Not a Jedi Yet's first build (RS ESB)

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Along with the painter's tape and wood slats as shown above, another thing you can do to ease the pressure off of the outside cover strips is to add interior cover strips.  They don't have to look good, as they will not be seen.  Adding these creates a stronger seam, and I highly suggest using these in the inside fronts of the calves as those areas get a lot of flexing from opening and closing them when you suit up.

 

[Not a Jedi Yet]

Hi all

 

Many thanks to  @justjoseph63, @Blast 'Em!, @TKSpartan and @gmrhodes13 for the suggestions!

 

Although it's been two weeks since my last update, I have been busy trying to fix the cover strip to my right forearm.

Believe it or not I have now tried it 7 times with no joy!!  

I have a mixture of N52 and N35 magnets, 30 of them in all.

 

So far I have tried:

• Sanding the pieces lightly before gluing
• Using tape to try and hold the two forearm parts in the slightly compressed position to make the joint as flat as possible for the cover strip
• Adding more magnets (I have been doubling them up, so two magnets on either side) - used all 30 magnets at one point!
• Using more glue
• Adding an internal cover strip first, but this didn't hold either
• Using larger, stronger, clamps at either end, and as far towards the middle as possible - also used large clamps combined with smaller clamps!
• Allowing the glue to dry for longer - 72 hours

What do you think is next - is it bath time for the forearm?   

 

It's frustrating as I guess I must have done or be doing something wrong, as I certainly haven't seen forearm woes like this on any other RS build thread!

Thanks

Adam.

[Mar2D2]

Hi all
 
Many thanks to  [mention=22112]justjoseph63[/mention], [mention=37308]Blast 'Em![/mention], [mention=35604]TKSpartan[/mention] and [mention=16782]gmrhodes13[/mention] for the suggestions!
 
Although it's been two weeks since my last update, I have been busy trying to fix the cover strip to my right forearm.
Believe it or not I have now tried it 7 times with no joy!!  
I have a mixture of N52 and N35 magnets, 30 of them in all.
 
So far I have tried:

• Sanding the pieces lightly before gluing
• Using tape to try and hold the two forearm parts in the slightly compressed position to make the joint as flat as possible for the cover strip
• Adding more magnets (I have been doubling them up, so two magnets on either side) - used all 30 magnets at one point!
• Using more glue
• Adding an internal cover strip first, but this didn't hold either
• Using larger, stronger, clamps at either end, and as far towards the middle as possible - also used large clamps combined with smaller clamps!
• Allowing the glue to dry for longer - 72 hours

What do you think is next - is it bath time for the forearm?   
 
It's frustrating as I guess I must have done or be doing something wrong, as I certainly haven't seen forearm woes like this on any other RS build thread!
Thanks
Adam.

Hi Adam,

As I have built an RS TK myself. I had simular issues, so I used gorilla super glue instead of E6000. I know it will be permanently fixed to that one size, but I don't imagine my forearms getting so large that the pieces wouldn't fit anymore. (Worst case sinario for resizing in the future is you would need to demal away the cover strip to remove).

Also, the guys at RS use superglue on their armour commissions, as seen on their stormtrooper build you tube videos.

I found on some of the other parts I would need a very small amount of superglue at each end on the cover strips, with E6000 holding the rest of the strip.

Hope that makes sense?

Cheers,
Mar2D2.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Adam,

Did you go with the RS sizes from their videos? Or trim them down smaller?

[Not a Jedi Yet]

17 minutes ago, Mar2D2 said:

Hi Adam,

As I have built an RS TK myself. I had simular issues, so I used gorilla super glue instead of E6000. I know it will be permanently fixed to that one size, but I don't imagine my forearms getting so large that the pieces wouldn't fit anymore. (Worst case sinario for resizing in the future is you would need to demal away the cover strip to remove).

Also, the guys at RS use superglue on their armour commissions, as seen on their stormtrooper build you tube videos.

I found on some of the other parts I would need a very small amount of superglue at each end on the cover strips, with E6000 holding the rest of the strip.

Hope that makes sense?

Cheers,
Mar2D2.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 

Thanks Martyn

 

Yes, superglue at the ends might work - As I have watched the cover strip detach itself a few times now, it tends to start at the ends and then propogates the whole length of the forearm.

 

Thanks

 

Adam.

[Mar2D2]

Thanks Martyn
 
Yes, superglue at the ends might work - As I have watched the cover strip detach itself a few times now, it tends to start at the ends and then propogates the whole length of the forearm.
 
Thanks
 
Adam.

That's exactly what mine did. The superglue sets so hard that it stops the E6000 pulling away and traveling alone the whole strip.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Not a Jedi Yet]

17 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Hi Adam,

Did you go with the RS sizes from their videos? Or trim them down smaller?

