AP Armour - Trimmed - ANH Centurion - First Build Thread

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

Okay, that's super helpful. I think I'm sold on Imperial Boots. And worst case scenario, they are too tight, and I'll throw them up on the marketplace here or something... Or I'll just make them fit, damnit! 

If they are a little tight you could try stuffing them with wet newspaper, make sure it is tightly packed and leave until dry, this can stretch the leather a little  

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

Okay! It's been awhile but I finally have some time off work to start this back up. I'm researching the biceps and forearms right now and have a quick question:

 

I see a lot of threads talking about 15mm for bicep strips, and that you can make it wider if you need, but, for centurion, is there a max to how wide the cover strips can be?

 

I ask because I'm using the AP trimmed kit, and when I put the taped bicep piece on, and bend my arm and flex, there's like a full inch, maybe more, of a gap. I think I'm going to have to cut some super wide pieces in order for this to work, but I'm not sure if that will cost me centurion status or not.

 

Thanks for any help!

[TheSwede[TK]]

22 minutes ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

, for centurion, is there a max to how wide the cover strips can be?

There`s no max width even for Centurion, what matters is the overall look and that everything is balanced to the person wearing it, meaning you should match all the cover strips so if you need 25mm for biceps and can use 15 for forearms one should go bigger on the forearms as well 

 

The mentioning of 15mm for arms reference to the average size of the strips used on the Movie suits so if shooting for screen accuracy then that`s the way to go and if not it really doesn´t matter as long as it´s proportional

 

27 minutes ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

, and bend my arm and flex,

I would also suggest to bend the arms in as a relaxed state as possible and that might help

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

4 hours ago, TheSwede said:

I would also suggest to bend the arms in as a relaxed state as possible and that might help

Thanks for the tip. So I taped them up and put them around my bicep and bent it in, in the relaxed state. It's snug enough, and then is quite tight when I flex, so I feel good about the sizing now. I'm just worried because I'm looking at all of the other threads and everyone trimmed theirs so the two pieces can actually join together, and then gets covered up by the cover strip. Mine, sadly, currently looks like this: 

Sad panda.

 

I just want to be 1000% certain, is the gap underneath the cover strip going to be a problem? Looking at Suspend's thread, I see he added an inside cover strip as well, probably for more support, but I could probably do that too.

 

Just doing a quick measure for how wide the cover strip is going to have to be, it seems like it's closer to 35mm on both sides, but that's if it goes all the way across to where the flat part ends (is there a name for those flat parts where they join together? or are those just called the butt joints?) Here's a photo of the measurement:

 

 

If I wanted to keep the cover strip to a max of 25mm, then this is how much more flat area shows on each side of the cover strip. Will showing too much of this flat area be a problem? 

 

Something to note for other newbies out there, if you're searching for "what is a return edge?", I found this thread helpful, and it even has links to another great thread for detailed examples.

 

Heeeeeelp (and thanks!)

Edited November 25, 2018 by Mr_Fahrenheit

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

Okay, I think I actually figured out a better question to ask.

Is it better to have a wider cover strip (35mm), and none of the "ridge" exposed? (The "ridge" being the flat area at the butt joints of two bicep pieces), or is it better to have a more narrow cover strip (25mm), and have a lot of the ridge exposed? (maybe 5mm on each side).

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

Two more questions, but for the forearms:

 

1. Are they supposed to be the same forearms on both sides, or should they be mirrored? I ask because the aren't symmetrical. 

 

2. I can fit my hand through the front of the forearm with the black rubber glove on and my undershirt, but should I also make room for the handguard to fit through? Or do you all put the gloves on after you've put the forearm on?

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Mister (sorry, not sure if you’ve shared your real name),

To help us gauge the coverstrip situation, do you have any pictures of how the parts are sitting on you with your undersuit on?

Looks like the parts are quite a standard size, but perhaps over trimmed? If so, looking at shimming the gap and keeping the coverstrips thinner could be a plan. 35mm is much wider than usual - if you are a much larger trooper, (which is fine, of course), then larger coverstrips can work in proportion to larger parts. If your armour parts will be around the average size, then such large coverstrips are likely to look out of place.

But don’t worry - with more pictures I’m sure we’ll be able to advise the best looking option with what you have. :-)

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

1 hour ago, CableGuy said:

To help us gauge the coverstrip situation, do you have any pictures of how the parts are sitting on you with your undersuit on?

