mlarsen's ANH TK Build (AP trimmed kit)

[mlarsen[TK]]

BBB Day is here for me!  Arrived this afternoon and I am excited to get started.  This will be my first build, I have been looking over the forums a lot lately in preparation for the arrival.  I am planning on starting on the helmet first, I will have lots of questions along the way.

 

So it begins...

 

Armor : Authentic Props

Soft Hand Guards : Authentic Props

TD Clips : Authentic Props

Holster : Authentic Props

Gloves : Authentic Props

Canvas Belt : Authentic Props

 

S-Trim : Trooperbay

Helmet Dark Lens : Trooperbay

 

Neck Seal : Darman's Prop's

Undersuit : Amazon

Boots : Imperial Boots

E-11 Blaster : Quest Design Canada - pending

Fans : banggod.com

Comms : Not sure yet

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by mlarsen

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Matthew, Welcomer to FISD and I'mm Happy to see another Stormtrooper is on the way!!.

 

Good luck with your build and enjoy the process . Hope to see photos  soon.

 

  

[wook1138[TK]]

Congrats on BBB day!  AP is a great kit. Hopefully you are aiming for higher level approval. It is easiest to do from the get go and the AP kit makes it pretty easy. Post your progress pics and ask plenty of questions. Good luck. 

[mlarsen[TK]]

Looking at the faceplate of the helmet from the outside which side does each decal go on?  I will position them pencil width from the check.

Edited August 13, 2019 by mlarsen

[ABS80]

35 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

Looking at the faceplate of the helmet from the outside which side does each decal go on?  I will position them pencil width from the check.

Facing the face plate from the outside, the left side decal on photo goes left,  basically the decals are positioned properly on the sheet

Also make sure to use the water/soap technique to apply the grey decals to avoid any air bubbles, just put a very tiny drop of dish washing soap in a bowl of water, wet surface of helmet I actually dip decals in the water apply on helmet then gently with your finger squeegee out water from center to extremities. For the round circles for the AB buttons apply with pressing down heat up with blow dryer then press down, they will perfectly comform to bump will look like paint.

Quote

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by ABS80

[mlarsen[TK]]

Should I clean the surface of the face plate somehow before I apply the decals or do they stick pretty well?

[ABS80]

13 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

Should I clean the surface of the face plate somehow before I apply the decals or do they stick pretty well?

I use windex to clean helmet to remove any dust/ particles  that can be stuck under decals.

Edited August 4, 2019 by ABS80

[mlarsen[TK]]

Ok so I got most of the parts painted.  Still need to paint the hovi tips white, install mesh behind mouth, install lens, counter sink ear screws and paint white.

I need to go back and touch up/clean up the paint a bit.  The ear screws don't really fall inline with the trapezoids but is this ok?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Edited August 13, 2019 by mlarsen

[ABS80]

16 hours ago, mlarsen said:

Ok so I got most of the parts painted.  Still need to paint the hovi tips white, install mesh behind mouth, install lens, counter sink ear screws and paint white.

I need to go back and touch up/clean up the paint a bit.  The ear screws don't really fall inline with the trapezoids but is this ok?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

its ok for the screws, not all movie helmet the screws lined up, I would just remove the last blue stripe thats under ears no two helmet had the same amount of blue stripes, actually many helmet had different amount of stripes for each side and finally the grey frown you need to paint grey after the last hole which is not drilled out, check my avatar photo.

Edited August 5, 2019 by ABS80

[wook1138[TK]]

Here are some images of frowns for reference.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work on the helmet, just watch the pain on the teeth, from the CRL: Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area

You may just want to remove any excess paint from the gums, this can be easily done with toothpicks  

[mlarsen[TK]]

I have been cleaning up my helmet a bit and started on the cover strips over the last few days.  When the ridges of the forearm are flush I am able to put my wrist through so I cut the cover strips to 15cm and glued them on the outside, let dry and will glue the inner piece on.  I cut the cover strip a bit long but made it flush with one end and will trim the other flush.  I forgot to round off the corners of the cover strips on the bicep pieces but it doesn't seem to rough.  The bicep cover strips still need to be trimmed flush.

Any red flags anyone sees?

Edited August 13, 2019 by mlarsen

[wook1138[TK]]

Looks good to me. 

Can't tell for sure from the picture, but be sure the coverstrip covers the entire raised area.

Just in case you didn't notice - Mark's cover strip material has a "good" side and a "bad" side.  One side is more glossy than the other.  Also, be sure to rough up the gluing surfaces with some sandpaper - it helps the E6000 hold.

