Skitchie's debut build thread ( ANH Stunt TK-Troopermaster)

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

You should be OK leaving the outside return edges on those biceps, but I would be more concerned with the insides.  Remember, you will bending your arms most of the time while trooping, and leaving too much edge on the inside bottom and top ("scoop") can will cut into you ("armor bite") over time.  The same goes with the scoop on the tops of the forearms.  This thread will provide some more insight.

 

            

[skitchie98]

You should be OK leaving the outside return edges on those biceps, but I would be more concerned with the insides.  Remember, you will bending your arms most of the time while trooping, and leaving too much edge on the inside bottom and top ("scoop") can will cut into you ("armor bite") over time.  The same goes with the scoop on the tops of the forearms.  This thread will provide some more insight.

 

            

Gotcha gotcha. I still have some sanding to take care of on the biceps, I keep procrastinating using the dremel cause I had a close call that potentially could have screwed things up real bad. Luckily we're all good.

 

But yes, those return edges on the scoop and the inside are on the docket for sure. I think I'm probably just gonna take off all the return edges and trim more if needed for symmetry's sake. Thanks!

 

[skitchie98]

Well, my foray into trimming to my skinny heart's content was for naught, haha. I consulted a couple other people and what I've walked out of this knowing is that 'trimming' means taking off 1/8" or so and not 2" on each side.

While it looks fairly harmless in the photos I got tipped that while the trimming isn't inherently bad per se, with a lot of the trimming would come a lot of reshaping with heat. While water baths and whatnot don't sound terrifying by themselves, this is my very first costume of any kind so I feel a little more comfortable just going by the book and working from there.

My build philosophy from here on out is gonna be to build everything to standard and just pad whatever needs to be padded. I'll probably end up doing this with the other bicep and then re-ordering the one I trimmed the life out of.

[Cricket[TK]]

Hey Dixon!  Thanks for your kind words about my build thread.  I am glad it's been of help to you.   

With my first TK (stunt), I sized every part down to fit, torso and all.  Pretty much all of the armor pieces were cut down to shrink everything proportionally.  That included lots of hot water baths to reshape the armor.  

For my second TK (Hero), my goal was to do as little as possible to the suit (emulating a Luke Hero) and still end up with a good fit.  I trimmed only the chest and back to accommodate my height, and pretty much left the width and height of the torso alone- maybe trimming about 5mm from the sides of the ab and kidney (can't recall exactly).  I sized all the limb pieces somewhat larger (width) so that they would look proportionally correct to the larger torso.  I am floating in the torso for sure (no padding at all), but it doesn't look too big on me.  Here's a pic of me (Hero suit) and the boss at my most recent troop in mid-February (I miss trooping...    ):


Something I discovered during my various builds where I need to size down armor for height and/or width: focusing on sizing the torso first will be a huge help for you to figure out how to size your arms.   And by torso, I mean getting the fit of the chest/ab/back/kidney/butt locked in.  Once your torso fits well, then it's super easy to dial in the limbs of the armor.  When you do limbs first, figuring out how to size things turns into more of a guessing game.  Just my 2 credits on this, though!   

Congrats on your TM kit, and good luck on your build!  

Edited May 13, 2020 by Cricket

[skitchie98]

Well, it's been a hot minute! It's been the better part of a year since I was able to get anything done on this armor. COVID of course didn't help but on top of that I was working full time and at school full time...

that, and I finished getting my pilot's license! (woo)

 

 

But now I'm taking a break on flying, and since school is winding down for the semester I've got a ton more time to work with! My partner and I are getting a membership at a local makerspace since we live in a complex that is rather DIY unfriendly. I feel bad for my poor armor--it's been sitting in a closet for all this time just collecting dust. I'm beyond ready to break it out and start making some progress on it! Starting with where we left off: biceps. It's great to be back. Can't wait for the next update! 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congrats on getting your plane license, I've had the opportunity to fly a couple of times and it's a great experience, especially the first landing  

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress, don't worry the armor won't hold it against you