Btabc's Stormtrooper build

[Btabc[TK]]

Good job buddy... slow and steady wins the race lol

 

I'll keep an eye out on this build. You have a lot of support on this forum.

Thanks, David!

 

I always enjoy watching a build come together

As do I!  

 

Glad we could do lunch yesterday for some motivational talk and working out some fit and trim details.

 

Wait, I think I can see the weekend from here.  Do I hear progress?

You were a HUGE help yesterday!  I was stumped on a few things, but thanks to you and showing me photos, I was able to see exactly what it was that I was aiming for!  I tried the left thigh just in case again this morning and the adjustments that I made are amazing and I can actually "move"... going to be trimming the back of the knees out!  So far, my 3 stage process is almost complete

Stage 1: Cut out and fit the parts (Finishing Helmet last)

 

Stage 2: Glue and snaps (followed with/by photos for approval)

   -2A - Entry Level Approval

   -2B - EIB Approval

   -2C - Centurion Approval

 

Stage 3: Troop!

Edited June 4, 2017 by Btabc

[wingnut65[Staff]]

Glad I could be of help.  Troopers Helping Troopers is how the Empire works!

 

Step 2A: Submit Pix.

 

I'd hold on cutting the back of the knees until the whole thing is together.  Then, you can see how much, if any is.

 

Edit: 

 

The boots affect the fit of the shins. Shins affect the fit of the thighs and strapping affects everything!

 

Besides, how can you appreciate not having armor bites if you won't even give it an opportunity??

Edited June 2, 2017 by wingnut65

[Btabc[TK]]

Glad I could be of help. Troopers Helping Troopers is how the Empire works!

 

Step 2A: Submit Pix.

 

I'd hold on cutting the back of the knees until the whole thing is together. Then, you can see how much, if any is.

 

Edit:

 

The boots affect the fit of the shins. Shins affect the fit of the thighs and strapping affects everything!

 

Besides, how can you appreciate not having armor bites if you won't even give it an opportunity??

LOL I'm going to have to edit my list now and have "Initial Approval, EIB, and Centurion" added as sub-levels to #2!!!!

 

As for the shins I will be sure to hold off on that, but for the backs of the knees it's for the thighs, I do not have much movement at all with the thighs as they currently are. Now, with the shins, I do not see too many problems with those

Edited June 3, 2017 by Btabc

[Btabc[TK]]

Ok so after a few days of continuous work (shout out to Jeff) I was able to get a LOT of things completed!!!!!!  Here are some images:

 

 

First, I took off a few returns on the thighs (I have bigger leg muscles...) and was able to reduce the amount of space in the back by almost a third of a inch and tried the thigh piece on again with the ab/cod plate:

 

So after this I decided to start gluing the back strip on.  I've decided to start gluing the pieces that are Centurion level approved 

Yes there is still a "gap" in the middle, but I've got a smaller shim already started so I can fix this!!!

 

After this I decided to start in on the biceps since I (again with HUGE thanks to Jeff) was able to see this up close and what needed to be trimmed off:

Yes there is also a little bit of a larger gap on the sides, but this can be fixed by adjusting the the top portion of the bicep so it fits a little closer!

 

I decided to test this out with the shoulder bell and ran it past another trooper...... ...... and he liked the result.  I'm agreeing:

It doesn't look too bad!!!!  I still see a little bit of the return on the bottom of the bicep... I am going to be fixing that piece!

 

So after leaving this taped up I decided to go and fix the forearms.  I trimmed the returns off and fitted them while wearing my undersuit (I Scuba Dive and a dive skin was already handy!  So I thought that this might be another alternative) and finally found the edges that needed to be trimmed.  I cut them off and held them together, working on one side at a time:

This turned out a lot better than I expected and after getting to this point... I was COMPLETELY excited to get more done... however in my garage I was seeing where the temp was around 96 so needless to say I had to call it quits or be forced to call the paramedic troopers for immediate assistance (although I hear they're really nice...)!  

