Shinyarmour1 AP ANH Stunt First Build

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking great so far C 

[Sly11[Admin]]

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

Looking forward to following your build! Your detail and imagery remind me of my own build, still in progress. Keep up the great work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.  I'm glad to hear that you all like the build so far and that it is meeting the accuracy requirements of the 501st.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Now that I know the biceps and forearms are good, I'll cut and sand the coverstrips for them.  But first, I must give the forearms a hot water bath.  As mentioned before, I will practice with some scrap pieces first to get a feel for the method.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

I'm planning to cut my 15mm coverstrip corners diagonally.  What are the measurments for cutting the corners?  I'm guessing that I mark 3mm length along the corners, then use a ruler to line up and trim the line.  Would 3mm be the correct size?

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

2 hours ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

I'm planning to cut my 15mm coverstrip corners diagonally.  What are the measurments for cutting the corners?  I'm guessing that I mark 3mm length along the corners, then use a ruler to line up and trim the line.  Would 3mm be the correct size?

When you look at reference photos in the Gallery section you'll see that there are wildly inconsistent cuts on the cover strip corners. Some are angled around 45 degrees, others near 60, and some are rounded. There wasn't a set depth of the cuts either, so this will really just be a personal preference decision for you.

[TheSwede[TK]]

7 hours ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

I'm planning to cut my 15mm coverstrip corners diagonally.  What are the measurments for cutting the corners?  I'm guessing that I mark 3mm length along the corners, then use a ruler to line up and trim the line.  Would 3mm be the correct size?

Here´s some reference for you

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Hello everyone

I have not had much chance to work on my kit, but I did manage to make some progress. I cut out and sanded the cover stips for my biceps and forearms.  In my last post I was asking about the corner measurments for the cover stripes.  I decided to measure and cut 3mm each side, line up and trim.  Thanks for the reference pictures Daniel.

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2020 at 1:09 PM, TKSpartan said:

Everything looks correct.

 

As you have read, the  forearms are usually problematic   for cover strips due to the curve.

 

As a tip I can tell you that using a couple of wood strip over and this add some more pressure to the cover strip so they can attach better. take a look to the photos.

 

 

 

 

Another consideration is to leave at least 48 hours to dry.

 

It worked for me i many cases .

 

Cheers a keep on doing a great work. almost there.  

 

 

 

　

Thanks for that usefull tip Mario, I did not have a block of wood to hand, so instead I used this metal rectangle to even out the clamping force. This worked a treat, highly recommend this method to other builders when doing their cover strips.

　

Here is the finished result for the biceps.

　

I even made some Han hooks by using Ukswrath's measurments. I will attach these with some velco, that way I have the option of attaching or removing them whenever I wish. If anyone else reading this build thread is going to do the same trick, here is a tip I have for you. Make sure you stick the soft part of the velco onto the bicep and the course part onto the Han hooks. Just in case you might decide to have the hooks on some troops but not on others, the soft velco side on the bicep will not scratch you or damage your undersuit.

 

I didn't have so much luck with the forearms.  After gluing the edges to together, I waited 48 hours to dry then gave them a hot water bath.  Unfortunately I did not leave them long enough, because the E6000 deteriorated from the forearms.   However, not only have I reglued the forearms back together, but I've also glued the cover stripes on as well.  Now, this time I will leave them for at least a week before giving them another hot water bath.  While I wait, I think I'll commence on the torso.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Shinyarmour1

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Those biceps looks great !!  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Hey guys

It's been a while since I had a chance to share images of my build, but I finally have some spare time to show you all my progress. I managed to trim all the torso pieces, except for the kidney and butt plate (they were already trimmed).  It's really hard because I'm using the score and snap method for my build and AP kits are so thick to cut through.  But that's good, becasue that means the AP kit is durable and will last a long time.

 

Just to catch up, last time I was working on the forearms, I gave them a hot water bath and the glue deteriorated. This caused 1/4 of the cover strip to come off, while the other cover strip came off completely.  So what I did to resolve the matter was to reglue the parts that came off and leave the forearm coverstips for a week, just to make sure the glue cured completely.

　

During the week it gave me the opportunity on trimming the Chest, Abs, Back plate and Shoulder bridges.  My fingers were sore after all that score and snapping, but it was well worth it.  I carefully measured every piece, marked it with a pencil, measured again and trimmed.

 

Chest plate

 

Ab plate

 

More images to come.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Back plate

 

Kidney plate

 

Butt plate

 

Shoulder bridges

 

For the shoulder bridges, I read about reinforcing techniques to make them stronger.  I gathered some scrap pieces of ABS which I will trim to size and glue in the slots underneath.

I thought about going the extra mile and strengthing the bridges some more. I was thnking about using these ABS pieces that I would bend to shape and glue to the bridges.

 

 

More images to come.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Now onto the torso fitting.  After trimming everything prior to the cut lines and marked 'Movie Accurate Size' provided, here is the result.

 

I'm a skinny guy and the clam shell is a bit big on me (red line show my width).  Although, when looking on the side images it looks to fit me perfect, the front and back images makes it look a couple of sizes too big and wide. 

 

I even have enough room on my side to fit one arm in. 

 

 

So although I will need to add foam padding to the front and back, there still leaves too much room on the side.  I am not sure if there is any way to condense the width to bring it a little closer to my side.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the torso fit without appearing too large on me?
 

