NerdBird's first Anovos TK build

[NerdBird]

Hopefully I am posting this in the right place and that I am following the rules, if I am not, let me know. I can't believe that 4 days ago I finally got my own Anovos TK set. I bought it from a friend who had pretrimmed it before he handed it over to me. I looked it over and everything looked great, so after laying everything out I decided to start working on it. Being the impatient person that I am I would jump the gun on some things and find myself having to fix my mistakes. Right now I feel pretty good about where I am on it, I have been following Uswrath's guide and it has been so very helpful. I will only be going for the level 2 certification right now but, plan to make changes in the future. I will post a photo of everything that I am going to be talking about because I do need some tips on handling things and to check that I am on the right path. At this point I have the thighs glued and drying on the front right now and plan to do the back tomorrow. I have done both forearms but, I did not trim them to hide the return edge with the cover strip, I did that with the thighs due to them rubbing. Next I have a single bicep done, for some reason it seems that Anovos sent 2 right back bicep pieces so the other one does not want to fit together. I think that I am going to need to do a hot water bath for this, but I am a little worried about doing that. Next comes the body, personally I am sticking with the velcro right now because I like the way it feels, I do plan to change it in the future to brackets. Doing a test fit for the body it was very difficult to get the kidney to match up with the abs. I accidentally drilled 3 holes on the right side of the kidney that I will need to patch up later (when I do, I will need some guidance with that). Having the back attached the way I believe it looked on the images, the butt piece is riding up on past my butt. I think I am going to need to do the hot water bath on the back piece too to make it longer due to my 6' 2" height. I do weight 175 right now and plan to gain a little more and work on my build so that is a reason I am waiting on the forearms. Now to what made me almost hyperventilate when I saw them taped together. The legs are so off it's scary, maybe after I do some trimming for the cover strips to hide the return edge it will look a little better. I will work on it tomorrow after I glue the back of the thighs.

 

To sum this up for some that don't want to read it all

- I am 6'2" and 175 and counting.

- I am impatient but, I have been learning that I need to test things on a scrap piece, measure twice, cut when I am sure.

- Aiming for level 2 certification, level 3 in the future.

- Need to do the hot water bath on the left bicep due to being stuck with 2 right back bicep pieces.

- Need help with filling unneeded holes in the future.

- Need possible help with legs after I cut them.

- Need to fix back to be longer

 

What I need help with right now

- I feel there are some gaps on pieces that are too wide at the butt and front of the pieces. I feel some strips are cut too short which worries me

- Idea on how to do a hot water bath properly

- Steps on filling holes that are unwanted, I know about 3 different thicknesses of abs paste. Just don't know the steps after using it

- Looking over my cover strips. I have chosen to do 2 different styles which I feel might hurt me. One is the movie with the 2 45 degree cuts on the end which are on the legs. The other is almost rounded and show up on the arms.

- Between the cover strips and armor there is a tiny gap for some pieces, is this bad?

- My thighs seem to be okay but, I can't tell.

- What are some mistakes that just CAN NOT be fixed so I can watch out for that.

 

 

I really do appreciate all the help that I will receive, hoping this was not too long. I will be posting the legs and body tomorrow, both are not put together and it's late. Again I look forward to joining the 501st in future and contributing at events and things to come, I really love what you guys do for charity work and it influenced myself to pursue the 501st.

 

Thank you! 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Welcome, Larry, and congrats on your build thread!  

I realize that you want to get your armor built as soon as possible, but it's paramount that you don'r rush.  Consider it more of a marathon than a sprint.  Trust me, it will pay off in the end.

 

I'll start you out with a few suggestions, and I'm sure others will add some as well, but keep asking as many questions as you like and posting photos! 

 

1.  Since you will be eventually aiming for Centurion, I would go ahead and remove the return edge on your wrists before you glue them together.  This includes the area in the "hump".  You can also remove those edges in a lot of other places and still be screen accurate. 

 

    

 

You can also remove those edges in a lot of other places and still be screen accurate.  Note how the "scoop" is cut out on the top of the forearm below.  This keeps that return edge from cutting into you while bending your arm (holding your E-11).

 

 

You should also remove that entire area on the top(s) of the thighs.  I suggest removing all the return edges from the tops.  As they are now that point will poke into you and possibly snag your undersuit, plus, removing those edges will stop possible cutting into and chafing in your, uh... well let's just say "nether regions".

