Tim's AP Build[*AP]

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Its coming on nicely

[yatia]

Looking good Tim.

 

I am hopefully going to order some AP armour this week, was originally going to order Troopermaster (keep things local), is a shame that he is taking a break but ah well, you can't win them all!

 

Looking at threads like yours is pointing me more and more in the direction of AP.

 

Ian

[Trooperman]

I looked at a ton of strapping setups by everyone and followed their lead. I curved and glued the shoulder straps to the chest piece and velcro attached the back of the strap to the back piece. I glued snaps to various parts of the armor and made snaps on the black elastic bands. The strapping setup is just about done for the torso. Still have to put in some plastic supports for the elastic bands on the inside of the bells; they're temporarily taped down right now. The biceps hang right to my elbow, which I think is about where they should be. Any lower and I won't be able to bend my arms. I don't believe I need to trim the bells anymore unless they look too long.

 

My SR Props Blaster kit is in transit right now. Can't wait to get started on it. I suppose I'll create my own thread for it and document my progress. Everyone seems to like a build thread.

Tim, keep those photos coming my man

[TrooperTim]

Its coming on nicely

Thanks!

Looking good Tim.

 

I am hopefully going to order some AP armour this week, was originally going to order Troopermaster (keep things local), is a shame that he is taking a break but ah well, you can't win them all!

 

Looking at threads like yours is pointing me more and more in the direction of AP.

 

Ian

AP is robust but not as sharp in details compared to some others, and it's taken me forever to build. If you have patience it's a fun project. It builds faster if you can find some people to do armor parties with. TM and TE are steller also. Just a personal preference on armor types. Most all can be built and modified to look great.

Tim, keep those photos coming my man

Of course! Also thinking about doing a video montage when I'm done.

[james007bond[TK]]

These build threads are great..... you're doing a stellar job there....

Many troopers do have AP gear in the UK too.... but i'm waiting for TM myself and as Yatia sad.. I figured keep it local

Once my Tm arrives, i'll chronicle the build too..

 

Talking of a SR props blaster kit.... I have one here in front of me... Quality kit

[TKDUEUNO]

Very nice job so far, Tim! Love that helmet.

 

.. but i'm waiting for TM myself and as Yatia sad.. I figured keep it local

Once my Tm arrives, i'll chronicle the build too..

Ooh mate, I'm so happy for you

[TrooperTim]

I'll share a tip with everyone who lives in North Texas and looking for Novus. I've only seen it sold online but Thomas, aka giric thren, told me about the Harley Davidson dealership in Allen. If anyone wants to buy Novus in a retail store, that's where it's at. I suppose any Harley dealership or boat place would sell it also. Bought a bottle of #1 for $4 and a bottle of #2 for $6. My armor shall be super shiney.

 

My SR Props E-11 blaster arrived a couple days ago. I'll start a build thread when I can devote time to build it. Going to focus on getting the armor finished first. Today I continued work on the snaps. The back, kidney, and but pieces are now connected.

 

Hangs on a coathanger well. It's all coming together. I'm still scared to finish work on the forearms.

[Dmian]

It's looking really great Tim!

What's so scary about forearms?

[TrooperTim]

It's looking really great Tim!

What's so scary about forearms?

Out of all the pieces on the armor, the forearms seem to take the most effort to line up correctly. I'm trying to figure out the best way to build them. I'm going to glue the outside of the forearm with a finishing strip then velcro the inside edge so that they're easier to take off. I'm just a little worried about working on them because I don't want to mess up; but since I've done that frequently already, I guess I should stop procrastinating and finish them.

 

One of the first things I did on my armor was cut out the ab plates, hand guards, and other smaller stuff. It so happens that I cut the ab plate so that there's no surrounding plastic, which is going to make gluing it to the ab piece a little difficult. Might look a little odd compared to other people's armor. The ab buttons and ab piece of the armor doesn't sit flush with each other so I'll have to glue some kind of filler to get it set.

 

I hand painted the ab plates using Testors Gray 1138 and Dark Blue 1111. I think I painted them correct size.

[TrooperTim]

Got the plates glued on to the ab piece. Used a few strips of scrap plastic to fill the gap inside. Right now I'm gluing the anh strips to the calves. This is how they should look, right? Been viewing everyone's build threads to make sure. I wanted to post this before I glue the other strip, just to get an ok from the experts here. I tried to find the image that shows the curve of the ap calves that differentiate between left and right legs, but haven't found it using the search or browsing the ap/te2 section. I remember seeing it here somehwere. Anyone know where it's at?

