Wook's First Build - ANH Stunt TK (AP)

[wook1138[TK]]

In June I decided to pull the trigger on my first set of TK armor.  I knew that the 501st existed, but that was about the extent of my knowledge.  I knew if I was going to build stormtrooper armor, that I wanted to do it right.  So I thought I would do some research and see what I was getting into.  I found the FISD site and started to read - nausea and fear were my initial responses to seeing the amount of info and detail that goes into building a TK to 501 standards.  But then I remembered that nothing worth doing is going to be easy.  And more importantly, once the kids are in bed and I have a hour or two to myself, I need something to do other than sit in front of the TV and drink Guinness.  That, and the amazing resources and on this site along with the enthusiastic members of the FISD convinced me that this is totally doable. 

 

So here is my first build - and following the advice of many, I'm going to aim for Centurion.  I've done some home renovations and know that doing it right the first time is easier than going in later and upgrading.

 

Anyway, BBB day finally came.  I ended up getting a set from Authentic Props.  I originally ordered a set from Anovos and eventually cancelled (I won't go into that rant - but I will say if you are new and looking to buy your first set of armor - my advice is to avoid ANOVOS). 

 

Well, on a happier note...

 

Yes!!!

 

Everything was well packed and in good shape.  Thanks, Mark!  I ordered the trimmed kit with accessory package (belt, holster, gloves, latex hand guards, and TD clips).  His kit includes all the parts needed for the helmet (green lens, screws, brow, trim (regular, not S-trim), decals, frown mesh).  He also includes all the split rivets and a few snaps as required for approval.

 

Everything is here!

 

Parts for the TD and other bits.

TD screws (painted black already), hovi mics, and assorted rivets, screws, and snaps.

 

Anyway, gotta go Christmas shopping for the kids.  Black Friday - yuck.

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by wook1138
typo

[Triple D[TK]]

Congrats on your arrival of the BBB. Good Luck!

[TheSwede[TK]]

Happy BBB-day! Another TK AND Centurion in the making - be all you can be Trooper -  

[jethroskull[501st]]

Nice! I’ll be following closely and taking notes for my own AP build.

[68Brick[TK]]

Congrats on BBB day. You'll be happy with your AP armour!

[wook1138[TK]]

Quick question:

Does this cover strip look wide enough?  Thanks.

 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looks like it but could you post a pic "from above" or straight on for that matter?

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, TheSwede said:

Looks like it but could you post a pic "from above" or straight on for that matter?

It is kind of hard to tell with the way the light is hitting it.

[wook1138[TK]]

For my obligatory list of parts, supplies and tools I've gathered together:

• As I mentioned the armor, helmet, canvas belt, holster, TD clip, and latex hand guards (and gloves) all come from Authentic Props.  Marks's kits are pretty inclusive.
• I picked up darker lenses, more frown mesh, S-trim, stencils for the helmet (I plan to paint everything vs decals), and gloves (again) from Trooperbay.  I also bought a pair of gloves from Home Depot - all three pairs are exactly the same - they are Gorilla Grip nitrile gloves.
• Boots are from TKBoots.  I also bought a pair from Amazon - I ordered them without realizing that there is a big ol' seam running along the toe.  They will be a back-up pair.
• I have two sets of black under suit - both are are Duofold Thermal underwear.  One is light weight and one is heavy - because Canada is often cold.
• E-11 is a 3D print from Blaster Master.  My build for that is here: 
• I also built a DLT-19 from a 3D kit (from TK421 PropStop)
• The neck seal is from Geeky Pink (FISD name - Soulart) (Canada post still has this one.  EDIT: it arrived and it is perfect)
• I got extra split rivets and the rivets for the ammo pack from Justjoseph63.

 for some reason my collection of REE magnets (from Lee Valley) are in the pic too.  I picked up 10 3/4" magnets and 30 (I think) 1/2" magnets.

 

The pic below is of some of the tools and supplies.  I had some rivets, post screws, pop rivets (1/8" x 1/4" with 1/8" washers) and pop rivet gun from previous costuming (I haven't done much, but I have done it).  I'm not sure how to attach the canvas belt but I'm leaning towards pop rivets.  I picked up 60 line 24 snaps (5/16" post - nickel) and snap set tool from Tandy - there was a sale so I bought them out.  I plan to use the double snap system when I get to the point of putting it all together.  I have a collection of sand paper and files left over from my blaster builds.  Of course I have the bin o' clamps as it seems you can't have enough of these things.

