chiefbonan's TK ANH Stunt Build (Centurion)

[chiefbonan]

Hello from Australia! Me and my father are building our first armour together (to fit on me) ! I've been asking around on the community for help, which lead to someone suggest we make build thread like everyone else. My dad is very excited to help me build this armour, we are spending more time togethr on it which has been good. Me and my dad used to build heaps of plane/tank models together when I was younger, so it feels just like that again. Everyone has been super helpful and nice on here it's great. (Now I'm starting to think he wants his own armour which I'm thinking he should!)

 

So we've finished (so far) the two forearms and the two biceps before I made this thread, the right arm pieces can be seen below. We are going to start the torso portion tomorrow to fit to my body which will be fun, then eventually moving onto the legs. Help and advice will be much appriciated! 

Edited January 28, 2020 by chiefbonan

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, chiefbonan said:

we are spending more time togethr on it which has been good

Hi Thomas and welcome to FISD, the time you both are spending togheter is the most valuable part in the building process so far, your arms are looking good.

 

Here you can find a lot of building threads that can give some tips and technics for your project. Also, you can ask whatever you need and I'm pretty sure that some experienced troopers here are willing to help.

 

You may want to take a look to the following forum section :

 

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/80-anh-build-threads/

 

Looking fordward for your progress,  cheers

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by TKSpartan
word correction

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking great so far, Thomas!  Nice to see you are using interior cover strips, which will add strength to the joins.  These are especially important for the shin (calf) pieces, which get a lot of use from opening and closing them while suiting up.

Keep the photos coming, and if I could make a recommendation it would be that when in doubt, ask before cutting or gluing.   

 

[chiefbonan]

1 minute ago, justjoseph63 said:

Looking great so far, Thomas!  Nice to see you are using interior cover strips, which will add strength to the joins.  These are especially important for the shin (calf) pieces, which get a lot of use from opening and closing them while suiting up.

Keep the photos coming, and if I could make a recommendation it would be that when in doubt, ask before cutting or gluing.   

 

Hey! You where the guy that told me to make a build thread! I see you are very decorated. Me and Dad are pretty new to this sort of thing (stormtrooper armour making that is), but we do have plenty of modelling/tool experience which is coming in handy.

 

Tomorrow we plan on sizing the torso to my body, as we felt it would be best to size the torso area before going ahead and making the legs, just so they look nice and well fit. 

I was thinking to myself to reinforce the entire inner section of the shin piece as it will be having the most strain on it, glad to know most people do it!

 

We don't have E6000 in Australia, so we tested 5 different superglues and used the one that was the best. One of the glues, Selly's QuickFIX is working like a charm, so much so when we tried to rip it apart from the 2 test bits, it bent the plastic. Before building I was concerned about getting a decent glue. The only downside is that it comes in 3g tubes, but the first bottle has lasted both forearm pieces and bicep pieces!

 

I'm mainly going for the basic membership, but we've been following Mayo's popular build here: 

 

Even though he did go for the Centurion which I think you guys call it, it has been handy for the most part. Since we didn't want to go into the insane tedious details!

 

Just a few questions for you guys:

What is the best way to attach the shoulder straps to the back piece? Would I need to button or velcro it back?

 

-and-

 

Is it possible to trim the edges of the kidney/ab plate so they meet nicely on the sides?

 

 

We really appreciate all the help so far and going forward! Thank you!

[TheSwede[TK]]

7 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

he wants his own armour which I'm thinking he should!

Of course he should

And hey Thomas, regarding your questions:

For basic you can use velcro but if nicely curved they stay pretty much consistent were they should, Another option would be to use some 5mm white elastic as per Movie suits (se below)

Not really as the suit looks better when proportioned and not to small, if it´s big on you I would suggest some strategic padding instead. I guess we´ll see how it looks when you have the torso on what the best plan of attack should be

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

3 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Is it possible to trim the edges of the kidney/ab plate so they meet nicely on the sides?