 

      

 

As for the ABS paste, this is what I suggest:

 

1.  Make it to about the consistency of toothpaste. 

2.  Put a piece of painter's tape behind the hole(s)... (stops it from leaking through).

3.  Add just enough to fill the hole with a tiny bit extra.  Do NOT overfill it too much.

4.  Wait 24 hours for it to dry, then sand down with fine grit sandpaper until smooth.

5. Polish out the scratches with NOVUS or a similar product.

 

[NerdBird]

Thank you so much justjoseph63 for the reply and helpful tips that you have provided

Quote

1.  Since you will be eventually aiming for Centurion, I would go ahead and remove the return edge on your wrists before you glue them together.  This includes the area in the "hump".  You can also remove those edges in a lot of other places and still be screen accurate. 

I absolutely agree with you there! I should look at this as a project that has no due date, just have fun with it and learn from everything that I do. I am just so excited and I need to reign it in and take a deep breath.

 

Quote

You can also remove those edges in a lot of other places and still be screen accurate.  Note how the "scoop" is cut out on the top of the forearm below.  This keeps that return edge from cutting into you while bending your arm (holding your E-11).

As for pointing out the return edges being removed from the forearms I would have never thought of removing them completely. Not a bad idea because I could feel the forearms being a little tight when I tested the return edges not existing, I also could barely fit my hand through due to them as well.

 

Quote

You should also remove that entire area on the top(s) of the thighs.  I suggest removing all the return edges from the tops.  As they are now that point will poke into you and possibly snag your undersuit, plus, removing those edges will stop possible cutting into and chafing in your, uh... well let's just say "nether regions".

Yikes, I never thought about that. Reading that made me instantly want to go fix that issue now. 

 

Quote

As for the ABS paste, this is what I suggest:

 

1.  Make it to about the consistency of toothpaste. 

2.  Put a piece of painter's tape behind the hole(s)... (stops it from leaking through).

3.  Add just enough to fill the hole with a tiny bit extra.  Do NOT overfill it too much.

4.  Wait 24 hours for it to dry, then sand down with fine grit sandpaper until smooth.

5. Polish out the scratches with NOVUS or a similar product.

So NOVUS is what I have been seeing people having in the background of full kit sales. I would have never noticed that was for polishing because I have never heard of it.

 

I really appreciate all the tips and I will be taking them to mind as I continue this journey to the 501st. I appreciate the first thing you pointed out because it helps me know that I need to slow down and enjoy the build. The pictures that you included are amazing! I would probably be scratching my head for hours trying to figure out what you meant for some parts when it came to cutting out the return edges. Thank you so much! I am sure everyone has felt the same way i feel now on their first build and that is the fear of making an irreversible mistake. Going to start working on the forearms right now, then move on to fixing those scary points on the thighs 

Edited May 26, 2019 by NerdBird

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Build to your speed it's not a race and always check the gallery section when in doubt .

 

Here's another useful thread (you may want to check those ab/kidney rivet spacings) 

 

Good luck and looking forward to seeing the progress

 

 

[NerdBird]

I looked over the ab/kidney rivet spacings and I am at 55mm between each one and 20 mm from the top. I followed Uswrath's rivet spacing for when he did his Anovos build. They do line up it's just difficult to get them there and I think it's due to the back being short. If I get the chance I will put the body on tomorrow to show what I am dealing with there. I do appreciate that link though, lots of visual help that I love to see. I know when it comes to projects like these It's great to have visuals.

[NerdBird]

First, thank you everyone that has posted some helpful ideas, tips, links, and much more. Just from what I have received it has helped me out a lot and feel comfortable on how I am doing. I have made sure I am slowing down because I will have this build done one day and that day does not have to be tomorrow.

 

So today I have done a lot of work on improvements and getting some things ready. I stopped by the store to get some acetone to create the abs slurry, have that in the works right now. I stopped by a Michael's to pick up some Testers: glossy white, I had 2 different kinds of whites that I got from Hobby Lobby, one being "white" and the other "glossy classic white" just due to the fact I could not find "glossy white". When I was at the Hobby Lobby they had 2 white colors but, they were labeled "white" so there was no difference besides on the bottle saying gl. and fl. Turns out that stands for Glossy and Flat, wish I knew that because I had actually bought the glossy white and never knew that's what I had till I got the one from Michael's. I am happy that I have extra glossy white now so there is nothing wrong with it. I used the glossy white and the glossy classic white on a test piece, I must be color blind because the glossy classic white looks like the white on the Anovos armor.