Hi Dan

 

I went with ever so slightly bigger than the RS sizes as my forearms were a tiny bit bigger than the size suggested in the video.

 

Adam.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Adam, This is definitely a "So stranger thing" , I was going to suggest Super glue too as the last resource and let it dry ,clamped, at least 24 hours.

 

Good luck Trooper  

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

If you decide to use CA (super) glue, just be VERY careful.  If it drips onto your armor in places where you don't want it, it has to be sanded off, followed by a lot of polishing.  The folks at RS are accustomed to working with it. but I only suggest it as a last choice.  CA glue can become brittle over time and lead to separation.  On my first build, I used it to attach the nylon bases to my armor (the ones the strapping connects to, as seen below).  After 5-6 troops they started popping off, so I had to remove them all and re-attach them using E-6000.  Not fun, but no problems after that.

 

[TK-28046[TK]]

The thing with superglue is to being a lot of careful with that. In my experience, when it reaches the armor leaves a disgusting finishing and it's hard to remove.

[Not a Jedi Yet]

Hi all

Good news on the forearm cover strip, I finally managed to get it to hold by using an extra wide internal cover strip as shown - it doesn't look pretty but hopefully won't impact clearance etc:

I'm encountering the same issue on the left forearm too (on the non-ridged side) but I'm trying the same methodology on that one too to see if it works.

In the meantime I thought I would attach the front cover strips to the thighs.  In terms of sculpting the tops of the thighs and the cover strips, is there a preferred look?  I have seen a couple of methods in reference materials (including one from the RS Props video tutorial), but I'd ideally like something that looks as neat as possible whilst still being good enough for clearance?  Depending on the look I choose, is there a recommended method, i.e. trim tops of thigh pieces first, then trim the cover strip to match before gluing?
Right thigh:

Left thigh:

Thanks

Adam.
 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

The interior cover strips are there for functionality, so they don't have to look pretty and will not affect approval at any level.

[Not a Jedi Yet]

Hi all

I decided to follow the RS Props method for the right thigh cover strip, which is to make it pretty much all the way to the top of the taller outer thigh piece.  This means no sculpting of either the cover strip itself or the thigh pieces.

 

I have now glued on the right thigh cover strip and am waiting for it to dry:

 

In the meantime I did the first trim of the shin pieces - only one set shown as they're identical in the RS kit - does this look okay?

Thanks

Adam.

[Not a Jedi Yet]

Hello there again!

 

The cover strip on the right thigh dried, but once I had removed the magnets and clamps I moved the two pieces slightly and guess what? The cover strip started coming off at the base!!  Looks like I'll have to try that again!

 

In other news, I did a first trim of all the torso parts - still need to do some tidying up in parts I think.

 

Starting at the bottom, literally!

 

Kidney:

 

Abdomen - I left as much material as I could on the sides (i.e. all that was available out of the box) as I will need shims (waist is larger than a 1970s stormtrooper!):

 

Back - shoulder strap pieces look a little wonky to me but I guess I'll deal with that later!

 

Chest:

 

Again, I have been following the RS Props tutorial videos, and have tried to err on the side of caution when it comes to the return edges on the tops and bottoms of the adjoining pieces where the hardware will go.

 

Any tips gratefully received.

Thanks

Adam.
 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That is very weird with the glue not holding, this stuff normally would support an elephant, I know there was talk of some knock off branded E6000 around which had was of a lesser quality. I am also wondering about the age of the glue, I had a tube I kept forgetting to use and over time it went a little opaque and was not as strong as other tubes I have used.

 

A thread on the issues of E6000 https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49246-e6000-original-vs-fake/

 

Some web info on knock off branded E6000 https://www.e6000.com.au/e6000-blog/did-i-buy-genuine

 

Coming along nicely.

[Sly11[Admin]]

One reason could very well be a small amount of mould release was still present on the surface of the armour, This is a silicon bases spray and can definitely prevent glue from bonding to an area.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking good so far, sir!  One thing I would suggest is to trim a little more of the return edges from the sides of the posterior plate.  From what I can see, it looks as if the corner of the lower portion has a pretty sharp angle, which you want to avoid.  Having a sharp angle anywhere you have return edges will increase the likelihood of splits/cracks.  Rounding off those angles will help prevent this. 

 

      

[Not a Jedi Yet]

Thanks all

 

Just waiting for thigh front cover strips to set, so I decided to trim the face plate of the helmet while I wait - pictures of first pass below:

 

I think I need to take a little more out of the frown gaps, and maybe the eyes - what do you think?

Thanks

Adam.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Some great references here;

 

 

[Not a Jedi Yet]

These are fab, thanks Glen!

6 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Some great references here;