Is it possible to trim the edges of the kidney/ab plate so they meet nicely on the sides?

 

Hi Thomas, the following link could be so usefull for the return edges matter.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

We don't have E6000 in Australia, so we tested 5 different superglues and used the one that was the best. 

 

Ebay is a great place for E6000, wonderful if you need to change/modify anything later, easily removable

 

FYI you can get smaller tubes of E6000 at Spotlight https://www.spotlightstores.com/e6000

[shadan[TK]]

+1 for E-6000 at Spotlight as @gmrhodes13said.

You can get it cheaper on sales etc through eBay but Spotlight if you need it in a hurry.

 

Where about here in Australia are you based?

EDIT: Ah Knightfall Garrison. Greetings from the Southern Cross Garrison!

Edited January 29, 2020 by shadan

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I do remember from the TAG (Terror Australis Garrison) days that there was someone in Knightfall that was able to get lower priced E6000, think they used to purchase in bulk  

[shadan[TK]]

That would have been handy. I go through so many tubes of that stuff!

Edited January 29, 2020 by shadan

[chiefbonan]

Hello all! 

 

4 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Ebay is a great place for E6000, wonderful if you need to change/modify anything later, easily removable

 

FYI you can get smaller tubes of E6000 at Spotlight https://www.spotlightstores.com/e6000

1 hour ago, shadan said:

+1 for E-6000 at Spotlight as @gmrhodes13said.

You can get it cheaper on sales etc through eBay but Spotlight if you need it in a hurry.

 

Where about here in Australia are you based?

EDIT: Ah Knightfall Garrison. Greetings from the Southern Cross Garrison!

Wow thanks for the responses! Just about to do some fitting for the torso. As for the answers about the E6000, sadly our local Spotlight didn't have any small tubes of E6000. I know that is the go-to glue for trooping, but the glue we have is working a treat! If we do need to get some, I'm sure I can find it cheap on ebay!

 

 

6 hours ago, TheSwede said:

Of course he should

And hey Thomas, regarding your questions:

For basic you can use velcro but if nicely curved they stay pretty much consistent were they should, Another option would be to use some 5mm white elastic as per Movie suits (se below)

Not really as the suit looks better when proportioned and not to small, if it´s big on you I would suggest some strategic padding instead. I guess we´ll see how it looks when you have the torso on what the best plan of attack should be

 

 

Hello, so I'm to understand that the female velcro can just stick right onto the tops of the back piece and the male just go underneath the shoulder strap? thank you!

 

 

5 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi Thomas, the following link could be so usefull for the return edges matter.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Thank you, me and Dad will definatly use this!

[shadan[TK]]

What kind of glue did you end up using, if you don’t mind me asking? Something that is able to be pulled apart without damaging your work is a must!

[chiefbonan]

Just now, shadan said:

What kind of glue did you end up using, if you don’t mind me asking? Something that is able to be pulled apart without damaging your work is a must!

Hello, we're using Sellys QuickFIX SUPAGLUE

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

14 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Hello, we're using Sellys QuickFIX SUPAGLUE

Just be careful with supalue, they can burn and leave discolouration, not so bad on white but really shows on black and red armor plastic  

[shadan[TK]]

I would really caution against using a Cyanoacrylate glue. I mean it will work and you’ll have strong joins, but you’ll need to be 100% certain that every join is exactly where it needs to be and not have to be changed down the line, or risk causing damage to your kit. 

That’s the beauty of E-6000, it’s super strong but it can be 100% cured and still be pulled apart with no damage to the plastic.
I go through heaps of it here in Canberra with one of my other projects. It’s quite easy to order in. 
 

[chiefbonan]

18 minutes ago, shadan said:

I would really caution against using a Cyanoacrylate glue. I mean it will work and you’ll have strong joins, but you’ll need to be 100% certain that every join is exactly where it needs to be and not have to be changed down the line, or risk causing damage to your kit. 

