Lorelei's 5'4" ATA ANH-S Centurion-Hopeful Build

[TheLorelei[TK]]

Yes, where I have it taped.  By ab, I meant kidney. The entire time. Sorry... will edit for those who haven't read it yet...

[Rat[TK]]

So in all that I've read and had told to me there's no requirement for return edge anywhere. Though there is that one for the wrist to be free of any return edge, but that is just practical thinking. So far as I understand it I would think that you would need the line between the kidney and butt plate no matter what. Even with the ROTJ kits though they are one piece, kidney and butt, there is still a line between them. The only thing I could see being affected would be the inability to use the bracket system and force you into doing snap plates instead. I'm no authority on the matter though, but that is my thoughts on what you're saying/asking.

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[Cricket[TK]]

Yep, Rat is correct about those returns!  No need to rebuild them at the kidney/butt connection if you're not planning on installing brackets.  

You could trim from the bottom of the back plate and leave the entire kidney intact, though.  I'm doing that with my current Hero (Luke) TK.  It's kind of a challenge for me to build the suit to look more like Luke's; he has a cut chest and back plate- and no returns on them whatsoever.  The kidney, ab, and butt plates are all full-sized.  I've trimmed my latest build in this manner, and it is coming along nicely.     Much easier than cutting down the cod and kidney, that's for sure.  

Just another option for ya!  

[TheLorelei[TK]]

27 minutes ago, Rat said:

I would think that you would need the line between the kidney and butt plate no matter what

Right, Rat. Definitely. I wouldn't smooth the seam over or anything, just attach the pieces permanently from behind to prevent the kidney (look! look! I know what it's called!) from sliding over the butt, as I suspect it might without that return edge to keep it in place.

17 minutes ago, Cricket said:

You could trim from the bottom of the back plate and leave the entire kidney intact, though. 

Boy. That's a scary prospect. It would be clean, though. Hmm. I'll try it all on and see what needs to come off, then make the call. Maybe a bit off each is called for. So you don't see a reason why connecting the kidney and butt plate would make the armor even less comfortable than it [reportedly] will be though, eh?

[Rat[TK]]

LOL! Kidney yes it's a kidney. Kidneys everywhere!

Well even without the return if it is strapped properly it shouldn't slip around too much if at all. I can see one bonus to that though, you could get a nice close fit between the two.

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[Rat[TK]]

Also keep in mind that your butt plate is going to be suspended from the kidney so really the two shouldn't eve over lap simply because. Strapping will be key to that I would think.

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[TheLorelei[TK]]

On 9/17/2018 at 6:54 PM, Rat said:

Also keep in mind that your butt plate is going to be suspended from the kidney so really the two shouldn't eve over lap simply because

Ohh - that makes sense. Didn't occur to me. Strapping (and the function/form thereof) is definitely what I'm least clear on in this build.

 

It feels like longer than 5 days since I posted. So much has happened. On Monday, I spent hours hot water bathing my armor and did a dry-fitting of my torso pieces to get a feel for how much trimming I have to do. On Tuesday, I left for Disney World to spend a couple days ogling real live (FO)TKs. Now I'm back, and spent today gluing interior cover strips on my thighs, biceps, and one forearm (ran out of magnets and clamps for the second forearm due to coming down pretty hard on a couple cantankerous strips), AND dove into trimming Smudge's eyes and teeth.

Highlights reel:

 

HOT WATER BATHING

I'm ending up with that same kidney-ab overlap that Cricket did. It makes me feel better to know that she fixed it - it's annoying the beans outta me. I molded all sorts of things with surprising aplomb, but got a bit ahead of myself attempting to head Trooper Dumpy Butt Syndrome off at the pass and definitely over-molded the butt. It's now in the running for becoming the bane of my existence. But anyway. I bent the shoulder bits. Yay.

 

DRY FIT

After shifting the ab (I mean the ab this time, I swear) around and seeing how it affected the entire front and back of my torso, I've come to realize that I'll likely just have to pick where I want the middle chest buttons and fit the rest of the torso accordingly. The position above is one I really like - aside from it being off center and me holding the chest a bit too high.

As you can see, I've cut the cod off of the ab. That was actually one of the first things I did when I got the kit. I just forgot to mention it. I also gave the entire kit a bath with dish soap to get any mold release off. This concludes my setting the record straight as far as things I neglected to mention earlier. 

This is AFTER much shaping of the kidney! It was BIG, y'all! Still a ways to go. Also here we see the weird butt situation. I've stopped banging my head against the where-does-the-butt-sit wall, though. I'll fit it all based on the ab. Unless someone says that's bad.

 

DISNEY!

I drop about 20 years off my age when I see a stormtrooper. Went with the AT-AT pic to keep the 5-year-old Lorelei face to myself. 

 

BUCKET WORK

Great time-filler while E6000 dries.

Sketched and trimmed bucket back, keeping in mind the asymmetry of the ATA bucket and leaving extra beyond the intuitive cut line on the right side.

Dremeled out the backs of the teeth and eyes to facilitate filing.

Filed the eyes a smidge to get a feel for it and left Smudge at that for the night - he's looking so very TK-like already! It's so exciting! Time to print out more bucket pics and tape them up all around me as I file tomorrow.

[Rat[TK]]

Keep in mind that the ab section is not a straight line or centered. The ab boxes for the buttons should be slight off center.