Keep up the good work!

[mlarsen[TK]]

22 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

Looks good to me. 

Can't tell for sure from the picture, but be sure the coverstrip covers the entire raised area.

Just in case you didn't notice - Mark's cover strip material has a "good" side and a "bad" side.  One side is more glossy than the other.  Also, be sure to rough up the gluing surfaces with some sandpaper - it helps the E6000 hold.

Keep up the good work!

I did notice the "good" and "bad" side to the cover strip material.

I do have a little raised edge remaining that is visible.  Should I redo this and make the cover strips 20cm?

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, mlarsen said:

I did notice the "good" and "bad" side to the cover strip material.

I do have a little raised edge remaining that is visible.  Should I redo this and make the cover strips 20cm?

I'm having trouble making out the details in the picture, but from what I can tell, yeah... I would adjust the coverstrips to cover more of the raised part.  Maybe take a close up picture and post before you start to pull things apart.

 

The tricky part is that you don't want the coverstrips to be too wide.  20mm is getting a bit wide, but if you are a bigger guy then it will look proportional on you.  I'm a bit smaller, so what I ended up doing is splitting the difference - I made my coverstrips about 17mm wide and had about a mm of the raised area showing on either side. 

 

If you do go with the 20mm coverstrips, keep in mind that your thigh and front shin coverstrips will need to be wider than 20mm to keep the proportions right. 

[mlarsen[TK]]

I think I am going to redo the coverstrips,  too much of the raised edge showing on the biceps and forearms something I overlooked originally.  I plan to cut a few mm off of each of the raised edges, then cover with 15mm coverstrip.  Should still allow plenty of room for it to fit.  Agreed?  

Edited August 13, 2019 by mlarsen

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

For fronts of thighs and shins it's 20mm, rear thighs 20, rear shins 25, arms 16mm they are the ideal sizing.

 

Before trimming any pieces make sure you have trial fitted and you have room to trim.

 

Also pays to check out the gallery sections for references, some have a large gap between the raised sections and coverstrips

 

 

[troopermaster]

4 hours ago, mlarsen said:

I think I am going to redo the coverstrips,  too much of the raised edge showing on the biceps and forearms something I overlooked originally.  I plan to cut a few mm off of each of the raised edges, then cover with 15mm coverstrip.  Should still allow plenty of room for it to fit.  Agreed?  

My advice is to make the joining strips as wide you need them. 20mm wide strips is not uncommon to see on the original armour. Make sure the armour fits you properly and as comfortable as possible and cut the strips accordingly. No point having the armour cutting into you just to have a 15mm strip.

 

And I agree with Greg. Chances are that if you need wider strips on your arms, you will need wider strips on your legs, so go with 25mm wide or wider if you need to. I'm a firm believer of making the armour fit you a priority, rather than trying to confirm to the CRL guidelines if it means making the armour uncomfortable or hacking it to death. Obviously the guidelines are what you are aiming for but not everyone can achieve this and some modifications are necessary.

[mlarsen[TK]]

Thanks everyone for the advice!  I will look at this again this weekend.

[mlarsen[TK]]

Spent the last few days reworking the biceps and forearms.  I trimmed them a little and they seem to have a better fit.

 

My next question is the ab plate and kidney plate seem a bit bulky and boxy when I dry fit them on.  It is pre-trimmed but can I cut the kidney plate back a bit as shown in the photos below?

Edited August 19, 2019 by mlarsen

[wook1138[TK]]

Yes you can. 

[mlarsen[TK]]

I am not going to cut as I described above, a little more test fitting and it seems fine.

 

Should the bottom of the chest plate and the bottom of the back plate ideally line up?  I am assuming there should be some play with it once the strapping is installed.

[wook1138[TK]]

50 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

Should the bottom of the chest plate and the bottom of the back plate ideally line up?

Not necessarily.  The back plate will be flush to the top of the kidney while the chest piece will freely overlap the abdomen. 

[mlarsen[TK]]

Are chicago screws or split rivets ok to attach ammo belt to canvas belt, white straps to drop boxes, holster to canvas belt?

[wook1138[TK]]

Yes.  In fact, the standard for the holster to belt connection is Chicago screws.  I used single cap rivets for the ammo belt to canvas belt connection and the straps to drop boxes connection.  A lot of people also use rapid rivets (or whatever they are called - the ones you attach with the rivet gun). 

 

The rivets on the belt get covered by little ABS caps and you can't seen the connection on the back of the drop boxes, so you are free to use whatever works for you.  The holster connection is the only one that is seen.