Ensi's FOTK Build (Jimmiroquai) [PICTURE HEAVY]

[Ensi[TK]]

Fired off some approval photos last night!! Late at night so had to make due with indoor lighting which wasn't the best. Luckily TK-50501 knows what he is doing so they came out aight! Here are a few of the ones sent:

 

 

 

 

 

[JAFO[TK]]

Nailed it! I expect to see you reporting for duty VERY soon!

[trond1138]

On 20.8.2017 at 4:15 AM, Ensi said:

WHEW! WHAT A RIDE!

 

Well I am happy to say that I am now finished with my kit:

 

 

Here are some test fit pictures, what do you think? Would be lovely to get feedback from fresh eyes. Planning to take approval photos tomorrow so any improvements/faults you notice are very much appreciated! There are 6 things that come to mind before I take the photos:

 

1. Belt is off-centre, need to rotate it

2. Thighs and knees need to come up

3. Forearms to be rotated (thanks, Darren!)

4. Right spat down to show shin pill/decal

5. Shoulders sitting a bit low, maybe add padding

6. Knee plates are not secure enough, add elastic string around knee

 

 

 

[Ensi[TK]]

And i'm approved!!! Wooo! Big dream come true, just waiting for my TKID now! Had to fix poking yoke and askew cod, no biggie!

Edited August 22, 2017 by Ensi

[JonnieBear]

Dude, good job on the armor. Looks Fantastic and grats on approval. Now I have a question. From a scale of one to in a galaxy far far away, how hard was the entire process? I hear a lot of people say its challenging and I have no experience doing anything like this.

[Ensi[TK]]

16 minutes ago, JonnieBear said:

Dude, good job on the armor. Looks Fantastic and grats on approval. Now I have a question. From a scale of one to in a galaxy far far away, how hard was the entire process? I hear a lot of people say its challenging and I have no experience doing anything like this.

 

Thanks! This was my first ever costume too and I had no experience in prop making, so I can't compare it to anything. Personal rating from 1-10 would be maybe 5 or 6. It just takes a lot of research and time (also a bit of money..). Jim's kit is really easy to work with as you don't have to glue and trim 500000000000 parts like on the ABS kits.

 

I had to do quite a bit of trimming because I wanted the armor to fit me well, and i'm kinda skinny. Jim's armor is a bit more "heavy friendly".

 

Don't get me wrong, it is challenging, but there are so many great resources and build threads here so if you are a bit handy it should be no problem. As it wasn't for me!

Edited August 22, 2017 by Ensi

[JAFO[TK]]

CONGRATS!!!! Nice, quick approval process! Your effort deserved a fast response.

Welcome to the 501st


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[Ensi[TK]]

TK-61514 reporting for duty!

 

This has definitely been a journey, I went from not having any experience in costume making to assembling and getting a TFA Stormtrooper 501st approved! I must say this is a big dream come true for me as i've wanted to join for the longest time.

 

I want to thank the great people in my garrison and the people here on FISD, you know who you are!

 

Even though I am approved this thread is not finished, I will update it later with mods done to the armor after I get to use it a bit. Already done some slight modifications to it.

 

On 8/22/2017 at 10:41 PM, JAFO said:

CONGRATS!!!! Nice, quick approval process! Your effort deserved a fast response.

Welcome to the 501st


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Thanks man! Was just finishing work for the day when I got the message about the fixes, drove home and jumped straight into the armor haha.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Ensi

[JonnieBear]

Woot WOot!! grats on the approval. I am jelly now LOL i cant wait to get mine and get approved. All tips will be much appreciated.

[Ensi[TK]]

5 minutes ago, JonnieBear said:

Woot WOot!! grats on the approval. I am jelly now LOL i cant wait to get mine and get approved. All tips will be much appreciated.

 

Get used to sandpaper 

[Ghollum[TK]]

Hey Daniel. Daniel here..just got my kit so am at the very start. Hope mine looks half as good as yours. Great work and a great thread

[Shanester[TK]]

Congratulations! Such a great build. 

[Pyrates[TK]]

Holy fudge Daniel - beautiful work on this build thread and great details mate


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[Ensi[TK]]

On 8/25/2017 at 4:46 PM, Ghollum said:

Hey Daniel. Daniel here..just got my kit so am at the very start. Hope mine looks half as good as yours. Great work and a great thread

 

Good luck! It might seem daunting at first but you just gotta work at it, hope my build thread is of help 

 

On 8/25/2017 at 5:15 PM, Shanester said:

Congratulations! Such a great build. 

 

Thanks mate!

 

9 hours ago, Pyrates said:

Holy fudge Daniel - beautiful work on this build thread and great details mate


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Thanks!

 

Ok so i've participated in my first troop and the single-stage paint just got absolutely wrecked in some places. Since the paint has cured I need to sand the paint lightly, apply some more color coats, then clear coat everything... Guess i'm not done yet..

[JAFO[TK]]

 
Thanks!
 
Ok so i've participated in my first troop and the single-stage paint just got absolutely wrecked in some places. Since the paint has cured I need to sand the paint lightly, apply some more color coats, then clear coat everything... Guess i'm not done yet..

Never I've had to do touch-ups post every troop.