 

 

The next day (Friday and Saturday):

I spray painted a few of the plastic guns I got:

 

And started to "weather" one of them as a tester (also painted the barrel more to get rid of the white under paint):

I'm liking the way this looks so far!  Still have to weather the other gun... but I love doing things with my hands and art is one of my hobbies!

 

Next I started working on some back strips:

Made the sad mistake of NOT measuring the width of what I had to work with and wound up making this WAY too wide... (I blame it on the heat.......) but hey, I fixed this later on.

 

So of course I had to glue this thing down... I carried it around the house with me a little while doing work... got a little sidetracked lol:

 

 

I waited a full 24 hours and removed the clamps to see what I had... needless to say that I had to do a bit more shaving on the side to get it to flare from the hand opening to the elbow:

 

 

and turned it over and started again on the other side while starting in on the second forearm piece:

*This is organized chaos*

 

Now on a side note I've been starting to gather the things required for EIB and Centurion so I ordered some black chemical gloves from Wally World... and they got here on Friday!!!!!

 

This is what I've got so far!!!! Until Next Time (soon for certain haha)...

Edited June 4, 2017 by Btabc

[wingnut65[Staff]]

Nice work, Bryce.  It is always better to mess up by cutting something oversize, instead of making it too small.

 

For the back of the thighs, if that is all the gap you have, you have absolutely no issues.  Trim the inner reinforcing strip tapered to have at least 1/2" coverage on both sides, or just make it wider the full length. Then, keep the outside cover strip the normal size and install it centered over the joint to cover the opening.  I'd add a small filler piece across the top to fill in the open gap.

 

Something like this:

Edited June 6, 2019 by wingnut65
photo link update

[Btabc[TK]]

Nice work, Bryce.  It is always better to mess up by cutting something oversize, instead of making it too small.

 

For the back of the thighs, if that is all the gap you have, you have absolutely no issues.  Trim the inner reinforcing strip tapered to have at least 1/2" coverage on both sides, or just make it wider the full length. Then, keep the outside cover strip the normal size and install it centered over the joint to cover the opening.  I'd add a small filler piece across the top to fill in the open gap.

 

Something like this:

Thank you for the suggestion, Jeff!  I'll be following this to help me complete my thigh piece

 

 

 

 

 

Update on my forearms:

 

Found some old scrap wood as well as a wooden yard steak:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/25-Pack-36-in-Wood-Landscape-Stakes/3388082

 

 

And:

 

 

 

And once it finished (and unwrapped) I was left with the following result:

 

it's getting closer to completion!!!!

Edited June 8, 2017 by Btabc

[Btabc[TK]]

Ok so here's another group of photos of my progress so far!

 

My gloves arrived so of course, before gluing on the cover strips, I have to try/size them to make sure everything fits perfectly!

 

Underside:

Surprisingly enough it's nice and snug... I was thinking these would have to take a little dip in the lobster bath!

 

Then I started in on measuring the cover strips for the biceps and forearms (minus one bicep... still have to finish that one):

I liked the placement of these so I glued them down, but ran into a SLIGHT problem... having the two forearms and starting in on the cover strips I was left with no more clamps so I went out and bought another small bag for $14 and was able to work on the bicep as well: 

 

I kept noticing that the pieces of wood would slip slightly so I used the tap to hold them in place while I got the clamps on and replaced the blue tape with Gorilla Tape (Thank you, Jeff  ).  

 

After everything dried I noticed that a lot of the E6000 started to seep out the edges of the bicep so I started rubbing it off, however it kept peeling off in pieces:

 

so I used another piece of scrap plastic and got all of it off like a razor blade... without the worry of scratching/scoring it:

 

After everything was finished I was left with the following results:

 

It's also been brought to my attention that the left piece needs to have more of a rounded inside edge (around the 1 o'clock range) to help alleviate any stress that might build and possibly crack, so that's my next job

[Infinite]

I'm slowly working on an AP kit as well. Following! Thanks for the great info!