 

Went back to the forearms and shaved off the strips, cleaned off the E6000, and trimmed them to hide the return edge. They are now drying with the strips on the front sides. Hope these look a lot better and able to pass for centurion when I go for it

 

I have also trimmed up both places on the thighs where those nasty tips were, looks A LOT better now. One of the thigh's cover strips slipped while drying so I had to spend some time fixing that.

 

I also have noticed a gap on the thigh pieces, I figured all I would need to do is use the abs paste to fill those up, sand, and buff it out. Would this look bad? Is there another way I should approach it?

 

When I went to put together the forearms I accidentally mixed up the strips and cut the longest one so I am right now repairing it so it will look better.

 

I am very worried on how my armor will appear once I get close to the finishing line one day. I noticed that I was not trimming the cover strips to the correct length today so I am worried they may look silly. I have all the strips parts that have been cut off so I can do a fix if need be but, I want to know if this is a major issue.

 

I have slowed down my pace and made sure I am triple checking things, which still surprises myself that I made that mistake with the strip, but it happens. I am loving this whole process and the opportunity to learn some neat little tricks. Right now I am stuck on how to approach the legs. Looking them over I can't tell which ones go together. 

On Ukswrath's build, he talks about how some customers say pieces 24/27 and 25/28 go together. It's weird but, they look the same to me. What I am going to do right now is trim them down to where all have 10mm for the cover strip on each piece to have a total on 20mm, so far I have 1 done. I have another one trimmed a bit but, I had to take a break so it's not completely cut. I will post an update on those pieces tomorrow because I should be able to make more progress to where I can have them taped together for a fitting. Maybe someone can help me figure out how to shape them if need be.

 

Let me know if you see anything that I should change or make sure to keep in mind. I was not able to piece together the body today, it was so lovely outside I got distracted with other things. Thank you so much everyone for the help!

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

In a perfect scenario, the cover strips on the front of the thighs should extend all the way from the top down to the top of the bottom ridge.  Since you may not have extra ABS strips to replace those, you should be able to fill in the gap(s) with ABS paste, which would give you a cleaner look.

 

    

 

"I also have noticed a gap on the thigh pieces, I figured all I would need to do is use the abs paste to fill those up, sand, and buff it out. Would this look bad? Is there another way I should approach it"?  

Unless they are loose, I would leave them as is.

 

 

Keep the questions coming!  

[NerdBird]

Thank you for the heads up about the gaps on the top and bottom of the strips. First time using that abs paste last night and man that stuff is incredible. I used it to reattach a small portion to the forearm back strip and it looks great.  

 

I will probably do this method to fix the rest of the ones that have a gap if they are too big of a deal. 

 

Great to know that I should not worry about that gap on the thigh piece, it does not look bad and it doesn't seen to be peeling away so I am going to leave it alone for now. Like you said, if they become loose in the future then I will do it then.

 

Is it common for troopers to fix/modify their suits once they have been accepted by the 501st?

 

Also what are some good sources for these things that I am still missing. 

-E11 blaster, I know of DoopyDoo's blaster 

-Gloves, Trooperbay?

-Neckseal, I was thinking of imperial boots but it doesn't look great

 

Last what is a god material to put into a helmet for the support? Any places to get that? The image for the helmet on https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41016-billgrams-the-one-stop-shop/ says "foam" and I am not sure what foam it's talking about.

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

21 minutes ago, NerdBird said:

Is it common for troopers to fix/modify their suits once they have been accepted by the 501st?

It depends, but it's not recommended to change out any actual pieces.  Some Garrisons may require you to inform the GML in that case, but if it is an upgrade there shouldn't be a problem.  If you have questions about a particular item for level 2 or 3 always feel free to ask one of the Deployment Officer staff.

 

Also what are some good sources for these things that I am still missing. 

-E11 blaster, I know of DoopyDoo's blaster 

Doopydoos is great if you want to build your own.  Sometimes they are out of stock, so if you decide to go that route jump on it when they are available.  Shipping is much better than it used to be, but still expect to wait several weeks.

