Lord_Potato's Walt's Trooper Factory ANH TK Build (COMPLETE)

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Actually you have trimmed your ab plate too much, should have left a rectangle of material on the sides.

 

What you may have to do now is glue that rectangle to the back then seal the join with some ABS paste. 

 

         

It was not my intention to remove the edges. The design of the ab plate is too curved and would not sit on the ab plate. I have a second ab plate from Walt so I can show you the problem with the design of the ab button:

 

Initially i just started to sand the bottom of the ab plate and was hoping by the time the bottom was flat enough to attach to the ab plate there would be some rectangle left. It was not possible to achieve it. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Perhaps a warm water bath may help.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

1 hour ago, Cricket said:

The WTF ab button plate is very deep, and as a result, does not have the extra bit of material on it.  When I was building a WTF kit, I ended up grinding down the WTF ab plate as thin as I could, and adhered a piece of white ABS to the back of it.  I filled in the gappy areas with white caulking to make it look seamless.  Here's what I did on mine.

That said, there is no requirement for that little bit of extra plastic to be present for L2 or L3 on the ab button plate.  It's totally up to personal preference.

Cricket,

 

Yes, I saw what you did and I you did an amazing job. I dont have ABS plastic that size. I have a plastic piece that a made but it is a very different shade of white. I just dont know if it is worth the effort for a small detail that isnt a requirement. But part of me wants to just because it is screen accurate. Not having a piece of plastic of the same color white is the main thing that is preventing me from possibly trying to do it. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

9 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Perhaps a warm water bath may help.

Ill try it with the second button plate I got from walt. 

[Chemi[Staff]]

When the plastic is heated for thermoforming, it takes any shape, but when it cools it shrinks and can curl...I think that you need a warm water bath, but when the button plate is still hot, you must bend it to the other side a little, because the plastic will try to return to the initial position...Now it's like this ")" , well, try to bend it like this "("...

 

Regards.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Chemi

[PhilBobTheFish]

"( " 

 

Yeah, as others have said, a water bath is probably you best bet at getting it flat. And although that extra plastic isn't listed in the crl, the safest way to be sure would be to talk with your gml on what they need. You have two, so if they say you don't need it (and you are fine with it), then use the trimmed one. And you can always try and flatten the other untouched one if you do want it.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I was able to improve the button plate with hot water. I could not get it perfect. But it might be good enough.

 

I know it is not perfect, will this be good enough, or should If ill some of the space with ABS paste?

 

My smaller ab buttons seem good to go:

 

Another thing, can someone please direct me to a good/detailed thread about belt assembly? I have a general idea of how the belt is supposed to be assembled, but dimensions and locations of where the snaps go on the ab plate....I am uncertain. I tried looking through ukswrath build but the belt portion has all the images blocked. I searched through several pages on the tutorials,tips and how tos section but couldnt find anything. I know I am not very savvy with navigating this sight. So if I can guidance I would be grateful. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

14 hours ago, PhilBobTheFish said:

"( " 

 

Yeah, as others have said, a water bath is probably you best bet at getting it flat. And although that extra plastic isn't listed in the crl, the safest way to be sure would be to talk with your gml on what they need. You have two, so if they say you don't need it (and you are fine with it), then use the trimmed one. And you can always try and flatten the other untouched one if you do want it.

If it looks like making a false base is going to be a lot of extra work I might ask the GML what he/she wants. Hopefully this water water bending works out. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

17 hours ago, Chemi said:

When the plastic is heated for thermoforming, it takes any shape, but when it cools it shrinks and can curl...I think that you need a warm water bath, but when the button plate is still hot, you must bend it to the other side a little, because the plastic will try to return to the initial position...Now it's like this ")" , well, try to bend it like this "("...

 

Regards.

Yes, I was able to improve the shape with hot water, but the bottom right corner, I couldn't get it to fully comply. The shape is improved, just not perfect. 

[PhilBobTheFish]

1 hour ago, Lord_Potato said:

Yes, I was able to improve the shape with hot water, but the bottom right corner, I couldn't get it to fully comply. The shape is improved, just not perfect. 

You can always do multiple baths to slowly work the piece into the new shape, as it usually won't go fully in one bath. Just dip it for a little bit, shape it, cool it, and you can do that again to shape it more. It'll also help it keep it's new shape better, as pieces sometimes revert back a bit to there original shape.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks much better, the gap will barely even be noticed

[Chemi[Staff]]

6 hours ago, Lord_Potato said:

 

Another thing, can someone please direct me to a good/detailed thread about belt assembly? I have a general idea of how the belt is supposed to be assembled, but dimensions and locations of where the snaps go on the ab plate....I am uncertain. I tried looking through ukswrath build but the belt portion has all the images blocked. I searched through several pages on the tutorials,tips and how tos section but couldnt find anything. I know I am not very savvy with navigating this sight. So if I can guidance I would be grateful. 

Maybe this topic can help you, but remember: "don't blindly follow them, check them on your armour brand, ensure it looks right. "

 

Regards...

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:52 PM, Chemi said:

Maybe this topic can help you, but remember: "don't blindly follow them, check them on your armour brand, ensure it looks right. "

 

Regards...

Thank you so much. This site has all the help one needs to build but sometimes finding specific things are tricky. At least for me. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:29 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

Looks much better, the gap will barely even be noticed

Thank you. I still dont like the way it looks. The sides of the button plate have all the "divots" that are over the place. I will use this as my last resort. Im going to experiment with making a base for the other ab plate. Thank you for being one of the ones that has been keeping track on my build. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

Got the small ab button plate set with glue.

