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

[TheSwede[TK]]

12 minutes ago, jethroskull said:

Pictures from Sagmyra last week looked pretty danged wintery to me!

oops...I ment in my neck of the woods, there are some places with good winter of course...it must have been the Sith in me

[wook1138[TK]]

35 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

Yeez.....here in Sweden the winter is absent so far, more like prolonged fall altough I wouldn`t want it to be THAT Cold 

 

I think you can enjoy the good life of Christmas with a clear conscience, my bet is that you put the snaps slightly closer together or didn`t trim the edges of the plastic belt as much thus making the drop boxes further apart steering clear of the snaps....or both

This side of the belt has the snap and rivet very close - hence the problem, but the other side of the belt has the snap and rivet location further apart than normal.  It is like I don't have my ABS belt centered - but it all seems centered when I hold it up to the ab.  I'm supposed to center the ABS belt to the middle of the button panel - right?  I used the same measurements as the Billhags diagrams and used by Ukswrath.  Maybe the cold has hampered by ability to use a ruler and tape measure.  I'm sure that is a thing here in Canada.

[TheSwede[TK]]

I´m sure you did fine, a few mm can make alot of difference and the use of 3/4" instead of 1", if you used Tony`s build for reference that should mean all is good  (this is mine though)

 

[wook1138[TK]]

Helmet painting.  I found some quiet time without kids and tried to get some painting done.

 

I had completed the grey a few days ago so now it is time for the black.  I am using stencils as provided by Trooperbay.  I will say that they can be difficult to get placed just right and without any bubbles.  Trooperbay does send you two sets - which is great.  I needed the extra tries to get the stencils placed and stuck well enough.

 

I didn't paint the paint on very thick.  In fact, I dry-brushed the first two or three layers.  And then added a thicker coat after the dry brushed layers had dried.

 

After two dry brush coats.  they dry pretty fast so you can come back for the second coat within a hour or less.  I think I waited 20 minutes or so.

 

Carefully remove the stencils. 

 

This was the only evidence of bleeding.  I'm very happy with the results!  I still need to do the black outline - which will not be as easy since I have a less than steady hand.

 

The tears were much more difficult as the lower part of the tear stencil did not adhere very well.  I did four coats of only dry brushing.  My last coat got a little thick and I got a little bleeding which I will clean up with some grey paint.

 

This side worked out a bit better.

 

I also started doing the outline around the grey traps and ears.

 

Only one coat - I may need to do a second and slightly wider coat to thicken up the line a bit.

 

Again, I might widen the black lines a bit.  Not sure if I need to - they look pretty clean right now.  I got lucky with these, I really don't want to press my luck and do a second coat.

Edited December 29, 2017 by wook1138
Clarify Text

[TheSwede[TK]]

Nice don't go any thicker with the outline, they are supposed to be thin

[wook1138[TK]]

4 hours ago, TheSwede said:

Nice don't go any thicker with the outline, they are supposed to be thin

Thanks!  will do.

[Steaditrooper[TK]]

Looking great Greg. Hmm. Here comes that temptation again to rip off my stickers and paint everything. Maybe next week. I have a troop tomorrow.

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, Sean said:

Looking great Greg. Hmm. Here comes that temptation again to rip off my stickers and paint everything. Maybe next week. I have a troop tomorrow.

Thanks, Sean.  Go for it.  The stencils are working pretty well so far.  I'm making a point of taking my time with them.  As far as free-handing the outlines - all I can say is lay off the coffee, lock the door, and turn off the phone.  I think I'm going to need one of those magnifying glass / lamps that electronics guys use.  My old man eyes are not making this any easier.

[wook1138[TK]]

The belt wasn't working out so I had to make some major alterations.  Once I got the belt snapped on, I noticed that it was no longer centered perfectly with the ab button plate.  I had the center hole punched for the ABS belt, but I thought I could just modify the hole a bit to allow for the correction to center the ABS belt to the ab.  But this made my problem with the snap being very close to the left rivet that holds the ABS belt to the canvas even worse.

 

Belt not centered with ABS so I will need to adjust.

 

Rivet location and snap almost on top of each other after adjustments.  The snap is going to have to go.

 

Making sure the new snap location will be under one of the bumps of the ABS belt.

 

Removing female end of the snap from canvas belt.  I used pliers to pinch the post and the rest of the snap came off pretty easy.

 

There was some fraying around the old hole.

 

I added a little white hockey tape to protect the old hole and clean up the belt a little.

