Iman1510's RS Props build thread - ANH Stunt

[iman1510]

Its finally here! BBB day has come at last! I left work early at 12am so I could get my weekend started early and came home to find two boxes behind the screen door of my house. At first I was in disbelief and thought the neighbors may have ordered something. I inspected the labels further and saw " RS Propmasters" written on both and immediately the inner Star Wars fan went wild (mind you, its 12AM and I didnt want to wake the neighbors lmao). After my quiet celebration, I took the boxes inside and up to my apartment to inspect what was inside. Both boxes on the floor, I decided it was fitting to play the "Imperial March" as I opened them up. The first package I opened up contained the chest, thighs, forearms, gloves, strapping pack, etc. Inspecting the pieces briefly, they all seemed to be fine, but I'm a tad worried at one of the thigh pieces and a set of the forearm armor. They seem a tad too big, I'm not too sure if they just have to much material on them or if they're big in general and I have to contact RS Propmasters. It may be that I'm too tired and the fact that its 1AM at this point now. The gloves that were sent were waaay too small, so I may have to buy a set that are the right size. Going through the box even more and more, I feel like a kid on Christmas. At this point I see that its 1:30AM and I need to hurry and try to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. 

 

After I put away the pieces from the first box, I opened the second to find the helmet. It's in great shape and comes with all the fixings that I need to assemble it. At this point I'm definitely one of the happiest people on Earth. I decide to put everything to the side, and get ready for bed. It's been a long day. I'll inspect more of the pieces when I have a bit more time and proper rest. I'll edit in the pictures at another time, right now, its 3AM and its time for sleep.

 

Cant wait to start on this armor and become a stormtrooper! 

Edited July 19, 2020 by iman1510

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Oh happy days, looking forward to seeing some photos. Long time since opening my first BBB but reliving it every time someone shares their excitement.

 

Looking forward to seeing the build, remember research is the key, measure twice and cut once, good luck.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Congratulations for you BBB day!!! 

 

Looking forward for your bulid thread. 

 

Feel free to ask questions and post tons of fotos. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Congrats on your BBB day, looking forward to your build thread and consequent approval.

[iman1510]

So far, I've been trying to following RS props tutorials cautiously so I dont mess up anything. Measure ten time, cut once. So I started on the right bicep as per the tutorial setup. So I trimmed down the top of the bicep, left a little bit of the return edge on the inner bicep and tried to trim the outer to match up with the end of the inner. I left the bottom of the bicep alone since it just seemed to line up just fine and fits alright. Gives me a little room to move around too. So I just sanded the rough edges down for comfort.

 

Also, trying to find a good way to post these dang photos. Cant upload them due to the data restrictions here. Any suggestions before I go further into the build??

[Firedog[TK]]

1 hour ago, iman1510 said:

So far, I've been trying to following RS props tutorials cautiously so I dont mess up anything. Measure ten time, cut once. So I started on the right bicep as per the tutorial setup. So I trimmed down the top of the bicep, left a little bit of the return edge on the inner bicep and tried to trim the outer to match up with the end of the inner. I left the bottom of the bicep alone since it just seemed to line up just fine and fits alright. Gives me a little room to move around too. So I just sanded the rough edges down for comfort.

 

Also, trying to find a good way to post these dang photos. Cant upload them due to the data restrictions here. Any suggestions before I go further into the build??

I am using Imgur. It is very easy to use and provides you with a bbb link for the boards. Just copy and paste that link where you want the photo and you are golden! Congrats on your BBB. We received our 2 kits this weekend as well.

[iman1510]

Thanks Shawn! I started to use flickr but I'll keep Imgur in mind just in case flickr decides to kick the bucket. You never know with these sites nowadays... 

 

So here's the first progress photos. Started on the right bicep as I mentioned before, hopefully I'm going down the right path. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Firedog[TK]]

I believe I will be removing nearly all of the return edge on the biceps prior to fitting. Joseph has a great thread on that here. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I wouldn't trim too much especially if you have thin arms as they can flop around if trimmed too much. I also have some foam in mine for just that reason.

[iman1510]

Started working on the right bicep again. Figured out that it needed to be trimmed down by ALOT hence why they were loose. Eh, better that kind of mistake than, well, something worse. So I trimmed the sides down and went to test fit that. Much better, not too tight, not super loose, almost in the Goldilocks zone. Better to know now to check around for measurements than screw up later. Then one snafu I ended up hitting was with the outer shell of the right bicep. There's this corner that must've been bent while it was warm and it's just sitting there sticking up. Question is, how do I get it to form back to where it needs to be? I feel like a heat gun would mess up the armor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iman1510]

Quick update, got the under armor, although I may have to get new pants because the shade of black doesn't match the shirt. It'll work for now though for fitting purposes.  To me, it's a noticeable difference but to others, maybe not so much *shrug*.

 

 

Right now as it stands, IMO the biceps are done. They fit well with movement and the undersuit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iman1510]

Hey hey everyone! Been awhile since I posted on here but I have made progress overall in the RS build! Finished the trimming and coverstrips for the forearms and biceps. Not going to bore anyone with the massive details, unless ya'll want them.....I can copy and paste what I had posted in my garrison's forums here. Thinking about taking the return edge the hell outta the biceps because, overtime, that shucks is gunna chafe the hell outta my arms. 

