Laura’s 2mm ABS ANH Hero TK build [TM] – aiming for Centurion

[Laura[TK]]

Hi!

 

My name is Laura and working on an ANH Hero TK. I’ve been a huge fan of Star Wars since I was a little girl and was lucky enough to be able to work for Disney when they’ve purchased Lucasfilm a few years ago. While working on the campaigns I've met the lovely people from the Dutch Garrison and before I knew it I was dreaming of creating my own costume.

Back in January I was finally able to purchase my kit from TM. I was so happy when my BBB arrived! Thank you so much Paul for this awesome kit! I'm almost afraid to touch it, let alone putting scissors into it. Where to begin and what to do?? I'm 1.75- so probably need to do some trimming, also to make it nicely fit on a female body - 

 

 

The total TM Hero kit including holster

 

 

Now, a few months in, a few armor parties with members of the DG later, almost losing my fingertips with cutting and a seriously inflamed finger, most of the armor parts are clean of plastic waste. I'm pretty sure with the fitting lots of re-cutting must be done, so let's wait for that.

 

Bucket:

Haven’t touched the bucket yet, first want to make sure everything is going into the right direction and I know my utensils the best way possible – don’t want to screw up that handsome face. Currently doing lots of research what's the best way to start - spending hours and hours on this board, so happy with all the advice. Think I feel confident to start this week by taking out the eyes and teeth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoop whoop! 2 pairs of ears:

 

Neckseal:

Will be created by a friend who did this for more builds. 

 

Shoulder Bells:

Currently working on the sizing. For now I've left 6mm return edge on all sides - will make them smaller if needed. 

 

Biceps:

Currently working on the sizing - my biceps arent that big, so have removed 0.5cm on all sides. Not happy yet, but before cutting too much plastic/, I first want to see them together with the rest of the armor. For now I've left 6mm return edge on all sides - will make them smaller if needed. 

 

Forearms: 

Currently working on the sizing - I've removed 1cm in length and width. They still might be a bit too long, but  same thing as for the biceps, lets first see everything on before gluing. For now I've left 6mm return edge on the elbowside - will make them smaller if needed - and none at the wrists. 

 

Coverstrips:

For the forearms and biceps I'm going for the 15mm and the legs 20mm. 

 

Hand plates:

In the kit was the plastic version - need to swap those to the latex ones. 

 

Gloves:

The rubber ones (Trooperbay) and the Nomex flight gloves (Ebay)

 

Chest and shoulder straps:

All waste plastic has been removed, haven't touched the straps yet. Need some help first with the fitting. 

 

Back:

All waste plastic has been removed. Need some help first with the fitting. 

 

Undersuit:

My undersuit is from stormtrooper undersuit, went for the size that was a little bit bigger than my own measurement, but closer than sizing down.

 

Ab:

All waste plastic has been removed. Need some help first with the fitting. 

 

Kidney:

All waste plastic has been removed, except for the corners. Need some help first with the fitting. Hope the kidney will show a minimal gap while lining up with the ab. Might need to go to the gym more often to make sure it fits. Haha. 

 

Butt:

All waste plastic has been removed, except for the corners. Think it will fit perfect, so will leave it for now. 

 

Belt:

Need to start with the assembly.

 

Thermal Detonator:

Need to start with the assembly. 

 

Thighs:

All waste plastic has been removed - time for fitting!

 

Lower leg armor: 

All waste plastic has been removed - time for fitting!

 

Sniper plate:

Haven't touched this one yet. Will come to it when assembling the legs

 

Boots:

From Imperial Boots: ordered them 1 size bigger and they fit perfectly. although its quite a challenge to get my feet in there. 

 

 

Holster:

Ordered this one from TM together with the kit. 

 

And lots of extra stuff i will need in the nearby future:

(of course not everything is in the picture - but we'll get there once building the armor. 

 

Fortunate to have 2 little ones watching me with every step of the journey: they just love the waste plastic...and no they are not allowed to play with it. 

 

Next days, weeks will be though, but I'm sooo excited! 

 

Keep you posted on the progress! Happy to hear feedback!

X Laura

[hollowbodies[501st]]

Congrats on your BBB! You seem to be off to a very good start; keep up the good spirit!   Usually, a good place to start can be the arms pieces like the biceps or the forearms - not too many complicated things to do/cut/fit and it will warm you up for the rest of the kit.

 

And don't hesitate to post a lot of pictures and all the questions that you might have along the way - we'll be happy to help! Lots of Stunt going around lately - will be cool looking at a Hero as well.

