Firedog's Dueling AM 4.5 ANH Stunt TK Builds

[Firedog[TK]]

As I've mentioned previously in a couple of other threads, my son and I are beginning our journey to 501st approval. I think we're going to be following the 80/20 rule. I'll end up doing 80% of the work, or more...lol. We ordered the AM kits from Dave at Dave's Darkside Depot and should be receiving them very soon, along with our boots from IB. I would like to give Dave a shout out. He's very responsive to questions and seems like a super great guy. I've also ordered my E11 from Quest Design. Only thing left for me to purchase will be neck seals, holsters, belts, and my son's E11. I may take on the belt project myself, although its been a while since I've had my hands on a sewing machine. The holster project looks doable as well, but I have to weigh the cost of material and time versus purchasing them completed.

 

Another thing that I am torn between is building these simultaneously or focusing on mine first as an attempt to get into the first 1k EIB and then using that expertise to build his. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I imagine I will start with both and let my rate of progress be the deciding factor.

 

That being said, in preparation for BBB, I got a start on some snap plates. I put together 20 for each kit per UKWrath's AM 1.0 TK build. 

 

 

I started out using a punch for the holes in the 1" nylon, but quickly learned that using the soldering iron was not only faster, but also gave me a nice cauterization around the hole.

 

 

This is also the E11 I ordered from Quest. I have read that they make a good product. Does anyone know what, if any modifications I will need to do to it to be lvl3 compliant?

E-11 Product Listing

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Firedog
Corrected wrong image upload

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

Good luck with your build! I’m also awaiting my kit from Dave, and agree with you...he’s very good to work with, and responsive to messages.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

On with the work. I do like to double snap in some places that take some strain, like the shoulders, just in case you have a snap fail it still allows you to troop  

[Firedog[TK]]

1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said:

On with the work. I do like to double snap in some places that take some strain, like the shoulders, just in case you have a snap fail it still allows you to troop  

I will be double snapping shoulders with white elastic for sure. 

[Firedog[TK]]

So Today was BBB #1. Although both boxes were shipped on the same day from the same place, one of them was somehow delayed and won't arrive until tomorrow. FedEx came pretty early this morning and I was awoken by a knock on my bedroom door from my son for the unboxing. It didn't take long for me to get out of bed...lol.

 

 

 

I decided to get started on the bucket so I could get a few coats of Plasti-Dip on the interior. Please let me know if I need to do any more trimming on the teeth.

 

 

I masked off the eyes, teeth, and the hovi holes that I drilled and proceeded to coat the inside.

 

 

 

I then cut my brow to fit and loosely placed them together so I could get a clearer view of the teeth cutouts with the black background.

 

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I planned on painting the hovi tips but then realized I had purchased gloss black instead of semi-gloss black. The painting will have to wait until tomorrow. I believe I may try painting prior to assembly as the bucket may be easier to maneuver while painting. Any suggestions and tips are appreciated.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Firedog

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Shawn, looking good with your helmet. When in the teeth and hovi mix tips painting stage consider the reference images to have the best look.

 

 

Crl for basic level :  Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area

 

 

 

Crl for L2: Correct Aerators/Hovi-MIX tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white.

 

      

 

[Firedog[TK]]

So, a little on my progress. Yesterday was a good day as we had a nice little package awaiting us when we got home.

 

 

I tried on the size 13 I ordered, and while they are great in the length, they are a bit snug on the sides. I'll be investing in a boot stretcher to hopefully loosen them up a little.

 

On to my helmet. I had no idea how tricky this assembly would be. I was very confident going in, as watching videos of others assemble them made it look much easier than it actually was. One of my concerns is the alignment of the ear screws. I thought I read somewhere that they had to be in line with the back of the front traps for Centurion. If this is the case, I may have to disassemble the helmet and trim it back some more to push the ears back. I trimmed a little off the bottom to get the angle, but I may need to trim another quarter inch off of the cap on each side if the current state of the ears will exclude me from lvl 3.

 

The following image shows the ear screws in line with the back of the traps on the ANH Stunt helmet.

 

 

However, this Stunt helmet on the same page has the screws a little more forward. 

 

 

Here's what I have.

 

 

 

My main concern is that if I have to move these back, I will potentially be exposing the rivet hole in the face piece, so it may be a moot point at this juncture.

 

Here is a frontal shot as I also have concerns about my brow height.

 

 

 

Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Firedog said:

On to my helmet. I had no idea how tricky this assembly would be. I was very confident going in, as watching videos of others assemble them made it look much easier than it actually was. One of my concerns is the alignment of the ear screws. I thought I read somewhere that they had to be in line with the back of the front traps for Centurion. If this is the case, I may have to disassemble the helmet and trim it back some more to push the ears back. I trimmed a little off the bottom to get the angle, but I may need to trim another quarter inch off of the cap on each side if the current state of the ears will exclude me from lvl 3.

 

The following image shows the ear screws in line with the back of the traps on the ANH Stunt helmet.

Hi Shawn, Helmet assembly is really tricky, it's not my favorite part of the building .

