The Snake's Terrifying & Totally Amateur AM ANH Stunt Build

[The Snake[TK]]

So after hours (read: still not enough) research and connecting with some very helpful people from various Facebook groups (as well as some not-so-helpful people), I was turned onto Walt's kit.

 

The kit is now ordered and I'm currently awaiting my BBB. In the meantime, I'm doing some shopping, as well as a ton more research. Honestly, the research has kind of become my hobby lately. I will tell you right now that I am purely terrified. I'm extremely worried about accurately fitting and cutting, especially because I'm certain I will need to shim, at the very least, the sides and thighs (I have a wide/bulky frame). Reading through the blood & tears of others, as well as the large amount of incomplete build threads, terrifies me more everyday, and I'm hoping the trimming/sizing process is easier than my head is telling me so I can just get through it and have a nice completed, 501st-approvable suit of armor.

 

I will note that  I am not shooting for Centurion. Honestly, I'm probably too big to make it work anyway, plus I'm one of those jerks who prefers Empire-accurate rather than screen-accurate. With that being said, I will be skipping the bracket system in favor of a snap system, though I will, at some point, be adding the small screws/nuts to the armor to "simulate" the system. With the helmet, I was fortunate enough to have a very kind gentleman offer to construct it for me, and I plan on doing whatever I can to repay him in spades.

So I guess this is my build thread, and I'll keep it updated with photos as I go along. Honestly, my hope is that by documenting all of this, I can help some other poor sap who's trying to learn how to do this. There are far too many broken images and unanswered questions--it's time to change that!

Supplies List (Updated Regularly)

 

1. TK Kit (Walt's Trooper Factory)
2. Neck Seal (Steph's Imperial Outfitters)
3. Canvas Belt (Steph's Imperial Outfitters)
4. E-11 Kit (Doopydoos)
5. Undersuit (Target)
6. Boots (TKBoots.com)
7. Nomex Gloves (Amazon)
8. Rubber Centurion Gloves (Will be purchasing from Trooperbay)
9. Curved Lexan Scissors (Amazon)
10. Snap Setter (Amazon)
11. 100pk Tandy Line 24 Snaps (eBay)
12. Rivets (Graciously donated by Shashachu)
13. 1" Elastic (BLACK) (JoAnn's Fabrics)
14. 3" Elastic (BLACK) (Currently Shopping)
15. ¾" Elastic (WHITE) (Currently Shopping)
16. 2" Elastic (WHITE) (JoAnn's Fabrics)
17. ⅛" Elastic (WHITE) (Currently Shopping)
18. 1" Nylon Webbing (BLACK) (Currently Shopping)
19. E6000 (Target)
20. Plastic Clamps (Home Depot)
21. Rare Earth Magnets (Home Depot)
22. Painter's Tape (I already have a ton)
23. Metal Ruler (Got it!)

 

As you can see, I have a whole lotta shopping to do.  At the moment, I'm still kinda shopping around in between research.

 

But I did receive my boots & gloves today:

The boots are fantastic, and even came with some extra goodies. I'm really surprised; I wasn't really sure what to expect as I bought these in extreme haste (but with a trusted recommendation).

 

Waiting for the armor suuuuuucks

 

UPDATE: After some deliberation I have switched to an AM kit, which was offered to me at both a lower cost, better fit, and immediate availability. Sorry to anybody who was stoked to see a WTF thread-- but the AM kit will both be sooner and fit way better.

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by The Snake

[shashachu[TK]]

Awesome! Glad to see another WTF kit in the works. I'm the opposite of you - super small - but I love my WTF kit and got approved last month. Good luck with your build!

[Poseidon[501st]]

Looks like you are on the ball brother. Are you trying for EIB? I am still working on my first kit so I am not an expert, but it looks like your gloves would only work for level 1 cert. If that is what you are going for, then cheers.

 

Also, I got my plastic clamps and my rare earth magnets from Home Depot on the cheap, and you can never have enough magnets, trust me. Also put some masking tape on your list and a good flexible metal ruler. I think I use those two things the most during my build.

 

Looking forward to more updates.

Edited November 7, 2017 by RanchRelaxo
I'm dumb

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looking forward seeing you becoming a Stormtrooper and for cutting and sizing the "go-to-advise" which I´m sure you already picked up on during your research is "measure twice-cut once" and if you follow that you`ll see that it`s not as scary anymore..and..we are here to help, so the more pictures and questions you post the more advise we can offer

[shashachu[TK]]

Also, I won a set of rivets from justjoseph but didn't end up using them because I'd already purchased a set of them. I'd be happy to pass them on to you, no charge. I'd need to double check when I get home, but should be a set of split rivets as well as single cap rivets for the thigh ammo pack. 