[Btabc[TK]]

I'm slowly working on an AP kit as well. Following! Thanks for the great info!

No worries, Shawn!  Hope this thread at least guides/points in the right direction!  If you ever have questions ANYONE on the forums can help as well

This is a great thread as well, have met with the thread OP and he's the one who sealed the deal with me becoming a 501st member:

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/33175-an-ata-for-tampa-bay/

Great thread as well with LOTS of explanations, needless to say it's helped me a lot as well!

[Btabc[TK]]

Okey dokey!!!!!  I'm back with yet ANOTHER big update, so I'll do these in sections and more condensed:

 

Thighs:

This is what I had before:

I was a little proud of them AT FIRST, but then after talking to a few people I was told that what I had was COMPLETELY wrong... and it was... VERY wrong!!!  Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the cover strips before... but they weren't the prettiest thing out there... that AND one of the ridge lines was flaring outwards towards the bottom.  So I had to pry the cover strip off (using a box cutter and slowly going along the inside edge and lifting up on the cover strip) and thin that down to reapply.   I then did the same thing to take off one of the edges... I was expecting it to be SO MUCH worse than what it actually was (This is an example):

 

 

E6000... GREAT stuff!

 

Here is the second.. or was it the third time I had to deal with this thigh?  Either way, when I had everything clamped down I don't know what happened, but the darn thing slipped AGAIN (cover strip on here is just to show how warped it is...)!!!!

 

 

 

So I had to shave the cover strip down to a inch AND readjust the left thigh SEVERAL TIMES (I will not post pictures of that process... I LITERALLY wanted to throw my hands up saying "that's it... I can't take this anymore!", but with a little pep talk from Jeff... I was back in the game.  He did tell me that there would be a few tough times... I didn't know it'd be like this!?!?!?!

 

 LOL Anywho, upwards and onwards... or would this progress be from head to toe making it the opposite direction.....? *shrugs* Onwards it is!

 

So after adjusting and READJUSTING multiple times I was FINALLY able to get the thighs I liked, used Gorilla Duct Tape (heavy duty kind) and then clamped down the cover strip as well and I checked in on it every few hours to make sure it was setting properly.  This left thigh was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NEEDY I felt like I should have probably given it a name!

 

 

And so after readjustment I had nice lines and was left with something that I thought looked nice!

 

 

Have I given a shout out to @wingnut65 Jeff, yet?  Haha he's been a HUGE help with this process!  I will admit that I have SLIGHTLY bigger thighs than average people so this was a little stressful on me not having them "close to perfect".  I also still think it deals with the "nothing on a stormtrooper is symmetrical and there ARE imperfections (I draw... A LOT and I like having things balanced out so I was told to overcome my "OCD" when building a stormtrooper).  And boy was he right haha!  So after a week of working on this SAME THIGH and the shins I was FINALLY able to get the "OK" for what I had... of course there was STILL a problem, but this one was a easy fix.  The cover strip stops at the knee:

 

The bottom band on the knee, the cover strip does NOT extend all the way down the thigh, it stops RIGHT above that molded band!  These have been fixed/remedied and I've gotten a "OK"!  Now onto the shins!

 

Shins:

These were a little tougher for me as well... since I have thicker calves (which I do not call calves, but instead "COWS".  I do a lot of bike riding and lived in a hilly area so they were built up a little more than usual) again I had questions and LOADS of concerns... thanks again for the pep talk Jeff!  