You can also take it to the next level of accuracy with one of Tino's awesome E-11 upgrade kits.  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28444-fs-completion-sets-for-e-11-resin-kits-with-worldwide-tracked-shipping-and-paypal/

 

 

-Gloves, Trooperbay?

Always a good choice.  If you have small to medium size hands I have an extra pair (new) that I can send you if you want to just pay postage.  PM me if interested.

 

-Neckseal, I was thinking of imperial boots but it doesn't look great

In my opinion, Darman makes one of the best neck seals you can find,  Made to order (custom fit) and available with either Velcro or zipper closure.  I have several of his, and I personally prefer the Velcro type.

 

Last what is a god material to put into a helmet for the support? Any places to get that? The image for the helmet on https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41016-billgrams-the-one-stop-shop/ says "foam" and I am not sure what foam it's talking about.

First, see f you will even need support in the top.  I had foam in the top of mine, but it made it sit too high on my noggin, giving me that "bobblehead" look,  It sat so high that I was constantly tilting it forward just to be able to see!  I removed the foam in the top and solved both problems.

 

 

[NerdBird]

This is some fantastic information and great sources! I haven't checked if DoopyDoo's was in stock but, I will be doing that after this post. For the gloves, I will have to measure my hands to see what they are so I will get back to you on that one. Appreciate the offer!

I have come across something after using that abs paste on the cover strip

I don't think it will show well in these photos but, on one side there is a visible line from where the pieces were put together and on the other a lot of excess was smoothed on that side. What I am getting at is that you can see that it was attached on both sides. Would more abs fix this issue? How about the Novus polish kit fix it? I am going to wait to work on it till I get some feed back. Maybe I will get my girlfriends good camera and use that for a better photo right now to show what i am dealing with.

[NerdBird]

Alright so this is the front that I was going to use but, it has that massive crack from where I attached it

 

[NerdBird]

Working on the shins/calves and it's not looking bad after cutting them down to the 20mm. I am curious if I have them on the correct legs and if they look good. Besides that bicep that I am going to need to form, this part has been something I have been worried about. Let me know if it looks like I have the correct pieces together and on the correct legs. Thanks for the help guys!

[TK20187[TK]]

Working on the shins/calves and it's not looking bad after cutting them down to the 20mm. I am curious if I have them on the correct legs and if they look good. Besides that bicep that I am going to need to form, this part has been something I have been worried about. Let me know if it looks like I have the correct pieces together and on the correct legs. Thanks for the help guys!

Shins are looking good and on the correct legs (noting the inside halves have the longer ankle piece). I'd also suggest if you have your boots to test fit with them on as the shins will sit highers as well as the top of the boot adds width to your leg.

 

(Amended and apologies for any confusion, pieces are matched up correctly, just on the wrong legs)

 

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[daryldoak[TK]]

14 hours ago, NerdBird said:

Working on the shins/calves and it's not looking bad after cutting them down to the 20mm. I am curious if I have them on the correct legs and if they look good. Besides that bicep that I am going to need to form, this part has been something I have been worried about. Let me know if it looks like I have the correct pieces together and on the correct legs. Thanks for the help guys!

This issue is not critical to approval, but I would offer that you have the shins paired-up wrong, and that the longer ankle edge goes on the inside.  (see Ukwrath's build to confirm)

 

The easiest way to tell is to look at how the ridges match at the top of the shins.  One set has a fat ridge, and one has a skinny ridge.

 

Right leg.  Correct on left, incorrect on right:

 

Left leg.  Correct on left, incorrect on right:

 

 

[NerdBird]

This issue is not critical to approval, but I would offer that you have the shins paired-up wrong, and that the longer ankle edge goes on the inside.  (see Ukwrath's build to confirm)
 
The easiest way to tell is to look at how the ridges match at the top of the shins.  One set has a fat ridge, and one has a skinny ridge.
 
Right leg.  Correct on left, incorrect on right:

 
Left leg.  Correct on left, incorrect on right:

 
 

Thank you for the heads up!
Man they look so similar, after reading the first reply I actually went ahead with the gluing. I am glad to hear it's not critical to approval so I feel relaxed about it if it's not right. I do appreciate the info on it, if it doesn't look right all together I plan to redo it. When I was doing the fitting, if I swapped the pieces it did not look like it was going to work.