 

And re the gloves, non rubber gloves are approveable for EIB. Only Centurion requires rubber gloves.

[The Snake[TK]]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement everyone!

 

I know about the rubber gloves-- I intend to, in the future, purchase the rubber glove/rubber hand guard combo from Trooperbay, but I'm for sure not really worried about Centurion right now. Maybe someday. Gotta jump this hurdle first

 

I have to say that I discovered ukswrath's build topic today--I cannot believe I missed it before (and it's PINNED so I have no excuse)-- but after reading it I'm seriously way more comfortable with the build. Wotta great topic!

 

Shashachu, that would be amazing. I would be so happy to receive those! I'll have to draw you a nice picture or something.

 

The wait continues! Hopefully it comes sooner than another armor vendor who estimated mid-2018

[shashachu[TK]]

Great! I'll PM you probably this weekend to get your address.

[The Snake[TK]]

Here's a GIF of me with my TK Boots while I wait for my kit:

 

 

Argh! Someone on Facebook is selling an Anovos kit for almost half what I paid, and with soft goods! I need to learn to be more patient.

[shashachu[TK]]

Hey! I saw that you're actually selling your WTF kit. Do you think you'll still need the rivets? I can also hold off sending them until you've gotten a kit. Let me know.

[The Snake[TK]]

11 hours ago, shashachu said:

Hey! I saw that you're actually selling your WTF kit. Do you think you'll still need the rivets? I can also hold off sending them until you've gotten a kit. Let me know.

I swapped out the WTF kit for an AM one, which will fit me better. It was also cheaper and readily available, so it will arrive on Thursday

[shashachu[TK]]

Cool, can you PM me your address? Will try to drop it in the mailbox tomorrow (it'll go out Monday.)

[The Snake[TK]]

BBB Day!

 

 

(This photo was taken by my girlfriend, who sent it to me before I got home to find the box)

 

Tried the armor pieces on last night, kinda (felt like I didn't know what I was doing).

 

The torso armor aaaaaalmost fits me perfectly---there's a small gap. So, I'll have to cut a small shim to close if off, but we'll see. For now, I don't even know where to start. I'm terrified of cutting anything.

 

In better news, my helmet is completed and has shipped to me. Here are some pics from the fine gentleman who did it for me:

 

 

I should have plenty of time to crack into the suit this weekend, since I won't be buying Battlefront 2 anymore

 

Will have more pics soon--I'm sure I'll need help!

[TheSwede[TK]]

Congratz on BBB-day and....regarding the gap, do you mean between kidney-ab? if so I would say don`t give up just yet, some tight strapping and undersuit can work wonders

 

[The Snake[TK]]

1 hour ago, jedha-trooper said:

Congratz on BBB-day and....regarding the gap, do you mean between kidney-ab? if so I would say don`t give up just yet, some tight strapping and undersuit can work wonders

 

 

Yup, the ab and kidney. Just a liiitle gap there. Though I have been losing weight rapidly lately (I've made a complete lifestyle change so I can get back down to my pre-girlfriend weight) so honestly it shouldn't be a problem in the near future. For now, tight strapping might work, maybe. But I may just do a shim, which shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Poseidon[501st]]

If you decide to shim, make sure you use the E6000, so its removable. I think you have some work ahead of you before you get that far.

[The Snake[TK]]

So I've got everything, kinda all over the place. I don't really know where to begin, so I'll start with the forearms. Now I've seen some conflicting info, and my kit is fairly different than others I've seen (previous AM kits seem to have some sort of overlap), so excuse my ignorance... is this the correct way to size/trim the forearms-- with the "inside" piece overlapping? The outside piece seems awful small to cut, so I figured I'd make sure.

Also: should I remove/reduce those return edges first?

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[magni[TK]]

Forearms are a good starting point. Your going to use the "butt joint" method for ANH/ESB and would use overlap for ROTJ. Butt joint simply is cutting both halves evenly half the width of coverstrip and "butting" together halves and covering with strip. Example your forarms would have a 15mm coverstrip so you would measure from the raised edge on armor 7.5mm and score and snap on that line. I would recommend a inside coverstrip. It adds a lot of strength. For the return edge you want to remove all at wrist end and the elbow end I remove inside arm return edge and leave a little on outside edge to maintain illusion of thichness. 