[TK-7980]

All I could find was Paul saying that the inner left calf piece is missing and is replaced with the outer right.

[TrooperTim]

Ah, found it. Stukatrooper's thread in the tutorials.

[synaptyx]

Looking great Tim!

[TrooperTim]

I've tried several different ways to put the lenses in the helmet. Drilled some holes in the lenses and tried using epoxy, screws, and anchors. I couldn't get everything lined up and seated right. The lenses would never be flush with the helmet; there was a noticeable gap. I looked at a tutorial thread about it but I couldn't get it to work for me. I'm doing something wrong somewhere. For now I settled for hot glue... lots of hot glue. Although they just barely hang in there. It's a very weak bond. Eventually I'll figure this out. Oh, and I used plasti-dip to coat the inside black. Get the brush on type, not the spray. I like it better because you have more control.

 

Painted the glue with black paint to make it look less messy.

 

While the glue on my calf and thigh pieces dried, I polished my helmet. Novus is great.

 

They're almost done. Little bit of touch up and trimming. I think I put the left and right calves on correctly. Whoo hoo!

[TrooperTim]

Haven't posted in a while. Need to get to tandy leather for my boot dye and take a trip to the hardware store for rivets.

 

Snaps are done on the thighs. I added two on the ab and two on each thigh. I wanted to be certain that mine were secure, hearing about several people having things gone wrong.

 

Velcro is complete on the back of each calf and each forearm. I've noticed that the hooks/material is actually stronger than the adhesive that holds it on the plastic. When I tried to open up the calves to put them on, one side of the velcro came completely off the plastic. I'm going to E6000 each piece of velcro on the armor to ensure heat and sweat doesn't melt the adhesive off. Also need to add foam to the interior of the thigh and forearms so they don't accidentally go sliding around.

 

This is the first time I've had the chance to wear the armor almost in full. Still need to get the sides riveted together and the strapping worked out a bit. Most of it holds and hangs well on me. I've found out that the armor is like a sink, once you get in there the faucet opens and sweat pours out your body. It's like one of those jedi tricks but not the funny mind altering kind... the evil kind, from a sith lord. Your body heat has nowhere to go and it all builds up... cooking you from the inside. I don't usually sweat this much. I look forward to experiencing this for several hours. Fun on a bun.

 

Just having some fun in photoshop with an alternate picture take. The WIP trooper.

 

I posted this in another thread, but I'll post it here too. I cut down the eye bump on the helmet.

[Dmian]

I think I'll go the same way with the eye bump.

Looking great Tim!

You're very close to finishing it.

[tk9393[TK]]

Eye bump looks much better!

I did that to mine but, Instead of trimming I used a modeling iron to lessen the bump.

Just not a fan of the "winky" trooper look

[TrooperTim]

Decided to work on the ab rivets, closely following stukatrooper's build images. I purchased a riveter for $10, and a box of rivets and rivet washers. I couldn't find the white rivets in the size I needed so I'm going to have to paint them white. I've never used a riveter or rivets before and I figured it shouldn't be too hard, but I found a few problems.

I thought I got the correct size rivets but when I got home and started working with it, the riveter didn't work right. I had to take the riveter apart a couple times because the mandrel got jammed in the cutting mechinism. I figured the problem was there wasn't enough material to cover the grip. That's why I can't get the riveter to cut the mandrel. The 3/16" size is the right width but I should have got the small instead of medium grip size. Probably another reason is that the plastic is a softer material in respects to what this tool is usually used to rivet... like metal objects and wood. It should still work though. I'll buy the small size and hope that solves the problem.

[Dmian]

That's very curious Tim.

I use a cheap, Chinese riveter with white rivets, and had no problem.

It's very similar to yours. In fact all the riveters I've seen are similar.

But contrary to you, I got too long rivets.

Yours are 5mm, I bought 10mm and 12mm long white rivets, that are too long for what I need.

I'm going to buy some 8mm and 6mm white rivets to use in the remaining parts. I found the 4mm rivets that came with the riveter too short, so maybe it's because the rivets you have are too short.

I hope it's just that.

Cheers.

[naatsirhc[TK]]

Tim,

That's a nice looking bucket! I'll be looking out for your finished pics

[TrooperTim]

That's very curious Tim.