By the way I am dealing with an issue when it comes to abs paste. How do I hide something that has been repaired? If you sand too far it will show a phantom of they damage. What's a good way to approach it?


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[NerdBird]

Alright here's an update for the body. I was able to put it together today and it's very uncomfortable where it's at right now. I know my buttons are off for the belt, I used the Anovos guide and it put me off a bit. Left is sitting at less than 20mm from front edge and 25mm from bottom edge. Right is 50mm away from front edge and 15mm from bottom edge.

Now for the front I know it's low but, even at this height it's against my unmentionables and rubbing my inner thighs. 

 

The sides are off by a bit and I think this is due to the back being too short.

 

The back is high up on my body. I am not sure if I have everything put together correctly but, the butt piece is about to become a waist piece. The shoulder straps are stabbing my collar bone so it's difficult to keep this suit on for more than a minute. I also have an odd bend that occurred on the lower right of the kidney edge. Is it bad?

 

Any ideas on how to fix some of my issues? Maybe I am not putting the pieces together correctly or maybe a piece needs a hot water bath. Let me know, thank you everyone!

Edited May 29, 2019 by NerdBird

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Sorry for the late reply Larry did you get the shins sorted out? Everything else is coming along nicely

[NerdBird]

1 hour ago, ukswrath said:

Sorry for the late reply Larry did you get the shins sorted out? Everything else is coming along nicely

You're all good! I really appreciate you taking some time to look at this for me. Let me take a photo of them right now. Also for the body, what's a good way to align everything? How low should the ab piece be? I feel my chest and ab are too separated and if I raise the ab piece it will not fit. Any ideas?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

3 minutes ago, NerdBird said:

You're all good! I really appreciate you taking some time to look at this for me. Let me take a photo of them right now. Also for the body, what's a good way to align everything? How low should the ab piece be? I feel my chest and ab are too separated and if I raise the ab piece it will not fit. Any ideas?

The amount of Ab exposed depends on the trooper. Good rule of thumb is so long as the chest plate covers the Ab you're golden.

Edited May 29, 2019 by ukswrath

[NerdBird]

1 hour ago, ukswrath said:

The amount of Ab exposed depends on the trooper. Good rule of thumb is so long as the chest plate covers the Ab you're golden.

Awesome! I am very happy to hear that. I am 6'2" and nothing ever fits me right so I think I will have to play with it a little. I plan to do the hot water bath on the back shoulder straps to bend them so it will fit my back more

 

I let everything dry over night and this is where I am at.

The Front of the shins

 

The back of the shins

 

The back on the right is overlapping a lot so I was thinking that a hot water bath would help. What do you think?

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

"Now for the front I know it's low but, even at this height it's against my unmentionables and rubbing my inner thighs". 

 

You can (and should) trim all the return edges off of the cod.  Once that is done, use some fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the edges.

 

[NerdBird]

1 hour ago, justjoseph63 said:

"Now for the front I know it's low but, even at this height it's against my unmentionables and rubbing my inner thighs". 

 

You can (and should) trim all the return edges off of the cod.  Once that is done, use some fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the edges.

 

That's a great thing to point out. I will be making sure to cut that return edge off of the cod piece, currently I have only sanded it down so I will make sure to work on that tonight.

 

Thank you for the heads up on everything so far everyone!

 

On a side note I will have to make a new forum I guess due to how many photos have been uploaded to this forum.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

1 hour ago, NerdBird said:

 

On a side note I will have to make a new forum I guess due to how many photos have been uploaded to this forum.

No need for that, Larry.  The more pictures the merrier!  It is important to keep all your build questions/photos in one area, that way not only can you keep track, but others who may be following it and have similar issues can learn from it.

[NerdBird]

No need for that, Larry.  The more pictures the merrier!  It is important to keep all your build questions/photos in one area, that way not only can you keep track, but others who may be following it and have similar issues can learn from it.

Oh okay perfect! Everytime I have uploaded my photos the number for the size has gone down so that's why I was under the influence that I would need to make a new one. For the last post I was only able to upload up to 30 kilobytes


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[Pretzel]

Larry, 

 

You are doing magnificent work. Looking forward to your progress!