 

The male end was a little trickier.  I couldn't just bend the post and pull the snap off.  I had to drill it out.  I grabbed the post from the front with pliers and drilled out the back with an 11/64" bit.  I took it slow and didn't press very hard.  I drilled for about 3 or 4 seconds and took a few seconds break so that the snap didn't heat up too much.  I did this three times and the snap fell away with no issues.

 

 

 

I installed new snaps on the ab and the canvas belt - after measuring many times and holding the belt to the ab to double check - about 3 times.  I then glued on a "patch" to the ab for strength - I'm not sure if this is needed, but I did it anyways.

 

I was worried about having to drill out the line 24 snaps, but in the end it was pretty easy.  Just take your time. 

[wook1138[TK]]

More work on the belt.  I attached the ABS ammo belt and holster.

 

My pop rivets were too short (1/4" by 1/8" pop rivets) so I used Tandy Small rapid rivets.  I think they measure about 6mm in diameter with a 6mm post.  They seemed to work.

 

Snapped the belt back on the ab to make sure the ABS belt is lined up with the center of the ab button plate mount.

 

I had pre-punched the leather for the holster based on Mark's original back straps.  The holes are 120mm apart.  I used Billhags diagrams as a template.  Looking from the front, I placed the left hole 2cm on center from the edge of the ABS belt and 1.5 cm up from the lower edge of the canvas belt.  I used Chicago screws to attach the holster to the belt.

 

Image from the front.

 

And the back.  My Chicago screws have more of a button finish look to them than the ones provided by AP (hard to see in this pic).  I'm not sure if this an issue for Centurion or not.

 

Rivet covers glued on and drying.

 

Next, I had to trim the drop down boxes.  They are nearly 20mm thick.  I read that they should be 15mm - with some references citing 10mm in thickness.  I figured I would trim them down to 15mm.  I also had to trim the inner drop boxes a little more due to the fact that they stuck out of the back a few mm. 

 

After trimming - the out box is 15mm thick and the inner box is pretty much flush at the back.  I just have to sand and attach to belt.

[wook1138[TK]]

Drop boxes.  Happy New Year.  I'm spending New Year's Eve in my office, building armor.  What better way to ring in the new year?  Anyway, tonight I finished up my belt.

 

First I cut two 11" pieces of 1" white elastic.  I always use a soldering iron to cauterize any cut edges.

 

I looped and positioned the elastics to where the drop boxes should be.  I had to cut away some of the elastic to fit around the ABS belt rivet.

 

Hard to tell, but it is cauterized. 

 

With the inner box fitted into the outer box, I marked where the hole lined up along a center line of the drop box.  I held the drop box so that the inner was centered in the outer drop box and the edge of the outer drop box was just barely touching the ABS part of the belt.

 

I'm using pop rivets to attach the drop boxes.  I test fitted everything before actually installing the rivet. 

 

I saw somewhere where someone put a 1/8" washer on the inside - I tried to do this but the washer popped off during the setting of the rivet.

 

So on the other drop box, I put the washer on the other side to help hold the elastic...

 

but the rivet barely caught on the other side.  There isn't much rivet holding this thing in place.  I will position and glue everything down anyways - but, lesson learned.

 

I didn't know the best way to glue the inner drop box to the outer drop box - all I could do was sand the surfaces and dumped a whole whack of E-6000 into the outer drop box.  You can see the E-6000 flowing out.  I just picked up a new tube of E-6000, so I had no issues with going crazy with the glue.  I also ended up cutting part of the elastic to fit around the snap - the drop box is not in the final position so the snap is under the elastic in this picture.

Edited January 1, 2018 by wook1138
Clarify Text

[wook1138[TK]]

I've also been picking away at strapping.  I have never worked with line 24 snaps (or any snaps for that matter) until this build.  I learned a few things. 

1 - make sure the post is set all the way down.  I didn't so this to the female snaps on my fist strap and I thought all my snap bases - that were already glued to my armor - were somehow faulty (moment of unmanly panic ensued).  It was my female snaps on the straps - because of the give in the material (folded elastic) it can be deceiving to tell when they are set far enough.

2 - nylon webbing for bases works really well  - but they do not offer much support when you are pressing really hard on a snap. I created a dent in my armor when trying to connect my poorly constructed snaps.

Anyway, if you have not worked with snaps before, I recommend you don't be an idiot like me - actually make a few and test your snaps as you go to make sure they work before gluing them into your armor.

 

Measuring and lining up the snap bases - all 1" nylon webbing.  I roughed up the areas with sandpaper and glued with E-6000.  The nylon bases adhere very well to the armor and can be pretty tough to remove.  I worried that my snap bases along the bottom of the back piece are too close to the side edge - I misread instructions from another thread. 