[BB63tk[TK]]

I’m curious because I see troopers have a whole bunch of bicep and shoulder bell overlap set up... is there a certain length the whole arm is supposed to have or is the length to your comfort?

[wook1138[TK]]

11 hours ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the torso fit without appearing too large on me?

It was large on me too.  I trimmed the kidney right back so there was not a notch at all.  I then had to hot bath the kidney, butt, and ab to fit better.

 

I have it (poorly) documented here someplace:

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44468-wooks-totally-dirty-td-build-ap/?do=findComment&comment=614394

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, i have done the same trimming a coulple of times :

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Okay thanks guys, that's what I'll have to do then.  I might be able to place half of some pieces in the pot, then the other half in and shape them. But I don't have a heat gun, nor is my pot big enough for some other pieces, so I'll have to use a hair dryer.  I must admit, I tried before just slightly bending the kidney plate to test for reshaping and I saw a stress crack about to emerge on the top return edge. 

15 hours ago, wook1138 said:

I have it (poorly) documented here someplace:

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44468-wooks-totally-dirty-td-build-ap/?do=findComment&comment=614394

 

Thanks for sending me that link Wook, I'm going to read through your TD build section about reshaping.

 

I'll also take a few more picture of the individual pieces and upload them for a visual perspective on how much to trim off, what areas to apply heat and where to reshape. 

 

14 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi, i have done the same trimming a coulple of times :

 

 

 

That's quite a lot trimmed off.  I was just following the 'Movie Accurate Size' AP labelled, but looking at your trim I'll probably take some more off.  But I'll upload some pictures first with some trim line suggestion before making any rash decisions. 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Did I only need to reshape the butt, kidney and Ab plate?  Or did I have to reshape the chest and back plate as well? 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

49 minutes ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

Did I only need to reshape the butt, kidney and Ab plate?  Or did I have to reshape the chest and back plate as well? 

What I have seen is that just adjusting ab/kidney and problem solved. 

 

Measure twice, cut once. Looking forward for your trim lines Trooper. 

 

[wook1138[TK]]

8 hours ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

 I must admit, I tried before just slightly bending the kidney plate to test for reshaping and I saw a stress crack about to emerge on the top return edge. 

Yes, that is an issue.  You need to get the piece hot enough for the return edge to bend too.  My return edge didn't crack but it did buckle on me.  I had to use a heat gun and a couple pieces of wood to flatten them out (heat up the plastic and sandwich it between wood to keep straight).  The heat gun can be dangerous, but there are some jobs where it is the best tool.  They are cheap on Amazon (hint hint).  

 

I've partly filled up a sink with hot water then added a few pots (aka all the extra pots I could fit on the stove) of boiling water to dip larger pieces into.  It works - more or less.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Thanks for the advice guys.  Before I make start on reshaping the torso pieces, I want to share my experience after finishing the forearms.  Last time I tried to reshape these, the glue on the coverstrips deteriorated.  So after removing and regluing, I left the arms for a week and tried again.

I filled the pot with water, brought it to the boil and submerged the forearms.  After leaving them in for 45 seconds, I sqweezed the halves together and ran them under a cold tap for a minute.  Now they have less tension and are easier to bring the halves closer together.  Not only that, but this time the coverstips have remaind firmly attached to the forearms.  After several hot water baths, I then glued the remaining coverstrips onto the arms to bring the halves together.  I glued the edge-to-edges together with the inner strips first to get the forearm shape, left to dry, then glued the outer coverstrip on top.  Fortunately only 1 cover strip moved to the side a little and had to be removed and reglued. The other 3 stipes stayed in place.  All things considered, that's still pretty good and I am pleased with the overall result.  During the coverstrip glue process, I used a grey lead pencil and at the end of the coverstrip, marked the centre at the end and aligned it where the forearm edge-to-edges meet.  That way, I would be able to see if the coverstrips moved and by how much.

 

The forarms are finally completed.

 

 

Hopefully I've removed enough on the wrists.  There is a small 1-2mm gap on some parts of the wrist and elbows where the 2 halves did not meet.  When my kit is finished and ready for L 2 and L3 approval, I'm going to make some ABS paste and do a touch up on those parts, along with wet sand and polish on any other pieces that will need attention.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi mate, those forearms looks great. 

1 hour ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

Hopefully I've removed enough on the wrists.

If I can make a suggestion, you can trim or sand a bit the lower section of your wrist ,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference Images 

 

                               

 

 

Keep on doing a great work !! 

 

 

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Here's what I was thinking about for reshaping the Kidney.  I have marked in red for where the area will be bathed in hot water.  And in-between the blue lines for where I will make the bend.  This will be applied for both sides of the Kidney. 

 

If this works out, I will apply the same technique for the Ab and Butt plates.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

This is going to be tricky.  Although the outside will bend easily, the return edge will not.  At all.  At some point in the curve you will get a wrinkle or two in it, (pic 3) which will cause a weak spot or crack.  You can try reducing the width of the edge to around 1/4 inch, but you will need to keep a close eye on it during the bending process.

Don't let this alarm you, though.  Any wrinkle/crack can (should) be reinforced on the inside with scrap ABS to keep it from spreading up the edge of the outside.