Good Luck and ask as many questions you need. Keep us posted with progress photos Future Trooper!

[The Snake[TK]]

Forearms are a good starting point. Your going to use the "butt joint" method for ANH/ESB and would use overlap for ROTJ. Butt joint simply is cutting both halves evenly half the width of coverstrip and "butting" together halves and covering with strip. Example your forarms would have a 15mm coverstrip so you would measure from the raised edge on armor 7.5mm and score and snap on that line. I would recommend a inside coverstrip. It adds a lot of strength. For the return edge you want to remove all at wrist end and the elbow end I remove inside arm return edge and leave a little on outside edge to maintain illusion of thichness. 
Good Luck and ask as many questions you need. Keep us posted with progress photos Future Trooper!

Thanks! Yes, I will be butting the parts. But they're very large and the overlapping is just for trimming purposes.

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[The Snake[TK]]

Pictured are the forearms pieces lined up evenly. Is it normal for there to be such a large overhang on the inner piece?

 

Also pictured: the overlap method I'll use to mark where excess material is to be cut, after fitting. Again, the uneven-ness. Does this look correct?

 

I realize these may be stupid questions, but I want to make 100% of everything before I bust out the scissors, and also give future AM Troopers the answers they may be seeking!

 

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[magni[TK]]

Your bottom picture looks good. Make sure you size things with undersuit on. It makes a difference. You can either line up elbow end and trim wrist to meet or leave even at wrist and let coverstrip cover uneven elbow end. You'll notice that many pcs. Don't line up exactly. It's part of the awesome wonkyness of a TK.

[The Snake[TK]]

So I plan to attempt the actual cutting tonight! I apologize if I'm taking this very slowly; I'm just trying to be super cautious, especially because as I mentioned, my kit doesn't perfectly resemble any other builds I've seen.

 

This is what I came up with after sizing. Don't worry about the return edges; I'll be sanding those. I drew a pencil line along the outer piece edge onto the inner piece and I plan to cut along that line. Final check, though: does that top need to be lined up better?

 

EDIT:

 

I realigned the right forearm and re-sized. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

 

 

The left one, not so sure. It's a very different--and odd shape, and I never really felt like I was fitting it correctly. It could be that it's very "oblong" and not round... You can see in the following photo how much the overlap comes off of the other piece. What do you think?

 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Yeey to first cut! Only downhill from now on No apologies needed, this is your build and one should take as much time as one needs  and like Randy said, the pieces don´t line up like you would expect, but no worries, it`s all about the overall look and the odly shaped left forearm won´t be noticable when you dawn the White Armor - awesome feeling by the way

however...some reshaping might be needed and the "hot water-bath" is the more common method, some use a heat gun although there´s a greater risk in warping the plastic - you`ve been warned 

[The Snake[TK]]

Well, I figured out why the left forearm never seemed to fit/look right. Take a look! The "ridged" left piece is considerably larger than the right one:



This causes the combined forearm to sort of arch vertically, whereas the right one has a nice round shape.



I have two choices as far as I can see: I can just size the left as normal and adjust it later, or try trimming some of it ahead of time. I'm not really sure what I want to do.

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[The Snake[TK]]

I decided to worry about the left forearm later, and instead finish up on the part I was confident was right. I struggled to bring myself to cut it at first: I was always douubting that I did it correctly. But then I thought: as long as it looks good when the cover strips go on, it will be fine. So I got to prepping by clamping my metal ruler along the pencil line I made.



Hey, what's that?



Then I ran a blade down the part, using the ruler as a guide. After a while, the plastic could be easily snapped. I put the two together and my fears were assuaged: it all lined up! I used the portions I cut off to make inner shims.



After that, I lightly sanded the shims and the areas to be glued with E6000. It was a little annoying to put together, as this glue isn't very sticky until it starts to dry. But some clamps, magnets, and a little tape later, and she's ready to sleep for 24 hours.



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[msouza[TK]]

Your off to a great start and like others have said no worries on how long its taken the only deadline you have is the one you've place on it. Keep doing exactly what your doing measuring 3 to 4 times then make sure your safe to cut then measure once more then take a deep breath & cut!! As far as them being a bit annoying to put together try gluing the inner cover strip to one half to create a shelf for the opposite half to rest on.