I use a cheap, Chinese riveter with white rivets, and had no problem.

It's very similar to yours. In fact all the riveters I've seen are similar.

But contrary to you, I got too long rivets.

Yours are 5mm, I bought 10mm and 12mm long white rivets, that are too long for what I need.

I'm going to buy some 8mm and 6mm white rivets to use in the remaining parts. I found the 4mm rivets that came with the riveter too short, so maybe it's because the rivets you have are too short.

I hope it's just that.

Cheers.

Well, the diameter of the rivet doesn't matter as much as the length of the grip. The smaller the grip, the better because the plastic isn't usually too thick. The rivet has to have enough material to cover the grip while you use the tool to pull out the mandrel. Get the "short" length rivets and I'd recommend rivet washers also.

 

Tim,

That's a nice looking bucket! I'll be looking out for your finished pics

Thanks!

 

Picked up the short rivets this time. I did a test run on some scrap pieces and they work great. I finally figured out how rivets work. You place the grip in the hole, place a washer over the grip, then use part of a snap and sorta hammer it into the grip. Then place the mandrel into the riveter, and clamp down. It'll make a loud snap... and you're done.

 

While the exterior shows rivets, I followed Stukatrooper's build images and created snaps on the interior for easy dissassembly when packed away. I glued a piece of plastic to the inside to strengthen and provide extra material for the rivet to hold onto. Going to paint them white tomorrow.

[TrooperTim]

Since I was having success with rivets I thought I'd try and get the sniper plate set on the shin. As usual I hit another snag. I noticed that the mold is off center. Should have seen that a while back. I swear I glued the pieces correctly. Even if I were to take them apart (which would be a HUGE pain) and swap the left and right pieces it would still be off. I know the inside and outside are correct on the shins. It's either another one of those mold issues with AP or user error. It makes the sniper plate very slanted. I can get the sides lined up just fine, which is the only positive thing I have so far.

 

A while back when I was test fitting the shins, one felt more tight than the other. The bottom of my left shin is 2/3 the size compared to the right one. I haven't figured out how to fix this yet. Seems like the bottom part doesn't bow outward like the other side. I might be able to heat gun the area or something.

[TrooperTim]

Should I go ahead and rivet the sniper plate's outside face, correctly lined up, and on the inside facing have it completely off? I really hate doing it but I can't think of any other way. I suppose the shin pieces became misaligned when I glued them together, somehow. I was going to cut a little bit off on the sniper plate's inside facing to make it look a little more lined up. It probably won't be noticeable since the screwed up side will be facing the inside of my legs. Still, it's something that really bugs me. I'd like some input before I do it.

 

Also, I've noticed that some people rivet below the extruded edge, and some right on it. Stukatrooper had his rivets below the edge, which I'm inclined to follow.

 

Right thigh ammo is riveted!

[TrooperTim]

Sniper plate is riveted! Came out alright. Looks slightly off but I don't think it'll keep me from getting EIB and most everyone won't be looking down there much. Going to paint the rivets white.

 

Here's the rest of my list and then I'll be 501st ready.

-Dye boots white.

-Make a canvas belt. Got white canvas the other day.

-Drop boxes with white elastic, modify to hold cards/ID

-Hand plate elastic strip, maybe buy latex guards for EIB "should have" requirements

-O2 canister, glue pieces together and find/make aluminum metal clips

-Under suit

-Neckseal

 

For EIB status

-Holster

-E11 Blaster

[TrooperTim]

I got some material that I'll use for my neck seal and holster. It's thin enough for the neck seal, which I'm going to add some foam to the middle and sew the ridges, but thick enough to where I can double it over and create a holster out of it. Won't support a metal blaster but should work for mine.

 

Got my undersuit at wally. Looks like athletic underwear for football or something. $10 for a top and $10 for a bottom. There are seams that run down the side of the leg and the arms. If you look closely you could probably see them when I'm geared up. Is this a problem? Should I go buy the "good" stuff like an actual dive suit or under armor? Wanted to save a little bit if I could and for the price of what I got, can't beat it.

 

Gear test fit. I need to sew my neck seal and belt. Hopefully will get some time to do that. Have an order in for Nu-Life spray and preparer. Should be able to dye my boots correctly this time. Still lots of minor things left to iron out but the major stuff is just about done. Feels really good to be towards the end of my build... although, it never ends does it?