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

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2020 at 12:16 AM, TKSpartan said:

Hi Jonathan, What I did was to use painter tape and put on my chest and back pieces then placed the shoulder bridges, aligned them and marked with a pencil. here is a reference photo that can help to see the average  position. 

 heope this can give you some idea. And keep on doing a great build.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Mario,

     Great tip. I will follow suit on what you did. Thank you for the great idea!

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow this is coming along nicely considering your current family situation. Great progress, keep it up.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 1/13/2020 at 12:11 PM, Cricket said:

Hey Jonathan, 

Just wanted to mention something about the returns on the backplate- namely the ones around the shoulders/arms.  This is an area of high stress on the armor.  Any returns around the back shoulders- no matter how small! - will eventually crack (*cough- ask me how I know - cough*).  You'll end up having to do repairs somewhere down the road if you keep those returns on.  As seen in the reference pic below, it's totally accurate to completely remove those returns on the back plate sides, especially around the shoulders.


When you remove the returns back there, you allow the armor to flex, which means no cracking.   

Your build is coming along nicely!  Keep up the good work!

Cricket,

     Thank you, I will be removing the return edge

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

Started to glue shoulder bridges but pulled it away. It didn't feel like it was going to be a firm/secure hold as there isn't a lot of surface area on the bridge due to all the gaps from all the tabs/ridges. Maybe I am over thinking and there is enough surface area to make a firm hold. I'm going to do some snooping on other build threads and see if anyone has done anything to help make it possible for more glue to cover the area. I was thinking about making some ABS paste and filling the "trenches" on the inside of the bridge that will be sticking to the front plate and sanding it down to create a lot more surface area for glue. I guess I'll just see what other people have done first.

As you can see most of the glue is just chilling in the gaps:

 

No more return edge on the sides of the back plate and almost all return edge removed on the side of the chest plate:

 

While I research on how to better secure shoulder bridges I decided to do some work on ab buttons:

I used this image as a reference:

 

It was too big for the housing it is supposed to rest on so I had to do a lot of sanding on all sides:

 

Looks like the plate does not want to sit flush, might have to water bathe and flatten:

 

I am not  big fan of these divets that surround the base of the button plate. But that is how it came.....

 

Nothing is glued on yet, just placed plates on their bases to see what I need to work on. Looks like both button plates need to be sanded all around to make them a bit smaller. Looks like a little bit of the base is suppose to be showing on all sides according to screen used suits:

 

I wish I made more progress today but work days give me little time to work on my kit. Hopefully tomorrow I can sand the pieces down just right and hot water flatten them along with figuring out a good way to secure my shoulder bridges on my chest plate. 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Jonathan.

 

You did a great work with the return edge, . About your doubt with the shoulder Bridges, in my case,  I glued them as they came and had no issues in 9 months of intense trooping. But if you prefer to feel more secure, the following thread could give you some tip.

 

 

And for the ab plates, look at the following reference photo and you can notice that thy have no rounded corner.

 

 

Keep on doing a great work mate!! 

 

 

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

What I did with the shoulder bridges is to use the actual E-6000 as a filler.  Just keep the bridge at an angle as it dries to prevent it spilling out and build it up layer by layer as needed.  Looks like you already have a good start if you choose to do it this way.

 

The small plate can actually be trimmed a bit more if you want.  The raised edges of the mounting area should ideally show more on the sides.

 

    

 

To get rid of the small bumps (arrows) and get the bottom flat (which will allow it to sit flat against the mounting area) you can lay a piece of sandpaper on a level surface and rub the bottom on it until sits flush.  Don't make it too thin, though.

 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me. Being a first time dad, I am trying to find gaps of time to continue building. Seems like when I have a chance to build, baby stuff comes up LOL. Ill get the hang of balancing everything.

 

The work I have done was not a lot. Seems like since there was so much glue in the gaps of the shoulder bridges and the extra glue to secure the bridges to the chest........the glue took longer than expected to dry. Im used to gluing just cover strips and they are usually pretty solid in less than 24 hours. I also realized that the chest plate tabs curved to much making them ding into my shoulders rather than rest against them. So since the shoulder bridges fell off due to not being 100 percent dry (I waited almost 48 hours) I took the bridges off and flattened the chest tabs so they arent digging into my shoulders. 

 

I also had to reshape the bridges a little so too much pressure wasnt resting on my shoulders. I kept the same curvature but I had to flatten the front part of the bridge that goes on the chest plate tabs.