Absolutely! Thanks for chiming in

 

Here is a photo of me with my arm bent inwards:

 

Here's another photo of the other side to show that there would be even spacing for both gaps:

 

As for the forearms, they could be tighter, but my fat hands won't fit through the opening unless there is a gap of roughly that size.

 

Thanks for any help

Edited November 25, 2018 by Mr_Fahrenheit

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

3 hours ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

but should I also make room for the handguard to fit through? Or do you all put the gloves on after you've put the forearm on?

The hand guards will be attached to your gloves, which you put on after you are suited up.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Mister

 

Thanks for the pics.

 

So, it looks like your an average build. As such, personally, I’d try to keep the coverstrip sizes as close to screen accurate as possible. If you go for the sizes you mentioned, it will look very disproportionate, especially compared with other troopers that you troop with.

 

Below is a rough estimate of how they’d look. At over twice the recommended size, with your frame, they would look a little odd.

 

 

 

So, in my opinion, I’d prioritise the top/front of the forearm as screen used armour only had the ‘ridge at the top of the forearm.

 

Here’s a shot of screen used with approx sizes.

 

 

Perhaps try cutting a 15mm coverstrip and try a test run like the picture above. Then see how much space you’d need at the back. You might be able to add an internal coverstrip at the back, with just enough room to add around 15mm coverstrips at the rear.

If not, you could consider slightly larger coverstrips at the rear as the front will be more noticeable.

 

Hope that helps a little. :-)

 

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of the AP builds here on the forum of members with a similar frame to you. You’ll then see how they worked around it. :-)

[zv288bot[TK]]

7 hours ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

Absolutely! Thanks for chiming in

 

Here is a photo of me with my arm bent inwards:

 

Here's another photo of the other side to show that there would be even spacing for both gaps:

 

As for the forearms, they could be tighter, but my fat hands won't fit through the opening unless there is a gap of roughly that size.

 

Thanks for any help

Definitely seem like the "average size guy". I would also tell you to have your undersuit/shirt on when fitting as well. I know it doesn't seem like it would make a difference but it will. Honestly, looking at that second pic with your hand pointing up it looks like you have tons of room. I am a bigger guy and went bigger on the cover strips (not much 15mm to 18mm) and spaced the ridges a little further out both on the biceps and forearms. I did trim everthing prior to sizing and regretted it afterward on the biceps and forearms. Looks to me like you don't have anything to worry about. March on trooper!

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

10 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

The hand guards will be attached to your gloves, which you put on after you are suited up.

Okay this is good because right now, with that distance, my hands just squeeze through with some minor scratching. No blood yet, so I think it's good.

 

10 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Perhaps try cutting a 15mm coverstrip and try a test run like the picture above. Then see how much space you’d need at the back. You might be able to add an internal coverstrip at the back, with just enough room to add around 15mm coverstrips at the rear.

If not, you could consider slightly larger coverstrips at the rear as the front will be more noticeable.

Yeah, that's good advice, I'll cut a 15mm strip and take some photos to show how it lines up. But what do you mean by the "back" vs the "rear"? Looking at Uswrath's post, I've figured what front vs back is, and upper vs lower, but not what "rear" would mean.

 

4 hours ago, zv288bot said:

I am a bigger guy and went bigger on the cover strips (not much 15mm to 18mm) and spaced the ridges a little further out both on the biceps and forearms.

As long as the ridges can be visible, then I think it will work. To give you an idea of where it's at, right now the gaps between the two bicep pieces are both about 7mm, with my thinnest compression top on. Anything gaps tighter than that, and the tape pops off. So if I used a 15mm cover strip, that should allow me to glue it to 4mm on each ridge, keeping a few mm of the ridge exposed on both sides.

 

Does this make sense to anyone?

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hiya.

Ah yes - I meant back (same as rear, really).

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

15 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Perhaps try cutting a 15mm coverstrip and try a test run like the picture above.

I cut some 15mm strips and just clamped them on. Here is a shot so you can see how much ridge is still showing:

 

And here is another shot of the inside, where you can see the gap still:

 

I think there is still enough ridge to glue it on securely, but I'll definitely add a wider inside piece to make sure it's rock solid.  Thoughts?

