chiefbonan's TK ANH Stunt Build (Centurion)

[wook1138[TK]]

Hey Thomas, looking good so far!  As far as the fit of the chest piece, I wouldn't go trimming things just yet.  Check out the fit of the chest pieces on this pic and how the shoulder bells sit.  

 

There isn't much space between the shoulder bells and chest. 

 

If you want to trim anything, you could trim the shoulder bells a bit so they flare out at the bottom.  Check out the trooper second from the left - his left shoulder bell appears to be trimmed more at the botton (away from the chest).  Sorry I don't have a better picture - I am resource limited right now.  You can also see that the forearms sit pretty close to the bicep.  You want it to be comfortable to wear, but just remember it is easy to trim plastic off - it is tougher to put it back on. 

 

Keep up the great work.

[chiefbonan]

20 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

 

There isn't much space between the shoulder bells and chest. 

 

If you want to trim anything, you could trim the shoulder bells a bit so they flare out at the bottom.  Check out the trooper second from the left - his left shoulder bell appears to be trimmed more at the botton (away from the chest).  Sorry I don't have a better picture - I am resource limited right now.  You can also see that the forearms sit pretty close to the bicep.  You want it to be comfortable to wear, but just remember it is easy to trim plastic off - it is tougher to put it back on. 

 

Keep up the great work.

Hello! So I'm to understand when you mean trim the shoulder bell so like this? (sorry just a rough sketch, just in this sort of fashion):

 
 

[wook1138[TK]]

7 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Hello! So I'm to understand when you mean trim the shoulder bell so like this? (sorry just a rough sketch, just in this sort of fashion):
 
 

Yeah, sort of like this...


it curves away at the bottom.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited January 30, 2020 by wook1138

[chiefbonan]

2 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

Yeah, sort of like this...


it curves away at the bottom.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ahhh I see, I'm guessing this is still approveable up to cert 3? I was also thinking of taking the returns of the bells, and also on the sides of the chest plate. But i need to do more fittings, thank you mate

 

[wook1138[TK]]

4 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

ahhh I see, I'm guessing this is still approveable up to cert 3? I was also thinking of taking the returns of the bells, and also on the sides of the chest plate. But i need to do more fittings, thank you mate

 

Keep it subtle (more gradual than what I drew) and let it follow the curve of the chest piece and you should be fine.  If it helps with the shoulder bells catching on the chest piece, it is a easier fix the adjusting the chest piece.  

 

A DO like @TheSwede or @justjoseph63 can chime in about upper level approval.  But at the end of the day, if the shoulder bell nicely follows the edge of the chest with minimal gap, you should be golden.

 

People usually remove the returns from the bottom of the bells to help "push" them in to close the gap between the bells and chest.  You probably won't have to do that unless the return edges are uncomfortable for you.  

 

Yeah, your life will be a series of fittings for the next little while.  LOL.  But totally worth the effort. 

[TheSwede[TK]]

How shoulder bells idealy is trimmed. The left is what to aim for, bell from the Lucas archives and the right is a shepperton with a straight edge. On my phone so it was the best pic I had at the moment. 

I suggest you leave atleast a slightly return as it add to the feel of actuall armor. The armor is not designed for comfort or to have a great range of motion, I think you look great.

[wook1138[TK]]

7 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

How shoulder bells idealy is trimmed

Thanks Daniel!  That's the pic I was thinking of. 

[chiefbonan]

Hello all! Thank you for you pictures and diagrams, will look at doing some trimming shortly.
I have a few questions about my forearms. Here are some pictures:
(Right forearm is on the right side, left is one the left)

 

As you can see from the first picture the right forearm is longer than the left. The right arm seems to have 12 ridges while the left has 11.

Is this correct? It shows it in the CLR here:

 

The left feels a bit more comfy on my arm, I'll show why soon. I think they both look great so far. I was thinking of cutting the top ridge off of the right arm so it fits better/ looks more symmetrical. I know the original armours weren't perfect, but if the option to make it look a bit better is there I think I should go for it. Like me previous post I said the forearms need shortening as well as some altercations to the shoulder bells and the chest plate.

 

Here are some photos of me wearing the right (bigger) forearm:

 

The top of the forearm is just reaching the inner elbow where my arm bends, as you can see my skin creases if that's what they're called.

 

 

You can probably tell that it is sitting a little low on my arm here, as it is not strapped and what not. it could probably go up around 2-3cm or so. Again it is juuuust reaching my inner-elbow-arm-creases.

 

 

Here is me bending my arm. You can see how it is jabbing into my bicep. 

Is this normal? Can troopers never reach for their coffees?

It does this on my left arm too, yet is less jabby as it is like 3 cm smaller.

I would think you are meant to move freely, but I want to ask before I take too much off of it.

So some questions I would like to ask is:

 

Does my right arm need trimming to make it in line with my left arm, so the top ridge be cut off, leaving both with 11 ridges?

Could I use some trimming off of the front of both arms?

Is it normal for them to sit so far up the inner elbow?

Does it normally jab in like that, and that troopers can't lift their arms up a certain point?

 

Please ask if you need more photos!

[chiefbonan]

Hey everyone! Samll update. We have pretty much everything we need for cert 3! Our local hobbyshop happened to have the correct Humbrol paints too. And we also got lots of canvas for the belt.

 

In even bigger news my dad is now also getting his own armour, which we will be ordering soon! 

 

Looks like 2 new troopers will be joining the ranks instead of one. He will also be going for cert 3!

 

Is it possible to make the hand plates out of EVA Foam?

 

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by chiefbonan

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, glad to read, your father have surrender to the dark side and will be join us as an Imperial Stormtrooper too. 