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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Great job on bending that kidney, Lorelei!  If I were you, I would remove all but 1/4 inch of the return edge from the top of your kidney and ab before fitting.  (If you need to bend them further it will make it a LOT easier)!  Many times when heat bending any pieces the return edge buckles, (photo 2) and not removing it enough can eventually cause splits in those areas.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   Reference image

         

 

You can also remove ALL of the return edge from the bottom of the chest piece, and it will not affect approval at any level.  (Luke's armor shown below).

 

 

     

 

Side note on the ab plate-  Even though the ab button boxes are off center as Jim mentioned, the center button on your ABS ammo belt should line up with the ridge that is in the middle.

 

Keep up the great work!  

 

[Frank75139[501st]]

Nice job on the Kid-Ab-ney section. I do like the “Delco” shirt in Disney. I work with a guy originally from Delco and I’ll never understand the love you guys have for a County especially when Bucks is so much nicer. Lol


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[TheLorelei[TK]]

9 hours ago, Rat said:

Keep in mind that the ab section is not a straight line or centered. The ab boxes for the buttons should be slight off center.

 

7 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Even though the ab button boxes are off center as Jim mentioned, the center button on your ABS ammo belt should line up with the ridge that is in the middle.

Oh, my. You know, I *thought* I noticed that the button plate wasn't centered with the ridge on the cod somewhere along the line (perhaps when I cut it off? Sigh) but assumed I was wrong... thank you guys!! And thanks for the advice on the return edges, Frank. I've been avoiding cutting them due to sentimental attachment or something. I'll do that now. Those reference pics help a LOT. But are you sure about the bottom of the chest? It seems like a Hero thing to me, and Stunt should have the return edge. :/ I was even planning on sinking fake screw heads in the return edge to mimic the bracket mounting. Considering it might be nice to take a smidge off the bottom of the chest it may prove necessary to remove it, but I hate to look Hero. Do you think it's necessarily Hero-like?

2 hours ago, Frank75139 said:

I work with a guy originally from Delco and I’ll never understand the love you guys have for a County especially when Bucks is so much nicer. Lol

Mind your business Frank.  But really, I gotcha - I have no particular love of Delco, given my druthers I'd rather be almost anywhere else barring p****burgh - but that's actually a Pokemon Go raid party jersey, from our Delco group. Whole other level of nerd I'm afraid. 

[Frank75139[501st]]

Mind your business Frank.  But really, I gotcha - I have no particular love of Delco, given my druthers I'd rather be almost anywhere else barring p****burgh - but that's actually a Pokemon Go raid party jersey, from our Delco group. Whole other level of nerd I'm afraid. 

Oh man, didn’t even know there was a such thing as Pokémon Go raid parties.


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[TheLorelei[TK]]

21 minutes ago, Frank75139 said:

Oh man, didn’t even know there was a such thing as Pokémon Go raid parties. 

It's a weird and wonderful world, Frank. 

[TheLorelei[TK]]

Here's what tripped me up! My cod DID come centered. Lining it back up by the little ridge left here -

- I get this -

- when really, I should be getting this, yes? -

Thank you guys again, so much!

[TheSwede[TK]]

Rs suit for reference

[Rat[TK]]

So far as the return edge it isn't required anywhere, but barring having to shorten it yeah.

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[TheLorelei[TK]]

Perfect. I'll give the cod and ab some alignment marks accordingly so when I'm ready to place it vertically I'll know where it goes horizontally.

Return edges trimmed...

And I made my first significant mistake, overtrimming the side of the chest, so I mooshed some ABS paste on there and will sand it back into a tolerable shape. The ABS paste is dry on the outside, but still wiggly. I'm guessing I should've applied thinner layers. Hm.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hiya.

 

Nice progress. :-)

 

Just a couple of things, although it might be the lighting on a couple.

 

You mentioned possibly over trimming the side of the chest. To me, it looks like you have lots more that could be trimmed off for more screen accuracy:

 

I’ve also marked on this what looks like a molded cut-line (?)

 

Ref

 

 

 

It looks like there are more cut-lines on the top of the kidney plate:

 

 

Again, might just be the lighting but thought I’d mention it, just in case. :-)

 

[Rat[TK]]

I will totally side with Dan on the chest having plenty that can still be trimmed. It seems there is at least a good 1/4" or more there. Hard to tell with the kidney piece though.

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[Rat[TK]]

Dan I would concur that the tab you pointed out on the chest side is indeed a trim line.

 

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[TheLorelei[TK]]

3 hours ago, CableGuy said:

I’ve also marked on this what looks like a molded cut-line

Right ho, Dan, absolutely. I trimmed the arm cutouts before those side edges and decided to fix them before trimming the sides. No real reason. However, I'm interested (and relieved) to hear that I should take more off of the arm cutouts anyway. I cut along the trim lines and figured I'd check sources later, but assumed the trim lines were correct. You know what they say about assumptions - sometimes you're wrong!  Thanks for the reference pics. Man, I just feel so weird taking all that off.

 

As for the kidney, there is a little ripple there. It's not just the lighting. It would look better cut along that ripple too. Will modify. Thanks again!

[Rat[TK]]

Lorelei keep what Tony said in mind about the trimming and reshaping. Another thing is look through other builds, I'm pretty sure the general consensus for return edge is 3-5mm.

[TheLorelei[TK]]

Yeah, true, I just spent a while poring over Centurion submission posts again too. Down come the edges!

[TheSwede[TK]]

4 minutes ago, TheLorelei said:

I just spent a while poring over Centurion submission

Road to success

[Rat[TK]]

2 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

Road to success

Indeed Daniel.