Tico's RS Props build

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

11 hours ago, ticopowell said:

I of course took some pictures to get your opinions. I drew a line as a guess as to where I should trim the back edge, and I have another line around the top with my final trim estimation. Also I'm tempted to bathe these to get them to match the shin's curves better. 

Hi Caleb,  for you to have and idea I have collected the following photos of approved Centurion RS Amor.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers.  

[troopermaster]

I don't know why you FISD staff always focus on the sides of the knee plate lining up with the ridges on the sides of the shin, making the front pate stick inwards towards your knee. It's madness. The ends of the knee plate should blend into the shin top ridge as best you can - not follow the angle. More importantly is the front of the knee plate is glued flat to your shin - not angled. I know some knee armour can be tricky to fit but it's simple when you don't have to incorrectly follow the angle of the top of the shins with the knee plate.

 

Red line - bad. Blue line - good.

 

Real deal.

[ticopowell[TK]]

I didn't quite finish the thighs, but I got the right one done minus the ammo belt. The left one is trimmed, I just ran out of magnets to glue it. The other magnets are on my left forearm at the moment, I was messing with it and the cover strip popped off so it's getting glued again. I also got my sniper knee done. With the pieces RS gave me it is going to be impossible to have them flat at the front (screen accurate) and have them exactly match the top edge of the shin like the CRL says. The back part matches, the front is flat, so I'm happy with it. 

 

Of course I have pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

I've also been cutting out reinforcements for the strapping kit. It's annoying, but I believe it's better to do this now than to try and repair the armor later. I'm using the extra parts left over from the cover strips that I've cut out. 

 

 

thats it for tonight, more to come tomorrow.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

16 hours ago, troopermaster said:

I don't know why you FISD staff always focus on the sides of the knee plate lining up with the ridges on the sides of the shin, making the front pate stick inwards towards your knee. It's madness.

While we always appreciate your input, it appears that you think the entire staff is against this issue, which is simply not true.  We are well aware that different armors have their own unique nuances, and that these differences are a fact of life.  Most of us accept them and make allowances, and for what it's worth I feel as you do that it's much more important to have the knee plate angle as you suggest rather than having the gap at the bottom and have it angle inward.  For instance, even though the inside angle is off (photo) the outside angle is perfect.  Would I pass this at EI and Centurion?  Absolutely without hesitation (although I would ask that the top be trimmed a bit).  

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Thanks Joseph, that makes me feel better about the knee. I trimmed it like you mentioned. 

 

 

 

I got the torso and back piece straps done. I expect to take them apart a few times, but I need them together to accurately size the shims.

 

 

 

 

 

Next I need to get the top straps done. I believe I read that 4 bumps on the top straps need to be attached to the chest armor and the rest behind. I wasn't sure if that was accurate so I did some research. Here is a good photo reference, from what I've researched 4 is the minimum on the armor, but it most are 4-6 bumps but there are numerous examples with more than that. Because of my height, 6' tall, I imagine I'll want 4 and if there is excess over the back I can deal with that. I might do 5 depending on how they sit when I try them on. I have to trim them first, so I'm researching that too

 

 

That's it for now, maybe Ill post later tonight with more updates. 

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Another question with trimming the shoulder straps. I have my left one marked, but I'm wondering what you guys think on the marks. 

 

The short ends would be trimmed right against the bumps. the sides have 1/8th of an inch or so, and they will be as straight as I can make them. 

 

 

 

I picked this one to be on the left side because of the way it curves, I feel like the right side curves up slightly more, so when on the armor it will bow out in the middle, making the back closer to the center of the upper back torso piece. It's slight, but there is a slight difference between the two. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

The lines you have look pretty close to the original ones, but they are a bit wider than many seen onscreen.  Is this a big deal?  Nope.  The main thing to focus on is if you have enough to go over the tabs on the back plate and space enough to attach the white 1/4 inch elastic.  Being a taller trooper, 4 bumps on the front (not including the large one) of the chest plate will be good.  If you need less, it's not a deal breaker for Centurion.  We completely understand that troopers come in all shapes and sizes!

 

 

By the way, your back/kidney/posterior plate connections look spectacular!  NICE JOB!  

[ticopowell[TK]]

Thanks! 

It's always a worry that I do something, or cut something, and someone comes along and says that I did it wrong and need to redo everything, so I'm very happy that it looks great

[ticopowell[TK]]

 

I think they look great. I figured out that using 550 cord spaces the distance between the bumps and the side just right.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

17 minutes ago, ticopowell said:

Thanks! 

It's always a worry that I do something, or cut something, and someone comes along and says that I did it wrong and need to redo everything, so I'm very happy that it looks great

Trust me, you are doing exactly what I wish everyone doing a build would do, and that is to ask questions and post photos before moving ahead!  So many times we see folks trying to speed up the process and forge ahead with no guidance, only to find out that in their haste they have cut or glued something that will be a pain in the posterior plate (or impossible) to fix.