 

I've ordered all my nylon strapping, elastic, sew in snaps, and Velcro from Amazon - still in shipping.

 

I referenced Ukswrath's Anovos build quite heavily for my supply list (and most everything else) as well as the Supply list for your TK build thead by Justjoseph63.

 

well, gotta go put kids to bed...

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by wook1138
Update info

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Off to a good start!

[TheSwede[TK]]

9 hours ago, wook1138 said:

It is kind of hard to tell with the way the light is hitting it.

 

Good to go and as a future reference one should strive to eliminate all "flat surfaces" in the joint when possible

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looks like you are in good shape with your supplies, Greg!  You mentioned pop rivets, which I assume are for your bucket.  Did AP send you the correct rivets (bifurcated "split") for your ab/kidney connection?  These will need to be 5/16th (8mm) head diameter. 

In case I miss it, please send me a PM when you get to the point of fitting your thighs and forearms.  (I have a few pointers for you).

Keep up the great work, and don't be shy about asking questions! 

[wook1138[TK]]

2 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Looks like you are in good shape with your supplies, Greg!  You mentioned pop rivets, which I assume are for your bucket.  Did AP send you the correct rivets (bifurcated "split") for your ab/kidney connection?  These will need to be 5/16th (8mm) head diameter. 

In case I miss it, please send me a PM when you get to the point of fitting your thighs and forearms.  (I have a few pointers for you).

Keep up the great work, and don't be shy about asking questions! 

Yep, split rivets are 8mm.  The only use I had in mind for the pop rivets was for the belt assembly and maybe to strengthen the odd velcro or nylon strap connection.  Where do they usually get used on the bucket?

[wook1138[TK]]

Trimming.  So, as I mentioned, I ordered the trimmed kit from AP.  I have to say, the trimming Mark did looks great.  I'm 5'10" and about 160 lbs, so the default trimming on the kit is pretty close to fitting me as is.  So no major trimming for me (I'm sure I'll find other ways to punish myself during this build).  Here is a picture of the helmet out of the box. I think I just need to so a little sanding and eyes and teeth should be good to go.

 

 

The forearms had all the return edge removed from the bottom and top.  In fact most of the return edge was removed from the leg and arms parts. I am just starting to clean out a little extra ABS from the "bumpy" part of the return edge.

 

[wook1138[TK]]

Initial fitting.

So the first thing I did after I took stock of the inventory (and geeked out for a bit) was to do some really rough fitting.  With the use of some painters tape I quickly tried to assemble some pieces to gauge how much work was ahead of me. 

 

The first part I tried to put together was one of the forearms.  I took the two pieces - figured which way was the top and bottom and tried to hold them together so that the bottom lined up - I knew the top would not.  No dice - the pieces seemed wonky and would not line up.  So like any rational, grown man who has had several months to research this process, I panicked and sent Mark a rambling and  incoherent email asking how to start this process.  He quickly responded and talked me off my self-made ledge.  It all seems so simple now.  Anyway - a little nudge here and there while you tape the pieces together and at least on end will line up (bottom for the arm parts).  He recommended starting with the outside join (lining up the bottom) and then tying to get the inside as close as possible.

 

outside edge joined with tape - the bottom of the forearm is to the top.  You can see it does not line up - but a little nudge and the ABS will line up when taping up this inside edge.

 

forearms and biceps - all lower edges are nicely lined up.  This is without any additional trimming.

 

Initial fit of the forearm.  Mark trims all pieces for 20mm along the joining return edge (ie 20mm cover strip).  I have a little room to spare so I'm going to shave a little off to get the arm cover strips closer to 15mm.  I'll probably do 16 or 17mm (so my hand can get through the opening at the end) for the arms and just over 20 for the legs (and 25mm for the back of the shins).  Note, I have the arms of a 10 year old ballerina with a protein allergy and I still found the pieces to not be very big - I was surprised.  The original people who wore these things must of been pretty slight.

[TheSwede[TK]]

35 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

So like any rational, grown man who has had several months to research this process, I panicked and sent Mark a rambling and  incoherent email asking how to start this process

So funny, at least afterwards, thanks for sharing that initial fear  I think this is going to be a fun build to follow and..of to a great start, keep it up

Edited November 25, 2017 by TheSwede

[wook1138[TK]]

3 hours ago, TheSwede said:

So funny, at least afterwards, thanks for sharing that initial fear  I think this is going to be a fun build to follow and..of to a great start, keep it up

ha ha.  yeah, getting started is the hardest part.  Thanks.

