Tico's RS Props build

[ticopowell[TK]]

The left shoulder bell is slightly shorter in the back, about a half inch. I never noticed the crooked back plate, the bottom edge might need to be re worked. I'll look at that when I get home.

Edited May 19, 2020 by ticopowell

[ticopowell[TK]]

8 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

It may just be a strange camera angle, but are the bells the same length?  The tops are pretty close to being level, but the right one looks a bit longer (at least in the photo) even taking that into consideration.  I realize that this is just a temporary fit for now, but having the back plate level will really help determine this.  The tops are touching the shoulder bridges (perfect) and the gaps between the bells and chest/back plate are excellent!.  Nice work!!  

 

I measured the green lines below, from the edge of the return edge to the closest corner of the square. The left is 2 1/2", the right is 2 1/4"

 

 

I think the kidney to back seam isn't level, I'll check that next time I don the armor. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Also, It might help when I get the shims and ab to kidney connections in place, that will hold the front and back together better and it might straighten the top back plate with the O II. might... ill play with it, see what I can do. 

 

Well I didn't make my goal of finishing before going back to work, I head back tomorrow, and that also means I have to shave my beard off... it was actually getting to be quite the nice little beard. It was only a month old, and it's the best I've ever grown haha. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

 

Here is the rear of the shoulder bells.

 

 

I'm thinking I have 2 options, I can either cut them flat, horizontal, perpendicular to the current vertical line, or I can cut the right to match the left. 

 

I'm going through reference photos in the gallery, I don't know if the bottom of the bells is straight on the back, or the front. A lot look like they are angled up slightly. IE:

 

 

 

I know this is a funny angle, but it proves my point a little bit. There is also this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously some are angled more than others, But to me it looks like all the bells have a curve on the inside, and they have an angle on the bottom edge. If you count the outside where the ridge is as vertical, none of them are perpendicular to it. 

 

Based on that research I think I want to leave the left rear as is and modify the right rear to match. Probably the front too, idk why it would be any different. 

 

Am I crazy? has this been discussed before? would it be wrong?

 

I also have noticed that most of the time the detail on the back plates looks slightly askew, not as bad as mine, but it's still noticeable in the photos. 

 

Thoughts?

[TheSwede[TK]]

Yes the originals were trimmed with a curve. Left is movie bell and right is SDS (sheperton design studios) during the courtcase.

[ticopowell[TK]]

Yes the originals were trimmed with a curve. Left is movie bell and right is SDS (sheperton design studios) during the courtcase.

I know about the curve on the sides, just seems nobody mentions the curve on the bottom

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, ticopowell said:

I know about the curve on the sides, just seems nobody mentions the curve on the bottom

Hi, You  can cut the right to match the left. You have seen the reference photos and you may want to check some Centurion Approvals.

 

Cheers   

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Helmet question time!

 

Here is my helmet, I plan on placing the front and back here, I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything and that this placement is ok. Let me know if you need other pictures.

 

 

 

 

If I get good responses Ill likely drill the holes today and start really working on the ears.

 

I did get the thigh straps connected, so those are completed and ready for wear. I am about to glue the straps to the shoulder bells to get them wearable, and that's all I've done lately. Family, work, and painting the house has taken over the past week or so, so ive been slacking on my stormtrooper build. 

I did get larger boots, so those should help with comfort, the size 11's were just too small. The 12's I have will work great I think, and they fit a set of insoles I had laying around so that will also help

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Just make sure your ears will cover any openings, also make sure you can fit your head inside, (fyi they don't go straight on, put on sideways then twist) 

 

Adjusting the angle on the sides makes the opening larger and smaller and also adjusts the brow trim height.

 

A couple of test screws to hold together first then check all the alignments. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Just make sure your ears will cover any openings, also make sure you can fit your head inside, (fyi they don't go straight on, put on sideways then twist) 
 
Adjusting the angle on the sides makes the opening larger and smaller and also adjusts the brow trim height.
 
A couple of test screws to hold together first then check all the alignments. 

Thanks,
The ears do cover the seams, I could trim a little more if I wanted but I figure I can always trim more later. I'll take a picture with the current ear shape/location, that might help.

I've tried it on like this, it fits fine as far as I can tell, but I wouldn't know if it didn't.

I guess test screws won't hurt anything (that's what she said?) So I'll try that. As long as they aren't blocking the ear holes I guess it wouldn't matter much.

[ticopowell[TK]]

Here are the ears attached with my tiny clamps.

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

Front and back of each ear need a bit of trimming still, I'm waiting on the helmet to be connected before I trim more. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I'm mainly comparing my helmet to these RS photos from the gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Caleb, looking good.

 

from my view, I think you can rotate the left ear a bit to align the top  screw with the trap (green point) , as in the reference you posted.

 

 

 

hope this scheme  is clear, i'm not good drawing . 