Posting photos is a bit of work, and some folks may be embarrassed by asking for help, but the FISD is a "judgement free" zone and we actually encourage questions of all sorts. 

 

Your build thread and others like it are a shining example of how it should be done, and for that I applaud you, Caleb!

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I definitely learned that with my Vader costume, ask questions, measure twice, and hopefully don't buy everything 2-3 times like I did. Bought a halloween costume off ebay and after spending $800 the only piece that I reused were the shins. 

 

Hopefully I can get the rest done before I go back to work in 2 weeks, shouldn't be too hard at this pace. I've been studying helmet references for that build, Ill probably start that here in the next day or two. 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

47 minutes ago, ticopowell said:

Thanks! 

It's always a worry that I do something, or cut something, and someone comes along and says that I did it wrong and need to redo everything, so I'm very happy that it looks great

You're doing Great Caleb, I was looking at your Vader's Build on Sith Lord's dtach. . You did an amazing work mate!!  and with this one is not the less.

 

  

[ticopowell[TK]]

Thanks guys!

I decided that in order to get thing set up correctly you guys needed more pictures, and I needed to wear the costume in said pictures. The top straps are going to be just fine if I wear the armor here. My neck wants the armor a little lower so I think Ill trim that a little, and Ill need to shim the sides as previously mentioned, other than that everything seems to fit alright. Once I start walking around in it I might feel differently lol

 

Here are the pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in my personal checklist of what I have left to do/buy:

trim excess return edge of body pieces

attach shoulder straps, plastic and elastic

size shins while wearing boots and add a cover strip and bra straps

Remove excess glue from all appendage pieces

Rivet on knee ammo belt

Rivet ammo belt onto canvas belt

chicago screw holster onto belt (it's being made right now by a local 501st member)

make/attach belt boxes (1 rivet in the back right?)

Attach loops to thigh ammo

Finish trimming and attach straps to shoulder bells

Attach biceps to forearms and make a bicep hook for the shoulder bell (or strap, not sure which route I prefer yet)

Add shims and rivets to kidneys and abdomen including crotch strap

Paint all the rivets that need paint (12 off the top of my head, the crotch ones dont get painted right?)

paint the screw heads around the torso pieces

Attach button panels to abdomen (gonna have them touched up by the wifey first)

Start and finish helmet. 

Talk to the GML

 

I have a black top on order, I have a balaclava from Vader I can use, I have the rubber gloves and flexible hand guard already, but I don't think I want to wear those on every troop so Ill need some black gloves, I already have a spare hand guard I can wear with normal gloves. I know a sound system isn't required, but I like the idea of people being able to hear me so that will happen eventually. 

 

Am I missing anything? any other big gotchas? What's the fastest first time stormtrooper build? because from start to finish it's been 3 years, but from when I started work it's been about 11 days. I think in another 11 days I can have most things ready to submit for approval. Hopefully I can get EIB quickly as well, but being number 1000 would be cool in itself... haha

 

Thanks again guys, let me know what I'm missing. 

Caleb

[ticopowell[TK]]

Well, thought of more questions. 

I bought my blaster from RS, so I up until now assumed that it would be almost perfect. But since I can I'm going to ask what y'all's think. Here are the pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From what I can tell it meets all the requirements, if I need more closeups please let me know

 

Shoulder bell time

 

I trimmed them slightly big, 12.5" over the top and 6" on each bottom, 12" and 5" is recommended based on the RS props video, just to see how they would fit before removing too much. I think I can go ahead and remove the rest based on these pictures, but what do you think? 

 

 

 

Not sure why the left is sticking out so much on the back in that second picture. 

 

 

 

The back armor is clearly shifted right, so that probably has something to do with it. 

 

To get the bells better aligned I might need to bathe them unless you guys have other tips.

 

Thanks again

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

My two cents  :

 

Your E11 Blaster , perfect

 

Overall armor , considering at this is the Painter's Tape stage, looks very good, you're on the right way .

 

for the Bells I think they're going to fit better when you add the straps.

 

"The  emperor will be most pleased" keep it up 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

"Paint all the rivets that need paint (12 off the top of my head, the crotch ones dont get painted right?)  12 rivets?"   It should only be 8.  6 on the ab/kidney connection (left side) and 2 on the thigh ammo pack.  The cod rivet, posterior tab snaps and "Han" snap do not get painted.

 

"... belt (it's being made right now by a local 501st member)"  Would that be Gary or his wife Ann by any chance?

 

Can you post up a pic of the undersides of your shoulder bells for us?  Thanks!