 

So after this I did a dry test fit and tapped everything together with blue painters tape.  *NOTE for this and the THIGHS I would SERIOUSLY recommend having a family member or a VERY CLOSE friend help fit...*  If not... you'll have to do refitting over and over again.  Luckily I had a family member that was able to come and at least TELL me if everything looked "right".  Of course after I got the shins off I was able to see exactly what they were looking at and made adjustments from there.  (And yes... I got my TK Boots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

 

I glued the inside backing strip on and then tied the two halves together, making sure I had PLENTY of weight on the halves (which I placed upside down) to make sure both sides had weight to them to make full contact on the backing strip (did same thing with the cover strip), but this is the backing strip glued and cured:

 

 

I then proceeded on the back cover strip:

 

This was where I bought TWO different kinds of velcro and wondered which to use.  I bought clear 10 pound plastic wet or dry velcro (from Lowes) as well as 3 pound white old fashioned (teeth and fuzzy side) velcro.  I tried both out separately and found that once I got the 10 pound on and snapped in place...... I could not get it off lol.  I ALMOST called the fire department to bring the jaws of life to cut it off, but settled for pulling the shin piece off and having a family member (thank goodness for these people) literally use a small, flat, hard object (in this case a imperial knife) and literally but the two halves of the Velcro apart.  *I WOULD SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND AGAINST USING THE 10 POUND VELCRO!!!!!!!*  However I keep hearing everyone say "heavy duty Velcro" so I assumed that's what everyone meant lol.  

 

With everything finished, and cover strip trimmed/sanded:

 

 

Now with the "fun" part..... sniper knee

I have heard a lot of people talk about AP and the sniper knee nightmare.  And it is real!!!  I took my heat gun and applied SMALL BURSTS of heat to help "form" this and get it as close as possible to the shape of the shin.  Sides did match up, but the only thing I had a problem with was the front not wanting to stay down... no thanks to my cows of legs, but I was able to get things in place:

 

 

 

 

Again it was bugging me that this was SLIGHTLY tilted to the side, but after looking at NUMEROUS reference photos, and reading a lot of threads, this is a common issue and normal?!?!  So I glued everything down and let it sit over night!  I might even let this site for a FULL day in a half because I hated it so much.  

 

So next thing I'm working on is the bucket.  This shouldn't give me a head ache... SHOULDN'T right?!  haha

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by Btabc
forgot image....

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good

[wingnut65[Staff]]

Great progress, Bryce!  

 

I am more than willing to offer suggestions and helpful advice to those that ask. I'm glad you came up to me at LibCon and asked so many questions. Soon, we will be trooping together! 

 

For the shin velcro, the secret to separating it is to start at one end and work your finger all the way down. Trying from the middle will be very tough. Don't change it out until you troop in it. I think you will appreciate the heavy duty velcro. 

 

After a couple more texts about the thighs, I'll say it one more time...  Put the thighs down! Back away slowly! Move on to the bucket and straps!

 

Fitting of all the puzzle pieces will be done when wearing the under armor and with all the strapping done. Moving snap plates,  lengthening elastic and straps and any necessary trimming, will be done later. Move along, Trooper! 

Edited July 21, 2017 by wingnut65

[troopermaster]

On ‎02‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 3:09 PM, Btabc said:

 

 

You really should get that knee plate flat against the shin. It not only looks bad but it will dig into your knee.

Edited July 20, 2017 by troopermaster

[ukswrath[Staff]]

He does have a good point. Test fit your armor to see how it feels

[Shanester[TK]]

Your armor is coming along nicely.  Keep up the good work!

[Btabc[TK]]

Just a quick update:

I have started creating the snaps, snap plates and snap bridges.  I have the kidney and posterior joined along with the chest and ab.  Next is to combine the two while also adding the snaps to the cod and posterior.... I have the print out of the CRL and what needs to be where haha.  I'm excited because I'm nearly at the end!!!!!!!  

 

 

 

Also.... I have finished the helmet except for the frown and painting that.

 

 

The only things I need to finish are the TD, Belt and Thigh Ammo Pack, and shoulder straps!  (besides the strapping together of limbs, I'm nearly there!)

 

Still need to add photos lol

 

 

On 7/20/2017 at 3:41 PM, wingnut65 said:

Great progress, Bryce!  