Edited June 18, 2018 by hollowbodies

[Thumpy~[501st]]

TM produces some of the finest armor.  ABS is so shiny white!  Terrific photos!

[Frank75139[501st]]

Wow you’ve got this all figured out. Nicely done so far


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[TheSwede[TK]]

Nice to see another Hero and good luck with the build

[Shanester[TK]]

More clamps!!   Good luck on the build.  We are here to help.  The kitties look ready to help also.

[Sly11[Admin]]

Making good progress, and with feline help I see.

Good luck with your build it is nice to see another Hero, and as has been said, call out if you need any help.

[TK-32700[TK]]

Wow, look at that shiny faceplate!   You've made a good start. Keep it up!  

[Pretzel]

Great Start! Glad you got some felines to back you up on this important mission! Good Luck the rest of the way!

[Laura[TK]]

Many thanks for your kind words! Much appreciated! 

Having a few days of this week and determined to get things done. Summer is here, and wow that TM-kit is shiny white!

 

Currently working on the bucket and I would like to check if the placement is alright. 
I've added dots where I would like to place the screws. Unfortunately there isnt a lot of overlap between the two parts on the inside so space is limited. 

What do you think? Would this work? 

 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

4 hours ago, Laura said:

Would this work?

That should work

 

However what caught my attention was the brow trim, it`s cut at a very steep angle when it should be more, if not totally straight as can bee seen below - Hero ref for a Hero build

 

 

[Laura[TK]]

Yay! Thanks for your swift reply  @TheSwede - Will rivet them tomorrow, exciting! (and soooo scary!)

 

Regarding the brow, thanks for spotting! Is it needed to have the ending straight? Ive used a different reference and now while looking into the gallery, it looks like both options are used. Easy to switch if needed. 

[TheSwede[TK]]

 

 

3 hours ago, Laura said:

TheSwede - Will rivet them tomorrow, exciting! (and soooo scary!)

Awesome!  and no need to worry, they are easy enough to drill out if one needs to

 

And...I would cut the ends more straight but you don't want it to short either, looks like you have enough to make it work though and I got courious as to what reference you used, can’t recall seeing any like that, mind posting a pic?

[68Brick[TK]]

Congrats on your BBB Day. Great Start on your trimming. You're doing an awesome job. Great pics of the individual pieces too.

 

Your bucket looks good, and yes, your brow trim is trimmed a little too angular. Easy fix.

 

Keep going trooper!

[Laura[TK]]

Yaay! Progress! Rivets are in:

 

 

 

Side of the brow is trimmed! 

 

I only noticed I have a small placement issue - one side is a bit higher than the other causing the brow not be in line.

The one without the clamp is how it looks now and the one with is like I would like to have the placement.  

 

What can I do to align them more? Any suggestions? 

Edited July 5, 2018 by Laura

[TheSwede[TK]]

13 minutes ago, Laura said:

What can I do to align them more? Any suggestions? 

Helmet is looking great and a dab of glue will hold the brow were you like it

[Laura[TK]]

Perfect! Thanks!!

Will glue also work with pressing the dome a bit down? Thats what making the placement a bit off.
So gluing the dome to the faceplate would that work? lets say in the middle?
Or maybe a small rivet under the brow?

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[toxication[TK]]

3 minutes ago, Laura said:

Perfect! Thanks!!

Will glue also work with pressing the dome a bit down? Thats what making the placement a bit off.
So gluing the dome to the faceplate would that work? lets say in the middle?
Or maybe a small rivet under the brow?

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Just use e6000, no rivets there. That is very very close to the edge, a rip is not easy to fix, glue is easy to fix if ever needed.

[Laura[TK]]

Thanks Martijn! Glue it is! 

[Pretzel]

Very Nice work so far Laura! 

[Laura[TK]]

Hi everyone! It’s been a while, but back with an update. Last weeks have been crazy, and finally some time to post an update. I have made some substantial progress, at least it feels like it.

 

It feels like my house exploded, blue tape and clamps everywhere, not to mention the lovely smell of e6000.

Also found out that snaps are perfect as a cat toy… found at least 15 of them underneath my couch. Those bastards!

 

For now, I left the bucket for what it is, and started to work on the other parts. Did another test fitting, now with most of the trimming done, it felt like armor! After the fitting couldn’t wait to start gluing the cover strips.

 

Again spend hours and hours on this site for the best tips and tricks. So thankful for all the insights! Thanks awesome troopers!!