That's so cool, father and son Trooping togheyer. Congratulations. 

 

About the hand guards, the CRL points:

 

Hand Plates Roughly pentagonal in shape, the hand plates are mounted securely over the back of the glove. As an alternative to plastic, these may be made out of latex or latex-like material.

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): Hand guards shall be latex or latex-like, solid white or painted white, and affixed to rubber gloves with no visible strapping or stitching.

---

The hand guards for level 3 must latex or latex like material

 

Cheers. 

[chiefbonan]

23 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi, glad to read, your father have surrender to the dark side and will be join us as an Imperial Stormtrooper too. 

That's so cool, father and son Trooping togheyer. Congratulations. 

 

About the hand guards, the CRL points:

 

Hand Plates Roughly pentagonal in shape, the hand plates are mounted securely over the back of the glove. As an alternative to plastic, these may be made out of latex or latex-like material.

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): Hand guards shall be latex or latex-like, solid white or painted white, and affixed to rubber gloves with no visible strapping or stitching.

---

The hand guards for level 3 must latex or latex like material

 

Cheers. 

Awesome thanks, any advice for my forearms?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

3 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Awesome thanks, any advice for my forearms?

If I were you, I would wait till the end, when in the final testing stage, with the black clothes, globes on an the complete armor. 

Why this way? Because doing so, you can have a better idea how is everything getting done. It's better to make some trimming at the end and being sure than make a mistake. 

 

Cheers 

[chiefbonan]

22 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

If I were you, I would wait till the end, when in the final testing stage, with the black clothes, globes on an the complete armor. 

Why this way? Because doing so, you can have a better idea how is everything getting done. It's better to make some trimming at the end and being sure than make a mistake. 

 

Cheers 

sure, will do, cheers mate

 

[snipedoc2001[TK]]

Glad to hear things are progressing well for you.  Make sure your belts are straight and strong enough not to sag, per the CRL.   Good news on your dad also getting a kit.  On your forearm question, I honestly don't know what to do to help out.  My forearms are symmetrical both with 11 bumps each and fit me well.  I would wait to see.  It is much easier to trim then to extend a piece 

 

Hope that helps!

Edited February 1, 2020 by snipedoc2001
More detail

[chiefbonan]

2 hours ago, snipedoc2001 said:

Glad to hear things are progressing well for you.  Make sure your belts are straight and strong enough not to sag, per the CRL.   Good news on your dad also getting a kit.  On your forearm question, I honestly don't know what to do to help out.  My forearms are symmetrical both with 11 bumps each and fit me well.  I would wait to see.  It is much easier to trim then to extend a piece 

 

Hope that helps!

Hello, yeah my dad is very excited to get his own kit. I think I’ll trim the one with 12 down to 11 so they are both equal, but I’ll do that once all of the other pieces are finished! Thanks for the advice!

 

 

 

 

[chiefbonan]

Hello, are these mic tips from Trooperbay acceptable for Cert 3?

https://trooperbay.com/mike-tips 

[TheSwede[TK]]

On 1/31/2020 at 8:35 AM, chiefbonan said:

Here is me bending my arm. You can see how it is jabbing into my bicep. 

Is this normal? C

Twist your arm (and forearm piece) so palm is up and then bend your arm, that way the swoop get in a better position. I wouldn’t trim the forearms is I were you. That is normal, moving in a TK takes some getting used to

Here’s a few videos that might help you get an Idea on fit. First one is yours truly and the other Dan, Cableguy on here.

 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

4 hours ago, chiefbonan said:

Hello, are these mic tips from Trooperbay acceptable for Cert 3?

https://trooperbay.com/mike-tips 

As long as you paint the inside and rim white you are good to go for Centurion

[chiefbonan]

Have started to paint the ab buttons. Gonna give them a second coat. You can see a few of them need touch ups which ill go through with a toothpick. Do they look like a decent size? I know you can paint them a bit too much as it isn't all on the white button.

 

 

My Dad wanted to show you guys him using a scribe to measure the cut lines for the cover strips, and wanted to know if any of you use the same technique!

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

16 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

Do they look like a decent size? I know you can paint them a bit too much as it isn't all on the white button.

 

Hi Thomas, your Dad's technic for the cover strips is amazing, is the first time i see this and gave me a so helpfull tip for. Please, say "thanks  from Tk Spartan.  .

 

Here are a couple of reference photos of the Ab buttons so you can see the size .  

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by TKSpartan
word correction

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

I would try using a filbert style brush on the buttons, Thomas.  The rounded tip will allow you to get a more even line on the edges,

 

       

[chiefbonan]

1 minute ago, justjoseph63 said:

I would try using a filbert style brush on the buttons, Thomas.  The rounded tip will allow you to get a more even line on the edges,

 

       

I think I have one of those, I feel some of them need to be a bit bigger like @TKSpartan 's photos

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

13 minutes ago, chiefbonan said:

I think I have one of those, I feel some of them need to be a bit bigger like @TKSpartan 's photos

Excellent, and you are correct, they could be a little larger.  Just make sure the paint does not reach all the way to the bottom of the raised area.  Rounded edges are the most crucial part, as seen in the pics Mario provided.

[chiefbonan]

Hello all! Very exciting times! Dad and I have moved on to do some strapping. We have finished doing the most of the armour except the legs. We thought it would be better to size them once a majority of the torso is done so they don't look to big or too little in comparison to the torso. Nothing worse than it looking out of proportion!

 

Here are photos of the ab and kidney plate joined. I put my under belt on to better simulate what it'd be like once the over belt is on it. We have yet to paint the rivets white, and yes there is a third one under the belt. It could use some touch ups, but looks very good imo!!

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

looking good !!