if I had it on too hot

 

Drew a rough line where I wanted the return edge

 

 

 

Heated the ABS for ten seconds at a time

 

 

Bent it bit by bit

 

 

Then trimmed and used the dremel to shape the edge

 

 

All it needs now is it's outer cover strip. I know what I've done will be hidden under the shoulder bell but I thought I had best do the return edge rather than just cut the excess off .... so a tiny progress today from a little trooper

 

 

 

 

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[Cricket[TK]]

Tiny progress is progress!  

Yeah, sounds like your iron was too hot.  Try using the lowest setting on your iron with a piece of scrap ABS and see where that takes you.  My heat sealing iron has a non-stick coating on it, so that also may be a factor if your iron doesn't have that coating on it.

 

[Gwithian]

Tiny progress is progress!

 

Yeah, sounds like your iron was too hot. Try using the lowest setting on your iron with a piece of scrap ABS and see where that takes you. My heat sealing iron has a non-stick coating on it, so that also may be a factor if your iron doesn't have that coating on it.

 

 

Will try it on a lower setting thanks

 

 

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[Mworm1974[TK]]

Hi Stephen,<br><br>

I just purchased a sealing iron from a hobby shop that is used to tighten the skin on RC aircraft bodies. I tried the heat gun and it was too hard to control without having a variable temperature setting. <br><br>

Matt

[Gwithian]

Ok I've been quiet lately, we had a few days in Cornwall , anyway before we went I glued the cover strip on the right forearm

 

 

Today I've trimmed and fitted the outer cover strips to the biceps

 

 

And cleaned the excess glue from the outer cover strips on the forearms and gave them a polish

 

 

 

 

 

They fit really well and I'm quite chuffed with the result, especially given my, well, slight mistake earlier

 

 

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