[ticopowell[TK]]

7 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

"Paint all the rivets that need paint (12 off the top of my head, the crotch ones dont get painted right?)  12 rivets?"   It should only be 8.  6 on the ab/kidney connection (left side) and 2 on the thigh ammo pack.  The cod rivet, posterior tab snaps and "Han" snap do not get painted.

 

"... belt (it's being made right now by a local 501st member)"  Would that be Gary or his wife Ann by any chance?

 

Can you post up a pic of the undersides of your shoulder bells for us?  Thanks!

I was thinking 6 on each side of the torso for the rivets. I thought I saw 12 in that packet I received from RS. 

 

It's Mike Ford that's making it,  he's made a lot and shown me his that he uses.

 

Here ya go. Underside.

 

Inside

 

side

 

the right one (without the swoop, right?) is slightly taller than the other. 

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

One more question, among the many I've asked...

 

How deep do the belt boxes need to be? I've seen a billhag diagram that says 15mm, and to cut the inner to 12mm to fit. Is that accurate? I know they aren't very thick but idk how thick to make them. At 15mm my outer boxes need almost no trimming, basically I'd remove the flashing and call it good. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

The reason I asked about seeing the bottoms is that I was wondering why they didn't sit closer to the biceps.  The return edges are mostly off (), but the curvature may be doing it.  The one on the left below is pinched in, and the one on the right has a flat side which may be pushing them out, giving you that larger gap.  If this is the case they may need a hot water bath to round them out (not as difficult as you may think).  Reference image # 2 shows the way they should ideally fit

The bells really should be the same height.  This is an issue I've not personally seen before, and may need to be addressed at some point.  The bottoms can be trimmed down as much as needed and do not a need a return edge at all as seen in reference image #1.

 

The inner drop box can stick out a little in the back, but shouldn't go out farther than the one seen below in pic 3.

 

   

 

Reference images

                                                   1                                                                   2                                                                                              3

                       

[ticopowell[TK]]

I think I know why one is shorter than the other. 

 

 

I assume that this is an original casting defect of some sort, basically it's the shape of the one RS has. Not a big deal, and I can possibly cut it shorter all the way around if I needed to, but it's the back of the left shoulder so I'm not too worried about it. 

 

The other side matches fairly well.

 

 

What would you guys recommend to shape the bells with when I pull them out of hot water? all I can think of is a stuffed animal but I'd hate to warp them into a worse shape. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I think Ill trim the bottom edge off by about a half inch to make them match, Does anyone have a measurement from the ridge to the bottom of their shoulder bell down the side? I know following the top ridge should be 12", and the shorter side of my one bell is 9". Here is a pic. 

 

 

 

If I do 12" on the ridge, and 9" on the sides, and blend them smoothly it should look correct and be close enough to the right size that it won't be noticable. They will be slightly shorter, and slightly wider(making my shoulders look broader, but I was a swimmer so they aren't small shoulders in the first place), but the shortened back side of the one bell will match the front and the other bell. 

 

Am I missing something here? or would that look fine? 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I glued my shoulder straps on, let them sit for a day, then pulled them apart and realized that the right one had a bit more seepage than I expected, so pulled one the right one a little and it just popped off. I cleaned off the dry E6000 at the edges and added more. I think Ill let those sit for 2-3 days, maybe more, just to make sure they are fully cured before I pop another off. 

 

 

Do I have enough clamps?

 

As I said my wife is a much better painter than I am. Here's proof!

 

 

She had just finished painting the grey on the larger button panel, I had painted all the others

Edited May 10, 2020 by ticopowell

[Chemi[Staff]]

Yes, your wife is a much better painter than you are ...

You are working hard with the armor, very good Job Caleb.

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Everything is going Pura vida !! 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Also, I still haven't done anything with the shoulder bells. I keep going back and forth between the hot water bath first, or trimming them first. 

 

If I can replicate this shape I should do alright, then I can try on the bells again and see how they fit. 

 

 

 

My biggest worry is getting the right shape. I have stuffed animals I can toss in there, but I'm worried it will be too curved with that. 

 

If I trim first I can get rid of the abnormal short bottom edge of the left rear bell, then bathe them, but I'm thinking I want the right shape, then it will be easier to set it right. and I'd rather not cut more off of the bells if I can help it. 

 

I was writing this post and I asked my wife what she thought I could use, and as we were looking around the office/workspace I found some roof flashing rolled up that I had used for R2. I rolled it to an approximate size and it should work well to get that same shape for the shoulder bells. I think Ill start by warming the bottom inch or two for 30 seconds and see if that's enough to get the correct curve on the bells. If one dip doesn't work ill try two or three for 30-35 seconds, but not much more than that. It worked on my buttons and TD end caps so it should work alright. 

 

And thanks Chemi, I appreciate it!