 

Here’s a little photo update with some questions at the end. at the end.

Belt

The belt is almost ready, need to add the drop boxes:

 

Thermal Detonator

Also almost ready, everything has got the right size now, but searching for the right screws. Once I have them I can assemble everything

 

Handguards

Glued the flexible guards to the rubber gloves and added straps to the abs ones for my nomex trooping gloves.

 

Butt

Added the 2 male snaps and the strapping

 

Shoulders, Biceps and Fore arms

They are all now the right size and gluing of the cover strips is done. Currently working on the strapping.

 

 

Shins

They have the right size now, glued the front, hopefully today the back with velcro

 

Thighs

Fitting is now also right, front is not curing from glue, looking forward how they turn out so I can do the back tomorrow. 

 

Also created the nylon snapplates with tandy line 24 snaps – glue and clamps it is now.

 

And one for the laughs  Just gotta love the blue tape. Hope to get better test fitting photo's later on

 

Getting somewhere! Feedback is very much appreciated!

 

Few questions that would help me with moving on:

-          Having a hard time to keep the box and the inner box lined up in a good way. The outside is 15mm and the inner box 12 mm, but can’t make them fit like I would like them to have.

Any suggestions how I can improve this? I guess lots of sanding?

 

-          I’ve noticed my curves (yaay female) are bit different then the armor allows. Thinking of cutting the ab in two, so separating the cod. In this way I can move the cod up a bit, to get some more movement. I’m waiting until the strapping of the total armor is done to make sure this is what I want to do, but is there any advice you can give if I want to go ahead with this? Any females out there with the same experience?

 

-          The TD screws---Whoa never thought looking for the right screws are so hard, turns out they are not an easy find in The Netherlands. I found these ones in my dads garage, would they do the trick? 

 

 

Thanks for reading and stay awesome!

Edited August 10, 2018 by Laura

[Frank75139[501st]]

Lots of progress! It’s all looking great.

For the boxes I’d say try a hot water bath and maybe that’ll make them a bit more flexible

For the ab, I don’t have much experience with cutting so I’ll leave that for someone who does.

And the screws. I’m not an expert in that either but I think they might be passable. But I’m sure the ones in charge of that will chime in shortly. I’d hate to see you have to pay a fortune in shipping for 2 screws.


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[TheSwede[TK]]

1 hour ago, Laura said:

Having a hard time to keep the box and the inner box lined up in a good way. The outside is 15mm and the inner box 12 mm, but can’t make them fit like I would like them to have.

Any suggestions how I can improve this? I guess lots of sanding?

The sides of the boxes flare out just a little so take them down a few mm and that should help and I would start with the inner boxes and shave of 2mm and then test if they go in properly and then cut the outer to match

 

1 hour ago, Laura said:

I’ve noticed my curves (yaay female) are bit different then the armor allows. Thinking of cutting the ab in two, so separating the cod. In this way I can move the cod up a bit, to get some more movement. I’m waiting until the strapping of the total armor is done to make sure this is what I want to do, but is there any advice you can give if I want to go ahead with this? Any females out there with the same experience?

Well I´m not a female but...based on your pic it looks like you can raise the whole torso section up and still have clerance at the neck/throat so I would try that first….and...if that`s not a GO then I call upon the "AB-slicer master" aka @Cricket as she most definetly can help you with that

 

1 hour ago, Laura said:

The TD screws---Whoa never thought looking for the right screws are so hard, turns out they are not an easy find in The Netherlands. I found these ones in my dads garage, would they do the trick? 

They are slotted pan heads so that`s all good, how do they match up to the TD size wize?

 

Overall you made some great progress and besides from your questions I just want to ad a small note about the cover strips, they seem to be a bit long in general so you might want to check on that to avoid eventuell snagging and pinching

 

And finally:

1 hour ago, Frank75139 said:

pay a fortune in shipping for 2 screws.

Frank...there`s actually 4 screws for the TD (sorry, just couldn`t help my self) Oh BTW congrats on the "hall of fame"

[lucnak[TK]]

Great progress. Can you show a photo of your exact issue that's making you consider cutting the cod? It's usually something that is only required if you are particularly short. I have found that women tend to have some misalignment between the kidney and butt plate due to hips, so you may have to add some extra strapping or some other solution there once it's all strapped together.

[Frank75139[501st]]

Frank...there`s actually 4 screws for the TD (sorry, just couldn`t help my self) Oh BTW congrats on the "hall of fame":salute:

Come on, I get a pass this month right?



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