chiefbonan's TK ANH Stunt Build (Centurion)

[chiefbonan]

Small update:

New vs old neckseal:

 

Gluing the ab buttons on, hope they look alright. Once on I can line up the belt properly. Some of the buttons on need to be repainted though like the top left one.

[chiefbonan]

Okay so I hope these sit right, what do you all think:

 

EDIT: I wanted you guys to check the alignment and if it is good!

Edited May 13, 2020 by chiefbonan

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Looks good. 

[chiefbonan]

Separated the calves (with a butter knife), now in their respective sides.  We will be gluing them back tomorrow. We do have to do some minor sanding and cutting to make them fit. Hopefully they will look much better once done!

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

7 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Okay so I hope these sit right, what do you all think:

 

EDIT: I wanted you guys to check the alignment and if it is good!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

2 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Separated the calves (with a butter knife), now in their respective sides.  We will be gluing them back tomorrow. We do have to do some minor sanding and cutting to make them fit. Hopefully they will look much better once done!

You'll do it good mate, the advantage of using E6000 is that, when needed, you can remove and glue again with out damaging the plastic. I had to  reshape two shins months agos , and they  were glued with Superglue , I almost mess the pieces with the cutter. 

[chiefbonan]

3 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

You'll do it good mate, the advantage of using E6000 is that, when needed, you can remove and glue again with out damaging the plastic. I had to  reshape two shins months agos , and they  were glued with Superglue , I almost mess the pieces with the cutter. 

luckily we glued them together with E6000, the arms are glued with an ABS Glue, which would very likely split the plastic if we tried to sepereate them. Good thing my arms are put together right

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

17 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Good thing my arms are put together right

 fortunately . good luck. 

[chiefbonan]

Helmet is fully finished! I'm very happy with it. I'm pretty sure it is cert 3 ready too. Any ways we can push it even further with accuracy? Not that we need to, but if additions can be made perhaps we can add them!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

18 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Helmet is fully finished! I'm very happy with it.

Yeah Thomas, It looks great. congratulations !!  

[chiefbonan]

Just some photos of the new claves before we stick them, they seem to fit a bit better, the sizes are pretty much the same too

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

4 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Helmet is fully finished! I'm very happy with it. I'm pretty sure it is cert 3 ready too. Any ways we can push it even further with accuracy? Not that we need to, but if additions can be made perhaps we can add them!

 

Looking GREAT, Thomas.. NICE JOB!

[chiefbonan]

Thank you all for your kind words. Does anyone know the most effcient way to attach the soft belt to the hard belt? Thanks!

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

To attach the cloth belt to the ABS belt, you can use single cap rivets or pop rivets as seen in the lower photo).  You will also need two snaps to hold the belt in place.  One side gets attached to the cloth belt, one side gets attached to the ab plate.  I suggest installing the snaps first, as you won't be able to set them once the rivets are in place.

 

 

 

IMPORTANT:  When attaching the snaps to the ab-plate, be sure your positioning is correct so that the top of the ABS belt sits high enough.  Ideally, it should touch the bottom of the lower ab-buttons as seen below.

 

  

[chiefbonan]

6 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

To attach the cloth belt to the ABS belt, you can use single cap rivets or pop rivets as seen in the lower photo).  You will also need two snaps to hold the belt in place.  One side gets attached to the cloth belt, one side gets attached to the ab plate.  I suggest installing the snaps first, as you won't be able to set them once the rivets are in place.

 

 

 

IMPORTANT:  When attaching the snaps to the ab-plate, be sure your positioning is correct so that the top of the ABS belt sits high enough.  Ideally, it should touch the bottom of the lower ab-buttons as seen below.

 

  

Ahhh okay. We have pop rivets, but don't they leave some excess on the inside of the belt? wouldn't that affect how the belt sits/ push it out?

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

As long as the rivet pin (blue arrow) is short enough you shouldn't have an issue.  The mandrel (orange arrow) will pull it down pretty tight and reduce the length of the top part significantly.  I would test in on a scrap piece of ABS first to make sure the square button covers sit tightly against the ABS belt.

 

[chiefbonan]

Does the belt need to line up along the back perfectly like this?:

 

Or can it sit slightly up a bit like this? Mine seems to go up a bit by 3/4 inch that's all

 

[chiefbonan]

Okay! so we have finished most of the belt, tell me what you think! It sits a teeny tiny bit underneath the button that it has to overlap, but see what you guys think. Also I was wearing it a little tight, might affect it:

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Since you aiming for Level 3, (), one thing you will need to do is trim back the end of the ABS belt a tad.  As per the CRL for Centurion, the "corners of the plastic ammo belt shall be trimmed at a 45 degree angle (you nailed that part) that meets the outer edges of the cloth belt".  Super easy fix!

 

                                                                                              Reference images

            

 

The position of the ABS belt is acceptable, but if you could bring it up just a teeeeny bit more that would be terrific!  

 

 

 

The angle of the cloth belt is a bit askew, and ideally the entire belt should sit more more horizontally. 

  

 

I say ideally because the majority of the ones seen onscreen were either horizontal or close to it.  We realize of course that troopers come in all shapes and sizes, but with your build you should be able to pull this off.

 

       

 

I know it seems we are throwing a lot of curve-balls at ya', but you seem to be a perfectionist and have come through with flying colors with all the suggestions we have made.  As a D.O. this means a lot, and I am looking forward to the day that you become the newest Centurion of the Knightfall Garrison!

 

 

 

 

 

[chiefbonan]

@justjoseph63 wow! Thanks for all of that info! Seems like easy fixes. The front could come up by a cm, was thinking of putting Velcro behind it to keep it up. I had it on a bit tight so that’s why it’s riding up a bit (and going down at the front). I saw one video from RS Prop master were on the right side they only had the upper snap attached and then used the belt to close the lower half if you see what I mean. The lower snap on the right side is a hard to get to once I have everything on. But it’s hard to suit up yourself!

[chiefbonan]

Hello all, sorry for the slowdown on updates, I have been busy getting my new Etsy store up and running.

What is the best way to attach the belt box halves together? Thanks!

https://i.imgur.com/W7I5vP8.jpg 

[tarok[TK]]

Hello all, sorry for the slowdown on updates, I have been busy getting my new Etsy store up and running.

What is the best way to attach the belt box halves together? Thanks!

https://i.imgur.com/W7I5vP8.jpg 

Rivet the elastic loop to the rear of the box, then just e6000 the front to the back.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Thomas. here a couple of photos of one method. I prefer to use double cap rivets. for more scree accuracy, the elastic is placed outside as the reference photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this can help.  Cheers

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by TKSpartan
add info

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

16 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Hello all, sorry for the slowdown on updates, I have been busy getting my new Etsy store up and running.

What is the best way to attach the belt box halves together? Thanks!

https://i.imgur.com/W7I5vP8.jpg 

E6000 inside one side then push together, if you apply some tape to the back and wrap around you can makes sure they stay nice and flat while the glue is drying.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hey trooper,

Great job so far.

Personally, I’d consider aligning the top of the ab plate with the top of the kidney. This will lead to a neater appearance at the top, plus it’ll help with where the belt sits on the kidney.



Aligning the top will be more beneficial than the bottom as the bottom will be partly obscured by the belt. :-)