 

I also just noticed there's a slight difference between the two sides of the cover strips in terms of gloss. Is there a specific side to display? It seems like it's the less glossy side that should be visible. I'll dig around on the forums, but thought I'd throw it out there which may be faster.

 

Thanks!

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

You'll drive yourself crazy with the things only you'll notice in your build 

 

Your coming along great!

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

2 hours ago, Bud Spaklur said:

I have AP armor and tried to have the glossy side of the cover strips on the outside. You can’t really tell though- especially when trooping. It’s a very minor detail that nobody would notice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay great! Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, StrmTRPR85 said:

You'll drive yourself crazy with the things only you'll notice in your build 

 

Your coming along great!

Haha yeah I know. I’m just trying to make sure that what I do won’t interfere with centurion approval. Until that first piece is built I’ll probably have ten more questions hehe

[CableGuy[TK]]

One side of your coverstrip material should match your armour - that’s the side to have on display. :-)

[TheSwede[TK]]

7 hours ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

I cut some 15mm strips and just clamped them on. Here is a shot so you can see how much ridge is still showing:

The original armor did not have those ridges on the bicep pieces so if it were me I would do all I could to hide them - either make the bicep smaller to the point I just barely can put my helmet on/off and/or make the covertrip a few mm wider 18-19 and letting the forearms follow and they don`t have to match on the mm: ex biceps are 18mm and the forearms 16mm. Then I would "up" the rest, thighs and shins 21-23mm except back of shins which already have 25mm per screen used armor. Totally up to you though, the way you have it now won`t hinder a Centurion approval - just making a suggestion

 

7 hours ago, Mr_Fahrenheit said:

I also just noticed there's a slight difference between the two sides of the cover strips in terms of gloss. Is there a specific side to display?

That should be the glossy side out to match the armor unless AP armor is totally different from others?  @ABS80

 

I would also like to ad that it`s the minor details that make the overall look of the armor awesome - so keep up the good work

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

10 hours ago, TheSwede said:

or make the covertrip a few mm wider 18-19 and letting the forearms follow and they don`t have to match

Thanks, I appreciate that tip, but I've already glued the first 15mm strips on and went with more of the ridge exposed. I figured there's two things that need to be accurate here; the ridge exposure (preferably none), and the cover strips (at 15mm). I was having an internal crisis over it for awhile, but eventually decided that, even if I did increase the width by a few mm, the ridge would still be exposed. By keeping the strip at 15mm, at least one of those two things is still accurate, instead of both of them being inaccurate.

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

2 hours ago, Bud Spaklur said:

If you are using E6000, which I assume you are, the cover strips can come off VERY easily.

Eeek. Is this even after it's cured? And if so, do people strengthen it all with something else after?

[CableGuy[TK]]

Eeek. Is this even after it's cured? And if so, do people strengthen it all with something else after?

Never fear - it’s very good stuff. If it were like superglue, it would dry and go brittle. This would be bad. E6000 cures to be slightly rubbery. This keeps a good hold but allows some flex. :-)

[Mr_Fahrenheit[501st]]

Alright, I've got the first strips on the biceps setting, so I'm moving on to the forearms because I have like.. infinity clamps to work with.

 

Question:

With this trimmed kit, and my fat hands, I need about 11mm of a gap between the two pieces at the lower part on each side, but I don't need any gap at the upper part. Should I keep the gap consistent from lower to upper parts, or should I angle it?  Here's an image with two pieces taped differently. The left has the consistent gap, the right one has the tapered gap: (they aren't perfect, but you get the idea, and they will be perfect when finished)

 

 

If I angle it, it will fit more snug, but won't be the same dimensions/ratio as other troopers. Also, the ridges won't appear at the upper end, but will appear near the lower end. 

 

If I don't angle it, it won't fit as well in the upper area, but I could also pad that. I feel like this is the right way, but just wanted to check to see if others ran into this while I browse the forums.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[ABS80]

Like stated if the bicep parts will fit without the raised ridges you should completely trim them off to match movie original and overall look, on many the biceps look too big they should flow with the forearms.

 

Mark (AP)

Edited November 26, 2018 by ABS80

[ABS80]

BTW  for the strips the glossier white should be face up, you will notice one side is off white, less shiny and has little dimples so that side should be glued face down.

 

Mark (AP)

Edited November 26, 2018 by ABS80