 

As previously mentioned, i was able to make the flashing "sides" of the AB plate better with hot water but I dont really like the texture of all the divots that surround the button plate and that it still doesnt sit that nicely on the ab plate:

 

I do like Gmrhodes13 opinion that it looks good enough, but since I do have the original button plate sanded down I am going see if my makeshift "backplate" will look better. I didnt have a piece of the same color plastic that size so I am putting two cover strip pieces together with ABS paste and sanding it down. Then I will glue the button plate on and seal the sides with abs paste and sand down.

 

Still working on it. Just didnt have enough time this weekend.

 

So I am getting ready to get the belt assembled since the ab buttons will be glued on soon. I marked where I intend to drill the holes for the rivets:

 

So Here comes my next question. I figured out how to use a rivet gun but it appears that the low profile side of the rivet should be facing the ab plate and the other side (the part with the metal "bulb" is hidden by the 3 caps on the ammo belt. It seems like my caps are too shallow for the rivet to fit under:

I thought that is how it is supposed to go? Or do I have a incorrect idea on how it is supposed to be attached?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Lord_Potato

[magni[TK]]

You're doing a great job so far. For the rivets go the other direction and let the nub sit on the inside. I'd also recommend a rivet washer for the backside. More coverage for holding the better. Keep up the good work and we'll keep following along. You're getting there!

[Chemi[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Lord_Potato said:

 

I thought that is how it is supposed to go? Or do I have a incorrect idea on how it is supposed to be attached?

 

Yes, as @magni says, "For the rivets go the other direction and let the nub sit on the inside", and cover the nub with something soft so it doesn't scratch the armor...

 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

1 hour ago, magni said:

You're doing a great job so far. For the rivets go the other direction and let the nub sit on the inside. I'd also recommend a rivet washer for the backside. More coverage for holding the better. Keep up the good work and we'll keep following along. You're getting there!

So It goes the other way.......I am such a goob! lmao. Anyways, I had a washer on one side, you are recommending a washer for each side? Thank you for all your help. 

[magni[TK]]

Just one washer on the inside.

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Rivets or snaps work well, I prefer snaps so I can remove the plastic section so the belt can be washed or swapped out for ESB style.

[Cricket[TK]]

21 hours ago, Lord_Potato said:

So Here comes my next question. I figured out how to use a rivet gun but it appears that the low profile side of the rivet should be facing the ab plate and the other side (the part with the metal "bulb" is hidden by the 3 caps on the ammo belt. It seems like my caps are too shallow for the rivet to fit under:

I thought that is how it is supposed to go? Or do I have a incorrect idea on how it is supposed to be attached?

 

Don't feel too bad about this- I installed my rivets just like in your pics (and on four different TKs, too!  ha!).  I liked the flat part of the rivet being on the inside of the belt to avoid scratching things up.  I used a Dremel and coarse grit band to grind the "bulb" part flat enough down so the covers would fit.   

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:18 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

Rivets or snaps work well, I prefer snaps so I can remove the plastic section so the belt can be washed or swapped out for ESB style.

I really like that idea.......the concept of being able to remove the belt for maintenance or replacement seems to be a more efficient move than riveting. Have you had any issues with your snaps pooping off? I think I am leaning towards snaps but want to make sure that the snaps wont pop once the belt starts to curve. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:39 PM, Cricket said:

Don't feel too bad about this- I installed my rivets just like in your pics (and on four different TKs, too!  ha!).  I liked the flat part of the rivet being on the inside of the belt to avoid scratching things up.  I used a Dremel and coarse grit band to grind the "bulb" part flat enough down so the covers would fit.   

Good idea, I think I will do that if I still proceed to rivet my ammo belt onto the cloth belt. I am currently leaning on attaching the ammo belt via snaps. I am just afraid that it might be easy for them to randomly "pop" if the curvature of the belt is too much. I was thinking of doing a combination of velcro and snaps. Looking over your first RS build, your entire ammo belt was attached to the cloth belt via velcro. May I ask your thoughts on it? 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I continued to make progress on making my own backing for the ab button plate. Another reason why I decided to make my own rather than try and make the replacement one work is that the plate is very tall. I made my ab plate have a shorter profile which better matches the screen shot references and my RS:

 

 

Side by side comparison in case you veterans think my ABS paste version should not be used (abs paste is on the right)

 

It's now ready to glue on. Just waiting on constructive criticism:

 

Once its glued and dried I can make progress with the belt.

 

I am trying to see what else I can be working on since I am going to wait a day or two for opinions before gluing the plate on. Most of my armor is assembled. Once the belt is attached then thats when I will start trying to make the butt piece fit. 

 

So far (besides painting details) the legs, arms, helmet, boots, undersuit, neckseal, chest, thermal detonator, basic approval gloves and centurion gloves are done. The belt, ab plate buttons, and the butt are all I have left before strapping everything together.  

 

OH! I have been trying to find a E11 blaster. I don't want to steal my RS blaster. Look like doopy doos blaster is sold out, and original stormtrooper blaster is sold out as well. I messaged praetorian blasters on facebook 3 weeks ago, but have gotten no response. If someone can direct me to a blaster that meets centurion standards I would be most grateful.  

[Cricket[TK]]

52 minutes ago, Lord_Potato said:

Good idea, I think I will do that if I still proceed to rivet my ammo belt onto the cloth belt. I am currently leaning on attaching the ammo belt via snaps. I am just afraid that it might be easy for them to randomly "pop" if the curvature of the belt is too much. I was thinking of doing a combination of velcro and snaps. Looking over your first RS build, your entire ammo belt was attached to the cloth belt via velcro. May I ask your thoughts on it? 

I ditched the velcro entirely.  Even though it was low-profile velcro, it still pushed out the ammo belt too much for my liking.  I prefer the ammo belt to sit as flush as possible next to the belt.  After removing the velcro, I took the leap and re-installed it with permanent rivets.  It was pretty easy to do, and I've never had any issues with it since then.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Cricket