ANH Stunt Trooper Build For Short People. (You're killing me smalls)

[StephTrooper]

Hello. Newbie builder here...I'm more comfortable behind the sewing machine instead of the plastic...but here goes.

I'll post (to the best of my ability) my TK Stunt build here for anyone interested. 

 

Kit by: Walt's Trooper Factory / Stunt TK

 

I'm on the short side for a trooper (yes I've heard the joke)...5'4"

So I plan on making a lot of trimming mods. 

Here goes!

Edited August 20, 2017 by StephTrooper
add photos

[Steftroop]

Hello. Newbie builder here...I'm more comfortable behind the sewing machine instead of the plastic...but here goes.
I'll post (to the best of my ability) my TK Stunt build here for anyone interested. 
 
Kit by: Walt's Trooper Factory / Stunt TK
 
I'm on the short side for a trooper (yes I've heard the joke)...5'4"
So I plan on making a lot of trimming mods. 
Here goes!

Best of luck Steph.. there's plenty guys on here to point you in the right direction

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Congrats on your BBB day, Steph!  I haven't seen one of Walt's kits built for the "vertically challenged", but for a fantastic reference guide you should check out cricket's RS build:  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38416-crickets-rs-stunt-build-for-the-vertically-challenged/?tab=comments#comment-514228

Lots of photos and info., and it should be a big help.

I see you are in Florida, and if you haven't already I would sign up and introduce yourself on our site:  https://fl501st.com/

Lots of great folks down here, and you  may also find an Armor Party in your area.  This will give you the chance to meet some of the folks you will be trooping with in the future as well as the chance to ask questions and work on your kit.  

Hopefully you will be aiming for EIB (and then Centurion) level, which is easier to do right out of the box.  For more info. on those programs I have a thread here that may help:  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35371-eib-and-centurion-what-do-these-terms-mean/

Best of luck on your build, and if we can be of any help at all just ask!

[Btabc[TK]]

Congrats and welcome, Steph!!!  I too am on the shorter side so I've heard my coworkers say the same when they found out I'm going to be a stormtrooper as well.  But hey, it's still fun

 

good luck on your build, looking forward to seeing this!!!

[StephTrooper]

First cuts are the most difficult! Once I got the hang of it..wasn't too bad. 

 

Forearms with no lip...my skinny arm for sizing. I will need to trim more obviously. I will be cutting to spec first then taking sizing down to fit later.

 

Biceps before and after. I left a 1/4" lip on the edges.

 

cut and sanded with 120 grit for now. 

[shashachu[TK]]

Hey Steph! I'm 5' 3" and nearing finishing a WTF stunt kit. I haven't gotten it together to start a build thread here, but I've made a number of posts on the A Little Short for a Trooper Facebook group. I didn't have to do a ton of trimming for length (split the ab/cod, cut the first dimple off both forearms, cut the top of the ab and shortened the kidney, heat bent the shoulder tabs on the back to bring it higher) but I have had to do a ton of trimming for width. The forearms especially were a pain, but I think I could have left them bigger than I did; I was just worried about Popeye arms. The hardest part about them is that they have a back ridge that flares out and I had a really hard time getting them to fit back together once I'd trimmed them for width.

 

Here's a few pics for reference: http://imgur.com/a/j4z0x (The whole arm one shown is before I trimmed the forearm length, but it gives a good idea how much I trimmed for width.)

 

Otherwise, I took quite a bit of width off the ab and kidney, and have used the heat gun liberally on almost all parts of the armor: to bend the ab and kidney so they wrap around me better, shape the butt piece, bring in the width of the chest and back, etc. Zel and Fragarock have good tips about how to safely heat bend using the heat gun. Zel's tip especially about heating just up to the point the plastic loses its springiness was invaluable.

 

Anyway, feel free to reach out over PM or I'll keep an eye on your thread.

[Gwithian]

Hi Steph, good luck with the build, us vertically challenged troopers will soon be outnumbering the taller troopers and lets face it, we can get into those small places occupied by the Ewok.... unlike our taller comrades. I have found Christine's, aka Cricket's build thread an inspiration together with Frank's aka Fragarock's build thread.

 

My advice is trim a bit at a time, you can always cut more off later, it's hard to add it back if you trim too much.....

 

E6000 glue is a godsend , I've glued and unglued my greaves more times than I can remember and they still are not quite right..... patience is a virtue......

 

Oh.... regarding the heat gun.... practice on scrap abs ..... I've almost messed up a few bits..... doh

 

Good luck

Stephen

 

 

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