 

 

About your concern of the ear screws alignment, when in a EIB review we suggest that "ideally the angle of the ears should be lined up to where the screws line up closely with the angle of the rear of the trap above them" but it's not a Level3 blocker. Mine is an Anovos Helmet and it has the screws alignment like yours pre-assembled and It's difficult as you said to make the change. I would like to make the change to my helmet in a future or replace it. So don't worry.

 

 

 

by the other side , In my opinion your brow height is just right for ANH. take  look to the reference images :

 

 

   

 

 

I would like to see a close photo of the  teeth section, vocoder and hovi mix tips if you don't mind to add some.

 

keep it up trooper !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Firedog[TK]]

Here are the shots for those. It is amazing what a blown up high resolution image will show. I can see that I need to do a bit of work on the teeth for sure. 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Some nice teeth references can be found here: 

 

[Firedog[TK]]

4 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Some nice teeth references can be found here: 

 

Thanks Glen! My first painting looked more like those and then I second guessed myself regarding the amount of white in the gum line, so I extended the gray a little more. I should have left well enough alone.

[Firedog[TK]]

I cleaned up the frown and finished painting the ears and added the screen behind the frown, held in place by a few drops of CA glue on the back of each tooth, which was also done after I took this photo.

 

 

Here is a photo of inside the bucket. What I did here for mounting the lenses was cut down and angle some dowel rods and pre-drill for mounting posts, attached in four points around the eye with CA glue. Thinking that a good idea, it was difficult to see where to mark the lens and I probably missed the predrilled holes anyway, but it appears to have worked out. I will likely touch the bottom posts up with a little black paint.

 

 

Ears painted...

 

 

 

I began some fitting of the forearms late yesterday evening. I cut away all of the return on the bottom but forgot to cut out the return on the rectangular portion, which I will do this evening. I cut out nearly all of the return edge on the upper forearm and biceps as well. I hope to have these fitted and one inner strip glued on each tonight. Here is a photo of the right forearm. The bottom is barely large enough for me to squeeze my hand through and the top should have maybe finger thickness of play when I get it glued up and shaped. I tried to mark where my arm is in relation to the armor, since the under suit didn't help the photo much.  What is the general consensus on the snugness of these pieces?

 

 

My son's helmet is pretty much complete as well. He really wanted to handle the painting on his bucket, which involved some trial and error, but I believe he's in good shape now. I will try to post some pictures of that progress tonight.

 

[Firedog[TK]]

Ok, the right forearm is cut and ready for sanding and glueing; however, when I started working on sizing the left forearm, I noticed quite a difference in the inner forearm in regards to curvature at the top. Is this something that is common and, if so, should I consider rounding it out to match the right forearm?

 

[Firedog[TK]]

I made a bit more progress this evening. I fitted the biceps and forearms and glued 15mm inner strips on each piece. Here is a photo of the fitting before glueing.

 

 

Here's a shot of the left bicep before gluing. I sanded the joints as well as the back of the cover strips and glued using the fan favorite ES-6000.

 

 

And here's the four arm pieces after gluing the cover strips. It's going to take some getting used to the "hurry up and wait" aspect of building with ES-6000, but fortunately there are other pieces I can work on in the meantime.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, My son, @McNuggies worked hard on his helmet paint job and I am ready to post it for critique. We are both shooting for Centurion, so please be candid with your critiques and suggestions. 

 

 

 

 

And, alas, two heads are better than one!

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Shawn, great work with your arms , remember for level 3, if you haven't done yet, to remove the wrist return edges. The Helmets looks great too

 

 

Reference image

 

 

 

 

[snaketcher[TK]]

Shawn, great choice on armor and vendor. Dave is great with responding back and wealth of info. The helmets look good. Remember the forearms are going to be snug and when to put your hands through. They should be just large enough at the wrist for your hand through with the glove on. Also you mentioned one forearm being molded a little different -(that should be the inside part close to the elbow on the left side). yes it is and you can trim it some more if need be. At least the return edge to give you better mobility and cut don on the "bite".  I use a nylon strap (with snaps) to connect my forearms to the biceps in the rear so everything is held relatively in place.  If your going for EIB and trying for the 1st 1000, don't forget about the latex hand guards and rubber gloves. Better to get them ordered now than have to wait after everything else is done.  Keep trimming and sanding!  We need you and your son in the ranks.

[Firedog[TK]]

10 hours ago, snaketcher said:

Shawn, great choice on armor and vendor. Dave is great with responding back and wealth of info. The helmets look good. Remember the forearms are going to be snug and when to put your hands through. They should be just large enough at the wrist for your hand through with the glove on. Also you mentioned one forearm being molded a little different -(that should be the inside part close to the elbow on the left side). yes it is and you can trim it some more if need be. At least the return edge to give you better mobility and cut don on the "bite".  I use a nylon strap (with snaps) to connect my forearms to the biceps in the rear so everything is held relatively in place.  If your going for EIB and trying for the 1st 1000, don't forget about the latex hand guards and rubber gloves. Better to get them ordered now than have to wait after everything else is done.  Keep trimming and sanding!  We need you and your son in the ranks.