 

It is hard to see in this pic, but there is a snap base on the other side of this piece - you can see the dent left after I pressed too hard trying to connect the snap on the other side.  Okay, I admit it isn't that bad - it just freaked me out when it happened.  I will try to use ABS bases whenever possible next time.

 

Almost all my snap bases in.  Missing one on the kidney and missing the shoulder strap snap bases.

 

I used 1" elastic for the strapping connecting the back to the kidney.

 

Finished elastic strap.

 

Elastic strapping done.  I found it hard to determine how to measure the elastic.  Mine ended up pretty tight - to the point where it was pulling the armor together and overlapping.  I'll wait to adjust this once I get everything connected and actually on me to see how it all sits.

 

It is looking pretty good in this pic, but the final fitting will tell.

 

Most everything else is being strapped together with 1" nylon.  The kidney and the posterior should line up along the outside edge (see below) - and depending on how it is sitting, it does.  This is another thing I will have to see how it actually looks when doing my fitting.  I trimmed away enough of the return edge to these pieces that they do tend to overlap each other every now and then.  The OCD is going to go nuts on this one.

 

For the cod to posterior, I cut a 12" piece of 1" elastic.

 

I attached the elastic to the cod with a split rivet and #6 washer.  I had never set a split rivet before and it took me a little while to get the hang of it.  It felt like I was going to bend or break the armor.

 

I found a chisel in the garage which worked really well.  I could pry the rivet apart with the chisel end, and then I set the chisel on its side over the rivet to help spread the rivet more and more.  Then gently hammered the ends down.

 

then it was time to connect the ab to the kidney with six split rivets (already painted white).  I measured the distance of the holes along the left side of the ab and kidney.  I cut 1" nylon and used a soldering iron to burn in the holes at the required spacing.

 

I fitted it once without fully setting the split rivets just to see if there was any noticeable gap or if a strap was too loose.  It looked good - there was a little bit of a gap but I figured that was ok since the rivets would tighten up once set.

 

rivets set. 

 

The left side ab to kidney connection.  My Christmas-enhanced waistline still fits in this puppy. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

You could drill out those pop rivets and use longer ones if you’re concerned about durability.

[wook1138[TK]]

Does my butt look fat in these pants?  But really, the posterior part seems to flare out on both sides.  Is this a issue of bad strapping or the need for a hot water bath?  The strapping does seem a little snug on the posterior to the kidney - especially the straps closest to the edges (I used three).  Also, my left kidney to ab seems to stick out (kidney side) a bit.  Is this something to be concerned about?

 

right side - butt sticks out.

 

Left side.  Same issue with butt. You can also see the gap along the kidney to ab - this is only seen from the front - they line up very nicely in side view.  This didn't happen until I connected all the torso parts and tried everything on (except the chest - it is not yet attached to the ab)

 

From the side.  The posterior seems to overriding the kidney piece in this pic but otherwise looks ok.

Edited January 2, 2018 by wook1138
Bad word

[TheSwede[TK]]

Butt-flare is quite common, yours is hardly visible but a bath might make it perfect, just remember to try with belt on, butt tends to "pop out" more when you close the belt.

 

12 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

You can also see the gap along the kidney to ab - this is only seen from the front

The belt will most likely fix that.

 

 

Some suggestions besides what you already said yourself is: IF you want to go for it - I Think it looks great as it is right now, you`ve done great work

1# Shorten the strapping between butt/kidney

2# Move it closer to the ends

Last resort

3# Brackets and elastic create tension that will pull the armor right.

 

 

[wook1138[TK]]

14 hours ago, TheSwede said:

Butt-flare is quite common, yours is hardly visible but a bath might make it perfect, just remember to try with belt on, butt tends to "pop out" more when you close the belt.

 

The belt will most likely fix that.

 

 

Some suggestions besides what you already said yourself is: IF you want to go for it - I Think it looks great as it is right now, you`ve done great work

1# Shorten the strapping between butt/kidney

2# Move it closer to the ends

Last resort

3# Brackets and elastic create tension that will pull the armor right.

 

 

Thanks Daniel.  I didn't even think of what impact the belt would have (duh).  I will have to try it on tonight and see (E6000 drying).  If the hot bath doesn't do it, I like the idea of shortening the strapping and moving it closer to the ends - I may do this (at least shorten the straps) in a few places.  I may even use a double snap method - there is a lot of play with the single snaps (although this might be due to my lousy snap-making skills).  It is reassuring to know that this is a common issue - it is amazing what you don't notice on other people's armor until you build your own.