 

 

 

As of right now, I have the right thigh "finished" and am currently doing some last minute trims to the left. 

Front of the right thigh has its front coverstrip on, just uploaded what I had for now. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Looking good Iman, also no issue with removing all the return edge from your biceps. The screen used armour had almost no return edge anywhere except where needed to mount the piano wire brackets on some of the body pieces.

Comfort while trooping is an absolute priority.

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Looking good! Not a problem to take more off those bicep return edges. I left a bit on there for aesthetics but not much. 

[iman1510]

Little update on the left thigh. Got a majority of the front trimmed up, kinda wondering if I need to trim a bit more off for the coverstrip. The back is fine where it's at, no problems there from what I can tell. Need to trim the tops a little bit to smooth out the overall look of the piece. The one thing (at the last photo) is that, when I was sanding down the inner thigh piece, I had the outer underneath it. Soooo with me not paying attention, it got sanded too. Wondering if I can fix that. If not, woof....

 

 

[iman1510]

Here's a long post on my build but it's been a long time since I've posted so here we go!

 

Got the trimming for the armor all setup minus the shoulder bells, detonator, ammo 'pouches' is what I'll call them for now, knee plate and the chest armor buttons (They came separate, little square thing with some details). The major question I had is regarding the shoulder bells. Have been following RS Propmasters trooper build, and they've recommended going from the bottom of the spine and going up it till you reach 12 inches and making a mark there for trimming. Then measuring from the spine and going to the side about 5 inches. Do these measurements seem right? The photos have where I marked, the dashed line being where I feel safe cutting and the solid line being the recommended. 

 

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

The RS guide is only that, a guide.

Depending on how broad your shoulders are, you may well need to trim less than that off.

Make sure you go to the gallery section and check out all the screen references, and you will see the shoulder bells fit well up against the chest plate, so over trimming can leave you with larger gaps.

I would simply trim them to the mold lines first, then try them on against your chest and back plate. you may require some assistance, or simply wait until you have assembled chest with bridges, and strapped to back plate leaving the trimming of the shoulder bells to later.

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/category/24-anh-tk-reference/

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Although they were cast from original screen used armor, RS shoulder bells can be a bit tricky as they are not the same length (photo 1).  As seen in their commission builds (photos 2, 3 and 4) the left bell is almost always shorter than the right (photo 5 shows them reversed).

 

                                         1                                                                                2                                                                           3                                                                         4

     

 

                                               5                                                               Screen used bell  (no return edge)                                         Reference images     

                         

 

 Not the biggest of deals by any means, but since you are doing your own build you have the opportunity for a better "ideal" look by making them both the same length.  That's up to you of course, but I would suggest trimming them down a little at a time until you get to where you are happy with the overall look.

 

Some things to keep in mind are:

1.  The tops should touch (or be very close to) the shoulder bridge area with no big gaps (as seen in pics 3, 4 and 5).

2.  Any gaps between the front/back of the bells and chest/back plates should be kept as minimal as possible.

3.  You can trim all or most of the return edges off of the bottoms (this is screen accurate) to even them up if needed.

 

Will it affect higher levels of approval if they are not the same length?  Nope, but we recommend getting them as close as you can.

[Aradun[TK]]

Glad to see you progressing on this Iman and looking forward to trooping with you once approved. Keep up the great work brother!

[iman1510]

I think I'll hold up on the shoulders till I get the rest of the clam shell slapped together. I was looking at that snaps 101 and was wondering for the shoulder bell straps if I could not only double the elastic together but put a piece of regular webbing in between where the elastic webbing comes together and sew them together, then set it up for the snaps. Overkill or good idea?

[Sly11[Admin]]

Mine are simply doubled over, have lasted 8 years so far, without the need to reinforce with anything.

Mind you I am thinking of re strapping my whole kit as the elastic looks a bit tired in areas, and some of it is loosing the elasticity and stretching.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

10 hours ago, iman1510 said:

I think I'll hold up on the shoulders till I get the rest of the clam shell slapped together.

I was looking at that snaps 101 and was wondering for the shoulder bell straps if I could not only double the elastic together but put a piece of regular webbing in between where the elastic webbing comes together and sew them together, then set it up for the snaps. Overkill or good idea?

 

EXCELLENT idea on waiting until you get the chest and back complete and fitted.  That way you will have a better idea on where to place the bells.  

 

I assume you mean the white elastic that connects the chest and back, correct?  

 

If so, doubling this for added strength is certainly can't hurt.  As for adding a strip of nylon webbing, I don't think it will be necessary.  BUT, if you do, make sure the posts on the snaps will be long enough to go through all the layers and still have enough for them to connect securely to the bases-  you might want to do a test piece.

 

Keep those photos rolling in!

[iman1510]

Hey hey! Been awhile, but life happens and so far I messed with getting the thermal detonator set up. 

 

Now I've been told that putting velcro on the backside of the clips helps prevent scratches on the back of the clam shell and rounding out the sharp corners on the clips. I plan on doing that. Still need to put the detonator's face plate on and paint the screw heads black.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Yes rounding the corners and adding Velcro is what many do. A couple of references if you don't already have them

 

 

Note the position of the control panel detail. Also clips don't show under the belt