*Note bridge is flat on the fat tab (side that glues to the chest plate)

 

I think it looks good and the curvature seems pretty good. I tried to tape the back plate on and see if it will work *note it looks extra sloppy as it was hard to keep everything together with masking tape. But it looks like it will look good with everything strapped. Looking forward to criticisms/advise.

 

Like I said, it looks a little wonky but I believe its mostly due to trying to keep everything in place with a few pieces of tape. I did make the elastic straps to hold the shoulder bridges to the back plate tabs.

 

Also getting ready to make my left forearm.

 

If my shoulder bridges look good according to the pros looking at my build, I will reglue them. 

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking SHARP, Jonathan!  If I could suggest one thing, it would be to trim down the points at the top of the biceps.  Not a deal breaker for Basic, but it would definitely help make them more comfortable.  

 

 

         

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I filled up the shoulder bridge spaces with glue again and making sure its fully dry then I'll try and re-glue them to the shoulder tabs.

 

So starting with the right forearm, I had to trim down the width to make it proportioned to my forearm size. Unfortunately, this left the two ends meeting at a point where the cover strip goes versus the flat ridge that used to be there.

 

Measured 8mm from the edge and made a line to reference where to try and recreate a flat ridge:

 

Got a sealing iron and practiced using it on a piece of scrap plastic:

 

Started to recreate the flat ridge:

 

I think it came out okay (it is a little distorted, and lumpy) considering its my first time doing this. But for the other side of the forearm I decided to try something else that seemed to be faster and a little less dangerous to the plastic. I put a butt load of clamps where I wanted to bend the other side and put it in hot water:

 

Here is the end result:

 

Unfortunately that's all I had time to do. It looks like I am almost done with the forward flat ridge side. I am going to smooth out my new flat ridges by putting  an inner cover strip then placing a row of magnets down the middle forcing the inner cover strip to put a flattening pressure on the sloppy flat ridge and then dip the flat ridge in hot water. This should at least flatten the flat ridge a bit better.

 

Once that is good I can finish sizing and rear facing cover strip side. 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Lord_Potato

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

So I finished resizing the right forearm and tried it on to see how it looks with my bicep. Looks like it lines up well enough.

Now to do the left forearm. Not looking for to it since the natural shape of the left side is really wonky.

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, painters tape can help pull pieces into shape and hold them while the glue is drying 

[magni[TK]]

That came out great! Yeah that left arm side is a wonky combo between bicep and forearm. The forearm you'll have to be careful with the swooping inside piece. The bicep is easily water bathed round after assembly.

 

Keep up the great job!

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

OK, Jonathan, I am WELL impressed (seriously) with the way the forearm fits, and SO glad to see that you removed the return edges from the tops of them!  But.. those of you who know me know my feelings on return edges in general, lol.  I know many troopers like the way they give our armor a "thicker" look. but in reality when it comes down to it we have to spend hours actually wearing these costumes, and return edges in certain places can make life mighty uncomfortable, especially in the area where your arms bend since we spend most of our time with our arms at a 45 degree angle holding an E-11.  Having red welts from armor-bite is preventable (and totally screen accurate) by simply removing them, and I assure you that the general public will not notice.  Trust me on this one.  

 

                  

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

OK, Jonathan, I am WELL impressed (seriously) with the way the forearm fits, and SO glad to see that you removed the return edges from the tops of them!  But.. those of you who know me know my feelings on return edges in general, lol.  I know many troopers like the way they give our armor a "thicker" look. but in reality when it comes down to it we have to spend hours actually wearing these costumes, and return edges in certain places can make life mighty uncomfortable, especially in the area where your arms bend since we spend most of our time with our arms at a 45 degree angle holding an E-11.  Having red welts from armor-bite is preventable (and totally screen accurate) by simply removing them, and I assure you that the general public will not notice.  Trust me on this one.  
 
                  

Thank you for the compliment on my progress. It means alot. I will remove all return edges. Once I am near completion of my build i go over every piece and double check all return edges are removed. It makes sense and I have received armor bites from trooping in my RS kit. The only return edge I intend to keep is the return edge on the bottom of the chest plate. Thanks for checking up on my progress.

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[Lord_Potato[TK]]

That came out great! Yeah that left arm side is a wonky combo between bicep and forearm. The forearm you'll have to be careful with the swooping inside piece. The bicep is easily water bathed round after assembly.
 
Keep up the great job!