 

For the elastic and brackets - I've removed too much of the return edge for this to work for me.  In fact, I do have elastic straps connecting the back to the kidney, which I'm going to replace with nylon.  The pieces are either overlapping each other (not enough return edge to stop this) or they are pulled apart too far with minimal movement of the torso.  I cut my return edges to about 5mm (or something like that) -  I move that I now regret as I really didn't need the extra room.

[TheSwede[TK]]

37 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

it is amazing what you don't notice on other people's armor until you build your own.

So true, just look at these guys, not something you noticed when watching the Movie as a kid and adult for that matter...all I could see were awesome Stormtroopers now I see butt-flare and duct tape....not sure wich is best

 

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by TheSwede

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, TheSwede said:

So true, just look at these guys, not something you noticed when watching the Movie as a kid and adult for that matter...all I could see were awesome Stormtroopers now I see butt-flare and duct tape....not sure wich is best

 

 

Holy cow!  Yeah, that is some impressive butt-flare.  Thanks to the blu-ray release and a very large TV, I have noticed the duct tape - there is one scene with Leia where I can't help but focus on the duct tape. 

[Steaditrooper[TK]]

Wow Greg! Your armour is looking great. You've made huge progress the last few days. My butt flared out more on the right side and I added an extra elastic loop to my brackets. It helped a bit. Putting your snap closer to the end is the way to go. Butt flare on the left is mostly covered by the holster. Your belt looks great. I put the washer on the inside of the dropbox. The rivet has enough flare on the outside to not cause problems. Loads of E6000 is the way to go for sure to join the fronts and backs.

 

Again, looking great!

[wook1138[TK]]

9 minutes ago, Sean said:

Wow Greg! Your armour is looking great. You've made huge progress the last few days. My butt flared out more on the right side and I added an extra elastic loop to my brackets. It helped a bit. Putting your snap closer to the end is the way to go. Butt flare on the left is mostly covered by the holster. Your belt looks great. I put the washer on the inside of the dropbox. The rivet has enough flare on the outside to not cause problems. Loads of E6000 is the way to go for sure to join the fronts and backs.

 

Again, looking great!

Thanks, Sean!  Yeah, I think I will add a strap (or move the current one) to fix the issue.       

[wook1138[TK]]

Tonight I put the final touches of glue on my belt (to keep the drop boxes from moving around) and added some more base-plates for strapping.

 

I added glue under the white elastic to the canvas belt.  It is hard to tell, but the drop boxes should be lining up with the outside edge of the ABS belt - looks off in the picture.  My Christmas gift from my son is provided as a lovely backdrop.

 

My top right ab to kidney strap.  I have not added a bottom strap yet.  I might have to move the kidney to posterior strap (the one close to my hand) closer to the right hand edge of the kidney (up in the picture) to help with my butt flare issue.  The final location of the bottom right ab to kidney strap will be dependent on, well, everything I just said.  Make sense?

 

So, more snap bases needed to be made.  I'm using ABS snap plates for the shoulder straps.  I just thought of something - should these be double snaps?

 

Snap bases for shoulder straps.  I still need to re-glue my ABS shoulder straps and trim the back of them (the big bump and one small bump get removed - assuming you don't need them - I don't as I'm not a big guy).

 

For the chest to ab straps I followed Ukswrath's AM build for measurements then held to two pieces together to make sure the marks more or less lined up.  the armor is so wonky and asymmetrical that eye-balling anything can be tricky or downright impossible.

 

Nylon base plates installed on chest.

 

Nylon base plates installed on ab.  Note the use of glue on the right one - I was trying to get the last bit out of a tube of E6000  - I got it.

 

Second tube of E6000.

 

Well, depending on how much time I'm allotted to work on this tomorrow or the next day, I should have the torso together and ready to final fit for the shoulder straps in the next couple of days.  I'm re-doing my thighs and I still need to do the shins and finish painting the helmet (and install lens, mesh, hovi mics, and electronics - maybe).  I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - hopefully it is not an exploding reactor core.

[wook1138[TK]]

Just testing tapatalk




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[TheSwede[TK]]

16 hours ago, wook1138 said:

the big bump and one small bump get removed

Just checking - you got a big bump on the front as well?

[wook1138[TK]]

5 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

Just checking - you got a big bump on the front as well?

Yes sir.

[TheSwede[TK]]

4 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

Yes sir.

Excellent, then you`re all set to cut