 

Thanks for the input Steve! Fortunately, Dave provides rubber gloves as well as @justjoseph63's flexible hand guards with his kits, so we're good there. I'm steady chugging along with the builds and could have one completed for basic and EIB submission within a few weeks (I’m likely overly optimistic here). As it stands, I think what will keep me out of making the 1k is my E-11, which I may not receive until the end of August or first week of September, unless he happens to get it out to me sooner. I like to set lofty goals for myself, but I also have to balance that with reasonable expectations. We're looking forward to joining you in the Florida Garrison soon!

Edited July 30, 2020 by Firedog

[Firedog[TK]]

On 7/29/2020 at 9:44 AM, TKSpartan said:

Hi Shawn, great work with your arms , remember for level 3, if you haven't done yet, to remove the wrist return edges. The Helmets looks great too

 

 

Reference image

 

 

 

 

Thanks Mario! It is difficult to tell from the photo I provided, but indeed the return edge on the cuff had been removed. Here's an update on my progress over the last couple of days.

 

I next moved on to trimming the calves after glueing inner strips to one side of the forearms and biceps. The AM pieces are quite large, and while I am 6'3" and sit around 200lbs, there is still plenty of room to trim, so I proceeded to cut the front reveals to 11mm, allowing for some sanding to get to the 10mm on each side.

 

 

I glued inner strips on the front of the calves from the waste I trimmed. After sitting almost 24 hrs, I then cut 20mm cover strips from the extra ABS provided in the AM kit. I cut them to length and chamfered the corners. I lightly sanded the back of the strips and the surface of the calf where they are to be glued. There was only one thing left to do, stick em on. This part made me a little nervous as it was the first part I've glued that would be visible.  I know ES6000 is easy to clean up, but still...lol.

 

 

 

And just when you think Diet DrPepper can't get any better....They give us Diet DrPepper with Cream Soda. I have to quit drinking these things, but dang they are so good!

 

 

Next stop...thigh work.

 

Again, these pieces are HUGE! I had no qualms about doing what I did with the calves and cutting the reveals down to 11mm on each side. I started out using an aluminum yard stick for my straight edge, but quickly realized that it wasn't as flexible as I wanted it to be for the contour of the thigh. I decided to use a slab of the extra ABS to use as a straight edge. By this time, I had seen another technique (I apologize for not giving credit as I can't recall where I saw it.) where blue painter's tape is placed on the line and the trimming is made just outside, allowing for final sanding up to the tape line. This worked really well and gave me great alignment when I put the pieces together.

 

 

 

 

And that's where it got a little late and I had to turn in. I'll likely get some interior strips on the thighs tonight and work on sizing and trimming the backs of the calves. I'll also work on applying cover strips to the other pieces as long as I have enough magnets. I bought 24 of those babies thinking that surely it would be enough, but dang there are a lot of cover strips! 

 

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

2 hours ago, Firedog said:

Thanks Mario! It is difficult to tell from the photo I provided, but indeed the return edge on the cuff had been removed. Here's an update on my progress over the last couple of days.

Great to know you have trimmed the forearms edges. and excellent work on those thighs and shins and thighs!! 

 

An Yes! we never have enough magnets and clamps. 

[Firedog[TK]]

I'm having difficulty sizing the shin pieces. The problem I seem to be running into is due to the shape of my legs. I've spent years crawling around on floors as a firefighter and then crawling around floors on my days off as a tile contractor. My knees show it. I'm not sure how to fit the shin pieces so that I can get the sniper plate on correctly. I am a tall fellow, but ordered AM armor to hopefully compensate for that, but it seems I have to pull the shin pieces up near the top of my boot to get the calf curvature to mirror my own. Even then, my knee becomes an issue. 

 

My only thought is to size them a little large and put some foam in the front to pull the piece out a bit. However, when I push forward on the shin piece, it still seems like I am going to run into issues, especially with the angle of the sniper knee, which I want to be correct for lvl 2 & 3.

 

I may even be looking at this fitting all wrong as well. I'd appreciate any input on this.

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Is there enough room inside the top of the shins to add some foam to help push it forward, may give you a little more room

[Firedog[TK]]

There is definitely room, which is why I left the top as large as it is. I was concerned about the top of the shin pieces being way too large in comparison to my leg circumference, but I suppose it’s going to have to be a trade off to get the sniper knee to sit right. I just hope when it’s all together, tt won’t look silly with the space around my legs.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I think you will find one you are wearing your thighs as well it will all look fine

[Firedog[TK]]

Another quick question...I have seen some shim behind the sniper knee to bring it forward a tad. If I keep the angle in line with the top of the shin, how much shimming would be acceptable? This would, of course, bring the bottom center of the knee off the front surface of the shin a bit.

[LTM[TK]]

Not sure if you are following this build, but give it a look over.

I had similar issues with the sniper knee (that is my knee cap being pinched)

 

An idea on padding to help position the sniper knee

 

I trimmed the actual plate as well. If you haven't considered it yet, I recommend the magnetic closing option. Makes it super easy to put on by yourself.