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I've been lucky with paint scratches, used an automotive acrylic paint and clear coat which matched the helmet perfectly and I think in 2 years I've had to touch up 3 chips/scratches.

 

[Ghollum[TK]]

Hi Daniel
Where did you get the snaps.? Gonna make a start next week. Thanks
Daniel


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[Ensi[TK]]

29 minutes ago, Ghollum said:

Hi Daniel
Where did you get the snaps.? Gonna make a start next week. Thanks
Daniel


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That's awesome dude, are you gonna start a build thread? 

 

My snaps are from a store in Oslo that sells fabric, sewing machine supplies and the likes (Sømsenteret). I used Prym brand snaps, model "Sport & Camping":

 

 

Also used the snap setting pliers they have, makes the entire process a breeze:

 

 

Maybe you can get them in Ireland too? Doesn't really matter which types you use as long as they are high quality "heavy duty" ones.

[Ghollum[TK]]

Cheers Daniel. Dunno about thread. Will post what I can whe n possible..will go shopping. Thanks again dude.


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[Ensi[TK]]

So one mod I knew I needed to do was the kneeplates, pretty common and pretty easy to do. Elastic string around it to keep the kneeplates in place and keep them from falling off.

 

 

These are just hairbands stapled to a piece of nylon webbing, which is glued to the kneeplates with 60sec. Also smothered some glue on the band/staple itself.

 

 

One thing I experienced from my first troop was that single-stage paint (= no clearcoat) is NOT durable. At least not the one I used:

 

 

During a break I noticed it and it kept me from trooping more on my first troop.. Poodoo happens but hey there's always another troop!

 

 

My solution for this is to clearcoat the entire armor for durability and add a buttload of padding... And I thought I was done with spray paint and sandpaper...

 

Current method goes like this:

 

1. Wetsand with 800 grit to promote paint adhesion on the cured paint.
2. Put on 2 color coats to make up for the paint removed during sanding, and also to provide a chemical bond for the clearcoat to adhere to. As in I wait 30 mins-2hours before I put the clear on. Before it completely cures.
3. Put on 4 layers of clearcoat, making sure to cover every area and also inspecting for dust/lint/hairs before each coat. A tack cloth is really nice for this (for my Scandinavian people, here is where I got mine). It is a tacky cloth designed exactly for this purpose, which picks up dust/lint/whatever.
4. Let the clearcoat cure for 24-48hours.

You should end up with something like this:

 

 

 

See that it looks like the skin of an orange? That's orange peel. Caused by using rattlecans, bad technique, used under non-optimal conditions, etc. Many variables.

 

As I do some car detailing in my spare time I already had the tools to "fix" this. The goal being flattening the clearcoat as much as I can for better shine. This is what I did:

 

Wetsand the paint with 1000-1500 grit, not yet exactly established the perfect grit here for my paintjob. This is to level out the texture, you should end up with a dull finish like this, make sure everything looks uniformly dull, this is the most important step. It is also the most dangerous step as you can sand through the clear and into the color coat which i've done a few times already.. 

 

 

Then wetsand with 2500-3000 grit to level out the 1000-1500 scratches. And finally, knock down the 2500-3000 scratches with polishing compound and a polishing pad. This is my first result:

 

 

 

Still a lot of sanding marks but soooo much better, just need to experiment on this a bit. 

 

If you're interested in how paint and clearcoat go together to create gloss, watch this video from the 06:10 to 07:02 mark, it's for cars but it applies to armor as well. The orange peel is not a flat surface, so I flattened it to get more shine, makes sense? Just remember that all these steps are abrasive and will remove clearcoat (this is how polishing works), be careful 

 

 

And I still haven't gotten my blaster... Sigh 

 

Also did the elastic string mod to my big belt box.

 

Edited September 2, 2017 by Ensi

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I used Velcro on the knee plates just made it a little easier to adjust them.

 

Single stage paint ok but definitely need the clear coat, I find it a lot stronger and easy to buff and compound scratches. I also added some foam in places on the armor that I knew would rub over time, the one side sticky foam worked well for this and has saved a lot of paint.

 

Nice work

[Ensi[TK]]

59 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

I used Velcro on the knee plates just made it a little easier to adjust them.

 

Single stage paint ok but definitely need the clear coat, I find it a lot stronger and easy to buff and compound scratches. I also added some foam in places on the armor that I knew would rub over time, the one side sticky foam worked well for this and has saved a lot of paint.

 

Nice work

 

Right now I have velcro on the knee plates too, but added the string for extra security.

 

Where did you add the foam? I'm thinking of adding it around the entire upper torso (chest + yoke) as the ab seems to get a lot of beating from it. Also maybe under the shoulder bells.

[JAFO[TK]]

The knee plate mod is essential - as you've discovered. Velcro alone is not suitable on this kit and you end up with Phasma knees

You'll find the addition of the elastic just keeps them oriented and, well, on!!!


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Never had an issue with Velcro myself

 

The sticky back foam I find at a local hardware store, they use it for window/door seals. You could always use a soft foam and apply with E6000 too.

[JAFO[TK]]

The sticky back foam I find at a local hardware store, they use it for window/door seals.

Daniel ... this is draft excluder. You'll recall I used the rubber version under my pauldron for protection


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