That’s the beauty of E-6000, it’s super strong but it can be 100% cured and still be pulled apart with no damage to the plastic.
I go through heaps of it here in Canberra with one of my other projects. It’s quite easy to order in. 
 

Thank for the precaution! We might end up getting some E6000

[shadan[TK]]

You can totally use CA glue of course!

Just trying to help prevent any future problems you may encounter  

[TheSwede[TK]]

2 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Hello, so I'm to understand that the female velcro can just stick right onto the tops of the back piece and the male just go underneath the shoulder strap? thank you!

Either way is fine

[chiefbonan]

So with the strapping that goes under the groin, I noticed some people have two silver buttons/rivers, are they required?

[Junos]

1 hour ago, chiefbonan said:

So with the strapping that goes under the groin, I noticed some people have two silver buttons/rivers, are they required?

Doubled up buttons / rivets on the strapping is to make the connection stronger, so there's less issues with the armor falling apart / getting disconnected when trooping. Better secured = Better life

[chiefbonan]

Hello, just have a few questions:

With my back piece the corners kind of jut downward, pushing the back plate up when it's resting on the kidney peice, should they be cut down flat?

 

And another, when I bend my kidney piece, to fit my body as if it is strapped/ being held down by a belt, it gets a bend, how to I remove that? Can I just cut that return edge off? thank you.

[Frank75139[501st]]

So with the strapping that goes under the groin, I noticed some people have two silver buttons/rivers, are they required?

You said you were planning on doing basic? There are snaps on the rear posterior plate in the groin which aren’t needed for basic and can be nonfunctioning. You can add them and use them as snaps and it’ll get you one step closer to EIB or Centurion if you choose. i personally use a “parachute buckle” to keep mine together. It’s a preference I’m not a snap fan.


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[Frank75139[501st]]

Hello, just have a few questions:

With my back piece the corners kind of jut downward, pushing the back plate up when it's resting on the kidney peice, should they be cut down flat?
 
And another, when I bend my kidney piece, to fit my body as if it is strapped/ being held down by a belt, it gets a bend, how to I remove that? Can I just cut that return edge off? thank you.

Try lifting the back piece up a bit and see if that helps? I’m not quite seeing what you mean with that one.

As for the other question. You can trim the return. Maybe some pics of you wearing it would help. I’m not sure if you said it or not but who is the armor maker?


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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

If you look below my signature (the images at the bottom of this post) you will see links to a few tutorials I have.  A few of these may come in handy, especially the Quick CRL reference Guide.  This will show you in detail the differences between Basic approval and the higher levels.

 

The actual CRL (Costume Reference Library) will also be a big help, which is located here.

 

The higher levels of EI and Centurion are actually not that hard to reach if you want to aim for screen accuracy but they do require a little more attention to detail.  These details are much easier to do during the build rather than after, but are not requirements.  In a worse-case scenario, @A.J. Hamler has an awesome tutorial on how to do that located here.  His armor is AM, but it would certainly work for you!

 

As for the back plate/kidney connection, I would hold off on that for now until you get to the actual strapping attachment.  Let's see how it fits first, as you may have no issues after all.  In a worse-case scenario, @A.J. Hamler has an awesome tutorial on how to do that located here.  His armor is AM, but it would certainly work for you! 

 

The same goes for bending the kidney.  I am not a fan of return edges on most armor parts, but that one is important to a degree, as it keeps the kidney from sliding over (or under) the bottom of the back plate.

 

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Forgot to add, try not to use CA (super) glue if possible.  As mentioned, if it gets on your armor it's danged near impossible to get off without a lot of work.  E-6000 really is the way to go, but be careful if you order from ebay... there are certain online retailer (including Europe) that are selling FAKE E-6000.  The genuine product is clearly marked Made in the USA, and has a batch number on each tube.  They do not sell to distributors in Asia, so if you try to save a few bucks by ordering from a seller there it is not the real stuff. If you have any doubts, you can contact the manufacturer at www.eclecticproducts.com, and they will let you know where to get it.  The fake stuff is garbage and will not hold up.