 

I am more than willing to offer suggestions and helpful advice to those that ask. I'm glad you came up to me at LibCon and asked so many questions. Soon, we will be trooping together! 

 

For the shin velcro, the secret to separating it is to start at one end and work your finger all the way down. Trying from the middle will be very tough. Don't change it out until you troop in it. I think you will appreciate the heavy duty velcro. 

 

After a couple more texts about the thighs, I'll say it one more time...  Put the thighs down! Back away slowly! Move on to the bucket and straps!

 

Fitting of all the puzzle pieces will be done when wearing the under armor and with all the strapping done. Moving snap plates,  lengthening elastic and straps and any necessary trimming, will be done later. Move along, Trooper! 

 

Thank you for the pep talks!  They're greatly appreciated and the humor keeps me laughing from almost pulling out my hair from the confusion!

 

On 7/20/2017 at 5:22 PM, troopermaster said:

You really should get that knee plate flat against the shin. It not only looks bad but it will dig into your knee.

 

I'm looking into this.  I tried it on and it sits flush against my knee so I'll look at moving the top half forwards, while still keeping the trim lined up.

 

On 7/20/2017 at 5:26 PM, ukswrath said:

He does have a good point. Test fit your armor to see how it feels

 

I've already begun to do just this!

[Btabc[TK]]

Ok so after a LOOOOOONG while and... not many photos.... I have FINALLY come to a stopping point.  

 

 

I have reached the "end" of the building phase and fitting phase!  I have one more piece to check on when I get home, the shoulder straps.  I glued them on last night, but before I did I took well appreciated advice from @wingnut65 and layered the inside of the shoulder straps.  I used a little ABS scrap plastic to glue to the inside, but that melted and did not look good so I thought I was going to have to clean the bantha stalls because of all the "colorful" words I was going to say.  HOWEVER luckily before I said anything... I was hit with a great idea.  Literally, the idea hit me in the head from the cabinet from above.  A item fell out that I will NEVER be without: "JB Waterweld".  If you haven't tried this stuff... do.  It's mainly used for boats and other marine stuff so it's waterproof, but at the same time it fills the gaps in the shoulder straps and keeps everything from HOPEFULLY cracking as fast.  It adheres to the plastic and does not melt it (I tried it on a scrap piece just in case lol).  It's a epoxy putty in a tube, but be sure to get a little water on your fingers as you knead it.  

 

I have also been able to get the sniper knee plate FLAT on the shin and it's doing a great job of staying out of my knee, but I'll add a little foam to push it out further.  I WILL BE uploading photos soon... at the moment I have been preoccupied with family matters and such, but now that things are settling down (knocks on wood) I can do them .  I might have to do them in series, but I can and will get to them  

 

I hate being "shorter" though lol, gotta love family heritage!!!!

[Btabc[TK]]

Ok so I've submitted my basic approval photos and I'm waiting for the "OK" to be deployed... it's a nail biting experience and I can't wait to hear the words that I'm good to go lol.  *fingers crossed*

[Btabc[TK]]

denied basic approval.... time to go back and have another go

[Hiroshi Mitsuhashi[TK]]

Cool

[Btabc[TK]]

Still waiting on "official" response on if my corrections are ok or not

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Good luck, hope everything works out this time. Don't get down, sometimes it's just a matter of adjustments, I'm sure you'll receive approval soon.

[Btabc[TK]]

4 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Good luck, hope everything works out this time. Don't get down, sometimes it's just a matter of adjustments, I'm sure you'll receive approval soon.

Thank you, my friend!  

Edited September 18, 2017 by Btabc

[Btabc[TK]]

So made my initial adjustments and sent the pic to my GML... got  so that means I glue everything on and resubmit my photos!!!!  FINALLY I'm almost there!

Fingers crossed this doesn't take too long on my end now lol!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Almost there Bryce