 

cheers 

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Mario, that's helpful. I definitely have a lot of tweaking on the ears, gonna try and do most of that after the helmet is screwed together.

 

My question today, the bra hooks for the shin closure, do you do hooks in, or hooks out?

 

I did have all the shoulder bells attached, but they were too far away from the shoulder bridges. I looked at the strap and apparently they both stretched more than expected while hooked up, so they are being reglued at 1/2" instead of 1". 

 

Still looking for helmet feedback on face plate vs dome positioning, I think Ill drill it tomorrow and hope it looks alright, but anything that helps calm my nerves about drilling the plastic would be great

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Caleb, take a look to this thread, it's excellent for helmet build. 

 

 

for Shins closure I think this thread could be useful.  ending page 4 

 

 

 

for the Shoulder , could you please,  post some pictures? 

 

cheers 

[PhilBobTheFish]

33 minutes ago, ticopowell said:

My question today, the bra hooks for the shin closure, do you do hooks in, or hooks out?

Hooks in on the shins.

Edited May 26, 2020 by PhilBobTheFish

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Here is another nice helmet build 

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

3 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

for the Shoulder , could you please,  post some pictures? 

 

I will once the glue dries again, I think there was 1/2" to 3/4" gap.

Ive been studying the build portion of both those threads, haven't read much of the commentary yet but that seems to help

 

3 hours ago, PhilBobTheFish said:

Hooks in on the shins.

Thanks!

 

3 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Here is another nice helmet build 

I've read that one probably 5 times, I'm going through the comments now to see what other information I can find.

 

Thanks again guys!

[ticopowell[TK]]

Here are the promised shoulder pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

They are really close now, I see that they are pulling the white shoulder elastic slightly, but I'm not sure how to fix that without leaving a gap. 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, ticopowell said:

They are really close now, I see that they are pulling the white shoulder elastic slightly, but I'm not sure how to fix that without leaving a gap. 

What I did to make the elastic stronger was to double it, just fold it a couple of times.

 

I have read of some trooper that reinforces the elastic with an ABS strip inside. I have not tried that

 

.

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

There are also different tension elastic available but doubling up should help.

 

You will also need to adjust your shoulder straps on the rear, on the left it doesn't appear to be in the right position, also need them both to sit down on the back plate

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

There are also different tension elastic available but doubling up should help.
 
You will also need to adjust your shoulder straps on the rear, on the left it doesn't appear to be in the right position, also need them both to sit down on the back plate
 

I still need to add the elastics, so that should help

[ticopowell[TK]]

Jumping back to the helmet, here's its current state.

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few spots on the ears that I will trim when I pull them off, but overall I think it looks pretty good for how wonky it was

 

I started with the belt boxes, glued the elastic to the back but I didn't want to glue them together yet because I want the belt more finished before attaching them. The belt has the button covers installed now, so I can measure and glue them a little more accurately. I almost used chicago screws for them but I figured glue would be easier to adjust if needed.

 

Back to my personal checklist:

 

 

trim excess return edge of body pieces

Fix weak shoulder elastic

Remove excess glue from all appendage pieces

chicago screw holster onto belt

Install snaps for holster retainer

finish attaching belt boxes

Add shims and rivets to kidneys and abdomen including crotch strap

Paint all the rivets that need paint (6 ab-kidney, helmet ears, thigh ammo box rivets)

paint the screw heads around the torso pieces

Attach button panels to abdomen

finish helmet. 

Talk to the GML

 

My list is getting shorter, so that's good. I removed a lot of excess glue, but I don't think I got everything yet. 

 

When I wore the armor last time I realized that if I can bend the ab and kidney plates a bit it will make life easier. Also I only have about an inch on either side that needs to be shimmed so that's going to be helpful. Ill likely make the shims 1.5" wide to keep them comfortable and in case I don't keep my present weight. 

 

That's it for now, back to work

 

 

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Excellent job. The helmet alignment is looking really good.

As you mentioned, there’s quite a bit of excess left on the ears that could be removed.

These are only approximate...



Side by side with RS’ original;



Keep up the good work. :-)

[ticopowell[TK]]

On 5/30/2020 at 5:53 AM, CableGuy said:

Excellent job. The helmet alignment is looking really good.

As you mentioned, there’s quite a bit of excess left on the ears that could be removed.

These are only approximate...


 

Kinda like this picture as well... Don't you love it when you find a new picture you don't remember seeing before?

 

I wondered why my ears looked so weird, I didn't think I had that much to trim, but that's good to see. 

 

I am afraid I might have to bend the plastic a bit to get the ears smaller, eh... it happens. 

 

 

 

 

 

the lines are nice and tight on most of those, but shrinking them a bit won't be too difficult. The ones that aren't tight still have plenty of material to trim to tighten them up. Obviously they won't be perfect though. Gotta ask the wife if she has a compass hanging around

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by ticopowell