[wook1138[TK]]

Minor trimming.

So I started with the biceps.  I decided to shave a few millimeters off the return join edges.  I tried to follow Ukswrath's directions for drawing the guide lines along the inside limit of the return join edge.  The problem I had is making out where that line should be.  There isn't a very sharp change in slope on the outside of the armor - plus I have old guys eyes and can't see. 

Anyway, I used the inside of the armor instead - this had a sharp return edge and made things easier.

 

take my measurements on the back side

 

I transferred the marks to the outside (measured the part to cut away from the outside edge), and used a ruler to draw a line.

 

I'm just using a pencil.  Any scuffs and marks will be covered by the cover strips.  Then I cut the pieces off with lexan scissors.

[wook1138[TK]]

Cover strip test - these posts are a bit out of order - I posted the results of this earlier.

So, before I got ahead of myself, I wanted to see how the cover strips would look.  So I cut a test piece.  The kit includes several strips of ABS that are about 3" wide.  the trick is, the edges may or may not be square.  I was lucky and the first piece I grabbed was obviously a bit out.

 

The other end of the ruler (out of frame) is touching the strip.

 

So I tried the other side and it looked like the line was straight - not perpendicular to the ends, but the pieces will be cut anyways, so who cares.

 

For the strips, I clamped a long metal ruler to the ABS and scored along a line as per my measuring (I'm using 16-17mm - old man eyes are only so good) and then scored the plastic.  I started at one end and began to bend the ABS until it broke.  I had worked with plexiglass before and for some reason I expected the same - nope.  Not even close.  This stuff is softer.

[wook1138[TK]]

Oh, I forgot to mention something about the initial fitting...

I'm not too proud to say that the first thing I tested was the fit of the ab piece to the kidney piece - to make sure this thing would fit around my beer gut. 

It did!   So I celebrated with a Costco bag of Doritos and a couple pints of Guinness. 

My wife continues to shake her head. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

21 hours ago, wook1138 said:

Yep, split rivets are 8mm.  The only use I had in mind for the pop rivets was for the belt assembly and maybe to strengthen the odd velcro or nylon strap connection.  Where do they usually get used on the bucket?

To connect the front to the back/top (inside).

[magni[TK]]

The rivets are hidden with ears covering them. Usually there's 2 horizontal indents molded into cap to show position.

Keep up the good work!

[wook1138[TK]]

2 hours ago, magni said:

The rivets are hidden with ears covering them. Usually there's 2 horizontal indents molded into cap to show position.

Keep up the good work!

 

4 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

To connect the front to the back/top (inside).

Ah!  I see.  Right - I thought the ear screws magically did all the work.  I checked out a youtube video (Trooperbay's video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=73U3au0xp5A).  So yes, I'll be using the pop rivets on the bucket as well.  Thanks guys!

 

[wook1138[TK]]

More fine-tune trimming of the arm pieces.

So, I got all the arm parts sized and trimmed.  And after getting some advice from Joseph, I went back in and really cleaned up the return edges at the bottom of the forearm pieces as well as the inner top part of the forearm.  The trimmed AP armor doesn't really have any return edge left in these ares, but I did clean up the "bumpy" part and sanded away any lips along the edge.

 

Before detailed trimming - this is the bottom of the forearm as received from AP.  No return edge as required for higher levels of approval (Centurion for sure).

 

Centurion worthy?

 

And then I was ready to attempt some gluing.  I haven't used E-6000 before so I though I would work right through a bicep and see how the whole process works before I start an assembly line of gluing parts.  So I cut some strips for a bicep (the right and left arm for the AP armor are the same - I think they are both right arms - maybe).

 

To help me in the gluing process, I marked the center of the strips so I could tell when the strip was centered.  I'm just doing the outside strips for now - if I have left over material, I might go back and put in inner strips too.

 

And the outer bicep piece has two strips attached with clamps and drying.  I'll give it 24 hours.  I will need more of the smallest clamps - the larger ones don't sit very well with the curved surfaces of the armor.

[NINJAM0VE[TK]]

Nice build! Aim for the next level Greg! Good luck!