Thank you! And I know right? The left side is terrible lol. I wouldn't be surprised after resizing the "swoop" will be a little off. Hopefully I can prevent that from happening and if it is a little off, I think I can cut the swoop to try and make it look centered.

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[Lord_Potato[TK]]

No matter how many times I glued the shoulder bridges, they kept falling off. Eventually I got the left bridge to dry and stick. The right side never dried properly. I filled the "trenches/gaps" with glue, let it dry and then glued the bridge to the chest. So I left the left bridge alone since it actually secured very well and I made abs paste and filled the gaps of the right bridge with paste. Hopefully this will create more surface area for the glue to adhere to.

 

My laptop caught on fire so I'm using tapatalk on my phone to continue my progress and I'm not used to this app. Seems like all photos just show up at the bottom of my post.

 

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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

8 minutes ago, Lord_Potato said:

Thanks for checking up on my progress.

I assure you that it is my pleasure to help in any way I can, Jonathan.  Looking forward to the rest of your build!

[TK-51948[TK]]

On 1/13/2020 at 7:16 AM, TKSpartan said:

Hi Jonathan, What I did was to use painter tape and put on my chest and back pieces then placed the shoulder bridges, aligned them and marked with a pencil. here is a reference photo that can help to see the average  position. 

 heope this can give you some idea. And keep on doing a great build.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

great work on the build!  My WTF kit have not had many issues with the shoulders straps (I think I just used more glue)  but love your innovative approach

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 1/13/2020 at 12:16 AM, TKSpartan said:

Hi Jonathan, What I did was to use painter tape and put on my chest and back pieces then placed the shoulder bridges, aligned them and marked with a pencil. here is a reference photo that can help to see the average  position. 

 heope this can give you some idea. And keep on doing a great build.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

I think I misunderstood your advice until it was too late. I thought the purpose of putting the back plate and chest plate on was to make sure the length of the shoulder bridge was good. I didn't realize that it was also to make sure the bridges are aligned with the back plate tabs as well! I am so dumb. My shoulder bridges dried and I noticed that the shoulder bridges dont align with the back tabs. I guess its not the end of the world since I used E600 glue. Your images don't show up and it wasnt until I saw my mistake that I understood what you were trying to say. I am a goob ha ha. 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 3/5/2020 at 1:42 PM, StrmTRPR85 said:

great work on the build!  My WTF kit have not had many issues with the shoulders straps (I think I just used more glue)  but love your innovative approach

Yea, I thought it was weird as well. One shoulder bridge stayed with no issue and the other kept falling off. I havent seen anyone complain about gluing shoulder bridges as much as I have. Well the extra plastic via the ABS paste worked. And thank you

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 3/2/2020 at 11:00 AM, TK-51948 said:

 

Yea, the images dont display and I misunderstood the importance of this step until i already glued the shoulder bridges and saw they didnt align with the back shoulder tabs. I thought the main purpose of doing this was to make sure the bridges werent too long and getting too close to the O/II back plate.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I am trying to manage my time better with trying to build around taking care of a newborn. I kinda suck at the moment. I just need to be more pro active when he is sleeping to quickly jump on my build. 

 

So the abs paste dried on the shoulder bridge and I sanded it down. 

 

Glued it and it finally stuck!

 

This is when I realized that even though some of you awesome people tried to warn me about this, I did not take heed. The shoulder bridges down align with my back plate.

I am upset that I didnt pay attention to the courtesy responses mentioning this. So I will remove the bridges tape the chest plate and back plate on my body and have someone position the bridges on my chest and mark where they need to be to make sure the align with the back tab. That should be the jist of what TK spartan and Adam tried to inform me. 

 

I did some slight reshaping of the left forearm to aid me during the slight sizing down of the forearm for a better sized fit as I did with the right forearm. I added a inner cover strip so I can have some reinforcement in case I have to do more hot water adjustments when both sides are connected. 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Lord_Potato said:

That should be the jist of what TK spartan and Adam tried to inform me. 

I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding , my english skill are not good enough. But, the advantage of using E6000 is that you can remove the piece, clean the dry glue , adjust  and reglue again. i'm sure you're going to do it great. 

 

cheers

 

 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding , my english skill are not good enough. But, the advantage of using E6000 is that you can remove the piece, clean the dry glue , adjust  and reglue again. i'm sure you're going to do it great. 
 
cheers
 
 

No, no, no, your English is wonderful. It was my fault for quickly reading through your comment. Thank you for your advice so far.

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